St. Patrick's Day Mini Cupcakes

I "made" these for an after-school treat today! We are working on some of our St. Paddy's day crafts this afternoon and thought that we should have a corresponding theme snack for fun.  I scored these festive cupcakes at Kroger and made some quick cupcake toppers using my PSA Essentials stamps to make them EXTRA special.  (I'd much rather craft then bake!) 

I used my Mixed Holiday Peel & Stick pack by PSA Essentials and chose the shamrock. I loaded it up on my PSA standard stamper with Hunter ink.  I stamped onto kelly green scrapbook paper and punched out with a 1.5" inch circle punch.  Then I taped to lollipop sticks. 

The cupcakes are waiting on the table for the kids and it will be a welcomed surprise, I am sure! 

Are you ready for St. Patrick's Day? What are you working on?  Be sure to stock up on your stamps, get your "Mixed Holiday Pack" here and you'll have your shamrock in time for St. Paddy's Day!

STAMP SALE! 30% OFF all personalized stamps!

Exciting news!  Most of our retailers are participating in our early spring sale where all stamps are 30% OFF, or just $28 each!  You can get classic or any of the 16 new designs for just $28 (regularly $40) from February 24th to March 1st, 2014.  Start thinking about Mother's Day here!

Check out our website for information on dealers and a location near you or to find a dealer online..... happy stamp shopping!

St. Patrick's Day is coming!

With Valentine's Day sufficiently behind us, I am moving on to the next holiday! St. Patrick's Day is just a few short weeks away.  I've already been posting recipes, crafts, and ideas on our Facebook page so be sure to check out our page if you aren't already a fan.

Pinterest is chalk full of great ways to make this holiday fun -- here's a round up of 15 great ideas.  I just adore the drink labels and green pancakes for my husband and the kids.

These green chocolate dipped oreos would be the perfect festive treat!

I love this party idea for kids -- "Catch my Rainbow" coloring pad and favor! Find out more here.

There are tons of free printables on Pinterest right now -- cute signs and decor that are FREE and easy to print at home.  Are you participating in the crafty fun for the holiday? What are some of your favorite ideas? 

Valentine's Day Party

A few weeks ago, I decided to throw an afternoon play date and party for Molly's May River Montessori friends and a few neighbors for Valentine's Day.  I really love throwing parties, and love throwing parties for my kids and their friends.  Seeing the joy on everyone faces is just so much fun!

We had a nice crew on Friday afternoon!  Molly and I had spent a few weeks crafting decor for around the house. I got some food from Publix, made some heart shaped PP&J, and scored cupcakes from Ronnie's Bakery.   We made some cupcake toppers using our PSA Essentials custom stamp. We also used stickers from More Than Paper to create favors -- small bags of candy.  Here's a look at all the day of details and everything that came together for the party!

There were about 20 kids there and all the moms (and two trooper Dads! Way to go Case and Matt!)  and we had a great time! It was surprisingly not as chaotic as I thought it might be, and I only had 1 glass of pink champagne!  I loved spending time with the kids and good friends!

Happy Valentine's Day -- now onto St. Patrick's Day!

Vendor credits/mentions:   Cupcakes are from Ronnie's Bakery.  Food is by Publix."I dig you" Valentine's Day stickers and cupcake topper tags are from Swanky Press.  Stamps: PSA Essentials. Treat bag stickers are from More Than Paper.

Valentine's Day Cupcake Toppers

Making adorable cupcake toppers is easy.  All you really need are some good punches (round, scalloped or square will do!) card stock, stamps and lollipop sticks.  We made some this weekend for our Valentine's Day party and playdate.  (What's a party without cupcakes, really?)

Start by stamping onto card stock. I used Molly's custom stamp that our designer Lesley made for Molly last year.  It says: "Happy Valentine's Day -- Molly O'Regan."  (PSA is happy to design custom stamps for our customers, custom art work fee applies, to inquire email us!)

Then we punched them out using a 1.5" round punch.  I also punched out various Valentine's Day patterend card stock with a 2" inch punch.   Have your assistant glue them together...

When you are done, you will have to glue them to white lollipop sticks.  Final product photos coming after the party on Friday!

Valentine's Day Party Prep

The O'Regan household is decorated and ready for our big Valentine's Day party and play date Friday.
Simply because I love paper invitations and not out of necessity, I sent some adorable invitations to our friends.  I made them extra special with a few touches:

• New Love postage stamps from the post office!  (A flag simply wouldn't do here!) 
• Molly's personalized "Happy Valentine's Day" stamp by PSA Essentials (our talented graphic designer, Lesley, in our warehouse created it for her last year!) 
• Red envelopes (white can be so boring!) 
• White marker pen to make the addresses pop 
• My personalized address stamp with the address switched out to "You are Invited" stamp, found in the "Smile" Peel & Stick collection by PSA. 

Take a peek at these cute invites by one of our favorite stationery retailers, Swanky Press! 

We cannot wait for Friday!  A few more projects for the party are coming this week.

Heart Garland Banner for Kids

Perhaps because it's been cold and being the month of January, there isn't a whole lot to do around here, but we O'Regans seem to have a lot of time on our hands after school.  So we've been working a variety of crafts and decorations for Valentine's Day! We are hosting a Valentine's Day play date so Molly and I are working on homemade decorations to make the house festive.  Up today are some heart decorations that you can do with your kids!

For this project you will need: 

• Foam hearts
• Stamps (we used PSA Essentials Love Birds and also a LOVE stamp by Createology found at Michael's)
• Valentine's Day cardstock patterned paper
• Black twine by The Twinery
• A hole punch
• Tape 

 First I free formed some hearts onto cardstock and then handed Molly the scissors to cut them out. We cut out 25 hearts of varying sizes, I think it looks more interesting if they are different.  I also used some scalloped scissors on a few.

When the hearts are cut out, add foam squares and stamps to decorate them! This was where my 20-month old, Connor, could help out. 

 Then it's time to punch holes and thread with twine. Make sure to secure it with tape so the hearts down slide down the twine.   We hung them from the curtain rod in the living room!

That's it! It was a fun and easy project that took us a few days that the kids really seem to enjoy!  What are you working on for Valentine's Day?