{Real Parties} Sugar Plum Fairy Birthday Party!

UPDATE!!
We have a winner!!

COMMENT #100 - Denise
She said:  "The handmade snowflakes are exquisite!!!! Beautiful!!!"

Congratulations Denise!  Just in time for the holidays!! Please contact me at toni@thetomkatstudio.com to claim your prize!!

We are so excited to share this incredible party with you today! Nicole Wills, owner of Tradewind Tiaras sent in these gorgeous photos, along with all of the details of how she created this exquisite Sugar Plum Fairy/Nutcracker birthday party! The party was for her daughter's best friend, Kaitlyn and what a party it was! What a perfect theme for Winter Birthdays! Nicole's attention to detail is incredible and you are in for a treat!

She started out by making these incredible pop up invitations! So creative!

For the decor, they went with a silver and purple color scheme. The family Christmas tree was decorated with tulle garland that Nicole made, snowflake ornaments, along with lavender and plum ribbons. It was the perfect backdrop for the party!

Nicole's favorite decorative element was the giant quilled snowflakes she strung from the ceiling. It cost about $2.00 to make ALL of the snowflakes, which created such a dramatic impact! Quilling is usually done on a very small scale. Typically in this craft, a large quilled snowflake might be only 3 inches across. Nicole's were more like 12 or 18 inches across. WOW!

{we'll see if she'll teach us how to make them!}

The dessert table was another beautiful focal point of the party. Nicole envisioned the table as a stage for a production of the Nutcracker ballet. She wanted it to look like what you'd see if you went to a performance of the ballet in real life. To that end, she found a photography backdrop on Craigslist that was just ideal! Purple velvet curtains framed the backdrop. Leftover hardwood floor panels were arranged on the tabletop to create the stage floor! Another brilliant idea? A music player under the dessert table - The Orchestra in the Pit!

The desserts included: Dancing Snowflake Cupcakes, Mouse King Confections, Russian (dancer) tea cakes, a gingerbread house from the Land of Sweets, Sugar Plums (from a 16th century recipe), snowflake lollipops, ballet slipper sugar cookies, icing trees, snow-filled krumkake and rosette snowflakes. Nicole made everything herself!

For drinks they offered Sugar Plum Punch and Melted Snowflakes. The plastic goblets they used were such a hit that most of the children ended up wanting to take them home!

The activities started with a Ballerina Makeover! Each girl was given tulle wings, a sparkly tutu, along with a lavender and silver flower hair clip. They were also given snowflake wands and lots of glimmery make-up.

After they were all ballerina ready, they decorated Gingerbread Houses!

This was followed by dinner and party games! Pin the Crown on the Fairy was such a hit! With watercolors, Nicole painted a poster of a Sugar Plum Fairy ballerina, framed it, and hung it low on the wall (where it doubled as party decor). She made crowns out of purple cardstock and Swarovski rhinestones for the game!

Christmas Crackers were given to the children as they left the party. Nicole made the Christmas crackers herself. She made Swarovski crystal necklaces for each of the girls and put temporary tattoos in the crackers for the two boys.

WOW. Isn't this party spectacular? We love Nicole's attention to every little detail. She is incredibly talented and creative. Lucky us, she is local here in Phoenix and we hope to work with her soon! Nicole is sponsoring a SURPRISE GIVEAWAY! Nicole is the owner of Tradewind Tiaras and offered to giveaway 12 of these beatiful Swarovski Crystal Napkin Rings. These would be perfect for any fancy dinner or party!

Here is how to enter:

1) Leave a comment telling us your favorite part of this amazing party!

2) Become a fan of Tradewind Tiaras on Facebook and let us know that you did!

Winner will be chosen on Monday, December 13, 2010 at 11:00pm (MST). Any entries received after this time will not be considered. Open to US residents only. Winner will be chosen using random.org.

Nicole, we cannot thank you enough for sharing this beautiful party with us!
We are speechless! We look forward to many more wonderful things to come from you.

{Real Parties} Gingerbread House Decorating Party!

What a fun way to start the holiday season! This adorable party was just sent in from one of our fabulous readers, Kristi. She hosted this Gingerbread House Decorating Party for her two daughters and their little friends. She described it as "magical" as it started snowing at midnight the night before and snowed all day the day of the party! We are a little jealous, here in Phoenix since we never get magical snow days!

Kristi created so many fun details to this cozy party! The girls started off by decorating gingerbread houses. Each little girl had a gingerbread apron at her place when she arrived with an embroidered pin with her first initial attached to it. She also had a gingerbread house, eight cups of candy and a pastry bag of frosting waiting for her. The girls decorated - and ate candy - and then Kristi put each of their completed houses in a cellophane bag tied with a bow and pre-labled with a sticker Kristi made with their name on it.

Look at these adorable cupcakes!

The girls also decorated glass ball ornaments, felt candy cane mice, enjoyed hot chocolate and snacked on these adorable mitten cookies!

The girls then took home all of the fun things that they made, the adorable aprons, some extra candy and a little stuffed dog, all perfect snug in a cute gable box tied with an monogram ornament. We love Kristi's attention to details!

You can see the full post of this party on Kristi's blog!
Thank you so much for sharing this adorable party with us, Kristi!
It is sure to give tons of inspiration to our readers!

{New to the Shop} Vintage Train Birthday Party Collection!

We just received these beautiful party photos from our fabulous customer, Colleen! Colleen is a loyal fan of The TomKat Studio and when she asked for a custom Train theme, we knew it was time for a new collection for boys! We couldn't be more thrilled with how Colleen styled her son, Grayson's 2nd birthday party! Check out all of the fantastic details!

Printable Party Designs :: The TomKat Studio

T-shirt :: Smitten and Company

Cookies :: The Cookie Jar

Oreo Pops :: Sweeties by Kim

Birthday Crown :: Two Little Bluebirds

New Vintage Train Collection is now available in the SHOP!

Thank you so much, Colleen for sharing your party photos with us!
You did an outstanding job!
It was truly a pleasure working with you!

{Real Parties} Modern Farm Party - Perfect for Fall!

We are thrilled to share this gorgeous party with you! One of our readers, Anneliese, put together this updated, modern farm theme, with a little Apple Harvest mixed in. The guest of honor, Scarlett is a fan of barnyard animals, and her favorite bedtime story is Big Red Barn, so these theme was perfect for her second birthday.

She started out these adorable invitations that she made herself! And she has made them available as a free download! You can find them here.
Take a look at the rest of the beautiful details from this party....

A breakfast of scrambled eggs, muffins, bacon, sausage, apple juice, orange juice, milk, and as "birthday cake," cinnamon rolls. Isn't that fun? And different! Great idea!

Mom and daughter. Aren't they beautiful?

Great job, Anneliese!
You can find more details on this party here on her blog.
You will also find tutorials and more downloads to recreate this party on your own!
Fabulous!