One of our best ideas for these fancy parties was setting up an area where the guests could have their pictures made. I wanted to be sure we got pictures of everyone in their "fancy attire" and this guaranteed that nobody got left out. I wish I had taken a behind-the-scenes pictures so you could see how it all worked, but we were a little overwhelmed in the midst of the parties. We hung black fabric from the playroom wall and put it on the floor, too. K brought home lights from her studio and set them up. It was like being in a professional photo studio and the pictures prove it! These were our practice shots from Friday afternoon. K took some impromptu photos of Ella in her panties to test the lights. When we told Ella to make funny faces these are what we got. We were both laughing so ...
fancy
Let’s Get Fancy… Again!
Sunday evening was our family party and WOW is all I can say. Have you ever had a party where every person you invited actually showed up? Well, on Sunday we pretty much did. There were very few people in our group of close family and friends who didn't come. Our house was filled to capacity and it became very hard to visit with everyone. Fortunately, everyone mingled all over the place and really enjoyed themselves despite the limited seating. THIS is our birthday cake. Can you say wow? A friend from high school made it and delivered it for us and did a fabulous job. We knew we wanted something fancy and sent her a picture of what we wanted. She pretty much made exactly what we asked for and everyone was amazed to look and taste it. Ella LOVED it, which made her mommy very happy. Not ...
Tea Party Time
Ella was so excited about her fancy tea party that she was ready to get dressed when her feet hit the floor that morning. We had breakfast, finished prepping for the party and took a nice bubble bath. Ella was so anxious that she convinced her daddy to get her dressed while I got ready - even though I told her to wait. I laughed because apparently she told Josh "mommy said to get me ready"! Well, if you're that excited, we'll go with it. K got here a little early so we had a little photoshoot on the front porch. Isn't the picture above adorable? She's making a funny face in almost every picture. Something about telling her to "look fancy" tickled her funny bone. Most of the girls and their mommies dressed really fancy and it was so funny to see how they all looked. The little girls were ...
Being Fancy is HARD work!
I didn't take a single picture today. Can you believe it? Fortunately, Kamin took lots! There is nothing better than having a photographer in the family. My sweet sister took the burden off of me today and not only manned the photobooth we set up, but took all of the party photos, too. That freed up my hands for fixing fancy hair, adjusting tiaras and passing out fancy cookies. K edited several of my favorites tonight so that I could share a sneak peek. We'll be looking at pictures for many days to come, so get ready to be inundated with FANCY! Aren't these photographs fabulous? I'm always so glad to have my sister help out with birthday parties -- she is THE best. ...
More Fancy Stuff
Since we were only inviting seven little girls to our fancy tea party, we could afford to be a little frivolous with our favors. I know they shouldn't be expected, but Ella always gets so excited when the birthday girl or boy gives her a little prize and I thought nothing could be better at a fancy tea party than these! I got the buckets at Hobby Lobby at the end of spring for about $1.50 each. They were royal blue, purple and orange. I spray painted them with matte ballet slipper pink, filled them with butterfly tissue paper and they sure look fancy! Inside are pink feather boas, a sparkly tiara and wand, a fancy pen with a plume, candy necklaces, a sparkly rhinestone ring, lipstick shaped candy and a little pink bottle of nail polish. Top it off with a custom tag reading "Thanks ...
A Little Fancy Practice
I ordered Ella the CUTEST fancy outfit for her birthday party today. Then I set off in search of accessories. Dress up shoes were $12, so instead I bought pink glitter flats from Target for $9. She can actually wear these in public and won't kill herself trying to walk. I bought little colored clips to assist with her requisite "up-do" for the soiree. Mommy even got hot pink tights to sport! Ella was so excited about the whole thing that we wore the shoes all afternoon and we did a practice run on her hair. She looked adorable. Seeing herself in the mirror was shortly followed by, "Get me fancier, momma!" We threw on what we could find and had a little photo shoot. Her party dress is a surprise, she'll be opening that on her birthday before the party. Until then, enjoy this ...
She’s Gonna Be Three
When I received a birthday invitation this week from my Ryan for her son's birthday, I realized I was far behind. Grey is exactly a month older than Ella and I haven't even thought about the invitations. I have the party all worked out in my head, but the day is really starting to sneak up on me. This year we're having two parties - a family party with cake and ice cream and a tea party for a handful of her fanciest friends. These are the invitations I've designed for the tea party. At the very top of the invitation, I'm going to double-hole punch and tie bows with hot pink sheer organza. I'm having them printed on linen-finish paper, but I'm not sure about the envelopes. Suggestions? I'm still working on a second invitation design, thank you notes, return address stickers and party ...