2016 Year In Review – Holiday Parties

To help create special moments for my family, I enjoy celebrating each holiday and marking the passage of time with mini celebrations.  I host themed play dates for Juliet, play dress up, produce photo shoots in holiday colors, bake themed desserts with my little one and have fun re-decorating the dining area with her.  Here’s my 2016 year in review showing how just one small area of a NYC apartment came to life each season.

pancakes and pajamas, kids party, galentine, valentine, posh play date

For all the details from this adorable, “Wild For You” themed Valentine’s PJs and Pancakes play date, click here!

The girls played with their furry stuffed animals, sprinkled toppings on heart-shaped pancakes and brunched like little ladies while wearing their matching animal PJs.  It was so much fun that I hosted another Wild For You play date during Valentine’s with a slightly different setup.   For this posh play date we decorated heart-shaped Valentine cookies and wore heart printed sweatsuits. Click through for all the details and tips on how to create your own!

kids party, animal party, pajama party

For her birthday at the end of February, I turned our dining area into a Mickey Minnie black and white themed space since our Disney kid was clubhouse crazy!

kids mickey party, mickey mouse party, how to host a kids birthday party on a budget

Click here for all the budget-friendly details!  The next month, I hosted a princess themed play date featuring a Beauty and the Beast screening, ballroom dancing, and mommy and me manicures.  With free printables, I transformed the buffet area to a blue and pink sparkle and sweet station.  Click here for more!

how to plan a princess party, princess party ideas, princess play date, princess party ideas for kids

I’ve never been one to celebrate the fourth of July with such enthusiasm until recently.  Decorating my home in red white and blue has become a tradition ever since having a little one.  I want to celebrate every holiday with her in a fun, stylish and meaningful way.  Besides being festive, holiday decor is a talking point from which teachable moments can spring forth.  My little one learned about the American flag, identified stars and stripes, and practiced color memory with these visual aids as a baby.  Nowadays she likes and insists on getting involved with the decorating!

fourth of july decor

During my birthday month (Sept.) I used some remaining party decor to make the place feel festive.  Hubby agreed to cook me his first dinner ever as part of my present.  What better entertainment on my birthday than to watch him try and figure his way around the kitchen I thought?  Juliet and I set the table with all our Oh Joy for Target items leftover from last year while daddy fumbled through the Hello Fresh kit with all the dinner ingredients.  Below was the end result!

birthday party decor

I opted out of hosting a Halloween bash this year and instead hosted some close friends over for a crafty trick or treat pre-party.  Here’s our dining area transformed once again with a damask shower curtain and homemade banners on the wall.

nyc apartment, dessert bars, candy bar, halloween candy

And for a simple and comparatively minimalistic Thanksgiving scene, I cleared out the dramatic Halloween decor and re-purposed items around the house for a totally different look.  Using fall favorites such as white pumpkins and apples, I created an elegant scene with pure white with silver accents.

thanksgiving decor, jonathan adler chandelier

Then I held a posh play date sponsored by 7 or 8 brands under the theme, “sprinkle some fun” which you can see here and got to re-use the backdrop from Juliet’s bunny birthday party as well as the princess party.

kids party ideas, party decor

 

These are some of my favorite looks using whatever I had around the house, gift wrap, shower curatains, re-purposed party decor.  I hope this inspires you to change it up every once in a while and give your home a fun festive look for your favorite holidays in 2017!

Happy new year!

 

 

 

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Sprinkle Some Fun Themed Posh Play Date

I love throwing parties.  I used to throw three a day at Saks Fifth Avenue in 3 separate departments sometimes all at once and I kind of miss it.  Decorating, party planning, and celebrating with themes is in my blood and so with Juliet, I combine themed parties with play dates.  And together we’ve celebrated each holiday in style and have elevated the average mommy and me get together to something special, something beyond. And that is what I aimed to do again with a sprinkle-themed play date.  I enlisted 7 sponsors through my database of contacts and threw a series of “sprinkle some fun” themed play dates for some close blogger friends of mine.

how to throw a kids party

It all started out with Juliet using her kid-friendly cooking set from Real Cooking.  They gifted us and the blogger moms in attendance with adorable cooking sets, cake pop makers and handy egg crackers perfect for toddler hands.  Given Juliet loves cooking so much (even sleeps with her whisk), she was super psyched to show off her cooking skills by baking cookies for all her guests to decorate.

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She helped present all the fun sprinkle options in these cute containers and I encouraged everyone to decorate with their own dollop of frosting and sprinkle toppings.  dsc_3420

Of course, eating your finished product is the best part!

cooking with kids, baking with kids, real cooking kids

Other activities included coloring in pages supplied by Crayola in a fun sprinkles theme.

sprinkles party

Below is Juliet’s finished artwork – not bad for a 3 year old, right? dsc_3715

After school snacks included:  fresh fruit, trail mix, hummus and chips, cheese and crackers and a selection of drinks.

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The kids loved the displayed ice cream truck and doll sponsored by Our Generation.  I mean really, is this not a dream toy set for any little girl or what?

ice cream truck, ice cream truck toy

The “sweet stop ice cream truck” features movable wheels, wipers, a pull down seating area and chalk board sign.  And it even has buttons to signal left /right, lights for cruising in the dark, a music button to play 3 songs, brake pedal lights and wipers that actually work!

our generation doll, sweet stop ice cream truckAnd with 128 delicious and beautiful pieces (think snow cones, banana split sundaes, popsicles, donuts and ice cream galore), the imaginative play is endless!

our generation ice cream truckPlus you can feel good about this product because the packaging is made from recycled materials and a portion of any Our Generation product sales goes towards the Free The Children’s Power of a Girl Initiative.  And unlike many other toys, this one doesn’t need a makeover.  It’s perfectly pretty already!

The Our Generation doll that was gifted with it was also a hit!  She traveled everywhere with Juliet and her friends!

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When I asked Juliet where they were driving off to, she replied “to the fashion mall!”  haha she is definitely my daughter!

If you’re wondering why Juliet is pictured wearing two different outfits it’s because this play date was a 2 part series.  It’s hard getting all these busy moms to agree on one date!  But it all worked out because Juliet got to show off different ways to style her new Beach Town Baby tee!  The raglan tee, with its cute saying, “It’s a confetti and sprinkles kind of day” was the perfect addition to the play date for our minifashionistas.  Each girl styled it in her own way which really showed off how versatile the tee (which comes in both pink or blue) really is!

11-10-002I even found double use for the tees and draped them over the chairs as decorative chair covers.  And yes that is wine.  The moms need to have some fun at the play date too! lol

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Not only was each blogger kid gifted with a Real Cooking set, and a Beach Town Baby tee, they also got to take home a gift from Charm It! and Watchitude!

Both companies carried on the sprinkles theme with cute accessories perfect for girly girls like ours!

raglan tee, beachtownbaby, charmit, watchitude, tees

Sprinkles themed watch patterns included gumballs, gummy bears, donuts, sprinkles, and ice cream.

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I love how the watches slap on for easy on/off wearability and the fact that they are analog, not digital makes them educational tools too!  I am already starting to teach Juliet how to tell time with them!

kids watches, cupcake party, sprinkles party

Charm It! offers the cutest selection of charm necklaces, bracelets, brooches and stick on charms.  The teeny bopper in me got super excited while shopping their colorful website.  Of course we chose charms with a sprinkles theme for this play date!  But she also chose and received some really sweet Disney princess charms to transform her necklace for those days when she is feeling more royal (follow me on Instagram to see more!)

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sprinkles, kids necklace

Sprinkles cupcakes were supplied by Sprinkles.  Who better to partner with on a sprinkles themed play date??  No but really, they had the most delectable cupcakes.  I’m totally addicted and find it nearly impossible to pass by their store without a little treat.

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tablescape, kids parties, kids tables

A fun, dance-able mix of songs played in the background and confetti push pops and polka dotted balloons invited kids to revel in their sugar high.

how to style a kids party

Thanks to all our guests for such a memorable, laughter filled time!  @gothamlove, @downtownchicmoms @eunicekindred  My cheeks hurt from smiling at all the cuteness overload.  And special thanks goes out to all my sponsors who made this posh play date possible.

 

 

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© 2024 Stylishly Stella