Last spring, after receiving so many requests for sparkly beads, we decided to create our sparkliest package yet and we are so excited to announce that this package, our fancy bracelet package, is a huge hit!  We are very proud to say that our little beaders are loving it and it has become our most requested package.

One of our favourite parts of doing what we do is seeing the expressions of absolute delight when the guests at our parties see what they are making, and see all the beads and charms that they get to work with. 

Our little beaders (and their moms!) love the wide selection of charms, such as unicorn, fairy, ballet, hearts, snowflakes and even sport themed charms.  We made this package with a girl's hockey theme and they were so excited to have beautiful sparkly bracelet with a cool hockey charm.

Our biggest reward is seeing the joy that our service brings.  If you or your little crafter have a party theme in mind, let us know and we can order charms in to match your party theme.

Thank you to all of our wonderful customers for allowing us to keep doing what we do.

When we book our birthday parties, moms often ask us for tips for planning their jewelry making birthday party.  One of our favourite suggestions is for the mom to make a jewelry box birthday cake.  Here is the perfect jewelry box cake recipe.

Ingredients

Lid:

• 8 whole graham crackers (2 squares each)
• 10 oz. white baking chocolate

Jewelry Box Cake:

• 2 box poundcake mix (preferably Betty Crocker)
• 2 can strawberry frosting
• 1 can Vanilla Frosting

Compartments & Drawer:

• 4 whole graham crackers
• 9 creme-filled sugar wafer cookies
• 1 white gumball

Jewelry:

• Assorted edible jewelry such as rings, necklaces, bracelets, and gumballs
• You also need: 1 icing bag with a small star tip and a writing tip

1. Make Lid: On a large foil-lined baking sheet arrange 4 whole graham crackers, flat sides down and long sides touching. Next to them, add 1 more row, narrow ends touching, to make a rectangle about 10 x 8 3⁄4 in. Melt white chocolate as package directs. Evenly spread over crackers to cover. (If some seeps between crackers, that's OK.) Let chocolate dry overnight.
2. Make Jewelry Box Cake: Heat oven to 325ºF. Coat a 13 x 9 x 2-in. baking pan with nonstick spray. Line bottom with wax paper; spray paper. Prepare 1 box cake mix as package directs. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack 10 minutes before inverting on rack to cool completely. Repeat with other box of cake mix. Wrap and refrigerate.
3. To assemble: Carefully invert Lid so chocolate is underneath. Spread top with 2⁄3 cup strawberry frosting.
4. Cut a 2-in. strip from one short end of each cake. Cut a 1-in. piece crosswise off 1 strip. Set aside uncut strip and 1-in. piece for drawer (you won't need rest of cut strip).
5. Put 1 cake layer, right side up, on a flat 14 x 12-in. or larger serving surface, leaving at least 2 1⁄2 in. from front edge of serving surface for the drawer. Spread top of cake with 2⁄3 cup strawberry frosting; top with other cake, right side up. Frost top with 2⁄3 cup vanilla frosting.
6. Make Compartments: Using a sawing motion with a serrated knife, carefully cut remaining 4 crackers in half lengthwise. Frost 1 side using 2 Tbsp vanilla frosting. Put frosted sides, facing in, into frosting around top edge of cake. Set wafer cookies, long edge down, into frosting to make compartments.
7. Reserve 1⁄4 cup vanilla frosting. Place remaining vanilla frosting in pastry bag fitted with writing tip. With shorter edge of frosted lid facing you, pipe name and butterflies on top 3⁄4 of lid (when attached to box, bottom of lid won't be seen).
8. Frost sides of cake with 1 1⁄3 cup strawberry frosting. Carefully lift lid and attach to back of cake, gently pressing to adhere to frosting on cake. Stack filled food cans against back of lid to hold it in place until frosting sets.
9. Make Drawer: Press reserved cake strip A (click here for diagram ) and 1-in. piece B onto front of cake. Frost top and sides with reserved 1⁄4 cup vanilla frosting. Place remaining halved crackers, frosted sides in, around drawer. Coat with strawberry frosting. Press gumball knob in center.
10. Pipe butterflies on sides of cake. Change piping tip to star tip. Pipe stars around lid, top of box and drawer. Let set at least 4 to 6 hours. Remove cans.
11. Fill with edible jewelry.
12. To make rings & earrings: Use frosting to glue assorted rock candy or gumballs to gummy or regular Lifesavers candies.

We found the recipe here, for great cake ideas check out http://www.womansday.com.

We are in the midst of planning my six year old daughter's birthday party.  Since I am in the children's birthday party entertainment industry, I always feel that we need to come up with something unique and original as well as incorporate some beading fun for all of my daughter's friends.  This year I am also in charge of planning a shower for a very special sister, so I thought why not have a Breakfast at Tiffanys themed birthday shower and bridal shower on two separate mornings but using all the same ideas.

The main reason I love the idea of Breakfast at Tiffanys as a party theme is because it can be done earlier in the day when everyone is rested and full of energy, and you can serve brunch foods which are so much fun and a nice change from the pizza served at most parties.

Party Decor
This is such an easy party to decorate for.  Use the Tiffany blue colour as your main colour scheme.  Tie balloons to the backs of all of the chairs to make them look like pearls and beads.   Decorate with strands of pearls.  Make signs using the guests of honour's name, such as "Chloe & Co.".  Place white bows on the backs of chairs.  For more decor ideas, visit our pinterest page.

Menu
This party theme is perfect for a brunch menu.  A fun idea that both kids are adults are sure to love is a DIY crepe station.  For the perfect crepe station check out this post.  For any cakes, cupcakes or desserts use the Tiffany blue colour and decorate with candy pearl edible beads.  To drink, serve mimosas for the adults, and sparking orange juice for the children.

Dress Code
Both children and adults love to dress up.  Ask guests to wear their favourite little back dress and pearls.  If you are making loot bags and party favours, include a strand of glass pearls, sunglasses or gloves to go with the theme of the event.

Event Entertainment
Since pearls are synonymous with this theme, guests can make their own glass pearl necklaces, check out our amazing diy glass pearl necklace kits.

For more awesome party ideas, check out our pinterest page!  Have a great party.

Lately we have noticed a large trend in Shopkins themed birthday parties, and we think it's such a fun theme and goes perfectly with a beading birthday party.

Here is how to have an amazing Shopkins themed beading birthday party.

First you need some Shopkins themed party invitations.  A great way to make invitations is to use a free online printable or template to create a custom Shopkins birthday party invite.  Here is a sample of a fun and easy template.

Once the invites are sent out it is time to start planning your party decor.  Use lots of bright colours.  Use online printables to print out large Shopkins characters or banners with Shopkins characters on them.  Using marker, add faces to popcorn cups to make your own Poppy Corn.

A fun idea of what to do at your party is to make Shopkins themed bff necklaces.  Here is a link showing you how to make these necklaces.  You can add this charm to any of our amazing birthday party packages.

Another fun game is to play Shopkins trivia or provide Shopkins colour pages.  Visit shopkinsworld.com for great printables.

Make your own Shopkins themed pinata and fill it with candy and Shopkins. 

When choosing your cake, be sure to include Shopkins in the theme, the guests will be thrilled to receive their own Shopkins.  An easy and fun idea is to frost cupcakes in your favourite bright colours and then place a Shopkin on top of each cupcake.

We hope you find our Shopkins birthday party tips helpful! 

As the mom of two girls, we have beaded together from the time they were 2 years old.  My girls loved to sit on the floor of my beading room stringing all the pretty beads while I prepared for parties and school workshops.  Now that they are both in school, teachers often comment on their highly advanced fine motor skills, and how neat their writing is.  I am convinced that this is because of all of the fine motor benefits of beading with toddlers.

For toddlers and preschoolers, picking up beads as well as threading the beads onto the string helps with their grasping.  Various sizes of beads promote different grasps. Larger beads often promote the "3-jaw chuck" grasp, similar to holding a large pencil or marker.  This helps with the child's pencil grip when they start school, and helps them to write neater and for a longer period of time.  It also helps them to dress themselves and to use buttons which is so important for when they start school. 

Smaller beads encourage children to use their pincer grasp, thus strengthening the small muscles of their hands.  It also helps with in-hand manipulation skills.  Many components of making a beaded craft increase strength and coordination in the small hand and finger muscles. For example, picking a bead up from the beading tray, and then manipulating it in one's hand until it is pinched between your thumb and finger, involves translation, shift and rotation movements of the bead within the hand.  

One of our most popular beaded projects that we teach is our "three wishes" bracelet.  We have made this bracelet with kindergarten classes, Sparks (Girl Guides of Canada) and church  groups as a Mother's Day Workshop.  We have also made this bracelet at many of our school workshops.  This holiday season, we have been making this bracelet at all of our holiday parties, this bracelet is perfect for boys and girls, moms and dads (even though dads prefer it without a heart charm).

We love the idea behind this bracelet, the idea that the wearer has three wishes when they receive this bracelet.  We also love the simplicity of it, and how easily it can be stacked with other bracelets to have an arm party.

Materials Needed:
48-52 - 4mm glass beads
3 - 3mm silver beads
1 - lobster clasp
1 j- ump ring
1 - heart charm
2 - 2 mm crimp beads
1 - piece of tigertail the length of your
      wrist and then add one inch.
1 - flat nosed pliers.

Directions:
Using the flat nosed pliers and the first crimp bead, attach the lobster clasp to one side of the tigertail . 

String the heart charm, and then string half of your beads onto the tigertail.  String the three silver beads, these beads are the three wishes. 

String the remainder of your beads onto the tigertail.  Using the flat nosed pliers and remaining crimp bead attach the other side of the tiger tail to the jump ring.

Enjoy your beautiful new three wishes bracelet!

We recently did a bollywood themed beading birthday party where the girls made tikka headpieces.  It was such a fun party and it really goes perfectly with the theme of beading.  The party was such a hit, that we are adding this theme to our beading party packages.

Here are some tips and tricks to help you throw your own amazing bollywood beading birthday party.

A cake for a bollywood birthday party should be very colourful with lots of bold colours. 

If possible use edible beads.  The goes well with the theme of beading and the theme of bollywood.  Use lots of gold and silver to make the cake look magical.

Every party needs a few themed crafts to keep the guests busy.  A simple and fun idea with big impact is to use sticker gem beads to decorate around the girls eyes.  Purchase some henna tattoos and have the girls apply the tattoos to each other while you are doing the face stickers.  Finally, another fun use of stickers gems is to buy flip flops for each guest and have them decorate them with the sticker gems.  This also becomes a fun take home loot bag. 

Another craft that we love is to have the girls create a Tikka.  We will soon be offering kits and packages on making your own Tikka, but in the meantime, check out this link for making a diy tikka headpiece click here.

Now that the girls are all blinged out with their eye jewels, henna tattoos, new slippers and tikka headpieces, it is time for the girls to do something active. 

Purchase some glass bangles for each child.  This can also become part of their take home loot bag.  Put on a bollywood music video and let the girls have some fun dancing along.

For  more ideas and bollywood themed birthday party inspiration, check out our pinterest page click here.  We hope you enjoyed this blog post about bollywood birthday parties.  If you have any suggestions of your own, we would love to know about them in the comments below.

We have noticed that many moms booking Beading Buds jewellery making birthday parties often go with a tea party theme.  One of our favourite tea party themes is a Fancy Nancy tea party, because you can go so over the top with this theme.

Invite
Make the invite as fancy as possible using stickers, sticker gems, ribbons and glitter.  There are many websites with Fancy Nancy printables.  The official Fancy Nancy website also has lots of printables for you to use at the party as part of the party entertainment.

Party Decor
Fancy Nancy is all about being fabulous!  So this is your chance for a super girly and fancy party.  Decorate the chairs and tables with pink feather boas, tiaras, big floppy hats, fancy sunglasses and pearl necklaces (this can also double as a party loot bag). 

Hang up big bunches of gold, silver, black and pink balloons and streamers.

Cake
Do a pink cake or cupcake and decorate with pink feather boas, tiaras, big floppy hats, fancy sunglasses and pearl necklaces or any combination of these items.

Party Activities
Go to the Fancy Nancy website to get lots of great printables for the guests to use.  You can provide a box of dressup clothes and have the girls do a fashion show.  This is a great chance for you to get some great photos of the girls.  A Beading Buds jewelry making kit is also a great option, the girls can make beautiful fancy jewelry.

There are so many other great ideas for a Fancy Nancy Party.  Check out our Fancy Nancy pinterest page for more party inspiration.

This time of year winter themed birthday parties are so popular.  We love how pretty and magical this theme can be, with sparkly silver and blue decor, cakes and winter themed activities. 

We have snow princess beading party package that is ideal for a winter wonderland party, a Frozen party, or any other winter themed party.

Here are some ideas to  help you make your winter themed party amazing.

For inexpensive but big impact, gather up branches and spray paint them silver, then add some glue and silver glitter.  These branches can be placed all over to give the room a magical feel.

Another fun idea is to make your own paper snowflakes and hang them from the ceiling.

Blow up silver and baby blue balloons, cover the top of the balloon in glue and add glitter, and then hang from the ceiling.

Finally, use silver holiday decorations to help with the magical feel.

There are so many fun desserts that you can have at you party that help to tie in the theme of beading with the frozen winter wonderland theme.  Macaroons look like beads and they can be frosted in silver and blue.  You can have blue cupcakes with little beads on them, and you can take marshmallows and dip them in blue jello powder and cellophane wrap them.  The marshmallow looks like a bead, and is a great lootbag idea that is inexpensive, simple and perfectly themed.

Our snow princess kits are the perfect addition to any  frozen winter wonderland theme party.  The kits come packaged individually for each child with a variety of blue and white glass pearls and a stunning heart clasp starting at $6 per child.  The activity takes the girls about 30 minutes to complete is the perfect lootbag.  For more information, click here.

Happy party planning!

Jewel Sparkles, one of the main characters from Lalaloopsy, is named after her infatuation with the most sparkly jewels she can dazzle herself with, and that is why beading is the perfect activity to have at your Lalaloopsy party.  With all the bight colours and quirky options, this is such a fun theme.

When planning your Lalaloopsy birthday party, buttons are a fun detail to incorporate to tie everything together.  You can make your own paper buttons and attach to straws, you can add fondant buttons to candy apples (click here) or cupcakes, you can make button cookies (click here) and you can draw button holes onto paper plates to turn them into giant buttons.

Jewelry making is a fun craft activity that keeps the children entertained while they make their own lootbag, for more information on our jewelry party kits, click here.  Another fun lootbag idea is to buy Lalaloopsy cups and fill them with treats and other goodies, you can then cellophane wrap them to have a simple but beautiful lootbag.

There are so many fun cakes and cupcakes that you can do for this theme. 

For more DIY Lalaloopsy birthday party ideas, click here to visit our pinterest page.

We hope you have a great Jewel Sparkles Lalaloopsy Beading Birthday Party.