Honeycomb Events & Design created this beautiful boyish Safari Baby Shower a while back, and it was so well received that they just had to glam it up for the girls! And glam it up they did… blue giraffes became pink elephants, while sparkly rhinestones adorned everything from spoons to decor (just check out that GLOBE!). The result? A fabulous Posh & Pink Safari Baby Shower!

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

– A crafty, homemade wooden shim backdrop
– Strawberry rhubarb parfait favors with bedazzled wooden spoons
– Popcorn cones displayed in peanut-filled crates (gotta keep the pink elephants happy!)
– An amazing safari globe with over 1,500 pink rhinestones

*****

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Jennifer…
: 

The idea for this baby shower sprung out of the success of another one of our events. We created a blue safari shower featuring giraffes for our friend and her baby Josiah last year. This party has gotten so much great attention, and we’ve been selling the printables left and right, that it quickly became evident that we had to create a sister version! Pink elephants replaced the blue giraffes and we gave it just a touch of glam. Our aim was embracing the wild and taming it just long enough to slap a rhinestone on it.

The dessert table feels like an oasis with it’s pink canopy net and bold giraffe print tablecloth. The table features a brilliant backdrop we crafted from wood shims. We alternated the shims and stained them gray to give the backdrop some great dimension and texture. It’s very inexpensive and takes less than an hour to put together. Little touches like this really brought the table to life. The safari globe features over 1500 pink rhinestones and the popcorn cones are in a crate filled with what else, but an elephant’s favorite snack, peanuts! Delicious peanut butter cake pops and honey cupcakes are the tasty desserts, but we also feature cheesecake bites with personalized party tags and an array of khaki and pink candies.

Each safari guest takes home a jar of strawberry rhubarb parfait with their own bedazzled wooden spoon. But not before stopping by the advice desk and dropping off words of encouragement and maternal wisdom.

*****

VENDOR CREDITS:

– Event, Invitations, Printables Design, & Desserts: Honeycomb Events & Design 
– Wooden Spoons: Sucre Shop 

Hostess with the Mostess®

We are just LOVING this adorable, confetti-filled Hula Hoop Birthday Party and all its playful colors and polka dots! Atalanta of Camellia Flowers and Gifts wanted to throw a birthday party that her daughter Camille would never forget, and it looks like it worked (at least on me!). In fact, after looking at these super fun pics again, I’m pretty sure “hula hoop confetti party/photo shoot” needs to be added to my bucket list. Everyone needs pics like these, right? ;)

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

– A fabulous photo booth with fun props + confetti!
– Playful summer beach pails filled with tight bunches of carnations
– Pretty flower-embellished party cups
– The cutest bunting banner with cheeky “No Boys Allowed” and “Girls Only” tags
– Hula hooping of course… and a surprise limo ride!

*****

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Atalanta…
:

Nothing brings back the carefree days of childhood like hula-hoops and giggling with girlfriends! While planning my daughter’s sixth birthday celebration, I took inspiration from the free spirit herself – my Camille – six going on sixteen. When Camille and her best friends get together it’s the epitome of girl power: hula hooping, cake pops, flowers, fashion shows and even a surprise limo ride for good measure.

Coming up with the hula-hoop theme was easy – finding party décor and details was not. I decided to turn to good old-fashioned polka dots for a little help – the circular shape of the hula-hoop coordinated well with the round dot. I found multicolor polka dot party plates and napkins at a local party supply store. Stephanie, from Tiny Twig Creative customized the invitations, place cards, dessert signs, and thank you tags to match the party plates.

As the owner of a floral shop, Camellia Flowers and Gifts – obviously named after my own inspiration Camille, I had the pleasure of creating the floral décor. For the centerpieces, I designed floral arrangements from pink, orange, white and yellow carnations in summer beach pails. To complete the summer look, Pow Wow Vintage Rental donated a couple of handmade benches for the girls to sit on. For the photo booth, two giant customized 36” balloons, hula-hoops, fashion accessories and lots of confetti helped Breanna of Breanna Carin Photography capture all the smiles.

The party kicked off with a surprise limo-ride for the birthday girl. Faces lit up and jaws dropped when they saw the stretched limousine pull into the driveway – they must have thought a celebrity was inside! The driver, Will from A Leading Limousine, Inc., courteously opened the door and didn’t have to ask twice before the girls piled in. Kids Bop blasting and windows down the girls cruised around the neighborhood – so thrilled to not be constrained to car seats.

From chewy salt-water taffy to melt-in-your-mouth lemon cake pops, the sweets made the dessert table the most popular “hang-out” for both kids and parents. Sarah, owner of Tailored Sweets, helped the girls pack their own candy grab bags to take home later in pink polka dot packaging. The game table kept the party going while the girls danced, skipped, and did the limbo – all with hula-hoops! After some brisket, potato salad, and birthday cake – the girls put on their very own fashion show for us. As I said these lovely young ladies truly pack a punch of girl power! These girls remind me on a daily basis the importance of friendship and laughter. And for that – I wanted to give Camille a hula-hoop birthday party she’d never forget!

*****

VENDOR CREDITS:

– Styling and Flowers: Camellia Wedding Flowers
– Photography: Breanna Carin Photography
– Paper Goods: Tiny Twig Creative
– Dessert Table: Tailored Sweets
– Limousine: A Leading Limousine, Inc.
– Rentals: Pow Wow Vintage Rental

Hostess with the Mostess®

We’ve definitely seen homemade photo booths with all different themes around here (most recently Willy Wonka & Toy Story) but this is the first time we’ve received an actual Kissing Booth!

Mary from A Silly Whim enjoyed the photo booth at her wedding so much that she wanted to try making one herself – and she did a fantastic job of bringing this one to life! This concept could of course be translated to any theme you like – ticket booth for a carnival party, lemonade stand for a summer birthday bash, and so on…

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

– Homemade props & and a breakdown of how they were made
– Instant photos {great favor idea!}
– Funny photo booth props on sticks

*****

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Mary…
: 

Back in 2009, my husband and I had a photo booth at our wedding and ever since then I really wanted to make my own DIY photo booth (I even asked for a Polaroid camera for my birthday). So, I Valentine’s Day with my idea for a photo booth and came up with the ‘Kissing Booth’ concept.

I am not a carpenter or an artist, so the fact that I made this booth was quite an accomplishment! I actually went to three different stores before I finally got over my intimidation and found a very helpful salesperson to assist me. I was intimated because I wasn’t exactly sure what to ask for (type of wood, exact dimensions… I had no clue), so I just explained to the salesman what I wanted to build and how I pictured it to look and he helped me figure out what I needed.  He even cut the wood to size which was very helpful since I didn’t even own a saw (did I mention that I am not a carpenter?)! Plus, I needed him to cut the pieces small enough to fit into my car (a minor detail I didn’t consider in advance). Although I didn’t have a saw, my husband did have an old drill buried in our shed that I used to screw all the pieces together.  It may not have been perfectly level or straight, but it looked cute!

The props I also made myself by googling “lip template” or “mouth cutout” and printing them at home on card stock. I then cut them out and taped them to the sticks.

*****

VENDOR CREDITS & RESOURCES:

– Lumber : local lumberyard and hardware store called M&S Building Supply (less than $20)
– Paint: Orchard Supply & Hardware
– Wood Letters: Beverly’s

Hostess with the Mostess®

Calling all Superheros… there has been a SWEETS EXPLOSION! From top to bottom, Debbie of Wants and Wishes did a BANG up job with this creative & colorful, Lichtenstein-inspired Vintage Superhero Party collection. This would make a fun celebration for any superhero loving boy or girl!

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

– Comic style decorative explosions + POW, ZAP, & BOOM
– Easy themed treats like POPcorn bags and custom-wrapped “Super” Crunch bars
– Bright blue Hero Drinks and Hero H20 to wash it all down!

*****

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Debbie…
:

DECOR

For the decor and decoration I was inspired by Vintage comics and Roy Lichtenstein. His style is the perfect balance between Vintage, Retro and Modern, so we wanted to keep it simple, but colorful to really let the printables and sweets take center stage.

For the backdrop we use a large polka dot print in orange to make it a little bit more fun instead of using the traditional red, blue and yellow color schemes. We placed our large conversation bubble: “Calling all Superheroes: there’s been a SWEETS EXPLOSION…. Help us eat them before it’s too late!” and our smaller explosion/crash signs with “Zap”, “Pow”, “Boom”, birthday boys name and age with white clouds and lightening bolts to create an explosion.

SWEETS

The sweets we choose to create the sweets explosion were confetti filled cupcakes, “pop”corn, large swirly lollipops, “Super” Crunch bars wrapped with our candy wrappers and favors filled with colorful delights to give energy back to our Superheroes. For refueling we had mini HERO H20 water bottles and antidote to Kryptonite drinks.

*****

VENDOR CREDIT:

– Party stylizing, printables & photography: Wants and Wishes

Hostess with the Mostess®

Photographer (and Hunger Games fan!) Wendy Uppergraff hosted this super creative Hunger Games Premiere Party to celebrate the release of the movie. Who was invited? Her book club of course! Everyone brought a creative food dish inspired by the book to share, and after filling up on Mockingjay Wings, Rue’s Berries, Haymitch’s Drunken Noodles, Capital Wine & more – they all went to the midnight release!

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

– A drop dead awesome Mockingjay Pin enflamed cake!
– Hunger Games fan shirts, themed decorations, & necklace favors
– A trivia game with over 100 questions drawn from a “tribute bowl”

*****

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Wendy…
: 

This past Thursday night my book club friends and I had a little party to celebrate the midnight release of The Hunger Games movie. It was one of our favorite books and we just couldn’t help but use it as an excuse to throw a party! You might notice one person who looks out of place in this party… my son was invited too! He loved the book as well (and I don’t think he minded too much being around all those ladies).

Each of the ladies brought one (or two) food items that somehow related to the book… cause as much as we love to read, we love to eat even more! And it is called The Hunger Games, what do you expect? I’m lucky to have such talented friends! The amazing cake was made by Maria of Love & Sugar Kisses.

After we stuffed ourselves, it was game time! My husband made over 100 trivia questions for us and put them in the “tribute bowl.” He played MC for the night, hosting the highly competitive game! The prize for the winner was inside Katniss’ orange backpack (a gift card to the movies and Panera Bread). Everyone also got a Hunger Games necklace and a cookie to enjoy at the movies!

Enjoy a look into our evening, we had so much fun and are looking forward to the next movie release!

*****

VENDOR CREDITS & RESOURCES:

– Photography & event styling: Wendy Uppergraff Photography
– Cookies: Sugar Sanctuary
– Necklaces: Touchsoul
– Cake: Love & Sugar Kisses
(Everything else made by our book club!)

Hostess with the Mostess®

Premiere parties are so fun to create, especially when they’re for a mega-popular series like the Twilight Saga. The night before Breaking Dawn Part 1 released, Erin from Bringing Up Burns hosted this amazing and super-creative Pre-Premiere Twilight Party for 30 of her girlfriends! If you’re in search of ideas for your own Twilight celebration – maybe a pre-party for Breaking Dawn Part 2 this November? – Erin’s party is filled with with tons of glitzy, vampire-inspired inspiration for food, games, party favors, and more… (P.S. I spy free Twilight printables from HWTM too!)

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

– Creative apple-shaped food labels displayed on glittery red clothespins
– An Italian-inspired menu complete with “Volturi wine”
– Red “Vampire’s Dream” shots served in syringes
– Red roses, dripping candles and chess pieces sprinkled throughout
– Homemade Twilight cover-inspired black mittens with red apples stitched in the palms!

*****

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Erin…
: 

I hosted a Pre-Premiere party, the night Breaking Dawn came out, for about 30 girlfriends.

DECOR

That night, the house was taken over with everything black, red and sparkly. I set the tables with red table cloths topped with black & white damask runners. Flower arrangements were red roses in silver buckets with glittery foliage. There were candles everywhere – tall tapers, red & black votives, and even a bloody one in an urn outside by the drinks! (Easily made with a white candle from the $1 store and some red sealing wax.) I also incorporated chess pieces (destash) and spray painted, apples and feathers where ever I could. I bought several yards of 35mm film (it was actually Eclipse, also found on Etsy) and draped it around the tables.

FOOD

For the food and drink, I went with an Italian theme. Bella and Edward’s first date was at an Italian restaurant… the Volturi are from Italy… Bella flew to Italy to rescue Edward… so, it seemed like a good idea! I served minestrone soup and caprese skewers for dinner. The wine was from Montepulciano (the town where New Moon was filmed), so technically it really was Volterra wine! I made an Italian looking wine label with the Volturi crest on it to put on the wine bottles. I also had “Vampire’s Dream” shots served in syringes just to be totally over the top. The water bottle labels are free printables from HWTM. For dessert I made Port Wine & Chocolate Cherry cupcakes.

ACTIVITIES

I also planned games for the party. We played “Name That Vampire” and “Twilight Trivia.” For Name That Vampire, I made numbered pictures of 20 different Vampires, mounted them on some glittery paper, and hung them across my plate glass window with twine and glittered clothes pins. I made up an answer sheet complete with Bella & Edward pics and quotes. I found the blood syringe pens at Oriental Trading on super sale after Halloween! Twilight Trivia was a Power Point I projected onto our Tree Screen in the front yard (a huge screen and LCD projector my teacher husband brings home from his classroom and hangs from our large tree!) Winners of both games received prizes of NOX Twilight nail polish, Red Rose Statement Angel Face Designs earrings in a cute tin I made, and a Golden Onion, of course. I got a little obsessed with metallic spray paint this party.

FAVORS

And you can’t have a party without party favors, right?! I made Swag Bags for everyone filled with fabulous Twilight Themed Treats! The bags were black canvas that I labeled with “Keep Calm and Break Dawn” on the outside. Inside, guests found a 35mm film strip bookmark (I just cut the film into 10 frame pieces and laminated,) gummy fangs, a fang ring, a bag of candy blood (type V for Vegetarian prescribed by Dr. Carlisle Cullen, of course) feathers, a CD I made with songs from all 4 movie soundtracks (printed the CD sleeves on red card stock and then sewed up the sides with black thread. I loved how they turned out!) Apple mittens, and a handwritten card thanking everyone for indulging me in my crazy!

The mittens were my favorite part. I found the black mittens in the $1 bin at Michael’s about a month before the party. I knew we would be standing out in the cold waiting for the movie to start at midnight, so I bought them up! I wasn’t sure how I would make them “Twilight” themed however. First I thought of stitching a Queen chess piece to the outside or adding a black and white checkered ruffle to the cuff. But then, I thought of adding the felted apple to the inside. When everyone put on their mittens and did the “Twilight pose,” I must admit I squealed with delight! It’s so fun when a vision you have comes to life and is exactly what you wanted. Huge THANKS to my mom, who helped me hand cut and blanket stitch 30 apples!!

Finally it was time to leave for the movie! I had packaged Werewolf Kibble and Vampire Bites for everyone to take with them. (Mommy Holly made the tags special for me!) I tied glow in the dark fangs to the Vampire Bites. The bites were pretzel squares topped with white chocolate circles, then I piped little red blood “bite marks” onto each white circle. They were cute! I also threw in some licorice. And…I embellished some popcorn boxes too…cause when I get going, it’s really hard for me to stop.

*****

VENDOR CREDITS & RESOURCES:

– FREE Printables (water bottle labels): Hostess with the Mostess
– Chess Pieces: destash
– Blood Syringe Pens: Oriental Trading
– Mitten: Michael’s
– Tags: Mommy Holly

Hostess with the Mostess®

Sooo… unless you’re like mom and hardly spend any time on the computer (GASP!), then chances are good you’ve heard of (or found yourself totally sucked into) a clever visual bookmarking site called Pinterest. Never has the abundance of creativity in the world been so apparent*… and so accessible!

HWTM ON PINTEREST

Guess what? HWTM is on Pinterest too! And we pin creative stuff from ALL AROUND the web, focusing on fun topics like food, drinks, party fashion, graphic design, inspirational thoughts… and – oh ya – party ideas. ;)  You can find/follow our boards right here.

AND NOW FOR A QUICK REALITY CHECK

*I know this is off-topic, but I feel compelled to add a little reminder that there are ideas from gazillions of people on Pinterest… and on HWTM for that matter… there isn’t just one single person pumping out all this amazing stuff all the time, so try not to let “inspiration” inadvertently turn into “pressure”. It’s amazing how quickly that can happen. This is a subject I’ve been thinking about a lot lately and could probably write a very lengthy post about it… but for now I’ll try to summarize – it IS Friday afternoon and all... ;)

So here goes:
Creative inspiration is a wonderful thing most of the time, but I also understand it’s easy to get overwhelmed by it sometimes and start feeling like you have to do any and every great idea that you see because it sure seems like “everyone else” is somehow doing any and every great idea that you see. But let me just tell you right now… that is definitely not the case – AND it’s genuinely impossible anyways! So now that we know that, you (and I!) can stop worrying about trying to do it all, and get back to just appreciating all the different ideas out there and enjoying them a little at a time okay? ;)  Good. Glad we had that little talk. HAPPY WEEKEND!

*****

P.S. Pictured above: Dinosaur Garland & Wallpaper Trays. Fun, right?!

Hostess with the Mostess®

This vintage travel themed “Precious Cargo Baby Shower” is downright AMAZING!

EB from Two Bird Studio enlisted the creative talents of Eye Candy Event Design to help her dream up something extra special for her sister’s baby shower! I love that they were able to utilize lots of vintage props and accessories from EB’s regular home decor for an extra-personal touch. This design would also translate beautifully to a kids birthday (like this Vintage Airplane Birthday Party) OR to a travel inspired bridal shower or engagement party.

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

– “Baggage Claim” Favors {salted peanuts + mini vodka bottles!}
– Cool passport-inspired invitations and paper details
– Adorable vintage cupcake wrappers and ”Baby on Board” toppers
– Super cute marshmallows topped with candy “propellers”
– Fun vintage props like suitcases, books, airplanes, a tricycle & more!

*****

PARTY DETAILS, as told by EB and Eye Candy Event Design:
:

I wanted to do something special for my sister’s first baby. I put together the most talented team I knew and they came up with something no less than amazing! My sister is a school teacher so she requested guests each bring a book to fill the nursery shelves. With that request (and the fact that we knew she was having a boy) we landed on a vintage travel theme with old books thrown in the décor.

FROM THE DESIGN TEAM:

When we were approached by the lovely EB of Two Bird Studio to design a unique travel-themed baby shower we were up for the challenge! We decided to put a twist on the popular “Baby on Board” theme, and we came up with a more modern “Precious Cargo” design. It turns out that we didn’t have to look far for the perfect accessories; a tour of EB’s home produced a collection of vintage airplanes, suitcases, books and even an old-fashioned food scale! We mixed her “found” décor with pieces from our personal collection and created an amazing blend of design elements for this “precious” event!

After researching a real travel document, we decided it would be fun to have the guests “check-in” at the front gate of the event to create an ambiance reminiscent of a “customs” counter. We even provided baskets for guests to drop their “gifts, documents and currency” for the mommy-to-be! Kristi Farrell of Beleza-Design got in on the action and created all of the custom tags and coordinating invitations.

For our dessert display, we placed berry baskets on the vintage scale and embellished it with bakers twine. Caramel popcorn and doughnuts added a natural touch to the bright color scheme of turquoise and red. Marshmallow “propellers”, rock candy and gumballs were just some of the treats that adorned the woodworking table. We created custom cupcake wrappers for the centerpiece of the display, and drinks were served in mason jars with mini chocolates wrapped in coordinating paper at the “food & beverage station.” Guests were encouraged to pickup their parting favors of Idaho distilled Vodka at “baggage claim” on their way out of the shower.

*****

VENDOR CREDITS & RESOURCES:

– Photography: Two Bird Studio
– Event Design: Eye Candy Event Design
– Invitation & signage Design: Beleza Design

Hostess with the Mostess®

We’re loving this Modern Mother’s Day Brunch by Kristi of SaucyPants! It’s so warm & inviting, with a perfect mix of modern and serene. My favorite details have to be how she decorated the chairs – and also the make your own mimosa bar – how fun! And since it’s Mom’s Day it would be totally fine to enjoy one in EVERY flavor, right? ;)

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

– Cinnamon sugar donut muffins with cute printable toppers
– Creative crepe and yogurt bars with scrumptious mix-ins
– Simple & sweet mother’s day printables
– a fabric backdrop that adds an extra touch of fun!

*****

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Kristi…
:

I feel so lucky that I have an amazing mother to spend Mother’s Day with. You can read why here. This Modern Mother’s Day Brunch was inspired by my mother- she is very modern, fashionable, and spirited. I wanted the look to represent that whole heartedly.

I am so inspired by all of the pink and orange color palettes right now! I think they make an amazing duo! I am also inspired by all of the different kinds of “bars” aka “make-your-own stations” you can set up for a party (e.g. cookie, martini, cupcake, etc). They are such a fun way to make the guests feel like they are a part of the meal! Here’s the skinny on the entire look:

TABLE

The tablecloth, plates, napkins, and small glasses (aka votives) are from Target. The wine goblets are from the dollar store… holla! I set everything symmetrical with clean lines to uphold the modern motif. The gift bags and gift boxes are also from Target. The {Modern Girl Collection} gift tags were created by me, found in the SaucyShop.

MENU

– Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins: you are going to die when you make these, they are heaven in your mouth! {Recipe coming soon!}
– Donut Pops: Everyone deserves a little splurging for a Mother’s Day Brunch. Buy your donut hole package of choice at your local grocer, stick a stick in them, tie a cute ribbon around the sticks, and voila, you’ve got yourself some donut pops!
– Yogurt Bar: To offset the unhealthiness of the first two menu items. Pick your toppings. Here I did granola, raspberries, and strawberries!
– Crepe Bar: {Recipe coming soon!} Toppings I used included: strawberries, raspberries, and whipped cream of course!
– Mimosa Bar: Here is the fun part! Use whatever juices and “sprinkles” you want. Here we did raspberry juice, orange juice, and strawberry lemonade. Topping included strawberries, raspberries, mint, and orange zest.

* Note on the “Bars:” I like to set the “bars” up on a long platter, and it is best when toppers are lined up neatly and labeled.

PRINTABLES

The entire {Modern Girl} printable collection is available in the SaucyShop! They are fillable, so you can use these for whatever occasion, not just Mother’s Day. (All text that is mom-related will not appear on your files.) It includes: bunting, topppers, tent cards, hang tags, gift tags, straw disks, mason jar toppers, seat cards, greeting card, and cupcake wrappers.

Happy Almost Mother’s Day!

*****

VENDOR CREDIT & RESOURCES:

– (Fillable) Printables, Styling & Food: SaucyShop
– Tablecloth, plates, napkins, small glasses & gift wrapping: Target
– Fabric: JoAnn’s

Hostess with the Mostess®

Here we go with the latest round of Friday Party of 5 picks from our HWTM.com members! Just click on a party title or collage to check out the full album & details from the following creative events:

– A Whimsical Mother’s Day
– Baby Shower at the Beach
– Pink & Green Dol Celebration
– Spring Dessert Table
– Silhouette Mickey Birthday Party

1. A Whimsical Mother’s Day (pictured above) by Darling & Daisy

2. Baby Shower at the Beach by missywhite

3. Pink & Green First Birthday by Mindy @ a {day} with lil mama stuart

4. A Spring Af{fair} by The Sunshine Party Studio

5. Mickey Mouse Birthday Party! by Emily Felts

*****

Are you a member of the new Social Community at HWTM.com yet?

Click here to sign up for your FREE membership and join the party today! Browse tons of party inspiration, save your favorite ideas into organized sets in your personal member Dashboard, comment on the albums of other members, share photos, and more. Hope to see you there! :)

Hostess with the Mostess®