Dancing Queen

The groove starts with a VIP all access backstage party pass.  Invitations were inserted into lanyards and then packaged up with confetti and coordinating address labels.  As each little lady arrived for the event, they were greeted with a colorful tutu and an opportunity to visit the Popstar Bar for their stage makeup and costume accessories. They rehearsed and performed a variety of artistic dance techniques, some led by the talented master dance instructor (and woman with endless patience) Ms. Leigh from Tarrytown Dance. And, well, some completely self led. (Let’s review, Beyonce wasn’t built in a day.)  Nonetheless, these dancing queens put on quite a powerful production and seemed to have fun all the while.    

Toddler Tailgate

This annual tailgate has quite the kick off to Max’s new birthday year!  Mama Jamie tackles her UT connections and brings mass amounts of spirit to her front yard. This party is by and large the football fantasy fete! Amidst the transplanted UT stadium components, there are toddler training activities which include open field tackle, hurdles, tire drills, time with junior Bevos and optional visits to The Bubble (aka Longhorn bounce house.) The concession stand is stocked and readily available to fans. Additionally, the Touchdown Club is open to the public during game time. Suffice it to say that this celebration is in a league of it’s own and Max is one MVP.

Petite Princess

An enchanting party fit for a petite princess. I’m a sucker for the combination of pretty soft pink and shimmery gold!  This royal birthday ball featured fairy wands, jewels + gems, tulle, a slipper shoppe, mirror, mirror making, princess face painting, and my favorite - edible gold cupcake crowns.  It was a dreamy birthday party for the sweetest of princesses!  A big thank you to the mom who put up with all my castle-related chaos!

Puppy Pawty

I couldn’t get enough of this one!  When asked, I eagerly dug right into the puppy pack mindset. Come. Sit. Paw-ty! It was a perfect party for this canine loving cutie. The furry fun included a hot dog stand, barkery sweets, canine entertainment and a puppy adoption center.  My favorite part may have been the unexpected red dog bowls that held each guests’ lunch chow.  I am so very grateful to this family for allowing me to completely invade their front yard and unleash the amusement. What a treat!

Ready for take off!

Mom of this little pilot takes her parties to new heights! She’s a seasoned entertainer and diy-er at heart.  I helped design an airline ticket invitation with coordinating favor stickers and thank you cards.  She gave me some details of the party and the activities that she was scheming up.  I put together some party signs to help organize the activities into different areas of the aerial adventure.  Um, how cute is that pilot?!

Under the Sea

This birthday girl requested an Under the Sea party and I may or may not have seen flashes of shimmery scales, shiny pearls, glitter and mermaid tails. I tried to keep my cool. But, she quickly set me straight and commanded that there be no mermaids, zero…just a smattering of the more realistic aquatic creatures of the deep blue sea. (Sigh.) Okay, marine biology teach me something about your species. I snagged the most life like sea creature floats I could find.  There were green sea turtles, loggerhead sea turtles, killer whales, stingrays, great white sharks, and a sprinkling of starfish. (Yet, who knew that they’d blow up to be too big to fit in my SUV? Creative people don’t think like an engineer. An emergency call to U-Haul saved the party. Thanks, Dad.) Favorite party bit - Parker’s favorite cookie is a snickerdoodle, with a few sliced almonds we turned them right into sweet sand dollars.  Can’t you sea all the fun they had?!

A colorful celebration

This little lady and her mama love color!  I have been honored to help put together a few events for this family.  They are one of my favorites! Each party for this petite art-eest has been full of brightness and flair.  This one is no exception!  This was so fun to piece together.  The invitations were originally flat printed, but given the idea, the family chose to trim them out and add a mini paintbrush before sending on to the party guests. All the party signs and paper products coordinated with the theme and color scheme.  I’m a big fan of playing on words and you can see that in the utensil pockets and various party signs. Matching and monogrammed napkins make my heart skip a beat.  It all comes together to paint a perfect party!

Birthday Round Up

Coming from the Midwest and having both my girls born deep in the heart of Texas, I thought hosting a Round Up was, well, a rite of passage. Home on the range, no? Giddy up - this party was a hoot!  There was wild colt lassoing, western town visiting, horseback riding (I use that term loosely), and musical Mr. Will teaching us the ropes.  Cowboy cocktails were available at the Saloon. Cowboys, cowgirls, deputies and sheriffs ate their chuck wagon fare out of tin plates.  And don’t forget the “ranch” for those carrots and cucumbers!  This wasn’t Parker’s first rodeo…it was her fifth.

Sweet soirée

What kiddo doesn’t have a crush on candy?!  A delicious event for the sweetest of two year-olds.  I had the most fun putting together the bits and pieces of this special birthday party.  As the guests arrived they had the option to snag a Candyland game board which mapped out all of the delectable activities.  Guests could follow the colorful game board stepping tiles throughout the party. The Cupcake Commons featuring Austin’s Cupcake Bar and King Kandy’s Candy Bar in apothecary jars were two of my favorite activities.  But there were so many options – Candy Castle bounce house, Gumdrop Mountain balloon design, Peppermint Forest face painting, Lollipop Woods petting zoo, just to name a few.  And after all of the delicious fun, there was a toothbrush and toothpaste party favor set for every sweet tooth that attended.

Pow Wow Party

We celebrated with wild adventure!  It was Parker-hontas’s ninth birthday so, once the tribe had gathered, everyone was asked to complete nine activities. Each activity completed, earned them a feather for their headdress.  There were lessons in warrior walking, bow and arrow practicing, food foraging, stone storytelling, corn shucking – it goes on and on.  These natives were brave, wild and absolutely spirited!

Gingerbread jubilee

This mama loves to entertain and has the most fabulous soirees!  How lucky am I that I get to work with her? This sweet event was started for her daughter and has become an annual one. Jamie even added on a cookie decorating party for her little man and his buddies – no one should be left out of the holiday fun! The invitation, motifs and color scheme change from year to year, but the overall composition withstands the test of time.  There are always gingerbread houses, gobs of colorful sugary sweets, customized party signs, placemats and a monogrammed gift to welcome all the home designers.  In this particular party, Jamie wanted monogrammed Santa hats for each guest.  Uh, darling!  And at the end of the decorating, each house could be taken home by the crafter in a gable box or cellophane bag with coordinating party label. Helps keep the masterpieces with their rightful owner. Talk about merrymaking!

Crimefighters

This party packed in some serious power!  All superheroes were called to help celebrate two mighty little men – Wright and Hollis.   There were capes, masks, crimefighter food fuel and super powered sugar.  This mom throws some fabulous fetes for her kiddos.  She comes up with an idea and challenges me to swoop in and help with the small details.  I am so excited when she asks me to save the party day!
 

Roller Girl

This was a wheelie fun party to plan! My favorite piece of the entire soiree was the customized orange napkins which read “If you fall, I will be there....Floor.” It still gets me!  Especially because we had 5 and 6 year olds and well, some enthusiastic 40 year-olds, reeling around in circles.  The floor was bound to have some visitors.  The glow bar goodies served as the guest’s take home favors, too.  I always like the party favors to serve a purpose.  We certainly let the good times roll!

Hakuna Matata

Wow. This was one of my very first and favorite parties to help with other than my own offspring.  Jennifer, wizardly woman of all things crafty and creative, asked me to assist her in launching a safari adventure in her back yard for her son’s fifth birthday. Sure! Little did I know that she was NOT messin’ around.  It was so inspiring to work alongside this creative connoisseur.  We both had some ideas up our sleeves and working collaboratively, and her backyard was completely transformed into the Serengeti. She’s a woman after the little details that brings a party to life. Take a look. It should come as no surprise that I asked her to quit her day job and coordinate events with me instead!

Splish Splash

My dear friend, Elisabeth, is the hostess with the mostest.  She’s always entertaining and does it without a hitch. With three kiddos, she has a few parties to pull together. She offers up an idea for an impending party and lets me take full control! Love. She’s an entertainer like no other, but let’s me hem and haw over the little details. Her son Jack’s fifth birthday party is the reason I entertained this whole party thing…but she’s the reason I’m still here.  She coerced nudged me to keep on keepin’ on and I’m so very glad that she did! This summertime fun was for Emily’s (her youngest) fifth birthday.  Family comes in from all over and bakes, celebrates, lifeguards, and zhuzhes the place. Makes setting up all the birthday hoopla not only easy, but also very enjoyable.  This party had mermaid tail floats and fins for everyone’s feet. The guests seemed to dive right into the fun!