Giveaway: Silver Sequin tablecloth

Very excited about this gorgeous item to giveaway to my lovely blog followers today!

Any Occasion Events is one of the amazing vendors on the Life’s Little Celebrations children’s party directory. They sell such beautiful custom made tablecloths and are giving you the chance to win a stunning silver sequin tablecloth!

As you can see from these images, it is absolutely gorgeous and the perfect setting for an amazing dessert table.

 

Imagine using this tablecloth when putting together a beautiful Christmas or New years table, special birthday or Christening celebration!

The dimensions are 330cm long x 230cm wide –  not fitted.

To enter use Rafflecopter below ensuring you like the Any Occasion Events facebook page AND the Life’s Little Celebrations facebook page

Entries open to Australian residents only

Competition ends Monday 28th October 2013

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Good luck everyone!

Real Party: Ballerina Party by Tiny Tots Toy Hire

I’m in the midst of planning my daughter’s “Ballet and Bow”s 3rd birthday party so everything is “ballerina” in my party planning head right now! I wanted to share this utterly gorgeous jaw dropping Ballerina party which was styled by Dalia of Tiny Tots Toy Hire

It is a true visual feast for the eyes!

Tiny Tots Toy Hire has a large selection of gorgeous props available for hire in Sydney – so everything you see here is available for hire so if you want to recreate a party like this in Sydney, it is possible!

Oh and those gorgeous hanging tulle poms? You can find those beauties at Pom Pom Princess

 

 

How beautiful are the pinwheels in this setting? All handmade by the talented Sarah of Pink Giraffe Fair:

 

 

 

 

 

This cake is just beautiful by Cake Von Dee:

Stunning cupcakes adorned with graceful cupcake tutus from Fantasy Kids Parties:

Ruffled cake pops from It’s a cake thing are almost too gorgeous to eat:

 

Beautiful array of macarons from Her Macarons:

Love the detailing on these cookies from Sweet Couture:

What an amazing Croquembouche by Styled by Linda:

 

Such a pretty drinks setting in this lovely cart:

 

A table setting fit for real ballerinas with handmade party hats by Pink Giraffe Fair:

 

 

 

The girls enjoying some real ballerina fun. Tutu heaven!:

 

 

Pretty party favours:

 

 

Other vendor credits:

Ballerina tutus (teacher & mannequin): Little Chiyo

Ballerina dancer: Little Ballerinas

Photography: Silk Truffle Photography 

Wooden cutlery: All in All Party Boxes

Children’s lunchboxes: Catering for Kids

Ribbon Wands: Maddison’s Flutterbyes

Birthday girl’s headpiece (handmade): Bespoke by Renee

__________________________________________________________________

I hope you enjoyed this beautiful Ballerina themed party! For more ballerina inspiration you can view my Ballerina themed blog post here

Kokeshi Doll Theme

I’ve seen some really cute Kokeshi doll parties lately which inspired this blog post! It is such a unique party theme to plan for incorporating cherry blossoms, florals, paper fans and parasols. I enjoyed finding the different items to bring this blog post together! I hope you enjoy it

As always don’t forget to visit the children’s party directory for all the vendors you need when planning your children’s celebrations!

 

Invitations/Printables

I love the styles and colours of these collections:

 

 

 

 

Decorations

Parasols can be used creatively in this theme and there are a few different colours in this style available:

 

If cherry blossoms will feature heavily in the decorations you could also use these cherry blossom parasols:

 

 

Love these gorgeous cherry blossom lanterns which you can mix with other hanging decorations:

 

 

 

These gorgeous PAPER flowers would work as beautiful hanging decorations for this theme or you could attach some to branch decor to create a cherry blossom centrepiece:

 

 

A pretty wall decal such as this would work for a backdrop if you love it enough to use it somewhere in your house after the party:

 

Origami cranes work into this theme as well and if you don’t want to DIY you can find some on ETSY to use:

 

 

 

These cute hanging Kimono dolls could be hung down as decorations:

 

 

Tableware:

Pretty cherry blossom tablerunner:

 

 

Love this little noodle box and tag set which you could also use for favours:

 

This whole Wasara range is perfect for this theme:

 

Or use pink/red coloured tableware to tie in with cherry blossoms:

 

 

These floral straws would look lovely if you’re focusing on floral prints for this theme:

 

 

Sweet Treats

This divine range of coloured candy jars would be perfect to bring that pop of colour to the candy bar at the party!:

 

 

Cute Kokeshi doll cookie cutter which you could use not just for cookies but to theme sandwiches or fairy bread as well:

 

 

These pretty cupcake wrappers would help theme any cupcakes you are using:

 

 

These treat sticks are gorgeous to use for your cake pops!:

 

 

ETSY has some sellers who make really cute cake topper keepsakes such as this Kokeshi peg doll. Perfect if you want to make your own cake but want a unique topper:

 

 

Other themed items:

If you’re looking for some activities for the kids to do at the party, these kits are great to help the kids make their own kokeshi dolls to take home:

 

 

 

These mini fans would be perfect to help decorate favour packages or mini bottles perhaps?

 

For larger paper fans you could use for decorations or the kids to play with:

 

 

 

If origami isn’t your thing, buy pre-made origami cranes to use for decorations:

 

 

 

Favours

There are lots of Kokeshi doll items available which would make sweet party favours! Here are just a few however follow the links to find more in these stores:

 

 

 

 

 

This scalloped box would look great with a cherry blossom label or kokeshi themed printable attached:

 

 

Love these options to use for little finishing touches:

 

 

 

Real Parties

If you’re after more inspiration, have a look at these fabulous real parties!:

 

Beautiful Little Kokeshi party by Fairydust Stylish Stationery featured on the Piece of Cake Parties and Celebrations blog

Cherry Blossom inspired Kokeshi party on the Little Big Company blog

Stunningly pretty Kokeshi doll party on Kara’s Party Ideas

Amazing Japanese ombre party by Sugar Coated Mama on Kara’s Party Ideas. Lots of inspiration!

Not a real party but some great DIY Japanese themed ideas on the Frog, Goose and Bear blog

 

Did you enjoy the blog post? Please share it if you did and don’t forget to join me on my facebook page for more regular inspiration and links to fantastic party items!

 

 

 

 

Inspiring me to do the “keep calm and carry on thing”

There are quite a few mum’s in business who follow this blog and facebook page so every now and then when something inspires me relating to balancing motherhood/work I love to share it although what I am sharing today relates to anyone…mother or not, in business or not and would even to relate when you’re in the throws of party planning, especially if you’re this type of person:

Today during a rare child-free few hours I forced myself to take some time out to relax, pray and read!

Something I read struck right to my heart in the area of rushing around busily trying to get all my business work done. Since my kids are still little and home with me all week, the times when they sleep or nap I go full steam ahead working on e-mails, blog entries, articles etc.

I am really working on how to get the balance a bit better to ensure I don’t work all the time and burn out which is common in small businesses and probably more common in mum’s running businesses.

These words rung so true to me…I hope they inspire some others as well….

 

It starts off talking about the work under our care:

“If possible do not be worried, that is – do not exert yourself over them with uneasiness, anxiety and forwardness. Don’t be worried about them, for worry disturbs reason and good judgement and prevents us from doing well the very things we are worried about.

Rivers that flow gently through the plains carry along large boats and rich merchandise. Rains that fall gently on open fields make them fruitful in grass and grain.

Torrents and rivers that spread over the land in great floods ruin the bordering country and are useless for commerce, just as in like manner, heavy tempestuous rain ruins the fields and meadows.

A job done too eagerly and hurriedly is never well done.

We perfect actions quickly enough when we do them well.

Drones make more noise and work more eagerly than bees, but they make only wax and honey. So also men who hurry about with tormenting anxiety and eager solicitude never accomplish much nor do they do it well.

Undertake all your affairs with a calm mind and try to despatch them in order one after the other.

If you make an effort to do them all at once or without order, your spirits will be so overcharged and depressed that they will likely sink under the burden without effecting anything”

Did these words ring true for you?

I hope it inspires you today as it did for me!

Real party feature: Peppa Pig Party

Today I’m sharing a real party feature which was put together by Michelle from Little Wish Parties for her son’s 3rd birthday. It features lots of DIY and creative ideas and with Peppa Pig being such a popular theme lately I hope it inspires lots of mum’s planning for this theme!

Michelle from Little Wish Parties writes….

“In our home the daily ritual is watching Peppa Pig, there is always a rush of excitement with little ones yelling “Peppa Pigs on!” So it was a no brainer when it came to deciding on what type of theme to have for my sons third birthday.

I had seen a few Peppa Pig parties over the internet but they all seemed to be purely based around girls parties and when i offered a George Party instead my son still had his mind set on Peppa!

I was determined to not go with pinks, although knew i had to have it in there somewhere, obviously!
The first thing i decided on was the colour scheme and my first choice was pastels so i got started on my backdrop design for my table.

Once my backdrop was done it gave me loads of inspiration to add to my table. After convincing my dad to make me some trestle legs and source a tabletop for me, i got painting and decided to coordinate my table colour with my backdrop (mint green) which was the base for all things yummy.

Originally i wanted to paint muddy puddles on my table but i sourced some wooden circles in various sizes from Bunnings , glued and painted them for the foundation of my cupcakes and cookies and the base of my cake stand.

I also included the boys in painting these as i always like to involve them in the party planning.  I sourced some tiny gumboots and went with red as they are Georges colour. This is when i began to start adding a few extra brighter colours to the mix.

Pinterest was great for searching for ideas for cakes and even though he is only three, i rounded a few cakes down and asked the birthday boy what he liked.. easy.

I had a visual of muddy puddles and gumboots on cupcakes and after searching high and low over the internet i couldnt find any that had been done. Michelle from Miss Shell’s Cakes was wonderful to work with. I was so happy with the cake and cupcakes, they were just divine, exactly what i had imagined.

My dear friend Natalie from D’lish Cupcakes and Accesories made the apple and strawberry cookies. I also got inspiration from this for a bit of Grandpa Pigs Garden as well as adding some more brighter colours to my table.

Themed candy such as clouds, Peppas Teddy Biscuits, raindrops and icecream pops mixed with a few tiny umbrellas and fresh flowers for my Peppa Pig Garden finished the table.

Dinosaur donuts and dinosaur nuggets were also on the party menu, also a request from the birthday boy.

I had chair backers made up for my gorgeous chairs , grass mats for my table settings as well as some great props (all hire items from Little Wish Parties).

I dressed up some plastic milk bottles from the reject shop with fabric and opted for a chocolate sippa straw to make some muddy puddle milk. I cut out some muddy puddles from brown cardboard to create a coaster for their milk. The kids loved it!

Matching but larger cardboard muddy puddles were placed around the party for lots of muddy puddle jumping.

Cloud balloons and rain set the scene. Instead of making tassels i ended up buying some pre made metallic pom poms for my jumbo balloons, saved me lots of time. I also attached blue beads to some umbrellas to make rain.

I tried to save money where i could by planning well in advance and doing lots of bargain shopping. That way i  put it into other things like entertainment. Peppa was a huge hit and it was like all his dreams had come true at once so it was well worth the money.

Lots of party games had come to mind like piggy in the middle, mr potato sack racing, muddy puddle jumping. We also transformed our little tykes cozy coupe into daddy pigs car.

I knew this party was a successful one as he has already told me he wants the same party next year!

– All photos by Kate’s Precious Moments Photography

Thanks so much Michelle for sharing your son’s fantastic Peppa Pig Party! For more Peppa Pig party ideas, visit my previous blog post here.