Have you been anxiously awaiting the recipes I've been promising you from the Rainbow Unicorn Party?  The first one I want to share is for these...

Chocolate Sprinkles Cookies

I was inspired to make these after seeing THIS POST from Rosie at Sweetapolita.
These are SUPER chocolaty but oh so delicious! They weren't hard to make at all but you'll need to double the recipe if you are looking to feed a crowd. (and yet for me, the batter got a bit dry pretty quickly, so if you make a big batch you'll need to keep the dough covered while you've got your first batch in the oven).

I opted to use the pastel colored round sprinkles - to keep with the party theme a little better. (Not that the other ones wouldn't work just fine). BUT…I did have to pick out every purple sprinkle so they matched the party color palette perfectly. Ha!! GET THE RECIPE HERE.

Next up…the recipe for this...

Rainbow Sprinkles Popcorn

This is actually considered "Cake Batter Popcorn". It looked adorable sprinkled with the same candy sprinkles used on the Chocolate Cookies. It's SUPER sweet and it keeps the popcorn soft…not crunchy. (I personally prefer crunch). But the kids loved it and it looked cute on the dessert table. I'm honestly not a huge fan of boxed cake mix, which is what the recipe calls for, but it sure makes things simple.

The recipe came from my Popcorn Flavor Round-Up Post - 9th flavor down in the post. 
Really easy to make and since you can change out the colors of the sprinkles this treat works for ANY celebration you are having. I just filled up some white party cups and popped the clear lucite table labels (coming to the shop soon) in front and called it done!

KEEPiNG iT REAL
Had you noticed there was no purple in the party scheme until I mentioned having picked out the purple sprinkles from the bottle I used for the cookies? (and popcorn too).

I'm not a big fan of purple in the first place. (cringing when I say that because I have so many friends/fans that love it and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings - *wink*). I'm trying to warm up to it again. My room was painted lavender when I was in middle school so I'm not sure what happened between now and then? I think you either love pink or purple. And I just happen to prefer pink.

Anyway…not only did I have to sort through the sprinkles, I also sifted through the shimmer sixlets and candy pearls from Sweetworks too - removing all of the lavender pastel pieces. I created my own custom mix of colors I call the "Ella Collection" - Ha! The tedious behind-the-scenes tasks that no one ever really knows about…until now.

LIFE | Sprinkle the confetti - let's celebrate getting stuff done!

Sprinkle the confetti people! It's time to celebrate!
All of Ella's Thank You Cards were finally finished and sent last week! *high five*
AND…I was also able to edit all of the Rainbow Unicorn party photos and will be sharing the details soon!

You are looking at the front of the thank you cards - addressed and ready just before I mailed or hand-delivered them. More details on how I put these together are coming later this week.
For now, just know they are tucked inside pretty clear envelopes from JamPaper and Envelope!

KEEPiNG iT REAL
I've been asked to bring cupcakes to Ella's Valentine's Day party on Friday so I was contemplating making my own or just picking up a delicious dozen or two from Cupcake Delights.

THEN…I saw THESE posted on Facebook today by my sweet friend, Carrie, from The Cake Blog and I can't help myself. I'll be doing the mini-sized version and I'm hoping the kids absolutely love them!! I promise to share my results!

PARTY PEEK | Ella's Rainbow Unicorn Party- the Cake

Cake and Photo Credit: Sherri at The Pastry Studio

I shared this sneak peek of Ella's birthday cake on Instagram and Facebook yesterday.
I'm working on finishing up the photos and will be posting the rest of the details from Ella's Rainbow Unicorn Party soon!

KEEPiNG iT REAL
As much as I love taking my own photos it's busy holiday times like these I'd love to hand off this responsibility to someone else and just wait for the finished photos to be emailed to me! Ha!!

PARTY PREPS | Rainbow Unicorn Birthday Party Invitation

I'm having a hard time deciding on which invitation to go with for Ella's upcoming "Rainbow Unicorn" birthday party.
She's got her favorite and I've got mine.

Although I have never revealed the invitation pre-party before...
I'm thinking this is such a FUN idea to get you all involved in the voting process...
so if you have an opinion...let me know which version you prefer:

                             Chalkboard Background vs. White Background

Looking forward to your feedback and input!!

KEEPiNG iT REAL
This whole "Rainbow Unicorn" theme Ella picked is totally cracking me up.
I remember everything being all rainbows and unicorns at one point when I was growing up!
I've still got a unicorn statue a friend of mine (Missy) gave me for my birthday in elementary school.
It was from the Hallmark store - back in the day when shopping for pens and stickers was totally THE shopping experience all girls craved!
I have no idea how the porcelain unicorn has survived without any chips or breaks all these years?
Ella has it in her room now and LOVES it!
Maybe I'll use it as the cake topper for her party? Ha!!

BEHIND THE SCENES | More good stuff

It's grind time here at my house.
Tomorrow is the big day for our Neighborhood Fall Family Picnic and
I've been working on final preparations to make sure it all comes together nicely.
Which also means there's been no extra time for blogging this week - as you could tell! *wink*

Thought I'd send you off into the weekend with more behind-the-scenes photos into the random bits and pieces of my week:

Adorable Halloween goodies from The TomKat Studio

In love with these items and can't wait to share what I'm doing with all of this. 

Find these items and so much more at The TomKat Studio Shop.

New fave Ditto Dots washi tape from Doodlebug Design, Inc.

Totally perfect colors for Ella's Rainbow Unicorn party coming up in November.

 Halloween Decor for The Pastry Pedestal

The scrapbooking aisle of your local craft store is such a good friend to 

The Pastry Pedestal and the NEW Platforms!! Not to mention so are store-bought pastries! *wink* 

I'll share more deets next week.

New labeling for the Popcorn Bar on Saturday

Loving the new updated "Chalkboard" edition of the Rustic Popcorn Bar Collection.

Kernel Season's Popcorn Spritzer Makeover

It's amazing what a little brown paper bag can do. 

I'll be sharing more details of what else I used brown paper bags to create for the Fall Family Picnic.

New PNPF Branding and Business Cards

You've had to notice the new look of the blog?!

These are my matching business cards I received a few weeks ago. 

I always order the mini business cards from moo.com - They are my fave!

There's more...
but there's no more time! *wink*
Story of my life right now.

I hope you all have a GREAT weekend!
Believe it or not, even though there's still so much more to do for the Fall Family Picnic...
I'm not stressing about it. I've been pretty calm - up to this point.
I think it's just wisdom as I get older - knowing the world isn't going to end if every little detail I dreamed of doesn't play out. In fact - simple is better.

Now that doesn't mean skipping the small details altogether...
it just means picking and choosing the small details that matter most! Right?

KEEPiNG iT REAL
I'm really looking forward to the pie-eating contest on Saturday - it's going to be the highlight of my weekend!
J and some of the other menfolk from the neighborhood are going to be participating
so I can't wait to see how it all plays out!

SUGAR | Rainbow Sprinkle Surprise Pops

I'm excited to announce I'm one of the newest members of the The TomKat Studio Design Team!!
I couldn't be more thrilled to be able to share fun, creative ideas using the darling party supplies in the TKS Shop.

I'm sharing my first official post today, Rainbow Sprinkle Surprise Pops, over on The TomKat Studio Blog.  

Join me there to find out what the surprise is hidden inside each of these adorable frozen treats and what you'll need to recreate these simple desserts!

I really love how the Rainbow Dot wood spoons I shared earlier really finish these off!

KEEPiNG iT REAL
I'm happy about joining the TKS Team.
Not only have I been working with Kim in different capacities over the years from designing custom silhouettes,  hosting Pinterest Parties and contributing to her Holiday Gift Guide...

I've also been using the cute party products and craft supplies from Kim's shop for some time and I love sharing what I create with them. This new collaboration was a no-brainer for me. Ha!!

Here's a quick round-up of just a few of the other TKS Party Supplies and ideas I've shared here:
Cupcake Sprinkles
Hot Cocoa Bar Preparations
Styled Hot Cocoa Bar
Sweet Treats
Valentine's Day Inspiration
Mini Banana Pudding Dessert Shooters
Simple Shirley Temples
Game Day Banner
Cookie Exchange/Bake Sale

CRAFT | Rainbow Dot Mini Wood Spoons

I'm completely smitten with the wooden utensil trend that has taken over the party styling world.
What's not to love about an item that is eco-friendly...
completely versatile for just about every occasion...
and absolutely screams "get crafty and personalize me!"

I've been itching to do something creative with them, other than using Chalkboard Paint for creating the "plant marker" dessert spoons I created for the party I styled for Martha Stewart, and today I have a crazy simple painting idea to share with you. Something so simple you'll wonder why I even bothered to create a brief tutorial about it. *wink*

Rainbow Dot Mini Wood Spoons

Ever since my friend Kim created a Rainbow Heart party for her daughter Kate...

I'm convinced there has been a resurgence