This precious GENDER NEUTRAL SPRING SOIREE FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY was submitted by Belinda Blackwood of Littlechair.
I love the simplicity and all of the delicate components of this party! It has so many sweet ideas that would be perfect for both boy and girl parties, as well as baby and bridal showers. A few of my favorite elements of this gender neutral spring soiree are:
The mini ribbon banner cake topper
The painted wooden spoon and water balloon activity
This is what Belinda said about planning the party- “When we shared our news of a new baby due to arrive in September with our 2 children aged 6 and 3, there was much discussion about what ‘Season’ this baby would be born in! It was decided that we should put flowers into the garden to welcome our baby in spring…and so in April we lovingly placed Freesia bulbs deep into the ground around our home. During the weeks that led to Baby’s arrival we noticed with much excitement one by one the freesias start to appear randomly in our garden beds. Each Beautiful Freesia seemed to take us another step closer to our baby’s arrival and we all welcomed the distraction while we waited.
Our Baby Boy arrived on a beautiful spring day in September last year, and as I walked to the car on the way to the hospital I could smell freesias in the air, and see the cheerful dots of color throughout our garden beds. Of course our 2 excited children greeted us in hospital after baby’s arrival bearing a beautiful bunch of hand-picked Freesias which sat in a vase beside our bed for our stay.
I did not remove the bulbs from the garden after they had flowered as ‘they’ say you are supposed to do….and to our surprise, one by one our Freesias have flowered again this spring…just in time for our Baby Boys first birthday.
We decided on a “Spring theme” for Ned’s 1st Birthday Celebration using bright yellow and orange to complement the freesia’s we had in our garden. We set up the party table in our nearby “parklands” and enjoyed a morning of fun with close family and friends.”
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Jute Twine Striped Paper Straws Ribbon Clear Cellophane Bags Honeycomb Flowers Tissue Balls Balloons Milk Bottles
This 90TH BIRTHDAY COLORFUL GARDEN PARTY was submitted by Kenna O’Brien of Miss Party Mom. What a lovely celebration celebrating something so special! You can tell that Kenna loves her husband’s grandmother very much!
Here is what Kenna had to say about planning the party- “This party was for my husband’s sweet Grandmother, Roberta who turned 90 this Summer. My mother-in-law envisioned lots of bright floral garden-style decor mixed with a pool side feel, so I did just that. We rented the pool deck at the Historic Santa Maria Inn in Santa Maria, CA and I was assisted by their Event Coordinator, Stephanie Purple, with set up. This party was incredibly fun to shop for with all of the great colors and girly touches. I really wanted to create something with a “90″ in it to honor such a special age so I crafted (from muffin size cupcake tins) one to be the main table centerpiece. I ombred it pink with spray paint and the entire thing cost me $8 and took about an hour from start to finish. My friend Hannah Henry and I worked on the branches that surrounded it, they are made of of scrapbook paper, cut in to leaves with floral wire sandwiched in between them. This was tedious but costs next to nothing if you have even just small scraps of scrapbook paper lying around!
The graphics really made the table pop, from the pennants to the cupcake picks, Jodi Broglio of Jolio Design really helped me tie it all together with the perfect party package of graphics.
Other special details from the party included our Family Tree table which had photos of Roberta through the years- as well as her family. They were displayed in antique looking brightly spray painted frames and our version of a guest book (frame matting for a future party photo) was also on the table to be signed.
Hannah & I made flower and “90″ shaped sugar cookies for the party favors, I handmade the cake pops and Gina’s Piece of Cake in the Santa Maria Mall did the center cake and all of the cupcakes.”
Vendors and Credits:
Venue- Historic Santa Maria Inn in Santa Maria, CA
Photography- Jennifer McGinn Photography
Party Styling- Miss Party Mom
Cupcakes & Cake- Gina’s Piece of Cake Graphics- Jolio Design
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Cupcake Liners Polka Dot Balloons Paper Straws Clear Cellophane Bags Ribbon Apothecary Jars Paper Plates, Napkins, Plastic Utensils Tissue Paper Pom Poms
This precious SECRET GARDEN 7TH BIRTHDAY PARTY was submitted by Kara Abrahamsen of Lillian Hope Designs. Isn’t it just lovely?
Kara said– “This party was styled for my daughter Lilly’s 7th birthday! She was madly in love with the book ‘SECRET GARDEN’ and had this great idea to have a Secret Garden Party! I of course jumped on this idea…I love shabby chic and vintage style parties and was so excited to start styling one for her 7th birthday.
It took me a while to figure out what direction I wanted to go…then I found a fantastic paper pack on Etsy from HelloLoveToo and I fell in love with the print!
In the invitations we sent out plastic glitter keys so that the girls could unlock the magical garden gate as they entered into the secret garden. As the guest arrived they had many {backyard garden games} they could walk around and play as they wished (hula hoops, skipping rope, hopscotch, potato sack races, spoon races with fake eggs, and bubble blowing).
After the girls were finished playing backyard garden games. They got dressed up with some shabby chic accessories and took pictures at the {photo booth}. This was Lilly’s favorite part of the entire party!
Cake and desserts came next! They were able to go up and get as many sweets as their little hearts desired from the dessert table! My friend Alyssa made the beautiful cake and bird cookies. She is incredibly talented and is thinking about starting her own bakery…something I am constantly encouraging her to do! She had some other great cupcakes that we were going to use, but a mild soccer ball accident with her son changed that;-)! Instead she got cupcakes from a local bakery the day of the party (what a lifesaver).
We played find the garden gate key. A friend of mine hid the keys all around the garden. The girls had to run and find them. Once they found one they went to the prize table and picked out their butterfly nets and flower headbands. Then they filled a treat box with magnets, hairclips, and other girly accessories.
It was then time to paint their flower pots and plant their flowers to take home! I am sure the parents loved me sending home so many items with the children ;-).
My daughter has chosen for the last two years to donate her gifts. So this year she donated them to a program called Teen Mops. Everyone was asked to bring a gift of $15 or less to donate.”
Vendor Credit:
Party Printables/Design/Styling – Lillian Hope Designs
Photography – Faith Photography
Cookies/Cake – {Alyssa Trepagnier} AlyssaTrep@gmail.com
Oreo Pops – Lauren Scheck
Cupcakes – GiGi’s Cupcakes
Birthday Girl Shirt – Oh Fiddlesticks
Birthday Girl Headband – Headbands by LilCuteTs