Pop Diva Party

Hello to all my wonderful readers.  I know I haven't posted in a long time, but events in my "real life" haven't been much to party about lately. I'm now trying my best to move forward from my recent loss and want to tell you about this Pop Diva Party.

My dear friend Bird of Bird's Party asked me to style this party using Bird's Pop Diva party printables, available at her Etsy shop. The party has also been featured in Austin Woman Magazine's March issue and Bird's online magazine.

I think this party is an awesome idea for a tween girl, who has grown out of princesses and fairies and grown into quite a little diva herself!

Part of the challenge of this party for me was that Bird and I thought it would be fun to style the whole party using things I already had on hand. I honestly didn't buy anything, except the "pop diva" glitter letters and the edibles! See if you can spot things I reused from other parties featured on this blog! 

Popcorn for the pop divas. I just love the play on words. 

This popcorn stand is so easy to make--just make the cones using the scrapbook paper and embellishments found in the printables collection and fix to the base using lollipop sticks. The base is made from a Styrofoam block covered with gift wrap. 

I added blue and pink sugar sprinkles to add a "pop" of color! 

Check out these gorgeous guitar cookies.

They were generously provided by Lily's Cookies, an awesome local cookie boutique. 

Visit Lily's Cookies website for more designs. 

Isn't it amazing what you can do with store-bought cupcakes, when you have an amazing printables collection for the toppers and wrappers?

More sweet treats...

...and the final play on words: soda pop!

The following excerpts from my Austin Woman article explain the central features of the party:

When it comes to planning a party, we all know teenagers can be tough, but tweens have their own set of challenges. Rather than wistfully remembering the days when your little girl loved anything to do with fairies and princesses, including the fairy princess tea party you hosted for her when she was six, get shakin’ on planning a pop music-themed birthday that your little diva and her friends will be sure to love.

Set the tone with your invitations. The invitations and party printables featured here were graciously custom-designed by Bird of Bird’s Party for our Pop Diva party and definitely helped set the tone (get the whole collection at birdsparty.com). To build even greater anticipation for the big event, include a backstage pass with each invitation, which will give your guests exclusive access to the “VIP Lounge” and a chance to meet a mystery guest! Or, go a step further and record a short music video “sneak peek” with your daughter and burn it onto CDs to send video invitations to your guests.

Kick-up the beat with your party decorations and turn your party into a concert venue. Set up a red carpet and VIP entrance for your guests, and have Dad or an uncle dress up and act as “security” at the door. Decorate your party venue with both glamour and whimsy in mind. The party featured here uses teal blue, pink and purple, electric guitar and star motifs and lots of glitter! The theme is girly and very fun. Bright feathers, rhinestones and disco balls complete the look. Within your party venue, set-up an area to be a dressing room or hair-and-makeup studio. Set up another area as “Center Stage” and, of course, another area as “Backstage,” so your guests can use their backstage passes to gain entry into the “VIP Lounge.” Have someone dress-up as a well-known pop star or the latest American Idol to meet and greet your guests in the VIP Lounge and sign autographs. The tweens at the party are probably not going to be interested in party games like Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey, so offer activities appropriate for their age group. Here are some ideas:

Hire a professional to do face painting and/or enlist your girlfriends to serve as beauticians to your little guests.  

If you have instruments, set those up too, or make some faux electric guitars using poster board and get some fake microphones, so the girls can use them as props. Have the audience vote for their favorite artists, then have a mock Grammy-award ceremony and give out trophies or other prizes to the winners in each category.

Use “Center Stage” as the focal point of your venue and have the girls take turns, either alone or in groups, at karaoke. If you have instruments, set those up too, or make some faux electric guitars using poster board and get some fake microphones, so the girls can use them as props. Have the audience vote for their favorite artists, then have a mock Grammy-award ceremony and give out trophies or other prizes to the winners in each category.

And don’t forget to record the performances. Not only will they provide a great reminder to your daughter of her special day, you can record the videos onto CDs and send them to the guests with thank you notes after the party.

Favors that are sure to go “platinum." Send the little pop stars in-the-making home with some music jams to inspire them. Purchase pop compilations to give out as party favors or work with your daughter to select her favorite pop songs and record them onto CDs to hand out as party favors. Customize the CD cover to include your daughter’s name and birthday.

Now there’s a party fit for a pop star!

--In honor of my little Pop Diva.

A Fairy Tea Party

I'm so thrilled to share this party with you!! Not only is it absolutely GORGEOUS, but it is proof positive that I actually have readers!!! (Since I'm not a professional party planner, I really do wonder if y'all are out there! :-) But I guess you are...at least a few of you!)

This fabulous Fairy Tea Party was sent to me by Kristi, from the blog "and babies make four". Thanks Kristi, for reading my blog and especially for sharing this amazing party!

For more details, check out Kristi's blog.  I especially love the handmade little fairies that she placed on the "mix and match" vintage tea cups at each place setting. I also LOVE her idea of doing a doll exchange, instead of birthday gifts. Awesome idea!

I think any little girl would love to have a party just like this! But don't despair if you think your daughter might have outgrown this party...by coincidence, I've been working on a party concept for an older girl for Austin Woman Magazine's next issue...I can't share the details just yet, but let's just say it's perfect for a tween and even uses a similar color scheme to this Fairy Tea Party!! Check back for details.

Lily's Cookies

Today, I wanted to bring you some delicious eye candy from a local San Antonio bakery, Lily's Cookies. Lily’s Cookies specializes in beautifully hand-crafted, decorated cookies that taste every bit as good as they look!!! They have dozens of designs to choose from or they can customize cookies to match any theme. Here's just a few of the cookies they offer. Check their website for more designs.

Bee My Valentine Party, Featured on Pizzazzerie!

I am absolutely thrilled to bits!! Today, Courtney Dial has featured my "Bee My Valentine" party on her fabulous blog Pizzazzerie!!! Pizzazzerie is one of my favorite party sites, so it's hard for me to express how deeply flattered I am that she has featured my party! :-) Thank you Courtney! I am so thrilled!!

Bee My Valentine Party

I'm so excited to be able to share with you this "Bee My Valentine" party!!

After the success of the Winter Warmer party, I was asked to style a children's Valentine's party and write an accompanying article for Austin Woman Magazine's February issue, which hits news stand on February 1st. I decided to go with a "bee" theme, with cute little pink and black bumblebees. Naturally, I asked my friend Bird from Bird's Party if she'd be interested in helping me with the party printables to match my theme. She agreed and also told me that she'd like to make the collection available at a discounted price in support of Operation Shower. You can visit Bird's blog for more information on downloading the printables collection.

Here's some photos of the party. Check back next week for the accompanying article, to be published in AW, which includes ideas for bee-themed party games, "how-tos" on the bee-themed food featured here, and lots of other fun stuff!!

Black & White Party

Our New Year's Eve Party this year had a Black and White theme.  I got a great start on the decorations by buying Bird's Glitter and Snow Collection. Thanks Bird! I decided to take the theme a couple of steps further than just the decorations, by having a black and white dress code for the party and by having "black and white" food items on the menu! Take a look. 

I set up a Black and White dessert station, with black and white brownie cupcakes, chocolate-covered marshmallows, black and white cheesecake bites, black and white truffles, gorgeous black and white damask chocolate-covered Oreos from Sweeties by Kim, and black and white Oreo "bark". 

Only regret was not having enough time to set up a black and white back drop before the guests arrived! :-(

Here's a closer peek at the black and white cheesecake bites. I made the cheesecake at home, topped it with black and white chocolate chips, and cut it into cubes before serving it in tiny square cups. The abstract chocolate embellishments were made by piping melted chocolate onto parchment paper.

You can get the entire Glitter and Snow collection at Bird's Party. 

Check out these gorgeous damask chocolate covered Oreos! I wish I could claim these as my own creation. But I was lucky enough to find them from Sweeties By Kim. 

I used Black and White throughout the rest of the decorations for the party, coupled with glittery black top hats and black and white feather masquerade masks. 

I didn't get any photos of the food buffet (as I said, time was tight before guests arrived), but even the savory foods had a Black and White theme. We served white queso with black tortilla chips, black bean dip with white tortilla chips, black bean quesadillas, white cheddar puffs, a black and white cheese and olive platter, and various other black and/or white foods! 

We topped off the night with a black and white balloon drop (and champagne toast) at midnight.

Happy New Year!