Tuesday 16 August 2016

Marshmallows and Sprinkles

My little girl's favourite thing in the whole world is marshmallows. So there was definitely no other theme for her 2nd birthday. I did a simple setup for her, I wanted something that was effortless and not time consuming but was still pretty enough for my baby girl. 
Look out for my tips to effortless (and budget friendly) party planning at the end of this post. 


I needed something that would add life to the pink and white pillows of sugariness that Yara loved so much. I used sprinkles in bright colours on the digital artwork and through the decor. 




Just like with Yusuf's donut Bash, i used the white shutters on our patio as the backdrop.







Instead of digital sprinkles on the paper decor, i used the real thing and glued on actual sprinkles. Easiest way to add colour to the table. 







I ordered this drip cake without any decor on it. I added all sorts of mallows, chocolate shards with sprinkles and a paper decor sign with her name on it. I wanted the cake to capture her crazy beautiful personality and I think it did just that.









I purchased a sand art kit online, and it was such a hit with the kids. 















These favour tags read, 'Enjoy these treats over your next bowl of ice cream'. 



This girl of ours!!
May you be happy, healthy and protected always!


Tips to budget friendly and (almost) effortless party planning:

It's not each year that you break the bank and go all out for your kids birthday parties. Each year is as special for them though and they look forward to their special moments all year through. Below are my insider tips and tricks (shh, don't tell) to make even the smallest event extra special:


1. 
Make use of what you have- I used our white wooden shutters as a backdrop and added simple paper decor to match the theme.

2. 
Purchase simple baked goods and add your own paper toppers, sweets or sprinkles.

3.
 Party favours need not be pricy, a simple creative idea packaged well could easily do the trick.

4. 
Buying everything you can possibly find within your theme is almost always a bad idea. Not only is it crazy expensive, but these items are most of the time too busy, which makes it difficult to achieve a polished look. For example, rather buy plates, cups, serviettes etc in your colour scheme and personalise or bring in the theme with a paper tag or similar. 

5. 
For me, the choice of colour scheme is one of the most important factors in party planning. Be sure that your colour combos work well together. A beautiful colour pallet will easily bring a spectacular look to your event. 

6. 
Your choice of theme is also another important factor. Choose something your kids love, they will love that you took the time to create something that's especially what they love (and that's a whole lot of love to go around). I love how more and more clients are choosing unconventional themes. Something as simple as a marshmallow or donut can be enough to create a party around. 

7.
 Concentrate your decor in one area or on one table. This works better than attempting to theme an entire room or venue. It's less time consuming and will cost you far less.

8. 
If you are going to splurge, do so on one aspect of the party that will make it amazing. For my big boy's donut party, we got a Mini Donuts company come do donuts for guests. Everyone from kids to the adults were excited about this. Not only did guests (kids and their parents) enjoy bottomless mini donuts we also used the donuts for:

- Activity for the kids- We gave the kids chocolate coins and they 'purchased' donuts from Yusuf's Donut Shop. They then decorated a box of donuts with sweets and sprinkles
- Party Favour- The kids took their decorated box of donuts home as the party favor

So if you are going to spend on one aspect of your event, do so wisely so it works to its max for you.

9. 
Out of the box activities for the kids- When you aren't always able to hire a jumping castle and those wonderful motorized rides, in the case of an at home party where space is limited, creative activities for the kids work well. At my kids joint parties, I purchased a sand art kit online, kids made their own mini pizzas which they ate as their lunch and we had a donut decorating station too. These activities managed to keep 18 kids under the patio, out of the drizzle and entertained for 2 hrs.

10. 
I always stress to clients how useful it is to hire a good photographer and/or videographer. Once your event is over, the pictures captured are all you have. Too often do clients tell me after an event that it went by so fast and they didnt manage to get many pictures. If a professional is out of your budget, make a family member or friend the designated 'photographer'. This will ensure that you'll have a set of memories to look back on later. 

11. 
Remember that there are no set rules or boundaries to party styling. Get your creative juices flowing, and you are sure to do a great job that your kids will love.


Much Love, 



Event Styling & Decor:

Paper Craft:

Digital Artwork:

Cake & Coconut Mallows:

Cake Decor:

Cupcakes:

Photography:









Tuesday 9 August 2016

Donut Miss it!


My first born turned 5 recently (oh why do they grow so fast). We had a small party at home for him and his bestie this year. This boy loves his donuts, and that's the theme he chose. A quick internet search and you'll notice that this seems a theme reserved for girls only, so of course I was up to the challenge of creating a donut themed party appropriate for a little man. I settled on a monochrome color scheme and created a donut clipart that I used through the decor. 


The invite, wording on the reverse side of the donut. 






Cos donut holes are donuts too.


The lovely Mumtaz of Cocoa was kind enough to gift Yusuf these lovely donut cake pops and the gorgeous cookies below. I'm always popping by Mumtaz's place to collect baked goods, especially cake pops and very often Yusuf is with me. Poor guys has to hold the box all the way home knowing he can't eat them because they are 'for a party Mama is doing'. When Mumtaz told me she'd do him cake pops, and they'd be donut shaped cake pops Yusuf and I were all too excited! Cannot thank her enough for her kindness in making my boy's day extra special. 





These mini donut boxes that I am pretty much still in love with [insert heart faced emoji here]. I saw this idea online a while back and it was too good to pass by. So while i had literally 100 things to do the week of the party (including three Party in a Box orders as well as Yara's party decor as we had a joint party again for the two) I was turning Cheerios cereal into mini donuts. Crazy i know, but the end result was so worth it!



Since my sister, the family baker, has left us for a year long adventure in Singapore (sign), I had to think up the easiest cake idea i could come up with. I added a little decor and this pile of donuts was good enough to be called a cake.


















The white wooden shutters on the patio created the perfect backdrop for the feature tables. Score!!

You can spot a sneaky of Yara's table to the left.


It was such a cloudy day (you can tell by how dark it was indoors)










Not only does this guy love eating donuts (and anything else with sprinkles and icing), he loves baking too. We got the Mini Donut people come over to make donuts for the guests (and that was dessert sorted out for everyone). Yusuf had this plan in his head of how he would 'sell' the donuts to the kids, and that's when the idea popped into my head of making him a little donut shop. I gave each child a golden chocolate coin and they lined up at the donut shop to 'buy' their box of mini donuts. 





And then we turned the box of donuts into an activity for the kids where they decorated their donuts with everything from sprinkles to marshmallows and gumballs. And they took these home as the party favor too (easy peezy u see).  




















According to Yusuf and his friends, a party should always have a piñata. I was in a bit of a pickle then as to where I would find a monochrome donut piñata?? So i bought a large cardboard cake box and made this one. His friend Niamh's dad is Mexican and is always in charge of piñata time, he makes it soo fun. 



5 already big boy!! 
We are proud.
PS- He's already decided on a Popcorn Party for next year. Wish me luck!



Thanks for stopping by,




Event Styling & Decor:

Paper Craft:

Digital Artwork:

Cake Decor:

 Cake Pops & Cookies:

Cupcakes:

Photography: