let's take a walk...

let's take a walk today...

a "creative" walk.

a walk that takes us through the planning process of an event/party.

a party i actually took part in this weekend...

you up for it?

c'mon...get your shoes on...

or better yet...

take your shoes OFF...

let the information creep...

in-between your toes...

the ASSIGNMENT:

30th birthday party for mike - one of j's best friends & "uncle mike" to my girls

my #1 PARTY TIP:

when you are planning a party be sure to draw inspiration from the person(s) the party is for...

it's key for creating a "personalized" event.

our MISSION:

avoid trendy "over-the-hill" themes

make the party as original as the guest-of-honor

throw all of the "proper party etiquette" rules out of the window...

this party is for mike...

and mike lives by his own set of rules...

(borderline tacky is NOT off-limits)...*wink*

the FIRST TASK:

brainstorm things that make Mike "mike"...

- junk food junkie

- SERIOUS ongoing fashion faux-pas

usually mismatched plaid shorts, striped shirts and bright yellow tennis shoes with shoe strings tied in an unusual/unique way.

- loves movies and has a passion for quoting exact lines from his favorites.

- a very fun-loving, generous guy who deserves to be recognized and appreciated.

with information gathered, we had a SOLID foundation to begin formulating ideas.

the INVITE:

this...to ME...is the most important element when party planning.

i build the party off of the invite.

the invite creates a "buzz"...

it sets the entire tone for the party...

AND...

it keeps me focused. *wink*

so to get the creativity flowing on the invite we needed a source of inspiration...

plaid & striped ribbon

we chose some ribbon we felt were in color combinations we've seen him wear.

by recreating the stripes and the plaid...

an invite was born...

did you notice the last line on the invite?

sooooo fun!

once the invite is complete...

PARTY'S ON!!!

next up...

the MENU:

this was super easy...

he's a TOTAL junk food junkie...i mean SERIOUSLY!

a spread of his favorite "garbage" foods was the perfect choice.

at first, we couldn't decide on whether to do cupcakes or a cake.

we decided to have a cake made replicating a crazy sandwich he once made AND ATE...

(think bologna, chocolate chip cookies, fritos, mayo, mustard)...oh my?!

thankfully his sister had a picture of it to give to the bakery.

the DECOR:

we wanted it simple.

casual.

quirky.

and fun.

this translates into framing posters of his favorite movies...

having stand-ups of some of his favorite characters...(rocky, hulk hogan, etc.)...

and a food table with a massive spread of...

well...

like i said...

garbage food.

the FAVORS:

it was decided personalized coozies were JUST the thing to commemorate the big event.

the PREP WORK:

gathering matching paper goods & utensils.

figuring out the tablecloths/runners.

did we want balloons or not. (we did)

gathering pictures from birth to age 30 for a slide show.

videotaping "birthday messages" from friends/co-workers

finding movie posters.

ordering the coozies.

ordering the cake.

assigning tasks to those who were willing to help.

devising a plan to keep mike away from the house on party day.

and my favorite part....

creating all of the decorative party elements for the food table:

matching blank food tags, toothpick circles, customized confetti

food labels

"celebration circles" to be used with toothpicks and skewers (regular & mini-sized)

the "be like mike" award for the person who came dressed the best

and then finally...

the PARTY:

it's time to put it all together...

the food table spread

the infamous sandwich cake

kind of gross looking...huh? but mike LOVED it.

and that's a picture of the actual sandwich propped up behind the cake...crazy!

the party turned out great.

everyone had a good time.

and it just goes to show that sometimes a little bit of tacky can actually work. *grin*

and once again...

i ran out of time to take pictures of every detail...

but you get the picture...

i'm in complete love with the plaids/stripes and the color combination.

in fact,

i'm so in love that i'm going to be offering it in my etsy shoppe...

soon.

i can totally see a beach themed birthday party using this...

can't you?

and don't you think changing up the color scheme to say???

pinks & oranges?

wouldn't that be perfect for a girly beach party...??

so fun!

thanks for taking that "creative walk" with me.

i hope you feel invigorated.

now.

lace up your shoes

or slip your heels back on...

the day awaits...

Keeping It Real:

i did NOT do this party on my own.

in fact, most of the planning and ideas evolved through the brainstorming that took place between mike's mom, one of his sister's, his girlfriend, and myself. my main area of focus was the digital design aspect...i think they did the hard parts while i got to do the fun stuff?! *wink*