Lauren said this about planning the party- “This was my daughter’s 1st birthday party! Deciding on a theme for her 1st birthday was harder than I expected. Oh my are there so many cute ideas out there! She has such a happy demeanor and brings us so much joy every day. I knew I wanted her 1st birthday party to be bright and cheerful like her and when I stumbled on a Pink Lemonade theme I saw online I knew that was it. What could be more cheerful than bursts of yellow and pink and everything lemonade reminding us of warm summer days!
I had so much fun looking for ideas online. In the end I made most of the DIY elements on my own and I’m so glad I did because it made it that more special.
My dear friend Alise Davis with Sweet Marie Designs helped me create and manage a Pinterest board to help organize my ideas and ultimately she did all the amazing flowers for the big party!”
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Crepe Paper Streamers Baker’s Twine Tissue Pom Poms Burlap Cupcake Liners Paper Bags Polka Dot Balloons Jute Twine Paper Straws
This unique CAMP ARTS & CRAFTS RAINBOW PARTY was submitted by Melissa Thiel Collar of Buckets of Grace.
What a fun idea to highlight the arts and crafts aspect of a fun camp out by combining the two themes into one party! I also love the bright, happy vibe that the rainbow theme brings into this camping arts and crafts party. A few of my favorite ideas and elements are:
The rainbow paper chain backdrop
The colorful cake pops displayed on a wooden artist’s palette
The cake with rainbow striped sides and topped with an artist’s palette and a camping tent
The Rice Krispie treats dipped in colored candy melts and topped with wooden paddles to resemble paintbrushes dipped in paint
The white ruffle tablecloth and burlap ruffle tablecloth
Melissa said this about the party- “Like most 9 year old girls, my daughter Grace loves all things arts and crafts. So when picking the theme for her birthday party this year, I wasn’t surprised when she asked for an arts and crafts theme. To put a little twist on the traditional theme, we turned her party into a Camp Arts and Crafts Party. We used a rainbow color scheme with lots of camp touches, including burlap, kraft paper and touches of nature. Carli from Dimple Prints made the customized printables that tied the party together. They were amazing!
For the backdrop for the sweets table and the trail mix bar, we stuck with our rainbow arts and crafts theme by making ombre paper pinwheels for the sweets table and paper chains for the trail mix bar.
We had lots of arts and crafts activities for our campers. We dyed sailor bracelets, painted canvases, made noodle necklaces and bracelets, made God’s Eyes, had sand art. My daughter decided that instead of having her campers bring presents, she wanted to collect donations for Project Linus – a non-profit organization that collects blankets for children in need. As one of the arts and crafts projects, we made a fleece tie blanket to donate on behalf of her party. It was such a touching activity!”
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Burlap Baker’s Twine Striped Paper Straws Mason Jar Drinking Glasses and Daisy Cut Lids Rainbow Honeycomb Tissue Flowers Ribbon Candy Scoops White 2-sided Frame Gumball Tubes Gumballs Wooden Spoons Washi Tape Cupcake Liners Tin Pails
This budget friendly OLIVIA THE PIG BIRTHDAY PARTY was submitted by Lina Darnell of Fancy Frugal Life.
I love that this party is not only full of fantastic Olivia the Pig ideas but it also has money saving party planning tips that can be used for almost any event, regardless of the theme! A few of my favorite Olivia ideas and elements are:
The wreath made using a feather boa
The photbooth props made from craft foam, including pig noses and tiaras
The boxes covered in polka dot wrapping paper and used to display the cupcakes
Here’s what Lina said about the party, including her SIX budget friendly party planning TIPS!- “For my daughter’s fifth birthday we threw her a fun Olivia the Pig themed party at our home.
In case you are not familiar with her, Olivia is a book character and TV show, based on the book series by Ian Falconer, that my daughter LOVES. Olivia is a lovable,funny, and precocious little pig with a huge imagination who loves to dance, dress up, and gets in all kids of fun adventures.
I want you to be able to take my easy tips and apply them to whatever theme or type of party you choose to throw. This could be a birthday party or even a baby shower, bridal shower, etc. Instead of just throwing up a bunch of edited party pictures, I want you to see that what I do anyone can do if you have the time. It took me a good week of planning and work to put this party together, and it’s something I genuinely like to do..kinda my thing. If party planning isn’t your thing I totally get it! There’s nothing wrong with that! I’m feeling a little backlash lately on moms who throw creative parties. I like this sort of thing and I realize it doesn’t make me a better mom than the next. Throwing out some store bought cupcakes and balloons and calling it a day is great! I’ve thrown kid parties both ways.
Party Planning Tip #1: Use dollar store table clothes to decorate.
I folded and cut up tablecloths from the dollar store and taped them to the top of my hutch to make them look like curtains. My backdrop is gift wrap from the dollar store. Then printed out pictures of Olivia online and taped them up. The larger one is actually an engineer print from Office Max. They are pretty inexpensive from office printing places. All you have to do is bring in your image on a thumb drive to order it.
The boxes for party favors are from Amazon, also inexpensive.
Party Planning Tip #2: Wrap empty boxes with coordinating gift wrap and duct tape/ribbon and then stack them for an easy cupcake stand.
I found this wrapping paper at my dollar store and bought 5 rolls when I saw it. The duct tape is some I already had but you could use ribbon or whatever you’ve got on hand. Such a cute and cheap way to serve cupcakes that can be customized to the theme and colors of your party!
Party Planning Tip #3: Create a festive photo backdrop with wrapping paper and dress up items from the dollar store and your kid’s closet.
I went through my daughter’s dress up items in her closet and pulled out tiaras, fairy wings, glasses, pretend high heels, and bought some boas, scarves, and hats from the dollar store. The kids and parents LOVED it! We made our own piggy ears by cutting out craft foam and gluing the ear shapes to foam tiaras. I also made the noses by gluing foam shapes to small dowels.Having a painted frame like I have here is also cute.
Party Planning Tip #4 : Use store coupons and shop Amazon for party supplies.
This may seem like a no brainer, but I cringe when I see people buy full price things at stores like Michael’s and Jo Anne’s. Those stores even have apps for your phone to show the cashier at checkout. Also Party City has in store coupons all the time on their website that you can pull up on your phone or print. Last week it was 40% off any full price item.
This pinata is a good example. It was $20 full price at Party City and I showed the cashier a 40% off coupon from their website and received the discount. I went back a different day and bought the candy for 40% off too.
I made cupcakes and found the cute plastic cupcakes toppers on Amazon for just a few dollars. Together with the no fade Wilton cupcake liners they turned out great!
Party Planning Tip #5: Make your own party wreath for the front door or cake table.
For the wreath I used hot glue to attach a white boa to a wood wreath form and also painted and glued this craft frame. You could use a photo of your child or make a graphic on PicMonkey.com like I did. Then I used a couple of the piggy photo props I made for the kids and attached to the wreath.
Party Planning Tip #6: Make your own free personalized invitations and party graphics on free online editing websites like PicMonkey.
I made the invite using PicMonkey and this free chalkboard background jpg. You can then email your image or print and hand out as invites.”
Emily said this about the party- “We had a wonderful tea party inspired by Lexie’s (our little Alice) favorite movie, Alice in Wonderland. We stuck to a very dreamy, pastel palette, and I think it turned out beautifully. We had pale, floral cupcakes and cookies, mushroom cake pops, and lemonade. Most of the decor was vintage teacups, ribbons, keys, and flowers. I strung up a tissue tassel garland and a doily bunting over an old coffee table. We enjoyed (well, we attempted) flamingo croquet, and we took turns peering “through the looking glass,” an empty wicker mirror that we spray-painted gold.”
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Tea Party Supplies Striped Paper Straws Glass Milk Bottles Lollipop / Treat Sticks
Valerie had this to say about the party- “Anyone who knows me well knows my affinity for Gingham. It’s kind of a running joke with my friends and family. We see a cute gingham shirt or an adorable gingham little girl dress and they immediately point to me. “That’s totally Val” they say. I can’t help it, though. I just love the simple, classic, and sweet nature of those little gingham checks.
A few months back I came across a gingham styled shoot by one of my event designer idols, Kate Landers. It was one of the sweetest parties I have ever seen and complete eye candy for this gingham-loving-girl. Ever since then, I have been itching to do something fun with gingham too.
For this party we decided to incorporate gingham in sweet girly hues, but the focal point is a super sweet and totally girly SWEETS BAR. When conceiving this party design, I thought back to what made my jaw drop when I was five years old. I, like most little girls, was obsessed with lace, rhinestones, beautiful fabric, lovely flowers and shiny ribbon. So, with that childhood recollection, my design started to take shape.
I stuck with pastels and worked hard to play up playful concepts that any little girl would swoon over. We have a fun gumball cake with adorable gingham fabric pom pom toppers, cupcakes topped with butterfly gingham accents, and cotton candy for every guest. Beautiful fresh flowers add such vitality and a punch of color to the sweets table. No little girl party is complete without a fun and coordinating dining table. I made sure to keep it simple and kid-friendly yet special for all the guests. Each place setting is adorned with a cute cup of strawberry salt water taffy and on each chair back is a fun favor bag, full of sweets (of course) to take home.
Many trends will come and go, but I’m pretty confident in saying that gingham will stick around for quite awhile. Let’s just say that this gingham-loving lady isn’t complaining.”
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Tissue Pom Poms Whirly Pops Homemade Twist Lollipops Mason Jars Cupcake Wrappers Plates Ice Cream Cups Gumballs Ribbon Striped Paper Straws Lollipop / Treat Sticks Tissue Honeycomb Flowers