Birthday Party: Strawberries!

There is not much cuter than a one year old on her birthday!  For this little one's birthday, we focused on strawberries and expanded with colors.  Pinks, reds and bright greens are fabulous together and really helped make this party pop.

How do you choose your party times?  It can be tricky when you're trying to avoid nap time as well as mealtimes - but the best option is to choose a time that works best for the birthday girl or boy and hope family and friends can make it.  Having a fussy birthday baby only adds stress!  For this sweet birthday girl, the party was timed just right - not around a meal and not around nap time - and everyone was happy from start to finish.

Keeping with the theme, we planned a Strawberry Shortcake Bar for the treats and it was yummy!  The homemade shortcakes fit perfectly into the cups - topped with berries and whip cream - and they were delicious!

Cupcakes are often the easiest way to serve the masses and not have a lot of prep during the party (cutting the cake, plating the cake, serving the cake).  It's super easy to place a candle on a cupcake for the birthday boy or girl, sing Happy Birthday and allow guests to choose a cupcake at their own pace.  AND there are so many fun cupcake toppers out there to choose from!  Mom ordered these fun strawberry toppers on Etsy and they were perfect!  Perfect colors, yummy taste and adorable!

For drinks, we served pink lemonade (a small touch to stick with the color scheme)!  Covering these mason jars with cupcake tins was a perfect way to keep our drinks spill proof and the green straw added a fun pop of color.

For activities, we kept it simple - one year olds can't communicate their favorite things yet, so it's sometimes refreshing to keep it simple.  A few themed coloring sheets and playing with the new toys did the trick.

Two of my favorite small touches from the party were the polka dot balloons and little pink boxes placed throughout the house to add pops of color and theme.  The other small touch were the real strawberries planted in red containers and placed throughout the party space. These small touches not only added pops of color, carrying the theme beyond the food table, but also contributed to the overall theme of the party.

Check out those awesome wall puffs!  This unique spin off the traditional hanging puffs allows the party planner to add texture and depth to a tablescape without a ladder!  They were simple to make (1/2 the work of hanging puffs) and they are so much fun!

Handmade by mommy and friends, these personalized bracelets were a fun, final touch for kids to take home.  The strawberry beads were purchased off Etsy and the beads and string were purchased at a local craft store - together, they were adorable!  We printed custom bag toppers and ta-da!  A beautiful and fun favor for the kids to take home.

This was such a fun party to attend!  What's the next party on your calendar?

Graduation Party: Cove High School

My cousin, Taylor, graduated from high school this past weekend and his family planned a fun open house to celebrate.  There were so many fun pieces to this party!  The inspiration was, of course, graduation, but Lisa (Taylor's mom) chose to stick with the school colors and focus on a walk through Taylor's life up to that moment.

In blue and yellow, the decorations popped and there were small touches throughout the party that added to the fun.  I loved the "centerpiece" above the table.  This was no "small thing" but it sure was fun!

  I also loved the ribbon and labels on the silverware jars.  Silverware can be left as boring or made to pop with just a few pieces of ribbon!

 

And, of course, the food was fabulous with pops of color brought in throughout.

One of the highlights were these fabulous cupcakes!  They were made by one of Taylor's cousins, so it was not only a fun touch, but special, too!

Because this was an open house, there weren't any organized party games or activities.  However, I loved this "Advice & Memories" jar.  Guests were encouraged to give advice for the journey ahead as well as share a memory of Taylor from the journey behind.  How sweet is that?

Another special piece to the party was the use of pictures throughout the house.  Pictures frames were filled with pictures of Taylor from baby to graduate.  This is an easy way to personalize the party as well as put the focus on the graduate's life rather than a theme.

There was also a fabulous picture wall created by Taylor's sister, Reilley.  This was a guest favorite but also a hostess favorite.  When asked about it, Lisa replied, "I loved the picture wall and I loved that Reilley created it for Taylor.  All those years of sibling rivalry and she still loves her brother."  Special indeed!

There were so many things I loved about this party!  But I think the best part was celebrating Taylor and his life to this point.  I loved that the focus was on how much we love him.  I asked Lisa what her favorite part was and she responded, "The best part of the whole party was seeing all of the people who came to help us celebrate Taylor's graduation.  It was awesome to see how many people love Taylor and also to watch him with all of those people.  We are pretty proud of that boy!" 

What a great party!

Glow Party: Black Light Bowling

Last fall, I helped plan a Sweet 16 Glow Party for a friend and loved how it all came together!  This spring, we took a simpler route for a black light "Level Up" party at our church.  We rented out the bowling alley and invited the outgoing 8th graders and all the high schools from our church to attend.  It was a great way for the 8th grade students to start making that big transition to high school - and the party was great!  Good food (pizza, of course) and lots of glow!  We handed out glow bracelets, but also asked the students to wear white and neon.  The party started when the lights in the bowling alley were switched on and the music started blasting.  So fun!

The planning for this party was super simple (basically reserving the space and inviting the kids).  But regardless of how much time you spend on a party, it can still be a blast for everyone!  Sometimes hosting a party outside of your home is the best way to tackle a theme (and lots of people).  When you start planning your party, be sure to think about the different options you have in your area.  Can you gather at a park?  Or in a bowling alley?  Maybe a local putt-putt course?  

Bring your inspiration to a location or have your location be your inspiration - and be creative!

Inspiration

Where will you find your next party inspiration?  

Although I don't have all the plans or all the ideas ready, these dinosaur eggs are inspiring!

Seeing these, I instantly want to plan a dinosaur party or party playdate and embark on a dinosaur egg hunt!  Thank you, Debbie at Wants and Wishes, for offering the inspiration for my next dinosaur party!  More details to come!

Birthday Party: Chef & Baking Party

This party has recently been featured on Kara's Party Ideas!

This little man loves to be in the kitchen!  Every time he hears the timer buzz, he runs for the kitchen to check whatever is cookin' in the oven.  So, a chef party was perfect for his 2nd birthday!  We were so lucky to not only help plan this fun party, but celebrate at it, too!

There were two main decorated areas for this party - the food tables and the activity table.  Notice the fun touch of photographs of M in the kitchen.  Mom is a photographer and photos play a huge part in the life of this family, so it was a perfect touch.  The activity table was pre-set up for baking when guests arrived.  This helped not only with stress for the hostess, but also added to the party theme and decor.

The food was part of the decor - but it was a simple, delicious menu.  Juice for the kiddos (wrapped in crepe paper to match the colors), lemonade for the adults (LOVE these paper straws) with muffins and fruit cups.  The party was in the morning, so light food was perfect.  Some simple touches were red cupcake wrappers, colored straws, chalkboard signage throughout, ribbon around the bottom of the cups and red forks.  A great tablescape and party is in the small things!

And check out this cake!  Brianna designed the cake to fit the theme and with a couple extra touches, it was the perfect centerpiece.  The Melissa and Doug fruit cutting set was a perfect touch to the cake (and it came from M's own play kitchen).

 There were two main activities throughout the party.  The first was making the cupcakes.  We divided the ingredients into four cups - flour, sugar, oil and soy milk.  (This party was 100% vegan!)  Mom and Dad combined some of the smaller ingredients into the bigger cups - for example, vinegar and vanilla were pre-mixed with the soy milk.  Yes, we used red solo cups!  Very inexpensive and with the small addition of the chalkboard tag, it fit in perfect!

 The kids mixed the ingredients and while the cupcakes were baking, they played with homemade kool-aid colored play-doh (which smelled delicious but tasted salty).

 Each guest was sent home with their homemade playdoh container, a spatula and an apron (handmade with love by Grandma)!  The Birthday Boy had a special chef's hat.

 Overall, this party was a huge success and so much fun - and that's the point, right?  The Birthday Boy was surrounded by people who love him and everyone had a great time.  The activities were a huge success - even for the littlest party guests (15 months or so).  Remember, a great party is in the small things - and in the good company!  This picture of Mom and M shows just that!

 Be Creative!

Photos provided by Neyssa Lee Photography.

Shower Sunday: Tinker Bell Bridal Shower

The best parties are based off personalized inspiration. For this bridal shower, the bride loved Tinker Bell!  So we went with it!

To help tie in with the overall theme, consider using a themed bag or wrapping your gift to match the decor!  It's an easy, small thing that makes the gift table pop!

Yum!  If you've never tried a candy bar for a party or shower, it's so fun and a simple, delicious favor for guests!  In addition to Tinker Bell, we used the colors of the wedding as our shower decor colors - so we purchased as many different kinds of candy in these colors as possible.  It makes my mouth water just looking at these pictures!

Ribbon is a super easy, inexpensive way to add color and character to party staples like drink containers.  This is an example of a small touch with a big impact.

We planned three simple shower games.  (1) Each guest was given a necklace to wear - if they were caught saying "wedding" or "ring", they had to forfeit their necklace.  The person with the most, received a small gift card.  (2) A spin off a traditional "words of wisdom" game, each guest took a jewel or pearl of wisdom.  We went around the circle and each guest offered their words and dropped the jewel into a container that was given to the bride as a keepsake jar for her wedding day.  She can later add petals from her bouquet, pieces from her invite and any other keepsake such as bird seed or a bubble jar.  (3) Finally, we played Disney scategories (sorry, no picture!) where the guests had to come up with alphabetical answers based on Disney themed questions.  As a small thing, we used Disney themed books as the boards guests wrote on.

Another small thing, that can make a big impact on the bride is to ask guests to fill out an envelop with their address to save the bride the time addressing thank you's herself.  It's simple, small and easy!

To tie the color in and add a vertical touch to the decorations, we hung ribbon and beads from the light fixtures and ceiling.  Small, inexpensive and classy!  And of course, we added Tinker Bell wherever we could.  We found a set of 6 Tinker Bell cupcake toppers and hand painted them ourselves to match the colors of the wedding as well as the bride (a brunette).  So fun!

We had a great time planning this shower and watching it come together!  The company was fabulous and the bride enjoyed herself and felt the love - which is what it's all about! 

When you're planning your next party, think about the small things that you can add to make a big impact with a tight budget.  And be creative!

Birthday Party: Zoo Party

Looking at these pictures, I still can't believe my little girl is three.  

She really is growing up fast.

Guests were greeted by a party animal sign and fun balloons (which doubled as part of the favor for kids to take home).  We had the balloons displayed throughout including the gift table.

 

We also purchased inexpensive animal print paper strips (Oriental Trading) to be used with the banner as well as  on the drinks for a fun, small touch. We used a kiddie pool for the watering hole and placed peanuts on the tables as a simple, edible centerpiece.

We had a few main party activities including a safari hunt and face painting.

We made a teardrop shaped pinata using the same green crepe paper used throughout the party decor.

I loved what we decided to do for the cake and cupcakes.  Elle had her own personal mini cake and the rest of the guests enjoyed cupcakes topped with zoo animals of all kinds.  Another small thing was the candles - tiger print and perfect!

 This was the perfect gift!

 We sent the guests home with gift bags filled with zoo animal goodies and a balloon!

 There were lots of small things that made this party click - animal prints everywhere!  We served basic burgers with fruit salad and chips.  Super simple and inexpensive for feeding large groups and easy to prep everything before hand so the grill master can party, too!

When you plan your next party, remember it doesn't have to be an expensive blow out!  A great party is in the good company and small touches throughout.  Be creative!