A spa themed birthday party is a wonderful choice for young girls and especially for tweens!  It is also a terrific theme to turn a typical sleepover into something special – one that I used for my own daughter’s ninth birthday this past year!  Here are some easy plans to turn your home into a luxury spa!

Spa Party Invitations

• From Blue Whale Invitations – I just love this spa party invitation that’s die cut just like a spa mask!  The mask is composed of 2 paper layers, hot pink on top and pink and white polka dotted on the bottom.  It’s finished off with a satin ribbon “elastic band” and satin bows! (pictured top)
• From Tiny Prints – this is a charming invitation that features the faces of three spa party girls on a watermelon colored background! (pictured right)
• Print Your Own - this option is a cute card that you can buy blank and print at home!  The card’s printing surface is a towel wrapped turban style on a “cucumbered” girl!
• From Birthday in a Box – Spa Day personalized invitations, offered at a terrific price and combines both girls in sleeping bags and spa treatments! (pictured right)

Spa Party Decorations

• Set the stage for your spa party with some zen-like instrumental music, just like the real thing!  (Try  Source to the Sea)
• Next you’ll need to make your home take on the unique scent noticeable the minute that you enter a spa by using a reed diffuser or scented candle.  (I’d recommend a reed diffuser, especially if younger girls will be at the party!
• Dimmed lights and a tabletop fountain will complete the spa look!

Spa Party Paper Goods

• From Plates and Napkins – Some very cute slumber party paper goods can be found at Plates and Napkins, including pink and green polka dotted items, as well as plates featuring beauty accessories and a cute bunch of girls having sleep over fun!
• Not Paper Goods – I love having an excuse to add to my dish collection and sometimes it’s nice to have party dishes that can be used again and again!  Two perfectly girly choices include:  a set of four plates decorated with desserts and another set of four cupcake plates, cleverly packaged in a cupcake box!

Spa Party Supplies

When I had my daughter’s party, I enlisted the help of a “mobile spa” and so many of the supplies were provided, including eight white terry robes that were borrowed just for that night!  Depending on how carried away you’d like to get, here are some resources for spa essentials!

• Terry Robes
• Pink Terry Slippers
• Foam Spa Masks – these masks will add a touch of whimsy to your party!  Crafted from foam and imprinted with a cucumber over each eye, these masks will have the girls laughing and make for a great photo op!

• Headbands – to pull the girls’ hair back off their faces, I made their party favor do double duty!  I ordered spa party favor packs that included, among other things, a pink stretchy headband.  I took the head bands out of the package and had the girls use them at the party!

Spa Party Activities

You can incorporate as many or as few of these ideas as you’d like!

• Manicures/Pedicures
• Make and Apply Facial Masks
• Make Your Own Lipbalm
• Make Your Own Bath Salts
• Make Your Own Body Glitter

Plan to have lots of fresh towels and washcloths on hand, as well as nail polish remover and basins of warm water if you’re short on bathroom space! This is definitely the time to call for back up help, whether you appeal to your own friends or enlist a few teenaged girls!

Spa Party Menu

Your guests will feel like real grown ups if you serve a menu that’s similar to a true spa!

• Fill a glass pitcher with ice water and garnish with lemons, limes or oranges
• Tea sandwiches or wraps
• Smoothies
• Fresh fruit kabobs
• Tiny cupcakes or petit fours

Spa Party Favors

This is one party where the supplies that you’ll need for the event, like robes and slippers, as well as what the girls create at the party, like bath salts or lip balm, will be terrific take aways!

I suggest purchasing a solid colored gift bag for each guest and encouraging them to collect their spa supplies and creations in their own bag!  For some added personalization, consider adding to the bags:

• A custom sticker, depicting a girl with a green facial mask in a sleeping bag, thanking guests for coming to the party!
• A laminated bag tag that can be personalized for each guest!

These suggestions should be able to get you sailing smoothly through a night of pampering and dining!  But, definitely plan to have movies, board games and video games on hand to fill any lulls in the action!

Keep your guest list small (eight was two too many at my daughter’s party!), your helper list big and enjoy a memorable birthday!

For years, before adding the candy treats, Easter baskets have been stuffed with all sorts of fillers, from cellophane grass to shredded paper and more!  But today, the most unique option is available – edible Easter grass!  It may sound crazy, but this is a really fun basket innovation.  Imagine your children’s surprise when not only are their chocolate bunnies and jelly beans edible, but their basket filler as well!  (Edible Easter Grass, $3.50)

Consider adding this latest creation to your baskets this year!

You may also enjoy:

• Felt Chocolate Bunnies
• Guilt Free Easter Treats
• Fun Storage for Stuffed Animals
• Cute Felt Cake Kits

Tags: edible easter grass, basket stuffing, filler

Tip of the Week -  Grow Some Wheatgrass!

At this time of year, we are all thinking of Spring and looking for signs that a new season is on its way!  But until those flowers are actually blooming outside, consider growing some wheatgrass inside!  Some people grow wheatgrass as a cat treat and others to make juice, but I love it for its bright, fresh green color and decorating possibilities!

Where to Purchase Seeds or Kits

Whether you plant your grass seeds in a low, flat tray or in a set of small pots, with light and watering, the grass should sprout in about 7 to 10 days!  You can pick up the wheatgrass seeds at your local garden or pet shop, from an online resource, or you can let Uncommon Goods do all of the work for you!  At Uncommon Goods, you can purchase a handcrafted pot complete with soil, seeds and instructions! (Wheatgrass Planters, $38, pictured top)

Once your grass has sprouted, you can display your greenery just as it is or nestle faux birds, bunnies, eggs or Easter accessories among the blades.  Either way, you’ll be able to enjoy a lush lawn long before the real thing is ready!

Terrariums – Tabletop Gardening All Year Round!

During a visit to the 2010 Philadelphia Flower Show,  I found that my very favorite garden shop, Terrain, had a shop among the boutique booths and was thrilled!  It took just minutes to select a terrarium featuring tiny plants nestled in moss and covered with a glass cloche with a bird finial!  The first sign of spring in my home!

I started thinking about how popular terrariums are right now and then remembered my mother in the 1970’s tending a terrarium planted in a giant water cooler bottle – using a long handled grabber of some sort to get the plants into place!  What’s old is always new again!

Creating Your Own Terrarium

If you’d like to try to create your own terrarium, it’s relatively simple!  Here’s what you’ll need:

1.  A Container

Containers can be open to the air or covered, like mine is, with a glass cloche.  Here are some examples ranging from something found in your kitchen cabinets or purchased at a specialty site:

• Cloche – My bird finial cloche from Terrain
• Apothecary Jars
• Glass Terrarium with aged terracotta base
• Glass Pear
• English Garden Style
• Edwardian Conservatory
• From Your Kitchen or Garage:  mason jar, glass cookie jar with a metal lid, open glass dish, brandy sniffer or old fish bowl/aquarium.

2.  Now layer the following:

• Small pebbles or gravel for drainage (about 1”)
• Activated charcoal that acts as an air filter in a closed terrarium.  You can pick this up at a pet shop that sells supplies for aquariums! (about ½ “)
• Spaghnum moss – to prevent the soil from settling down into the pebbles/charcoal (from a florist or craft store)
• Potting soil (about 2 – 3”) Overall, the drainage and soil layers should comprise ¼ of the container.
• Plants that are the right size for your container*
• Another layer of spaghnum moss
• Add small decorative elements – my terrarium came with tiny pinecones tucked into the moss!

3.  Caring for Your Terrarium

• Covered Terrariums – If you’re terrarium is covered, you’ll only need to water it occasionally, but you will have to remove the cover once or twice a week if too much condensation builds up.  Keep in mind that some condensation is expected and necessary!
• Open Terrariums – Open terrariums will need watering more regularly.  Pull off any dead or yellowed leaves and prune when necessary.

Voila!    That’s it – just be careful to keep your creation out of direct sunlight!

P.S. If you’re as intrigued by the terrarium trend as I am, you will definitely enjoy  The New Terrarium:  Creating Beautiful Displays for Plants and Nature by Tovah Martin!

*Here are some terrific plants for terrariums!  If you can’t find these locally, a few shopping links are included:

• Lemon Button Fern
• Baby Tears
• Irish Moss

Other Ideas:

• Miniature African Violets
• Creeping Charlie
• Ardesia
• Wandering Jew
• Creeping Fig

Ingredients

• ½ cup sour cream
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms – chopped and sautéd in butter
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 8-10 slices cooked, crumbled bacon

Directions

• Mix and scoop into oven proof dish
• Bake at 350 degrees farenheit for 20 minutes
• Serve with crackers