Kim Keller

Our daughter, Quinn, loves Minnie Mouse and so when it came time to plan her second birthday we knew Minnie had to be part of it. After deciding on a Sunday afternoon party with just a few of her closest girlfriends, an “afternoon tea” or Minnie Mouseka-Tea came to life.
The guests, which included 6 of Quinn’s little girlfriends, all arrived in party dresses. We kept to the tea party theme with giving them each a strand of “pearls” to wear and special tea cups (with lids and straws!) to sip lemonade from. Each girl also had a pair of Minnie Mouse ears that was customized with a gold glitter monogram at their place setting. Of course the birthday girl refused to wear hers but the other girls loved them.
We served mouse shaped pimento cheese and cream and jam sandwiches and fruit with yogurt dipping sauce (served in mini tea cups) for an afternoon snack.
The desserts were the star of the show. We served strawberry cupcakes from our favorite bakery, Sugar and had custom tea cup mouseka-tea sugar cookies made at another local favorite, Bakies.
After the snacks and drinks the girls played in the backyard with beach balls and Quinn’s new playhouse and slide, and even colored custom coloring sheets.
It was such a fun fancy afternoon and we can’t wait to have another tea party soon.

As a graphic designer, I spend most of my days designing party pieces for other people. So, when it came time to celebrate our daughter Quinn’s first birthday I was so excited to do some creating for my own event.
Almost everything from the food and flowers, to cupcakes and cupcake toppers, banners and flamingo cookies was done by myself or my mom. I also had lots of help from Quinn’s Grandma, Great-Grandma and Aunt who flew in for the party.  For weeks before the event I would cut and tie tissue tassels while watching tv at night with my husband. Although it was a lot of work, it truly was a labor of love. I had such a fun time creating a flamingo fete for my daughter and our close friends and family.

A pink and gray whimsical nursery designed just for our baby girl.
 

When mamma-to-be Morgan, told her her best  friend and graphic designer Kim she was having a baby girl, Kim immediately started designing a shower invitation.  Kim knew she wanted the shower colors to be bright and cheerful and incorporate Morgan’s favorite color, orange. From the invitation the rest of the party started to take shape. Kim and fellow party host Stephanie, came up with the other party details and decided to avoid a lot of the “typical baby shower items” like a diaper cake and games. Instead, the morning would be more about celebrating Morgan and her baby girl on the way, Olivia Clair, in a fun and colorful way and of course there would be hints of glam mixed in, just like the fashionable mamma-to-be (who is a market manager for a large national shoe chain).
During the shower a headband making station was set up and guests were able to make unique headbands for the baby girl. Guests, who included friends from High School and College, had a great time picking out the band, flower and any embellishments they wanted to add. Even the un-craftiest of the ladies had fun making headbands, which they just had to hot glue together. Tags were also provided so that Morgan knew who made each headband.
As Morgan opened opened gifts, a stack of envelopes with thank you notes that matched the invitation inside each one, were passed out so that guests could write their address on the front of each envelope. This simple idea was one of Morgan’s favorite things and made getting thank you notes out after the shower so much easier.
Once all the mimosas were drank, cupcakes devoured and gifts opened, guests were given a party favor of a bottle of Coca-Cola Classic that had a custom wrapper that said “Morgan is ready to Pop” with a paper straw attached. Regular coke has always been Morgan’s non-alchoholic drink of choice so it was a fitting a favor and perfect send off for a day all about Morgan and her baby girl on the way.