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AC05

Wife, Mom, Daughter, Sister, Friend

Ballet Birthday Ball

I love ballet and so does my little girl. I took classes as a child and now see around 17 performances a year, many of them with my daughter.  She attended her first ballet, sitting quietly mesmerized for the entirety of George Balanchine’s Rubies, when she was 1 year old. And she began learning basic ballet moves at that age and started classes at two and has continued since. For her “Ballerina Birthday Ball”, one of her former ballet teachers choreographed a dance for her to perform, as Princess Aurora, to Tchaikovsky’s “The Garland Waltz” from The Sleeping Beauty ballet.
My favorite elements from the dessert area were: the personalized pointe shoes by American Ballet Theatre Principal Ballerina, Sarah Lane, my little one met when she was two and four years old, backstage after performances. And, the gorgeous cake executed masterfully by Lesley Wright of The Royal Bakery; it was a joy seeing my design for this cake come to life through her impeccable work. I selected 3 of my favorite ballet paintings by Edgar Degas to be placed in the fondant frames surrounding the fondant stage.
I also truly enjoyed designing the invitation, the tutu worn by the ballerina in the image was based off one we saw together during a ballet in Paris, designed by Christian Lacroix for the Paris Opera Ballet’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Balanchine.
Music from classical ballets played during the party and some of the activities for the little ballerinas included making masks for Romeo & Juliette’s masquerade ball and learning a dance from ballet teachers at a local school to Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty as well. The garlands were handmade by my sister and brother-in-law, my husband, and me using hula hoops, silk flowers, and floral tape.
I also adored the cookies and chocolate covered Oreos, but my little one only wanted to eat the rose petal Turkish delight…must be too much listening to the “Rose Adagio” from The Sleeping Beauty… The “stage” was made by using a large soccer goal and curtains both found on Amazon.

Carousel of Dreams Birthday Party

I adore carousels and thankfully my little one does too! Her first ride at 5 months, was at Pier 39 in San Francisco. A couple of years ago, I saw a beautiful carousel styled dessert table for a Mary Poppins party, and I knew at that moment that one day I wanted to create my own for a carousel themed party. Creating the table was certainly a labor of love! I cannot remember how many hours my husband and I spent at Home Depot trying to perfect the design and measurements, cutting PVC pipes, looking for the right cutting tools, etc.
Some of my favorite details were:
-Designing my daughter’s dress and invitations
-Finding peonies at the flower market out of season!!! after calling several vendors without luck
-Photos of her riding various carousels in carousel frames
The DIY elements were:
The carousel table using poster board, PVC pipes, ribbons, spray paint, printed horses on foam board, and my amazing sister-in-law, Nancy’s, and brother-in law, Brian’s, Silhouette Cameo to cut several motifs for the edges, with digital files bought on Etsy.
Flower arrangements, with flowers from the San Francisco and Oakland flower markets
Cotton candy cones, cones painted with Wilton Pearl Dust in white and pink
Her Party hat and invitations
Spray painting carousel photo frames found on ebay.