{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

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

{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

{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!

{Event Recap} Saro's Baptism

I wanted to share a dessert table and place cards I designed for a client's son's baptism recently. It was an interesting challenge because I wasn't given colors or a theme for the event. The client just wanted a table design that was chic and springy. This is the final design.




I love how these escort cards turned out! The client asked me to incorporate rabbits somewhere into the design and I decided to use them here. Look for my "Spring Rabbit" items in my Etsy shop!



And check out that amazing artwork a friend of my client created for little Saro!

{Giveaway} Winner of the Celebrating 500 Facebook Fans and 300 Blog Followers Giveaway!

Congratulations to comment #27, Karen!

You have one week to claim your prize. Please contact me via comment or email by June 24, 2011. Thank you to everyone who entered this giveaway.

{Giveaway} Celebrating 500 Facebook Fans and 300 Blog Followers! - ENDED

I'm EXTREMELY excited to announce my next giveaway because it's a big one! I really wanted to celebrate this week after hitting some big follower milestones. A huge thanks again to everyone who helped me reach this goal. Now to the details of my next giveaway ... are you ready??

The winner is going to get to pick from one of these three prizes:

#1) LOCAL EVENT DESIGN*

Initial planning consultation
Location walkthrough
Theme research
Event design
Vendor list for client to hire and purchase (entertainment, favors, food, etc)
Vendor coordination
Set up the day of the party
Includes birthdays, anniversaries, showers and other small events.

#2) SILVER PACKAGE - DAY OF WEDDING COORDINATION*

Location walkthrough
Unlimited time on the day of your wedding
Ceremony setup
Reception setup
Vendor recommendations
Vendor coordination the day of your wedding
Coordinate guests & bridal party
Distribute payments/tips
Decorate wedding night suite
Handle emergencies

#3) $150 AT EEAD ETSY SHOP

DIY or ready made party printables
Wedding invitations
Note cards cards
Card boxes
Cupcake/cake topper
Seating chart designs
And more!
Please check out my Etsy store if you'd like to see my current product lines. Custom designs are also available to the winner.

*First two prizes are limited to events in the Los Angeles area.

TO ENTER:
You MUST first be an EEAD Blog Follower (click on the follow option on the right sidebar of this blog to join)! Then leave a comment on this post for EACH entry below that applies to you (up to 3 comments/entries possible). If you only leave one comment you will only get one entry into the contest. If you want to enter more than once please leave a separate comment for each entry.

1. Leave a comment if you're an EEAD blog follower.
2. Leave a 2nd comment if you're an EEAD fan on Facebook.
3. Leave a 3rd comment if you share this giveaway on Facebook or blog about it!

Deadline to Enter: June 17, 2011.
Winner will be announced next Saturday, June 18th, 2011. Good luck to everyone!

{Giveaway} Winner of the Lollipop Printables!

Congratulations to comment #5, hope_bre!

Thank you to everyone who entered this giveaway.

{Tip} Premade Fondant Cake Decor

I love making and decorating my own cakes! It's one of my favorite activities in party planning, but it's also getting more and more stressful to find the time. It's getting even more difficult now that I have two kids, one who always wants to be in my arms and another who wants to "help." Typically baking my own cake, designing the look, making all of the decor and then assembling it takes a minimum of two days for me to accomplish.

Some of my homemade cakes. I love the results, but oh the time!

For my Lollipop party I finally ventured into the world of premade fondant decor. Etsy came to my rescue when I discovered Parker's Flour Patch. She has super cute fondant cake and cupcake décor for a great price. I saw her Lollipop cake decor and knew it would be perfect.


I went to the grocery store, as usual, and bought a box cake mix and premade icing. I baked and frosted a simple white 3 tiered cake. Next, I whipped out the purchased cake décor that arrived in the mail and in ten minutes (five of which was spent unwrapping all the pieces) my cake was complete! I am in love with the final product, such a fabulous and affordable way to create an amazing home baked cake!


Photo by Next Exit Photography

{Event Recap} Taline's Lollipop Birthday

Since my daughter was turning three this year I let her decide the theme of her birthday. She adores lollipops and almost never gets to have them. She saw her party as an opportunity to eat a ton of them!



THE COLORSI didn’t want to go the rainbow route for the party and decided to focus on 3 main “lollipop” colors. My first find and inspiration was Taline’s adorable dress from Strawberrie Rose Couture on Etsy.


The moment I saw the dress I was in LOVE! The two dress colors, royal blue and lime green, were perfect. I could picture lots of bright and vivid treats with these colors. I also decided to add pink into the mix to keep the party girly. With my color palette set I was ready to go!

THE ENTRANCEWhen guests first arrived at the party they were greeted by a banner hung at the front of the house, “Lollipop Lane.” The walkway was lined with glittery foam lollipops all the way around to the back yard where the party was held.


Now to the most important aspect of any party ...

THE FOODI wanted to create a world of goodies on a stick. Food on a stick is so popular now that I had a very easy time finding inspiration. Plus everything tastes better on a stick, in my opinion! There were rolled sandwiches (skewered on wooden coffee stirrers), cherry tomatoes on toothpicks, cinnamon rolls on bamboo skewers, bread sticks, stick pretzels, fruit kebabs, corn dogs, and (my favorite) grilled cheese cutouts on a popsicle stick!







THE DESSERTS

I created the backdrop for the table to mimic the white and yellow stripes of the invitation.


Most of the desserts were home made or picked up from grocery stores and included, cake pops wrapped like dum dums, M&M’s, lollipops, marshmallow pops, red vines, strawberry wafers, candy bracelets, oreo pops, vanilla meringues and pie pops by Fenella Higgins.




I also got custom cookies made. I emailed a copy of the invitation to Jessy at Fairytale Frosting and told her what I wanted for the design. Her cookie creations were PERFECT for the table and most importantly ... YUMMY.


I also had picked up some ring pops from the dollar store. I decided to do half of them plain and the other half I dipped in colored sugar for a bedazzled look. I then created a giant ring box for them to be displayed in.



Finally, the cake with decorations by Parker's Flour Patch!



THE SEATING AREAI wanted to keep the seating area clean and simple so I used bright linens and tiny fabric flower pots to sit on the table. I hung 3-colored pom tissue balls from the canopies and tied all of the chair backs with pink ribbons and more foam lollipops.





THE ACTIVITIESTo keep the kids busy I had a ton of plastic balls in pink, green and blue tossed around the back yard. There was sidewalk chalk laid out by the kids table which also had a bead necklace station on it.


I created a Lolli-“POP” game, where I’d filled a bunch of balloons with little prizes (bubbles, whistles, and rubber balls) and each of the kids got a chance to come and pop the balloon for a prize.



THE FAVORSFor the favors, I found these adorable glittered boxes in the Target bargain bin for only $1 in coordinating colors. I filled them with sunglasses, playdough, personalized lollipops and candy bracelets. Finally, I attached a lollipop style favor tag I designed to match the rest of the printables.



MORE PARTY PICTURES
Just in case you haven't seen enough, here are a couple more pictures for you!










Vendors
Party styling and printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Photography: Next Exit Photography
Birthday Girl Dress: Strawberrie Rose Couture
Custom cookies: Fairytale Frosting
Fondant Cake Décor: Parker’s Flour Patch
Pie Pops: Fenella Higgins

Don't forget you can enter to win these Lollipop printables in my Lollipop Giveaway!