Totoro invitations

As our readers know, my daughter Natalie had a Totoro party for her 3rd birthday party!!

 

Here are the invitiations we sent out!

 

 

Totoro on the front

(note: the color scheme of the party changed after these were created and sent out. The HORROR! haha!)

the inside with the details of the event

And a shot of how detailed and 3D this invites are! The totoro is popped off with a 3D block.

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Throwing a party outside of your home--- what you need

So this year with the birth of our son just two months ago, we decided to have our daughter's 3rd birthday party outside of our home. We traditionally do it at home so that I can have the ability to really decorate like mad for the party, but cleaning before and after with a newborn baby just wasn't happening.

 

I decided to throw her party at The Little Gym, where Natalie takes gymnastics class. I was completely shocked when I found out I had 10 minutes to set up for her party between when the first party was over and when her friends would arrive.

 

TEN MINUTES!!!

 

I took a deep breath and viewed it as an exercise of what to recommend to our clients as a lot of people are in the same situation of not having much time or control over how their party looks.

 

So here are the top items we would recommend that are quick to setup and are sure to make your party look great!

 

 

1.) A birthday banner- OBVIOUSLY! You want to give the guest of honor the shout out that they deserve!! :) We can personalize all of our banners to have the age and name of your child in ANY theme and ANY color combination!

 

Here was Natalie's birthday banner:

 

2.) A cake topper or cupcake toppers- This is a subtle way to tie everything together and it just looks so darn cute! ***PLEASE NOTE**** We said, subtle! So many times, people think you need a cupcake topper for EVERY cupcake. We do not recommend you do that as it starts to look too crowded and takes away from the simple cute factor. We recommend 1/2-1/3 of the cupcakes have toppers. For example, I had 36 cupcakes and made 18 toppers.

 

 

Natalie's cake topper for our cake we had the night before during our family celebration

 

Which I then reused at the topper of her cupcake tower!! I LOVE the way it turned out!!

 

 

3.) Hanging decorations-- I didn't acutally hang these, but put them on the wall with sticky tack and it litterally took me two minutes! :) Some places will allow you to hang things from the ceiling, but others won't, so be sure to find out ahead of time! I just put them on the wall so it would be quicker.

 

We typically package our hanging decorations in sets of 5s, and I'm not sure how I would classify what I did for this party, but I would say 2 sets would be perfect.

 

4.) Favor bags/tags- Most people give favors at the end of the party, so why not continue on with your theme to make it personalized and even more adorable? Here is a great way to give anything as your favor, but still keep it within your theme and coordinating!

 

 

The favor tags can be any item from your theme, or a shadow with a "Thanks" on it! I did the full characters and then wrote the name of each child so the favors would be personalized.

 

We offer favor bags already assembled, or you can do it yourself and save! Simply affix the die cut to any bag with glue, or for a detailed look....a 3D foam block!

 



 

So there you have it! The less than 10 minute fabulous party set up! :) Happy party planning!



 

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Natalie's TOTORO party!

My "baby" girl just turned 3!!!

She has been dreaming of a TOTORO party for months now! It was both heart warming and nerve wracking at the same time!

"My Neighbor Totoro" was one of my FAVORITE movies growing up! I spent most of my childhood in Japan and when I was in the US watching pretty much all Japanese movies, so when my daughter took interest in it and LOVED it, it was so exciting!!

It was certainly going to be a challenge to create this very unique party for her though! :) Good thing mama has been doing this business now for two years!!

So here we go!!

Here is her birthday banner! I went with a completely different look than our usual scallop shape that you see in most of our banners. Totoro takes place in the woods and is very nature based, so leaves and acorns made the most sense. I was SO excited with how it all turned out! So simple with only one layer instead of 2-3 that we usually do, but it makes the whole thing really pop! :)

I also strung it through with twine for a very natural look.

Next up, cupcake toppers! Complete with three different charchters from the movie, her initial and age!

Then we have our "hanging decorations" wall. They can hang from the ceiling, or be put up on the wall. I LOVED how this wall came together with the charchters from the movie and her name in Japanese. (opens up so many more possibilites for parties when it doesn't have to be in english!)

Here is the birthday girl in her home made birthday shirt! (more on that in another entry!)

Having a ball!!

Favor bags!! With the three different charachters for the three different age groups we had at the party! (More on that in another entry)

Can't forget the cameo appearance by her little brother, Gavin! He was so cooporate and supportive of his sister's birthday in his own little home made Totoro shirt. *swoon*

(please excuse the missing sock! haha!)

Mama Rachel helping out with the little guy so I could take pics and enjoy Natalie's party.

**LOVE HER!!** So lucky to have her as my business partner!

Natalie and her daper boyfriend, Wes!



Having a ball with all of her playgroup friends!

It started snowing like crazy an hour before her party, so we were so thankful that her friends all came out to help celebrate despite the weater! So lucky to have such great people in our lives!



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Throwing a party- Favors for different age groups

Many times at a party, there are different age groups.

 

For my daughter's party I split the party into three groups. The 4 and above, the threes, and the younger siblings or 1 and younger.

 

For the four and above, I found lego friends and a hello kitty lip balm

 

 

For the threes, (the majority of the kids) I did playdough and a playpack--I was aiming for a "restaurant survival  gift" for the parents. These playpacks are great! They include crayons, a coloring book and stickers....... usually for $1 at target or micheals and they come in so many different themes!

 

 

Then for the younger siblings, we did playdough (who doesn't love playdough?) and a pouch. Again........ restaurant survival!! :)

 

 

Obviously it isn't necessary to do different favors for different ages, but when I was putting this party together, I was looking for ideas....... so wanted to share!! :)

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