MyMomShops Sponsor: Sugarsticks Parties

I am so pleased to introduce you to our newest sponsor, Sugarsticks Parties, a mom-owned and operated party decor and stationery business based in Tallahassee, Florida. Sugarsticks products range from personalized "note from mom" notepads and kids' bookplates to full party decor sets including invitations, favor tags, banners and more. Everything is lovingly created by hand and the designs are all original. Check them out (and remember that each theme below is likely available in several formats--i.e. invitations, banners, stickers, etc):

Personalized Mom-to-Teacher Notes ($23.60 for set of 12 notecards with envelopes; other designs available)


M2M Swanky Baby Vintage Fancy Camping Banner ($23.25; matching party accessories available too)


Princess Birthday Hats ($33.60 for a set of 6)


Funky Bicycle Book Plates ($8 for set of 18 labels; other designs available)


Monster Ball Party Invitation ($21.60 for set of 12 with envelopes; matching party accessories available too)


Really cute stuff, right? Shop at Sugarsticks Parties and visit its blog for more eye candy, party ideas and inspiration.

Superhero Thank You Cards

S. was running low on thank-you notes so I ordered a small batch of these "It's a Superparty" thank you notes to match his Batman-themed 5th birthday party. They turned out super cute (I put his full name all in lowercase letters which, in my opinion, always looks better from a design perspective). These were also a good value since they were from Tiny Prints' lower-priced "Studio Basics" collection and cost as little as 84 cents per card. Need new thank-you notes for your little ones? Check out Tiny Prints' assortment of Personalized Thank You Notes.

Chunky Crayons

I'm mostly focused on buying school supplies for my first-grader (I can't believe how much stuff a first grader needs these days) but I might also treat my son- who is starting preschool- to this Set of 9 Hexagon Crayons by Pkolino. Sized just right for little hands, these chunky hexagonal crayons come in the usual colors plus shimmery silver and gold. At $2.50 per set, these also would make a great party favor for preschool birthdays. Buy them at one of my all-time favorite toys sites, Oompa.com.

Eye Candy

My daughter had her 6th birthday party at Dylan's Candy Bar in NYC last week. It was a splurge but it was worth it. She had the best time. Who wouldn't in a setting like this?

Wordless Wednesday: Birthday #8

(Again, this is not really wordless. Whatever).



The birthday girl woke up to pink balloons on her big day. I do this for my kids every year.







I must say, the Princess Peach pinata I bought on Ebay was quite impressive.







The pinata was pull-string but the girls wanted to beat with a bat instead. Someone's dad bravely held the pinata in the air. No limbs were lost.







The highlight of the party--a birthday cake from Carlo's Bakery, aka "Cake Boss." Yes, it was expensive (but it was her one "big" gift from me), and yes, it tasted fantastic, too.









Making a wish.







Want to know what's inside those 3-D figures that Cake Boss Buddy makes? Rice Krispie treats.







There was also a "red carpet," pillow-case decorating, toenail painting, and a visit from our building's doorman, not necessarily in that order. A wonderful time was had by all!

Inkspot Workshop

One of my favorite Etsy shops for personalized stationery is Inkspot Workshop and now it has own spiffy online shop here, featuring "hand crafted paper goodies that make you smile." Not surprisingly, the new site is pure eye candy and I'm sure you will love almost everything you see there. I sure do. Here are some of my favorite new items. The designs are so fresh and playful!

Pinwheel Calling Cards (set of 24 with a tin for $18)


Airplane Gift Tags (set of 12 for $9)


Ansley Initial Folio Set (18 cards plus folio for $36)


Birdie Baby Shower Invites( set of 12 for $23.50)

For a limited time only, use code "0809" to enjoy a 25% discount on your order at Inkspot Workshop. Valid on orders of $15 or more only.

Blues Clues Party Favors

Just wanted to show you a picture of how S's birthday favors turned out- I taped the Blues Clues chocolate lollipops ($12.50 for 10) I ordered from Etsy onto these Blue Goes to School paperback books ($3.99 each). They went over well with S's 3-year-old pals (and the moms, too) and were very affordable. I think they looked cute, too!

Batman Birthday Party

S's fifth birthday party was a big success, We held it at a local gymnastics place and somehow the kids (most of whom had just finished a very full week at day camp) managed to burn off yet more excess energy:























S's favorite activity was diving into the (squishy) blocks...







....or even being pushed in by his friend L.









Remember Baby Grayson, whose mom wrote a guest post here? He's 7 months old now and was the hit of the party. What a gorgeous, sweet baby! Everyone wanted to hold him.







Even R. took a turn.







Cake time! We got a huge Batman cake from the Upper West Side Fairway.







I also ended up ordering those Superhero cookies from Etsy and it was less expensive than I thought since I ordered the smaller platter-sized versions.







The pull-string Batman pinata was a hit, even if it did not require a baseball bat.







Not everyone is happy with their loot though. Look closely.







Opening gifts back home, with R. looking on. Had to remind her that her turn is just days away.







Anyone want leftovers?

From the Archives: Cakes Gone Bad

Editor's note: This post was first published in 2009.



I read an entertaining article in The New York Times last week about the blog Cake Wrecks, an ode to things gone terribly awry with baked goods (in particular, malaprops made with icing). My favorite image from the article was this one:





Which reminded me of my Halloween birthday cake last year, where my kids wished their "memmy" a Happy Birthday!





Cake Wrecks is a very fun read- check it out!

Party Time

I'll be offline for the rest of the day as we celebrate S's 5th birthday party with some of his friends. Everything is Batman-themed, of course, like this Batman Pull String Pinata he'd been coveting from the Birthday Express catalog. R. is bitterly disappointed there is no bat involved. I'll post some party pictures over the weekened. Oh, and if anyone can please explain Transformers to me...S. has received some already as birthday gifts and we are clueless as to how they work. I remember that 1980s commercial ("...more than meets the eye, robots in disguise") but can not for the life of me (even with the instructions) figure out how to turn these things from A into B. His preschool toys were so much easier!

The Second Time Around

There are so many fun party supplies for first birthdays, but what about the following year? Two new 2nd birthday party themes at Celebrate Express are now available for sentimental moms like me. For girls, there's 'Lil Cupcake 2nd Birthday Party Supplies (deluxe pack for 8 guests costs $31.99) and for boys (I actually like this theme better and thinks it works fine for girls, too) there's the Mod Monkey 2nd Party Supplies (shown above) for the same price. Add-ons (extra plates, balloons, favor boxes, etc.) are available at additional cost. Now I just wish they went up to age 6! Visit Celebrate Express.

Superhero Treats

While browsing favors for S's upcoming Batman birthday party, I stumbled onto an Etsy shop that makes the most amazing theme cookies. They're expensive (up to $45 for a dozen) but I suppose if you're really crafty in the kitchen, you could attempt these designs yourself:

Top to bottom: Star Wars, Pinkalicious, Superheroes, and Bert & Ernie.

Best Birthday Cake Ever

I made a very important purchase yesterday. I headed to Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, NJ (for the 2nd time) to order R's 8th birthday cake. You already know that R. is obsessed--to put it mildly--with Cake Boss. And her greatest birthday wish was a "cake by Buddy." I explained that the big cakes they show on Cake Boss are wayyyy out of our price range, but I'd see if we could get a smaller one. So, I won't spill all the details about her cake except to say that there's fondant, Princess Peach, and lots of pink, and that, yes, it is on the small side. And that if it makes her as happy as she deserves to be (she hasn't had the easiest year), then it will be worth every dollar. I'll post pictures of it on her big day. In the meantime, if you want to see what some (more elaborate) Cake Boss birthday cakes look like, check out its specialty cake gallery.

p.s. One big benefit of ordering a custom cake at Carlo's--you get to order your own treats right afterwards, without waiting on the notoriously long line. Yum.

So Cute You (Almost) Won't Eat Them

I just ordered a bunch of these chocolate character lollipops from Etsy as birthday favors and they look fantastic (and taste great, too...I just had to sample one). They are bigger than I expected and for an extra twenty cents per lollipop I got personalized favor tags. I couldn't choose among all the characters so I got an assortment of Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Blue from Blue's Clues. I think my 3-year-old and his pals will love them. And quite likely their moms, too. Order 10 for just $12 at My Sweeties.

MyMomShops Sponsor: Scribbles-n-Giggles

Our newest sponsor, Scribbles-n-Giggles, is an online stationery and gift boutique started by mom Tera Castro, a fellow stationery-phile. After spending hours online searching for just the right baby announcements, party invitations, and stationery (hmmm...can anyone relate to that?) she started designing her own and having them printed at a local paper shop. Now, her designs are available at her shop Scribbles-n-Giggles.

There are two types of cards available- print-your-own or ready-made. The latter are digitally press printed on heavy card stock with a smooth matte finish. You can also have the reverse sides printed for an additional fee. Here are some of my favorite designs in either format:

"Gone Fishin" print-your-own invitation ($25 for digital image which you can print yourself as often as you'd like).


Blue Vines Return Address Labels ($18 for 36 labels, many other designs available).


Floral Print Personalized Notecard (starting at $9.90 for 10 cards with envelopes)

Modern Circle Art Photo Birth Announcement (starts at $1.77 per card)


Visit Scribbles 'n Giggles and enjoy 15% off your entire order with code "MMSHOPS".