A SWEET Valentine’s Day printable package + SWEET treats + the SWEETEST kids around (well, most of the time) = one pretty SWEET {LOVE} Day celebration.

I’m not gonna lie.   Some parties are for the kids.  And some parties are for me.  I pretended this party was for the kids, and spent a few hours trying to convince myself it was for the kids, but in actuality I think it might have really been for me. (GASP!  I know, how selfish!)  There’s just something about pink + red + hearts + sparkles that speaks to me, not to mention all of the adorable sweet{LOVE} Day treats.  (I’m pretty sure those sweet treats really were speaking to me too–as in calling my name and saying, ‘eat me’.  Before.  After.  And during the party.)

Truth be told, the kids probably would have been fine if I had just dumped a bunch of candy & treats in the middle of the table and let them go at it!  But, they are quickly learning that EVERYTHING tastes better when it’s cutened up with Anders Ruff printables and decor!

I’m pretty good at fooling my kids (I’m admittedly not as good at fooling my husband), so fortunately, they still thought the party was for them.  After all, the little details were planned with them in mind (kind of, ha!).

Take these cute customized shirts, for instance–first name initials on hearts for the little girls and red/white polka dotted tie t-shirts for the boys.  The darling shirts were custom made by my talented friend, Vivian, of Kerr Kreations.  We knew the girls would love the oversized coordinating hair accessories, and we were right!  A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!

Every great party starts with an amazing graphic printable package (or should, in my opinion!).  I fell in love with Anders Ruff’s Sweet Valentine’s Day collection the moment I saw it.  I love the ‘sweet shoppe’ feel with the pink and white stripes and the darling dessert graphics. From the sweet invitation, to the pages and pages of printable party accessories (cupcake toppers, drink flags, banner, placemats, party favors & more, Anders Ruff knows how to do Valentine’s Day right!

Immediately after seeing AR’s Valentine’s graphic package, I began pinning ideas for an awning on Pinterest (Do you need an invite?  Leave me a comment and I’ll send you one!) Again, my amazing friend Viv and her husband set to work making my dreams of a sweet shoppe awning a reality.  (Maybe I can convince them to share a tutorial on building it?)  They were so sweet to let me borrow it for the party!  We picked out coordinating pink & white striped fabric to tie into the printables.  Vivian also sewed a coordinating runner to tie the kid’s table to the dessert table.

Filling the dessert table with yummy treats was the easy part.  Along with a few sweet treats I picked up at the store, I recruited the talents of Lynlee, of Lynlee’s Petite Cakes , Christina, of Cookies Are My Canvas, Johanna, of Pop.O.Licious Cake Pops and Jessica of Vita Dolce Chocolates.  I am always amazed to see the end products of talented dessert designers.

I had lots of fun products to display these beautiful desserts in, thanks to Amanda Graff of Hey Yo Yo!  Amanda sent adorable pink trimmed berry baskets, red striped ice cream cups, cupcake liners & more!  I added a little coordinating paper shred, some ribbon, a few of the sweet printables from Anders Ruff’s package to add some pizzazz, and what I like to refer to as ‘dessert heaven’ was created.

Lynlee’s fondant work (Lynlee’s Petite Cakes) was gorgeous!  She was able to perfectly recreate the sweet cupcakes, sundaes, ice cream cones & fountain drinks from Anders Ruff’s printable package!  Christina’s cookies (Cookies Are My Canvas)were also exceptional!  She added edible glitter/luster dust which made the cookies have a beautiful sparkle in just the right places!  I’ve been a long time fan of Johanna’s cake pops (Pop.O.Licious Cake Pops)!  I’m fortunate to live close to her, but even if I didn’t, I’d still be choosing her for my cake pop needs!  See those cute waffle cone  and cupcake pops?!!  Yum! Jessica (Vita Dolce Chocolates) sent a variety of yummy artisan chocolates, including truffles, heart shaped chocolates and ice cream cone chocolate suckers.  I displayed them in ice cream glasses filled with pink & red M&Ms, topped off with a red glittered heart shaped cherry and striped straw!

My dining table was overflowing with Valentine’s goodies too.  Glittered heart topiaries and apothecary jars filled with colorful candies served as centerpieces.  Each place setting included an adorable heart cut out placemat, cute Anders Ruff printable wrapped napkins, ramekins filled with cute candy bars with fun AR Valentine wrappers, a raspberry milkshake and gourmet cupcake.  Of course, each little sweetheart needed his/her own mailbox for storing sweet treats, take home favors & letters & cards too.  I dressed the mailboxes up with 2″ circle toppers and Hershey’s Kiss labels from the Sweet Valentine’s Day printable package.    (That’s the great thing about Anders Ruff’s printables, there are endless uses for the different designs included in each package!)  My quick & inexpensive DIY idea for dressing up the chair backs involved gluing red heart paper plates to leftover strips of coordinating fabric.  It added a fun pop of color to each seat.

It was obvious the kids enjoyed themselves.  Smiles were big and laughs were loud! 

They ate….and ate.

They decorated Valentine’s Day cards, made cootie catchers (yes, even the boys…who loved them!), colored their activity placemats & played games (from Anders Ruff’s printable Valentine’s package).

I may have to throw my kids and their friends myself a Valentine’s Day party every year!

Credits:

Event Styling:  Jen Carver, Banner Events

Printable Graphic Designs:  Anders Ruff Custom Designs

Invitation here:

Party printables here: 

Photography:  Karina Rigtrup, A Fresh Take Photography

Custom sewing (custom awning & shirts):  Vivian Kerr, Kerr Kreations

Party goods/decor (striped straws, cupcake liners, plastic ice cream bowls, Divine twine, berry baskets):  Hey Yo Yo

Custom Fondant (3-D Cake topper & cupcake toppers):  Lynlee’s Petite Cakes

Cake Pops:  Pop.O.Licious Cake Pops

Custom Cookies:  Cookies Are My Canvas

Gourmet Artisan Chocolates:  Vita Dolce Chocolates

Resources:

Target:  Valentine mailboxes, napkins, plates, Valentine stickers/cards/envelopes

Michaels:  Glitter heart topiaries, glitter heart ornaments, glitter heart wreath

Pier 1:  tasting spoons (for brownie bites), ramekins