A girl’s sixteenth birthday is her first chance to have a stylish soirée thrown in her honor. With all of her friends and family there, it’s her opportunity to let her budding sense of style shine as bright as her rhinestone tiara! As a result, the pressure is on to make this party as chic and sassy as possible.

If you are having trouble deciding what theme, decor, food and games to feature, draw some inspiration from these flirty and fashionable ideas from our very own party planning experts. There is even a cake sculpted to resemble a Marc Jacobs bag! You’ll make sure no one is crying over her sixteen candles by suggesting these fun and fabulous themes!

• Modern Masquerade
• Roaring Twenties
• Alice in Wonderland
• Once Upon a Time
• Sixteen in the City
• Winter Wonderland
• Caught in Candyland
• Red Carpet Rendezvous
• Tahiti Sweetie
• Murder Mystery
• Mall Madness

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Kodak Gallery has great ideas for gifts submitted by customers. One idea I loved involved creating a mini photo book for a baby shower.

Photo from: KodakGallery

All you have to do is ask guests to submit photos to you online and then create the book through their website. Request submission of photos on your baby shower invites. Then, when you get them add their pictures with space for guests to write little words of advice for the mom-to-be.

Check out events at your local craft stores for ways to get creative this season. Stores like Michael’s and Paper Source host a variety of creative classes such as decorating your classrooms (for you teachers out there) and workshops that teach everything from rubber stamping to calligraphy. It’s a great way to learn something new, spend time with your kids or just find new ways to create an awesome party.

One project you could do is create a basket of goodies for a birthday girl or boy or new parents-to-be. Just buy a basket or cellophane bag and add these.

The sun is out and summer is here! Why not plan a beach party for friends and family?

Invitations.These Go Fish birthday party invitations would go perfectly with a seaside gathering.

Favors. Purchase colorful pails for the kids. Fill them up with little bottles of sunscreen, a towel, and a bag filled with Goldfish crackers. Tie name tags on each pail with the names of your guests.

Activities. There are so many things you can do at the beach that you don’t need to have planned activities. If you want extra ideas, however, throw a sand castle making contest or check out FamilyFun.

Food and Drinks. Whether you decide to barbecue or prepare a picnic lunch, keep it cool with fresh fruits, a salad and fruity drinks.

Life seems to go by faster the older you get and with more and more responsibilities piling up, how do you manage to stay organized? If you have kids, it’s even harder to keep track of everything. From grocery lists to figuring out who needs to go where and when, finding a way to keep organized is key to maintaining order in a chaotic modern life.

An email advertising a free family calendar called Cozi grabbed my attention for this sole purpose. Thinking of you Tiny Prints customers with so many things on your plate, I knew I needed to tell you about it.

The calendar lets you assign the details of appointments and events for every family member and syncs with Microsoft Outlook which is great for those who use this at work. You can also add things like shopping lists, gift lists and to do’s which can be accessed by phone or send it to your phone. The thing I like most about it is being able to add photos to their collage screen saver and journal that eventually you can share with friends and family. Cool huh?

I was going through my old magazines the other day in the hopes of de-cluttering my place when I came across a page with an adorable charm necklace from a website called Cocoa Crayon. Created by Lisa Moss, it’s a New York company that advertises “great stuff for kids and really hip grown-ups.” The site has really adorable things including that sweet necklace with charms like a rubber duck and pacifier you can add on. You can shop by brand and the items are gift wrapped for free. Another exciting thing is that they offer products by Dwell-our fabulous new Tiny Prints designer! Check it out. I had such a great time checking out their site-I might just have to get a few gifts for my mom, my friend’s baby and maybe me.

photo from: Cocoa Crayon

Looking for some cool favor ideas for your next party? Take a look at some of these ways to help make your party great.

1) Mint tins. Whether you are planning a shower, birthday party or any special gathering, Tiny Prints has a variety of mint tins you can customize.

2) Cupcake containers. If you are doing cupcakes instead of a cake, send guests home with one of these adorable cupcake containers from The Container Store. That way they can enjoy a cupcake at home and you won’t be stuck with all the leftovers!

3) Candy boxes. Send them home with boxes filled with sweets and they’ll be so grateful.

I was watching my favorite reality TV family the other night and got a great idea for a birthday party. On “Jon and Kate Plus 8,” the family gathered together to do dress up night. The kids got a kick out of it and so did I which is what inspired this dress up party entry.

1) Decide on a theme. There is a whole lot of different things you can do when planning a dress up party. From fireman and police outfits to cowboy and cowgirl attire, your birthday girl or boy and their guests will have a good time dressing up.

2) Ask guests to bring their own outfits. There are a number of activities you can do with this. You can have a fashion show, or a best dressed contest. And kids will have fun trying on each others outfits.

3) Pictures. Have your camera handy. If you have a instant camera such as Polaroid, take pictures of your little guests all dressed up that they can take home with them as favors.

4) Mirrors. Make sure you take out all your mirrors so kids can see how they look from head to toe.

5) Invitations. Choose one of these invitations to match with the theme you chose for a fun, dress up party!

Cowgirl Lasso

Fire Engine

I love Hostess with the Mostess‘ ideas for an eclectic baby shower. This mix of stunning shades of blue glass with punches of red, orange and yellow turn traditional baby shower pastels into vibrant hues. I also love that she used tatoos as an unconventional source of inspiration. The entire look is sophisticated without losing the whimsical sense of fun that every baby shower should have. Tiny Prints also carries the perfect invitations to match this bohemian theme–I can’t think of a better way to celebrate a fun and fashionable mom-to-be!

If you’re planning a baby shower, here’s an idea for creating something memorable for the mom and dad to be. Have little note cards personalized with their baby’s name on it and leave one for each guest. If they don’t have a name yet, just personalize it with the names of the parents-to-be. Bring a handful of colorful pens and ask each guest to write words of advice or little notes to the new parents on them. These are sure to be a big hit with everyone and something that they can save, put into a scrapbook and treasure forever.