Riley's Ocean Dreams Birthday Party, 2025

 Hello, tonight I'd like to share another birthday party from last year, this one for my cousin Riley's 12th birthday. I wanted to do the most grand party I'd ever done, but she asked for something beach-themed, and I struggled to come up with original ideas for it. I ended up doing neutral colors and going for a dreamy, ethereal but natural look that was (unintendedly) simple (and rather last-minute). 

I made the giant seashell from recycled cardboard painted with metallic white acrylic paint. The giant white sign that read "Riley is 12" was a foam posterboard that I cut and wrote on with a marker. I plucked some branches to add to the balloon arch from my grandparent's yard. I cut lines into snickerdoodle cookies from Dollar General to make sand dollars. The sun glasses were from Dollar General or Walmart, and I honestly forget what the other favors were. I had all of the rest of the decorations on hand already. 

Thank you for visiting, I hope you enjoyed! 

Blessings,

Lauryn 

Shona's Cats & Coffee Themed Birthday Party

 Happy Sunday! Today I am sharing yet another party from way back... again, I do not recall what year this was from, but I know it was early 2024 or before. This birthday party was themed around "Cats and Coffee" (the best combination, right?). 

I used a warm color palette, and tried to use mostly browns/comfort colors. Below are the details:

-The cat face was made with greenery (artificial or mixed with real branches) poked into the pegboard. 

-The draped orange-y cloth was cheesecloth I had on hand. All of the fabrics I had on hand, and the gold one was actually a golden dress.

-I used printed pictures assembled onto string for the cat banner. 

-I also printed a Google image for the coffee sign. 

-For the party favors, I  cut out cats from recycled cardboard, drew faces and paws with a pen, and taped Dollar Tree heart lollipops onto them. I was very fortunate, Dollar General was having a great sale. The plastic coffee cups are typically 3 for $1, and then the glass mugs were half off so they were around $1 each. 

-The little handwritten signs read "Shona's Birthday Pawty" and for favors, "Please take one. Thank you for helping make Shona's birthday party Purrfect."

Thanks for visiting! 

-Lauryn

Bernie's Baseball Birthday Party

 To be honest, this party was so long ago I have no idea when this was. Last year? Five years ago? I really do not remember. But this party was for my grandmother who has always appreciated baseball. Below are the details:

-I drew the banner pictures with a metallic silver marker. I free-handed and cut out the pennant flags the same way. I attached them to sticks or dowel rods. 

-Some of the greenery came from tree branches outside, though the flowers were fake. 

-I used wooden stars painted with white acrylic paint and decorated with a silver permanent marker for favors. The stars came from Walmart. 

-The lace tablecloth came from Dollar General. 

Thank you for visiting! 

-Lauryn 

Riley's Ocean Fairytale 11th Birthday Party

 

Hello, here is a birthday party from last year with an unusual theme for my cousin who loved the beach and (I think) reading stories: "Ocean Fairytale" is my preferred theme title, but it basically combines ocean/beach/story/storybook/fairytale/book themes all into one. 

Looking back, I don't love the color palette but I wanted something unique at the time, so it was a blue to green gradient (mainly turquoise and a sky/baby blue) contrasted by a brownish, mustard-yellow-type orange and enhanced with other neutral browns. 

Handmade elements and DIY clam and pearl party favors:

-The giant palm-like leaves were painted and cut paper.

-The backdrop was made from painted and cut posters.

-The castle was also made from a poster, combining watercolor and pen.

-I had made the banner for my classroom by tying together strips of fabric to a string, cutting and hot-gluing triangular book pages, and for this party I taped on top hand-watercolored ocean pictures I outlined and shaded with ink pens. The signs were also handwritten on top of watercolor swatches on cardstock. 

-For the chocolate 'pearls' I bought a box of Whoppers.

-The 'sea snails' were cinnamon buns.

-For the clam and pearl favors, I bought a pack of mini wallets in the party favor section of Walmart. I drew shells on cardstock with gel ink or Sharpie pens, cut them out, and stapled them on top of the wallets. I placed a Whopper in each one, packaged them, and that's all there is to it! 

I hope you found this post useful, thank you for visiting! 

-Lauryn