Thursday, April 23, 2009

tiny two party details

Here are the details of Elle's Tiny Two party including a free PDF download of some of the elements of the party (at the end of the post). This theme worked great for a 2-year-old birthday party, but could be used for so many other occasions.

[invitations]




I wanted "tiny" invitations so I designed the basic size and then created a coordinating envelope template. I cut the envelopes using my Silhouette (Silhouette Users: download the envelope template and mini party hat template from the Silhouette download site soon). I also embellished the invites with glossy accents to give them some texture and dimension - everything looks better with glossy accents or diamond glaze!

[decor]




I hung chinese lanterns with fishing wire above the dessert area. I couldn't find the exact color of teal blue I wanted so I purchased a white lantern and painted it with the food coloring I used for the frosting. It worked great and was simple...just add food coloring to some water in a bowl and paint with a foam brush.





I also printed out several sheets of the patterned paper I designed for the invitation envelopes in both a teal and pink color to use on a variety of decor elements including:
- wrapping around the mini water bottles (I wanted to add a white circle label printed with 2, but ran out of time)
- wrapping around the condiment bottles
- creating food place cards
- embellishing Elle's wrapped presents

[food]


I think the food was a key element in making the party feel truly tiny. We had tiny hamburgers, tiny hot dogs and tiny veggies along with tiny cupcakes and ice cream scoops. Elle also had a tiny-sized cake. My friend Heather baked all of the tiny rolls for the hamburgers and hot dogs (thanks Heather!). She also found the tiny hot dogs at a local Albertsons (Oscar Meyer brand), and I made small 2" hamburger patties. For the veggies, I used the small baby carrots (some are bigger than others - get the small snack size packs), cut up tiny celery sticks, and cut up small peppers from Costco and lucked out with mini cucumbers from Costco.

I also made the cupcakes with 2" paper souffle cups and placed the scoop of ice cream in a 3.25 oz. paper souffle cup with the wooden spoon inserted into the center. For Elle's cake and the cupcakes I embellished them with royal icing shapes and letters....just pipe the royal icing shapes onto a piece of parchment and let harden over night. I loved the small 2 that adorned the top of each cupcake.

[games and favors]



We had about 40 people at the party - 20 adults and 20 kids so I was a little nervous about keeping the kids entertained (ranging in age from 2 to 14). Luckily the weather was nice so the kids could go outside but I also had a variety of tiny games set out including a small kids table covered in freezer paper with crayons, markers and small animal toys to play with and mini games I found at the party store (mini bowling sets, mini uno cards, mini pool).

For the favors, I made tiny notepads of games for two - hangman, tic-tac-toe and the dot game. I put the notepads in a clear bag with a tiny marker and filled with fun-size candy.

Overall, I think the party was a success. Here is a PDF filled with some of the elements I used to make it happen including:

- tiny envelope template
- tiny party hat template
- patterned paper in teal and pink
- tiny game sheets you can cut out and turn into notepads

Enjoy!

(thanks to Heather and Laura for the pictures of the party!)

23 comments:

Katherine Marie! said...

WHAT an AMAZING--UNIQUE--CREATIVE--FUN--MAGICAL party theme! Talk about the celebration of a lifetime... I'm starting to think about our next b-day party--- so much work, but soooo worth it, right??
THANKS for sharing all the details!

Mary Jane said...

Wow! Very cute...you're very creative! Hopefully you'll have this same energy when your 7th child turns 2!!! :)

tvmom said...

very cute party! so creative and fun.

logans mom said...

DARLING! You are so creative and have some dang cute ideas! Look forward to talking with you soon!

Heather said...

How about posting that yummy buttercream frosting recipe too...??? Thanks for letting us be a part of your fun, tiny and absolutely darling party...it was almost as cute as sweet little E. She is lucky to have a mom like you.

Betina said...

Seriously...
I am pretty sure that more time, money and effort went into Elle's tiny 2 party than my wedding reception.

Wow.

testing 1 said...

I heart this party, so many creative ideas! I just scored Martha Stewart's Tiny Party kit on clearance, so I can't wait to have a tiny party of my own.

Parsing Nonsense said...

What a fun celebration this was! God on you for printing those water bottle labels yourself, what a ton of work!

If you want the same look next time with a fraction of the work, I recommend having Bottle Your Brand print the labels for you. They make a small size that's perfect for this size bottle, and their labels are self-adhesive so you don't have to worry about gluing them on. Their prices are also way less than the cost of a new printer cartridge!

amy & lisa said...

What a cute party!! Thanks for sharing!

jessica said...

I just found your blog and LOVE it! This party is so fun. I love the tiny food element. Every detail is so consistent. Love the color scheme.

Amber Filkins said...

Oh my gosh, SO adorable!! I'm planning my daughter's 2nd birthday right now, and if I hadn't already sent out her handmade cupcake invitations, I totally would've done this!!

Heather said...

This is all so cute, but I am about to burst over the dyed paper lantern!! No one around here carries anything but white, but now that's not an issue!

Kim - The TomKat Studio said...

Hi! I LOVE this party! Really fabulous! Do you mind if I post on my blog? I just started reading your blog and I love it!

Unknown said...

this party is fantabulous! I saw it at creative parties and had to come compliment you. I love it! SOO CUTE. love the color scheme and the cute unique idea of "tiny two" awesome job!

Little Pink Studio said...

This party idea is one of the cutest I have seen in a while!

sydney85 said...

I could not download the PDF file.

Can you help? thanks

Event Chic said...

This is the cutest thing I've seen in a while!!! It's so sweet and thoughtful, I'm sure your daughter will look back and be so proud that was HER party! CONGRATS!! Oh and would you mind if I showcased it on my blog?!?!

QueenScarlett said...

What's the recipe for the tiny hot dog buns and tiny hamburger buns? Those are adorable... if you have time... I'd love the instructions:

queenscarlett at gmail dot com

Cheers!

Laura said...

please share the tiny hot dog & hamburger bun recipe!

JENNIE! said...

love it! we are planning a teeny tiny party for my nine year old and I would love to get the template for the tiny party hats. The link to the pdf won't seem to work. could you possibly email it to me. it would be much appreciated. thank yoU!!!!

jenniemarie(at)cox(dot)net

Mara said...

I love all of the great ideas. I am already thinking ahead for my 14-mos birthday next year. The PFD link didn't open, I would love to see them.

Michelle said...

Ok. I've tried to fix the PDF link. Please let me know if it still doesn't work.

Thanks!

Melissa A said...

What a great job you did on this party, from the tiny waterbottles to the tiny food and all the decorations and colors.