Naomi’s 1st birthday: Carousel theme

We had a wonderful day celebrating Naomi’s 1st birthday and it was exciting to see it shared on Kara’s Party Ideas!

In this post I will share more pictures and details to explain where I found various products as that is the focus of my blog/business – helping you source items for your children’s parties! I used some truly wonderful vendors when planning this party all of which I can recommend.

We did not have this party at home – and I only had 2 hours to set up at the venue. So learning from my previous parties I decided as far as decorating to mainly focus on the Dessert table and the Favour table. Besides this I had some helium balloons placed on the food and drinks tables for quick and easy decorating but didn’t have a kids table or too many other props/sections to decorate.

The theme for Naomi’s 1st birthday was a Carousel theme with colours of mint green and purple with gold.

It did take me some time to find a carousel look that I LOVED as far as printables – I found it finally at Fairydust Stylish Stationery and Toni was great to work with in designing the backdrop and other items. As the venue had brick walls I decided to go with a printed backdrop as it was the easiest way to cover up the brick.

Here is the dessert table I setup and the backdrop which I absolutely loved which was designed by Fairydust Stylish Stationery and great quality printing by Little Dance Invitations

The ruffled tablecloth was hired from Tiny Tots Toy Hire in Sydney, along with a few other items – great service as always!

Sweet items:

Since the backdrop was quite detailed I opted for a simpler cake design to compliment the backdrop.

Cakes by Sharon did a beautiful job creating something that worked in with the backdrop and other decorations such as the pinwheel items.

The jade milk glass cake stand is hired from Sweet Celebrations in Sydney and the wooden riser is from Saffy & May

Minnie from Minnie’s Sweet Creations created the perfect chocolate coated oreos – some with pinwheel design, as well as the mini carousel horse cookies with gold touched heels.

Macarons with some gold sprinkling were from Her Macarons and so many guests commented that these were the most delicious macarons they have ever tasted!

They were placed atop cake stands from Leo & Bella

I also had some fruit cups on the table as well as 3 acrylic candy jars from Just Party Supplies (so kid friendly!) filled with choc beans, persian fairy floss and meringues.

I bought some melamine white platters from Occasion by Design – again another kid safe option!

I used gold straws to look like carousel poles in the fruit cups. The candy scoops and gold straws were from Little Dance Invitations.

The gold glitter tablerunner you see in the photos – I purchased from Hunt and Style who have quite a gorgeous selection of table runners! I also purchased gold glitter ribbon from them which I used throughout the party.

Decorations

I love pinwheels and they fit in with a carousel and carnival theme. Samantha from Dunne with style created paper rosettes with pinwheel centres which I used as part of the backdrop. She also created pinwheels and gold glitter glass bottles on the table. The pinwheels were gorgeous in colours of green and purple!

Party Favours

Here is a photo of the party favour table. The carousel horse garland created by Hanging Pretty was one of my favourite items – the detailing was gorgeous on the horses!

The green wooden cake stand I had purchased for a previous party from from Leo & Bella and the wooden name was from Little Sweet Styling

Most of the children coming were around 1-4 years of age so I decided to go with ribbon wands for party favours as the entertainers I was having were incorporating ribbon wands into their show as well. I wasn’t sure how they would go down with the little boys but I have to say the boys were having more fun with them than the girls! The ribbon wands were made by Dunne with Style in colours to match the theme. They were setup in lilac acrylic vases from Simply Sweet Soirees

For the older children I ordered some chalk favours from Chalk Chook! These included stars as well as other shapes (animals, cars etc). I packaged them in the most adorable Carousel Horse favour boxes from Bespoke Party Products.

I also had some chocolate bars packaged with wrappers from Bespoke Party Products for the adults who were coming without kids as I like to send them home with something.

Another lovely item made for me by Dunne with style were these purple and green lola fabric poms! They sat inside a ferris wheel cupcake holder which belongs to my sister in law. I also attached another spare carousel horse from Hanging Pretty to the cupcake holder:. You can see a better photo of the ribbon wands and chalk favours here:

One of my favourite items was this personalised canvas. It was designed by Sweet Bee Creates on ETSY and printed at Harvey Norman. I love personalised items and enjoyed thinking of all the bits and pieces to incorporate into this canvas. Here are a few shots of the birthday girl as well:

Here is our little Naomi playing around with a tulle pom from Pom Pom Princess (which was from a previous party)

A few other bits and pieces from the party

Purple and gold garland from Penny Lane Studio – this ended up being hung behind the high chair and gift table.Love the way each piece swung in different directions.

You can also see the gorgeous white high chair hired from Sweet Celebrations (this photo doesn’t do it justice as I ran out of time to decorate it as I had planned !) which was so sweet and a lovely place for Naomi to sit at the start of the party when guests were arriving.

Also a lovely Carousel I bought for Naomi which I found in the party colours as well which I placed at the party near the party favours.

The actual party went well – Naomi was a bit sick on the day and so was very clingy and not quite in a party mood. Goes to show it doesn’t matter how much you plan, some things you cannot control – I just tried to go with the flow and carry her during the party as much as I could when she wasn’t with a relative.

However her sister and the other kids enjoyed the day and that was (and always is) my favourite part of the party – watching the kids have fun as they were entertained by 2 entertainers (A tin soldier and a ballerina) with songs, games, face painting and balloon animals.

Of course there were things which went wrong & things which didn’t go to plan – always the way at kids parties!

However at the end of the day – the birthday girl enjoyed her cake and received lots of love, wishes and cuddles from our wonderful friends and family – and that is what we will always remember.

Thanks for reading and sharing in some of Naomi’s 1st birthday celebrations!

Colour your party: purple

Spring has begun and purple is the perfect colour to incorporate into parties this season. Quite a few of you told me on facebook you are using this colour scheme in upcoming parties so I’m delighted to share some fantastic finds including some new items in this colour palette.

Purple doesn’t have to be limited to girls parties either! It can work fine for a boys party…mix it with perhaps with red, or navy blue or perhaps yellow?

Hope you enjoy this collection. All the links are under the board, and make sure you check out the Life’s Little Celebrations party directory for even more fabulous vendors when planning your next celebration!

Cake stand

Cups

Mini ghost chairs for hire

Scallop party box

Party bag tags

Mini pegs with hearts

Striped straws

Purple patterned plates

Cupcake stand

Suitcases

Eyelet paper lantern

Tulle pom poms

Ombre purple spa party by ‘Oh it’s perfect

Styling Secrets, Business Brains – Jo from Mum’s Little Party Secret

I hope you enjoyed the first post in this series by Events by Nat with some great styling and business tips.

This post we hear from the talented Johanne from Mum’s Little Party Secret who not only offers party styling but also runs an online party store and has fantastic party hire items in Queensland (which you can see below).

She has shared some great party planning tips for mum’s as well as some business advice for other mum’s in business!

Party Planning and Styling Secrets

1.  Themed parties are still a popular choice for birthdays.  Old time classics like pirate and fairy parties are still number one favourites for younger children.  When creating a themed birthday party choose a theme that is of interest with your children and age appropriate.  If your children are old enough – discuss this with them and encourage them to be involved in the planning process.  Consider asking your guests to come dressed in costume.  A great way for little imaginations to run wild.

2.  Don’t get caught into the trap of decorating with over commercialised cartoon characters.  Instead choose a colour scheme that represents your theme.  Say for example a Pirate Party; you could use the traditional black, red & grey with skulls and crossbones or for a softer touch, light blue, red and grey with cute pirate characters.  Decorate with bunting, hessian and pirate style props.

3.  Personalise your party where possible.  You can personalise pretty much everything – bunting, cupcake picks, napkin ties, straw flags and even drink bottles.  Personalise with your children’s names and age celebrating or even personalise with your guests names.  This is a great tip when labelling drink bottles.  No little mix-ups.  A personalised thank you message attached to take home gift bags is always a nice touch.

4.  Organise age appropriate games for your little guests.  We suggest 2 or 3 games.  This will still allow enough time for play time.

5.  When it comes to food, keep it simple and again age appropriate.  Make you children’s favourite foods and sweets.  Keep a balance of healthy options as well as little treats.  Favourites are cupcakes, cake pops, fruit kebabs, jelly cups and of course lollies.  An important tip is to check with parents for any food allergies.

6.  The number one tip that we can offer when planning and styling your next birthday party is to remember who the party is for.  Transport yourself back to childhood and remember what you used to love.  Join in and enjoy the day with your children.  You will not regret it.  Celebrate their lives together and together you will create magical memories.

Business Advice for Mums in Business

1.  Have a 5 year plan and balance your time.  Realise everything can’t get done in one day and sleep is important.

Have strict times that you work to and from and don’t deviate from this.

If you let your business take over your life you will miss out on the most important thing – spending time with your family.

Thank you Jo for sharing such important and valuable party tips and business advice!

Introducing: Upon a time designs

Today I’m introducing you to one of my advertisers and talented vendors in the Customised Invitations & Printables category of the directory – “Upon A Time Designs” who design magical printables for beautiful events. It is run by Emily who was inspired when she had her first child to create beautiful things to bring a bit of colour to a child’s world and celebrations!

Love this enchanted looking backdrop!:

Their designs can bring your party theme to life – from invitations to the backdrop to favour bags. They offer a range of themes which is constantly growing and also offer boutique custom design for those who want their ideas turned into something extra special.

Their range includes popular themes including lego, ballerina, jungle, star wars, once upon a time and circus as well as some gorgeous unique themes such as “breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “lemonade theme”.

Their printable ranges include a huge range of coordinating items; buntings, buffet labels, thank you tags, backdrops and more – which is fantastic when you want to make sure all your decor ties in together!

Almost all their printable items also come with personalisation, so you can add a name or phrase to create an event that is truly unique.

Photo booths have become really popular lately and one of the best selling products of Upon a Time Designs is their printable photo booth props

They come in an array of themes, from Barnyard to Princess to Easter, and are so affordable at under $5 a set. They arrive as an instant download file that you can then print as many times as you like for some memorable photo fun.

They also offer invitations not only for children’s parties but also for grown-up parties, bridal and baby showers weddings and other special events.

My favourite feature of “Upon a Time Designs?”. They give 10% of all their sales to charity – love that! Visit the website to find out more or visit the ETSY store to shop!

Colour your party: Silver

I hope you’re enjoying the “Colour your party” series where I bring you some colourful inspiration!

Gold has become so popular recently that gorgeous silver has been slightly neglected however silver is perfect if you want a bit of shimmer and glitz but still want to keep the party colours light and perhaps not as ‘formal’ as gold.

It partners well with so many colours although I am loving seeing it with teal and aqua right now.

Here are some silver finds for you – all the links are at the end of this post:

Find all the items here:

Silver glitter spoons

Silver lantern

Silver children’s tiffany chair for hire

Nickel cake stand

Silver chevron table runner

Silver drink dispenser

Large foil silver balloons

DIY Tassel garland kit

Silver glitter tape