Pink Peppermint Blogger

Last week, I shared a little inspiration, both for party and for everyday life. If you missed my last post, check out a few new pictures from party day!

Here is Evie’s therapy room all done up party style. I LOVE the sandcastle bucket favors lining the window sills. How bright and cheerful!  All of those balloons on the ceiling really add to the underwater effect.

And here’s the birthday girl herself all done up in true Little Mermaid style.

I just love how the cake turned out as well as the cupcake with our bath foamies toppers. How fun!

Here’s a closer look. All the colors coordinate so nicely. And the different textures on the back of each topper is super cool. Love it. I hear everyone had a fab time. Thanks so much to Dee for sharing!

You know when you’ve never met someone, but you’ve seen lots of them or read and heard so much about them, that you feel like you know them? Well, I finally got to meet my someone, and I found myself kind of giddy. She’s a bit of a celebrity, you see, especially around these parts. She’s been on the news and in the papers. And she’s having a birthday soon. Her name is Evie. Her Aunt Letitia, and now her sweet mom, Dee, are friends of mine. Her 4th birthday party is this weekend, and I was asked (and honored really) to help.

The inspiration? This newly completed Under the Sea wall mural at their house.

I hear Evie is great in the water, and she loves princesses, so for the party we went with a mermaid theme. Here are the invitations I designed.

Well, wouldn’t you know I was headed to beautiful Orange Beach, Alabama that very next weekend after we spoke, so I dropped by a souvenir shop and picked up some nautilus shells for a party craft, Ariel-style. The kids are going to make their own necklaces.

And in a strange twist of fate, I had grabbed two sets of these foam bath toys months ago on clearance at Target.

They were just so festive that I could think of several “Aha!” uses, and I just loved the color combinations. Like a primate with shiny objects, I couldn’t pass them up. So I bought them, not really knowing when I’d get a chance to use them. Then, Evie’s party came up. Take bath toy, insert sucker stick and there you have it. Cupcake toppers!

I was so tickled to help with the fun. Party planning it just so catching. I love when everyone gets caught up in the enthusiasm.

This is sweet little Evie seeing the new mural in her therapy room for the first time. She and her family are a different kind of inspiration. You see, in addition to the most hypnotic blue-grey eyes and mile-long lashes, Evie has Spinal Muscular Atrophy. They have founded a non-profit called Stop SMA and tirelessly host events to raise money for research.

SMA was something I’d never heard of before it affected the family of someone I knew. It is the number ONE genetic killer of very young children.  There is currently no treatment and no cure, but researchers are close. They estimate that with funding they could find a cure in the next five years. So effected families all over are taking it to the streets to raise awareness and funds for the research to find a cure! Just like most of us, these moms and dads brought home happy, healthy, thriving babies, and then down the road received the SMA diagnosis. Can you imagine?

You can watch this video created by another SMA organization, The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation, for a better understanding. What else can we do? See below. Please vote and share this info with everyone you know.

• You can vote once EVERY DAY from now until September 29th at 5 PM EDT
• Go to VoteForSMA.com, select the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation, enter the two security words, check the Official Rules box, and then click “Vote Now!”
• That’s it! It’s really that simple.
• Don’t forget to add your name to the DailyVoteReminder.com list so you don’t miss a $20K vote.
• And…don’t stop there — SHARE!

Here’s wishing the birthday girl a wonderful deep sea adventure. Happy 4th birthday, Evie!

I’ll get to the fab party shots in a sec, but first a little background. I have known Tish since I met my now husband ten years ago. Two kids each and a work-from-home job later, she gave me a buzz for some party inspiration in celebration of a big research grant award.

A couple of years ago, her brother’s little girl, Evie, was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, the number one genetic killer of children under the age of two. Later, her brother and sister-in-law’s nephew, Reese, was also diagnosed with SMA–a disease for which there is no cure. Rather than sitting around feeling helpless, their family set out to form Stop SMA, a nonprofit organization to fund research toward a cure for the various types of this disease–a cure that would have implications for other diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and others.

Stop SMA recently won a cool $250,000 to fund research from the Pepsi Refresh Everything Challenge!  They worked for it too with a lot of behind the scenes help from friends and volunteers. They got the vote out every day for a full month, climbed steadily in the rankings, and did not stop ’til they reached the top. They pledged every cent toward research for a cure, so once they recovered from all that hard work, they dipped into their own pockets to throw a party for all the friends who helped them reach their goal.

Lauren and I got busy spinning out ideas. Here’s the inspiration board we did for the Stop SMA $250K Celebration.

Image Sources: Plates and Napkins, Paper Lanterns, Decorative Soap, Shot Glasses, Cocktail, Wonderworld Stacking Rings, Inflatables, CD Cases, Candy Buffet

The theme: Thanks! You’re a real lifesaver! It’s fun and playful but hints at the serious side of the truly lifesaving work they all did.

Tish was excited and got right on board with the lifesaver theme. She mixed in some of her own fantastic party magic and a few weeks later, she threw on her party dress and threw this super fun party! Enjoy.

The invitation was a custom-designed Evite using this color-themed artwork.

Here’s a new twist on party inflatables–using blow-up pool rings as decorations!

And later (much later) they hammed it up for the camera.

These cheerful flowers added a pop of color to the tables.

They had heavy hors d’oeuvres and drinks, including that  fun green lifesaver cocktail pictured above in the party plan, and enjoyed a much-needed night among adults. I’d have parked it next to this sweet and colorful candy buffet all night long. How fun!

The play list included fave thematic songs about life and friendships,

and as party favors everyone took home a CD.

To remind everyone why they were celebrating, the favor table held a sign with some literature from Stop SMA. Those two sweeties are seriously cute!

Thanks to Tish for letting us help with the party and to her fab photographer friend, Ashley Warren, for sharing these beautiful shots! Check out her work at www.ashleywarrenstudios.com.

For more information on SMA and how you can join the fight, visit their website at www.stopsma.org.

Life Savers Candy is a registered trademark of Wrigley Company.