Dean's Dance Party: Mood Board

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Well, it's certainly been a while! I have so much to share from the past few months of parties and projects. Right now I'm happily focused on my next party, which is for a very important client indeed: my younger son, Dean. My sweet BABY will be TWO in a little more than two weeks, and I am dealing with all of my motherly denial by party planning obsessively.

Like a lot of toddlers, Dean loves to dance. Any hint of a song or a rhythm, and he is immediately shaking his tail feather and moving to the beat. Based on this, I thought Dean's Dance Party would be a fun theme for his big day.

I put together this simple invitation in Publisher:

 

I chose the colors based on things I have on hand--a lot of turquoise and lime card stock, a silver disco ball, and some black tablecloths. 

 

1. I'm going to make a backdrop for the table out of a piece of black foamcore that I salvaged from a previous party (that stuff is great to use over and over--you can flip it over, cover old projects with fabric, and even sometimes paint over it).  I'll attach some letters as Dean's unofficial birthday banner. The black backdrop and table cloth will serve as a good contrast for the disco ball we already have (my husband used to be in a band, and this hung in their practice space).  On the table, we'll have some snacks displayed in the galvanized pails I used for Dean's first birthday and for Graham's 5th birthday (more on that later!).

I also have a dozen mini disco ball ornaments that I want to incorporate--maybe in garland form across the front of the table. A lot of my party decorations do double duty as Christmas ornaments!

2. I want to try my hand at the DIY marquee letter trend I've seen all over the place. I'll either spell out "Dean" or "Dance," or maybe both if I'm ambitious. (Image source.)

3. My one splurge purchase for this party was a couple lengths of silver fringe curtain from Oriental Trading. It wasn't expensive, but I do consider it a bit of a splurge because I don't know if it's sturdy enough to use more than once. I am really excited about it for a dance backdrop for my little performer and his brother and cousins. I plan to haul the ancient big screen TV out of the basement into our back yard, hook up the Wii to it, and let the kids play Just Dance and Glee Karaoke to their hearts' content while the disco ball spins.

4. Cake pops are one of my favorite things to do for birthday parties (So cute! So yummy! So portable!), and this time around, I'm going to attempt microphone-style ones. I found these two on CakesDecor.com and DreamDayCakes.com. The main differences are the shape of the ice cream cones they used for the base, and the finish (sprinkles vs. sanding sugar) on the rounded part. I may borrow a bit from each style to make mine.

That's all I have so far. Wish me luck for a cute party that's big on fun and low on funds. And stay tuned for a very overdue update from Graham's 5th birthday party, as well as some client parties I've styled in between then and now. Pin It

Little Golden Books Baby Shower, Girly Style

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Over the weekend, we had a baby shower for my oldest and dearest friend, Stephanie. Stephanie and I became instant best friends on the first day of fourth grade. We were both eight years old. We are now . . .significantly older than eight, and we have been thick as thieves ever since. I am beyond excited to welcome her baby girl into the world this October!

Our friend Sara graciously provided the location, her adorable house. Stephanie had mentioned liking the idea of a Little Golden Books theme for her shower, but with a girly twist for little Amaya (how cute is that name? Like I said, I am BEYOND excited).

We set up everything in Sara's bright and airy basement room, which opens out to her back patio and pool. The walls are a pale blue, which looked so pretty with the pinksplosion of decorations.

I covered a papier-mache letter A (from JoAnn) with pink tissue paper twists.

My mom and I made this bunting, which alternated aqua Little Golden Books fabric with pink Poky Little Puppy fabric.

You know I had to get all themey with the food.

I tried to include pages (mostly from The Poky Little Puppy) that referenced the desserts. I put them in "Little Golden" frames I found at Goodwill for 50-99 cents apiece. 

 And I labeled the food with little cards bordered with the Little Golden Books endpapers and written in the Lauren Script font.

"Chocolate Custard" cake pops. In little fence baskets. GET IT?

We kept the activities low-key. Stephanie is not a fan of traditional shower games (amen), so we had guests, at their leisure, sign a photo mat for Stephanie to frame with a picture of Miss Amaya when she arrives. We set out Sharpies in colors that coordinated with Amaya's nursery.

We also encouraged them to write down advice for the mom-to-be in a journal.

Favors were various strawberry print stationery items (memo pads and note cards) that we found at Michael's. 

The guest of honor and her hostesses.

We got a big group shot at the end of the shower with everyone holding one of the pennant buntings. 

Congratulations, Stephanie and Eddie! We all love you and can't wait to meet your little Amaya.

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Harry Potter Birthday Quest

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Pin It Lauren is perhaps the sweetest ten-year-old I've ever met. She wanted a Harry Potter birthday party, but she was very specific: she wanted a quest! I had so much fun developing a series of Potter-y problems for her and her friends to puzzle through. Here are a few pictures from last weekend's party.

We started off the party by visiting the "Transfiguration Booth," posing with our props for some talking portraits.

Then we enjoyed a wand-making craft, based on the clever tutorial I found here.

Note the floating candles!

Don't these look great? Chopsticks, beads and hot glue!

Everyone was sorted into houses.

 The girls all lined up at Platform 9 3/4 (or the entrance to Diagon Alley, or whatever magical brick portal you like), which was really a sheet that I sponge-painted with red "bricks" . . .

And then it was time for some questing! It would take too long to go into all the details here, but to give you some idea, there were tasks involving glow-in-the-dark ink, spells, potions, and flying keys. At each turn, the girls had to solve a riddle that led them to their next clue. I had worried some of the riddles were too complex, but these girls were some serious Harry Potter scholars and flew through each tasks like experts. The quest had 5-6 distinct parts, and I hope to go over them in more detail in later entries.

It's not a Harry Potter party without some wizardy treats! We had peach pasties (instead of pumpkin), chocolate frogs, Hagrid's rock cakes (donut holes), cauldron cakes with little golden snitch gumballs, sorting hat cookies, and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans in boxes made by yours truly.

We also had some veggies from Hagrid's veggie patch, and of course, butterbeer!

After the quest, dinner, and sweets, the girls retreated to the "dormitory," or the basement rec room, where they hunkered down for a Harry Potter movie marathon. And what's a movie without some broomsticks full of popcorn?

And I retreated back to my Chicago hotel room to collapse in exhaustion. Thanks, Lauren and family, for a wonderful time!

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