Planning for a Party

I am madly in the throws of planning Master Angus' first birthday bash , with a little over a week to go until the big party day.
I have a busy coming week and few weekends, with lots of appointments, a bit of working for me and my 10 year High school reunion (I know!!).

I DO love to throw a good party, and I also love to put a lot of heart and soul into the decorations and theme, but sometimes you just need a helping hand.
And this time, I have found the perfect person for that, and help she did!! ( Why has it taken me so long to discover this service I don't know!!).


                                      

When mentioning on a blog post my ideas and theme for Angus' first birthday and knowing how busy life is for me, the gorgeous Tanya from Life's Little Celebrations kindly offered to help out and compile an "Ideas and Inspiration Board" . So basically, all the searching and googling and browsing online stores and looking for the right colour this , and the right size that, she did is ALL for me!
Not only did she create these gorgeous Boards but also sent me links for sites to purchase from and blogs/websites to see other parties similar.
The information she sent was invaluable and the time it spared me .... well priceless.
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

PETER RABBIT THEMED PARTY

Products Board

Decorating Ideas



Tables Board



Pretty gorgeous huh? And all links are at the click of the mouse.

Tanya offers such an amazing service, and its all tailor made to your requirements and how you want to plan your party.
You may want ideas on how to decorate and arrange your food table. You may want links and ideas for all products that can be purchased to make your life easier. However you want it, is what Tanya can do.
I can not tell you enough how easy these boards and the information has been for me! Even though I haven't purchased much that is on them, I can see so much that I already had and could re purpose, knew what to look out for at our cheapo shops etc to save money and wrote myself a big old list for the "To Do's" for the next week.

You too could have your next party made easier, make sure you contact Tanya at Life's Little Celebrations

and be sure to check out their facebook page HERE

Meanwhile, I am off to peruse the net, start on my TO DO list and use up all these wonderful ideas.
I love how I can see it all , in pictures , in front of me.
It keeps me focused on the finish product.

Party Planning Mode

Its no secret that I LOVE to plan and create gorgeous parties for our kiddos. However this party is definitely bitter sweet.
You see, this will be the last first Birthday party that I will plan for our family and cherubs.
Our little boy, will be one. ONE!!
I can not believe it!
Time has flown by , and it only feels like yesterday that I was packing hospital bags and trying to induce my labour.
Now he is a cheeky, adventurous and daring little boy , with a smile that melts my heart.

So , in celebration of his first birthday, I want to create a magical party , that not only looks gorgeous, but is fun and relaxed as well.

When brainstorming for ideas for Angus' party, I started with a colour scheme that I knew I wanted.
Seeing as though his Christening was only a few months ago ( see post HERE) I have a few things left over that I would like to reuse and a few things that were ordered for it but turned up late, so they will be put to good use too!
So starting with a Green and Blue colour scheme, I then had to decide on a theme.
To be honest, elephants was the first thing that sprung to mind but after a bit of thought , I was put off the idea. A good friend held the most gorgeous Elephant party for her little boy and I wanted to do something different.
Then my mind flicked to 'Hot air balloon' party but I have decided to save that for Max and Lacey's party next year, as I would love to use all the pastel colours for the decorations and its a perfect unisex party.

With my love for rabbits ( ok , maybe its an obsession) , rabbits were the next logical animal theme to choose , and that is how the Peter Rabbit theme came about. And the fact that he is our last baby, and he is a boy, it only seems fitting.

So... the theme is Peter Rabbit, with colours of Blue and Green and white.
That is when Pinterest becomes so handy. A mood board is created and lots of images and ideas are drummed up.
Here is what I am thinking;


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A printable party pack has been purchased off etsy and the DIY crafting is about to commence.
Wish me luck!!

PS - I will definitely be sharing the party in a few posts for you after the date. x

Doily Hangings

After making these gorgeous hangings for Angus' Christening display, and sharing a before pic on my Facebook page, I have received a lot of queries about making them, and sharing the instructions.

The budget for our party was very small, but I knew I wanted to have a few things hanging. The paper lanterns are quite pricey, so there was always the crepe paper pom poms, but I was really short on time. The whole christening was organised in just a few weeks and I only started making and organising the week of, as I was sick before hand.

So if you want to try them at home, here is how I made them.

You will need a few packets of the extra large paper doilys, a stapler, double sided tape and fishing line to hang them.

 I bought my doilys from one of our cheapy shops, they were $2.50 and had about 8 -10 in each packet, I only bought one packet, however I did make a few small ones aswell.

I also had the idea, once they were made of course, that I could have used a Glimmermist Spray to change the colours and add a bit of shimmer, which I will definately try next time.

First, gently fold the doily in a consentina fashion, like you would a fan. It should look like this;

Repeat the process for another 3 doilys so you have 4 in total.

Lay the 4 doily stacks on top of each other.

Punch a few staples through the middle of the strips, 2 is enough.

Then put a strip of double sided tape about 3cm to one side of the staples.

Also put strips of tape in between the stacks of doilys. (Meaning, between the layer of one doily finishing and another starting)

Remove backing on double sided tape and stick the sides together.

You can see in the picture below where I have attached one doily to another ( in the middle) , then on the left, I will repeat the process. This is creating a cirle when stretchout out, instead of seperate doilys.

In the end , this is what it should look like, when stretch and fanned out.

For the small one I just used 3 doilys, but used the same method.

Gently thread a length of fishing line through a few top holes in the doily and tie.

We attached these to the ceiling with a few drawing pins, as they are quite light!

Enjoy them looking gorgeous.

I hope the instructions have been easy enough to follow!! I would love to see your doily hangings in use , so send me some pictures if you can!

More details- The Christening.

Firstly, thankyou so very much for all your kind words and comments about my Christening Post yesterday. The family photos we got are so beautiful and will be treasured forever, and the day was just lovely.

Now I thought I would break down a few details about the decorating, and hopefully answer some already asked questions and a few left wondering at home.

The hanging garland is made of different sized paper circles (and some scolloped ones), that I cut out of Cardstock, just purchased at Spotlight. I randomly picked patterns due to their colouring, and actually used my Cricut machine but last time used different sized punches.

I then got out the trusty sewing machine and zipped up the middle, feeding in circles that I had randomly selected. Then tied them all to a piece of dowel.

The dowel is suspended from the ceiling by fishing line and attached with drawing pins!!

I know, just drawing pins. I didn't actually think it would hold, but my husband reassured me, and this time he was right!! hmmm not good! haha

The other white doily flowers are each hung from a drawing pin too. It was a great solution, minimal impact on the ceiling but maximum impact for the party.

Later on Today I will add instructions on how to create the doily hangings.

The glass candy jars, all at the back (pictured empty here) , were purchased from Target. A few just recently (for like $6 when I gave the tip off on my Facebook page) and a few over time. Cake Stand also a Target puchase but some time ago.

The blue and white Cupcake stand, and trays in the foreground are from Target ( do you think its the only department store we have?!) a while ago now, but they have recently had a pink version that was gorgeous, and perfect for parties! 

The little bottles I used for Choc milk I bought from Sweet Style quite a long time ago. They are gorgeous and used quite often , just for a cute little vase for a single rose from our garden but perfect for entertaining and the kids LOVED them!!  You can also buy similar little glass bottles from Bed, Bath and Table, they are in a pack of 8 I think and are very reasonably priced and slightly bigger if I remember correctly?!

The straws I picked up from our local party shop as my Pink Frosting delivery did not come in time!! ( DO NOT ask, such a sore spot but needless to say I will not be buying from them again!)

The doily bunting across the front of the table I made myself. So easy and seen everywhere around the traps but it never looses its charm. Just buy yourself a pack of small paper doilies, fold in half over a piece of string or ribbon and stick with double sided tape.

Food on the day was kept simple also. It feels like every party we have, I spend the whole time in the kitchen and never get to enjoy it!!  It was nice having the party inside this time. A smaller crowd helped but it was nice to all be in the same area. The weather was too cold to be outside.

I just baked some Vanilla and Chocolate cupcakes,Cake pops, Choc chip cookies,  my Amazing Mum made yummy sandwhiches, and in the centre I used cute paper polka dot cupcake wrappers to make little individual portions of popcorn for the kids! For hot food we had Sausage rolls, Hot Mexican cheese dip and Corn Chips, Spinach and Ricotta parcels, and some little prawn pickies.

Another stress reliever was outsourcing the cake. We love the White Choc Mudcake from our local Cheesecake Haven so I bought one and took it home to decorate myself. A cute paper bunting I made ( 2 skewers, string tied inbetween and little triangles of craft paper glued on) , a cross deco (from the party shop) and a few gorgeous roses. These roses are actually from the top of our wedding cake. We have kept them in the freezer for over 7 years now, but every child has had them on their Christening cake, it feels so special to share the love that we had on our day , with the people we have created.

All our cups and plates were just basic plastic ones , bought from the local party shop. As I said, my package didn't arrive but it didn't matter in the end.

I think that is all I had to say, I did have Cupcake toppers, I made them myself on Word , had punched them and backed them, and forgot to put them out!! I also made the invitation myself in Photoshop , which I was really happy with and saved money also.

As you can see, I spent very little, used things I already had or cheap alternatives at the shop but still managed to create a beautiful display for our beautiful boy.

Any other questions, just let me know!!

The Christening

On the weekend, our darling Angus was Baptised. It was an extremely small affair, just our immediate family and Angus' beautiful Godparents.
If you follow my Facebook page, you would have seen a few sneak peeks! And I have promised photos , so here are they are (photo overload!);

Celebrating our Darling Boys Baptism Day

He seriously smiled. All. day.long!!

And for the decorations at home;

I made these cool hanging doily flowers , and I will do a post explaining how to make them in the next few days! So easy and CHEAP!!

Before we left for the church ;

And half full with food (hot stuff still to come)

Sorry if it was a bit of snap happy photo overload, but I hope you like it.

It really was a beautiful , casual day. Went off without a hitch and it was so nice to be surrounded by our loved ones, celebrating our little boys dedication to being a Catholic.

Any questions? Ask away, or if its easier I can do a explanation post, but I think its better to just look!! The best thing? Our table setting was so well priced, I think it came in around $70 in the end, yet was so affective and stunning in real life. Perfect for a beautiful little boy. xo

Planning a Baptism

Its been a bit quiet around the Bizzy Dayz traps lately. A combination of tiredness, 2 year old tantrums and party planning , are all keeping me very busy!!

Our dear Angus is being Baptised on the weekend. A last minute booking, as we really should have had him done a few months ago. We have decided to keep the affair VERY simple and quiet. Just immediate family and a few select friends.
Not that we don't think its an occasion to celebrate, because it is, but because in just 4 months ( how sad for Mumma) our darling baby boy will be turning 1 and a big party will be planned and had !
So for now, a quiet morning tea is all that is needed and the rest of the celebrating will be done at the end of October (Halloween to be exact!!)

Even though we are are having a quiet gathering after the ceremony, doesn't mean I can't go to my usual effort of decorating and party planning. The meaning is still there , and it is for my little boy after all!

Again, I am trying to keep the budget very very low, and only purchasing if I really have to. I am fortunate to already have quiet a few props and equipment for Parties, so that helps but so far, I have only spent $68. Most of that being on paper plates, cups , serviettes etc and I did an online order at Pink Frosting. There was so , so much to choose from, and if the budget was unlimited , so so much I could have purchased and the party would look absolutely ahhhh- mazing, but that's not the case.

I have created a board on Pinterest (follow my pinterest by clicking the P button on the right of the page) for Angus' Baptism, and began to pin anything I liked. Soon it became apparent , what I liked and the general look I was going for as I was pinning all the same stuff!
Here are a few pics I pinned;



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And of course this;



No one can forget the super gorgeous Christening that Jade ( Super Organiser Mum) did for her son Oliver.

See? It was pretty clear that my colour scheme would be baby blue and white!! So... this week has meant some DIY crafting sessions at night in front of the TV, to create some decorations and bits and pieces. So far I have made gorgeous Doily hanging Stars, a doily bunting , a cake bunting and some cupcake toppers. There is still plenty of more to do , but there is still a few days left, and some late nights to be had!

I'll keep you posted, and after Sunday I will share the table and stockists, and even include some step by step tutorials, as requested!!

Wish me luck!