sixteen candies

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Reader — and birthday girl! — Nikki writes, "I'm planning to have a sweet sixteen birthday party. I don't want to overdo my decorations, and I don't really know what I should decorate with other than colorful streamers and lanterns."

Very exciting, Nikki! Make this birthday extra sweet with a candy theme. It's colorful, inexpensive and easy to set up. Here's all you need:

• A candy buffet! Fill a table with bowls, platters and canisters of your favorite candies, along with scoops and tongs to pick them up. 
• Create candy garlands by stringing gummy candies with a needle and thread. Back in the day, we also used to create gummy necklaces to wear — and snack on.
• Fill vases with jelly beans, Red Hots or Skittles for bright pops of color.
• Sprinkle wrapped candies down the center of your table like a runner.
• Hang individual lollipops from the ceiling with ribbon, just above your guests' heads.
• As the party winds down, put out cellophane or sparkly silver goody bags so guests can bring home leftovers.

Read our Sweet Sixteen Party Guide for more ideas for party themes, decorations, activities and more. And have a spectacular birthday!

fiesta foods

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When it comes to food, most of the Cinco de Mayo parties I've attended have pretty much gone like this: tortilla chips + salsa = fiesta. While the chips-and-dip fare is currently pulling the top three slots for your favorite Cinco de Mayo foods, there are certainly a few things you can add to the party menu to appropriately spice things up.

• Bring the heat with our Pepper Poppers. You can choose mild peppers like bell and poblano to please guests whose palates are too delicate for spicy foods. Plus, they're baked instead of fried, so they're better for you than traditional pepper poppers. (Even though I'm all for abandoning counting calories on this particular holiday.)

• For something a little more interactive, turn your Cinco de Mayo party into a tamale-making party. They're easier to make than you think, and the whole process can actually be a fun way to celebrate the holiday with friends and family.

• Complement all the Mexican beer with Margarita Ice Pops, which are simple to throw together and double as a slightly spiked dessert for the adults at your party. It's also an unsubstantiated fact that people go nuts for anything that's served on a stick.

Need more ideas for your Cinco de Mayo fiesta? Ándale over to our party guide.

new evite feature: kid and adult rsvps

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When you're hosting a party with kids and adults, there are additional factors to consider, like how much kid-friendly food to have on hand, the number of goody bags to make and how many places to set at the kiddie table. Misjudge your guest list and you can have, in a word, pandemonium.

Or, if you're lucky, you'll have panda-monium, which, as you see above, is far cuter, calmer and more cuddly than the traditional chaos.

To help cut down on the drama and make your party-planning easier, we've added a new feature to your invitations: RSVP totals for kids and adults.

Here's how it works:

When creating your invitation, check "Allow guests to indicate number of kids attending."

As guests RSVP, they'll specify the number of adults and kids they're bringing.

The totals will be tabulated for you at the top of your guest list -- no math required!

question of the week: cinco de mayo foods

Whether you celebrate Cinco de Mayo to honor your heritage or just enjoy a little cinco de drinko, this is the perfect time to enjoy some delicious Mexican foods.

A warm night, good friends, a cold beverage and some spicy foods...viva Mexico.

poll by twiigs.com

on the line

Whether the look is smoky and dramatic or a clean subtle line, black eyeliner has become my go-to product when it comes to getting ready for a cocktail party or a girls' night out. There’s just something about it that looks so chic and sexy. (See Angelina Jolie, not Amy Winehouse.) Celebrity makeup artist Amy Nadine (who dolls up The Hills’ Lauren Conrad) shares her tips for three easy ways to update your party face with a little black eyeliner:

• Kohl pencil. For a classic look, use a kohl pencil like Shu Uemura Drawing Pencil in ME Black 1. Start in the inner corner of the upper lash line and drag the pencil tip outward, slightly winging it up at the end. Draw a thin line across the bottom lash line and finish by rimming inside the lash line with the pencil. For a thin line, use the point of the pencil, holding it almost perpendicular to your eye. For a thicker line, slant the pencil to a 45-degree angle, using more of the side of the pencil’s tip.
• Wet shadow. For a softer look, take a slim, angled eye liner brush like NARS Angular Eye Shadow Brush 04 and wet it with water until it's soaked. Next, swirl the brush around in a black eye shadow until it’s loaded with color. On the back of your hand, draw a couple of lines to ensure you are happy with the consistency of the wet shadow while smoothing out any powder clumps. Sweep the brush across your lash line, starting at the inner corners and increasing the width as you approach the outer corners. For more intensity, re-wet your brush, load it with more shadow and go back over the line.
• Gel liner. For the ultimate definition without the extremity of a liquid liner, use a gel liner pot like Elizabeth Arden's Color Intrigue Gel Eye Liner in Black. It glides on smoothly and comes with its own liner brush. Use the same method as the wet shadow liner. One coat for a more subtle look, two to three coats for extra drama!

Whether you’re partial to pencil, shadow or gels, take a cue from the pros and have fun experimenting until you find the method that suits your party mood and perfectly complements that little black dress.

steal this look

You may look at this picture and think: “Pretty, but when would I serve a row of honeys?” Likely answer?  Never. But there’s still much to learn from this cleanly composed tabletop from Atlanta's Bold American Catering.

• First: White plates make food pop. A chef once told me this; photographs confirmed the tidbit; and I’ve regretted my blue tableware ever since. White plates against white linen with glass pieces mixed in looks especially crisp.
• Terra-cotta pots keep all the white from feeling too formal. Here, some pots hold centerpieces and others have sweet potato biscuits to go with the honey.
• Plants, as opposed to cut flowers, further the casual-chic vibe. Put a row of glass votive candles in front of them, and you have a inexpensive, reuse-able tablescape.
• Rows are striking. For example, store-bought dips (think pesto, tapenade, hummus, etc.) instantly become elegant when served in a row of low, white serving dishes. Place a terra-cotta pot full of baguettes beside your dips, and you’re set.

Photo by Ben Vigil Photography

count on us

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Today is Earth Day and everyone wants to know, what have you done for Earth lately? Well, you can add at least one thing to your eco tally: By sending Evite invitations instead of paper invitations for your events, you're contributing to the number of trees saved by using Evite this year. Cool, huh? And to put it into quantifiable terms for you, we've added the handy counter below to our homepage.

tees for two

The birth of a baby represents new beginnings in many ways. And not only for your family, but for your clothes. Take, for example, the burp cloth you see above — made from an old concert t-shirt.

This clever idea comes from crafty new mom Christine Romero, who, while cleaning out some drawers to make way for baby clothes, was inspired to give her old tees and pajamas a new life as soft, sentimental and superpractical burp cloths.

We love this idea because it offers countless design options (featuring your favorite fabrics and images) and lets you recycle items you already own and love. Plus, what a unique, personal gift for a baby shower!

Here are Christine's step-by-step instructions for making your own:

1. Take your t-shirt, pajamas or fabric and lay it flat and smoothed out.

2. Cut 2 pieces of fabric that measure 13 inches by 18 inches. Try to center your design in the middle of these pieces.

3. Sew the 2 pieces together. If you are using a knit material, use a small zigzag stitch for this step. Sew the 2 pieces' wrong sides together at 2 inches from the long sides, then again 2 inches from that stitching. If you want the stitches to show, use contrasting thread. Note: You can vary the measurement a bit, as necessary, to avoid stitching directly over your design.

4. Sew ½-inch double-fold bias tape to the entire outside edge of the rectangle. It takes almost 1 package of this to fit around the edge.

question of the week: fave blog posts

There comes a point in every relationship where you need to check in with the other person and ask, "Where are we?" (My favorite answer to that question, courtesy of Ross Geller on Friends: We're having fun. You look young.)

So now we're asking you, the other participant in this virtual relationship. Specifically, we want to know the types of blog posts you enjoy reading most. Instead of having you slog through one of those reader surveys, we decided to let you tell us in this installment of our Question of the Week. (And feel free to pick more than one... you know... if you want.)

twiigs.com

sweet seven layer dip recipe -- yes, really!

How much do we love you, dear readers? Let me count the ways. There are seven of them.

Since many of you nom-nom-nominated seven layer dip as your favorite guilty pleasure snack, we have created a dessert version for the guiltiest pleasure yet.

Come on along as I walk you through each decadent, nostalgia-inducing step.