strawberry (shortcake) party // london's 3rd birthday

i just realized i never shared this strawberry party from london's 3rd birthday! (maybe because at that time i had a 6-week old baby, and the fact that i even pulled off a party was a miracle!) anyway, london requested a strawberry shortcake party... so being the character lover that i am (insert sarcasm here), i decided to stick with the colors and graphics without using strawberry shortcake herself.

i used a red, pink & lime color scheme, paired with kraft envelopes. this time i also used envelope liners, which were a fun touch! for the desserts, i called on dutch girl cookies who made the most delicious strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting, oreo pops, and strawberry sugar cookies. we used leftover envelope liners and cardboard berry baskets for the dessert table. 

thanks to a friend who did a strawberry party a couple weeks before me, all my decorations were borrowed and put up right before the party!

sunshine brunch // bishop's 1st birthday

after a bit of a rough start, our little guy turned into mr. sunshine... so a sunshine brunch seemed like a perfect way to celebrate his 1st birthday. i wanted to do something a little different than the usual "you are my sunshine" theme and styled the party after vintage 70s art prints. i played around with adding turquoise, but ultimately decided to stick with orange, yellow and gray.

we served up some of our favorite breakfast foods: chick-fil-a chicken biscuits, fruit & yogurt parfaits, muffins, fruit & a brussel sprout salad. and of course, lots of coffee (hot and iced)! for the desserts, i enlisted my sister from dutch girl cookies who, as usual, knocked it out of the park! we did lemon cream cheese cupcakes, maple bacon cupcakes, rice krispies treats with reese's pieces, "breakfast" sugar cookies (in the shapes of fried eggs, bacon, coffee mugs & toast) and a sunshine cake for the birthday boy!

i even got crafty and painted a wood pallet with our sunshine graphic. total pinterest moment! it was a wonderful (and very hot & sunny!) day celebrating our little man!

bishop's perfect shirt by crew & co: available here
desserts by dutch girl cookies
sunglasses (party favors) from amazon: available here

frozen fiesta // london's 4th birthday

i'm not a big fan of character-themed parties. so you can imagine my "excitement" when my daughter insisted on a frozen party. last year she asked for a strawberry shortcake party, and i managed to do that one without the characters... but 3-almost-4-year-olds can be rather demanding, so i wasn't sure how i would pull off this theme without using the very person she is obsessed with.

one of my kids' favorite movies right now is "the book of life", and since london's party was going to be so close to cinco de mayo, i presented a "frozen fiesta" to the birthday girl... incorporating both of her favorite movies. and she went for it! (my husband, meanwhile, thought it was the weirdest idea ever, which i can't deny!)

"we" decided to do a fun fiesta theme in the frozen colors, incorporating some mexican-style florals that also resembled those used in frozen. my little client approved everything, and i don't know if she even realized that nothing had elsa on it (a miracle in itself!)

the party was catered by el pollo loco, and the desserts were done by dutch girl cookies. we did mexican hot chocolate cupcakes, "snowflake" coconut cream cheese cupcakes, churro treats, fiesta cookies & oreo pops! and of course, no frozen party would be complete without a visit from the real-life elsa. the girls went crazy!!

camden's 1st birthday

when vanessa asked me to work with her on her son camden's 1st birthday party, i was excited. i've worked with her in the past, and she always has great ideas. and when she told me her theme & the venue (which any little boy would dream of!)... i was even more excited! camden's dad is a huge cincinnati reds fan, and since they were going to be in cincinnati for camden's birthday, a reds theme was perfect. we started with the invitation (not pictured) which was designed like an actual baseball game ticket. then we designed everything you can imagine: stickers, prints, birthday banners, pennants, candy bar wrappers, home plate favor tags, foam finger cupcake toppers & more.

happy 1st birthday camden! i hope you had a wonderful day celebrating with your family & friends. can't wait to see what your mom comes up with for next year!

hayden's elf-themed 1st birthday party

i'm always up for a challenge when it comes to designing. so when andrea asked me to come up with an invitation for her son hayden's elf-themed / "smiling's my favorite" 1st birthday party, i didn't hesitate! andrea didn't want the traditional red and green christmas colors, so we used mint green, with red &  mustard yellow accents. we did invitations, thank you cards, cupcake toppers & a birthday banner. andrea put together some additional food signs and decor for the party. she did an amazing job, don't you think?! here are a couple of her photos from the party. you can see more here on her blog.

For the Love Of

For the Love Of

london's dreamcatcher party

invitation and decor by river & bridge // desserts by dutch girl cookies

<< dreamcatcher invitation available here >>

<< contact dutch girl cookies here >>

<< dreamcatcher (top right image) by maven mercantile >>

luau party

invitation + fill-in-the-blank thank you card

water bottle label, food sign + cupcake toppers

Heather always has great ideas, so when she contacted me to design her daughter Leila's luau-themed 6th birthday party invitations, I was excited! We worked together (with Leila's approval, of course) to design the perfect invitation, thank you card and coordinating signs!

Be sure to check out Heather's blog soon for the party pictures!

pirate ship party pack

i am now offering printable party packs, which include:
-invitation
-thank you card
-food sign
-welcome sign
-cupcake toppers (3 versions)

any of my designs on etsy is offered as a party pack, so send me a note if you are interested in one not shown.

vintage lace baby shower invitation

a fun, feminine invitation for a baby girl, featuring lace and ric-rac in shades of pink and gray!

*cupcakes by dutch girl cookies.  photo by ploog photography.

shark attack birthday invitation

cupcakes by danielle at dutch girl cookies.  if you are in so cal, check her out on facebook.

scooby doo invitation + thank you

brody is obsessed with scooby-doo, so his mom gave him a scooby-doo swim party!

adorable cupcakes by danielle at dutch girl cookies.  if you are in the so cal area, check her out on facebook.