The Blonquist Family Music Recital May 20, 2013

Today I am happy to share photos from the Blonquist Family Music Recital. When mom, Yvonne, originally contacted me the only recital printables I had in the store were geared towards young children. Think pink, green and yellow polka dots and big bold musical notes. She wanted to know if I could adapt the printables to make them more elegant and also gender neutral. Of course, I am always up for a challenge and I was also very impressed that all four of Yvonne’s children would be taking part in the recital so I jumped at the opportunity.

At first I suggested going with Kelly green and a pale blue and use a damask print. I love contrasts and the idea of mixing a bold green with a cool blue appealed to me but as I was working on the invites, the two colors just didn’t look right together. I wasn’t getting the elegant and modern look I was after. So, I reworked the color combination to Kelly Green and a classic Navy Blue. Wow! What a difference. If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I also love mixing patterns, too. So, I went ahead and included some striped belly bands for these damask print invites. Believe me, stripes and damask look fabulous together and I then incorporated the stripes to the Hershey kiss labels. I think the overall effect was a good combination or sophisticated yet fun. The damask print ensured that the girls would also like this design. Perfect for this very talented family. Here is the invite and the Hershey Kiss labels.

Anyways, I will stop boring you with the graphic design details and leave you with some details from Yvonne as well as photos from the recital:

My husband and I both studied music in college and have done an annual family recital since my oldest was 5 years old, so about 14 years.  We now have 4 children, ranging from ages 10 to 19, all who play multiple instruments and sing. We all perform each year, including my husband and myself. We invite friends, family and their teachers from our Music Academy as well as from their regular schools.  It requires a lot of preparation, but it gives our family a chance to celebrate what we have accomplished over the year.  Sometimes the kids complain about it, but just tonight at dinner my 16 year old said “You know, I really loved performing with my family yesterday.  It was fun to do that together.  I think it is a great tradition, and I hope we continue to have family recitals each year.”  That really meant a lot to me because I am the one that manages all the details (dates, invitations, programming, refreshments, etc.)  and sometimes I feel like I am pulling everyone along!

This year I heard about Etsy from a friend and after looking at many vendor’s and even emailing a few, I settled on Tali.  She was great.  It was so nice to have someone with a great eye help to pull together some of the details.  I am a little crazy about everything going together!  I loved the navy and kelly green colors she chose for the invitations and the kisses.  I worked off of those for our programs, flowers, refreshments and even to an extent what we wore.  We were well received and it made for a memorable day for all of us.

Thank you so much Yvonne for sharing photos from your family’s music recital.

Please follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. If you are planning a music recital or a music themed party, please check out my board on Pinterest for more ideas.

Ava’s “Pink and White Damask” Christening May 11, 2013

Lia contacted me regarding the Pink and White Damask Baby Shower collection in my Etsy store. She was interested in using it for her beautiful daughter Ava’s Christening. Well, of course, I decided to tweak it for her to make it perfect for a Christening. I customized the banner for her and added a pink cross to it. I’m so glad that Lea sent me photos from the Christening because there were so many sweet touches.

A couple notes from Lia:

Our Daughter Ava Grace celebrated her Christening on March 24, 2013. It was an elaborate event. The Baptism was held at St. Peter and Paul’s Church in San Francisco. This church is very special to us as my husband and I got married here 08.08.08. Ava was dressed in a Vintage Inspired Louisa Christening Gown and matching bonnet by Baby Blue & Belle .
I took a few photos of Ava the week before in her Christening Dress to have displayed at the reception on the tables with the floral centerpieces draped in pearls. The reception immediately followed at the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club, which was also very dear to us as we also had our wedding reception here. God Bless Ava banner was displayed on the fireplace mantel. Above the mantel was a large flat screen TV, where a slideshow of Ava’s pictures played.

I think the photos (by KMR Photography in San Francisco) speak for themselves… enjoy looking through these!

Thank you so much Lia for sharing photos from Ava’s very special day. You did an incredible job putting this together. I love all the sweet touches and how you incorporated so many hand made touches, such as the biscotti party favors that your mother made, the lace photo frames, and the cross shaped biscotti.

Credits: 

Printables and stationary: A Party Studio

(banner, welcome sign, water bottle wrappers, food labels, favor tags, thank you cards, poem card, church program):

Photography: KMR Photography

Christening gown and bonnet: Baby Blue & Belle

Cross-shaped cake: Fantasy Cakes and Fine Pastries

I simply love designing printables for Christenings, Baptisms and First Holy Communions and I have so many designs that are not yet in the store. Over the next few weeks I plan on getting these beautiful printables listed so check back or shoot me an e-mail if you need something for an upcoming special event. I can be reached via e-mail apartystudio@gmail.com, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. If you are looking for more ideas check out this board on Pinterest specifically for Christenings, Baptisms and First Holy Communions.

FREE Hershey Kiss Stickers for Graduation Class of 2013 May 7, 2013

Recently a client asked me to design Class of 2013 Graduation Hershey Kiss Stickers. These match the water bottle wrappers and hang tags in my Etsy store. I thought they came out great and wanted to share them with you. So, here you go… simply click on the picture below to be taken to Scribd.com where you can download the file for FREE! The sophisticated damask print and light blue color makes these perfect for any graduate.

The circles are ready to punch and stick to your sweets. Print as many as you like! The circles measure .80″ and are designed to be cut out using a 3/4″ (.75″) circle punch. The punch can be found at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or your local craft or scrapbooking store. I recommend printing these on 110 lb bright white paper and then use a little glue to stick them on the kisses (a glue stick is perfect). For instant stickers, purchase blank sheets of sticker paper found at office & craft supply stores. If you don’t want to buy a whole packet of sticker paper, you can get these printed at Office Depot or Staples and request to have them print on sticker paper.

Congratulations to all the Class of 2013 graduates!

If you are looking for personalized graduation printables, then I have a decent selection in my store and you can choose your school colors. You can check out the hang tags, cupcake toppers, chocolate bar wrappers and water bottle wrappers here in my store.

Please follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. If you have any questions, just leave a comment on this blog post and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.

Helicopter Birthday Party May 6, 2013

My son, Asher, is crazy about helicopters so the theme for his 2nd birthday party last year was very easy to decide.

For the decorations, I kept a very simple blue and red color scheme. I hung large white tissue pompoms from our chandelier to give the effect of clouds and I used blue paper fans on the backdrop. I purchased a wooden A from my local craft store and I spray painted it light blue. I figure that I can use this after the party in his bedroom.

For the dessert table, I ordered large sugar cookies from “C is for Cookie” to match the printables. One of my sweetest friends, Ashley, made vanilla bean cake pops for the table. She of course made them using light blue chocolate and she added red sprinkles. The chocolate cake and the vanilla cupcakes were from a local bakery. I also had Hershey Kisses which I’d personalized with stickers that said “A Kiss From Asher”.

Since his party was in the morning, we served breakfast food, including powdered doughnuts which we called “Doughnut Clouds”…. The kids thought that was fantastic. For the adults, we served a green chili sausage casserole and fresh fruit with dipping sauce.

The majority of the children at the party were aged between two and four years old, we decided to forego traditional party games. Instead, we had a plethora of toys available for them to play with and we set up a glitter tattoo station. That was a huge hit with the parents as well as the kids! Since we had Danielle from All Things Great and Small Photography taking photos at the party I was able to relax and do the glitter tattoos instead of behind a camera taking photos the whole time.

For the party favors, we gave out “Marshmallow Clouds”. These were basically glassine envelopes that I’d filled with large white marshmallows. I added a large label and tied a “thank you for flying with me” hang tag using blue and white twine. I displayed them up at the drink station inside a red cardboard suitcase with a tag that read “Baggage Claim”.

Thank you so much for Danielle from All Things Great and Small Photography for capturing all these wonderful memories. If you live in the Pensacola area, I highly recommend contacting her and checking out her website here and her e-mail address is: MySmallMemories@gmail.com

Please follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. I have loads of party ideas for an aviation themed party on this board. If you have any questions or need to know where I purchased any of the supplies for this party, just leave a comment on this blog post and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks.

Tutorial: Removing Label From A Starbucks Frappucino Bottle April 25, 2013

Last year, I used cleaned Starbucks Frappuccino bottles at both my son and my daughter’s birthday parties. I love that this helps the environment- we are reusing- and they look great! I make a big batch of lemonade or fruit water in a drink dispenser and let the guests help themselves. You can totally personalize the Frappuccino bottles by adding ribbon on the rim, or a personalized water bottle wrappers, or add some lace and twine. You could even add colored sugar (think crushed rock candy) to the rim. Talk about versatile!

Of course, the first step is to clean the bottles. Peeling off the Starbucks label and shoving them in the dishwasher isn’t going to cut it. You’ll end up with sticky bottles. The key is to use a little Goo Be Gone. Simply remove the label then spray the Goo Be Gone. (If you don’t have long fingernails, you’ll find it easier to remove the labels from the bottles if you soak them for up to 30  minutes in hot soapy water first). Once you’ve removed the label, spray on the Goo Be Gone. Allow it to sit for a minute and then use some soap, hot water and a sponge to remove the Goo Be Gone along with all the sticky residue from the labels. I then like to place the bottles in the dishwasher. So easy and quick!

If you want to decorate your bottle with lace and twine for a shabby chic look, you will need 26 inches of twine and approximately 8 1/4 inches of lace per bottle. Attach the lace with a little tape and then wrap the twine twice around the bottle and tie. I got the lace at Joanns where it is sold by the yard. Add a striped paper straw et voila! I love this look and plan on using these bottles at my son’s Vintage Train birthday party on Saturday.

Here’s a photo of the Starbucks Frappuccino bottles that I used last year at my daughter’s Classic Princess and Pirate party. Hope this gives you some fun ideas. I simply used a little ribbon around the rim and then used a water bottle wrapper to personalize it.

Please follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest! You can also contact me via e-mail: apartystudio@gmail.com

I love hearing your feedback and if you have any questions or need clarification, just leave me a comment on this blog post. Thanks… and happy party planning!

Tutorial: Marshmallow Clouds for Helicopter Birthday Party Favors April 23, 2013

For my son’s second birthday last year, I decided to do very simple party favors. In keeping with the helicopter theme, we handed out glassine bags of marshmallow “clouds” and these were a huge hit. They were very easy to put together! Hope you enjoy this tutorial and let me know if you decide to do these for your child’s party. Also, if your child doesn’t like marshmallows you could use white mini doughnuts.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• medium glassine envelopes approx. size 5.5″ x 7.75″
• large white marshmallows
• helicopter hang tags
• large “marshmallow clouds” labels
• baker’s twine
• sharp scissors
• double sided adhesive tape
• corner rounder (optional)

The first thing you’ll want to do is fold your glassine envelopes so that they are all uniform. I didn’t measure them but I’m pretty good at eyeballing… if the thought of eyeballing this step freaks you out, then definitely grab a rule and measure how far down you need to fold these. You basically want to turn your envelopes into 5 1/2 inch squares so you’ll be folding down 2 1/4 inches from the top. Once you’ve folded the envelope, you will insert the marshmallows. I did three rows of three marshmallows so each bag contained a total of nine marshmallows. Of course, the number you get inside the bag will totally depend on the size of your marshmallows.

One all bag is full, you will refold the bag and add a little tape to keep it sealed. I then took some baker’s twine and tied it around the bag. You don’t really need the baker’s twine but it looks pretty and adds a polished look. Next, grab your large “marshmallow clouds” label and use your double sided tape to adhere this onto the front of the envelope. I designed these labels to measure 3 inches so that you can cut them into squares or use a 2.75 inch circle punch to cut out circles. I choose to cut them into squares and I used a corner rounder, too.

The last step is to attach the hang tag. I simply tied it using the baker’s twine. Since I am very fussy about consistency, I also used a tiny bit of double sided tape to adhere the hang tags to the envelopes. That way, I knew each hang tag was at the same angle. You certainly don’t need to do that but if having the tags hang at different angles is going to drive you potty, then I highly recommend making good use of your double sided tape

Here are photos from each step but if you get confused or have any questions, please leave a comment and I’ll answer you straight away.

 

Please follow me on Pinterest. I actually have a board dedicated to this fun party theme. You can view that here. Looking for more photos from the Helicopter party? You can see the album on Hostess with the Mostess right here. A special thank you to Danielle from All Things Great and Small Photography for taking photos at the party.

Also, follow me on Twitter, Facebook and subscribe to my blog. I can be reached via e-mail at apartystudio@gmail.com or my Etsy store.

My Once Upon a Wedding April 18, 2013

I am so excited to be working with Melissa Hinds from Once Upon a Wedding. She is located in Central Florida in Lake Mary. I recently created some programs and some custom chocolate bar wrappers for an event she coordinated and I’m looking forward to doing more projects with her in the future. I wanted to share some pictures from a photo shoot she coordinated so you’ll see why I’m so excited!

• Baker, The Pastry Studio
• Photography, Heather Rice Photography
• Florals, Lee James
• Linens, Kirby Rentals
• Coordinator and decorator, Once Upon a Wedding- Melissa Hinds

Melissa is super sweet, organized and easy to work with. If you are a bride in the Orlando area, I recommend contacting her. She can be reached via phone 407-902-8476 or her Facebook page.