em’s third birthday // the details

We’ve shared with you Em’s pixie party. Now, here’s how it all came together! As we mentioned, we decided not to have the party at our house this year. Instead, we rented out a place called Gorgeous Millie and invited all of Em’s classmates and a few friends from her dancing class.

em's third birthday party

Since the space was already so lovely, we kept decorations very simple + minimal. I ordered 3 huge balloons from here. The white vases were a mix of from Ikea and Goodwill. Like previous years, I just picked up flowers the day before the party at a local grocery store and put them together. To follow the rainbow theme, I made sure to get flowers in all of these colors – pink, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. The glittery little fairies are from The Disney Store.

em's third birthday party

The birthday cake came from Whole Foods. It had layers of chocolate ganache on the inside and we asked for the outside to be completely white. At home, I decorated it with multicolored sprinkles I found in the Easter aisle at Target. These are the twisted candles we used. For the cake topper, I made her name out of the heaviest gold wire I could find from the craft store.

em's third birthday party

Just like the previous two years, we picked up tasty macarons from a local bakery called La Pâtisserie.

em's third birthday party

In addition to the macarons + cake, we picked up a fruit tray and a couple of sandwich trays from a local grocery store. We wanted to keep the food simple and easy.

em's third birthday party

We offered water and lemonade to the guests. For the lemonade, we used organic lemonade we picked up from Central Market and infused it with strawberries and lemon slices. This is the drink dispenser we used. It holds 3 gallons and we had to refill it during the party.

em's third birthday party

The glass bottles are actually Starbucks coffee drink bottles. We’ve used them the last two years so peeling off all those labels was an excellent investment time-wise! I ordered the striped paper straws from two different Etsy shops – here and here.

em's third birthday party

The party space, Gorgeous Millie, provided lots of dress up clothes options including hats, princess dresses and a few colorful fairy wings. We also brought additional tutus + white fairy wings for the children.

em's third birthday party

Em’s custom party hat came from the same Etsy seller we used last year.

em's third birthday party

Instead of buying a piñata, I tried my hand at making one using these instructions + these instructions. I wish I would have taken more time on it and added more layers. This is where I bought the crepe paper. I also added iridescent mylar sheets that I picked up in the gift wrapping aisle at a party store. If you’re going to make one, I highly recommend getting these fringe scissors. I added a removable bottom which I fastened out of cardboard since I filled the piñata with heavy party favors instead of confetti. I poked holes through the cardboard bottom and strung through pull stings made from iridescent curling ribbon. One strand of ribbon was tied securely and was the one that opened up the piñata.

em's third birthday party

The favors all came from Party City with the exception of the poppers that I bought online which turned out to be duds and rainbow circle stickers I found at Target. The kids gathered all of their goodies in super cute gold polka dot muslin bags I found on Etsy.

em's third birthday party

And, there you have it! The makings of Em’s third birthday party.

One Response to “em’s third birthday // the details”

  1. Laurel // May 7, 2013 at 11:20 am

    A magical little party for a very sweet girl!

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