diy holiday wreath

Get your front door holiday ready with this easy diy holiday wreath!

I have this obsession with wreaths. I don’t know where it came from, except I probably do because growing up my grandmother always had the most ornate wreaths for every season. I have vivid memories of an Easter wreath that was made up of these pretty little pastel eggs the size of Cadbury Mini Eggs and I LOVED it. To this day. I should ask her where that is. Anyways, back at Easter 2014 I decided to try my hand at wreath making because all my neighbours had wreaths and I was jealous. And also they are adorable.

Of course the holidays are the next best occasion for wreath-ery (I suggested a Halloween wreath but Justin said no. Apparently it’s “disgusting” and “inappropriate” to have a wreath made out of plastic bones and fake blood. Weird.) so I was just DYING for November to come around to get my holiday wreath on.

This diy is super simple because really all you need is glue and some imagination. You can get your supplies at any craft store, and I’m a big supporter of these branch looking wreaths from Michaels. I think they’re super pretty and they’re like $3! THREE DOLLARS PEOPLE! I also snagged this glittery faux branch + pinecones there too because they were (and I think maybe still are?) having a 50% off sale on their holiday decor. But you can get this stuff at the dollar store too, so do some digging! I picked up the bells at the dollar store because I felt like adding something extra, but you can do whatever you prefer! I toyed with using ornaments but then decided it looked perfect with just the bells and greenery.

First, wrap the end of your greenery around the wreath. You’re going to glue it but it helps to secure the whole thing, and it gives it some visual interest so it doesn’t LOOK like you just glued fake greenery onto a wreath base, you know?

Once you have the end tucked in, you can start to lay out your design. When I made the Easter wreath it worked to wrap my twigs around it, but I found for this one I liked the way it looked just sort of scattered on top. You can play around with it until you like the look. Using your hot glue gun, add dabs of glue to the thickest part of your greenery and then use the tip of your gun to press the greenery to the wreath and hold it. You can experiment with different gluing techniques, but I found, given the nature of my branch-wreath-base situation, it made sense to glue the greenery rather than the other way around (there was less surface on the base then the greenery after all).

Once you have your greenery assembled, you can add any accents you’d like! I used bells because they were so sweet and inexpensive, and I thought they seemed like they had a bit of a longer relevance (compared to ornaments which I can’t really justify keeping out after Christmas, but bells are so cheerful, why can’t I keep them up through cold February days!?). You can use anything though, like woodland animal figurines or ribbon.

Easy right? And really, once you’ve made one there’s no reason why you can’t make a bunch! In my dream house we have a shelf just for wreaths. Justin doesn’t know about that one yet.

Merry holiday crafting!

december tech makeover

It’s December, so time to dress up your tech with a free calendar download!

I actually can’t quite accept that it’s December. Like I can, and I’m beyond excited because we have a super long break this year and a MASSIVE pile of things to catch up on, including some exciting projects for you guys, but at the same time I feel like I was writing about soft autumn afternoons a day ago.

Still, December is one of my favourite months. Minus that madness that is the shopping scene (and we’re hitting the mall this afternoon because we like to live on the edge apparently) there’s a certain kind of cheerfulness in the air thanks to the holiday season. Even the fact it’s dark at basically 4pm these days can’t get me down!

AND, a new month means it’s time for a new tech makeover! Get your free December calendar download now:

Desktop Wallpaper w/ To Do

Desktop Wallpaper w/o To Do

iPhone Lock Screen Wallpaper

Happy downloading!

christmas dinner party box

Get the insider scoop on our Christmas Dinner Party Box, available in the Shop now!

When I was growing up holiday dinners were a big thing at my grandmothers house. We had ornate Christmas displays, colourful Easter decorations, and frivolous little Halloween creatures. My grandmother’s tables are probably responsible for my party planning obsessions, actually. So it’s only fitting that following her lead, we were talking about how people entertain during the holidays. Christmas (and Thanksgiving for that matter, although some people have different traditions for the latter) is one of the primary holidays were people celebrate with family dinners. And dinner parties can seem hard to decorate. You don’t have the same “food table” that you usually have at other parties, and guests aren’t expecting much more in the way of decor other than a tree or so (or so, lol my childhood).

Luckily, no occasion (and I mean NO occasion, you should see my table right now) is celebrated without some little touch somewhere, so decorating for the seemingly-everyday is super fun for us! Creating the Christmas Dinner Party Box was a way to give people the gift of a simpler holiday. Think of what you could do with the time you’d save worrying over a centrepiece or all those dishes (that’s right, we found cute DISPOSABLE dishware for this one, my aunt’s genius trick) or how to give your guests little holiday tokens without breaking the bank?

We’ve got you covered.

After all, planning a party during the holidays can be stressful, and with all that pressure to throw Pinterest-worthy dinners, it can seem impossible! Our goal is to make your holidays seamless.

Think of the tag line as : “Make your table the belle of the Instagram-ball without lifting that manicured finger.”

We want to give you all the tools you need to host the ultimate Christmas dinner party, with the least amount of work. It’s a party delivered to your doorstep!

What you get:

– 6 chargers (3 red, 3 green)
– 6 red premium plastic dinner plates
– 6 paper appetizer/dessert plates
– 12 paper straws
– 12 cocktail stirrers
– 6 ornament wine tags
– centrepiece (2 large red trees, 2 small gold trees and 2 holiday wreaths)
– 1 gold table runner
– 1 black tablecloth
– 6 snowflake placemats
– 6 ornament place card holders
– 6 custom place cards
– 1 customized invitation (available printed or digital, perfect for last minute, get the invite today and the box delivered just before your party!)
– 1 paper dot bunting
– 6 pre-wrapped (in gold boxes) mini “grow your own” spruce tree favours
– 24 gold foil cupcake liners
– 24 ornament cupcake toppers
– plus a special surprise from The Party Girl!

We thought of a lot of little details that can make life a little easier on the average hostess (down to individually wrapped mini spruce trees for your guests) so not everything is pictured here. But we’ve got tons more, so leave us a comment if you want to see what else you get with this Party Box!

We’re here to make sure that the only thing you need to worry about this holiday season is when to bring out the bubbly. Order your Christmas Dinner party box today!

mani monday: autumn floral

Fall isn’t over yet, so celebrate these last few weeks before winter with this autumn inspired floral mani!

Another monday morning is here, which means another mani monday for you girls! Now that we’re in November, we are starting to count down the days until Christmas. But before we get all red, green and white I want to enjoy some last couple of fall posts. So here is a autumn inspired floral mani to brighten up your morning.

I love this nail design, not only because I really like florals but also because fall is my favourite season. So this is a combination of my two favourite things!!

I began by painting four nails a dark chocolate colour and my ring finger white.

Next I started the floral design. First I did the branches using the same dark chocolate nail polish and a stripping brush.

After the branches have dried you can begin adding the flowers. I used a maroon nail polish and a dotting tool for the petals. Don’t worry about making the dots perfect, I actually made some flowers a little more crooked because I thought it looked cute.

I then added some blue flowers using the same technique with the dotting tool and added the centers for the flowers; I did yellow for the maroon flowers and white for the blue ones.

I finished it off by adding a matte top coat to the chocolate coloured nails. I really like the matte look, I think it’s so perfect for that fall look.

Once the floral design dries finish it off with a quick drying top coat and you’re done! Hope you liked this week’s autumn floral mani, I know I did!

 

traditional ruffle cake

Celebrate the everyday – have this pretty [ruffle] cake for any occasion!

October always has seemed like a month with its own theme. When you think about Halloween and Thanksgiving you have these family oriented events that are already sort of traditionally styled in certain ways, and I feel like while we had a blast making fall crafts, it’s nice to use November as a breather before the next party season. So while some people might be laying low after all that October hosting, we’re brushing up on some of the basics for everyday entertaining.

One of my favourite cake ideas is the vertical ruffle cake. I love girly cakes, and there’s something so sweet and soft about this design I’ve been totally obsessing over so it was about time we tackled it in the Party Girl test kitchen. Here’s how you can master this quick and pretty cake decorating technique, perfect for everyday celebrations!

Your first step is to crumb coat your cake. I’m currently obsessed with this pale pink (it’s a Wilton dye, called Rose Petal Pink if you were curious) so pretty much all of my cakes look like this one right now, for all occasions, because I’m great like that. But you can do this technique with any cake and it would still look adorable. If you haven’t crumb coated a cake before, here are some tips:

1) Stick the cake in the fridge for like 15 minutes before you crumb coat it. While the idea of the crumb coat is that it doesn’t have to be neat, it’s still a lot easier if your cake isn’t falling all over the place, and the fridge should help with that.

2) Make sure your icing is fresh. If it’s been sitting on the counter for a few hours give it a swirl with your mixer. Warm, fresh icing (warm as in not stiff, don’t heat it up or anything…) will go on a lot smoother.

3) It won’t be perfect, don’t stress about that. When you cover the whole cake pop it back in the fridge for another 10-15 minutes so your first coat sets.

To make wide ruffles, I used this Wilton 125 tip. If you want tighter ruffles, you can try the Witlon 104. It’s like a smaller version of this. The most important part is this teardrop shape, not so much the size. When you start your first ruffle, make sure you hold the fat end of the tip closest to the cake, similar to how we made the other ruffle cake a little while ago.

Keeping the wide end of the tip tight to the side of the cake, pipe your icing out as though you are stacking each layer on top of each other in a vertical motion. If you want to be neat you can use a fondant smoother (or unused paint scraper if you’re old school like I used to be in the good old days) to draw yourself some guidelines on the side of the cake to keep your edges in line. I just freehanded it and it still turned out super cute (if I do say so myself!).

You want to keep the pressure on your icing gun/piping bag steady so that the stream is consistent. You do all the moving, going right to left and layering the icing.

At the top of the column you can just gently drag the top layer so it overlaps the top of the cake. Afterwards you can choose to pipe something on the top, bring your ruffles in to the centre, or leave it blank like I did. Start your next column directly beside the first. If you want more uniform layers, I’d suggest counting how many times you go back and forth during one column. That way you can make sure you have the same number of ruffles. I definitely didn’t bother with that (are you surprised) but I didn’t really notice it looking particularly messy or anything.

And that’s it! What do you think? Pretty easy, and perfect for a girly brunch, bridal shower, or even baby shower in neutral colours. Let us know what you think in the comments below!

mani monday: jamberry nails

Happy monday!

How was everyone’s weekend? Did you celebrate Halloween on Friday? We sure did! We threw an AMAZING Halloween party for all of our friends using the Halloween Party Box and everyone loved it!! Now that Halloween is done we are planning our next party box so make sure to stay tuned to our Shop.

This week I have something very exciting for you girls. A couple of weeks ago I got connected with a girl that works as a consultant for Jamberry Nails. Now I was very excited to be connecting with someone like this but that’s because I’m a nail freak. For all of you girls that may not know what Jamberry nails is (don’t worry I won’t hold it against you), they are a company that started in the U.S that make these super cute, long lasting and incredible easy to apply nail wraps. If you have ever wanted to try nail wraps then these are the one’s you should go with, they are great. Steph (our Jamberry consultant) was awesome enough to send Ashley and I a whole bunch sample to try, and because I’m a sucker Ashley convinced me to do her nails and try to samples. We did the floral design they looked so great!

So read along for the step by step on how to put on these wraps.

First you have to clean the nails with the wipes and push back the cuticles.

Next you will peel the nail wrap and warm it up for 3-5 seconds with a blow dryer.

Once the wrap starts to bend you can apply it to the nail. Make sure to press on the edges of to ensure the wrap sticks.

Now use the blow dryer again to finish adhering the wrap. TIP: make sure the blow dryer is on medium temperature, we don’t want you to burn yourself like I burnt Ashley. Use your nail file to file away the excess wrap.

We finished by applying a Sally Hansen gel top coat because Ashley really likes to pick on her nails, but it’s not necessary. We also painted the rest of the nails cause otherwise it would have looked a little weird to only have one nail done.

And that’s it! Super simple and they last up to two weeks!

We have to thank Steph for hooking us up with these wraps, we absolutely love them and think you will too. If you are interested in trying them out you should totally check out her website.

And that’s a wrap 😛

 

friday faves: november 14

It’s time for our #FridayFaves roundup!

As always, Friday means it’s time to share our favourite things from the Internet this week, and let me tell you, there’s a LOT of stunners out there – hard to pick just five!

Here’s what we loved this week:

1. The most amazing machine in the world, a cupcake ATM.

2. This gorgeous cake, and more photos from this pretty modern palette from The Frosted Petticoat.

3. This clever and classic looking popcorn bar from Lark & Linen.

4. Another popcorn bar (clearly I’m obsessed!), this time a gorgeous gourmet one by calligraphy pros, featured on The Perfect Palette.

5. This adorable and super-fun superhero birthday cake from Queen of Bees.

And that’s it! Nothing like some pretty inspiration to jump start your weekend!

tech makeover: november calendar

It’s November and that means time for your next tech makeover!

As per usual our Canadian weather is being super temperamental and we left our Friday night party in a flurry and I went to class without a coat today. Who can keep up with that nonsense? BUT, it’s a new month and that means we’ve got your tech download for November!

There’s nothing like some watercolour pinks and greens to make November seem a little less dreary. Get your desktop and iPhone lock screen calendar download now!

Desktop W/ To Do

Desktop Calendar Without To Do

iPhone Lock Screen Wallpaper

And there you have it! Something fun and bright to make glancing down at your smartphone in the middle of a frigid snowstorm easier on the soul.

the weekender: november 14 – 16

Get out your day planner, it’s time to plan your weekend in Toronto!

There are two major events going on in Toronto this weekend that are worth checking out, as well as a tradition you can’t miss and a pop-up that deserves some attention, so while this weekend may seem smaller than usual it’s actually jam-packed…with possibilities! (See what I did there?) Without further ado (and I am the pro at ado), here’s where you should be this weekend:

The Gentleman’s Expo

This may some incongruous (that’s my English major talking) but the Gentleman’s Expo is a super cool event. Last year was their first in Toronto and it was a huge success, featuring some impressive guest speakers, interesting demonstrations, envy-worthy food and bar stations, and some bawdy humour (who doesn’t love that?) and to be honest I was a little jealous. But luckily you don’t have to be a guy to attend, so it’s a pretty great event to pretend your boyfriend dragged you to when in reality your as down for Bar Magic with Smoothini and other amazing sessions as you would be for Makeover 101 at a girl’s day show. Get the full lineup and ticket details at their website here.

Brika Pop-Up

I love pop-ups. There’s something addicting about the exclusivity of shopping in a random place for one day only, and pop-ups are always done by creative people so you can never go wrong. When you add in that this pop-up is none other that handmade crafted goodies from Brika, you have a winner. This event also features a custom footwear company and DesignHer Co., so really you can’t go wrong. It’s running both Saturday and Sunday 12-5pm at the Canary District.

Spark Sessions

I’d call this the ultra-estrogen opposite to The Gentleman’s Expo, and the fashion and beauty bloggers have for the weekend. A blog conference targeted specifically at Canadian bloggers who specialize in beauty and fashion, there are still tickets available for weekend passes AND single day passes both Saturday and Sunday. Featuring amazing sessions on topics like rebranding, working with brands, and the legal details all bloggers should know, if your blog fits the bill you should definitely check it out! Get the full agenda and purchase your tickets here.

Santa Claus Parade

Of course it isn’t November until you grab the littles and some hot chocolate and watch the annual Toronto Santa Claus Parade. I’m little-less and I’ve dragged Justin to countless parades in the past years (don’t ask him about the time I planned our weekend around hitting five different parades Toronto and the GTA, he’s still cross about that one) because nothing get’s more more in the Christmas spirit than singing Christmas songs and catching flying candy. For more details on the best place to catch your view of santa, hit up the parade website.

That’s all for this weekend! More than enough to keep you out of trouble if we do say so ourselves. What are you up to? If you have something going on you think we should add to our list let us know in the comments below!

mani monday: fall manicure

Another Monday is here, normally I would be totally depressed with the idea if it wasn’t for the fact that today is also mani monday!!

I noticed this past week that I haven’t done a dotticure in a while. For those of you that don’t know a dotticure is a dotted mani. Super simple to do, as you have seen in the confetti dotticure I did back in August. All you really need is a dotting tool and a couple of different nail polish colours. This time I chose to use a bunch of fall colours to embrace the autumn weather.

So here it goes!

These are the nail polishes and the dotting tools I used to make this design. I love these shades, I think they are so perfect for fall! You will definitely be seeing me using these a lot more!

I started by painting my ring finger white and the rest a dark shade of blue.

 

Once the nail polish dried I began painting the dots. I wanted to only do two dotted nails, so I chose the ring finger and the thumb. I started with four dots all together in the center of the nail.

 

Then I added the first circle of dots around the middle ones.

I did this again to create an outer layer of dots in a burgundy colour.

I left the thumb to dry and I moved on to the ring finger. Here I repeated the same steps but with different colours.

 

Once the dots have dried apply your favourite top coat and you are all done!

Hope you liked the fall dotticure!