Pepper Scraps » Party

Ultimate Blogging Party 2012

Pepper Ferguson — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 05:35:36 +0000

Yes a late night post to welcome this years parties. Last year I was very sad to only get a few visitors from the party, but as I see my friends #UBP12 posts go up I decided I can’t miss out! I have been doing the party 3 years now!

Welcome to Pepper Scraps I hope you will enjoy your stay!

I recommend starting at my About Page where you can learn more about me and what you can find here at Pepper Scraps.

Learning about Food & Health

2012 is a big year for me as I have shifted gears in my life and have started to eat healthier, exercise, lose weight, and had weight loss surgery to help maintain my weight loss. I’m up to 75 pounds lost.

With that change you will see a change in my blog as well as I talk more about food, share recipes, and share my struggles as I learn a new way of life.

Blogging About Blogging

Yes I’m one of those bloggers. I blog about blogging, but I share more from the perspective of a mom blogger, a legacy blogger (blogging since 1998), and as a graphic designer. So if you are looking for someone to help you learn more about blogging and how to make your blog more appealing then this is the right place to be.

Oh also I love vlogging, so if you like to watch vlogs then this is the place to be. I also encourage you to try vlogging, because it is awesome!

Make sure and subscribe via RSS or via Email so you can get my latest and greatest ramblings!

And because I hate those “hi I’m from the party” comments here is 5 questions for you to answer. You can either answer one or all five!

What is your favorite color?
When & why do you blog?
What do you find most interesting about my blog: learning about blogging, learn about getting healthier or recipes?
What is your biggest goal this year?
What is your favorite thing about the #UBP12?

Diaper Genie Party!

Pepper Ferguson — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 21:44:55 +0000

I received an invitation to a fun little party at the amazing home of Kristin of Our Ordinary Life! This fun little party was sponsored by Playtex & Diaper Genie. Which after living in a house without a diaper pail for 3+ months I was excited about learning more about their product. Plus I got to bring my best friend, Andrea, who is 8 months pregnant.

I loved seeing my friends Kristin & Tina! They are such sweeties and I love meeting some of my great bloggy friends.

I was so excited I even did a special manicure for the party! I went with a fun skittles design in baby colors! You can read more about my mani at my new nail blog!

The Party

Kristin fed us homemade, organic chicken noodle soup and homemade bread sticks. Which even though they were not on my diet I had to eat them and I’m so glad I did! She also served a fun chocolate cake that was decorated like a witches cauldron.

We then sat around and watched the results from her nursey swabbing. Wow, am I glad my nursery didn’t get swabbed! LOL How impressive that the only place they found icky bacteria was inside their diaper waste basket. Kristin gives all the credit to her clean-lovin’ hubby.

The Surprise

You can’t believe how excited I was to learn that each of us was going to leave with a Diaper Genie II Elite! Eek! We also each got a little swag bag filled with goodies.

I made my husband put together the Diaper Champ that night! After having it for a week I can tell the smell is much better and I’m super happy! We just through out our first bag, so it takes us about a week to fill with a toddler and a preschooler in night-time pants still. Not too bad!

Giveaway at Our Ordinary Life till Oct 5th

If you would like to get some goodies of your own you have to race over to Our Ordinary Life and enter her giveaway! You only have a couple more days to enter, so make sure and go right away!!

Playtex is not paying me but I did receive gifts at the party. Opinions are my own.

SSS: Measuring Happiness

Pepper Ferguson — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 17:53:16 +0000

My Favorite Post This Week

>> Measuring Happiness <<

I was visiting the new SITS Girls Forum and was enjoying a forum post about everyone’s favorite posts for January when I came upon Designer Wife’s great post: Measuring Happiness. She talked about a great quote for Kant:

Kant said that we require three things by which to measure happiness: someone to love, something we like to do, and something to look forward to.

Lindsey then decided to use Kant’s philosophy to put her happiness into perspective and I loved this and wanted to do it also!

1. Someone to Love:

God, my husband, and my children!

2. Something we like to do:

Graphic Design – Working on my business has been so great! I love that I’m doing something that I enjoy so much!
Blogging – I’ve really been enjoying blogging more this year now that I’ve let go of the thought that every post has to be perfect. Perfection is stressful!
Faith – (I’m stealing this one from Lindsey) The last year has been a big year for me growing closer to God and that of course has brought so much happiness in my life. I’ve been enjoying our new church soo much. I have loved getting involved with the women’s ministries and making really amazing friends.

3. Something to Look Forward to

Starting to work on losing weight! I’m really excited about this next step in my life and making the changes to make myself happier with me.

How SUPER SURFING SUNDAY Works

If you would like to join in it’s not that hard at all:

1. Pick one favorite post that you read this week. Link them up and maybe talk about why you liked there post so much.

2. Link to Pepper Scraps with this button:

3. Leave the link to your post in the comments.

SSS: You Are Not Alone

Pepper Ferguson — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 14:05:16 +0000

My Favorite Post This Week

>> YOU ARE NOT ALONE <<

Theta hit the nail on the head with this post! This is always a good reminder for us mommy’s that no matter how much we feel alone there are other mother’s going through the same struggles. This is a good reminder for me today as I feel frustrated and tired. I hope this is a good reminder to you also and encourages you through your day or week!

How it Works

If you would like to join in it’s not that hard at all:

1. Pick one favorite post that you read this week. Link them up and maybe talk about why you liked there post so much.

2. Link to Pepper Scraps with this button:

3. Leave the link to your post in the comments.

SSS: January 30th

Pepper Ferguson — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 10:00:00 +0000

My Favorite Post This Week

>> Valentine Round up <<

Every year I think about having a valentine’s day party for my friends but usually too late. I have been able to do it once in the past and I loved it. This year, again I am hoping to do one.

As I was surfing I ran into this great post and it was truly inspiring with all the fun crafts we could do.

How it Works

If you would like to join in it’s not that hard at all:

1. Pick one favorite post that you read this week. Link them up and maybe talk about why you liked there post so much.

2. Link to Pepper Scraps with this button:

3. Leave the link to your post in the comments. (If I get enough people involved I will add a Linky Tool.)

How to Plan a 1st Birthday Party: Invitations & Decorations

Pepper Ferguson — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 07:05:27 +0000

This month Zarek turned one year old. Which is a big milestone. Babies learn so much in their first year and grow and change so much. For parents this is something that has to be celebrated. Their baby is turning one year old.

Last week we talked about figuring out the theme for the party. This week we will be talking about invitations and decorations. You have lots of options for your invitations and decorations. If you are super crafty or super frugal you have great options.

Prepackaged

You could purchase your invitations and decorations prepackaged from the store. This is dependent on your theme too. But try and think out of the box too. Having an under the sea party find fish themed cards and use blue and green streamers too make your guests feel under water. You don’t have to just look at invitations trying to find just the right thing look at blank note cards too. Make sure and look in wedding sections and baby shower sections for decorations too.

You could check out party stores, card stores, paper stores, target, walmart, and/or online. Search google for your theme and invitations just search images to get great ideas. You may be surprised what you find.

Some other great online resources:

Oriental Trading Company - They have an okay selection. They have themes like cowgirl, trucks, princess, jungle, “planes, trains and automobiles”, Disney Princess, and more.
Birthday Express – They even have a section of just 1st birthday party themes. They have a huge selection of items to choose from.
Tickled Pink Designs – Here is a good site to find even more invitations. They specialize in invitations only, but they have a huge selection of designs.
InvitationBox – You can find some amazing cards here. Great place to just browse and find theme ideas too!

Photo Card Invitations

Photo Card invitations have become a huge trend lately. At first you saw photo cards mainly around Christmas, but now we are seeing them for all kinds of occasions and for birthdays more and more.

You can find some great pre-designed cards at these sites:

TinyPrints – They have a huged selection! Great place to find any kind of card you may ever need.
Shutterfly – Shutterfly is known for their photo printing, but they also offer photocard templates too!

Custom Photo Card Designs

Another option is you can hire someone to make a custom invitation. They can create an invitation for any kind of theme imaginable. Just give them some ideas of what you are looking for and the text you need on the card.

You can go on etsy to request custom made photo cards and have the designer print them or just send you the digital file. Visit the alchemy section of etsy and ask someone to create something specifically for you.

I do it for very inexpensive, only $15 for a custom card design. I send you a file you can print at your favorite local or online printer.

I created the above invitation for Zarek and had it printed online, I had free credits for 5×7 photos, and only had to pay shipping. I used envelopes I had already in our house. So his invitations were very inexpensive, but everyone raved about them.

Hand Made

If you are crafty, or know someone who is who may help you, you could create handmade invitations. There are great products out there like stickers, stamps, and scrapbook paper that you could use to make a great cards, cupcake toppers, decorate bags for goodies and more. I am sure that you will have people who will rave about how crafty and talented you are.

You could also go onto etsy to hire someone to create these invitations or decorations for you. You can either find a shop that has premade , banners, cupcake toppers, lollypops and even more. Or you can ask on alchemy for some to create a custom invitation for you. You will find some great talented people who will love helping you out.

Evite

Running out of time don’t be afraid to use evite to send out your invitations. They have lots of invitations/themes to choose from. And you will probably get more RSVPs with evites and less “drop in guests”.

Later this week we will be talking about food for your party. And who doesn’t love talking about food!

How to Plan a 1st Birthday Party: Choose A Theme

Pepper Ferguson — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:37:02 +0000

This month Zarek is turning one year old. For Zane I planned such a great birthday party. I wanted to make sure that Zarek’s birthday is just as grand as Zane’s was. I will be sharing with you my plan step by step to make the Perfect First Birthday Party.

Choose Your Theme

The first thing you need is the perfect theme. This can be the most fun part of the planning or the most frustrating, but it’s all in how you look at it. There are some great websites to give you ideas. One of my favorite’s is:

Birthday Party Ideas

Think about some of your little one’s favorite things or your favorite things to do with your little one. Obviously a one year old doesn’t tell you in words what their favorite things are. But think about their favorite food? Do they have a favorite toy or stuffed animal? Do you always read the same book to them every night? Or you can do a theme around a color, the theme of their room, or just something fun.

Some Ideas For You

Some of my favorite themes:

Balloons (Zane’s first birthday theme)
Camouflage Green or Pink
Bubbles
Prince/Princesses
Cupcakes
Bugs
ABCs
Animal Crackers (do everything in animals)
Fishy
Butterfly
Nursery Rhymes
Circus
Trucks/Construction
Cowboy/girl
Dinos
Dr Suess
On the Farm
Winnie the Pooh
Rainbow
Rubber Ducky
Stars and Moons
Star Wars
Sunshine
Tea Party
Train Party
ABCs
Robots
Pirates

Be creative think outside the box.

Six Categories

Write down 3-5 of your ideas for themes on the top of a piece of paper. Write these six categories under each theme:

Invitations
Decorations
Games/Entertainment/Craft*
Cake
Food
Goodie Bags

*With a one year old you may not play games but you may want your guests write notes to your little one or have trivia about your little one or about the theme.

Brainstorming

Now it’s time for you to brainstorm for each theme you are considering. Write down quick ideas for each of these categories. Just write basic ideas down later on you will expand your ideas once you have chosen your theme. What you want to do is see if you can fill up each category and see which theme you start to get excited about, that sounds the most fun.

Zarek’s Example

Zarek is going to have a Cheerios themed birthday party. Here is a rough draft I created to plan his party.

Invitations: Modify a picture of a cheerios box with the party details
Decorations: Yellow: yellow balloons, streamers, plates, etc.
Games/Entertainment/Craft: String Cheerios on a necklace, slide show of the year
Cake: I’m thinking about making a round cake to look like a big cheerio
Food: Cheerio Rice Crispy Treats, Donuts, Cheerio Chex Mix
Goodie Bags: Single Servings of Cheerios, Cheerio Cereal bars, Spoon and bowl

This is all about having fun with your theme. Don’t feel like everything has to match. Your one year old will never know that they didn’t have all yellow balloons. Or that the cake wasn’t perfect. Take the stress out of the planning, just have fun!

Stay tuned for the next post in this series, all about party invitations and decorations.