With an inspirational milestone to celebrate + a birthday boy that loves airplanes, this Bright {Soaring High} Airplane Party by Alejandra from The Marshmallow Studio was just the ticket for a celebration! From the bold lunch buffet to the syled dresser full of favors, this party had plane flair in all quadrants!

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• Sky blue cotton candy cups with mini airplane candies
• Custom candy art bi-plane out of sixlets, gumballs & marshmallows
• DIY geometric color block backdrop from a scrapbooking paper, duct tape & a wood frame!
• Pound cake airplanes served over sweet vanilla whipped cream & blueberries
• Cloud marshmallow pops with an orange plane and frosting “3”

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Alejandra…

“Keep Soaring High” 3rd Birthday Party

This celebration was far more than just another birthday party, it was a graduation party as well per say. Meaning, we were celebrating the successful completion of a full year of speech and applied behavior analysis therapy. He worked so hard to learn new things, learn to talk and modify his behavior, and at times I couldn’t bear to see him struggle and become upset day after day, but we knew it was for his best. As the end of his therapy term neared, which coincidentally would be right at his 3rd birthday, it was clear to us he deserved a big party complete with sweets, piñatas, family and friends!

The theme became airplanes for two reasons – he loves airplanes and they would also symbolize his high accomplishments and ambition. I felt vintage airplanes embodied more of Aiden’s little mister-mister personality and the colors added a touch of childhood nostalgia. We were lucky to have all the details captured beautifully by the lens of Melissa from Melissa Biador Photography.

Paper Goods & Party Decor

After deciding on a theme and colors my next step is the paper goods – invitations, signs, decorations, etc. Because I knew I wouldn’t have time to print and cut out my own airplanes, I needed to find a vendor that sold ready to use, printed and assembled paper airplanes for my party. Well, Kristen from Mary Had A Little Party was my savior. I was able to order bi-planes and clouds in two different sizes and colors. The large airplanes were mostly hung all over the side fence next to cardboard clouds, a couple were used to decorate the various stations and one for the wreath handing by the entrance. The tiny airplanes were used on the invitations, the centerpieces, the favor boxes and on a few food signs. I used the clouds to make the centerpieces, dessert table backdrop and food signs, then hand wrote on them using a blue metallic gel pen. For the invitations, I’m all about getting crafty and making 3D invitations so I purchased blank white folding cards with envelopes at Michael’s to start. Then I printed inside of them making sure the text was tightly centered so I could fold it and cut out the shape of a cloud around three sides of it, leaving the folding part as is. Next, I glued pillow fill over it using a craft glue stick to look like a cloud and finally I glued a tiny paper airplane over it. They were adorable! I used this same concept to make the centerpieces which were cloud topiaries sitting on a cloud inside a tin full of white pearl gumballs. I also had little candy bins filled with Sixlets on each table.

One of my favorite details of this party were the wood planes I purchased from Oriental Trading we hand-painted to match the printables. I used acrylic paints to paint them and circle stickers for the sides. I used them as part of my decor everywhere – on the dessert table, the different stations and centerpieces.

BackDrop

I had the crazy idea to create a huge 6′ by 5′ canvas using scrapbook paper to decorate the side of my house. So I went to Michael’s during their 5 for $1 scrapbook paper sale and stocked up on orange, white, blue and sky blue sheets. With them, I made the canvas, two punched circles garlands, and the letters for the dessert table’s backdrop. I made the frame for the canvas from wood planks, then taped the sheets together with duct tape to form a quilt-like spread, then stapled it to the frame. It looked great and now I have it hanging in my kids’ bedroom. We use it to display school art, tape pictures, and more. When we get tired of those colors, we can just switch out the sheets!

To create a sense of unity and offer shade to our guests sitting down, we draped thin white fabric all along the side of the house over the tables. I purchased the cheapest white fabric I could find at JoAnn and then just stapled it to the fence and then onto the wall. I loved how it looked and how much cooler it was than if we hadn’t have done that.

I had the absolute pleasure of having Chef Katie from Le Pop Shop make mini orange vanilla cream macarons for our party. She’s such a professional and these adorable little heavenly bites were delicious. My guests were fighting over them (haha). Next to them, I had my itty bitty baby doughnuts that I made using SprinkleBakes recipe. They are so yummy and easy to make. I also served pound cake airplanes over sweet vanilla whipped cream and blue berries. Then to cool everyone down, we had individual servings of vanilla ice cream with chocolate Mallow Bits, mini M&M’s and crushed peanuts as toppings. Tip: scoop the ice cream onto candy cups ahead of time and have them in the freezer ready to go.

Dessert Table BackDrop

For the backdrop, I made a 6′ by 5′ frame from wood planks then stapled fabric over it to create a canvas. Next, I hung yarn from side to side and clipped on the paper letters, clouds and airplanes to say “Keep Soaring High Aiden”. We wanted to add a sweet touch to the party and have our family and friends join in the joy we were feeling for Aiden’s accomplishments so we decided to write a special message for him and display it on the dessert table for everyone to read.

The party was an absolute blast. Guests, both big and small, enjoyed visiting the various stations and awing over the desserts table. Doing a lot of creative details myself and integrating items I already had into the party allowed me to stay within budget. I had almost as much fun planning and styling this party for my little smarty pants as he did eating all the sweets!