summer plan: a s'mores party

// photo: Jennifer Dery

We’re planning a little backyard get together this Saturday for the neighborhood kids … just ‘cause. S’mores will be the star ingredient to the shindig. When I told my 7yo he got so excited he started clapping his hands and jumping up and down with pure joy in his eyes.

new: pennants to match delphine wedding invitations

Just released: our brand new pennant flags for drinking straws. Available only through authorized Delphine dealers. I just love how they add a punch of color to a tray of drinks.

impromptu celebration: surprise 7th birthday boys party

A few months ago my son’s (twin) friends turned seven but didn’t have a party (they had a private family weekend getaway instead). My son still wanted to celebrate his best buddies’ birthday, so he asked me if it was okay to have a surprise party after school one day. I picked up yummy cupcakes from Cupcake Love in the morning, then COMPLETELY FORGOT about the big plan. Whoops. While John went out to pick up the kids from school I dashed around the house and pulled together the party.

After they finished the cupcakes, the kids actually ate the healthy snacks I put out! 

I used markers to decorate “place mats” on kraft paper with each child’s name & a big “7,” put the cupcakes on a stand, fished some colorful striped napkins out of our party drawer, threw some stripy straws in a cup, tossed some colorful carrots and apple slices in bright bowls, and voila: instant party. The boys were TOTALLY surprised, then devoured two giant cupcakes each. 

SUPPLIES: kraft paper on a roll from our shipping department, markers, cupcake stand (my most recent cake stand purchase is a wire one from Target, which I spray painted pink), colorful stripy straws, a couple of candles, and cupcakes. 

TIP: Keep a drawer in your kitchen for party supplies. We keep one stocked with birthday candles, cute napkins, sprinkles for cake and cookie decorating, and doilies. One can never have too many doilies ; )

root beer kegger part 6: 7th birthday party!

Our son just turned 7 and we had a Root Beer Kegger! See part 1 for the inspiration; part 2 for the color palette; part 3 for party decorations/inspiration; part 4 for root beer kegger food ideas; and part 5 for root beer party prep.

The Root Beer Kegger was super fun! The kids got all sugared up, played Legos until the entire city was destroyed (all in good fun), ran around the house like maniacs and had a great time. Of course I did the typical party host thing, and totally forgot to take photos. Many thanks to all our guests, who picked up my camera and snapped nearly all of these shots for me!

I know it sounds a little nutso, but we made two cakes. The chocolate frosted one at left is a gluten free vanilla cake with fresh strawberry filling (several of the guests have wheat allergies); the Bûche de Noël at right is my mom’s masterpiece. She used Grand Marnier to flavor the mascarpone frosting. Delicious!

The buffet table. The big empty plate at front is where the Paninis were placed. It’s crazy, but all of these props (the wood stump boxes, the cardboard 3-d stars, the owl, the acorns, the faux moss) I already had in my collection, props from my trade show days.

Favors for the kids: I found cute glass mugs, filled them with root beer barrel candies, and also gave each kid a bottle of root beer to take home. I tied a green and white striped paper straw, with their initial on the tag. Tip when preparing candy bags for kids: make sure each bag has EXACTLY the same number of candies in each bag, or tears may ensue. Photo at right is my breakfast treat day after the party: a root beer float. I was so busy chatting at the party I forgot to make myself one!

I created these custom root beer kegger birthday party invitations, along with the matching coasters, tags, place cards, flags, cake toppers, stickers, favor bag labels, etc. Lets just say I get carried away with paper stuff. Of course I forgot to take photos of most of these things! Whoopsie!

The kids, getting a heavy dose of sugar with root beer floats, before tackling the cake.

Morning after the kegger, he had the breakfast of champions: leftover root beer from the keg, and day old cake.

Overall, it was a great party. A few problems: invites got lost in the mail, took us a while to figure out how to operate the keg (stop snickering… it’s different from the ones we had in college. I swear), and I totally forgot to take photos. But everyone had a good time, especially the birthday boy, so this root beer kegger was a smashing success!

root beer kegger part 5: party preparation

Our son is turning 7 and we’re having a Root Beer Kegger! See part 1 for the inspiration; part 2 for the color palette; part 3 for party decorations/inspiration; and part 4 for root beer kegger food ideas.

Tomorrow is the big party! Last night I freaked out a little because I realized that only people who live out of town rsvpd (no) to the party but nobody local had responded. After a few calls I found out that most locals had not received their invitations!!! I have no idea what happened, because I sent them all on the same day. I’m glad I sent email save the dates, so most everyone is able to come even though they didn’t receive invitations. 

To keep the stress level down, and to make it easy for friends and family to help set up, today I began the party preparation. 1. I made a shopping list for the food I need to pick up this afternoon   2. I pulled out all the dishes and serving bowls that match the décor and stacked them in one spot to make it easier when I start setting the buffet   3. I bought all the party favors (tiny root beer barrel candies) and will package them up for favors later tonight while I watch tv  4. I assembled the “fancy” party favors for the kids   5. I stacked up extra invitations so I can use the paper to cut up and use for display tags   6. I set out all the glasses and paper straws (I had some green and white paper straws left over from an old photo shoot!)   7. I pulled out all the fancy cheese knives   8/9. I put sticky notes on all the serving pieces I plan to use tomorrow with the name of the food item that goes on it. Then I placed everything on the table in the correct spot. This will really help out tomorrow, so I a. remember what food item goes where and b. other people can help without too much supervision. Later today I will go out to pick up the food, bake a cake, and make the goodie bags. Tomorrow I’ll just have to assemble the sandwiches, salad, put out the cheese, pick up ice and party!

root beer kegger part 4: food and cake

Our son is turning 7 and we’re having a Root Beer Kegger! See part 1 for the inspiration; part 2 for the color palette; and part 3 for party decorations/inspiration.

No party is complete without yummy treats! Besides root beer floats, of course, I’m planning some of our son’s favorite foods: paninis, bread sticks, cupckakes, and cake. For the grown ups, I think I’ll also bust out some stinky cheese, bread and dried fruit.

Every holiday season my mom makes a Bûche de Noël. This year she promised to make it for the birthday party, as it will tie in perfectly with the theme. I’m so excited — even more than the cake, I love the meringue mushrooms that go with the yule log!

Here are some things that are inspiring me as I plan the food for the Root Beer Kegger: 1. Faux bois cake  2. Paninis  3. Meringue Mushrooms  4. Bûche de Noël  5. Yummy molten chocolate cupcakes  6. Bread sticks

root beer kegger part 3: party decorations

Our son is turning 7 and we’re having a Root Beer Kegger! See part 1 for the inspiration and part 2 for the color palette.

As promised, here are some of the things that have inspired me as I pull together the plans and decorations for our son’s Root Beer Kegger.

1. The main inspiration: Virgil’s Root Beer Keg (BevMo)   2. Root Beer Barrel candies (CandyWarehouse.com)  3. Green Balloons (EZPartyZone)  4. Root Beer Float (Dandy Dons Ice Cream)  5. Green and white striped paper straws (Emerald+Ella)  6. Cappucino brown and white bakers twine (The Twinery)   7. Green party cups (EZPartyZone)  8. Wood Grain rubber stamp   9. Custom wood grain root beer kegger kids party invitation by Delphine.

root beer kegger part 2: color

Our son’s 7th birthday party is coming up (see part 1 for the inspiration), and we’re having a Root Beer Kegger!

Here’s a little inspiration board I have pulled together as I plan the root beer kegger party. I started with the Virgil’s Root Beer Keg as the main inspiration, then came up with a color palette: dark green, root beer brown, vanilla, white; and some textures: wood grain, burlap and foam.

root beer kegger part 1: inspiration

Our little one is turning seven in a few days. I can’t believe it! Seems like just yesterday he was crawling around the studio playing with packing boxes and peanuts. Sigh.

Anyway, a birthday means a birthday party! We have a tradition of having a pretty low-key party, with just family and a few close friends. This year, I took inspiration for the party planning from two Christmas gifts. Our son bought John a keg of root beer for Christmas. By coincidence, Santa brought our son a keg as well. Soooo, we’re having a Root Beer Kegger 7th Birthday Party! Yay. Later today I’ll post some inspiration for the party décor, which is going in a wood grain, brown and green direction.

not too spooky: halloween party ideas

We have a first grader who is a little young for lots of the scarier Halloween party ideas out there. Here are some of my favorite not too spooky ideas to celebrate this ghoulish holiday.

1: Bat Halloween Party Invitation from Cardstore.com hint at a spooky time, but won't totally scare off a kid from coming to the party   2: Decorating Bat cookies (cutter from Copper Gifts) and  3: Ghost cookies (cutter from Wilton) would make a fun party activity. Have older siblings or an adult ice all the cookies, and let the little ones shake shake shake the sprinkles all over & add the spooky eyes.

4: I love these scary scientific bottle labels from Martha Stewart for Grandin Road -- put on fruit punch bottles for the kids and some nice Cabernet for the grown ups.  5:The spider vase fillers (from Pottery Barn) are so oversize and borderline cute that they won't completely freak out the kids. 6: The Skeletal System Anatomical Chart is the real thing (found Birdie1's Etsy shop). A little creepy, but cool.

 7: So it's a little on the overboard side, but how amazing would it be to wallpaper a wall in your dining room with this spooky Woods wallpaper by Cole & Son? 8: I suggested this black bird/crow costume (found on MarthaStewart.com) to my son, but he said he'd rather be a bumblebee. "Awwww, cute," I said. "I think you'd be an adorable bumblebee."

"Yeah. So I can have a stinger on my butt," he said.

Oh, right. Of course. 

haute off the letterpress: custom moroccon invitation

One of our lovely clients, fresh from a trip to Morocco, asked us to design a birthday party invitation inspired by photos from her trip. We worked together to come up with the perfect palette: peacock and marine blue, paired with bright white 100 percent cotton paper. We toyed around with graphics of Fez hats, moroccon slippers and lamps, but decided upon the pitcher as it was the most festive looking. My favorite touch is the patterned liners.

photos ©delphine

party at the plaza: martha stewart weddings 15th anniversary

My camera broke while on vacation in Ohio so I had to use my trusty iPhone to take snapshots of the Martha Stewart Weddings 15th Anniversary party at the Plaza Hotel. I cannot describe how disappointed I am that I couldn't get some nice shots! It was a truly spectacular event (though you can't tell so much from my ick photos). Editor Darcy Miller wrote a post on her blog with some better photos, so check that out for more details and photos here. Congratulations to the entire MSW team on 15 fantastic years.

celebration with martha stewart weddings

Martha Stewart Weddings is celebrating their fifteenth anniversary with a massive party (a faux wedding reception, where all the guests are wedding industry insiders) at The Plaza hotel in New York City. I'll return next week with the scoop on all the fun details. I heard via Twitter that Amy Atlas is going to make a candy bar, but otherwise the decor is a total surprise. The invitation was engraved in gold ink, so I'm guessing a glittery and gold motif. If we're allowed I'll take a few photos to share. I can't wait!!!

halloween party plans: delicious treats

My five year old is begging for a Halloween party. And since it's on a Saturday this year I think I've given in. I think these cute Halloween cookie cutters (found on Amazon) would be great for the kids. I'll pre-bake the cookies and the kids can decorate them. I can't wait to see what they come up with. I already have a big jar of black sanding sugar, that I think would be great for the bat and cat cookie shapes.

The wire cake stand (crate and barrel) is suitably spooky for a centerpiece on the dessert table, isn't it? And these elegant and eerie cut paper cupcake wrappers (from Baker's Kitchen) ... love them!

For "floral" decorations I think I'll gather dead leaves and sticks from the yard, and I'll look around our fabric remnant box to find some old netting or ratty linen for the tables. The only thing I'm completely stumped on: a costume!

party idea: photo booth

Wedding season for "the industry" starts right about now ... this is the time of year when all the magazines have their launch parties and all the wedding industry peeps gather together in celebration and anticipation of a new year. Last night I partied with some friends at The Knot's party. Left to right: me (Erika), Joy (Oh Joy), Kelley (Pink Dot Press), me again, John (Delphine), Melissa (Bergamot Spa), Sara (Anthropologie). One of the highlights of the evening was these super fun Shutterbooth photo booths. They would be sooooo much fun to have at a wedding, especially if you provided a basket full of dress up props to half-drunken guests.