Posted on January 9, 2013 by Kara

Circus Train Big Top Carnival Birthday Party

I’m so excited to feature my CIRCUS TRAIN BIG TOP CARNIVAL BIRTHDAY PARTY with you today! This party is one of my favorite parties from my book!

The moment I found a lovely carousel outside of City Hall in St. George, Utah my mind just couldn’t stop dreaming of all the fun things this Circus Train Birthday Party could include. I set the stage with three circus train cars, which I made out of baby cribs. I transformed the regular white cribs into a real life circus train by adding painted wooden scroll pieces and paper bunting for decoration, and fanned flowers to serve as wheels! I then connected the train cars using red and blue crepe paper. Each train car provided the perfect space to display much of the party food, treats and decor.

The beautiful photos were taken by Valerie Hart Photography.

All of the party items/decor used in this party are available in the Kara’s Party Shop.
{Full product list can be found at the bottom of this post}

Circus Tent Sugar Cookies—All Things Exquisite
Cake & Cupcakes— Dippidee
Clown Cake Pops—Autumn Lynn’s Chocolate Sin’s Online Shop

As the children moved through the various party activities, they collected tickets. Once they had enough tickets they were able to pick a prize off the prize wall. I made the prize wall using a wooden free-standing chalkboard that I covered in fabric and topped with a “prizes” sign. To make the prizes I filled clear cello bags with plastic balls, games, noise makers and yoyo’s. The bags were then sealed with striped wrapping paper and blue crepe paper streamers and pasted to the wall.

The guests also played the infamous carnival game “Ring Toss” using rope rings and some old “Pop Shop” glass bottles that I found at an antique shop.

The middle circus train car held a large faux cake that I made out of hat boxes and tickets. Next to the cake were cute three-ring circus train boxes and ceramic circus letters. I placed fun cups shaped like circus tents at the front of the table, and next to them, put a darling cupcake tower made with a kit from my shop. The cupcake tower was accented with fun silver cording, yellow pom ribbon, blue crepe paper, and a cute mini bunting banner. It was finished with a clown nose at the top! The circus clown cupcakes couldn’t have been cuter sitting there amongst ceramic circus figurines. The circus tent-shaped sugar cookies were a hit, as were the “peanut” cups filled with orange candy circus peanuts. Peeking out from the back of the train car was a darling vintage “Tiddlywinks” clown game and a “Circus Parade” book.

A drink station was situated in an old galvanized bucket. I used two long wooden dowels to hang the “Drinks” banner I made using an ornate circus font for the lettering. Inside the bucket were old fashioned-style soda bottles. There were also water bottles labeled “Circus Water”.

Paper tickets are so versatile and cute that I couldn’t resist using them a lot throughout this party! The first train car featured vintage suitcases covered in white tickets. The focal point of the middle train car was the ticket “cake” I made. On the food train car, I used them as napkin rings to secure forks to red and yellow polka dot napkins. Plus, I wrapped tickets around the ketchup and mustard bottles. As guests arrived at the party, they were greeted with a happy ceramic clown on top of stacked ticket rolls. I made a fun wreath out of clown noses and tickets to place on the table next to the clown. Guests also walked past a bright ticket booth. I made the booth with a wooden puppet stand, painted and decorated to match the circus theme and colors. To add to the ambiance, I strung a red, white, and yellow felt “celebrate” banner between the ticket booth and the “Welcome to the Carnival” sign.

The third circus train car held the majority of the food. I love the miniature electric hot dog warmer that I used to heat the hot dogs! I also had a matching popcorn machine full of the buttery yummy stuff on the opposite side of the table. In the center of the train car was a white metal tub with rubber duckies inside. There were also several sizes of apothecary jars that I filled with suckers, miniature rainbow candies, and red gumballs. I ordered the darling clown cake pops from an online Etsy Shop and they couldn’t have been cuter in the stacked silver milk bottles! I made “lion tamer whips” out of chocolate licorice and placed them in a clear shallow glass bowl. I also filled cute carnival treat boxes with cupcakes for the guests, just in case they didn’t get enough sweets!

The focal point of the first circus train car was the darling Balancing Elephant Cake. The other fun circus items surrounding the cake included: toy animals that I “dressed up” with paint and ribbon; a miniature metal Ferris Wheel dispenser with bowls full of toys and treats; a sweet vintage Humpty Dumpty Lumps penny candy tin; a rotating wooden container filled with colored paper straws, candy mustaches, bright party blow outs, and candy peanuts; strongman dumbbells made with striped straws and round suckers; animal crackers and more!

I arranged Mason jar glasses on a small beverage table. Behind the glasses was a fun lollipop display. I made the display using an old Coca-Cola crate, some Styrofoam, and various fun and colorful lollipops and jawbreaker pops. I strung a delicate bunting flag banner {made with tickets and silver pipe cleaner} between two glittery batons nestled in the back of the crate. There were also two glass apothecary jars on the table, filled with yummy cookies.

All of the party guests had a chance to have their picture taken at a festive carnival-themed photo booth! I made the booth using pvc pipe, hot glue, and colorful polka dot fabric. I strung a homemade, fabric “happy birthday” banner across the back of the booth. To the side of the booth was a gumball machine and balloons tied to a yellow ducky balloon weight. I found a vintage suitcase online and filled it with photo booth props like silly glasses, hats, noses, bow ties, gloves, a xylophone, and even a rubber chicken! I think that it looked just like a traveling circus clown’s suitcase would have.

Party items/decor used in this party available in the Kara’s Party Shop-
Invitation
Water Bottle Labels
Tags
Cupcake Toppers
Directional Carnival Sign
“Celebrate” Fabric Banner
Striped Fanned Flowers (wheels)
Tickets
Circus Tent Cupcake Stand
Circus Tent–Shaped Cups
Silver Milk Bottles
Polka-Dot Napkins
Apothecary Jars
Lollipops
Ketchup/Mustard Containers
Rubber Duckies
Popcorn Bags
Circus Drink Labels
Hot Dog Containers
Tissue Bunting Flags
Clown Noses
Jumbo Bow Ties
Clown Gloves
Clown Hats
Candy Sticks
Party Blow Outs
Paper Straws
Carnival Gable Boxes
Cake Stands
Marshmallow Peanuts
Plastic Clown Cupcake Toppers
Embellished Paper Clown Toppers
Candles
Crepe Paper
Candy Mustaches
Gumballs, Balloons
Big Top Cupcake/Treat Boxes
Striped Cupcake Liners
Circus Tent Sugar Cookies—All Things Exquisite
Cake & Cupcakes— Dippidee
Clown Cake Pops—Autumn Lynn’s Chocolate Sin’s Online Shop

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Kara

Kara’s Party Ideas Online Book Tour- Week Two

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The second week of the online book tour for Kara’s Party Ideas {the book} is kicking off!

Tomorrow {Wednesday} check out a really insightful, in-depth interview I had with Jenn Sbranti, the one and only Hostess with the Mostess!!

On Friday, head over to Tout Mon Amour for another fun tutorial!

You don’t want to miss either of the amazing stops on the tour this week! I’ll keep you updated on what’s going on all week on Facebook, too! :]

Kara’s Party Ideas will be hitting shelves before we know it…October 9th. You can pre-order the book on Amazon HERE.

xo
Kara

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Kara

Birthday Gumball Party for HGTV

So here is the Gumball Birthday Party I styled for HGTV! To see the feature on HGTV.com go here {more exciting things coming, too}. As I said last week, HGTV contacted me in December to see if I would be willing to submit a party for an online kids party idea feature. So fun! I chose the gumball theme because I wanted the party to be bright and colorful…something that any child would adore.

I wanted to go with a vintage gumball feel. While planning the party I pictured a gumball machine in a old fashioned soda shoppe…the ideas then kept coming from there. All photos taken by Lyndsey Fagerlund. I found these adorable gumball machine cookies on etsy. They were made fresh and shipped to my front door by Batches. They couldn’t have been cuter…

The printable banner & party hats were purchased from Gwynn Wasson Designs. I topped the banner with sewn/gathered crepe paper and added little red pom pom’s to the tip of each pennant…

Cupcakes made by Dippidee {I added red gumballs to the tops to resemble cherries}. I bought the cupcake liners from Hey YoYo…

I found these old coca-cola crates in my local online classifieds. They were a perfect display for the small jars of gumballs! Mini Jars available to purchase here…

Yes, that’s a CAKE! Can you believe it? I sent Marcee Kitchen from Dippidee a picture of what I wanted and she worked her magic…

Here’s a closer look at the main party table. Scalloped plates were used as trays for the yummy treats…

I made these gumball machine cake pops using cake, frosting, sucker sticks, white and red candy melts, rainbow sprinkles and red spree candies! I drilled holes in a small red suitcase {purchased on amazon.com} for the base…

I got so excited when I found this vintage carousel gumball machine listed in my local online classifieds. The seller bought it at an estate sale…

I ordered these little lovelies from etsy shop, Sweeties By Kim. They are chocolate covered oreo’s! I placed them on a darling blue scalloped plate….

The fun party activity {large mason jar available to purchase here}…

I made the party hats from printable downloads purchased from Gwynn Wasson Designs. I sewed crepe paper together for the fringe base and top…

This is the second table that was set up for the party. I wanted this set up to be more simple than the other main table. I found the actual table in my local online classifieds {a great place to look for party items/decor/and props!}.

I just love the vintage soda shoppe look of it! The felt polka dot garland hanging behind the table was made to resemble gumballs, it is also something that anyone could make {and very inexpensive, too!}…

I used mason jars with stamped lids for drinking glasses. The straws were purchased from Hey YoYo. The colorful ribbon napkin rings were so adorable around the polka dot napkins…

I grew up down the road from the candy company, Peppermint Place. They have always made these cute ‘Gumball Buddies’. When I decided to have a gumball party I immediately remembered them and knew that I would have to go purchase some! They looked perfect on a small cake stand…

Party bags also purchased from Hey YoYo…

I thought that ribbon wands would be so fun for the little guests to play with.

These were also easy to make. I attached colorful ribbon to the tops of painted wooden dowels and placed them in another large mason jar filled with gumballs {I bought the large mason jars at Hobby Lobby}. The colors went perfectly with the whole scheme…

I wanted the ice cubes to look like gumballs. I found a circle ice cube tray on amazon.com and filled it with cherry Kool Aid….

I made the cute gumball flower bouquet out of balloon sticks {inspiration here}, large gumballs, small gumballs and hot glue! They were tied together with fun ribbon and placed in a small vase…

Ribbon napkin rings available to purchase here. Napkins available to purchase here.

I wanted to make an inexpensive party favor for each guest. These gumball machines were so simple and fun to make! The top part is a lid that comes off so anything could be stored inside. They would also make cute cookie jars. Tutorial on how to make them HERE!…

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Kara

Vintage Valentines Party for Channel 2 Fresh Living Show!

To all of you visiting from KUTV’s Channel 2 Fresh Living Show- Welcome! To all of you visiting from around the globe- Welcome! Here is the Vintage Valentines Party that I styled for the show today. This party was so much fun. I just love vintage things. Keep checking back this week for more tutorials and how to’s from the party! Become a fan or follow me…there’s plenty more party ideas to come! Vendors: Vintage buffet/dresser purchased from Finders Keepers. Fabric for backdrop purchased at Hobby Lobby. Photography by Lyndsey Fagerlund Imagery.

Vintage cupcake toppers purchased from Love Creation Gal.