It seems funny to me to call this party a "vintage" Strawberry Shortcake party because this style of Strawberry Shortcake was popular when I was little, so the thought of calling it "vintage" makes me feel a little old and dusty, and I'm only 33. Hmm...
I digress.
So, here's the thing, though, about birthday parties and me...I LOVE them. I love to plan them months in advance, and I have no problem designing and cutting out by hand ridiculous amounts of teeny-tiny details that will only go to the waste side (or to some bin of my used-up ideas) a few hours after the party has passed.
Where on earth do I find the time to do this? Excellent question. I make the time, and I make it quality time. I can be completely exhausted at the end of a busy workday, but knowing I get to make something special for my little girl and have fun doing it has always been a good motivator.
Late at night after my little girl was in bed, I would grab a cup of coffee, turn on an audio Bible study, and just listen while I was working away on all of these projects. Other times, I would curl up on the couch next to my husband and cut out these little details at end of of a busy day. It looks like tedious work, but I assure you, there is a wonderful silver lining in the creative process. :)
Of course, my friends do tease me about my crazy party planning, but the truth is that like all hobbies, crafting and designing is like running around on a great big playground for me. It's playtime, and I love doing it!
Oh, and I just so happen to have an adorable three year old that digs it, too.
That being said, here's a little recap of said playtime...
To see Chloe's "Pumpkins & Butterflies" 1st birthday party, head over {HERE}.
(Her first party has been my favorite theme so far!)
To see Chloe's "Chloe & the Gorilla" 2nd birthday party, head over {HERE}.
I designed the invitations in Photoshop and just added pretty paper and a few embellishments here and there. See the bottom of this post for links to my resources.
About...oh, I don't know, a good four months or so ago, I asked Chloe what kind of birthday party she would like to which she responded with, "Pink!"
I said, "Okay, what else?" and she said, "I want sparkles!"
Pink and sparkles. Got it. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, eh?
She just so happened to also be into watching the cutesy older versions of Strawberry Shortcake at that time, so I asked her, "How about a Strawberry Shortcake party??"
"Yes, mommy!!" was the response, and so on that flying whim, I ran with it. Thank goodness, she never lost her enthusiasm for this theme, and for those months leading up to her party, she told everyone and anyone that had a listening ear, that she was going to have a Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party. :)
I'm going to keep this post limited to just the details of the party, but I hope you enjoy them as much as my little girl did and as much as I did making them for her. Here we go!
Disclaimer #1: These photos aren't the greatest nor is the lighting. Due to running around like crazy, I just snapped pics here and there with my iphone.
Disclaimer #2: My dear friend Heather, came over to my house the night before the party and stayed late helping me clean, prep food and so on and so forth. She was a life-saver, and I couldn't have possibly got everything done on time, had she not been such a trooper. Thank you SO much, Heath, for taking time away from your family to come help me!
Table centerpieces and party favor gift bags were a fun way to dress up the tables. I reuse decor from previous parties wherever and whenever I can, so these wooden boxes from Michael's make an appearance at nearly every party I host to prop up the centerpieces.
I printed off a little picture of the Strawberry Shortcake character on a nice cardstock, cut it out by hand and tied it into these decorative table cards I crafted.
Excuse my dog's butt in the background...
I purchased this vintage lunchbox and Strawberry Shortcake doll on Etsy. My little girl LOVES to play with both of them. Who cares that I actually paid money for a used lunchbox with the name "Kimberly" scribbled on the top of it, am I right??
I purchased these vintage Strawberry Shortcake children's books on Etsy to tie into the decor. They have quickly become a favorite bedtime read over the past few months,
so I'm happy that I stumbled across them.
Okay, so I admit it...this giant backdrop was such a beast to make. I hand-painted all of the details, which turned out to be a bigger job than I had anticipated. Many, many hours and layers of paint later, it was ready to go!
The cake was from Target. Unfortunately, I'm having a hard time finding the link to the photo of the cake I used as my inspiration, but I love the way Target captured the overall design I was going for. Simple and sweet.
The cake topper is pretty typical of what I've created for past parties, so I just created what has always worked well for me.
My mom made her famous cinnamon and caramel rolls, and they were amazing! I had originally created these little strawberry and flower toppers for mini cupcakes, but opted to use them on the cinnamon rolls instead.
I love banners! While cutting out all of these details did take some serious time, I really love the way they turned out.
Ah, place cards...my favorite! Of course, I didn't end up using half of them due to last minute menu changes, but at least I had fun designing them. We ended up going with a nice brunch for the meal this year, so we had good food, full bellies and, most importantly, wonderful company.
Okay, so, I bought this cool metal water jug and stand on clearance at Target, not only did it keep the water nice and cold, it also had a nice vintage-y look that really worked well with the overall theme.
I wrote out these sparkly pink letters, cut them out by hand and then glued them onto the board to give the backdrop a little dimension - same with the sparkly paper strawberries and white flowers you see below.
And that's it! We were blessed with a beautiful fall day celebrating our darling 3-year old with our immediate families.
Party planning is fun and all, but I couldn't possibly put into words or show you in photos just how thankful my husband and I are for our little girl. She is such a blessing to us, and we love her with all our hearts. Happy Birthday to my beautiful, sweet girl!
Resources:
1. Sparkly paper - Paper Source
2. Flowers - Lund's
3. Printable/digital strawberry paper - Happy Hearts Studios on Etsy
4. Plastic mason jars with lids, paper straws, party bags, etc. - The Party Fairy on Etsy
5. Vintage Strawberry Shortcake Lunchbox - Wild Angel Vintage on Etsy
6. Vintage Strawberry Shortcake Children's books - Little Cleo at Home on Etsy
7. Cake - Target
