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

 

 

Class of 2012 Grad Party

Where does the time go??

One of the sweet little girls I used to babysit, who happens to be not so little anymore,

recently graduated high school.

I had the pleasure of being a part of her graduation party this last weekend.  The graduate is big on the equestrian scene and received a scholarship to Texas A&M, thus our party theme was obvious. 

We had this large 2’ x 3’ pic printed then mounted it and hung it above the dessert/candy bar table.

The custom invite I designed was formatted to fit inside the graduation announcements, and the colors coordinated with all the décor items.

Her favorite color is pink, so we paired that with the Texas A&M logo.  All the logo’d graphics, paper goods, décor items and slips covers were custom made by Lolligags. 

Using canvas, I made these ‘slipcovers’ for the hay bales.  I added some burlap ribbon trim and hand stenciled on the A&M logo.  The hay was on loan from a local feed store.  Can’t beat free seating!!

 

Using some twine and wooden clothespins, we displayed photos, artwork, awards and mementos of the graduates.

 

The morning of the party I picked up several bunches of pink wild flowers from a local farmers market, and put them in glass jars.  It’s a super easy, inexpensive and really pretty way to make centerpieces.

The tiered ruffled tablecloths were also made by Lolligags {more specifically my slave laborer aka my mama.  Have I mentioned how much she rocks??  Love ya mom!}  These tablecloths took over 39 yards of fabric and an equal amount of time, but the end result was totally worth it. 

We used lots of galvanized tubs for ‘coolers’.

These canvas table runners were hand stenciled and I added a little white ruffle to tie them in with the ruffled tablecloths.

 

We had to-go boxes available for guests to fill with candy and cupcakes as party favors.

 

 You can never go wrong with an assortment of delicious gourmet cupcakes.

The cupcake picks coordinated with the A&M bunting that we strung outside.

  Did I mention there was a mechanical bull!?!?

Congratulations Avery!!

We are so proud of you and wish you all the best as you prepare to take life by the horns!

{sorry. couldn't help myself.}

:)

Pool Party!

My two oldest girls recently celebrated their birthdays.

This was a big deal not just because my babies are growing up, but because they decided NOT to have their party at our house.

At first I was sad about the party scene leaving our place, then it hit me.

 The mess would be someone elses ..... and I was liking the sound of that. 

There was just one problem.

How would I set up a cute party in 30 minutes??? 

The answer:  keep things simple.

Using some scrap plywood and ripped down 2X4's, M built me a tiki hut that I could set on top of our six foot table.

I stained it, painted on some surfboard-ish stripes, added at thatch roof {made from Dollar Tree grass skirts} and styled it up with a mix of store bought and homemade decorations.

I made this chalkboard menu with an old calendar holder and a scrap piece of wood.

It's super easy.

Just spray paint the frame any color and use chalkboard spray paint {I picked mine up at WalMart for less than 4 bucks} to spray paint your scrap wood.

That's it!

We made the drink stand with a galvanized tub and an old wrought iron table base.

Just attach them together with some nuts, bolts and washers.

I picked up the tub and table base at Digger, so my drink stand only cost me a total of $3!!!

Can't beat that!

Follow these simple guidelines, and even the cutest of swimmers won't be able to resist your food table :)



 Used my homemade cupcake stand, yet again.

This thing has REALLY come in handy.  Everyone needs one of these babies.



Our first 'away' party went great!

The girls had the best time and so did I.

Coming home to a clean house was a major gift to myself.

Thanks for reading!

I'd love it if you'd follow, share and pin :)

Have a great holiday weekend!