TEAM TEDDY BIRTHDAY PARTY
Styling: Alexis Teasdale
Photography: Lauren Trompp
The Party Weather Queens were good to us this year! We had the best, sunshine-y winters day for our sports-loving four year old.
First things first, location!
I knew just the place. The Bartley Room at Rushcutters Bay overlooks the cutest, picket fence lined oval on top of a small grandstand. Sporty to the max. The room itself is just the right size for a kids party and comes pretty much empty aside from a few tables and chairs. Most halls for hire have oodles of random stuff on the walls and things stored in corners. This is a lovely, light-filled space with wooden beams begging for bunting.
Next up, entertainment! If you can afford it, some kind of entertainment for kids, whether it’s a face painter, balloon twister or magician, is a massive help. It gives the party some structure and means the parents can actually breathe for a few minutes. Maybe.
I used the absolutely brilliant Marky Mark from The Jumping Beings to run a little sports clinic and games. He had come highly recommended by so many parents, and now I know why. Along with an assistant, Mark entertained 30 kids ranging from 2-6 years old and judging by their screams of joy they loved every second. Best. Idea. Ever.
It’s always handy to have little water bottles for the kids, even if it’s not hot. But with a sports theme and running around, it’s essential. I got mini bottles from Woolworths and covered them in sweat bands. It’s also good to have a pen on hand so you can write kids names on their bottles.
Once I had the venue and entertainment booked, it was onto my favourite bit… decorations!
And boy did I go at it this year. With our big interstate move just two days later, I did actually try not to go overboard with ‘stuff’ (not sure how well that went #cantstopwontstop.)
I focused on a few main elements to start.
The kids Team T-shirts.
I loved the idea that all the kids had a tee with their name across the back so they looked like a team. I picked up plain white ones from KMART ($2.50 each!) and used sticky-felt from Spotlight to spell out their names on the back. This meant the parents could peel off the felt later and still use the tee. I strung them around the venue like bunting so it doubled as decor.
Indoor sports area
We had quite a few little kids a bit too small for the sports clinic, so I created an area for them indoors with astroturf, some blow up ball chairs from KMART ($8 can you cope!)as well as a mini basketball hoop and super cute soft sports balls from IKEA.
The party table
I was smart this year and didn’t attempt to make the cake. With all the packing I was ignoring doing, I knew if I tried to make one the night before, I may well completely lose my mind. So I called my girl, the ultimate cake wizard SweetMamaCakes (remember the magic of my baby shower cake?! That’s her too.)
I asked Leane if she could make an AFL footy cake to feed about 40. She created THIS:
A masterpiece! It even had the pebbled leather detailing on the ball. And trust me…truuuuuuust me, it tasted AMAZING. It was enormous and there wasn’t one tiny smidgen left behind.
Also on the party table was some fun sports-themed food. I tell ya, that was NOT easy to come up with. Eventually I found the super cute mini basketball hoop idea as well as the mango cup idea on Pinterest and then found that Oriental Trading have a downloadable version of the basketball cups! Then I whipped up the jelly and found the little hot dogs from Bakers Delight. Add some half-time oranges and the snacks were ready.
Behind the table was this fun plastic backdrop. I stumbled across it online, it’s supposed to be a photo booth backdrop. As I do, I didn’t take much notice of the measurements. And it was NINE METRES LONG haha. So it wrapped behind the party table and all the way around the room. Bonus!
The grass-like table cloths are also plastic and pretty fun. We inflated the foil sports balloons with a little tank from Spotlight. I got some of that super basic plastic bunting (I normally haaate the plastic kind, but it had a certain sports-day feel to it) and it was so light I could just lightly stick it to the beams.
Craft station
Not all little ones like to run around outside so it’s nice to have a spot where kids can sit and craft. My kids are never still enough long enough to enjoy these corners, but you’d be surprised how many are!!
The footy banner
YEP!
Of course the banner idea came after the whole ‘I’m trying to go low-key for this party’ vibe. Ha ha. But really, once you know there are kids size footy banners out there, HOW do you resist? Milestone Banners were great, it came wrapped up and you just need lightweight poles from your local hardware store. The kids LOVED IT.
Party bags
What to put in them! I try not to go all-lollies because you know what kids are like at the end of a party (scary). One year I did just big bubble wands because I thought I was being clever and avoiding the sugar, but the bigger kids missed the lollies (nice try Lex!), so now I do half sweets, half fun. These ones featured a soft ball,a mini trophy, a little soccer ball maze game, a Freddo and mini bag of jelly beans.
Lastly, I’m so grateful to photographer Lauren Trompp! She captured all the fun, hilarity and details of the day so beautifully. It’s pretty much impossible to snap and host a big party, so if your celebration is a special one, I highly recommend hiring a photographer. Plus you have great photos to send as a thank you!
Annnnd, done! What a day. I wonder if Teddy will remember this one? I definitely will.
Hope you enjoyed!
Love,
Team Teasdale
GABE’S HEY DUGGEE BIRTHDAY PARTY
Photography: Eric Teoh
Styling and craft: Alexis Teasdale
It was a glorious Summers day in SA for our darling Gabe and his Hey Duggee themed second birthday party!
For those that don’t know the animated show on ABC Kids, Duggee is a loveable dog and the leader of The Squirrel Club – a Scouts-style activity class where the children earn a badge for each episode’s theme. It could be anything from the Puppy Badge to the Organising Badge, Comedy Badge and Dressing Up badge.
Gabe loves Duggee! We’re not 100% sure, but faaairly certain it was one of his first words. Ha.
The beauty of a Hey Duggee party is, you can tailor the ‘badges’ to suit your kids favourite activities. I had a Truck Badge, Colouring Badge, Bounce Badge (for the trampoline) Bubble Badge and Cake Badge – all you had to do is eat birthday cake for that one. I certainly earned a badge there.
These were really easy ones for 2-7 year olds, and inexpensive too! Make the most of what you have (like a trampoline or sandpit) and build the activities around it.
There was also the Super Squirrel Badge, for when the entertainer arrived. The kids just had to follow “Scout Leader Alec” from Spectacular Kids Parties and play games to earn their badge! When I spoke to the team, I explained the theme and they were more than happy for Alec to don a sash and create a new character for us.
Each station had a little bag with sticker badges that kids could add to their top, or sash that I’d made from basic green fabric with velcro sticker clasps.
To find the designs, I went to the official Hey Duggee site, which has everything you need from printables to badge images and more.
One of the first things I crafted were the Scouts-esque neckties, in every colour you can think of so the kids could choose their own. Spotlight sells bundles of pre-cut squares of fabric in the perfect size for this. You simply fold into a triangle, then do small folds over and over until you reach the tip. I tied each one in a matching coloured hair tie.
The show is super bright, so everything was rainbow themed from the Poppies For Grace DIY backdropand plates to the Kmart goodie boxes and piñata.
Ruby’s Cakes created the most delicious sprinkle sponge cake, and we sourced a printable Pin The Badge On Duggee game from etsy.com
A bright kids party is always a cinch to style! You’ll find plenty of colourful wares in any party shop that won’t break the budget, plus the more colour, the more impact (with little effort if you’re time-poor.)
Enjoy the photos by Eric!
When I was little, my parties always featured Balfours Frogs!
The sticker badges were an easy alternative to badges with pins for little fingers.
An entertainer gives the party some structure, and mums and dads might even get time for a chat and some snacks!
Tip: have party boxes out with a note so parents know they can take them at the end without asking!
Cake by Ruby’s Cakes
Tip: when you’re making home-made stickers, cut a little extra ‘tab’ to make it easy for kids to pull the sticker off the backing.
Our home-made sashes and neckerchiefs
Don’t forget a mask and blu-tac for this one!
Bubbles are a cheap crowd-pleaser!
GABE’S CARNIVAL
Styling: Alexis Teasdale
Photography: Lauren Trompp
Well! This one didn’t exactly go as planned!
For those that follow me on Instagram, you would have read a little about the hilarity of the morning of this party. The full story is at the bottom of the post, but for now, enjoy some sunshine-y pics for my beautiful little Gabe’s first birthday, which was full of love and laughter. Lots of laughter.
Favours were in old-school style popcorn boxes and had a fun animal mask, plus a slinky and kids silly sunnies from Woolies. This year I had names on them so they had age appropriate goodies, seeing as we had kids from 1 week old (soz Evie, you didnt get anything ha) to 8 years old.
I call this story ‘Why you always need a back-up plan. Even when it’s going to be 26 and sunny and you have the perfect garden for parties.’
As always, I love to be crazy prepared so it’s not too hectic in the hours leading up to party-time. Especially with two little kids who are excited, there’s only so much you can do on the day. So the night before I was hanging ticket bunting, inflating games, and setting up an EPIC balloon popping wall (more on that later) when I thought I could smell something, how can I say, whiffy. Without going into too much detail there was an issue with sewage pipes in our garden. Oh joy. But not to panic! After some calls to the plumber and the promise of someone showing up at 7am, I was confident that it would all be taken care of and was far enough from the party to not pose any stinky threat to guests. PHEW.
Relaxed too soon. Way too soon.
I woke early the next morning to sneak out into the garden and finish some things before the kiddies woke, and noticed that there were a few bees buzzing around. Weird. Not ideal. It wasn’t until a few hours later (2 hours before the party started) when I had a proper look at the tree in the middle of the garden and noticed a full-on BEE NEST inside the trunk. Hundreds of buzzing little party-poopers just doing their thing.
SIGH.
Ironically the plumber was already there with some scary-looking heavy duty machinery, but alas, the party had to move because hundreds of bees and loads of little (and big) people at a party is just not a good combination. And there was the whiffy element too, I guess. It was a sign. No party in this garden today.
OH SIGH.
It was time to put on my Plan B pants (not literally, I actually threw on my outfit which was thankfully laid out already, but involved a lot of white) and I was thanking my lucky stars that my brother-in-law has a ute. He whizzed over, we threw everything that wasn’t stuck to a wall in the boot and zipped down to the local park.
The beauty of using Paperless Post is that I could send a speedy update changing the location, and while it went to most people’s email addresses on a weekend, a lot of people still saw it. We popped a note on the door saying the party had moved and legged it.
The amazing vendors I was using for balloons and entertainment all changed delivery seamlessly like total legends and really, once everything was there it was a cinch to set up, with my trusty #festivecofam member Cassidy.
T’was a shame no one will see the massive wall backdrop of carnival tokens I’d made, or the dart-free jumbo balloon popping station which took a lot of DIY (I’m determined to still set it up and take some pics to show you all, it would be great for a carnival/circus party) but as I always tell brides, not EVERYTHING will run to plan. It just won’t. But that’s FINE. Because the point of a celebration, party, wedding, what-have-you is to be with your friends and family. To be surrounded by love and laughter and to just enjoy each others company. All the fancy bits are just icing on the cake.
Teddy’s Blue-thday
Styling: Alexis Teasdale
Photography: Lauren Trompp
My little boy loves blue at the moment. And I mean looooves blue. Which made this years party pretty dang easy. For the record, I’m all for boys loving pink, girls loving blue and all kids loving whatever they like! So this year I just went with what he loves best, which happens to be everything and anything blue.
Blue balloons, food, bubbles, games, drinks, favours, decorations and more.
It all began when I did a big clear out of Teddy’s old toys. A lot were donated to charity, but there were loads of bits and bobs left, that no longer worked or had pieces missing. So instead of throwing them out I started spraying them blue. and eventually had enough for a big ‘ol wall full*, which was completed with a big perspex sign from Letters From Belle.
*I’ve since relocated it all to a wall on his room, a fun bonus.
With a lot of babies coming, a ball pit was fun. Kmart’s version is budget friendly, and easy to blow up and pack down. I bought a couple of bags of the spare balls, and just used the blue ones for the party (at $8 it doesn’t break the bank and we use all the colours when we play at home) and you could do this with pink, green, or yellow too. Even Teddy still loves the ball pit at three.
Now it’s hard to tell, but this is GLITTER JELLY. Yep. It’s a shimmering, wobbly delight. In my search for blue jelly, I stumbled across Aeroplane Glitter Jelly in Berry Blue and totally rocked my world.
I actually couldn’t for the life of me, find circle lollies that would work as the lifesaving rings, so I cut a marshmallow in half, then pushed a hole in it, and squeezed the teddies in.
I’m a big-time fan of hundreds and thousands. But no matter how much I love a party, I draw the line at separating them into colours. Ha.
I found plain blue sprinkles at melt, bake, party and combined them with a bit ‘o green too.
Try and find a blue piñata with pull strings RN. Sigh. So I transformed a Star Wars version into this. If you’re throwing your first kids party and they’re under 5 or 6, the pull string piñatas are far less stressful. Just line’ em up and they all pull a string, and one will release the goodies!
Blu-linis were a take on Bellini’s, with blueberry emulsion in the bottom of the glass, and Prosecco poured over the top!
I was super time-poor before this party, and I was trying to figure out how to make, ice, decorate and freeze the cake before the party. Then inspiration struck: ICE CREAM CAKE.
It was perfect, Teddy loves ice cream, and it could be completely ready before the day, so Icould just pull it out the freezer and serve.
I bought a few different punnets of vanilla, and added a little colouring and different kind of treats like blueberries and biscuits. I also used the IGA rainbow and just scooped the blue (with some stray hints of pinks and yellow.) These were layered over a couple of days in a round tin with gladwrap completely covering the base and sides to make it easy to remove.
When it came to ‘icing’ it, I used regular whipped cream and smoothed it around the sides and top. Because of the temp, it would strart to freeze almost straight away which was quite handy!
Then once the cream icing was frozen, I pressed in Sweetapolita blue sprinkles. My new favourite thing in life, just quietly.
To top it, I pre-made mini scoops. This has a couple of benefits. 1) Looks cute. 2) After singing happy birthday, you can scoop them straight off the cake and into cones for the kids. No fuss and no waiting for the cake to be cut. 3) They were actually quite small, so less sugar for the kiddies without them even knowing. #mumstealth. 4) Then there’s plenty of time (and ice cream!) for the grown ups.
Ive used Amazing Kids Parties for Teddy’s last three birthdays, and each time I’ve had one entertainer who did both face painting and balloon twisting. This covers all bases for kids who like both or either, and I requested blue balloons especially!
Giant noughts and crosses was made from an old yoga mat I had. Then a bit of blue rope made up the lines, and hey presto! Easy to pack away and use again.
I found plain blue doh and magic sand at KMART, so that along with some blue chalk and colouring in stuff made a fun little craft station for those legendary kids who actually sit still long enough to use it.
ASOS blue glitter gumboots, the perfect accessory for me!
Teddy already had this blue kmart shell fuilled with sand. And IKEA’s plain blue spades came in handy too.
A bagel bar was perfect brunch food for big people and little people.
Mini blueberry jams proved almost to difficult for me to find. But thanks to my extreme Google skillz, I tracked them down at Hotel Products Direct. The grown ups got a bag of mini jams on the way out, and the kidlets took home a jumbo blue bubble stick.
Teddy’s First Birthday
Styling: Alexis Teasdale
Photography: Alana Landsberry
When you call your kid Teddy, is there any other first birthday party theme other than ‘Teddy bears picnic’?!
I found the perfect venue in a log-style cabin community hall, set amongst a little tree-packed park in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Being winter and forecast to be chilly, I set up a little picnic area inside for the teeny guests with a picket fence, astro turf and the cutest kids wicker benches from Mini Party People. And I couldn’t resist the mushroom table and stools from Tiny Tots Hire.
Did you know, there are NO bear pinatas in all of Australia at the moment? True story. So instead I found a monkey shaped one, moved the ears to the top and created a new face for it. The kids all took turns pulling strings for the bottom until all the lollies fell out. A much safer option than wacking it with a stick.
Afternoon tea was all about tables laden in goodies, one for ‘big’ bears (the grown ups) with platters by Dan The Man, and one for ‘baby’ bears with homemade honey sandwiches, popcorn cups, fairy bread and carob bears.
It wouldn’t be a Teddy Bears Picnic without the song lyrics which I made into felt banners, along with a felt ‘Pin the bow tie on the bear’ game and little name tags for the little guests bear friends so no one got lost.
I made the bear cake myself (I was inspired by talented Coco Cake Land) after two (very essential) practice attempts. Who knew it was so hard to find the perfect shaped biscuit eyes and ears?!
Favours were bags of Tiny Teddies (an iconic Aussie biscuit) for the littlies and jars of honey for the grown ups. So everyone big and small went home with a whole lot of sugar. Oops!
Chloe’s first birthday party
Creative Director: Alexis Teasdale
Stylists: Alex Whiting and Sara McClean
Photographer: Heidi Boardman
I love kids parties. The colour! The fun! The tiny little smiling faces!
I was absolutely honoured to style beautiful Chloe’s first birthday party. Her gorgeous mum Jane explained to me that Korean first birthday parties are one of the biggest and most festive celebrations, with lots of beautiful traditions.
My favourite is the Doljabi ceremony, where items each representing different paths the child might take in life, are laid out on the main table. Then the little one is dressed up in a tradition Korean gown and held on the table so they can ‘pick’ their path by choosing an item (like a whisk for a chef, a paint set for creativity or money for a wealthy life etc) I love it!
This meant that the main table was the focus of the party and the place where lots of photos are taken, so I went all out with a hand-made pinwheel backdrop. On the table were five traditional Doljabi towers, which after some serious Googling of how to prepare, I made out of mini pinwheels and scalloped card to match the theme.
The table also featured a gorgeous birthday cake by the oh-so-talented Hello Naomi, and Chloe’s name in little jars of rice, for good luck.
As it’s bad luck to have fresh flowers on the main table, instead we created a ‘flower market’ off to the side with buckets of gorgeous blooms by Deborah Leah Flowers. Guests could then choose their favourite stems from the market stall, and The Festive Co team wrapped them up as a take home gift.
To make sure the little ones were happy, there was a lolly bar as well as a drinks dispenser and handmade straws featuring Chloe’s adorbs face in her traditional Korean cap.
Heidi Boardman beautifully captured the day with all it’s colourful fun.
A big thank you to my ‘Festive Co Fam’ Alex Whiting and Sara McClean for styling on the day, and to Chloe’s mum Jane for letting us be a part of this special milestone in her life!
Mexican Fiesta first birthday party
Styling by Alexis Teasdale
I’m a bit late to the party (pardon the pun) on this fun celebration I styled last summer!
Gorgeous little Jones had a Mexican theme for his first birthday complete with giant Pinata letters made by moi, a super cute cake by Hello Naomi, totally delicious catering by Cantina Movil, personalised bunting from etsy and lots of other little touches.
It was a hot, hot, hot summers day which suited the theme perfectly!