Celebrate – a business bash for party makers and confetti shakers!

I’m so excited to invite business owners in the party, events and baking industry in Australia to this premiere conference day in Sydney presented by Life’s Little Celebrations! More details on the Celebrate page but for now – save the date!

 

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Don’t miss this special event on August 14th in Sydney – specifically for business owners ! Receive time to network with others in your industry and hear from some amazing speakers on how to flourish your business before the busy spring/summer party season – all while enjoying a beautiful venue and day out!

All the details can be found on the event page HERE where you can also sign up to receive updates on the news and ticket sales!

You can also join the Facebook event page here to ensure you don’t miss any announcements

Find out more here!

 

 

 

tanya

 

Fruity Party Supplies feature in Little One Magazine

The latest issue of Little One Magazine has hit the stands and I was delighted to contribute a party product feature with a Fruity theme!

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You can find it on page 188 where I’ve created a party source list with  party items (all from Lifes Little Celebrations partners) perfect for a summer and a fun bright fruity theme:

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Are you daunted by the thought of networking events?

Do networking events seem daunting to you?

I remember the first time I attended Confetti Fair being so nervous about meeting people in person who I’ve only dealt with online. The reality was a lot less scary than I had imagined – in fact it was the total opposite.

Running a business online means a lot of online networking –  which is fantastic and easy for connecting us with others at any time of the day, anywhere around Australia (or the world!)

However it is also important to be able to have opportunities to network and meet in person – ESPECIALLY if you are running your own business and are working on your own.

It’s fantastic to meet others in the same industry who “get” what you do and what you love!

Business owners who are part of Life’s Little Celebrations enjoy fabulous online networking but I’m creating opportunities now for them to network and meet in person. Recently a few Melbourne based business owners met up and last month I hosted the first Sydney catch up!

Here was our bright, casual and fun setup with those gorgeous balloons and tassels from Party Splendour:

 

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Put a bunch of party loving ladies together and you know they will never be short of conversation. The morning started off with everyone jumping right into meeting each other! Chatter was non stop as so many of them had talked online but were excited to finally meet the person behind the business name!

 

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Lots of fun shots were taken with the fantastic Life’s Little Celebration’s Instagram photo prop created by Jo’s Signs by Design which received a lot of attention from the staff at Coco Cubano as well!:

 

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lifes little celebrations sydney meet up

 

After the meet and greet everyone settled down to enjoy an array of tapas!

30 business owners were able to attend this first Sydney meet up and here is one of  the 3 tables of ladies after enjoying their lunch!:
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I invited everyone at the meetup to contribute an item from their business to pop into the take home bags! Here are the bags all setup waiting for filling – loved my logo labels printed with fantastic quality by Kel’s Gift Labelling (who also created the name tags for the event)

 

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Now all filled up and bursting with goodies!:

 

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I popped a cute Kikki.K notebook and pen inside each bag. Loved the fun fruity theme!:

 

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Thanks to Style Party Love for the mini brown paper bags I used for my notebook/pen:

 

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Here is a snapshot of all the items inside the bag…there was everything from edible goodies such as chocolate coated strawberries, macarons, cookie mix bottle and tarts to party items such as gold straws and Christmas gift tags! A few close up pics below (thanks to Sweet Health for these pics of all the goodies!)

 

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I received such positive feedback from the meetup including:

“It was an amazing opportunity to put actual faces to so many names who I’ve had dealings with on line and via phone. Thank you ladies for making this such an amazing community to be apart of  ….and thank you for all the goodies – I know I have tonight’s midnight creative snacks sorted!!” – Kelly from Kel’s Gift Labelling

“Thanks so much for organising Tanya, it was a great day… such a nice group of ladies!! How awesome are these swag bags! Im not sure where to begin!?! Thanks everyone
 – Elaine, Lou Lou Pie 

“Just wanted to say a huge thank you to Tanya for organising today’s meetup. Although I didn’t get to chat to everyone it was so lovely to put names to faces and meet many lovely vendors that I’ve only chatted with via email/text/messages etc” – Megan, Love the Occasion

“Hello ladies!! Was a pleasure finally meeting you ladies! I enjoyed meeting everyone! I look forward to the next meet up! Thank you Tanya for organising a wonderful day. Thank you for the yummy goody bag!” – Beti, Bett’s Candy Buffets

I highly encourage anyone who is in business or a blogger reading this – to take the chance when you can to attend networking events. It can be daunting at first – but once you attend you realise everyone is just as friendly and lovely in person as they are online!

Cannot wait to organise the next meetup in Sydney and to work with my interstate vendors to create opportunities for them to connect.

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Party Planning…again!

What is your favourite part of planning your kids parties?

Is it deciding a theme? Is it scouring pinterest for ideas or perhaps purchasing all the party supplies?

We recently celebrated Naomi’s 3rd birthday (I’ll be sharing the pics soon – my comp decided to crash the night of the party so it’s delayed me in editing the pics!) and I’ve started thinking ahead to my eldest daughter’s 5th birthday (November) and son’s 1st birthday (January)

My favourite part of party planning would have to be the initial stages – deciding a theme, colour scheme and overall look of the party!

Now the “theme” aspect is not as much in my control anymore now my girls are getting older and have more specific ideas of the party they want. As much as I have ideas of themes I would LOVE to plan for…it is their party after all.

My eldest wants a Doc McStuffin’s party – if you don’t know, Doc McStuffin’s is a show on Disney Junior about a little girl who pretends to be a doctor to all her toys. It’s a cute show and to be honest although I would love to plan a non-character based party I don’t mind this theme so much – I’m just grateful we aren’t doing yet another Princess party!

As you can see, it can look quite cute and there are lots of fun ideas you can incorporate with this theme:

 

Doc McStuffin’s inspired party – Kara’s Party Ideas

 

The main colours are pink and purple but I’ll be adding in some aqua blue which is featured on the Doc Mcstuffin’s logo and I’ve seen incorporated into Doc McStuffins parties – I think it will work well to break up the pink and purple! Love this inspiration for a pink/purple/aqua combo:

 

Pink, purple and aqua colour palette – Chickabug

 

I’m also thinking of mixing it with an Icecream theme as it’s a summer party and I think an icecream buffet with toppings will be lots of fun for the kids. You can also have a lot of fun setting up a spread of toppings. How lovely is this setup?:

 

Ice cream party by Red Wagon Events – The Hostess with the Mostess blog

 

I love how this Doc McStuffin’s party was mixed in with a cupcake theme so I think I can somehow make the icecream theme fit in!:

 

Doc McStuffin’s cupcake party – The Hostess with the Mostess

 

Now for my son’s 1st birthday in January – deciding a theme is a little trickier given that really all he is into right now is milk…Sophie the Giraffe…and rolling everywhere and of course he has no care about his party theme or his party whatsoever – he just wants to be fed and burped!

However I’ve always thought if I had a boy I would LOVE to do a cute vintage tricycle party as I’ve always been inspired by this gorgeous one:

 

Vintage Tricycle and Kite first birthday by Style Me Gorgeous – featured on Chic Cheap Nursery

 

What do you think? Lovely right?!

I am thinking I could make it work perhaps with even a mint green/brown or mint green/grey/yellow colour scheme as I love the idea of some mint green rather than blue for a boy – but I also think the blue/brown look so classic together.

This cute theme really reminds me of the innocence of childhood!

The other theme I have always loved is a Milk and Cookies party ! The idea of a little milk station with flavoured milk and a cookie bar is such a quaint idea. Just look at this sweet setup:

 

Milk and Cookies birthday – Anders Ruff

 

However as it is his 1st birthday and will be slightly larger than our normal parties (and won’t be at home) the logistics of having to setup a milk and cookies bar for a larger group and with a limited setup time at a venue is putting me off…perhaps I may use this for his 2nd birthday.

The other theme I was contemplating was a cute Under the Sea party theme. I love this theme as there is so much you can do with decorating and desserts and it’s perfect for summer.

I was finding it hard to find any Under the Sea parties for boys that I liked. Everything I found used more brighter colours and I was aiming for more pastel or lighter colours to inspire me but I finally came along this small but sweet setup:

 

Under the Sea party – Lola and Lace

 

I love the colour scheme chosen and everything is so fresh looking and cute – perfect for a 1st birthday:

 

Under the Sea birthday party – Lola and Lace

 

Under the sea party – Lola and Lace

Such a sweet theme and perfect for a January party.

So that is where I’m at with my party planning.

I find now I’ve got 3 kids I plan and organise my kids parties a lot quicker than I use to – but I always start brainstorming early but end up leaving the real party preparation a bit last minute.

As always I’ll be drawing on the vendors on the Life’s Little Celebration’s kids party directory for all the items I need for my kids parties. As a busy mum I really believe we need easy ways to plan our kids parties (amongst other things) online and that’s what the kids party ddirectory is all about – helping you connect with some wonderful small businesses quickly and easily when planning your kids parties!

However as I said – I LOVE the brainstorming / dreaming up ideas part of the process!

I’ll keep you posted and hopefully soon I’ll get my daughter’s Snow White party pics ready to share!

 

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Expert Q & A sessions for small business vendors

Something I am passionate about is assisting (even in a small way) the vendors in the Life’s Little Celebration’s directory in the running and promoting of their business so more people can discover their fantastic talents and products!

I am no business expert however so I’ve been organising some online Q & A sessions with people who ARE experts in their field. These chats have been run within the private group on Facebook I’ve set up for vendors, so any LLC Directory vendors regardless of their location can join in.

Recently we heard from the lovely ladies at The Digital Picnic – Cat and Cherie:

 

They are social media and digital management experts who run some fantastic courses for small business owners.

During the chat the vendors asked questions which were relevant to many in small business. Questions relating to Facebook reach, Instagram, sharing images, useful APP’s to help them create images to share and more.

The Digital Picnic ladies were so generous in offering useful advice to all the vendor and we all gained a lot of insight and tips in how to do things smarter and better in the area of digital marketing.

They run courses all around the country so if you are looking to better your knowledge of digital marketing make sure you keep an eye out on their website for all the details!

This week we are having a Q & A chat on photography – specifically photography tips for vendors when taking photos of their dessert tables or products. This is key in such a visual industry such as the party industry as well as important for creating great photos to share on social media or blogs.

 

Art party – Styled and photographed by Sweet Style

 

Leanne from Sweet Style who is both an amazing stylist as well as photographer will be sharing her tips to our vendors whether using their iphone or an SLR. Leanne also runs workshops in Sydney for small business owners covering these topics and you can sign up on her website to be updated as to when her next workshop will be running.

 

Product photos by Sweet Style

 

I am also really excited that Sarah O’Bryan who has written the book “Business and baby at home” will be running a Q & A session with the vendors in August!

 

Business & Baby at home

 

Sarah has appeared on the TODAY show and written in numerous magazines – sharing advice for mum’s running a business from home which she covers in her book. As a busy mum of 3 with a successful business in Graphic Design which she runs from home, Sarah will be answering many relevant questions and this will be a fantastic and practical Q & A session!

I’m really excited to be bringing these Q & A sessions to my vendors and am looking forward to organising a few more for this year covering various topics.

Nic from Merc + Jones (one of the vendors on the Directory) recently wrote to me saying:

“I’m so incredibly happy to be a part of LLC – your service and offerings are above and beyond what I was expecting (in fact I wasn’t sure what to expect!) so I am constantly amazed at the benefits of being an LLC vendor/member! “

 

It literally made me smile to read that as I do truly believe being a part of the Directory is much MORE than only a listing on a Directory website! If you are interested in finding out more about joining the Directory and seeing if your business aligns with Life’s Little Celebrations, please email me at lifeslittlec@gmail.com

 

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