I’m really excited to share this pumpkin fairy birthday party that Joy Spiegel put together for her daughter Hope’s fourth birthday. There are so many details here, and lots of inspiration. Joy planned the party around the colours lime green and orange, and incorporated lots of magical pumpkin and fairy details. The custom designed, glitter pumpkin fairy invitations set the magical tone for the event, and guests were transported to the enchanted world of pumpkin fairies. Here are the details as told by Joy:

 ”Upon arrival the children were greeted by Hope’s Fairy Godmother who turned them into pumpkin fairies . We had a dressing station set up with skirts, wings, pumpkin wreaths and wands. The skirts and wings were purchased at The Dollar Tree and the accessories were made through vendors on Etsy. Both the boys and the girls had separate dressing stations with foamcore posters displayed. The girls poster featured an armoire with the exact replica of their costume on it. The boys poster looked like a book that explained what sprites were – small elves that climb the trees and paint the autumn leaves. A grapic designer friend made these adorable posters for us. Upon entering the party we had a table arranged with leaves and a large poster of our daughter in her pumpkin fairy costume. It stated, “Hope has Wings” on it and was a lovely welcome table for the gifts. On display with it was The Pumpkin Fairy book which was read aloud to the children later in the party and given out as a hot potato gift.

The color theme for the party was lime green and orange. I had purchased orange and lime green satin glitter fabric from JoAnn Fabrics and made my own table cloths. In addition the centerpieces were wire pumpkin coaches that were painstakingly wrapped with pipe cleaners to resemble pumpkins. The entire pumpkin was orange, and the top was the green stem. The wheels were gold and silver. I made star wands myself and sprayed them gold. Again, all of the materials were purchased through JoAnn Fabrics. The stars were sprayed and dipped in gold glitter. The middles were stuffed with tulle. They looked beautiful on the tables. Chair covers on the childrens table added a special touch. I wrapped orange tulle around each chair. In the back of the chair bow I tied the favor, an adorable pumpkin fairy doll wand. I found them at a local store and they were special made to order. Each doll had each guests name tied to it. This also served as a seating assignment. In addition I bought brown bags from the Dollar Tree and glued leaves on them. These bags were given out at the end of the party for the kids costumes, favors and prizes to be carried home.  Following the theme, we had a pumpkin fairy cake made in the shape of a pumpkin coach, as well as pumpkin sugar cookies, and leaf cookies. We hung fairy wings on the ceiling and around the room, using tulle as well. 

The party was held at Lakeside at Osceola, which is a large tented room that is well, on a lake. The property has a small ferris wheel as well as carousel. In addition to that, we went on a pumpkin hayride. Last but not least, was the outdoor bouncey castle. 

Once the kids finished with the outside fun, we gathered indoors and greeted “The Pumpkin Fairy”. We hired her to come and paint their faces and make balloons. The kids were busy from start to finish. My only problem is how to outdo it next year.” Many thanks to Joy for sharing this lovely party!

Last month we featured Better Bit Of Butter’s gorgeous cookies, and I’m happy to announce that Christine, the owner and creator of  Better Bit Of Butter Cookies, is offering our readers a chance to win an eight pack of  her beautiful everyday design cookies!  These cookies have a reputation of looking far too good to eat, so you might be tempted to preserve them as long as possible!

To Enter

• simply leave a comment about Better Bit Of Butter Cookies at the end of this post.
• Giveaway ends Friday March 12th and the winner will be chosen randomly.   
• Winner will be announced once we’ve confirmed that they’ve accepted the prize.

Good Luck everyone, I’d love to win them myself!!

My inbox is full of parties that I NEED to feature, but I’ve been so incredibly busy over the past few days, that I’ve hardly had time to write up new features. Today, I’m trying to squeeze in a few moments to share the awesome vintage circus party that Sandy from The Winding Road sent me. I absolutely love the children’s outfits, and all the great vintage style and details that Sandy incorporated. Here are the details as told by Sandy:

For food: We served typical circus fare; hot dogs, chips, and popcorn.  Both Lauren and Jacob had their own cakes.  Lauren’s “popcorn” cake was used for the guests while Jacob’s “elephant” cake was more of a smash cake.  As he didn’t really “get into” the whole smashing idea, we served his cake as well.

 

For the decorations:  I fell in love with the idea of the “Chasing Fireflies” light up carousel lights but they wanted $178 per letter!  So, instead I purchased paper-mache letters from Joann’s Crafts for around $3 each.  We painted them and adhered them to a sign we had cut and then added Christmas lights to finish it off.  My husband put together the big top for me using a hula hoop and rolls of plastic tablecloth purchased from the party store.  I added the homemade fabric banner.  I also used larger strips of the same fabric as backdrops for the games we played: clothespin drop, “knock over the can”, and our tattoo station.  Everyone had their choice of homemade mustaches-on-a-stick or clown noses ordered from Oriental Trading.  We had a photo area set up in one of the rooms to capture shots of all of our guests.  I purchased circus posters very inexpensively from a site on the internet and we framed those and placed them throughout the house along with the circus pictures I had taken of our children.

As a take home gift each child filled a popcorn bag with their choice of treats.  We had clown rubber duckies, bouncy balls, animal crackers, mini-gumball machines, lollipops, candy necklaces, gum, spinning tops, kazoos, noise-makers, and clown noses.”

Thank you Sandy for sharing this adorable party, and for the awesome inspiration!

I know that lots of you are busy planning some awesome parties, and since the dessert table / candy buffet has been so prominent lately, I decided to invited Natalie Clamp, the owner and creative genius behind Chic Sweets, to share with us some tips on creating a stunning dessert table /candy buffet, to help you create the wow factor at your upcoming parties.

Natalie is a working mother of three who has a talent for creating beautiful dessert and candy buffets. Her talent has turned her into a sought-after dessert table designer in the West Coast Florida area, and she has designed some awesome tables for some amazing events. Her work has also been showcased on Daytime, a daily morning show which airs across the Southeast of the USA.

Here are Natalie’s tips on how to create a great dessert buffet:

1.  Candies and Desserts: The table can be a great focal point in a room/venue and I hate to see jars half full or a lot of empty space on the table. The table is meant to “wow” your guests so after designing the table, then figure out how much dessert or candy you will need depending on the number of guests. Having a lot of candy or desserts also allows guests to take desserts home as favors, and that is the best part.

Also giving your guests a variety to choose from is important as well. I love to mix desserts with hard candy. Think, “small bites.” Guests should feel like they can go back and forth and even, “graze” a bit if they want to.

2. Artistry/Design: Every time I sit down and get ready to sketch, I think about the couple or client and try to incorporate something that inspires me and create my table around it. Is it a monogram? Color palette? Design on an invitation? Let the table and the design tell a story about the event. If I feel stuck or need some inspiration, I will take a break and open a Martha Stewart magazine or check out my favorite blogs (like, Creative Hostess). Dessert tables have become increasingly popular for some time and there are some great parties out there, with dessert tables designed and inspired by moms, party planners, designers, etc.

3. Displaying candies/desserts: This is the part where you should think of yourself as a “food stylist.” I love lining plates and jars with patterned paper or wrapping papers. My go-to site is www.paper-source.com. They have some fantastic papers, ribbons and stamps. It’s so easy and completely transforms the look. I also often use all white platters and vases-it creates a monochromatic look and looks clean.

You can also lay desserts in a bed of M&M’s or other hard candy which makes it fun! Or even covering a foam cone with a coordinating ribbon and sticking lollipops or rock candy in them is always a winner and again, relatively easy to do. 

Also, you do not have to be a graphic artist to create some great labels for your table. Download a unique font from www.urbanfonts.com to make your table more special and personalized. 

4. Keep color schemes to 1-2 colors: I think it’s important to take control of the color scheme and not go too crazy. The most modern, contemporary table we’ve done was an all-white winter table. Also working with unique color palettes is always fun-blue and orange/gray and yellow/black and white. I’m currently in love with any color and gray. It just makes any color pop!

5. Backdrop, backdrop, backdrop:  Think of the backdrop as a continuation of the table. A great wallpaper and lighting can completely change the look of your table. If that is not accessible, I hang paper lanterns or not that long ago we did a table with butterflies and hung them from the ceiling. It looked great and distracted from the plain backdrop.

6. Linens: Linens go hand in hand with a backdrop. A great linen will elevate the look of your table. Go with a lighter fabric in the springtime and heavier, like a silk or taffeta for the fall/winter season. You can even go to a local linen company and many times they will rent out linens for a nominal fee. If you don’t have access to a local linen company, many great stores, like Target, carry some great and most of all, affordable lines.

Thank you Natalie for sharing these great tips with us! I wish you even more success with Chic Sweets.

Photo Credits: {Cancer Awareness Dessert Table: artistiquephotography.com, White Winter Dessert Table: Limelight Photography, Bridal Showcase Dessert Table: Limelight Photography.

Today’s party is a very simple, sweet and adorable teddy bears and daisies themed party that Ana De Sousa, from Brazil created for her daughter Nicole’s first birthday. The main colours were navy blue and yellow, and Ana used lots of daisies and teddy bears to decorate the treats table. She made some adorable paper daisies to hold her homemade traditional brazilian coconut sweets, and made vanilla cupcakes topped with cute little daisies. She also served giant lollipops and marshmallows, and sent the guests home with daisy sugar cookie favors, wrapped in cellophane bags, and tied with navy blue ribbon. So cute!  

Happy Monday, I hope you find inspiration from this sweet turquoise and yellow dessert table by Dooby Design Group.  Don’t you just love the colours? Enjoy!

Today I’d like to share this bright and colourful pink and orange party that Natalie lovingly put together for her daughter Carter’s first birthday. Natalie was excited to share this party and admitted that she started planning it from the time Carter was born. I’d say she did a great job, wouldn’t you? Here are the details as told by Natalie: “It was tons of fun planning this party…which probably started when Carter was born.  It was a pink and orange party for a very happy one year old. One little candle for one little girl!!! It was a sweet treats party with plenty of desserts: cake, taffy, chocolate covered pretzels and strawberries…of course everything was either pink or orange. All the little guests were entertained by Kindermusik.

All the guests received a jar full of pink and orange taffy & number “1″ and letter “C” cookies. The little guests received personalized bags full of pink and orange goodies & a big bottle of orange bubbles.” Great job Natalie, thanks for sharing Carter’s adorable party!

I came across this sweet idea to recycle old votive holders and use them as flower vases / place settings / favors, via Project Wedding. Talk about budget friendly! I have lots of old votive holders lying around, and I certainly wouldn’t protest against putting them to such good use. These would look so lovely as place holders at a baby shower, and what’s really great is that they can also double as party favors or simple centerpieces! The pictured vases are filled with pretty primroses but you can use any other small flower such as violets, pansies, individual hydrangea blossoms, miniature daffodils, or muscari.  

Here’s How To Make Them

You’ll Need:

Votive holders

6-8 stems per vase

labels

Steps:

1. To remove wax from votive holders, leave them in the freezer for several days.

2. Be sure and wash the vases completely to remove any excess wax and dry thoroughly. 

3. Write the name of each guest on a label and affix it to the vase.

4. Fill each vase about half-way full of water.

5. Cut the stems short so the blossoms rest against the side of the vase but be sure the stems are long enough to drink water.

6. Arrange the flowers the night before the event and keep them in a fridge, away from fruit if possible.

One of our readers, Angela, contacted me asking for help with her daughter’s upcoming 2nd birthday party. She wanted to plan a pajama party around her daughter’s favorite book “Goodnight Gorilla”. For those who don’t know, in summary, this is a book about a gorilla and other zoo animals, including a giraffe, mouse, hyenna, elephant, armadillo, and lion who follow a zoo keeper home, into his room, and get cuddled up and ready to sleep. The main colours of the book are blue and green. Angela wanted to incorporate some of the colours from the book, but she also wanted to keep it girly, and possibly use animal prints. To sum it up, she was looking for ideas to help her pull together a cohesive and exciting theme. 

Here are the ideas I shared with Angela. I had a vision of a green, pink, brown and giraffe print colour scheme. I thought it would be nice to have pink, green and giraffe print paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling over the bed table, which Angela was thinking of having. She had no idea what colour sheets and pillow cases she would use for the table, so I suggested a pink and green combination, much like the ones Jamie used for her daughter’s fabulous Night Owl Pajama party. I also suggested setting the table with giraffe print plates, and using green plants as centerpieces. Angela was thinking of serving cookies and milk, and I thought a cookies and milk buffet, much like the one Anne set up at her daughter’s party would be perfect. I also found some great cookie jar labelling ideas from Most Likely Late. I suggested cupcakes decorated with zoo animal toppers, and favor bags filled with animal cookies /biscuits. For the favor bags, I suggested using brown paper bags, decorated with ribbon, and tags naming the various animals from the book.      

Some more cookie jar labelling ideas from Most Likely Late.

And of course the kiddie guests will need a place for fun and froilc, so I suggested setting up a cozy play area under a pink canopy, with lots of plush, pink, green and giraffe print cushions, and cuddly stuffed animals from the Goodnight Gorilla story. I can’t wait to see how this party turns out! 

Picture of the bed table used for the Night Owl Pajama Party.

Images: { giraffe print lantern, pink and green paper lanterns, cookie buffet, stuffed gorilla, cookie jars, green plants, zoo animal cupcakes, favor bags, favor bag labels, pink canopy, colourful cushions, giraffe print cushions   }   

Here’s a little Monday sweetness coming your way…these oh SO pretty cookies from Better Bit Of Butter. If you haven’t heard of them, do look them up, because these cookies would be so fabulous as party favors! You can choose from their existing designs, or request custom orders. Their cookies are made from the best ingredients with no trans fats or preservatives, and I hear they taste as amazing as they look!