Working on Christmas Gifties and a Pizza Party

Yep...that's right. The Christmas countdown is still on and we are now at seven weeks away! I need to be focused on some birthday (Mel) and UFO (Unfinished Object) items, but I am so in the Christmas mood. I have FINALLY decided on my handmade family gifts and I cannot wait to begin creating. Anyone else out there already making holiday gifites...I want to hear about them!?!?!?!?!?

And Kayden's "Pizza at the Palace" party planning continues. Over the last two weekends I spent some time searching the web for ideas and things that I need to get done for the gala. Here are some things that I have brewing:

- Paper Chef Hats for all of the kids. I am going to try some uniform and commercial restaurant supply stores in the area to see if they carry them as well. I am still trying to decide if I want to do a crown or tiara over each one to play up the whole princess/prince theme.

- T-shirts instead of aprons. Cloth aprons were going to to be a little more than what we budgeted to spend and the plastic ones looked too cheap, so I decided to go with white t-shirts. I purchased some iron on transfers that I can print right at home. One will feature a pink tiara and the word "princess". The other will feature a blue crown and the word "prince". For the princess', I will also use pink ribbon to tie up their sleeves with bows :) This will be a great take away that the guests can use again! The only thing left to decide is whether or not to add each child's name to their shirt...thoughts?

- Favor Pizza Box for a take away filled with goodies of some sort...still have no idea for these items. I found the template for the box on the internet...what did mothers do in the 60's, 70's and 80's for great ideas?!?!?!?! I plan to make these using the pink paper used for the invitation pocketfold, pictured below.

- Cloth Apron and Chef Hat need to be made for Kayden. Believe it or not, I found patterns for both of these items online as well. I figure that since she is the birthday girl, she can be in the real thing. I need to find some fabric but I have a little time for that.

- The pizza cake...I am going to make the cake and yes, I AM CRAZY!!! I found this really cute pizza cake over at the Parenting website and thought...how hard can it really be. Instead of the icing for the crust, I am going to use a marshmallow fondant. I have been doing some research and this stuff is apparently SUPER easy to make and even easier to use. I will keep you all posted on this effort!

I have been trying to be diligent about getting things organized for the party while enjoying the holidays at the same time. This will make my January and the new year and enjoyable one! I was finally able to get a good shot of the invitations so I am posting those below. I created a pocketfold using a pink metallic paper and used more metallics for the band and the seal. Let me know what you think!