Rebecca from Fresh Chick Design Studio sent in pictures from her son’s Yo Gabba Gabba birthday bash, which I’ve been meaning to share. I love how she incorporated her own style into the theme, and moved away from the ‘cheaper by the dozen’ commercial party goods you’d expect to see with such a theme.

Love the custom fondant cupcake toppers from Two Sugar Babies. Totally adorable! Great job Rebecca, and more proof that character parties can be unique and stylish with a little extra thought and effort. Love it!

My daughter is turning 3 in September, and after falling out of the pirate and super hero phases, she has finally decided that she wants a butterfly party! I love butterlies too, so I’m quickly grabbing on to this one before she changes her mind to…I don’t know, a monster party? So I’ve been playing with ideas, and came up with this inspiration board while trying to plan a butterfly party in my head. Any thoughts?

Images via:{ Martha Stewart , Santa Barbara Chic , Style Me Pretty, Gilly Flower, Mary Had A Little Party, HWTM, Hostess Blog, Creative Hostess, Adrianne Bobafede, Favor Ideas     }

Kate Landers Events is relatively new, and in the short time they’ve been around, Kate has styled some pretty fabulous kids’ parties. Her latest Woodland Fairy Party is no exception, and it’s obvious that Kate left out no detail, and went all out, to create the most magical fairy woodland. The dessert table is absolutely STUNNING!  ”Designed to mimic the enchanted forest floor, the table was covered with a green moss table runner, food was displayed on wooden “stumps” and personalized with wooden letters for the birthday girl, Elle. I’m seriously in love with the backdrop of grass, twig and flower bundles, and the gorgeous butterflies. The fairy treats were served in chocolate ’bird’s nest’ bowls, and included:  ”Fairy Flakes”(coconut), “Chipmunk Chips” (banana), “Gnome-Made Granola”, “Wrinkled Grapes”, “Chocolate Drops, pink “acorns” and “pink feather dust (cotton candy)”, and  ”ladybugs” were crafted carefully out of apples and chocolate frosting. Guests also enjoyed “Snail Sandwiches” (created of strawberry cream cheese and jelly) and “Woodland Smores” (pre-melted smores served on a wooden “stump”). Guests were also invited to decorate thir own toadstool cupcakes.

The invitations were custom designed by Paper & Pigtails.

The guests sat on custom designed toad stools, at a table with toadstool centerpieces. Each place was set with a Fairy garland, revealing a tag with each guests name, laid on their plate. A wreath with double faced pink satin ribbon hung over the table, and each little guest received a custom designed fairy frock, hair garland and wand.

Activities included decorating fairy houses, magical toad stool and Fairy May Poles. Guests went home with little bird houses to decorate at home, personalised fairy dust jars, and of course, their fairy costumes. Magical indeed! For more details see Kate’s Blog.

I’m really loving this fun Country “Fair Day” themed party that Anneliese of Aesthetic Nest created for her daughter and niece’s 4th birthday. So bright, and cheerful! There were many fun elements here, including the cool bandana quilt tablecloth. Anneliese even created a tutorial, if you’d like to try your hand at creating your own tablecloth. In keeping with the “Fair Day” theme, the table was loaded with candy, and assorted cakes from a ‘bake-off’, made by Annelise and her sister. I’m also really loving the orange preserve jars, decorated with fabrics left over from the homemade birthday outfits!

The birthday girls Audrey and Kate wore cute outfits made from Portabellopixe patterns, by their mothers.

The cute invitations each included a raffle ticket that guests were asked to bring along to the party and drop in a box for a prize drawing. The favor bags were brown craft bags decorated with labels to match the invitations, each lined with a bright bandana. Looks like everyone had a fab day at the fair! Check out Anneliese’s blog for more pictures, and for details of the fun activities, including horseback riding!

Kelly from The Party Dress created an inspiration board, and darling party goods for this bright and colourful Cinco de Maia first birthday party, and the birthday girl’s mommy did a fab job putting it all together. Of course the birthday girl was named Maia, and her birthday fell at the beginnig of May. Her mom wanted a fiesta themed party, so a ‘Cinco de Maia’ theme seemed perfect. Here are the details as told by Kelly:

“The missoni-like, zig zag pattern from the invitation set the color palette for the party.  Hot pink, orange and yellow made a festive combination that we used for the entire event!

 Some of my favorite elements to the party included the fabulous ribbon chandelier hanging over the table,

a custom banner (featuring the zig zag pattern),

and the amazing patterned paper lanterns from Jonathan Adler (aren’t they just perfect for this theme!?).

Cupcake toppers took on a modern look with an updated square shape, and jars of candy made for a very colorful table!

Maia’s mom, Kristen, did a fabulous job carrying the color palette throughout – notice the coordinating izze drinks, the balloons and the beautiful flowers!  She displayed the party favors beautifully – mini bubbles (wrapped with custom labels) and hot pink maracas (embellished with a zig zig gift tag) were placed on a 3-tier serving piece on the table.  A great idea that you could adapt for any party!

This was such a fun party to work on – and you know what I love about it?!  It’s simple.  It’s all about one fabulous pattern, three beautiful colors and a couple key decorations that pulled it all together!  And although this was a 1st birthday party, it could so easily translate into a bridal shower, adult birthday party or summer soiree!”

Stephanie Wheeler of Stephanie Wheeler Photography,  sent us pictures of her 8yr old niece, Hannah’s Parisian Themed birthday party. Stephanie wanted to make Hannah’s birthday really special and once she decided on the theme, she ordered a custom Parisian theme printable kit from Paper Glitter on Etsy, and went to work  printing, cutting, gluing, scoring and stapling. Stephanie wrapped cardboard in gorgeous black and white damask paper, laid it across the tabletop, and topped it off with vases of lovely pink roses. Of course there were pink tissue pom poms hanging over the table, and little treats labelled in french. The invitations were sent out in a passport styled folio containing an invitation and first class boarding pass. I’m really loving this printable kit from Paper Glitter, which seems to have everything you need for a fabulous parisian themed party, {except the treats of course }.   

Hannah adored her party, and I have to cast my vote with her! Great job Stephanie, and thanks for sharing.

This lovely victorian children’s garden party submitted by Rachel Lewis of Phoenix Event Planning , really appeals to my love of the Victorian era, and garden parties. I love the general shabby chic feel of this party, and I think Rachel did a great job at making it pretty. Here are the details as told by Rachel:

Decor:
~ Was divided into three areas: food table, grass seating area in front of backdrop, and children’s garden in its’ own enclosed gated area, planted just for the birthday girl.

~ The food area had a ring canopy surrounding the buffet and Martha Stewart poms hanging from the pergola. The table itself was set with a white tablecloth, daisy chain on white ribbon scalloped on front, and a green cotton runner. The cake was set on an inverted willow planter and rested in a terra cotta saucer with wheat grass planted several weeks before the party. The food labels were printed in the coordinating party font, mounted on pastel pink cardstock which had corners punched with a fleur de lis pattern, and glued on dowels that were anchored in mini pots and stuffed with spanish moss. I tied a small green bow just below every sign. I used a combination of silver platters, and willow baskets wrapped with ribbon with lace and flowers to create a feeling of a Victorian era picnic. The lemonade was served in a thin steel watering can.

~ I made a backdrop to look like blue sky with butterflies, and a white picket fence which was hung in the shed door, and put a small white wire fence in front which I wrapped with floral garlands.

~ The children’s garden had a stained glass butterfly stake from Costco and a borrowed, faux wood and rock children’s picnic table where they ate their lunch.

Invitations:
~ “Our little green thumb has grown to be three. Come celebrate the budding of another year and ‘leaf’ the fun to us”
~ Design from vistaprint.com

Menu:
~ Open face chicken apple salad sandwiches on homemade wheat bread
~ Grape tomatoes
~ Carrots from the garden with the green tops
~ Strawberry and peach tartlets in cream cheese dough shells
~ Strawberry malted milk balls
~ Milk chocolate cake pops anchored in small river rocks in a Mason jar
~ Strawberry pound cake with lemon curd filling (which I covered in buttercream and rolled fondant and hand painted to match the invitation)
~ Homegrown lemonade and water

Activities:
~ Musical botanic illustrations. I punched the corners of quarter poster board with a matching fleur de lis stamp as the food labels, and then tea stained the board before pressing and gluing on printed Victorian pictures of fruit and vegetable botanical illustrations. I set them in a ring and the concept was for the children to walk in a circle on them and when the music stopped, to find one and sit down. I thought if they got the hang of it, we’d start pulling pictures and do it musical chair style until there was a winner. They didn’t get the hang of it.
~ Strawberry scented bubble blowing.

Soundtrack:
~ All in the Golden Afternoon (Alice in Wonderland soundtrack where the flowers sing)
~ Little April Shower (Bambi soundtrack)
~ Dawn (Pride and Prejudice soundtrack)
~ Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 performed by the London Symphony Orchestra
~ Prelude by Bach
~ Canon (piano) by Pachelbel
~ Can’t Slow Down (Pride and Prejudice soundtrack)
~ Georgiana (Pride and Prejudice)

Get ready for some amazing inspiration from this adorable Vintage Toy party, inspired by the Dick and Jane storybooks, and created by Lindsey of Bella Grace Designs. There are so many cute details here, I had a hard time taking them all in! Most of the vintage toys were purchased from Target, and Lindsey definitely got creative! Check out the adorable centerpiece, and the cotton candy snack cups designed by Paper and Pigtails.

How cute are these napkin rings embellished with jacks, and the cute vintage toys used as table decor! Not to mention the custom old fashion soda pop… labels again designed by  Paper and Pigtails.

In keeping with the theme, the dessert table was laden with good old fashion milk and cookies, along with candy and cupcakes.

I absolutely love the hand painted letters spelling out the birthday boy’s name, and did you notice the cute little toys used to embellish them? I really just loved all the details of this party, what a fabulous job! More details over at Bella Grace Party Designs, and thanks again Lindsey for sharing.

I am so in love with this darling, fairy tale Pinwheels and Pearls party which was submitted by Victoria of The City Cradle.  This sweet party was created to celebrate an adorable little girl’s first birthday, and I’m certainly wowed by the results! This is what Victoria had to say about about this sweet event:

“This Pinwheels & Pearls party was inspired by a Kat Spade ad that came out this spring and we lined over 50 pinwheels along our back fence, pearls hung in the tree and a thrifted chandelier was painted white & pink for the occasion. We set up a table at perfect kid height for coloring in pinwheels during the party.

We had a desert bar with Starburst pinwheel pops, pinwheel cupcakes and a doughnut tree in the center.

We made pinwheel bow-ties for the boys, pinwheel necklaces for the girls and had many more adorable, kid friendly details. It was truly a magical day.”  Absolutely amazing, and look how adorable the birthday girl is in her pearls, and party hat! This reminds me of our fantastic ‘Adorable Birthday Girl’ / ‘Adorable Birthday Boy’ contests, which we’ll be hosting very soon!!   Look out for the details in an upcoming post.

Be sure to check out Victoria’s DIY tutorials for the pinwheels, party hats, and her free downloads for the labels.

Here are some pictures from the adorable construction themed party that Christina created for her son Austin’s first birthday.  Complete with bulldozer cookies, an adorable dessert and candy table, construction hats and a sand pit filled with construction toys. Looks like lots of fun, and Christina did an amazing job bringing it all together!

I love the centerpieces: a little collection of daffodils, and construction paraphernalia. Custom cupcake toppers and favor stickers by Party Box Design, Pinwheel cupcake toppers by Gigglesapu, Bulldozer cookies by Sugar & Flour, and banner by Earmark Gatherings.

Thanks for sharing Christina! For more details see The Dann Family Chronicles.