Pink Peppermint Blogger

My Caroline is the princess-loving tough as nails variety of little girl. A sweet jumble of contradictions. The kind of girl you only get from having an older brother in the house. It’s hard to predict what she’ll come up with next, but when it came to her 3rd birthday celebration, she and I decided we’d combine two of her current faves–princesses and snow!

In case you missed it, here’s the invitation. We handed out the majority of them so I got a little playful with addressing them. There were Ladies, Dukes and even Barons on the invitation list.

Here’s the glitter embellishment on the envelope.

Guests were welcomed to Castle Touchet with these grapevine wreaths spray painted silver and flocked with snow.

Inside where it was warm, the royal banquet table stretched out underneath a sky of falling snow.

We had snowflake crowns for the boys and tiaras for the girls.

Princess Caroline’s birthday throne at the head of the table was all wrapped up in a bow and set off with her royal portrait.

Laid out on a blanket of snow down the center of the table were snow globes filled with a different royal and snowy scenes.

A royal crown, a snowy church, a silver slipper, and a Victorian ice skate among others.

The princess one turned out to be my favorite!

After everyone checked out our stash of toys, it was time to eat!

Our centerpiece was made up of sparkly winter branches embedded in a vase of snow.

We had simple breakfast foods like sausage balls, mini muffins, pigs in a blanket and fresh fruit on these snowflake skewers.

The crowd favorites were these donut snowmen.

And look. There’s our dainty little princess enjoying one now!

The kids also really went for these marshmallow pops.

They had juice from these sweet little cups that come with snap on lids so they don’t spill.

I decked them out in royal fashion with some ribbon and scrapbooking embellishments.

And for the adults we had hot chocolate and coffee.

The mantle was decorated with a glittery snow village and castle.

And since it was a surprisingly mild January day {naturally}, we set up a play table of snow outside.

We had a few scoops and buckets and those kiddos went to town!

Then everyone headed back inside for cake. The birthday girl was feeling unusually shy as everyone sang.

Then there was more playing in the snow before everyone said their goodbyes.

As party favors, everyone got snow powder so they could make their own snow at home.

We had a great time celebrating with the birthday girl and a sweet group of friends for her first big girl party. Happy third birthday sweet Caroline!

Sources:

Large/Small Ripple Cups, Clear Favor Boxes – Think Garnish

Invitations, Paper Crowns, Cup Wraps, Favor Tags – Pink Peppermint Paper

Cake – Dream Cakes

It’s hard to believe it’s already time again for my Christmas baby’s birthday party! Really does seem like not that long ago we hosted the silhouette-themed birthday brunch for close friends and family.  We held the celebration on her birthday (December 27th) last year because we already had everyone in town for the holidays. With all the Christmas business I do on top of the typical holiday to dos, I decided that this year we’d wait until school was back in session, hand out invitations in early January and allow ourselves some time for holiday recovery before the party on the 29th. I am brilliant, no?

Well, let me tell you, we are ALL about some princesses this year. Princesses and snow, which we never have but she enjoys talking about. A lot. Making snowmen. Snow families. Snow angels. Catching snowflakes on her tongue. Sledding. I think she’s been watching too much Olivia. We had Kristen over at Crumb Gourmet whip up these sweet No. 3 cookies for her to share with her preschool friends. We did a little touch of the licensed character stuff for her classroom celebration, which made Caroline quite happy.

And now I get to plan something inspired by the season and devoid of anything Disney, which makes me quite happy! Here is the invitation.

I tried my hand for the first time at a glitter embellishment on the invitations. It’s just a touch, but I think it really adds a big of magic to them, and sets just the right mood. I haven’t played with glitter since 1994, when a friend nominated me (in my absence I might add) to hand glitter what had to have been over 500 names on date signs for prom. Glitter has come a LONG way since then.

Note: it is unreasonably hard to capture things that are glittered in a photograph. The process confirmed something that you all already know: I am no photographer.

I went with Blackmoor, a nice regal font for our wording “Let the trumpets sounds on the joyous occasion of Princess Caroline’s Third Birthday Celebration!” I’m happy to report a good many folks have already let me know that they are coming even ten days out! Our RSVP line was “The favour of a reply we hope you’ll make. The royal baker is requesting a count for the cake!” I thought it was playful while pointing out a hostess’ very real need for people to respond if requested.

We handed out the majority of the invitations, sending some home in school bags and delivering others personally to friends in the neighborhood. I decided to have a little fun with our royal theme. Lady Isabela of the House of Caudell, Sir Wright, Duke of Wallace, Sir Shep and Lady Katherine of the House of Kirchner. Everyone had a noble title and each envelope was embellished with a glittery snowflake. Suspect people may think I’m unbalanced, but I thought it was fun (and funny) so…

I am getting super excited! Lauren and I worked yesterday on firming up some ideas. I so love having someone to brainstorm with and bounce ideas off of. Plus, she and I feed off one another. It’s almost dangerous. Can’t wait to share pictures of the big day! I’d better get busy.

What a wild and crazy year for Pink Peppermint Paper! We finished our first full year of blogging and celebrated our fourth year in the stationery business both in late October. I worked with lots of great folks who make me feel so appreciated and creative even when I don’t always see those things in myself. Somewhere in there, Lauren and I started a party planning gig–Pink Peppermint Parties. Bought a house. Sold a house, and my family and I relocated to Mississippi. Well, all except for that “sold a house” part. Ugh. No worries. 2011 is the year. I can FEEL it!

I was taking a look back at all we’ve shared with you this year. Here are some of my faves (for one reason or another) with links back to the full posts if you’re new or just missed them the first go round.

Little Girl’s Birthday Brunch – silhouette artwork and party favors inspired by my favorite little girl

High-Flying Birthday Adventure - L.O.V.E. working this super creative mom (and my former boss). Airsick bags to hold party favors. “We’re sick to see you go”!?! Yes, we did.

Hole-in-One First Birthday – The cake. The activities. THE WHEAT GRASS. Seriously.

All in Due Time Couples Baby Shower – Eight or so hostesses all living in different cities. This had no real hope of working, but it did anyway! I love it when a plan comes together.

Backyard Birthday Carnival – Fun colors. Games. Carnival food. Yum! This post gets a LOT of hits. I think it’s because of this awesome ceiling drape!

Feather Her Nest Baby Shower – Lauren hosted this for a dear friend. Love the elements from nature as well as the pops of color inspired by the baby’s nursery. RicRac, how do I love thee?

ARTy Party Lots of colors. Fun invitation. All-time favorite themed regrets line. You’re welcome.

Lifesaver Party – Our first Pink Peppermint Parties customer celebrating a big grant for a small not-for-profit, StopSMA.org. Someone wants to pay us for this?! Yea!

Hungry for more? The bugs were too at this Bug Out Birthday – the fabulous Lauren schools us on throwing an uber creative venue birthday. Where to begin…

Heroes and Villains – I’m still tired from this party in early October–my boy’s 5th.

Setting the stage for a battle of good versus evil.

Good guys and bad stand defiant atop cupcakes, capes whipping in the wind. The industrial cupcake stand was made of dampers and such from Lowe’s gutter/roofing section. Score!

Some of the good guys watching carefully from above.

I like to include elements of fun for the adults, too. C’mon now. That’s good stuff.

Neighborhood Halloween Bash – a great mix of spooky and fun at my sister’s house!

Another Fab Golf ParTee – Here’s another fun golf-themed birthday with lots of creative touches including the sought-after Sippy Cup Trophy! Man, I love a pennant banner. And argyle. Don’t get me started.

And last are these recent bottle labels. Whip a few up for NYE!

In 2010, I also saw my business double, which is due, in no small part, to those of you who follow me, leave comments and share links with friends. Many thanks! I am truly blessed to do something I love. So looking forward to new and exciting things in the coming year! Happy New Year!

Eleanor

My friend, Lesley, touched base with me several months back. She was throwing an art party for her daughter’s upcoming birthday. None of the invitations she had seen were doing anything for her so she asked me to do a custom job. I worked up several options, and here’s a sample of the invitation she chose.

The party was at a local art studio. What a fun idea! And perfect because they can get all messy and you don’t have to clean it up. Awesome.

There was painting,

and sand art.

They strung beads and enjoyed all sorts of other fabulously messy creativity. There’s the birthday girl in deep concentration over her masterpiece. (Either of mine would be sticking their tongues out just so. It’s a genetic marker on my dad’s side.)

Drumroooooolllllll please…

Magnificent! And speaking of which, what a super colorful spread! I love the use of different colored solid plates for this.

Check out this artful display of cupcakes!

Can you stand it? She used an assortment of these tilt-a-whirl baking cups. So festive!

I love these super colorful homemade crayons too. Lesley said she and her sister did this a lot as kids. My mom was pretty stinkin’ crafty, but we never did this that I recall. The only thing I was melting crayons into was the floor mat of our car.

I hope some of theoe cutie crayons were included in the party favor pails. Take a look. What else but paint buckets?

Man, oh man. Look at all that good arty loot. And how about these sweet favor tags? Paint swatches. Love it!

And finally, here are the thank you notes I did for them.

Looks like much fun was had at Ella’s 6th birthday party! What a cute party theme too. I love the idea of getting back to basic fun with art! Thanks to Lesley for letting us share in the fun.

My college roommate, Gina, and her family just celebrated her daughter’s first birthday. It seem like just yesterday that we were throwing her a baby shower. Wait. Maybe that’s because I just blogged about it a few weeks ago. Either way, I can’t believe it’s been a year! Gina had a birthday carnival on the brain. That’s the ticket! So I whipped up some custom invitation options, and here’s the one she chose.

We batted around some other sweet ideas for the party, and I think you’ll agree that Gina did not disappoint. Enjoy these photos from Ava’s First Birthday–an adorable Backyard Carnival Party!

Here’s the birthday girl doing a little pre-party horsing around with the carnival games!

Gina’s husband, Matt, built this awesome ticket booth. Dibs!

Rain, rain go away! Bad weather caused them to go to Party Plan B. They hustled to move what they could inside, but no worries! Things were lookin’ mighty festive in there!

Look at this sweet personalized birthday banner done carnival style! It framed the window near this adorable table.

Pinwheels, animal crackers, cotton candy. Yum! I love that adorable striped fabric and LOVE LOVE LOVE what they did with it on the ceiling!

I hope they left it up. So festive! And speaking of festive, how super sweet is the birthday girl in this smocked carnival-themed party dress? Perfect.

Check out this popcorn machine. I would so love to have one at my house!

And of course, something to wash it down with–Colonel Smith’s Magic Elixir.

And look at this adorable cookie bouquet. How fun!

The cupcakes picked up on the colors and the polka dots from the party invitation. The design is so simple, but so joyful! Seriously. Don’t these cupcakes just epitomize a party mood?

Everyone had a BIG time despite the rain, and when the little guests left they got these happy treats! Adorable.

Here’s a closeup of the favor tags.

Once the guests had all gone home, Gina sent out thank you notes on these matching folding note cards.

What a charming first birthday carnival! Thanks G, for sharing and to Matt for playing along. Happy 1st Birthday Ava!

Our most recent soirée is proof positive that you can throw a sweet party without spending weeks on planning or execution. I pulled off the look of our daughter Caroline’s 2nd birthday in less than two hours at Hobby Lobby with both kids in tow. The dear girl’s birthday is December 27th, you see. I was later with my Christmas preparations than usual with all the holiday orders coming in and had thought up until the week prior that we would celebrate with some friends a few weeks after her actual birthday once school started back. But, we had family and friends already in town, and that coupled with my desire not to drag things out another few weeks made the decision easy. So this year, we celebrated her big day with an intimate Sunday brunch.

I started playing with digital silhouettes back in the Spring of 2008. My mother had the beautiful hand cut ones done of my sister and I when we were young, and even today when I see them, I am compelled to stand and study them for a moment. This was my inspiration for our party invitations. I love the keepsake aspect of it, and what could be more feminine and classic?  I created this sweet little girl look with a pink and brown invitation featuring a silhouette of our birthday girl. I used a scalloped paper punch to create matching return address labels with her monogram.

Pink and brown fabrics were an inexpensive and impactful way to dress up our two dining tables. I used coordinating polka dot scrapbook paper as place mats and we dusted off our fine china. Hey, we have to use it some time! Am I right? We use paper mache presents wrapped in Parisian-themed paper and grosgrain ribbon for the center of the table.

The kids ate from pink and brown nursery rhyme-themed toile and polka dot paper plates, and I used the same Parisian wrapping paper to make the party hats. I wasn’t sure about the four-year-old boys wearing pink party hats, but it turns out a party hat is a party hat, and they wanted in!

We had a fabulous spread of Cajun- and Creole-inspired dishes compliments of my fantastic husband. He not only planned the entire menu (he’s quite the foodie), but he and his wonderful mother, known as “Granny” around these parts, did literally all of the preparation and cooking. There was Shrimp Toast with Sweet Creole Tomato Sauce, Garlic Cheese Grit Souffle, Creme Broulee Lost Bread (a fantastic French toast dish), Baked Eggs with Crawfish and Mushrooms in Ham Baskets, muffins, pecan tarts and fresh fruit. The food was out of this world! I can say this because, as I said, I had no part in it. We had mimosas and coffee too because if you’re going to get yourself and your clan dressed and to our house at 9:30 on a weekend morning, then by golly, we’re going to make it worth your while!

Our cakes echoed the pink polka dot theme.

I used the paper punch again to make special candles for her big wish!

The kids played, and Caroline opened some fantastic presents while we all recovered from too much good food.

Look at her big bro so dutifully standing by to help her tear them open!

While our guests were here I took a few profile shots of them so that I could make their parting gifts. We said thanks with these folding thank you notes and what else but silhouette keepsakes?

Pink for the girls…

and red for the boys…this is one my favorite. He’s just a rock star!

What a great birthday brunch we had! Happy Birthday Sweet Caroline!