Year in the Rear View

December 29th, 2010 1 Comment Featured Parties · party inspiration
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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

Not Just Another Golf Partee

November 10th, 2010 7 Comments Featured Parties
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I have a fantastic golf party to share with you today. This is another sweet soirée from my pal Jenny. You may remember the adorable airplane-themed party she hosted for her son last year. Jenny is so hilarious and creative that I get all twittery with excitement when she contacts me about a party because I know it will be awesome!

This year she {and everyone else in her house apparently} had golf on the brain. Husband loves it. Son loves it. There you have it. Golf party. I think a lot of us hear golf party and think “putt putt,” but Jenny as well as Amaris, hostess of the first super cute golf party I helped with earlier in the year, have made a great case for this theme with the younger crowd. I mean, what toddler doesn’t love to beat the stew out of something with a set of plastic sticks? Exactly.
Lauren and I got busy chipping away at some party inspiration.  Here’s the custom invitation I did. It may look like I can’t spell, but the birthday boy’s name is Tate, so we went with the “3rd Annual Birthday InviTATEtional” and the copy read like a sportscaster’s script. Something a little playful and different.

They planned to set everything up outside, but on party day it poured all day long. Jenny said they had to “call a mulligan” and set the party up inside, declaring the backyard a Water Hazard. Too funny.

Here’s the first hole in the entry way.

And a couple of holes down the hallway.

Here’s that handsome birthday boy deep in concentration. Hey, golf is a serious matter.  Look at him in his little argyle sweater vest. Love.

They set up a kid-size table in the living room. How cute is that little table? Jenny made the sweet banner using scrapbook papers and used inexpensive white tissue balls hung from the ceiling to mimic golf balls.

Tate’s aunt made white cake balls, and they filled green pails on the table to look like buckets of range balls! Love it. Jenny used artificial turf from a home improvement store as a table runner, and the cake was a golf hole-shaped like a number 3.

As the invitation suggested, the kids were playing golf for the coveted “Sippy Cup.” So each child got a sippy.

And as a party activity, each was able to personalize and decorate his or her very own Sippy Cup. Everyone’s a winner! Those are the Sippy Cup tags I made with my new fab cutter. Love that argyle ribbon.

They all took home a set of plastic golf clubs, their personalized “Sippy Cup” trophy, and a sticker that said “I played a round at Tate’s 3rd Birthday!”

Despite the rain, everyone had a blast at the Robertson Country Club. Spoiler alert: I’m about to show the thank you notes we came up with. If you are expecting one, don’t go any further.

Well folks, this concludes our coverage of The 3rd Annual Birthday InviTATEtional. Thanks to Jenny for letting us be a part of the festivities. It was a blast, as always!

Party Scores a Hole-in-One!

February 22nd, 2010 12 Comments Featured Parties
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A few months back, I had a customer come to me with an idea for her son’s first birthday party. Golf! I confess that, having no golf enthusiasts in my family, I was a little thrown at first. But soon, Amaris and I both got swept up in the fun ideas, the bright colors and a hint at warmer weather in the bleak winter months. I just couldn’t wait to see how it all turned out, and I’m here to tell you, this mama did NOT disappoint. Prepare to have your argyle socks knocked off as you enjoy Amaris’ account of Bradley’s Hole-in-One First Birthday!

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The Course

I chose the red and yellow theme with lime accents. I wanted bright colors in the dreary winter…and most of the accessories and golf favors I found were in primary colors.  Here’s our invitation, which we mailed in a matching yellow envelope.

Hole-In-One Party Invtation

The Rough

I grew wheat grass as the centerpieces for each table and as an accent for the cake. I purchased the seeds at the local organic grocery store.  I started about seven days before the party–soaking the seeds overnight and then placing them in wet paper towels overnight before planting.  I had several round glass bowl vases, which I filled with sand and topped off with about an inch of potting soil. The wheat grass seeds can actually go directly on top of the soil.  The seeds germinate quickly, and it is amazing how fast the grass grows!

Pin and Cup Golf Centerpieces

The cake was amazing!  I loved the whimsical “topsy-turvy” golf flags! To make the cake display, I purchased an 18″ round plastic tray from the party store and covered the tray with about an inch of potting soil.  I put a small bowl in the center of the tray to reserve space for a clear glass cake stand to hold the cake.  (my cake stand measured 11″ in diameter and the cake was 10″)

Hole-in-One Cake

and here is the matching smash cake…

Smash Cake

I tried to carry out the “one” theme and use circles when possible, like on the stickers and favor tags. I made a Happy Birthday banner out of red felt to resemble a string of golf flags, which hung behind the cake table.  I also found yellow hand clappers, or, golf claps as I like to call them.

Pin & Cup Golf Centerpieces

Playing A Round

To entertain all of our golfers, I had several activities throughout the room.  Guests were greeted with their party favor, a set of toy golf clubs and golf balls to use during the party and take home.  I chose from several favor tag design options and went with the one with a curvy golf flag to mimic those on the cake.

Favor Tags Close up

Our “sand trap” was created out of a huge galvanized tub which was filled with several bags of playground sand and plastic golf balls.  I placed the tub on artificial turf cut to look like a golf green.
Sand Trap

The kids loved playing in the sand!

Sand Trap Play

I found a Par 3 Mini Golf Course made by Step 2 toys, which was fun! It was a great interactive toy for parents and kids. The older kids especially enjoyed it, and I even saw a few daddies testing out their putting skills, too!

Par 3 Party Game

Here’s our birthday boy trying out his skills.

Puttin' around

I also borrowed my nephew Jack’s golf cart rocker.  It was the perfect photo-op for parents and the kids loved taking turns going for a “ride.”

Golf Cart Rocker

Par-tee Eats and Treats

We served typical golf course style food–mini hot dogs, chips and rotel dip, mac and cheese and fruit.  At the last minute, I found some straw sipper cups online which were on mega clearance from Christmas and just so happened to be red and lime green with coloring page inserts.  I had tons of felt left over from making the golf flags and birthday banner, so I got creative and cut felt inserts with each guest’s first initial to personalize each cup.  They were perfect!

Personalized Sippers

We also had stickers to give out that said, “I played a round at Bradley’s 1st Birthday!”

Golf Sticker

I must admit, with all the excitement, I totally forgot to give out the precious stickers at the party.  Booo mama.  However, I did put stickers in each thank you note, which, I think worked well, too! Here are our thank you notes.

Golf Folding Thank You

I loved the Hole-in-One Par-tee theme!  Most importantly, the design work that Pink Peppermint Paper did truly set the tone for the party and made it extra special.  I really enjoyed that I was able to be so involved with the designs and incorporate my ideas.

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The Whole Fam

Thanks for sharing Amaris! What an amazing job and a big day with their little boy! Happy 1st Birthday Bradley!