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Ainslea’s Spring Themed First Birthday Bash

Ainslea’s first birthday bash was full of whimsy with hints of Spring. We kept things simple by having a family get together, serving a buffet lunch, mimosas and of course, birthday cake! I made/collected all of the decorations myself and actually reused a lot of items that we had in our home already, or had used for other occasions (like our wedding!). Ainslea’s nursery is decorated with tones of peach and ivory, so we stuck with that theme for her party and added some flair with touches of gold.

Shark Party Birthday!

When my son told me he wanted a shark themed birthday party, I won’t lie, I was a bit stumped. Having never planned an animal/fish/mammal party before, I decided to start with the venue. It was important to me to have a space where kids could enjoy the party, have an activity to participate in, but more importantly, burn off some energy! (I mean, we are talking about Kindergartners here!)
After talking with the folks at the aquarium, I decided that location would best suited for a smaller group. Next on my list, The Aqua Shop. I gave them a call and visited the store and was sold! This place was perfect. It’s an indoor surf shop with a retail section as well. The Aqua Shop has bounce houses, a back room for parties, and indoor surfing. I booked the shop and began to think about the invitations.
I am a huge fan of adding “bling” or “flare” to all my invites. It’s the extra detail that really makes the invitations special. For this invite, I chose to do a 4 x 9″ so I could add my “flare” aka plastic shark to the back so each kid would have something to remind them of the cool party about to happen. I also hand cut shark bite marks into each invite. (Again, it’s all about the details!)
Since this party was on location at The Aqua Shop, I decided to keep the dessert table simple. I ordered wave patterned fabric and had a table cloth made. The party favors were super fun sharks, sunglasses and a shark tooth candy necklace. I used the party favors to decorate the table. I had custom m&m’s made, which were a hit to kids and grandparents alike! I also used Swedish Fish to accent the table.
The party was during lunch, so I brought Chick-fil-A nuggets in with chips and juice boxes. And let’s not forget the fruit! I made a watermelon shark and added green grapes. I found the tutorial here. The kids were in awe (and it was SO easy!).
I ordered a sheet cake from my local bakery and asked them to make the icing look like waves because I had a great idea brewing in my mind. I found a plastic shark at Toys R Us, cut it in half like I did for my dino party (see the tutorial here), and had the cutest cake!
To get some cute pics, I ordered a diecut shark head and a personalized wooden surf board. Using these simple props made the pictures more fun to take and the kids were really interacting with each other.

Baby Bridges Gender Reveal Party

Since this was our first baby we wanted to host a gender reveal party for all our close friends and family. Only my best friend knew the gender of the baby so she had a bakery make cupcakes filled with blue or pink filling. After everyone arrived the gender of the baby was revealed by my husband and I biting into a cupcake that had either blue (boy) or pink (girl) in the center. It’s a BOY!

Adventure Time for Aila

I was so excited to have this awesome party theme thrown my way by a great local mom here in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Her daughter was adamant about having a party based on the Adventure Time TV show. Mom was having a hard time finding party supplies to go with the theme so she came to me. I made all the graphics for her and a custom cake/cupcakes/marshmallow pops as well. All in all working on this project was a good time. The kids had a ball at the party playing a cool penguin bowling game that they made out of bottles. An awesome face painter and entertainer was there to show the kids an extra fun time as well.  Great party for a great gal, Happy Birthday Aila!