Check out this outdoor Fiesta party for my goddaughter's 1st birthday!
Colorful Photo back drop- made with tissue paper flowers & PVC pipe.
This was a hit!
I happen to already have the frame made out of PVC pipe from a previous event- it measures a little over 72" tall by 63" wide. We set it up on top of where the fireplace is to make it taller, but, it's not necessary to do so. The frame is tall enough on its own.
I ordered the tissue paper from Store Supply Warehouse 480 sheets for under $40 plus I used all the colors that came with the Grand Rainbow pack. You can also buy packs of just one color if needed!
I referenced this YouTube video DIY Tissue Paper flowers
And used 5 sheets of tissue paper at a time (with the only exception being that light blue flower with a ball of green in the middle, that was a happy mistake! see more details on that below)
I made 4 sizes: full sheet, half sheet, quarter sheet...and teeny tiny which is half of a quarter sheet.
I used mostly fulls & halves and then filled the space with the two smaller sizes. I made a bunch over 2 weeks, sometimes with help, and never kept track. I do have about half the sheets leftover from my 480 pack though.
Here is the layout I came up with just on the floor before transferring this to butcher paper and hot gluing the flowers on. I started about a foot below the butcher paper so we'd have enough to roll over the top of the frame to tape down.
Back to the happy mistake! So I accidentally did a full sized 4 sheet flower- 2 reds, 2 teals and it didn't look very fluffy, but then a coworker who was helping me took a small green bundle and used a whole stack of paper on accident. The green ball made a great filler for the blue flower and added a different texture to the wall!
Once we rolled the butcher paper over & secured it with tape, some of the flowers were drooping. We simply used double sided tape on the backs of petals to get them facing forward.
The sombrero, yellow tablecloths, Mexican flags & serapes were purchased from Amols.com
Serapes are actually pretty expensive elsewhere, which is why this particular item was always on back order when I was researching around. I ended up just emailing them to ask if I'd have it by a certain date and they were able to check for me. Give yourself plenty of time so you can get these in time!
The sombrero was decorated with artificial flowers from Michael's. I cut off the stems and hot glued them on. I picked out some leaves and added them as well. The ribbon is also hot glued on. The sombrero itself is zip tied onto the gate.
For the centerpieces I bought a basic long vase from the Dollar Tree and wrapped them with tissue paper. Cut a ribbon of tissue paper, double layer it, cut strips into it and then tape around the vase, going up slightly with each wrap. Repeat with multiple colors! And there you have a pinata centerpiece!
My beautiful goddaughter is half Filipino and so to add that flair to this Fiesta themed party (besides food, yum!) The parents requested a pabitin. A Filipino version of the pinata. There are no good tutorials on how to make this thing, but from online photos I gathered it was a grid like structure that you tie on bags of candy to that the kids jump to grab. (being born in America, I didn't play this one as a child, so it was to be able to work on one!)
I purchased 4 ft. long 1x1 poplars from Home Depot. I had seen most of these made with bamboo or what look like dowels, but I wanted something thick enough and sturdy enough to withstand kids grabbing at it. I then spray painted 4 of them yellow and 4 of them light green. (the picture below looks like one color, yeah lame.) Once dried, I had help to line them up and brad nailed the poplars together.
The real version is played by tying the middle of the grid to a tree so when kids jump on one side, it lifts on the other side and does a wobble effect. We didn't have that so we just had 2 tall guys hold it!! The candy bags & tissue paper were tied on using balloon string. We had an adult candy bags too! Hence the grown ups sitting on the floor, go mom! With lottery tickets and little bottles of alcohol. It was pretty clever and the grown ups had fun with it!
Thus ends another fun filled kid's party! Until the next event, Bea creative!
A formal sweet 60th for my very deserving mother and all the planning that was involved! Here is what I did to make her Peacock themed birthday party a hit!
Style
Formal. We new early on that a formal event with a large guest list and program was the way my mother would want the evening to go! That's me and the fam!
Budget
We looked at the 1st draft of the guest list, multiplied that by $75 a person and used that as a base. Obviously that changed once all of the final quotes were approved. We did this party for about 10k with the majority of the funds in food and venue rental.
We knew my mom wanted a party for her 60th and we knew it would be a big deal. So I got started one year early. EARLY is the only option that saves you time, money and stress. Why? Because more vendors/venues will be available on the date you want- if not all of them. If you get some decoration shipped to you in the wrong color, you have time to return it for the right one. Early bird special pricing sometimes happens. What early means to me is I get to put away just a little bit of money from every paycheck and thus not actually feel broke the whole time.
Theme
Most people don't like themes because it narrows your options. I feel differently, I think it forces you to be more creative to make everything feel cohesive. Avoid being tacky by asking yourself, does this item or idea fall seamlessly into the event or does it stick out? There is no need to do something themey for the sake of your theme. Instead, it needs to embody a feeling....
Peacock to me says glam with a wow factor wrapped in feathers
in a hue of blue, green and a hint of purple.
Venue
For me the most important elements of a good venue are:
- an abundance of FREE & available parking
- distance from the celebrant's home & the majority of the guests if possible
- access from freeway/ease of directions
- natural lighting
- an area for pictures
- is the surrounding area residential? Will there be a noise ordinance?
Food
If the venue comes with a caterer, you're good. If the venue doesn't, they will always have a list of preferred vendors. (DJs, entertainment, food, rentals, etc.) These are the folks already familiar with the venue and have done events there in the past. Also there is usually a fee to bring in someone from the outside. I checked them all out on their websites & on Yelp, then narrowed it down to 3 (more is time consuming) and started requesting quotes.
We used http://www.canyoncatering.net/ and they were amazing!
Also, always ask about corkage fees! It is much cheaper to provide your own alcohol if there is no fee. In this case we bought a ton of wine at Trader Joe's. Everyone was a fan.
Layout
Layouts are a must and I always start with the tables. I usually make all of my event layouts in Microsoft PowerPoint, but a regular pencil and paper does the trick too. I place everything from the bar, to the DJ, to the photo area, to the tables. The venue will have a few layouts for you to work with. In this case the bar was moveable. This layout helped me to plan out the color scheme for the tablecloths. I also wanted alternating chair sashes.
Centerpieces
- Tablecloths- The caterer offered white or black cotton tablecloths which was great, but I wanted to add an overlay to that to bring the event colors into the room. I was looking into renting them or sewing them myself until I found a site that I could buy overlays for cheaper than renting, which left me enough in the budget to get chair sashes! tablelinensdirect.com
- I found lanterns on clearance at Pier 1 imports online after weeks of searching for a tall statement centerpiece that wasn't a vase. By choosing a piece like this instead of a vase, I spent less money on trying to fill it.
- Flowers- I source all of my flowers from LA Flower Mart. The wholesale prices are amazing and there are so many different vendors to check out. I recommend doing a dry run with your actual container on hand to figure out what you want, then placing an order with a vendor for pick up on the day of the event. I basically walked around with a lantern, sticking random flowers in it. It was a blast. http://originallaflowermarket.com/
Souvenirs
Are the toughest part of the party planning process for me. I hate souvenirs that serve no purpose. I think back to my book themed event where I gave away bookmarks. It was perfect for the theme, inexpensive, and one thing I would have changed since most of the guests didn't read.
In this case, I thought back to my mom. What does she like, what are her interests, what is a souvenir someone would recognize as hers? Survey says... Coffee. Done. I'll just buy some bags and fill them up with ground coffee, perfect! But wait, why is bulk coffee so expensive? There must be an easier way... enter branders.com for the win! Individually packaged with bag color options, no hassle or work.
I made the labels myself using kraft Avery Labels from Staples. Then stuck them on with a peacock feather behind it. Woot, theme and useful favors accomplished.
So determining the style, budget, theme, venue, type of food/caterer, the layout of the space, decorations & souvenirs are some of the categories I focused on to throw a great 60th Birthday Celebration for my lovely mom. Feel free to write in questions or comments below! Thanks and remember to Bea Creative!
Photos by Abe Alejandro http://abealejandrophotography.smugmug.com/
My beautiful goddaughter is half Filipino and so to add that flair to this Fiesta themed party (besides food, yum!) The parents requested a pabitin. A Filipino version of the pinata. There are no good tutorials on how to make this thing, but from online photos I gathered it was a grid like structure that you tie on bags of candy to that the kids jump to grab. (being born in America, I didn't play this one as a child, so it was to be able to work on one!)
