Hostess With The Mostess

I recently styled a girly circus party for an adorable 2 year old named Madilynne.  Her mom's only request was that I use girly colors and make the party "over the top".  Taking my client's request to heart, I built an 11' tall big top circus tent, complete with hot pink and white stripes I sewed by hand and a banner with the birthday girl's name, to serve as the backdrop for the cake table.  Using printables by Belva June as the jumping off point, I stuck to a pallette primarily of pink, aqua, and yellow, but supplemented it with other bright, cheerful colors.  Since the cake table would be the focal point and take most of my budget, I wanted all of the food to be super funa nd reflect a circus and carnival theme.  Along with the diamond patterned cake which was placed on a white elephant cake stand I made myself from a planter, I served mini hot dogs, popcorn, circus peanuts, cotton candy, animal crackers, strongman dumbbells (made of marshmellows and paper straws), and whirly pops. 

For table decor, I sewed bright polka dot table runners to be placed over the hot pink linens.  I am currently obsessed with my new pom pom maker, so I decided to make a multicolor pom pom garland that I could string above the tables.  Since the party was held in a warehouse building with inflatable bounce houses, I brought in 9' tall PVC pipes in buckets to string my garland from.  For the main centerpiece, I used posterboard, tickets, and a hot glue gun to create a carnival ticket cake with a pom pom and a little elephant on top.  The other two centerpieces were made by glueing white pom pom trim around a mason jar and stuffing with a large pom pom and a giant party circle on a popsicle stick.  I filled in the empty spaces with small toy circus animals sitting on top of rolls of tickets and gumballs placed in pink and aqua votive cups.  Using cheap party hats, I added a pom pom to the top of each and a printable party circle, to give the look of a clown hat to sit at every placesetting.

For entertainment, we had a Game Alley complete with duck fishing, bean bag toss, bowling, and a ping pong toss.  Kids could also browse through our bucket of props, which included a clown wig, mustache, top hat, bow tie, big sunglasses, clown nose, and lots of other fun items, to pose for a photo with a clown (Madi's grandmother dress up).  Before heading home, guests were able to visit the prize booth and fill a goody bag with trinkets such as funny faces, bouncy  balls, and noise makers.

Credits:

Decor, Styling, and Snacks: Pretty Lovely Events

Cake: Stacked Studio Cake Designs

Printables: Belva June