Yes...don't faint, I'm back on the blog. It's only been 5 months. I've taken a little longer holiday break than most. And sometimes it takes inspiration from the most unexpected places....like from a 5 year old's idea of a rock star party. I've had a few requests to post the pics from the cherry blossom trees I made for the centerpieces. So I thought I'd share a few pics from the event.
It's hard to resist spending a fortune on a small child's birthday party, but then where do you go from here, right??? So I really tried to figure out how I could create a sophisticated rock star look without spending too much.
I usually start any project, whether it's an interior I'm designing or a kids party with some concept photos, a color scheme, maybe a keepsake. It could be anything. Since we picked out "rock star" napkins together I felt like, the color scheme needed to be cohesive with the colors in these "crazy" napkins.
So, my thought was to combine the colors pink, magenta, black with a splash of turquoise and definitely add gold and silver for "bling".
Sydney wanted "fresh flowers" on the table...really kid?? I convinced her that we could make flowers that wouldn't die, she could keep forever and I'd spend less than ten dollars. I searched all the craft websites for tissue paper flowers and I would have to say the tutorial from Kaboose was pretty straight forward.
http://crafts.kaboose.com/flower2.html
I originally thought I would make bunches of flowers and put them in handmade jars but remembered I already had cool black trees (see my Hitchcock Halloween post).
I pulled out the trees and thought I could attach the flowers with pipe cleaners and the branches would transform into cherry blossoms. Using the two shades of pink from the napkin, I must of made a few hundred flowers (you must have patience and time people!).
Tiff's Tip: I used two different colors of pink to create texture and dimension. If you look at natural leaves or flowers, unless they've been artificially dyed, they are all a little different. I also made some smaller to emulate budding flowers and some in full bloom. (tissue paper was $2.50 a pack, I bought two, and the pipe cleaners were $.99 a pack)
Now to bring out the "diva" in these trees.....hmmmmm, what do I have around the house? A friend of mine who is from New Orleans (shout out to Jill Lipson) had given Sydney a bag of Mardi Gras beads last year and I knew we had plenty of that magenta color.
Perfect to drape across the branches.
Lastly the bling. I brought out our holiday decorations and found some glittered ball ornaments in silver which were the perfect size and the right amount of sparkle.
Lastly I added a ribbon at the base to finish them off.
And the finished product....
Here's a look at a few other things we did to make the day a big success:
VIP Passes as the invitations. My dad helped me download images from the internet and I laminated them with zebra glittered paper on the back and zebra ribbons so the girls could hang them around their necks.
A Rock Candy Bar. Instead of a Pinata which makes a mess and often times can injure kids, I thought a candy bar would be a fun idea. Just be sure to keep it covered until you are ready to let them pick out their candy. I used candy that went with the color scheme (not necessary but looks better). I also came up with rock star related names like "heavy metal kisses" for the hershey kisses and "drummin with swizzle sticks" for pixie sticks, you get the picture.
Tiff's Tip: go to the .99 cent store for candy. The pop rings are usually $1.29 a piece but I found 4 for a dollar there.
Re-useable Goody Bags. I found insulated lunch bags from the grocery store for $.82 a bag, hot pink zebra with black piping. Perfect colors! We applied glitter foam adhesive which we cut into stars to cover the stores' logo and I printed out each girls name in a star. We added a few glitter guitars and notes just to give it an extra musical theme. The next week, all the girls in her preschool class were using them for their lunch bag!
Beauty Station. I framed up each "product" and placed them on a long table with chairs where the girls could get made up as rock/pop stars. We had tatoos and colored hair and glitter. I just made the labels on the computer using Word and reused frames I had stored in a box.
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| The gel glitter I bought was from Claires, perfect amount of glam for 5 year olds, and no mess. |
Stage: Every girl band needs a stage. This was a little challenging but I was able to create the look of a stage with minimal cost. I had a few sheets of plywood in the garage from another project so I picked out the largest piece and painted it black. Sydney had some glitter cut-out letters of her name in hot pink (Originally purchased at Michaels for $1.00 a piece) so "we" came up with the band name "Sydney and the Rosette Jewels". I added a few jewels and figured we needed some curtains. At JoAnn's I scoured the clearance aisle and found six yards of shiny black fabric for $1.65 a yard! Woo Hoo! Big score there. With the help of my parents, we hung the plywood and the drapes and we had a stage.
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| I glued the fabric to 24" long dowels and we used a staple gun to attach them to the ceiling. To finish it off we cut different lengths of the ribbon and attached them to the ceiling as well, and hung the stars at the ends. |
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| FYI...I did not pick the name of her group, this is all Sydney! |
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| I added a star to tieback the drapes here. |
Don't forget thank you notes. To tie into the theme, I had taken a "photo shoot" of my daughter with the rock theme in mind and had cards made up at CVS for $10.00. Especially for grandparents, it's nice to get a picture of the birthday girl!
So there you have it! Rock Star Glam on a budget. Just keep it cohesive and give yourself plenty of time.
I'm ready to get back to designing for adults now!!!
