Ask the Expert - Party Planning with Sweet Stella's

Please welcome Shannon Moyer-Szemenyei, Owner and Designer of Sweet Stella's for Day 2 of the Ask the Expert Series.    She is going to give us some great ideas for a party for a small child.

Dumptruck Themed Party

When Christine and I started chatting about her new Ask an Expert, I got really excited because it meant that I got to talk about my favourite thing…party planning!

Even before I became a mom, you could find me helping my friends plan their children’s parties and dreaming about my future childs’ momentous first birthday party. When it came time to throw it, I was able to set months and months of planning into action.

First and foremost, get a theme, and by that I mean an inspiration for the party. It can be…a colour, favourite toy, game, shape, cartoon character, or even just a feeling.  Once you’ve nailed it down to what you want your party to be inspired by, the rest should come pretty easily. For our purposes here, let’s take a dump truck and build a party around that.

Every party needs a food table, and what better use of a dump truck than to use them on your food table? Go to your local hardware or lumber store and get a 2x4 cut into a variety of sizes. Use these as risers on your table, and place two dump trucks on the planks. Fill the dump trucks with…salad…buns…burgers…really anything can go into a dump truck! Thank goodness for a party without rules!

 

Once you have the main course figured out, think toward dessert. If you want to forgo the fancy cake, consider baking one yourself, and making a wee bit of a mess with it. Fill up the dump truck with the cake, and drizzle over the icing, then sprinkle with cookie crumbs! Guests can take a scoop, and enjoy something a little less traditional, but something that fits so completely with the theme.

Another dessert option would be to take mini dump trucks that you can find at tour local party supply store in the favour section, and fill them with chocolate pudding. Place them out with toppings like cookie crumbs, sprinkles, chocolate candies and nuts (if there are no allergy concerns, of course!). For the spoons, get mini shovels! 

Incorporating elements of your inspiration into every party aspect is important, but it’s also important to not overdo it. You don’t need to have an actual dump truck on everything, but having cute little elements like the mini dump truck pudding desserts, using plastic shovels to serve the food, table linens in colours that match with the dump trucks that you choose…it all goes a very long way and you will notice a difference in the overall feeling of the party.

As a special treat to you party planning parents out there, I’m offering 20% off all custom party orders (as well as instock items in my Etsy shop) to Christine’s readers. Just use coupon code PARTY20 at checkout!

Please take a moment and visit Shannon here:

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Christine

www.christine-company.com

Ask the Expert - Bath Salts Tutorial

Today is Day 1 of our Ask the Expert Series.  Please welcome Stephanie Sharer of Alchemy Lifestyle and Wellness.  Stephanie will be providing a bath salts tutorial for us today.  I know Stephanie would welcome any questions you may have, please ask away in the comments section below.

Simple Bath Salts Tutorial

Difficulty:  EASY | Time:  20-30 minutes | Yield:  16 oz.

Nothing says 'relaxation' quite like a soothing soak in a warm tub.  Adding a therapeutic bath salt mixture just puts the icing on the cake.  Bath salts are a great way to help detoxify the body, drain the lymphatic system and improve circulation and overall well being.  They are also a great way to reduce stress and experience the benefits of aromatherapy.

For this recipe, you will need:

1 cup Epsom Salt

1 cup Dead Sea Salt

1/2 cup Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Jojoba Oil

Colorant of choice (optional, can be purchased from soap making section of craft store)

1 tsp essential oil or fragrance oil of choice**

Most of the ingredients can be found in your local grocery store or health food store.  Food coloring makes a great colorant substitution for those who don't have micas, iron oxides or lab colors on hand.

**For a true aramotherapy experience, be sure to use ONLY essential oils.  "Fragrance" oils may smell nice, but they are synthetically made.  Only true essential oils have therapeutic benefits.

STEP 1

Pour Epsom, Dead Sea salts and Baking Soda into a large mixing bowl.  

Mix together to break up any clumps.

 STEP 2

Drizzle 1/2 tsp jojoba oil and 1 tsp Essential Oil blend over salt mixture and blend thoroughly.

 STEP 3

Add desired amount of  color and blend well.  (You can have some fun here by 

splitting your mixture first and coloring half of it to create a neat layered effect!)

 STEP 4

Package and label your salts.  They are ready to use!

 Recommended usage:  Simply scoop about 4 TBS into warm bath water.  Soak for 15-20 minutes and pat dry.  The addition of the Jojoba oil will keep your skin from drying out.

Now you know how to make an awesome luxurious bath treat that is great for personal use or for gift giving!

Below are a few of my favorite essential oil blends for the bath.

Calming Blend

3 drops Lavender

2 drops Jasmine

2 drops Palmarosa

1 drop Geranium

Detoxifying Blend

3 drops Grapefruit

2 drops Lavender

2 drops Sweet Fennel

2 drops Rosemary

2 drops Cypress

2 drops Geranium

1 drop Lemon

1 drop Juniper Berry

Earthly Delight Blend

2 drops Bergamot

2 drops Lavender

2 drops Geranium

1 drop Rose

1 drop Patchouli

1 drop Vetiver

Feel free to adjust the number of drops to suit your recipe and preference.  I have listed them all in "single" dose proportions.  For the above recipes, you would need the equivalent of 100 drops to scent your batch.

CAUTION:  Essential Oils contain therapeutic constituents that may not be appropriate for all users.  Please do your research before making your choices of which oils to use.

There are so many great resources available both in print and on the internet for how to make natural bath products and aromatherapy blends in the comfort of your kitchen.  Check out a few of my favorites.

Aromaweb - www.aromaweb.com  (fantastic info about all aspects of aromatherapy including essential oil safety and blend ideas.)

NAHA - www.naha.org (for general aromatherapy resources, courses, aromatherapist directory)

Amazon.com - www.amazon.com (for books on aromatherapy and product making)

Stephanie Sharer is the owner of Alchemy Lifestyle & Wellness - a holistic personal care business.  She is a mom of one, a wife, a daughter and a holistic practitioner with professional accreditation with the NAHA (National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy) and the AIA (Alliance of International Aromatherapists as well as being a member of The Artisan Group.  She has studied and practiced clinical aromatherapy and natural skin care for more than 13 years and has put her passion for both to use on her Etsy shop site:  www.alchemylifestyle.etsy.com

Thanks so much Stephanie for this fantastic tutorial.  I can't wait to try it myself.  Stay tuned for our next Expert - Party themes with Shannon of Sweet Stella's.

Christine
www.christine-company.com