Confetti Birthday Party | Favors

I hope you've enjoyed all the "3 Cheers for Caitlin" party details this week!  Did I mention how much fun it was to put together?  These favor bags were meant for the kids, but there were a few items that went over pretty well with the grownups too.  I'll leave it to you to guess which.  I filled kraft paper treat bags with playdoh, bouncy balls, mardi gras beads, bubbles, poppers and a 'party animal' blower... and of course, I threw in some extra confetti for a surprise (ie: mess) at home.  I labeled them with phrases like "woo-hoo", "hip hip hooray", "party on"and "3 cheers for fun".  Done and done!

photos © sherry heck

Well that about wraps it up. A great big thank you to everyone who contributed and a special shout out to my friends at Shop Sweet Lulu for being the source for all things party pretty!

But wait, there's more... have you seen the rest of this party yet?  Click here: Invitation + Decorations \\ Food + Drinks \\ Activities 

Photography: Sherry Heck
Styling, Invite + Graphics: Merry Happy by CAKE.

Cake + Cupcakes: Cakewalk Baking

Favor Bags, Animal Blowers: Shop Sweet Lulu

Paper Confetti, Balls, Bubbles, Beads, Poppers: Party City

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Confetti Birthday Party | Toddler Activities

My husband and I had so much fun thinking up activities for Caitlin's "3 Cheers" confetti party.  We didn't want anything too structured, but decided instead to have a few stations set up to keep the kids entertained.

The start of the show had to be the 'Confetti Your Cupcakes' area.  Undecorated vanilla cupcakes were set up at a kid sized table with 8 kinds of sprinkes in shakers and little bowls.  I was mildly worried about toddlers knocking the cake plates over and making a giant mess, but they were surprisingly well behaved.  Their parents were there to help of course, but I think the kids treated the sprinkles with a kind of reverence because they were just so pretty.  One of Caitlin's friends actually camped out at the table and would decorate her cupcake, lick off the sprinkles and then re-decorate it. Girl after my own heart.

The party hat station was a pretty big hit too. I bought a bunch of 1" colorful circle labels from Paper Source, so all the kids had to do was peel off the dots and apply them to their hats. Little kids are obsessed with stickers and mostly just like to peel them, so some of them may or may not have ended up on clothing, skin and other party decorations... don't say I didn't warn you.

The Confetti Art station didn't get very much use, which I was bummed about because it was my absolute favorite idea.  I was inspired by this art installation to have the kids fill in giant posters with colorful stickers (same ones used for the party hats).  I thought I might even frame them if they turned out well.  I did one in a C and one with a 3... I'm going assume you understand why, but my husband was quick to point out that all the dads would think I was making a Star Wars reference.  Men are nerds.  The kids didn't spend too much time with it (though to be fair, I neglected to mention there was also a bounce house...), so I recommend if you want to try something like this that you make it a competition to see who can finish first.

A special thank you goes out to Sherry Heck for spending the day on her pregnant feet so she could capture the details on camera. All images of Caitlin and her party guests are my own.

But wait, there's more... have you seen the rest of this party yet?  Click here: Invitation + Decorations \\ Food + Drinks \\  Favors

Photography: Sherry Heck

Styling, Posters & Graphics:  CAKE. | events + design
Cake & Cupcakes: Cakewalk Baking

Label Stickers: Paper source
Cupcake Liners & Sprinkles: Michaels

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Confetti Birthday Party | Sprinkled Treats

Who doesn't love a sprinkled party treat?  Wait, let's make that 5 kinds of sprinkled party treats!  Today I'm sharing the eats & drinks from Caitlin's "3 Cheers" confetti birthday... and stay tuned for more details throughout the week.

Let's talk about this beautiful cake, shall we?  Michele of Cakewalk Baking created both the cake and cupcakes.  The inside was Funfetti vanilla and the cake was frosted with the most delicious fresh strawberry buttercream.  We topped it off with a variety of sprinkles and these awesome gold metallic birthday candles.

My favorite, though messy, creation was definitely the doughnut pops. I picked up 2 dozen glazed holes from our local donut shop and attached them to lollipop sticks wrapped in washi tape.  I just brushed on a little extra glaze and half dipped them in rainbow sprinkles for that happy confetti'ed look.

I took on the cookies from this lofthouse style recipe I'd been dying to try.  They were way more work than I would have guessed... probably because I waited to bake them until the night before and didn't realize the dough is supposed to be refrigerated overnight before rolling.  Friends, don't neglect that step and you'll thank me later.  In the end, the recipe made lots and they tasted far better than their processed grocery store counterparts, so it was worth the effort.

Rounding out the snacks we had a bit of gummy candy along with typical toddler food like circus animal cookies, fruit salad and goldfish crackers.

In addition to juice boxes for the kids and booze for the grownups, I also made my own fruit punch complete with 'fruit confetti'. I basically made up the recipe by pouring a few different juices (apple, white grape, cherry, pineapple) and some sparkling water into our large mason dispenser and filled it up with round slices of lemons, limes and oranges.  (ps: it would taste great mixed as a cocktail too... if you happened not to be entertaining a bunch of three-year-olds)

photos © sherry heck 

But wait, there's more... have you seen the rest of this party yet? Click here: Invitations + Decorations \\ Activities \\ Favors

Photography: Sherry Heck
Styling + Graphics:  CAKE. | events + design

Cake + Cupcakes: Cakewalk Baking

Honeycombs, Party Utensils, Paper Straws: Shop Sweet Lulu

These images are for personal use only. If sharing them on your site, please link directly to this post.

Confetti Birthday Party | Invites & Decorations

At last!  This week I'm finally sharing my daughter Caitlin's 3rd birthday confetti party and I'm super excited to unveil all the fun... it's "3 Cheers for Caitlin" you guys!  If you've been following CAKE. for a while, you may be sensing a pattern. Caitlin's first birthday was a "ONE to Grow On" garden party and her second was "TWO at the Zoo".  So honestly, I had the idea for her third long before confetti was back in style... I simply had a vision of a classic party with lots of bright colorful decorations, gold sparkle and handmade details.  Pure fun for toddlers and parents alike.  Today we're taking a peek at the invite and decorations, but be sure to stay tuned throughout the week for all the details...

We held the party in our backyard for about 40 people, and scheduled it at 3pm for 'cake + confetti' to save the hassle of planning out a big lunch.  I designed these invites myself and kept the the look cheerful and kid friendly.  We filled the yard with balloons, tissue balls, streamers and a ridiculous amount of paper confetti.

We had a few giant balloons to play with and the kids had a blast bopping them around.  I loaded the large clear ones with paper confetti before filling them, and tied them off with glittery baking twine and a rainbow of streamers.  They looked pretty great when the wind picked up... like some sort of otherworldly jellyfish.

In a last minute decorating crisis, I made a garland out of the paper confetti to hang behind the dessert table. I'm so glad I did.  It was a great little DiY- done by stringing groups of confetti with a needle and thread and then spreading it out randomly.  I made 3 of them in about an hour and they were such a pretty little touch that I'm saving them for future party emergencies. (Tip: to keep them untangled I wrapped each one around a piece of cardstock as I took them down)

Yes, somehow I even found a confetti skirt for the birthday girl (from Land's End if you're curious, but sadly no longer available).  Paired with her sparkly gold jellies she was a perfect match to the party!

A special thank you goes out to Sherry Heck for spending the day on her pregnant feet so she could capture the details on camera. All images of Caitlin and her party guests are my own.

But wait, there's more... have you seen the rest of this party yet? Click here: Food + Drinks \\ Activities \\ Favors

Photography: Sherry Heck

Styling, Invite + Graphics:  CAKE. | events + design
Cake + Cupcakes: Cakewalk Baking

Honeycombs, Large Clear Balloons: Shop Sweet Lulu

Paper Confetti, Gold 3 Balloon, Streamers: Party City

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3 Cheers for Caitlin | A Confetti Birthday Party

My daughter Caitlin's 3rd birthday is being featured over on 100 Layer Cakelet today. I hope you're already familiar with their wedding and family blogs.... if not, you're missing out on one of my favorite sources for beautiful events + inspiration.  I'm thrilled to have this party featured in such good company.

Next week I'll be sharing all the details over here, so come on back and read all about it!

photo © cake. | events + design

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