Party with Emma

So yes I am pretty much still obsessed with kids parties 🙂
Last week I featured Finn’s Adventure time party and this time I feature the daughter of friends and colleagues, Michael and Kathryn. Emma is ridiculously cute!!! and her mom pressed the x100 button on the cuteness with her DIY teddy bear picnic… just have a look

1. Name and age of birthday girl

Emma Kimberley turned one on 8 December.

2. How did you decide on a theme?

I actually chopped and changed a few times, lol. First it was Beatrix Potter, then Alice in Wonderland, and then after stalking Pintrest I decided on a teddy bear’s picnic. I figured they are still so little (don’t tell my big girl I said that), that it would be nice to sit on picnic blankets and make a royal mess with the food. A theme like Alice in Wonderland will be better appreciated when she is a little older and understands the story.

Everything that I found on Pintrest to do with this theme was quite boyish though so that was the biggest challenge. I managed, after going to quite a few material shops, to find pink picnic material, which obviously set the theme. I then added pink and white balloons, and begged, borrowed and stole picnic baskets and old fashioned teddies from friends and family.

3. DIY or shop bought?

I am proud to say I made almost all the décor myself. Being a working mom, I would sit at night after Emma had gone to bed to get the goodies done. I made teddy bear masks because “if you go into the woods today, you better go in disguise”, signs that said “do not feed the bears” or “this way to a teddy bears picnic”. My mom, who is very arty, helped me draw bear paw prints with chalk along the walk way and I made the invites. I went to an arts and crafts shop where they cut out teddy bear shapes for me. I then printed the wording on the bear and added bows on the ears and a cute bear tail at the back.

Food wise, Ginger Pops did an incredible job with the cake, biscuits and cake pops. I made heart shaped sandwiches for the little ones. I added a drop of pink food colouring to the cottage cheese filling and then put a ribbon around them. Looked gorgeous. We did picnic food, so mini burgers, mini hot dogs, mini corn on the cob etc. I also made pink jelly in little jars and covered the lids with picnic material, so simple, yet so effective. Most of my crafts, such as tiny picnic baskets for the gift packs, I got from JA Florals. I then bought lucern from a horse feed shop and was luckily able to resell it.

4. Any behind the scenes blunders?

It was extremely windy so the lanterns kept blowing down and we ended up not being able to use them. In the rush to get done I also forgot to put out some food, like the watermelon.

5. What was best part of the day?

Seeing Emma’s face when everyone sang happy birthday. It was at that point where she realized, this is all for me.