It's A Bug's Life

Hey there all you beautiful readers, followers and friends.  We've made it to hump day and man, did I wanna keep sleeping when that dreaded alarm went off.  So I'm feeling pretty accomplished in only hitting the snooze 3 times.

(That's all it lets me snooze.  Dang smart phone).

 

The other day I was looking for some photos of a past event.  I grabbed the SD card out of the camera and plugged that baby into the computer.

 

Nope.

 

My fears were true.  The only images I had of the adorable Bubble themed party I did for a client were on my phone.

 

So.

 

Totally.

 

Lame.

 

The silver lining was finding photos of not just one, but TWO other parties I had done.  All of which made me realize I really suck at getting party photos posted.

 

Here's the deal.

 

After spending umpteen-million man-hours conceptualizing, planning, creating, procuring and putting it all together, the last thing I want to do is be the photographer, spending a millennia editing my mediocre photos.  When I've got a pro to shoot an event, it's like Christmas getting those photos back and I can't post them fast enough, but Jessica the photographer (that's me) isn't as eager to showcase her photographic work. 

 

Well, I'm gonna get over that.

 

So I'm no Annie Leibovitz.

 

Big deal.

 

I'm not letting a few less-than-stellar photos keep me from sharing all the fun details with you.    

 

Now, let's get to the goods.

 

A few months ago I put together A Bug's Life 5th birthday party for Sally, the cutest-curliest-haired-little-girl!  This party was especially fun because much of my inspiration came from the happiest place on earth!!  If you've ever been to A Bug's Land in Disneyland you know that everything is supersized, making you feel extra buggy, and that's how I wanted the party décor to feel. 

 

Take a look!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a list of the items I custom made for this event (which was held at the MAC in downtown PDX):

 

Faux Grass Backdrop

Giant Pencils

Wood Round Cake Stand

Watermelon Prop

Leaf Welcome Bunting

Sally's Birthday Leaf Sign

Bug's Life Character Cut-Outs

Waterbottle Labels

Animal Cracker Box Centerpieces

Napkin Wraps

Bug w/ Rock Candy Party Favor

 

Phew.

 

That wasn't so hard.

 

I hope you enjoyed my 'unprofessional' photos ;) and maybe even found a little inspiration for your next party!

 

XOXO

Jessica

 

 

30th Birthday Inspiration

August.

 

Already.

 

How did that happen?

 

I refuse to think about summer ending, especially while I sit here in my comfies working on my second cup of coffee listening to my jammie-clad littles cheering on Team USA.  Summer is just too short, there's no denying it.  It's not the weather that I'll miss the most come fall, but more, it's the mornings spent like this and the absence of the gloomy homework cloud hanging over our heads.  Just as the weather season in too short, so is this season of life.  With the girls getting older and my business continuing to grow, our summers have definitely have evolved, much like life itself.

 

So.

 

We'll sleep in for 10 more minutes tomorrow and stay in our jammies just a little bit longer today as we soak up what's left of our break.

 

Let's switch gears and talk about something that never changes, shall we? - My obsession for a good party.  And this 30th birthday party from Urban Palate is great.  The venue, the décor, the cuisine, it's all perfection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the full post here!

 

Well, sweet readers, time for a coffee refill before a conference call with this weekend's bride.  Soak up all the sun and family time you can these last few weeks of summer.

 

XOXO

Jessica

Pancakes & Pajamas Birthday Party

Hello again!

If you're like us, you're enjoying spring break which means you're still in your jammies and eating leftover pizza for breakfast.  For reals.

I am finding time between slices to be slightly productive and managed to share these pics from the most recent birthday in our household.  The youngest member of the Hernandez crew turned 7 this month and we had a Pancake & Pajama Party to celebrate.

(Clearly we're VERY fond of staying in our jammies around here).

Here's the invite I designed.

I used Paperless Post this year, which was new for me.  Invitations are important to me because they set the tone for all the décor and I usually prefer mailing out an actual paper invite, but when I saw I could upload my design and get it to my guests without ever leaving my house (or getting out of my jammies....are you seeing a theme here) I was sold.

This cake.

Seriously.

It. Was. Huge.

We're talking 20 POUNDS of chocolatey goodness.  My brilliant baker of a mom made this masterpiece and it definitely stole the show.  All the kids (and parents) wanted to touch it and couldn't believe it was real.  Oh, and no big deal, but she hand painted it.  Yep, she's just that good.

There she is.  The birthday girl, wearing the jammies the inspired all the décor.

These tassel garlands are so inexpensive and easy to make.  Love that!!

(Sidenote: in hindsight I wish I would've ironed the tissue first....live and learn)

The sun was really bright and shining through the front window so it's a little hard to tell, but what you're looking at there is a 14 foot 'bed'.

In my living room.

For 16 crazy 7 year olds to sit at.

Did I mention I served the parents mimosas??

Here's a better shot of the 'bed' that I made. 

Per the birthday girl's request I kept the tabletop décor to a minimum.

"It's a bed, mom".

Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever you say birthday girl.

I made the honeycomb ball tassel decorations too!  I followed the tutorial from Sweet Lulu Blog, it's super easy!  Thanks gals!

I made this bunting using 6 pictures of Bella, one from each of her past birthdays.  It was so bittersweet to see her growing up right before your eyes.

The spoon, fork and knife clothespins were a Michael's clearance find.  Whoop whoop!  They weren't the right color, but I fixed that is no time with a can of gold spray paint.

"Pancakes are basically cookies you eat in the morning".

Amen.

See that cute little Utensil Box??  Did you know I sell those on Etsy?!  Well the rumors are true, I do.  And you should go check my store Kelso Road!

Joe's Donuts.

I have an obsession.

I used a roll of craft paper to cover the counter and wrote on it to label all the food items.  It looked really cute and was super easy to clean up.  Win-win.

Pink lemonade and a DIY Iced Coffee bar.

I made these cute table overlays and the yarn pom poms for the corners.

How is she seven??

It's just not right.

This puts just how massive the cake was into perspective a little.  And also shows how the kids were finding it harder and harder not to touch it. ;)

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what happens at the end of a great party.

It's not good.

Someone take that knife away from me.

Seriously, though.  Everything went SO GOOD and we all had the best time!

Can't wait for next year!!

A GINORMOUS THANK YOU to Heather of Heather Fitch Photography for the superb photos, you rock girl!

Thanks for reading!

I hope you'll come follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

Have a fabulous rest of the week!

 :)  Jessica