I'm so excited to share the details of this beautiful Alice in "ONE"derland themed first birthday party with you today. 

The thing I love most about this party is that although the theme isn't original, the black and white party decor and party printables I created using the famous illustrations from Sir John Tenniel are (1) fresh and (2) extremely versatile!

Take for instance the custom designed 32x40 dessert table backdrop you see above!

It makes a bold statement serving as the focal point of the table but also fades into the background allowing the color from the adorable pastries, cakes and sugary treats to bloom and pop beneath it.

Of course, it's the little details that always make my party-styling heart do cartwheels...
like these carefully crafted custom tea bag sugar cookies from Flourish Sweet Shop.

Fairytale pinks, yellows, greens, (along with the famous "Alice Blue"), were used throughout the mix of sweets on the dessert table to add an element of magic and "wonder".

Beautiful, floral "Cheshire Cat Cupcakes" created by Taylor at Cupcake Delights, "Queen of Hearts" chocolate covered oreos made by moi, "Mad Hatter Macarons" from my fave local French bakery - Le Petit Sweets,  as well as the tea bag sugar cookies from Flourish Sweet Shop were all beautiful individual treats that filled the dessert table. They were almost too pretty to eat. 

Then there were two pretty cakes...

The cute Teapot Cake from Nikki Bakes Cakes was the smash cake. (shown above)

Nikki also made the fondant Alice and Hat cake toppers you see on the blue "Alice Cake". (below)

Cupcake Delights made the Alice cake and then I placed the fondant toppers from Nikki on top. I also added the "Ryot is ONE" that I designed and cut out from gold card stock using my Cricut. 

One of my favorite party elements was the printable paper table runner I designed. (pictured above) and the party banner on front of the table. Both really added just the right amount of contrast to the solid blue table cover and pretty desserts on the table. (yep, that's one of those cheap, blue, plastic table covers)! *gasp* *wink*

And here is the adorable birthday girl, little Miss Ryot Merie, all dressed up in her cute Alice in Wonderland birthday romper!! Could she be any cuter?? 

There were so many other party details that I (1) didn't snap photos of or (2) got photos of but just weren't post-worthy due to the mix of poor lighting and my old camera that has since been replaced. *wink*

For instance, there was a DIY photo booth area set up with a black and white backdrop I designed that matched the other party printables. Not to mention a lot of fun Alice in Wonderland themed photo booth props for party guests to go crazy with.

For those interested, all of the party printables will be in the shoppe by the end of the week. (In fact, when that happens, I'll update the direct links listed below).

I hope you've been inspired to host your own Alice in Wonderland (ONEderland) themed party!

I really enjoyed putting this together for Ryot's mama and daddy...but most especially for Ryot! *wink*

xoxo,

Jess

PARTY RESOURCES

Gold Custom Cake Topper: Pen + Paper Flowers

Banner on front of Table: Pen + Paper Flowers

"Ryot in ONEderland" Party Sign: Pen + Paper Flowers

Paper Table Runner: Pen + Paper Flowers

Chocolate Covered Oreos (Queen of Hearts Cookies): Pen + Paper Flowers

Tea Bag Sugar Cookies: Flourish Sweet Shop

Macarons: Le Petit Sweets

Floral Cupcakes: Cupcake Delights

Birthday Cake: Cupcake Delights

Teapot Smash Cake: Nikki Bakes Cakes

Fondant Cake Toppers (Alice and Hat): Nikki Bakes Cakes

Mini Favor Cake Domes (plastic) - with a single white gumball inside - that's how small they are!

Teapot mini cupcake stands

Alice in Wonderland Romper

KEEPiNG iT REAL

Sharing this party has been a long time coming! It was hosted and styled last December for my sweet second cousin, Ryot. Her daddy is my cousin and just knowing he's actually a daddy now completely melts my heart! 

Also, I have to mention...

Lisa, from Flourish Sweet Shop is the sweetest to work with! 

She's always so open to my creative, (and specific), ideas and the tea bag cookies were no exception.

She was actually in the middle of a move when I reached out to her about this cookie order. Despite the chaos of her current life situation, she was willing to work with me. In order to keep things as simple as possible for her, we decided she would make and bake the tea bag cookies and then only complete the white royal icing details I'd previously sketched out and sent to her. Once I received the "flower-less" cookies from Flourish Sweet Shop, I used frosting to glue on the flowers you see on the finished cookies. Didn't they turn out adorable? 

LIFE | The Christmas Brunch that almost didn't happen...

Giving you a little peek into the styled Christmas Brunch that almost didn't happen.

I've been working behind-the-scenes on this special project for the December issue of Romantic Homes Magazine. I had just put the finishing touches on the Christmas brunch last Thursday, (baked goods, beverages and food items all out on display), and was JUST getting ready to photograph the entire thing when minutes later, I found myself dialing 911 for my 16 year old daughter.

Ema had been home sick all week and missed the first day of school.
She had been diagnosed on Monday with a terrible virus and we expected her to be feeling better by Wednesday or Thursday. Well...Thursday came and just before noon she was rushed to the ER, by ambulance no less, after multiple episodes of passing out.

Clara, my oldest daughter, rushed home from work when she found out what was going on and helped me frantically throw plastic wrap on the perishables and get refrigerated items back in the fridge before we headed up to the hospital. (I actually would've just left everything out because who REALLY cares at that point but I was able to keep my head on straight long enough to realize the potential catastrophe I could come home to if I left it out with Hamilton, our Jack Russell, there all by himself.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
STORY WITHIN THE STORY
Besides my worries about Hamilton eating the food, I have to confess I was overwhelmed at the thought of having to re-bake things because the task had been so laborious in the first place. We still don't have an oven from the lightning strike back in June, right? So...I cooked a Quiche Lorraine and two loaves of Cranberry-Orange Bread in a toaster oven on Wednesday night - of course, not at the same time. Desperate times call for desperate measures...and it actually worked pretty good. Ha!!

The baking saga continued early Thursday morning.
After dropping Ella off to school I rushed over to my mom's to bake some mini loaves and mini doughnuts at her house since those particular pans wouldn't fit in the toaster oven. I ended up trashing the doughnuts but the mini loaves turned out delicious!! (see below)

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Anyway, I returned from my mom's Thursday morning, checked on Ema, who was still not feeling well but was sleeping, and I finished getting everything baked and prepped and styled. I had timed things just right to take advantage of the gorgeous morning light spilling in on the Christmas brunch set up and I was about to begin photographing everything.
BUT...Ema had different plans for me that day. *wink*

My Emalyn is doing better and attempted to go to school yesterday for the first time.

As for the Christmas brunch...
I managed to set everything back up the next day, stale bread and all, and I'm happy to tell you the photos turned out beautiful.

By the way...
Did you notice I like a little bread with my icing drizzle? *wink*

KEEPiNG iT REAL
Yesterday, the original conclusion of this blog post read: "Besides being able to photograph everything and have it turn out so well despite the obstacles...I'm most happy Ema is starting to feel better."

BUT...minutes before finishing the blog post I had to leave to pick her up from school...because she really wasn't feeling all that better afterall. *insert tears*

So yeah...we were back at the doctor's office again today and they are testing her for mono. (even though we had her tested at the ER because her older sister came down with it about a month ago). Grrrrr!! Apparently it will produce a negative result if it's tested during the first week of the illness? Really? 

Anyway, Ema will be out for another week of school and potentially longer so I'll keep you posted on how she's doing.

In the meantime, you can find me in bed with my head buried in the covers until I'm fully recovered emotionally and physically from living in nutsville over here for the last week.
Ha! I'm only kidding...I intentionally included that because I know J reads my blog and I figured I'd jerk his chain a little. *wink*

PARTY STYLING | Orange Sherbet + Pink + Gold Graduation Party

My oldest daughter graduated from High School this year…and so did three of my sweet cousins - two of which are sisters. My two aunts and I decided to host a combined graduation party for all of them and I naturally volunteered to do the invitation, decor and desserts. With my two aunts focused on the food, paper goods, and drinks I was able to dive right into all of the sweet details I wanted this party to have.

We decided on a lakeside celebration at my aunt's second home here in Florida. We knew the girls would enjoy an afternoon of barbecue and boating vs. hosting a stuffy, fancy party but at the same time…I had it stuck in my head that I would not allow this to be just ANOTHER barbecue. This had to have a few simple elements to make it memorable and special…after all...these girls had just accomplished the first of the THREE major milestones in one's life: (graduation, marriage, motherhood).

We sent out the invitations and I began the task of...

STYLE IT | Pretty Picnic Packaging

Hello Pen N' Paperflowers Friends!!

I'm over at The TomKat Studio today sharing this adorable Pint-Sized Picnic Packaging idea!
I've also included one of my favorite recipes for a crowd-pleasing snack you'll want to take along with you on your next picnic! (or for your next BBQ, Potluck or even for your family movie night!!)

Find all of the details right HERE!

KEEPiNG iT REAL
I'm addicted to these white pint-size containers! They are SO easy to personalize and make cute with very little effort and the options for what they can be used for are endless!

On a different note, I'm ecstatic over the release of The Pastry Pedestal Platforms - just in time for the holiday season!! They are flying like hotcakes and I'm thrilled to know so many people are excited and crazy about them like I am!!