Wednesday, July 27, 2011

{Event Recap} Lila & the Beanstalk 1st Birthday

So my youngest, Lorelei, finally turned one this month. I was racking my brain for a fun and different theme for her party. Then it hit me ... I could use her nickname, little Lila Bean, to inspire me and started planning a "Lila & the Beanstalk" birthday bash.


When I sat down to start designing the invitation for the event I remembered an accordion style I'd used for my cousin's graduation party. I liked the idea of guests getting to "grow" their own beanstalk as they opened the invitation. I later reused the same design elements in the invitation in the rest of the party printables.



Drink station with custom water bottle, cup and drink labels

Normally we host a casual summer BBQ each year for all of our friends and family and since Lorelei's birthday falls in July we decided to combine the two events. My wonderful husband and father in-law slaved over a hot BBQ cooking up 40 lbs of meat and grilling veggies for all of our guests.


We served carne asada, lula kebabs and marinated chicken; grilled mushrooms, peppers and asparagus; boiled corn; bean salad; steamed rice; and lavash bread. BBQ is one of my favorite choices for party food. Everything tastes yummy coming off of a BBQ and I can pawn a large portion of the work off on my husband! ;)

The food table was designed as a "Giant Feast." The backdrop featured a large version of the giant's castle with a beanstalk coming up out of the table. Each of the food signs were tiny beanstalks popping out of a white cloud covered table. The food was served in all white dishes to blend in with the cloud decor.

And of course there was a fully stocked dessert table! Since the main food was featuring the giant's home I wanted to showcase Jack/Lila's home and storybook farmland for the desserts.


Once again I utilized the fabulous talents of my friend, Fenella Higgins. I asked her to create Lila's cottage out of cake based off of the cottage I used on the invite. She came through with the adorable centerpiece of the table. She even made mini cupcakes covered in Oreo cookie "dirt" with magic (jelly) beans planted in them.


I had tons of other treats for all the guests to splurge on, such as, cow and pig lollipops, "bails" of rice cereal treats, caramel apples, caramel popcorn, cake pops, Oreo cookie "wheels," magic jelly beans, gold fish, Red Vines, green Laffy Taffy ropes, and green chocolate covered sunflower seeds.




I also made sure that all the items that Jack/Lila "stole" from the giant were represented in edible form on the table. I made golden egg cake pops complete with a yolk and shiny candy coating (tutorial for these coming soon).



Sugar cookie harps by Fairytale Frosting
and a chest of chocolate gold coins.

For the backdrop I had the giant's castle again but this time it was a much smaller version floating up above the table scape in the clouds. The beanstalk was placed coming up out of the ground by the cake and stretching up to the castle and then branching out and becoming a banner for the table, "Lila & the Beanstalk."


I was ecstatic when I found mini pots with seed packets at Target in their dollar bin! I removed the packaging and wrapped each pot in green ribbon and attached a matching favor tag. The backside of each tag had instructions for growing the seeds. The seeds were a mix of flowers, strawberries and tomato plants but each guest would have to grown their magic beans to discover what they had planted.


And of course a picture of the birthday girl enjoying one of her favorite foods, corn on the cob.

Some of the additional decor for the party was a photo vine I created. Each leaf represented a different month from newborn to one year old. In the canopies I hung clusters of tissue puffs shaped into cloud formations, some of which had strands of leaf ribbon hanging down.


Lastly there were several activities for the kids to participate in during the party. I created some homemade "Lila and the Beanstalk" characters out of felt and I had one of my friends, Dina of Studio E a children's acting program, hold a story time. All the kids gathered around to hear the (slightly modified to be more kid friendly) tale of Lila and her magic beans. This was a huge hit thanks to Dina's wonderful talent at interacting with kids. After the story they all swarmed the felt board and playing with all the pieces.

There was also a first birthday pinata and homemade binoculars for the kids to decorate. I had gathered toilet paper rolls for weeks before the party. I then spray painted them, glued them together and tied them with yarn. I gave the kids precut foam stickers to adhere to them as decorations and then sent them off to search the sky for castles in the clouds!


Vendors
Party styling: Enchanted Events & Design
Party printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Custom cookies: Fairytale Frosting
Cake: Fenella Higgins
Story time: Dina of Studio E Academy

Friday, July 22, 2011

A Sneak Peek!

I apologize for disappearing this week! I've been meaning to post my "Lila and the Beanstalk" party, but I keep disappearing into the "Tutu" party I'm designing for this weekend. I thought you all deserved a little sneak peak for being so patient. Enjoy!

Lila and the Beanstalk 1st Birthday


Mallory's Tutu Cute 1st Birthday

Monday, July 11, 2011

{Event Recap} Alexa's Candy Shoppe 1st Birthday

Candy and ice cream reigned supreme at Alexa's 1st birthday party. I had so much fun working with her mommy to design a scrumptious dessert table for her big day. I was given a palette of different shades of pink and a bright blue and threw in some splashes of red for contrast.


There are so many little details on this table that I loved putting together. The gumball machine was a DIY project I got from Kara's Party Ideas. I decided to create a bigger version of her mini gumball machines for the table and spray painted it blue instead of the standard red.




The treats included: red vines, pink and white marshmallows, gumballs, M&M's, pink and white meringues, sixlets, candy bracelets, rock candy, standard cake pops and ice cream cone shaped cake pops (made by my client!), lollipops, custom sugar cookies by Fairytale Frosting, and custom cake decor by Parker's Flour Patch which decorated a simple two tiered homemade cake. I suggested using a cupcake for the cake topper and my client found a special cupcake pan to make a larger and more decorative cupcake for the design!


Ice cream was also served with the cake so I created a topping section for the dessert table where guests could choose between chopped nuts, white chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, crushed Oreos, and shredded coconut.



Custom sign




Utensil wraps


Customized drink cups


Drink tags


Food tent cards

Vendors
Party styling, banner and printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Custom cookies: Fairytale Frosting
Fondant Cake Décor: Parker’s Flour Patch
Gumball machine tutorial: Kara's Party Ideas

Monday, July 4, 2011

{Tutorial} Lollipop Wand

Okay here's a super quick and easy tutorial for anyone interested in making their own lollipop wands.


Photo by Next Exit Photography

First you're going to need a dowel (approximately 3/16" thick and 12" long) and two foam sheets, one standard and one with an adhesive backing in any colors of your choosing. If you'd like you can spray paint your dowel to any color before starting to assemble the wands or you may leave it blond. In this tutorial I've spray painted my dowel blue.


Next find a round object to use as a template for your lollipop. I used a pot that was approximately 5" in diameter. Place the pot on each foam sheet and trace the shape with a pen or pencil. I used a glittered adhesive foam sheet so I traced on the backside of the sheet since the front side is difficult to trace on due to the bumpy texture of the glitter.


After you've traced your circles cut them out with standard scissors. You will be left with two circles of equal size preferably in different colors.

Next take the foam circle with the adhesive backing and starting from any point on the circle start cutting a spiral shape. Once you've cut to the center backtrack and cut a spiral parallel to the first until you reach the outside of the circle again. Your spiral should look like the one below.


You can then separate the spiral shapes so that you have two, a larger spiral and a smaller spiral.


You can then remove the adhesive backing of either of these spirals and and place it over the standard foam circle you made earlier. You may wish to use only one of these spirals or both depending on your preference. If you choose to use both you'll need twice as many standard circles as circles with adhesive backs.


You can then flip your lollipop swirl over and hot glue the dowel to the backside of the foam.


You now have a finished wand! These work great as party favors, ground stakes, centerpieces or anything else you can imagine for them!

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