Belle's Boys' Birthdays - Round 1

My own boys' birthdays are EXACTLY one month apart.  So, once summer arrives, I am busy planning their various birthday celebrations.  I usually plan a party for their friends and a small celebration for family.  And, because both of these rarely fall on their actual birthday, two days typically turn into two months of birthday activities! 

 

Birthday Round 1 belongs to my younger guy!  He was turning 4 this year and decided that he wanted to take his friends bowling.  It sounded perfect to me!  The bowling ally provided ample space for everyone to run around and have fun, as well as food and drinks! 

 

Now, I have to apologize for the quality of these pictures...It was pretty dark inside the bowling ally, and there was a tournament going on at the other end, so I was asked to take minimal pictures and not to use the flash.

 

We started planning with the invitation -- My little guy loved the bowling pins, and I thought the font gave it a bit of a retro feel. 

 

 I attached a few small circles to transform this 36 inch balloon into a giant bowling ball.  I added a few red and white polka dot balloons and had the perfect centerpiece for our table!

 

Table places settings.

 

Logan's favorite Snickerdoodle cupcakes!

 

 

I absolutely LOVE these plastic gumball tubes! There are so many cute things to do with them. I ordered black gumballs to mimic bowling balls! So cute!

 

We added the gumballs, chocolate bowling pins and a couple of other goodies to these galvanized pails for the kiddies to take home with them.

 A quick picture of me and my special guy!

It really was such a fun afternoon!

Peach Perfect...

A couple of my favorite clients asked for my help in putting together a favor for an upcoming baby shower.  They sent me a recipe for Peach Muffins that called for baby food peaches.  So we turned this pile of peaches into...

 

These!  Don't they look cute all dressed up!

 
We designed a simple recipe card to attach to the peaches.  The recipe was printed on the inside. It was folded into a small booklet and secured with pink satin ribbon. 

 

Truck on Over!

A party complete with tractors, trucks and DIRT!  What more could a little boy want for his birthday?

 

The John Deere company has made this party theme so extremely easy for parents of little boys and tractor loving girls!  Paper products, balloons and cake toppers are just a few of their items typically in stock at your local party store. 

 

And, chances are that if you are hosting a party with this theme, you have quite a few items hiding in your toy chest that will make great additions to your decor. 

 

Fit for a Rainbow Princess

This was such a fun project to work on!  A Princess Party with all of these fun, bright colors.  In addition to these tissue pom-poms (one of my favorite party decorations), I designed the party invitations, favor tags, signs for craft stations, and last but certainly not least, a "Happy Birthday" banner for the sweet birthday girl who was turning 4!

The party hostess, AKA Mom, sent me a few pictures once the decorations were in place.  She added quite a few of her own touches to make this day extra special! 

Paris in February!

During the last part of January, I received an email from the fabulous Misty Rodda, of Misty Rodda Photography, regarding her little girl's 5th Birthday, which was coming up just around the corner.  I met Misty a few years ago through a mutual friend.  Now, if anyone knows her, or has had the opportunity to work with her, you will understand why I was looking forward to working on this project.  And, while I took care of party invitations, cupcake toppers and some of the decorations, much of what you see can be attributed to her own creativity. 

First off, I have to share, looking at these pictures makes me smile a bit.  Only because the original plan for the party included transforming their home into a spa for 8 to 10 little girls.  It was once we began talking over ideas and colors and activities for the party that it somehow emerged into a beautiful, Parisian Soiree!      

Can you imagine being a 5-year-old girl and walking into all of this!  Not abandoning the "spa" idea completely, the girls attending were given a manicure in the Salon and played dress-up in the Boutique.  Misty drew a AMAZING Eiffel Tower for the girls to play a game of "Pin the Butterfly to the Eiffel Tower".  And of course, they were treated to delicious cupcakes! 

 

  And the look on that sweet face...

well, that is why I absolutely, positively LOVE, LOVE, LOVE what I do!

On a Roll in January!

Tomorrow is January 31!  And, well, it seems almost fitting that today I am shipping out one of the last few pieces of stationery designed for an upcoming Wedding in FABULOUS Las Vegas! 

He proposed on December 30th, and she said YES!  And, we jumped right into designing engagement announcements and wedding invitations.  I have had an absolutely wonderful time working on this Wedding Stationery.  There were so many elements:  invitations, announcements, separate reception cards, just to name a few!

Here is a little glimpse of the announcement that we came up with.  Because there will be only an intimate ceremony in Las Vegas, announcements were sent out to notify extended family and friends of the couple's engagement and let them in on their plans to marry. 

Now, you would have to see this in person to get the full effect!  Each piece of stationery was printed on a pearlized paper.  This gave each card a little shimmer, which in my mind, is just perfect when we're talking Vegas! 

Sneaky Peek! ~ Ooh, La, La!

Just a quick peek of an invitation I am working on!  If you think the reverse side is cute, just wait until you see the front.  Excited to put together a few more details for this party.  The party is taking place at the end of February, so check back then for more pictures!

Happy New Year!

2011 was a wonderful year for Belle Papers and Parties, and 2012 seems to be starting off with a "Bang"!  We can't wait to start work on some of these exciting projects and share them with you!