Interview with Loralee Lewis

 

I am delighted today to share an interview with talented stationery designer Loralee Lewis who also creates the most beautiful parties for her four children

 

 

 

In this interview Loralee shares her advice about being a mum in business, stationery design, party styling and more!

 

Your stationery designs are so classic and unique. How do you remain inspired to create different designs?

 

 

Thank you for the kind words!  My clients and my children are always causing me to re-think what needs to be created, which helps, and I get bored easily with whatever is out there and am always wanting to do something new.  It drives my staff nuts that we are always on to the next experimental product or item and figuring out how to create it large scale.

 

How do you stay ahead of trends regarding stationery and party styling?

This is a great question.  I think two ideas come to mind for me and my company.  First, if I can design something intrinsically beautiful, clean, elegant, balanced and fun, it will still be desirable in a decade, so I don’t have to worry about it going in/out of style, like a mustache or a chevron, which I don’t use in my work.

 

 

 

French design from the 1700’s is still as relevant today as it was then because it is timelessly beautiful.  The closer we get to that ideal, the better.  I think that works well for business, too, so you don’t have to chase the market as much, but it can come to you.

 

The second idea is to always strive to do something that no one has seen before.  With every event or shoot or design that I put together, I think “What is the twist?” “What is one thing I can add that has never been seen before?”  And if it is beautiful, I go with it.  I remember for a Christmas party one year we wanted to do something really vertical and high, so we made a doughnut tower out of stainless steel rods that we had made at a welding yard in town.  It was a wild idea that we just brought to life and it worked.  Take existing ideas and twist them to something new.

 

 

 

 

Your children’s parties are truly gorgeous and amazing however I’ve read that you don’t stress about your kids parties and plan them in just 1-2 weeks – how do you manage to plan such beautiful parties in so little time?

 

Thank you again for the sweet words. I put together events by using a lot of items that are easy to source from my home or locally, and then order in a handful of items from vendors that are over the top, and then dress everything with great paper.  This makes it easy to have a beautiful event.  Most of my cookies and cakes are from the local bakery, rather than special order.  Good paper can take a plain white cupcake and make it shine like a star.

 

 

 

 

You recently styled your daughter Georgianna’s ‘first’ birthday party for her 4th birthday. What was the highlight of this occasion?

 

 

Georgianna owned not a single toy and lived on one small meal per day in the orphanage before we got her home, but the moment we brought her home a confident diva emerged.  She was like a Cinderella waiting for the fairy godmother.  At her fairy princess birthday she was transported to a new reality and it was the moment of a lifetime for her.  She has never looked back.  What a treat as a mother to see her take it all in.

 

 

 

Do you have any party themes on your ‘wish list’ that you are hoping your children will request for their future parties?

 

 

 

I want to do a vintage baking party for my little boy, complete with hats, red bow ties, and aprons.  I hope he doesn’t grow out of it before I can put it together!  Also we will have a strawberry patch party this year, and a Polar Express Inspired theme coming up.  Their party themes are a bit of a negotiation because if I am throwing the event, it needs to make sense to me as well.

 

 

Do you have any tips for mums on how to plan a beautiful party on a tight budget? 

Use what you have in your home (for me it’s stored items or the garage, etc.) to make it work, rather than buying new furniture or props.

Buy low cost food items from the store, the kids love them the same.  Thrift store for the pieces that are missing.

Then dress everything up for the ball with creativity.  Embellishments like paper, ribbon, glue and scissors are cheap but can make almost anything look really expensive.

 

 

Oh, and spray paint!  I LOVE spray paint.  Buy props from the thrift store for $10 and spray paint them to match the party colors and you have a prop that looks like $200.

 

It is so inspiring to read about your 4 beautiful children and their journey to you. What are the greatest lessons motherhood has taught you?

 

Thank you again.  I don’t know I’ve fully learned any of the lessons, but am on the road!  I am learning about how to be patient, how to make each child feel special, and how to love all my children equally even if I don’t connect with them all equally.  Getting my house in order and keeping a tight schedule.  These are some of the lessons I’m learning right now.

 

 

How do you manage the juggle of your business as well as family life?

 

It’s very hard, and I’m not perfect, but I have the advantage of being able to run my studio and do my designing from my home.  I have assistants who help with most of the day to day lifting.  Also, have a schedule and a daily to-do list.  Stop work when your kids get home and start again when they sleep.  These are my usual methods.

 

 

 

What piece of advice can you give to those starting out in an event related business?

 

 

Wow, there is so much. First would be just put yourself out there and work through the mistakes.  In Silicon Valley they call it “Fail Fast;” with the going assumption that you’ll mess up early on a lot and that it’s good and part of the process.

We’ve made so many silly mistakes along the way but we learned quickly.

Another would be to focus small and be delighted by every victory.

A third would be to avoid partnerships and do it yourself (unless it’s your husband.  I happen to be business partners with my husband and it works great, but friends of mine who have other business partners have all come to regret it).

Fourth, for us, has been staying debt free.  Finances are such a burden; if you keep costs super low it makes it so much easier to stay financially strong.

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

Thank you Loralee for providing an insight into your business as well as your party styling and work/life balance. It is a true honour to feature your thoughts on my blog.

To follow Loralee Lewis find her facebook page here, and website here.

 

Summer Entertaining Essentials

We’ve launched into the new year and for anyone planning a celebration in these early months I’ve put together a collection of Summer entertaining essentials

For more summer inspiration – check out my Flamingo themed blog post for some ideas,  my Ice Cream themed post here , my Mermaid theme blog post, or  my blog post on the Oh It’s Perfect blog for ideas for a garden party 

 

Enjoy!

 

Invitations/Printables

 

Inspiration for a few summery themes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Decorations

 

Lanterns are great for outdoor decorations – easy to hang, light and they look good no matter where the wind blows them:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can’t beat some ice-cream cone decorations for a summer feel!:

 

 

 

Speaking of ice-cream, even if you’re not doing an ‘ice-cream themed’ party, ice-cream is a must have when entertaining in summer with kids! So here are some fun finds to use when serving up your ice-cream!:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love these ice-cream cone stands!:

 

 

 

 

 

I just had to share this fabulous ice-cream parlour stand for hire in Sydney for a perfect ice-cream serving area at any summer themed party:

 

 

When entertaining with kids disposable partyware is a must have! This confetti design fits into any bright and summery party:

 

 

 

Also love these bright options:

 

 

If you’re doing a tropical feel, I love these tableware ranges:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These gorgeous pastel chevron napkins are perfect for summer entertaining:

 

 

 

Summer entertaining is a great time to use drink dispensers.

Love the colour pop on this one (also available in pink!):

 

 

 

Fantastic 2 part dispenser where you can display some tropical fruits at the bottom:

 

 

 

A drinks tub is essential and I’m loving the colour of this one:

 

 

 

Also loving the bright’s in this bamboo collection:

 

 

Perfect way to keep the flies away but your table still looking pretty – food covers in gorgeous summer colours:

 

 

 

So there you have it – a summer entertaining round up! Hope your next summer soiree is full of fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creating a Super Simple Christmas Dessert Table

Guest post by Amanda and Carly of The Creative Journal

Christmas time can be so busy!  A million things to do and never enough time to do them all.  And then if you’re the one hosting Christmas  – well it can get even more stressful!  Which is why we put together a little Christmas dessert table that anybody can do and it can all be prepared ahead of time. Afterall – who needs to be up until 11pm on Christmas Eve baking?!

 

It is based completely around mini-desserts and treats to help keep portion sizes down and hopefully waistbands not too tight!!

 

We’ve also included some super easy DIY decorations that not only make the perfect table backdrop they can be used as little keepsakes to give your family and friends! Best of all…. No sewing required!

 

 

 

Food:

 

Now we did cheat a little and included some store purchased item (the pudding and tarts) – and if you do the same we’re sure you will be forgiven!

 

Caramel Slice (for recipe click here)

Mint Slice (for recipe click here)

Vanilla Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Sauce (for recipe click here)

Decorated Lindt Balls

Cranberry & Clementine Christmas Tarts

Christmas Pudding

Custard

 

 

Decorating Lindt Balls:

 

 

Now this is just about the simplest form of decoration we’ve ever done!

1) Paint the Lindt ball in edible gold paint & let dry

2) Paint Lindt ball with some piping gel and dip into edible glitter

That is all there is to it!  You will find edible metallic paint, edible glitter & piping gel at your local cake decorating store.

 

 

Decorations

 

 

1 Vase

1 Bunch of Twisted Willow or similar (we got ours from the local florist for $15)

Battery powered fairy lights

Felt Christmas Decorations (See full tutorial below)

 

Felt Christmas Decorations

 

You will need:

 

 

 

– Felt of various colours (we used four colours – grey, white, fawn and teal)

The amount needed will depend on how many decorations you want to make.  4 pieces ~30cm by ~30cm would be ample to make 7 stars and 7 trees.
Card could be used instead of felt.

– Thread

– Craft glue (suitable for gluing fabric)

– Scissors

– Template (as attached)

– Pins (optional)

 

We made six trees and six stars.

 

How to:

 

Instructions for Tree

1. Cut the three triangles from the Templates

2. Pin templates onto the felt and cut out triangles

3. Cut thread 9inch long (23cm) and knot the ends together

4. Attach the knotted end of thread to the middle sized felt triangle with glue (take picture)

5. Glue the smallest triangle on top of the middle sized felt triangle and press down to affix glue

6. Glue the largest triangle underneath the middle sized triangle and press down to affix glue, leave to dry

 

Instructions for Star

 

1. Cut the two circles and the star from the Templates

2. Pin the circle template onto the felt an cut out the circles

3. Hold the star template onto the felt and carefully cut around (easier to hold than to use pins)

4. Cut thread 9 inch long (23cm) and knot the ends together

5. Attach the knotted end of the thread to the top of the large circle ensuring it is low enough that it will be covered with the smaller circle (take picture)

6. Glue the star to the smaller circle and press down to affix glue

7. Glue the smaller circle to the large circle and press down to affix glue, leave to dry

 

There you have it – all you need to create a super simple Christmas dessert table!:

 

 

Amanda & Carly are two bankers who much prefer playing in the crafty world! They have recently started The Creative Journal, a creative lifestyle blog where they share their inspirations in all things (food, home, parties, well anything!), crafty finds and creative chaos and are looking forward to launching The Creative Labs in 2014 because it is always much more fun to play with others!

 

 

 

Real Christmas Dessert Table Feature

 

I’m excited to share this gorgeous Christmas styling from Allison of Wild Rose Sweets & Styling , who is one of the vendors on the Life’s Little Celebration’s Children’s Party Directory. 

As soon as I saw the images I knew I wanted to share this. I just love the combination of the pinks & aquas with silver as well as the meaningful touches Allison added through the prints and the words used on table.

All credits are at the end of the post. Hope you enjoy the images like I did!:

 

 

 

Such a beautiful cake with stunning toppers. Love the little baubles on the cake stand too – it is little touches like this which you can incorporate into your own christmas table even without a professionally made cake.

The little pots look lovely filled with Vanilla Bean Panacotta. You can buy similar pots here.

Allison made all the sweets including the Salted Caramel Macarons, White Chocolate & Pistachio Rocky Road and Coconut Ice

Love this idea of hanging a decoration over the candy jar for a gorgeous Christmas styling idea!:

Using the words of a Christmas song presented on a Christmas table really helps add extra meaning – I love this one that Allison used:

Too gorgeous right? I hope you received some inspiration and enjoyed the Christmas eye candy!

Credits:

Styling, Sweets and Photography – Wild Rose Sweets & Styling

Cake – Michelle The CakeChef

Printable – MillyBoo Designs

Cake Stands – Sweet Style

Apothecary Jars – Leo & Bella

 

All that glitters – Black & Gold NYE Party Ideas and Printables

 

Belinda and Renee from Sugar n Spice Party Printables are guest posting today on the blog with some ideas and FREE PRINTABLES for a black and gold NYE Party! I’ve also included some party finds to match the printables at the bottom of this blog post.

You can also follow my black and gold NYE Pinterest board here.

Enjoy!

 

 

All that Glitters – Black and Gold by Sugar n Spice Party Printables

 

Oh my where has 2013 gone, one minute it is 1 January the next it is almost News Year Eve again and time to start planning the party all over again. We have all bases covered for you, which include activities for the kids and ideas for adults too plus some ‘All that Glitters’ FREE printables which will come in handy for you and your guests.

How do you celebrate New Years Eve, do you take the kids with you and involve them in the celebrations if so here are some excellent ideas to keep them entertained for hours on end;

 

 

 

 

How cool is this and so easy to do, all you need is;

– Lolly bags/Tote Bags – which can be found on eBay, etsy or many businesses online sell them

– Draw a clock on the bag or print one out and stick it on the bag

– Buy some fun toys, lollies, or even set up a treasure hunt with a map or clues inside each bag

– Make sure you have enough activities for the amount of time you will be at the party for e.g. 6pm, 7pm, 8pm, etc

 

 

Another idea is to create a little kids corner table with paper, glitter, crayons, textas, pencils, stickers and paints where they can decorate the night away whilst having so much fun with their little friends and you can relax a little more knowing they are having fun and not destroying the house in question.

 

 

 

Don’t know what to feed the kids?  To be honest keep it simple and balanced with lollies, fruit, popcorn, chips, cupcakes, sandwiches – so a little bit of naughty and nice foods to keep the kids happy.

Perhaps put the fruit in cups or even on kebab sticks and cut the sandwiches into shapes for a bit of fun for the kids.

 

 

 

 

Also we can’t forget the cookies and milk! How cool do these look? So cute and easy to do:

 

 

 

Now something for the adults –  FREE printables in black, gold and white.

Such a unique, elegant and classy theme for your 2013 New Years Eve celebration with friends and family.

To get you on your way Sugar ‘n’ Spice Party Printables has designed the following printables for you for FREE. Just e-mail us at: hello@sugarnspiceprintables.com.au

 

Your set will include:

– 2 inch party circles – Perfect for cupcakes, confetti, put on lollipops’

– Chocolate Wrappers – 100g Lindt Chocolate

– 2013 Bunting

 

Email hello@sugarnspiceprintables.com.au to receive your free set!

 

Party Finds for an All That Glitters NYE party:

Thanks Belinda and Renee for your printables and ideas! Here are a few party finds to accompany these printables to plan your NYE celebration:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the ideas, printables and finds for NYE!

If you’re planning something with your kids in mind there are more kid friendly and game ideas in this blog post for a NYE party on the Celebrations at home blog.