ready • set • flaminGO // savvy's 4th birthday

traci asked if i could turn this notecard into an invitation for her daughter's flamingo-themed party! i was happy to oblige. we kept it budget-friendly by doing printable invitations that she could print herself at home. 

how do printables work, you ask? i send a print-ready pdf with 2 invitations per page, with crop makes and sizing information, all on an 8.5 x 11" page. it's a great way to save money so you can spend it on things like sprinkle donuts!! :)

see more party pics on traci's cute blog HERE

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!

leapin' lizards! // stella's 4th birthday

stella LOVES animals- especially reptiles, so her mom planned her a fun party at the environmental nature center. most of the reptile invitations out there are geared towards boys, so we wanted to create something that fit the theme but was still girly! of course, we had to start with purple snake print! we used some fun snake & tarantula graphics in a purple, olive & coral color scheme, and paired the invitations and thank you cards with a kraft envelope.

desserts were made by stella's mom (isn't that snake cake incredible?!) and each little adventurer went home with a cute little kritter keeper to fill with bugs!

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!!

flapjacks & lumberjacks // luke's 4th birthday

i was so excited when ashlee contacted me for luke's party, especially after i heard her ideas for the theme! we went with a lumberjack-shaped invitation, kraft envelopes and lots of red & black buffalo plaid! for the party, we added on thank you cards, food tents, an "axe-throwing contest" poster, and some stickers for the trail mix bar. what an awesome party, and did you get a look at that log cake?! 

batter up! // madden's 1st birthday

madden's mom wanted to do a baseball theme for his 1st birthday, so we took our inspiration from a vintage ticket and styled the invitation similarly. we used red, navy and cream and paired the paper goods with kraft envelopes. madden's mom was on the fence about including a photo on the invitation, so we decided to create a cute little baseball card to include in each envelope! for the party we did some large prints, pennant banners & favor stickers, and his mom did an amazing job with the rest!

tassels // paige's 1st birthday

paige's mom wanted the imitations to reflect her decor for the party: tassel garlands and mixed patterns in pink, blush and gold. we paired the invitation with a bubblegum pink envelope and made some fun signs, stickers and poster with paige's stats for the big day!

this tassel design is available in my etsy shop here!

little sweetheart // gray's 2nd birthday

gray's birthday coincides with valentine's day, so his mom wanted to throw a heart-themed party that was still all BOY. we went with a red, black and turquoise color scheme using hearts and arrows in a tattoo style. after the kids went home, gray's mom & dad (who was also celebrating his birthday!) headed out with some friends for a pub crawl, so we created some custom name badges that each guest wore on lanyards. hopefully no one needed to use them... ;)

black & white // birthday party

holy batman! // ben's 1st birthday

ben's mom (aka erica) contacted me months ago when she started planning his big 1st birthday bash. she wanted a batman theme, but she wanted to keep it classy and sophisticated. we found our inspiration from a vintage batman poster and chose the 1986 logo for all the paper goods. we stuck with black and yellow, with touches of gray and covered the gamut with invitations, labels, food tents, signs and tags!

under construction // camden's 2nd birthday

once again, camden's mom came to me with some awesome ideas! since camden is really into construction trucks right now, she wanted to use that as the theme for his party, and incorporate some fun, vibrant colors. we did it all: invitations, address labels, thank you cards, favor tags, stickers, and tons of signage! i had the pleasure of attending the party and seeing it all in person, and it was amazing! (it was also very hot. hello, 100° in september.)

the desserts (by cakes by rumy and dutch girl cookies) were not only cute but delicious! vanessa came up with cute construction-themed names for each item.

can't wait to see what we cook up together next year!

vintage circus // shayne's 1st birthday

for this party, i actually used an existing design and gave it a little facelift! shayne's mom wanted to incorporate a ferris wheel, and she wanted additional pieces like address wraps, stickers, signs and banners. we even found these adorable postage stamps to use! aren't they perfect??

barnyard bash // payton's 2nd birthday

kristen is one of my favorites because this is her idea of a "simple" party. ha ha! she has amazing ideas & executes them perfectly! she definitely makes me look good. for her daughter payton's 2nd birthday, we did invitations, address wraps, thank you cards, stickers & cupcake toppers. oh, and kristen's dad made this barn! so awesome!!

ice cream party // eloise's 2nd birthday

eloise loves ice cream (a girl after my own heart!) so her mom wanted to do an ice cream party for her 2nd birthday. we did custom invitations and thank you cards with peachy-pink envelopes. so sweet!

rolling stone // first birthday party

custom rolling stone-inspired invitation for the leonard twins!

pow wow // first birthday party

a custom design for matthew, who just celebrated his first birthday!

pineapples // birthday invitation + thank you card

i'm not sure if you've noticed, but pineapples are everywhere right now! personally, i think they're great. not only are they delicious, but they are bright and fun! i designed a pineapple notecard several weeks ago, and thought i should follow it up with a birthday invitation. you can purchase this printable invitation & thank you card in my etsy shop HERE.

mani + pedi party // stella's 3rd birthday

invitation, address labels & stickers

thank you card, favor tag & dessert sign

how cool is stella's mom?! she rented out a nail salon for her 3rd birthday so all the little girls could get manis & pedis... (and pedis and champagne for the moms!) we used a metallic hot pink paper for the envelopes and invitation/thank you card backers, and then applied rhinestones on top of the cupcakes for the invitations and favor tags.

extra! extra! // first birthday party

invitation, envelopes & address labels

welcome sign & prints

favor tag, kids menu & thank you card 

photography by kasz photo

once again, my client came to me with an awesome vision for her son's first birthday party. we stuck with a newspaper theme and used a combination of kraft, black and an off-white textured paper for invitations, thank you cards, favor tags, prints & an oversized kraft menu. i am blown away by the pics & so glad i could be a part!