Real Parties

Real Party: Little Man’s 1st Birthday

April 17, 2013

My friend Leslie’s little guy Dylan turned 1 recently. She hosted a “Little Man” party for him. He is just so cute, and so was the party!

Here’s all the details…

As usual with our crew, this party was a group effort.

Our friend Alana made wonderful signage for the party, including the welcome sign.

Lindsay made clip on bow ties for all the kiddos to wear. This cute little display greeted guests as they entered the space.

The welcome table also held the guest book.

Leslie used this book as a guest book. Everyone signed the inside cover for little Dylan.

There was a yummy taco bar for lunch.

I made a monthly banner to hang over the food tables.

Cute striped straws were set near the drinks. And the adorable stacked suitcase trio held applesauce pouches for the smallest guests.

Drea made Dylan’s smash cake.

We displayed it on a vintage suitcase. Lindsay made a tiny little bunting banner for embellishment.

I made lots of cupcakes for the dessert.

We used some fabric-wrapped boxes and one of Alana’s signs to build the display.

These candies were the perfect (easy and affordable!) toppers.

We had a photo booth set up in the corner with props for guests to use.

The backdrop was a black shower curtain from Ikea.

Chocolate mustache pops served as party favors.

What a wonderful party!

Resources:

Venue: JCC

Food: Pancho Villa

Suitcases and paper straws: Sweet Shop Lulu

Table linens: Danny Thomas Party Rentals

Photo booth props: Darling Wednesday

Chocolate mustache pops: Crabby’s Treats

And, you can see Leslie’s baby shower here, and Dylan’s sip and see here. (They are both really great parties, check ‘em out if you haven’t seen them already!)

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Filed Under: Kids Birthday Parties, Real Parties

Real Party: Ice Cream Baby Shower

April 1, 2013

First of all, I’d like to officially welcome you to the new site!

I’ve been MIA as most of my (unfortunately limited) “blogging time” lately has been dedicated to getting the new site up and running.

I am loving the new look! I hope you’ll let me know what you think.

And if you are so inclined, grab a button from the right side over there —->

And now, the reason you are really here: a new – and super cute- baby shower!

My friend Katie was sweet enough to share a few pictures of a recent shower she threw for her sister in law, Whitney.

This is such a fun theme!

Simple invites set the stage for the theme.

You know I always love a kids book as a guest book at baby showers!

Katie used “Should I Share My Ice Cream?” Too cute!

A sweet banner for the new baby, and several of Katie’s ice cream cones hung on the mantle. The cones are fabric covered styrofoam balls on paper cones! Katie added a little ruffled embellishment around the edge. So cute!

Lunch was pulled pork sandwiches and a few different salads.

With a few more ice cream cones hung above.

Cute little food labels to match the invitations.

The star of the show was the dessert: ice cream, of course.

I am loving the sweet display!

The paper cups, wooden spoons, food labels, everything is so cute!

Perfect party favors: colorful sprinkles!

Resources:
Ice cream cups and wooden spoons: Sweet Shop Lulu

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Filed Under: Baby Showers, Real Parties, Uncategorized

Real Party: Polka Dots 1st Birthday Party!

January 7, 2013

Mia and I met Rachel and Shayna in our Mom’s group. We spent much of our maternity leaves together, so I was very happy to get to help celebrate Shayna turning 1 recently!

Rachel and her hubby threw a party for Shayna at their house, and they were kind enough to let me share some photos with you.

I loved the polka dot theme that Rachel used for the party. It was inspired by Shayna’s cute party dress. (Which I think is so great. I know some people have a hard time coming up with themes for party. You can literally get them from anywhere; this is such a great example of that!)

Rachel had monthly pictures from Shayna’s first year displayed on polka dots in the living room.

And a bright polka dot Happy Birthday sign.

The kitchen was decorated with bright balloons.

Lunch was served on large colorful round platters.

I thought scattering the bright balls around the dessert table was genius! And aren’t they great in the glass vessel?

Rachel made Shayna’s adorable felt party hat.

She also made the adorable highchair banner.

Everyone hung out in the sun in the backyard.

Our friend Renee performed for the babies (–and the parents! I freakin’ love her music!).

Mia also loved the show.

Party favors!

Rachel ordered these “knobby balls” from Amazon. (I think this in a perfect party favor for a party of mostly one years olds or younger babies, even if your theme isn’t polka dots. They are inexpensive and babies love them!)

For the mommies who need to relax: round bath confetti. Cute cute.

Happy Birthday Shayna!!

Thanks for the great party Rachel & Nic!

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Filed Under: Kids Birthday Parties, Real Parties

Real Party: New Year’s Eve Dinner & A Winner!

January 2, 2013

Happy 2013 Blogland!

The holidays were a whirlwind. After Mia’s 1st birthday party, we were pulled into the whirlwind that is the holiday season, and time just flew. I am barely catching my breath!

What a magical thing the holiday season is with a little one!

Just a few quick shots of the a-maz-ing dinner I was lucky enough to eat on New Year’s Eve…

This was a rare baby-free night out for Dan & I. Our friends Patty & Dan (another one!) hosted a small dinner party.

On the menu?

Pork Porchette

Bacon brussel sprouts

Green salad

Mashed potato bar (not pictured)

Yum, Yum, Yum.

I made a deliciously rich flourless chocolate cake for dessert.

Thanks for the amazing dinner Patty & Dan!

Happy New Year everyone!

And, thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway from BoomBoom Prints!

I used random.org, and the winning entry is…

Entry #10, Reiko!

I’ll be contacting you to coordinate getting your print!

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Filed Under: Adult Parties, Holiday Parties

Real Party: Sunflower 1st Birthday!

December 13, 2012

My daughter Mia turned 1 recently.

Seriously, where did the time go?! This was the fastest year of my life thus far (which felt even faster since the year of my pregnancy was the slowest year of my life!). She has brought us so much joy… of course we had to celebrate her 1st birthday with a blowout bash. My friend Deb and I decided to throw a joint party for our little girls who were born 5 days apart.

Where we live in California the weather is pretty nice most of the year. But around the end of November you just can’t count on sunshine. We had too many guests to fit in our little house, and a park was out of the question. I stressed about where to have the party. We needed a big space, but I didn’t want to blow the budget on a venue.

I finally decided to have the party at our gym. My husband I belong to a CrossFit gym. My husband actually coaches there, and we are great friends with the owner. If you aren’t familiar with CrossFit, its a workout that can be done with minimal equipment. Our gym is basically a warehouse with lots of open space. And better yet, lots of mats on the floor — perfect for a large number of the guests who are just starting to walk!

My main challenge was turning the bare bones, industrial space into a party appropriate for 2 little girls.

Here’s the before so you can understand my gravity of this task:

Yikes.

I also had to keep guests away from the equipment. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. I decided to rent some stanchions and chains to rope off the party area to keep it on the mats.

In the end I think it came together quite well…

I love this picture. I feel like it captures the wonderful chaos of so many family and friends packed into the gym so well. Makes my heart smile.

Anyway, the reason why you are here: The details!!

It all started with the invitation. My vision was perfectly executed by Jennafer of Oh Creative One.

Isn’t it great?
I had them printed on brown paper, and used a rounded corner punch.

(sorry, iPhone photo — but you get the idea)

I had decided on this theme awhile ago, and thought I’d died and gone to heaven one day when I was randomly browsing at Gymboree and found a line of sunflower dresses on the sale rack.

I never get that lucky. But the stars were aligned that day and I snapped up the only 2 dresses left in their sizes. They were SO cute, and this mom was happy!
Ella’s grandma crocheted sunflowers for their hair. (Thank you Audrey!)

My big chalkboard sign greeted guests.

I made some paper plate sunflowers for one of the sections of wall. These were inspired by this, but I made a simpler version with just paper centers to save time. The stems are made from streamers. I borrowed the fencing from Akemi’s pumpkin patch.

I rented tables and chairs to scatter throughout the party area. We had yellow tablecloths and burlap runners. I had ordered some flower arrangements from a local grocery store that had sunflowers in them, and the order was messed up.

I ended up with these potted plants instead. No sunflowers, but I was just happy the colors were right!

I love to use party items multiple times. It helps me justify to my husband why is so important to store them in our crowded garage and attic also! The burlap runners were from here, but have also been used here and here. The centerpiece boxes were from here, but have also been used here.

If you have been reading this blog for awhile, you know I love to use a children’s book as a guest book at baby showers.

I decided I will continue this tradition with her birthday parties. Each of the girls had a little station set up for their guest book. I ordered these to use.

This was the biggest group I have ever have ever hosted for lunch. I struggled with the menu, but I think we came up with a great solution that was yummy and budget friendly.

I am terrible about getting photos when the food table is done. People are usually swarming it when the food gets out, and that was the case with this party. But here’s a picture of the set-up before it was all finished.

We served:

Grilled sausages (3 flavors) with buns, grilled onions, and assorted condiments

Green salad

Potato chips

Mac & cheese

And then we had clementine oranges and some applesauce pouches for people to snack on as well.

Monthly banners of each of the girls were hung above the table.

I made some food labels to match the invitation.

And I scored again at the Michael’s dollar section with these gorgeous sunflower clips. Easiest banner I ever made!

My husband must really love me because he agreed (with a little grumbling) to haul our reddish-colored wheelbarrow all the way to the gym so I could put drinks in it.

How could I not?

We had wine, beer, sodas, and bottled water.

Desserts were pretty simple since we were feeding such a large number of guests.

Deb made lots and lots of cupcakes and I made some simple yellow cake pops.

I did my standard display with the much-used shelf, but kept it simple with white linens and just did an accent of wide sunflower ribbon from the fabric store.

(You’ve seen the cupcake shelf here.)

Each of the girls had a highchair with a little cake I made and a few balloons.

(I know my party girl readers will understand how frustrated I was when I went to three locations the morning of the party to find yellow balloons. No one had any! After the 3rd stop I decided I was being ridiculous and just stuck with cream. Yellow would have been much cuter…)

My favorite detail of the party:

My husband and I made this photo wall out of piece of plywood. He attached legs to the back and cut holes. The I painted the simple sunflower design. It was SO cute to see all the pictures & so easy to make. I tried to get a picture of each family.

(I decided to just post one of me, Deb, and Lindsay messing around rather than post pictures of anyone’s kids. But trust me, it was cute.).