The Amazing World of Gavball...

My beautiful, brave and brilliant boy just turned 10. He was struggling with whether or not to have a party-he's getting to the age when so many kids don't have official birthday parties. It is bittersweet for me, but even more so for him-as he loves to be with his friends and he loves to plan his parties with me. He is everything. He finally decided on a small party a home. He is a super fan of The Amazing World of Gumball. Like, Dude, a SUPER FAN! Theme decision was easy. Tracking down Gumball themed stuff was tricky, and he did not want a babyish type soiree, so I added the actual candy gumball elements and gumball dots wherever and whenever I could. It was also a very simple event. Simplicity is the new overstyled. I did not go crazy with every last detail, we kept it sweet, funny and sunny. There is so much to be said for the charm of a real party. It's not picture perfect or magazine worthy, but it was perfect.  My boy was glowing.

He's now double digits. He still loves pickles. He adores every shade of the color blue. No more baby, but he will always be my Sweet Baboo.

I now present~ The Amazing World of Gavball.

I found some printable Gumball invites on Etsy.

Printed them on ridic cardstock and glitter accented them of course;)

dude.

I made simple vinyl rainbow gumballs and had them all 

all over the house. Everyone does that, right?

chunky glitter is my new love

Rainbow Gumball drink stirrers and picks

poke a hole in them and slapped them on. The stickiness of the gum

kept them on, no glue needed. Easiest. Ever. 

minimally glittering stuff is my new game;)

fresh perspective

love the kraft stock mixed with the glam of the glitter

letters represented guests' names

I dip dyed simple white napkins all diff

colors of the rainbow. Simple, but impactful.

Sweet and simple colorful mini balloons in a jar full of gumballs.

This was also awesome because I was able to blow the balloons

up without helium, a few days before the party, 

and not stress over picking up "fresh balloons" LOL

I made felt gumball garlands and had them hanging everywhere.

Tiny + adorable Gumball pinata was the perfect feline

focal point entry into the party area.

felted "gumballs"

strung together the garlands with fishing line.

so easy I want to smack myself

Each place setting was a drama llama gold plate, 

rainbow dipped dyed napkin, and the guest's half glittered first initial.

He insisted we use G, G, G, M, D for Grandma, Grandma, Grandpa,

Mama and Daddy:)

This gumball garland kind of blended into

the rainbow mosaic background. Was cute though!

Kitchen area set up for food, adult dining table and side table.

I used the side table as dual purpose-for drinks during the party, 

then I switched it over to a favor table at the end. 

Chunky, minimally glittered letters add fun and funk

The kraft maintains the butch, the glitz gives a little beauty:)

place settings were so simple, but beautiful.

Encore sighting of my gorg blue sequin tablecloth.

Remember it from the Yeti BEHOLD the Bumble shoot?

better pic of the gumball garland on range hood

This custom, handmade Gumball pinata was the cutest thing. Ever.

Drink station set up. Bright, cheerful and convenient. 

Freakishly scored these little cuties in Party City. They are

officially backpack clips, but I covered the clips with tiny

party hats and use them in the decor. 

Mantel magnificence. Loved the clean, charming vibe this gave

 to the entire space.

We always buy custom guest towels for the guest bathroom

when we have parties. It's super cute and nothing is grosser than

having twenty people use the same towel. 

He wanted blue with hot pink mustaches. Enough said;)

toilet humor

for spare rolls and hilarity

tiny gumball garland in the loo

Rainbow gumball drink stirrers. I was initially

going to have blue juice in all the cups..so it looked blue and

Gumball-ish, but nixed it last minute due to laziness;)

Tiny Gumball in a bath of tiny gumballs

this banner was insanely beautiful

It was a gorgeous day for April, so I shifted the kid stuff outside.

Custom, handmade Gumball and Darwin pillows now reside in his

bedroom. Notice Tina on the little table? No one else did either..LOL

Kiddie dining table set up. Bright, gumball table cloth.

We had catered food and pizzas delivered.Was super casual, 

but there is nothing that makes a kid feel more special

than a real table set up. 

It's grown up. They feel important. They are. 

Each kid sat by their 

"letter." It was magical.

Looks like some people did not likey their pizza crusts;)

fuzzy pencil fabulousness

Gumball Mad Libs were a serious SCORE

I had found the Mad Libs online and thought it would be

adorable to include a pencil with them. The Amazing

Gavball chose an assorted rainbow set, of course.

Nothing cuter than gumball machine capsules. 

Filled them with gumballs and attached the

 requisite tags~ Thanks, Dude. lol

These perfect printable tags had faux glitter on the ends. 

Enough said.

Favors also included large Gumball Dodge Balls. They looked

so colorful and ready to wing at someone;)

#10

My heart.

I hand foiled these with rainbow foil.

Foil is up an coming as a revived crafting trend. I used to do this in 

the 1990s and I see it coming all back now. And I love it. 

handmade, artisan baby blue marshmallows. 

magnificent. 

the cake.

The cake and dessert set up in the kitchen.

No overblown dessert table. I call this Dessert Island.

Just doing my own thing.

Handcrafted gumball machine lolli masterpieces

tiny donut flags made from the tie dyed ribbon that was on 

our Panda themed Christmas tree this year. 

some sugary snacks for the ice cream sundae buffet

The Amazing World of Gavball's cake. 

I made his sweet number 10 topper.

Added some tall gold, glimmering candles. 

This was one of the best cakes I have ever tasted. Ever.

Banana cake with drizzled slated caramel. 

Intentionally messy cakes are the new overstyled.

Trust this. Messy cakes are where it's at.

baby gumball machines in a pool of mama gumballs

keeping it real, yo.

'

If I had time, I would have covered these bottles or 

put them in a serving dish, but whatevs.

 Tastes the same either way.

I was blown away by how a real, homemade marshmallow tastes.

I can never eat a bagged one again. 

These have changed my life.

Nothing says party like pink donuts.

The Amazing Gavball. 

Amazing defined. 

Make a wish, Beautiful Boy. 

There's tiny Grandma helping some cuties she just met

make their sundaes. She tells kids she just meets that they

can call her "Grandma." LOL. She. Is. The. Best. 

I used little kraft boats for the desserts. Was a nice

change-up and perfect size to prevent sundae toppings

 from landing on my floor.

Daddy always draws in the driveway.

Back to school the next day with his

backpack clip added to the collection. 

My behind the scenes Glitterati of Fabulous:

Melanie Kolacy ~ The Cake 

Vintage Confections ~ Gumball machine handmade lollipops

Kimberley's Kitchen ~ Artisan baby blue marshmallows

Bird's Party~ Thanks, Dude printable tags

Fuzzy Pencil Factory ~ Fab fuzzy pencils 

Handcrafted Parties ~ Gumball pinata 

Shop Sweet Lulu~ Gold candles + tiny balloons

Pink Poppy Party Shoppe ~ Gold scalloped cups

Candy Crush ~ Navy sequin table cloth

P.S. It's in the details ~ Chunky glitter pennant

Weez Loves You ~ Handmade Gumball + Darwin pillows

Benzie Design ~ Rainbow felt gumballs

On chain link fences...

When he was almost two, we brought him home a baby brother. One beautiful day during that spring, my husband decided to take his almost two year old son outside while he was doing a little yard work. It was sunny and bright. It was the way a spring day should be. I was inside the house with the brand new boy.
A little while later, my husband came running into the house with a sound of terror in his voice and a panicked fear that I never heard. He kept asking me if Griffin had come back into the house. I kept saying "what do you mean? He was outside with you? What do you mean? Where did he go?"

And we searched the house high and low. And we searched the yard high and low and there was no boy. My husband ran through the woods, neighbors we had never even met ran through the woods, the police ran through the house and the woods-everyone looking for him. No one knew which direction to turn to run in. Everyone's houses are spread apart. Everyone has thick trees and woods behind their homes. There are trees and creeks and animals and houses in every direction and no one knew which way to go.
And they were all moving and searching and looking. I stood in the backyard and watched everyone moving around me as if in a movie and I could not move my legs. I was actually paralyzed with terror. I was paralyzed with fear for my little boy. I literally could not move. I have never had that feeling in my life and I will never forget it. I could not breathe. I heard everyone screaming his name in every direction, echoing throughout the neighborhood-"Griffin. Griffin. Griffin. Griffin. Griffin."

And I finally screeched to the police- "He does not know his name. He does not respond to his name. He does not understand what his name means. He does not know he is in danger. He does not know he left our  property. He has developmental delays." The police kept saying that maybe he was hiding in a closet playing peek-a-boo or hide and seek. I said that was not possible. He did not think like that. And my heart-wrenching terror was not that just my child was gone, but also that I knew he would not respond to anyone searching for him. He would not know he was in trouble. He would not know he had wandered away from his home and he would keep wandering away. He could not communicate. He could not swim. He could not fend off an animal.

And about twenty minutes later, the longest stretch of my life, a neighbor whom we had never laid eyes on, came across the road with our son walking beside him. He was a shepherd trying to wrangle this little curly haired sheep back to where he belonged. Our son had crossed over two roads and wound up in the back woods of someone's home. And by the Grace of God, that man saw him back there, just walking around.
Our sweet boy looked like he always did- beautiful. A few scratches, but he was okay. He was my boy, my sweet GEM, back in my arms. He did not understand. I understood everything.

And, yes, I wanted to kill my husband. I could not even look at him for weeks. How he could let our son wander off was unimaginable to me. He said he just jumped in the shed to get a tool and then he was gone. He did not know which way to look or run. Griffin was not even two yet and a tiny little thing-he slipped away in an instant.

And after that day, it was apparent that we needed to set a boundary, a giant playpen to keep our boy safe. We knew that his wandering and communication delays were pieces of a bigger puzzle. We knew that this was beauty and truth. We knew we needed to fence in our property. Our backyard is on the larger side-we got a quote or two, and realized quickly that we could not afford to fence it in with anything fancy. We settled on the fence guy that could start the soonest. The cost was around 6 or 7 thousand dollars, that we did not have, so I think we just put it on a credit card. It did not matter.

I am sharing this story to let you know that you are not alone. To let you know that the beginning of the journey is often times terrifying. People dream about what their baby will look like and what they will name him-no one is ever fully prepared for a child with different needs and abilities. No one wants to talk about that at baby showers. No one wants to convo about it at Lamaze class, but it is reality. And, when you are given the gift of a child that you sense is different, you have to seek out what every answers you can get-from wherever you can get them.  You have to adjust your sails. It takes the wind out of you, but it also touches your soul in a way that you never knew was even possible.

My son wandered. He did not respond to voices-we thought he might be deaf and had him tested. He did not look at anyone in the eyes or face-we took him to many eye specialists. He could not eat solid food-we took him to pediatric GIs. We had a swallow studies done. He would cry if there was too much noise. If there were too many people. He had MRIs. Endoscopies. Developmental Pediatricians. Neurologists. Therapists. Tests after tests, appointments after appointments. We did not know what was happening, we did not know what was wrong, but we knew there was something different about our boy and we just kept getting him help any way we could.

My hope for this post is that I convey to you-early intervention is crucial for all kids on the spectrum. The earlier these children get help and therapy, the fuller their lives will be. Early intervention is your friend. It does not matter what the diagnosis-just get help as soon as possible.

I am never sad to see a kid with different needs. I love all their different personalities, abilities and quirks. It is what makes my heart happy. What devastates me in to see parents in denial. Or parents that do not seek help for their kids.
If you sense there is something wrong, there probably is. Trust your instincts. Ask your doctor. Go to a developmental pediatrician, neurologist-anyone that will listen and be willing to help. If you have a friend that is in denial or not seeing the signs, gently and lovingly let her know that maybe she should have her child checked out. Know the signs of Autism. Trust your instincts. Treatment started early is always best. Really. You are your child's best advocate and you are their best hope for a successful future.

April is Autism Awareness Month.

Awareness about the signs of Autism in your own child and awareness of the signs and acceptance of those special people you may meet along the journey of life. Don't judge.

If I can help motivate one person that reads this to take their child for an evaluation or screening, my soul is happy. 

Please share. 

Shine on. 

The AU-some April Autism Awareness Initiative

April is Autism Awareness Month. 
1 in 68. We all know someone affected by autism. 
I am an advocate for AU-someness, awareness and for acceptance. 

I, along with a stellar group of small businesses, have teamed up to create a Glittery Goodness Initiative. Throughout the month of April, we are all offering an autism awareness related product for sale. We hope to spread awareness throughout the month and we are giving back-the Glittery Way. We will all be donating 10 percent of our sales of these very special products to a beautiful and noble non-profit cause.

With great honor, we will be making our donation to the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism. The goal of the Flutie Foundation is to help families affected by autism to live life to the fullest. 
Doug Flutie was an amazing professional NFL football player for many years. He and his wife started a family and had a beautiful son- Doug Jr. who was diagnosed with autism at a young age. The Fluties started their extraordinary foundation in honor of their son. They do so much for so many-a family affected by autism doing so much to help ease the burden of other families and to spread joy. Noble, indeed.

Please visit and support the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation and read about all of the astounding, kind and generous ways they give back. 


And please visit these shops that have so graciously created products that would be fantastic for Autism walks, gifts for kids, parents, teachers and therapists and everything offered is AUsome for spreading awareness. These products are all made with love and simply shine. 

As always, I thank you for your support and sparkle. Life is short and unpredictable. Do nice things when you can. 

Shine on. 




Sparkling Shops:

Monkey See Monkey Do Designs~ Custom Puzzle Piece Masterpiece
Ellery Designs~ Choo Choo Custom Railroad Sign
Foodadz~ Special Autism Edition Foodadz~The coolest tools for food:)
Stampin' Fanatic~ Custom Autism Awareness Walk Flags
Tini Divas~ Special Edition Most AU-some Kid Ever tee
Painted & Sprinkled~ Blue Velvet and beautiful blue stick cake pops (local only-no delivery)
BluGrass Designs~ Choice of AU-SOME room art printable
Sweet Georgia Sweet~ Custom Rainbow Ribbon Topiary
Super Mandy Graphics~ Choice of colorful Awareness printable wall art
Simply Just Chic~ Embracing Amazing puzzle piece tee
Bird's Party~ Rainbow Party perfect printables
Chloe Christine~ Custom Handstamped Puzzle Piece necklace
Olive It~ Choice of adorable Awareness Pencils
The Purple Pug~ Rainbow Puzzle Piece Sparkle Sacks + Team Twinkle Totes


Please visit and support the Flutie Foundation!
Web
Facebook

GIVEAWAY TIME! Party with Sweet Treats and The Pug

It is with great honor + glittery giddiness that I am hosting a Glittery Giveaway to celebrate my girl, Norene Cox's, spectacular sequel book: Party With Sweet Treats.

Norene is the creative genius behind the cuteness inspiring blog~ Party Pinching. She is always dreaming up new and exciting ways to turn every day pantry items into tiny works of adorable, edible art. Her fab first book was an epic success and is still available if you want to start a collection of adorablosity: Sweet Treats for the Holidays.

I am also beyond excited to announce that I will be giving away a copy of this brill book, along with some sparkling loot from yours truly.


Party With Sweet Treats offers novel ideas to dress up store bought goodies for every occasion. This book focuses on clever and creative party food ideas for any occasion you can think of! In this beautiful book, Norene shares easy-to-follow party oriented recipes and ideas for occasions throughout the year. From awesome April Fool's Day tricks to sweet summertime snacks-the ideas are original and infinitely adorable. The directions are clear and concise. The pictures and photographic styling are stellar. What I adore most about the book is that these are ideas that anyone-including people like myself that are cooking/baking challenged- can easily handle. The book provides resources, tips, tricks and will have you creating sweet and unique treats with store-bought items in seconds flat.

Most importantly, this book is good old-fashioned fun. A perfect gift and a perfect creative reference for any kitchen. With so many ideas online these days-there is something magical about holding an actual book in your hands. Charming + creative.


You can purchase Party With Sweet Treats here:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble


I am giddy to be giving away a copy of this brilliant book and two glittery prizes from yours truly~A custom Twinkle Tote™ and a set of 12 Tiny + Shiny Sparkle Sacks® -you can choose any design you would like:) That's three prizes up for grabs! Enter via Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway will end Sunday night (3/15/15)

Good luck:)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The spectacular + sparkling Sweet Treats for the Holidays Book review + giveaway

It is with great honor + glittery giddiness that I have been given the privilege to kick off the Blog Book tour for Norene Cox's first fab book: Sweet Treats for the Holidays.

I am also beyond excited to announce that I will be giving away a copy of this brill book, along with a prize package from yours truly.

Norene is the creative genius behind the inspiring blog~ Party Pinching. She is always dreaming up new and exciting ways to make every day pantry items into tiny works of adorable art. I am awestruck by her unique ideas and how she can transform a snooze of a cracker into a magnificent masterpiece.

Sweet Treats for the Holidays was a dream come true for Norene and I could not be happier to see her talents being shared with the world. The amount of time and talent that went into this were a labor of love. In this beautiful book, Norene shares easy-to-follow holiday recipes and ideas for Halloween, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's. The ideas are original and infinitely adorable. The directions are clear and concise. The pictures and photographic styling are stellar. What I adore most about the book is that these are ideas that anyone-including people like myself that are cooking/baking challenged- can easily handle. The book provides resources, tips, tricks and will have you creating sweet holiday treats with store-bought items in seconds flat.

Most importantly, this book is good old-fashioned fun. A perfect gift and a perfect creative reference for any kitchen. With so many ideas online these days-there is something magical about holding an actual book in your hands. Charming + creative.

And, finally, I cannot fully express into words how proud I am of Norene for achieving her dream of becoming a published author. The talent and love that went into making this amazing book are the definition of inspiring. When you purchase this book, you are getting a one-of-a kind secret manual for creating extremely adorable edibles, but you are also supporting the dreams of an extraordinary woman.

You can purchase Sweet Treats for the Holidays here:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble


I am giddy to be giving away a copy of this brilliant book and a glittery gift package. Enter via Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway will end Monday night (12/1/14)

The Author at a dazzling book signing

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Dazzling Deuces Wild + Wacky Giveaway

Chello + a warm welcome to The Dazzling Deuces Wild + Wacky Glittery Giveaway. I have teamed up with the most amazing women owned businesses and we are giddy to bring you the chance to win BIG.

I am celebrating a bunch of magnify milestones with a confetti throwing Conga line across the Continents. I am giddy and honored to have 35 of the kindest + coolest chicks helping me celebrate the sparkle across the world. And I kinda thought it would be adorable to show some love to the number 2~Deuce...More on that later.

This giveaway is offering up happiness, kindness, jelly donuts, and some serious cash prizes. And a twist of Glittery Goodness. Make sure you read below... 

The dazzling deets:

To achieve a giveaway this CRAY, I had to pull together an even bigger list of some of the most spectacular human beings on the planet. These businesses span the world and all are simply amazing on so many levels. Some are established businesses, some are brand new-all offer up something extraordinary. Honored to have them at my party. 

The Sparkling Sponsors:

My Sentiments by Liama, Vintage Confections,  Sweet Georgia Sweet,  Foodadz, Bird's Party,  Your Blissful Day, KK's Favors, Something Blu Events, Party Pinching, McClure Couture,  A Touch of Whimsy Designs,  Creative Designs by Toni, Three Little Monkeys Studio, Recipes2Go, Cupcakes by K,  I DO invitations by Michelle, Squatles, Olive it Boutique, Piece of Cake, Celebration Lane, Tini Posh, Jamberry Nails, Pink Poppy Party Shoppe, Unforgettably Sweet, Dizzy Design Girl, Painting Paris Pink, Everyday Party Magazine, Chloe Christine, Jillian's Jewel Scent, Fizzy Party, Red Hibiscus Shop, Crochet by Danelle Rae, Q's Cakes, Younique by Kristen.

-->  
Drum roll, please...

 

Prizes:

FOUR randomly chosen winners will each receive $222 USD in funds via PayPal. You must have a PayPal account to enter.

 

Rules:
Contest is open from September 22, 2014 at 12:00am EST through September 30, 2014,  at 11:59pm EST. The winners will be chosen randomly through the Rafflecopter form. The odds of winning depend on the number of people who enter. Giveaway is open worldwide to all participants 18 years of age and older. Void where prohibited by law. Winners are solely responsible for any taxes, duties or reporting as required by law. The winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize. Should they not claim their prize within this time, another winner will be selected. Please ensure that the email thepurplepug [at] thepurplepug [dot] com is on your "safe list" as we would hate for you not to get your prize!

Disclosure: This is an independent blogger giveaway. It is in no way associated with PayPal, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram or any other social media network. I did not receive money to be part of or promote this giveaway. Should you have any questions, please contact Kristy at The Purple Pug  via email at thepurplepug[at] thepurplepug [dot] com.

USE THIS RAFFLECOPTER FORM TO ENTER TO WIN SOME GLITTERY GREEN!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/2b72fa9e13/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now...the twist..Cue the Confetti

There is so much to celebrate in a child’s life-especially the meaning and beauty of a birthday~each one is magical and the perfect reason to throw confetti and eat some cake All kids should be celebrated and loved-especially on their birthdays-even when their birthday must be spent in the hospital due to a sudden sickness or long term illness.

Enter the always smiling ~ Confetti Foundation

The Confetti Foundation is an extraordinary non-profit that has a simple mission-to bring the party to the kid. The Confetti Foundation supplies party starter kits to children that have to spend their birthday in the hospital.

The foundation was started with the hope that families will be able to shift their focus from their child’s sickness for just 30 minutes and celebrate. Although the party is not a cure, it will be a welcome distraction and good reminder that every child deserves to be celebrated.

Honored and thrilled to announce that our glittery, global Deuces Wild Giveaway Girls will be making a very special donation to this noble cause.  We will be making a $222 donation to The Confetti Foundation--enough to fund about 10 party kits and some smiles. We are amazed by your work and beyond supportive of your dedication and kindness. You inspire.
 

 

Good luck. Do good things whenever you can. And remember that glitter is a way of life. Shine on.