Smarty Parties: June 2013

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Junebug's First Birthday

For her daughter Ellie's first birthday earlier this month, Katherine wanted a theme that played off Ellie's nickname, Junebug. I had a blast making a boatload of adorable paper bugs for this beautiful celebration.

I used my Cricut machine a lot for this party, namely the "Extreme Fonts" and "Walk in My Garden" cartridges. My favorite little touches are the green caterpillars crawling around on this banner.

Once again Lady Sprinkles helped out with a lovely petal smash cake and cupcakes (and fondant lady bugs). I made some flower and caterpillar cake pops, and the birthday girl's grandmother made some spectacular sugar cookies in the shapes of dragonflies and caterpillars.

The drinks table became the "bug juice" table, with drinks like "ladybug lemonade," "wiggleworm water," and "buzzy bee beer" for the adults.

Katherine went all out, even hiring a caricature artist! Guests were encouraged to make their own antennae, toss a bean bag through the "bean bug toss," or go through the caterpillar crawl.

Favors were adorable solar-powered bugs and flowers, that sway back and forth in sunlight.

Happy Birthday, sweet Ellie! You are the cutest little Junebug I ever did see.

Thanks, Katherine and Lyle, for letting me be a part of Ellie's special day. You guys did a wonderful job!

Paper decorations, styling, cake pops: Smarty Parties
Cupcakes and smash cake: Lady Sprinkles
Photography: K.R. Sloan Photography Pin It

Monday, June 17, 2013

A Hydrangea Happy Birthday

Pin It There's not too much I enjoy more than treating my mom to something. This year my sisters and I had a lot to celebrate: her 60th birthday and her approaching 5-year mark of being cancer free. We themed the party around something she loves: flowers, particularly hydrangeas. Her favorite blue-purple hydrangeas inspired our palette, decor, and treats.

We chose the beautiful Dandelion Salon in East Nashville for the party--they're closed on Sunday afternoons, and the space there is just beautiful--light, airy, and feminine. I hope to have another event there soon!

For the dessert table, I hung banners of all the names my mom is known by: Mom, Teresa, and Gigi (to the grandkids). My talented sister Mary Ruth of Lady Sprinkles in Cookeville, TN, made the gorgeous hydrangea- and rose-patterend cake and cupcakes, and the beautiful bird cage cookies. I am so proud of her talents! We filled in with macarons (cinnamon and pistachio), meringues (from Trader Joe's), and small vases of hydrangeas and white roses.

Can you tell the cakes from the real flowers? It's tough. And her cakes are as delicious as they are gorgeous.

Although we focused on desserts (and why not?), we offered a few other options: caprese skewers, BLT crostini, balsamic watermelon bites, and a fruit-cheese-nut platter.

You may have noticed the invitation promised "Cupcakes, Cocktails, and Carrying On"! We took care of the cocktail portion with a signature cocktail called "The Gigi": lavender lemonade, one pour of vodka, and a splash of St. Germain. We also had bottled water and prosecco (Cupcake brand, of course!) on hand. We rounded out the bar with some fresh flowers and mason jar glasses with paper hydrangea stirrers.

A fun activity that guests were invited to do was our flower banner. Guests were encouraged to "pick a flower" from a table scattered with flower-shaped notecards and write a note for the birthday girl. Over the course of the party, these notes created a beautiful banner full of sweet sentiments. Also adding to the party's decor were all the flowers that guests brought as gifts! Her love of gardening and flowers is no secret. Afterwards, we took the notecards down to compile in a book as a keepsake for Mom.

Everyone had a wonderful time, especially Mom. I love celebrating people who deserve to be appreciated, and all of our guests were so happy to have the chance to celebrate Mom. She is so loved by everyone she meets, and for good reason.

Happy Birthday, Mom! We love you!

Credits
Photography: Stella Dolce Photography
Styling, decorations, paper goods: Smarty Parties
Cake, cupcakes, cookies: Lady Sprinkles
Venue: Dandelion Salon, Nashville
Macarons, Lavender Lemonade: Provence Breads

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Thursday, June 13, 2013

Dean's Dance Party
A Rock and Roll Second Birthday

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Whew, it's good to finally post some pictures of what I've been up to these last few months! The spring has come and (almost) gone, and it has been a whirlwind!

Dean, my youngest, turned two in April (don't get me started on how quickly that flew by! My baby!). Like most two year olds, he loooooves to dance. We figured it only made sense to give him a dance party for his birthday celebration!

Microphone Cake Pops!

Let's look a little closer at those, since they took me 2342 hours (that I didn't get paid for!):

The bases are sawed-off cake cones, dipped in black candy melts. This is about a 234-step process. I do not recommend it to anyone, ever. But they were cute! And very crunchy. Not sure how they tasted with all that business going on.

The cupcakes, however, were both cute AND delicious. My talented sister made them, and she applied little glittery fondant disco balls to the tops.

Y'all know I can't just put food out without some ridiculous, themed sign to go with it.

Favors were echo microphones from the Target dollar zone.


Ah, remember when Mommy made you a birthday shirt, and you immediately tried to rip all of the stuff off of it. Yeah.


Nothing says "dance party" like a chef's costume. I think he makes it work.

We drug the giant, old big screen TV out of the basement and played "Just Dance" and "Glee Karaoke" on the Wii. I'll spare you those pictures, mostly because I am in most of them.

We love you, Dean-Dean! Happy birthday, and keep on dancing!

Cupcakes: Lady Sprinkles
Photos: Katherine Sloan, KR Sloan Photography

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Wednesday, June 12, 2013

"Who's on First?"
Callum's Baseball First Birthday

Pin It On a sunny day in May, we gathered to celebrate Callum's first birthday. Callum is his parents' first boy, and after three years of girliness from his older sister, they were excited to have a bit of a "dude's" birthday party for Callum. Callum's dad loves baseball, particularly the Chicago Cubs, so I was really excited to create a little Cubs-inspired logo and party for Cal.

My biggest projects for this party were the baseball lanterns and the pinstriped backdrop, both of which I did by hot-gluing yarn to things. Of course, after hours of gluing (not to mention several finger burns), I found these online. Boo. Oh well, I maintain that homemade is almost always cuter; plus, we had a nice variety of sizes.

Now I want MY own custom logo!

You have no idea how little baseball terminology I know. Thank goodness for Wikipedia.

Callum's parents had just moved to their new house out in the country, and I mean, come on. Could this little picture look any more idyllic? It is so beautiful and pastoral that it almost looks like a fake backdrop. Who knew a shed could be so adorable? That wooden crate under the lemonade dispenser is actually something Kara found in the barn.