Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Party Time!



Well I am back in action and loving every minute of it! We have rounded out our year of parties ending with Emma's 3rd Birthday and I was determined to have a blast designing a fantastically fun and whimsical party for my little girl!

First I'll discuss preparation and designing on a budget. First I asked Emma what type of party she wanted and her first response was: Olivia! Although this is such a cute theme I had to figure out how best to make it happen since there aren't any pre-made olivia party product on market right now and themed pre-made party supplies are really pricey these days. So here are the elements that helped make her party a smashing hit!

* Customized cards and announcements- I love my photoshop elements program! Using this along with Internet clips, fonts, and Emma's photo I was able to create stunning cards for only 15 cents a print! If you are not able to do this yourself..you can purchase things like this online, through etsy..and I am always glad to help!!!
* Utilize online printables- Nick Jr. online and other kid friendly sites offer many varieties of kids printables that are great for use at parties! I was able to print Olivia straw toppers and coloring story books for all the guests. This takes a little effort on your part but is really very economical and super cute!!!
* A little creativity and ingenuity goes a long way! It just happened that Olivia's color scheme fell right in line with Valentines day. I utilized red, pink, and white shades in everything from clothes, decor and food!!!.

1. I made a balloon chandelier with red balloons that I blew up and with pink streamers and taped them to the ceiling. This adds a super great effect and wow... again you save on the cost of helium filled balloons but still get the same look ($2.00 was all it cost)
2. Plastic roses from the dollar tree were scattered...since Olivia loves roses, classical music and the opera. ($1.00 for the bush then cut apart!)
3. Food! I purchased heart cookie cutters ($3) and made little tea sandwiches (peanut butter, cheese, chicken salad etc) such a cute fun finger food. Candy in the shades of the party. And I waited a little late to custom order a cake and I have yet to delve into the world of baking and cake decoration myself...but never say never! So... I found valentine cookies and cupcakes for a great price and a simple red velvet cake. I used PSE to design my own cake topper added streamer and---- the perfect theme cake!
4. I used cute patterned 12x12 papers for placemats and plates, utensils, and table cloth from the dollar store ($4.00) A paid a little extra for the red and white striped napkins at Target ($2.50) but had to since they were perfect match to olivia's lucky tights!
5. The goodie buckets were about ($2.00 each!!!! yes and the bucket was half the cost). Included were: hand crafted Olivia necklaces, heart sucker, personalized hershey bar (created on PSE) or you can find some online to purchase but again it will cost more. Bubbles 6pack from $1.00 store in wedding section. Buckets $1.00 each from Target. Again I personalized everything with Internet clip art and photoshop elements. They also got the coloring books that I printed out and used cute red bow in the corner to decorate.

ACTIVITIES: The girls decorated wands, blew bubbles, made candy necklaces and decorated t-shirt dresses

Now...for what actually happened come party time. Emma was actually excited to get all dressed up in her red dress and red striped tights....lookin all Olivia stylish and was excited to arrive and find that her friend Stella wore a matching dress. As people arrived you could see that Emma was getting a little nervous...refused to eat and after Daddy and the boys left began crying. Yes Crying! Emma is clearly a believer that it is her party and she will cry if she wants too! She was even so upset that she refused to partake in the candle ceremony. Stella stepped in and blew out the candles as we sang!

And then just when I thought the mood was lost...... presents made everything better! Emma became more engaged and her mood was much improved! She received some great stuff and loved it all! Thanks everyone who came for making Emma's party so much fun. Emma's Aunt LeAnne and Bridgee literally put blood sweat and tears into making her an Olivia blanket and pillow. And I would like to personally thank Stella and Kaitlyn for inspiring Emma to go potty...yeah! So that's pretty much our birthday adventure....enjoy the pics!!!!
Click to play this Smilebox photobook: Emmas 3rd Birtday!
Create your own photobook - Powered by Smilebox
Make a Smilebox photobook

1 comments:

Sara Carns said...

Oh my! This looks like it was such a fun party!!! What a great way to make it on a budget, too! Very innovative and creative... gottal love photoshop!!!