DIY (birthday party edition)

if you know me but at all then you know that i love to throw parties. if i could i would celebrate the puppies birthdays but they don't have friends so then who would come :( remind me later that i need to get them to socialize.

so like i said Sel loves to celebrate. and i love to do it big. and it all started with sophie. she had a big 1st birthday. over 100 invites were passed out. and i made them myself. so since then, over 9 years go, i have been a bit of the party planner. and over the years i have learned that the sooner you plan and prepare for the party, you won't feel the pressure day of or days leading to the celebration.

for example, abby's 7th birthday is in may but i knew since september 2011 what the theme would be. she wasn't too fond but i finally got her to accept the fact that MOMMY plans, DADDY pays, and CHILD shows up! SIMPLE!

let's rewind back to October 2011. Sophie's Peace Sign Party. Months and months went into planning this affair. I thought I was going to lose my mind but I kept my cool almost the whole party planning process. About 6 months went into planning. Sketches of the dessert/candy table were drawn up. Vendors were contacted. Tshirts were made. Fabric was purchased. Printables were made. BuildABear was booked. ChickFilA was called in for catering. Photographer was booked.

Here are pics (over a 1000 pics were taken)!

with her school friends!

with her little sister!

with the crazy people that paid for this affair parents!

now, here come the pics that show all the effort that was put in. 

tablescape

cake topper

first time i was able to use my Martha Stewart Cake Stands! 

party food! each in it's basket for easy serving. 

Sophie admiring the goodies

cupcake toppers

banner

prepping to sing Happy Birthday!

it was an AMAZING MEMORABLE experience. she said it was her favorite party EVER. she thanked us, gave us big hugs, fell to sleep and i proceeded with some wine. 

she truly deserves it all. she's a great kid. 

her sister abby is the same. she's great. we cannot wait for her party in May. Abby is known for her swimming parties. we built a pool just so we can celebrate her birthday with a huge splash. 

is that love or what?

in all honesty, planning this was not stressful. it took time but if you want an outcome like this then you MUST plan. and the best part is that anyone can do this. seriously? yes! it's so easy. 

currently, i do not offer party styling services. i really do not want to spend my weekends working. and that's the truth. and many have asked me to re-create this same table. while i will not recreate the exact same thing, i would be more than happy to help you plan. i can tell you where to shop for it all. and soon, paper passion will be offering almost everything that you see in the pics, well except for fabric and the candy. i have done my research, have spent countless hours online and on the phone trying to find the best vendors out there and i have already started working with some.

so that's the DIY birthday party edition.
 DIY because I did it all myself. and i won't tell you how much i spent but i did not spend too much.
what cost a lot more was the trip to the BuildABear on the PARTY BUS!

please contact me for any questions.

thank you for stopping by this AM.

peace,