Noah’s Minion Rush 5th Birthday Party
my oldest son’s fifth birthday party…inspired by his favorite movie, “despicable me!” the party invitees included family and lots of friends (young + older too!)
my oldest son’s fifth birthday party…inspired by his favorite movie, “despicable me!” the party invitees included family and lots of friends (young + older too!)
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!
Given the timing of the baptism right before the holidays, it didn’t make sense not to work in a Christmas theme, so taking the inspiration from the Nutcracker, we opted for shades of pink and silver instead of more traditional reds and greens which gave our winter wonderland a more girly, whimsical feel!
While looking at Project Nursery for nursery ideas, I saw the parties that people were also posting. So, naturally, when my little guy was going to turn 1, I consulted this site again, looking for ideas. For some reason, monkeys have been a theme with him, so I chose to go that route. I liked the “Mod Monkey” theme but instead of buying that party themed decor, I designed everything myself using digital software.
When Brox was 6 months old I started planning and pinning for his 1st birthday party. I had so many “theme” ideas but wanted to save those for when he was bigger and could enjoy them more so I decided to go with a super traditional primary colored party in our backyard.
Intimate baby shower lunch at the beautiful Delamar Hotel in Southport, CT using Lavender & Gray nursery color palette.
I hosted this trim a tree party for my daughter’s and their closest friend. SInce all girls were coming I choose a soft pink, green and blue color scheme. I wanted to kick off the holiday season with some fun crafts and a sweet afternoon get together.
For my daughter’s second birthday I wanted soft, sweet colors and what little girl doesn’t love to twirl around in a tutu?! The party is a combination of DIY projects, items from vendors (I discovered I was not very good at making tulle pom items), and reuse of items (I have used those mason jars for my wedding, baby shower, Presley’s 1st birthday, and now her 2nd).
When my dear friend, Tracy, asked me to do the printables and dessert table for her son, Brendan’s first birthday, I was so honored. Tracy has amazing style and knew exactly the feel she wanted for Baby B’s party- modern, classy with a little bit of vintage. Tracy had picked the graphic marigold fabric for the tablecloth on the dessert table and wanted to use burlap and twine accents. She made the adorable paper mache bees for decorations and centerpieces and wrapped tin cans with twine to continue the vintage feel on the tables.For the dessert table, I stuck to treats that fit our gold, burlap and white color scheme. Yummy treats included beehive s’mores, caramel cheesecake shooters, honey popcorn, lemon parfaits, and store bought Oreo Cakesters decorate with chocolate stripes. The kids loved the bit of honey treat bags and honey taffy. For the backdrop picture, I simply sent the image of the bee that we used on the invitations to my local printer who enlarged it to fit our frame. The small frame on the table is a list of the many virtues Tracy and her husband, Charlie, wish for their son.Guest left with bumble gum tubes and Mason jars that Tracy had planted with sunflower seeds and a tag reminding them to “bee patient”. All the banners and labels were in the shape of a honeycomb. The entire bee collection including invitation, labels, banner, water bottle wraps, juice box covers and more is available for purchase at http://etsy.com/shop/bloomdesignsonline.
I threw a very fancy 3rd birthday party for our daughter, Adeline . . . inspired by one of her favorite books – Fancy Nancy. I maybe got a bit carried away with the idea of tulle and glitter, but this party turned out to be sooo much fun for everyone involved. My little girl is still talking about it!
DECOR
A lot of red, pink & purple. I bought tulle from Joann’s and draped it from the ceiling and window (we haven’t got around to decorating our living/dining room yet (the bottom of the list) but it works out great for hosting a party). I also bought some cheap red and pink fabric to use as tablecloths for the kids table and dessert table. On the dessert table I created a feather boa backdrop (after being inspired by this picture) and Adeline and I made the glitter letters to string across the top. My mom came over last minute and “whipped” up the adorable tulle skirts around the (Ikea) kid stools with some of the pink tulle. I found butterfly wings at the dollar store and also hung them on the window. For centerpieces I used some old faux grass plants I had lying around the house and added a few purple butterflies. For the front door I made a wreath by wrapping a straw wreath in pink ribbon and attaching a sign. I made all the party printables (banner, food labels, favor tags, party signs) And to top it off – gold, pink, red and purple balloons all over.
MENU
I set up a little buffet for the girls (and moms) on a separate table in the kitchen. This included a mini milk bar with chocolate and strawberry milk, pink lemonade, mini cucumber sandwiches, butterfly shaped PB & J, individual servings of mac & cheese and individual servings of veggie sticks with ranch dip (I found the individual serving ideas on pinterest – awesome). On the dessert table we had a delicious ruffle cake, cupcakes topped with fondant butterflies, frosted marshmallow sticks and a mini candy bar complete with purple and pink rock crystal, gumballs, taffy and candy sticks . . . very fancy!
ACTIVITIES
Our guests of honor were all girls between 1 1/2 – 4 years of age, so entertainment was simple but fancy! Upon arrival the girls were seated at the table with a personal glitter tiara and cardboard butterfly wings to decorate. I had little buckets of crayons, jewels and foam stickers for them to use. After they were done decorating their crowns and wings they were escorted to an “accessories” table covered with a blanket. Upon reveal they were faced with a variety of necklaces, bracelets, rings, sunglasses and fancy ribbon wands (check out the tutorial for these here). All of the girls already came dressed up in their fanciest ensembles (priceless) so you can imagine how adorable this all was. After accessorizing the girls practiced their “fancy” moves and fluttered around the house in their wings, dresses and fancy accessories . . . ohh la la! After lunch we topped it all off with some “pin the jewel on the tiara” before everyone got distracted in the playroom.
What an extravagantly fancy day it was! Our little birthday girl couldn’t stop dancing around or smiling.
www.simplypchee.com
My boy is obsessed with cars. Not the movie, not NASCAR, but top of the line, exotic cars which he calls “race cars”! He literally can name any brand of vehicle there is, even I can’t believe it sometimes. So since he loves his Hot Wheels, I envisioned a “race car” themed party featuring only one type of car, — a Porsche — along with my favorite color combo and chevron pattern.
Baby Shower. Easy DIY decor, I only splurged on the cake and used it as the centerpiece.
The theme of the party was Olivia’s First Fiesta with grey, pink and yellow as the main color scheme but for the garlands I added a few other colors so that they would pop in the large space to fill. For the decor I made fabric banners with striped and polka dotted fabric and tons of yarn poms. The kids table consisted of pink and yellow polka dot table runners I made to match the color scheme. The place settings were colorful square polka dot plates topped with yellow and pink napkins. At the top of each place setting sat the party hats I designed to match the party printables. Boys hats were grey and yellow and the girls hats had the colorful polka dot pattern I created with pink and red poms on top. The centerpiece of the table had two very cute elephants on pedestals facing a colorful and romantic flower arrangement.I made a giant piñata of the number ‘1’ out of an old card box (DIY) and covered it in a wave style pattern with fucsia, orange, white and silver crepe paper. Filled it with tons of candy and sparkly confetti.The dessert table was the star of the party. The grey background with polka dots was decorated with a yarn tassel garland. The birthday cake had 3 layers of pink ombre style colors filled with buttercream, dulce de leche and covered in more buttercream, yum! The kids could not resist keeping their hands off the dessert table (as well as some adults!).Guests took home favor bags in pink stripes for the girls and blue polka dots for the boys with designed favor tags with each kids name on it. The paper bags were filled with stickers, bouncy balls, crayons and more candy of course.Activities involved a giant bouncy castle, bubbles, tons of games and before everyone left they had a lot of fun playing with the props and the background I designed for the photobooth. I loved all the details that went into planning her first Birthday. It will definitely be a party to remember.
In celebration of American Heart Month, a little heart-healthy dessert inspiration.
A bright bold and modern take on a traditional butterfly/garden party. Hot pinks and yellows were our color scheme with a sweet butterfly motif.
I wasn’t planning on making a big deal for “the second’s” birthday, but then I felt guilty, so at midnight, I crept into the basement to collect things I had laying around to decorate and make our small little gathering a little more special.
Our youngest son’s first birthday party!
Vincent was born 16 weeks premature, so we had a formal shower after he was born. The shower was at a banquet hall, on a Sunday afternoon. There were approx 75 guests in attendance. Appetizers were served during the cocktail hour, which included punch, soda, and mimosas. A sit down luncheon was served afterwards, followed by cake and pastries.
This was my first child’s baby shower. My son Kellen who is now 4 months old. My beautiful sister was the host of the shower and was so imperative and having amazing and creative ideas. We wanted to have a shower without all of the typical cheesy baby boy decor. So we chose more modern themes and ideas. Such as the candy bar!
Jake’s 1st birthday party was so much fun to plan and style. Lil’ Buckaroo jumped out at us as the perfect theme because that was his nickname we gave him in response to the way he “bucks” when he gets frustrated. Once I had the theme, I instantly knew I would be working with the red bandana, denim and cow prints to use as my pattern and color palettes. From there, I created the designs using those colors and a star I designed to resemble an old western sheriff badge. This party started out as just a simple idea and I am so thrilled with how it came out. It was the perfect 1st birthday party for my son!