Merry Christmas and HAPPY BIRTHDAY! While the holidays are upon us, so are Abigail and Amelia’s birthdays (ages 3 and 1), along with a special visit from Santa and the goodies from Mrs. Claus’ kitchen. Those Santa belly cake pops and peppermint cookies look delicious and *oh what fun* does that ornament activity look like! See all the *ho-ho-holiday* cheer below in this special Peppermint & Plaid Christmas Themed Birthday Party from Abigail of Paper & Cake!

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• “Ho ho ho” party banner with personalized Christmas stockings at each end + snowy dessert table backdrop
• Santa belt cake pops with Christmas light party flags + Santa face candy kabobs from Sweets Indeed
• Wrapped “gift” risers, mini Christmas tree centerpieces and hanging white tissue pom “snowflakes”
• Green plaid photo booth backdrop with winter pillows + snowman, Santa & seasonal treat props

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Abigail…

I love it when my family asks me to help them with birthday parties. It’s what I do. I also love it when the party theme is one that the birthday kid is obsessed with, and this party is the perfect example. It was a joint birthday party for Abigail (3) and Amelia (1), and Abigail just loves all things Santa. So that is exactly what we did. I worked with her parents (my cousins) in planning a multi-age, lunchtime party at a park. Good thing the weather was perfect!

I started out by designing a cute set of printable party decorations – very Christmassy and Santa-ish. For the dessert table I began with a gorgeous red table cover from Tablevogue, and turned it into Santa’s coat by adding a black satin ribbon across the top edge, and a some faux fur trim across the bottom. Highlighting two personalized Christmas stockings from Tiny Prints on the table front, a printable banner was the finishing touch. A party backdrop banner, with the birthday girls’ names and ages, hung behind a table filled with yummy treats! Cupcakes and a darling smash cake (for the younger sister) from Meringue Bake Shop, Candy Kabobs from Sweets Indeed, Santa Belly Cake pops and candy cane Rice Krispie treats from Bella’s Bakery, and Santa sugar cookies from Frog Prince, looked AMAZING styled next to personalized wrapping paper covered gift boxes, and a mini tree hung with ornaments from Tiny Prints. One other item on the table was a “cereal bar” for all the littles to snack on while they waited for lunch.

The parents of the birthday girls found and hired a Santa. Turns out they found the best Santa ever! He was so engaging with the kids and really was a hit. A photo booth  with red and green plaid fabric draped over a photo backdrop stand, topped with a printable banner was the perfect vignette for Santa’s gold chair (that he brought with him!). I also added cheery personalized pillows from Tiny Prints, and a small black table with Holiday themed photo booth props.

In between singing Christmas songs and having photos taken, the kids could do some craft projects of ornament decorating and coloring pages. I knew the tables at any given park are sometimes a little dirty/splinter-y, so after we cleaned them the best we could, they were all covered in a layer of plain brown butcher paper. Two of the tables were reserved for crafting, while the other three got a runner of plaid fabric and centerpieces with personalized photo elements from Tiny Prints. These made a very comfortable spot to enjoy a catered lunch from a local restaurant called The Only Place in Town.

Our little Christmas in the park birthday party caused quite a spectacle! We had all kinds of little ones coming through to see Santa, and birthday girls were right there in the mix. Amelia (the 1 year old) wore an adorable little personalized Santa hat from BKreative Designs for her moment in the spotlight. My absolute favorite moment from the whole party was Abigail (the 3 year old) first walked into the party set up – before Santa even got there – and with eyes wide and a giant smile, said, “ho ho!”