It’s been a big few weeks here at Life’s Little Celebrations with the launch of the new “Celebrating Little Ones” magazine! If you still haven’t had a read make sure you do here.
Now onto this weeks blog party supplies round up! One of the fondest memories I have from my childhood is of a music box that mum would wind up at bedtime, and I’d listen to it before falling asleep, watching the carousel of horses go round and round. It was pink and white and I thought it was just magical.
These days, the song still plays in my head when I see the gorgeous vintage carousels at the carnival, and I’m equally delighted when I see so many talented stylists using it as inspiration for a magical party theme. It’s the perfect mix of vintage nostalgia, horses (everyone’s favourite animal!) and girliness.
Take a look at some of these beautiful examples.
Willow and Duck Event Styling, Melbourne
Kiss with Style, Melbourne
Mon Soiree Dessert Tables and Candy Buffets, Sydney
Sugar Coated Candy and Dessert Buffets, Melbourne
My own daughters first birthday – Life’s Little Celebrations
Like all good party themes, the carousel provides a great foundation of elements to be inspired by. Using striped candy cane poles, elegant horses and your choice of colour scheme, we’ve found some great items from our LLC vendors to inspire you and help pull it all together.
Carousel Party Invitations
Invite your guests on a magical ride with gorgeous invitations that evoke a sense of fantasy.
Carousel party invitations – Eve and Co Stationery
Giggles & Grace
Dream A Little Dream Events
Carousel Party Decorations
This is a beautiful theme for baby showers or first birthday’s, leaving the decorating and styling to be focused on a dessert buffet or set table for afternoon tea. Get creative with a custom backdrop, props and colour using some of these special finds based around some gorgeous colours and colour schemes for a Carousel themed party:
Metallic Gold Fringe Curtain, Deer Little Parties
Pastel and gold foil pinwheel decorations, Emiko Blue
Carousel Horse, Foamtastic Party Decor
Garden Delights, Lavender Honey & Co
Heart balloons, Love The Occasion
Tassel Kit, Poppies for Grace
White Gold Number balloons, Ruby Rabbit Partyware
Script balloon – Sugarlicious Parties
Jumbo Confetti balloon, Ruby Rabbit Partyware
Paper Fans, The Party Parlour
Gold Honeycomb Garland, Ruby Rabbit Partyware
Sequin Table Cloth Hire, Sweet Heavenly Events, Sydney
Jumbo Confetti, The Party Parlour
This carousel horse would make THE most stunning prop to hire if you’re in Sydney!:
Carousel Horse Prop Hire, Tiny Tots Toy Hire, Sydney
Some gorgeous items for the birthday girl to wear too:
Party Hat, Lavender Honey & Co
Gold crown, Schooza
Costume Unicorn Tail, Schooza
Tableware
Pretty desserts deserve to be enjoyed off equally pretty tableware, don’t you think?! Continue your theme with striped, gold foiled and coordinated pieces in your colour scheme and continue the vintage glamour of the magical carousel.
Gold Striped Plates, Emiko Blue
Gold Confetti Cake Plates, Fantasy Kids Parties
Gold Themed Tableware, Favor Lane Party Boutique
Pink Doily Plates, Love the Occasion
Blush Party Plates, Party for Stella
Daydream Watercolour Plates, Ruby Rabbit Partyware
Coral Gold Foil Straws, The Little Event Company
Pink Confetti Plates, The Little Event Company
Cakes and dessert accessories
With your dessert table taking centre stage, take inspiration from The Sweet Cart in Perth and coordinate your tasty treats into your theme using colour, carousel horse toppers, candy stripes and florals.
The Sweet Cart, Perth
And don’t forget the cake! How amazing is this one from Taylor Made Gourmet?
Carousel cake, Taylor Made Gourmet
Add a few finishing touches!:
Carousel Cake Toppers, DIY Parties by Renee
Carousel Chocolate Mould, Confectionately Yours
Pink and Gold Candles, The Little Event Company
Gold Mirrored Cake Topper, The Little Event Company
Party favours
Send your guests home spinning with excitement after their carousel encounter with pretty favors
Carousel Party Favors, Glitter and Glue Designs
White gold dot party bags – Ruby Rabbit Partyware
Pastel Pink Favor Boxes, Emiko Blue
Stripes and Sports Party Bags, Love the Occasion
Pink and Gold Spot Lolly Bags, Emiko Blue
Cupcake Gift Boxes, The Party Parlour
I hope this theme evokes as much nostalgia for you as it does for me! It’s quite a simple theme once broken down – what would you do differently?
A classic childhood experience is enjoying the merry go round and this Carousel party captures the fun and magic of this as well as the beauty of a gorgeous carousel! Pastel colours, carousel horses and florals can all make for a beautiful setting! This theme could stand on its own or you could incorporate aspects of the carousel theme into a Carnival/Fair or Circus theme as well (have a look at one of my very early blog posts on a Circus theme). It is truly a sweet and unique theme for a little girl!
Invitations/Printables
A few gorgeous invitations (which are often part of a matching set with other items) and as you can see a variety of colour combinations work well for this theme:
Magical carousel invitation – Lovely Little Parties
Carousel invitaiton – Letter D Parties & Paperie
Alannah Rose Take Me to the Fair invitation – Twiggi
Carousel Birthday party invitation – Photo Greetings
Decorations
Carousels often combine beautiful colours, florals and lights. Recreate this with some of these decorative options:
Paper folding balls – Sweet Style
White ribbed lantern – Details, Details
Lavender paper fan – Little Sooti
Small ruby rose lantern – The Party Parlour
A pretty bunting would look perfect for this party theme:
Alimrose Designs bunting – Tots n Tales
Pretty in pink paper bunting – The Party Studio
Wall decals can really help create an effect and setting for your theme. Here are some beautiful ones for this theme which also is such a gorgeous theme for a girls bedroom as well, so you could definitely reuse them!
Horse Carousel wall decal – Tots n Tales
This lovely carousel horse is available in a range of colours!
Carousel wall sticker – Little Shop of Stickers
Tableware
For your table, combine pretty colours and patterns for your Carousel setting. Stripes work well for a carousel/fair theme or you could work florals into your table decor as well:
Pink table runner with lace trim – I Love Parties
Pink/white stripe tablerunner – The Party Parlour
Shabby Chic pink table runner – Le Petit Party
Pink rectangle plates – Mon Tresor
Provence rose pink napkins – The Party Parlour
Classic soda bottles are perfect for the feeling of being at the fair!
Glass soda bottle – Invite Me
Combine your drinking bottles with a striking colour paper straw! These striped paper straws could also be made into a creative decoration as they are similar to the poles on a carousel. You could attach a carousel horse cut out to them for a cute touch such as the one I’ve shown below!
Purple paper straws- The Little Big Company
Isn’t this gorgeous? Perfect for straws, cake pop sticks or just to use as a decoration!
Carousel horse topper – Charli Mae
Sweet Treats
A few items for your carousel theme sweets:
Carousel cookie cutter – CW Cakes
Carousel Horse chocolate mould – Inspired by Chocolate
You can’t have a fair without fairy floss and this soft persian fairy floss is so pretty:
Persian Fairy Floss – Shoppe with Lily
For something different, serve the fairy floss (or other sweets) in these colourful icecream cups. The colourful stripes are perfect for this pretty carousel at the fair theme:
Icecream cups carnival stripe – Invite Me
If you are going for a classic carnival look then these pink and white striped options will look great:
Pale pink stripe candy box – Invite Me
Cupcake wrapper – The Party Studio
I was in awe when I saw this find….a ferris wheel cupcake holder! Could anything be more delightful? It is just gorgeous and it can be shipped to Australia. *Swoon*!
Ferris Wheel cupcake holder – Horchow (US)
This is a simpler version for your candy:
Ferris wheel candy holder – Karas Party Ideas
Special themed ideas
What is wonderful about a Carousel theme party is that any special item you purchase will look wonderful in your daughters room afterwards. Remember for a theme, you may just need one or two stand out items which really bring the theme to life. You can then carry on the theme in smaller details. Work within your budget and go for items you can reuse or display again in your child’s room.
Hiring is another great option for stand out features to match your theme and this amazing Carousel horse is a gorgeous example of that! It can be hired out and would be a great photo spot too during the party!
Carousel horse for hire – Addie and Me
A lovely carousel will not only make a beautiful centrepiece at the party table but also a precious gift for your little girl as well:
Musical Horse Carousel – I Love Parties
Musical Carousel – Flying Dreams
This beautiful music box would make another stunning gift or centrepiece:
Carousel music box – Honeybee Toys
I know rocking horses are different to Carousel horses but these two items are so pretty and could definitely work into this theme as well!
Rocking horse mobile – Kate Finn
Pick a sweet print to display behind your cake table or around another main item in your party area to carry on the Carousel theme:
Personalised carousel canvas – Bright Star Kids
Place a gorgeous welcome sign to welcome everyone to the party:
Carousel door sign – Toadally Cute Products
These carousel horse items could be used to create some of your own decorations or embellishments to attach to party favours:
9 x 17 Carousel Chipboard – Scrapbook Valley
Clip art images – Goodness and fun
Love the colour of these sweet pink carnival tickets which could be attached to party favours or given to the children to use for party games or perhaps you could come up with a creative way to use them as a hanging decoration?
Watermelon pink carnival ticks – Koko vanilla Designs
Sweet little horses you could use to hold labels for your food table:
Placecard rocking horse – Elegant Bomboniere
Cute tin toy for your little girl and as a decoration especially for a vintage style party:
Carousel spinning top – The Hip Infant
This gorgeous pony is beautiful isn’t it? It would make a lovely gift, keepsake and decoration item for this theme:
Alimrose designs jointed pony – Cheese and Pickles
Have your little one dressed for the theme in these items!
Carousel felt crown – The Rice Babies
Milky Pony Tee – Kids Boulevard
Oopsidaisi makes just gorgeous items! Keep an eye out on their page for new releases of items featuring their carousel design:
French Carousel singlet – Oopsidaisi
I just had to mention Vintage Sew and So who makes stunning creations such as this canopy used by Boutique Affairs on this dessert table. You could contact them if you were after a carousel looking canopy for over your dessert table:
Canopy on dessert table (Styled by Boutique Affairs) – Vintage Sew and So
Another option is the use of a playtent such as this one to decorate the area around your dessert table or another space in your party area. Your little one will love it for many months and years after the party!
Pink play tent – Stix and Stones
Take Home Gifts
These lovely Carousel theme gifts will be surely treasured by the little party guests!
Pink Carousel colouring book – I Love Parties
Carousel horse glitter sticker book – I Love Parties
Carousel bag tag – Katy Jane Designs
Sweet windmills and ribbon wands carry on the fun of the fair:
White windmill – Invite Me
Mini ribbon wand Mauve pale blue – Tout Mon Amour
For your sweet favours how gorgeous are these carousel favour bags?
Pink carousel favour bag – I Love Parties
These would also work in well with the party decor with a cute tag attached:
Tote box with handle and window – Mon Tresor
Dusty pink paper bag – Emerald and Ella
Finish off your packaging with some striped ribbon, pretty lace tape or this fun carousel tape!
Provence ribbon – Sweet Style
Pink lace tape – Emerald and Ella
Musical carousel tape – Huckleberry Hill
Real Parties
I really could not find many specific Carousel theme parties online which shows what a unique theme this is. However you must have a look at this amazing party by Sharnel Dollar Designs which is based around Mary Poppins and has lots of gorgeous Carousel features!
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As you can see, this is a sweet theme and there is so much you can do with it! It really creates that magical childhood feeling and because of this makes for a memorable birthday theme to celebrate your little one!
