.happy birthday Bella.

.hello kitty sweet shoppe themed party.

OVERVIEW

Oh how time flies!  My little girl already turned 3 a couple of weeks ago.  She had always loved Hello Kitty.  So after her bear themed 1st birthday, and raindrops and puddles 2nd birthday, I finally gave her a Hello Kitty party for her 3rd birthday.  This, I didn't mind at all.  I love Hello Kitty myself.  Planning this party, I couldn't help reminiscing when I used to collect all these sanrio stuff back when I was in middle school.

There are so many Hello Kitty party ideas online, and so planning this party wasn't hard at all.  Finding things to use for the party wasn't hard as well because it seems like everywhere I turn whenever I go shopping, I see something with Hello Kitty.  But, of course, I still wanted to DIY some things for the party to make it a little more special for my little girl.

I made red and pink jacket (pochette) invitations for the party to give the guests an idea of the color theme.  I also glued a Hello Kitty card on the invitation jacket (pochette).  The main invitation card is designed by paper glitter from etsy, whose blog gave me a lot of ideas for a Hello Kitty sweet shoppe themed party as well.

DECOR, FOOD & FAVORS

The party was held at our home again this year.  We were so lucky to get such beautiful weather in January down here in South Texas.  The temperature was just perfect to have a Hello Kitty moon jump, cotton candy and popcorn machines, even tables and chairs set up in our courtyard.  We set up tables with pink linens and white garden chairs, and used Hello Kitty coloring paper rolls as table runners.  For centerpieces, we had hello kitty piggy banks set up with hydrangea flowers in small vases.  A children's table was also set up, where I put more Hello Kitty coloring paper rolls and some colored pens and crayons and stickers for the kids to enjoy.

For the dessert table set-up, I decided to put up a ribbon backdrop, and placed a couple of vases with cherry blossom branches on the table.  The birthday cake was made by a wonderful cake vendor who also made our wedding cake more than 4 years ago.  She was just wonderful for making such a beautiful cake on such short notice.  I loved how she made the pink ombre color and the rosettes of the cake perfectly.  I placed a Hello Kitty topper and a cake flag.  Of course, a dessert table is never complete without the sweet desserts!  My sister-in-law helped me so much in making the cake pops.  We also had cupcakes, candies, mostachons, and other Filipino desserts.  The dessert labels were made to look like a silhouette of Hello Kitty's head.  For the framed signs, I made it to look like Hello Kitty peeking and saying "Hello."

The main food table consisted of a number of Filipino dishes, a few of which my mother-in-law and mom made themselves, and of course, the lechon :)  This year, I also decided to set up a small chocolate fountain, which was a hit.  Not only did the guests enjoyed the fruits, but they loved it even more dipped in chocolate.

I also made Hello Kitty ears with red bows for the girls to wear instead of party hats.  The guests took home Hello Kitty mini lunch boxes.  My wonderful husband made a little awning for the favors.  It came out perfectly.

ACTIVITIES

The guests got to take their pictures with a Photo Booth by instant memento, which also served as the guest book for the party.  We had a face painter and a balloon twister, which the kids really loved.  As every kids party I've been to, the moon jump was a hit.

VENDORS

• photography by flipartimages
• cake:  Cynthia's Cakes
• invitation & sweet shoppe printables:  paper glitter
• party favors:  party city
• kawaii cookies and chocolate dips:  asianfoodgrocer
• photo booth: instant memento
• face painting and balloon art:  a royal celebration

.hawaiian themed invitation.

I had the pleasure to design or make my mother-in-law's 60 birthday celebration invitations last year. She wanted a Hawaiian themed party, and so, I decided to incorporate the theme in the invitation.  I used some hawaiian themed fonts, and used kraft paper as a backing for the invitation, and wrapped the invitation with hibiscus designed craft paper.

.rustic and vintage themed party.

OVERVIEW

My sister and I decided to do something special for our mom's 57th birthday, which happened to be our parents' 35th wedding anniversary as well.  We managed to put the party together with the help of our brothers and our husbands, of course.  And we were so grateful for everyone who showed up to share such a special day, and our parents' reaction was priceless.  It was just wonderful, and definitely worth all the work planning and putting the party together.  This is actually a late post.  I should've posted this almost a year ago :)

Anyways, we thought a rustic and vintage themed party would be appropriate and just beautiful.  We love how soft laces are and how beautiful they look, and mixing it with some roughness details of rustic elements, such as wood or logs, would be just perfect.  To set the tone and theme of the party, we sent out simple invitations printed on kraft paper, and the invitation wordings in a typewriter font.

DECOR, FOOD & FAVORS

We wanted a simple sit-down dinner and a little bit of dancing after.  So, we decided to hold the party at a nearby hotel's ballroom.  We had round tables with white linens and burlap table runners, and white wooden chairs set up.  A dance floor can be found in the center of the ballroom as well.  For the centerpieces, we had treated cut-up logs, and mason jars.  We used baby's breaths and hydrangea flowers because of how soft they look.  We also used laces and burlaps to add details on the centerpieces.

We also incorporated the color scheme and theme in the dessert table, the main food table, and the drink station, and the favor table.  For the dessert table, we had a few candies and some of my mom's favorite Filipino desserts.  We placed the cake on a log cake stand, and also placed a vintage suitcase and more burlap table runners to add details.  The main food table had Filipino dishes, fruits, and of course, the lechon.  We also set up mason jar beverage dispensers and mason jar mugs for the drink station.

The guests took home small potted succulents wrapped in burlap, which we set up on a table with a vintage suitcase and more cut up logs and mason jars.

VENDORS

• venue Hampton Inn & Suites
• photography by flipartimages
• cake:  jessica's cupcakes and more

.diy craft table.

.for a couple of years, i've been wanting my own little craft space at home.  and finally, my husband decided to move his photography business office from the house to a new business center nearby.  and so, i get to take over his little office and make it into my own little craft room :)

well, a craft room has to have a craft table, and so i looked and looked online for the perfect craft table and found a lot of diy craft tables from awesome crafters out there.  most of them were inspired by the Bedford Project Table from Pottery Barn.  and sure enough, i fell in love with this table from pottery barn, but then, i wasn't gonna pay that much for it.  so just like many crafters or DIYers out there, i decided to make my own craft table.  i am so thankful to all the DIYers out there that post their DIY projects online.

the inspiration:  the Bedford Project Table from Pottery Barn

 here's a corner of my little craft room.

shelving units and table top from ikea.  i just love ikea :)

 i thought a futon bed would be useful too.  my Bella already marked it as her own saving a perfect space for her teddy bears.

my craft table is counter-height, and as you can tell, it's still missing a counter-height stool.  i already placed an order for this posh bar stool from Target.  i thought it would be perfect for my craft table since the height is adjustable too.  i hope it's of decent quality.  Price-wise this bar stool is great :)

.cars themed party.

OVERVIEW

After planning and pulling off a birthday party for my little girl, my sister and I have a couple of months to brainstorm and plan for my nephew's birthday party.  This year, my sister thought it would be a great idea to do a car themed birthday for her son's 3rd birthday.  My nephew, in addition to his basketball love is also in love with cars, any cars i guess.  I've never seen anyone with so many toy cars.  He runs around with a backpack bigger than him full of little cars.  He would be riding in the backseat naming every single car that passes by while his mom is driving.  His favorite movie is disney's Cars movie, in which he can name every single character in.  And so, we decided to focus on the Cars movie theme for his birthday party.

We decided to set the tone and theme of the party with his boxed invitations, which we made.  We bought little white boxes and placed a little toy car in it, along with the birthday party invitation and information.

DECOR, FOOD & FAVORS

The party was held at a playhouse/gym for kids, which the kids loved because of all the moon jumps and other activities that were set up for the kids to enjoy.  For the centerpieces, my sister and i painted old large milk cans and stuck customized stickers on them.  We placed different Cars character on each table on top of the cans, and had balloons on them as well.  We placed small cars around the cars and made it to look like the cars were on a little highway/road.

The theme and the black and white checkered color scheme were incorporated throughout the party, in the dessert table, the main food table, the drink station, and the favor table.  For the main food table, we had little sandwiches, chicken wings, spaghetti and a couple of filipino dishes.  For the dessert table, we had a lot of sweets that the guests enjoyed.  We had cupcakes, candies, brownies, chocolates, cookies, mostachons, and of course the birthday cake.  The dessert labels were made to look like Radiator Springs license plates.  We also thought that it would be great to have a birthday cake that looks like a tire, and sure enough, our cake vendor did an awesome job!

Instead of party hats, we had little pit crew hats for the guests.  The guests took home their own pit crew tool boxes, and the favor tags were pit crew VIP passes with lanyards.

VENDORS

• photography by flipartimages
• bottle wrappers:  MB graphics
• cake:  jessica's cupcakes and more

.raindrops and puddles themed party.

OVERVIEW

Our little princess Bella turned 2 a few months ago.  It seems like just yesterday that i was planning her "beary" first birthday.  It's crazy how time flies so fast.

Bella is in love with her rain boots to the point where she wears it to church with a church dress.  TOO CUTE!  And so, this year, we decided to do a very different theme for her birthday--raindrops and puddles!...It reminded me of the good ol' days when you just run around in the rain and jump into puddles without a worry in the world.  With the theme being so different, it meant that i would have to do a lot of the decorations myself.  There are not that many pre-made raindrop theme decorations out there, which was okay, because i love making my own decorations for Bella's parties!  I had a great time brainstorming with the decorations, and trying with the things that i could DIY :)

DECOR, FOOD & FAVORS

The door decoration was an upside down umbrella filled with flowers, an idea i got from pinterest.  The birthday girl's hat was customized for her by the same etsy vendor that made her hat last year.  The hubby and I hung umbrellas upside down across the courtyard, where the kids played, and where the moon jump was placed.  I got a lot of compliments for the little DIY centerpieces as well, which some guests took home with them.  Along the patio way, we also hung paper pom poms with little raindrops made out of craft paper.

The raindrop theme was carried out throughout the dessert table.  I made rain drop cutouts and strung them together, and hung them to serve as a backdrop for the dessert table.  I also found some clear dome-shaped umbrellas, which I hung upside down above the dessert table, and across the dining area where the guests ate.

The food consisted of filipino dishes, which included lechon, pancit, eggrolls, spaghetti, beef steak, and so much more.  The dessert table was a hit.  I incorporated the theme, as well as, the color scheme into the dessert labels, and bottle wrappers.  We had cupcakes, mostachons, french macaroons, chocolate crinkles, and a lot of candies.  Bella's birthday cake was lined by M&M candies to give the idea of raindrops, and a cotton candy was place right on top of it to serve as the cloud.

The favor table was lined by Bella's collection of rain boots, and one of mine.  The guests got to take home their umbrellas to remember the day by.

ACTIVITIES

The guests got to take their pictures with a Photo Booth by instant memento, which also served as the guest book for the party.  We had a face painter and a balloon twister, which the kids really loved.  As every kids party I've been to, the moon jump was a hit.

VENDORS

• photography by flipartimages
• birthday hat:  etsy
• cake and cupcakes:  jessica's cupcakes and more
• candies:  candywarehouse