Right on the heels of her Floating to One Party, Anne-Marie Johnson of Elianna Noelle Events has got another great party up her sleeve, this time for her own daughter! Because the birthday girl, Elianna, loves trains and shapes, Mom used lots of hearts and came up with this adorable Train of Love Themed Birthday Party. One of my favorite parts of this party is the use of the blue & white hickory stripe (inspired by old conductors’ hats) – as seen in the adorable printables and throughout the dessert table. Great idea Anne-Marie!

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• Railroad crossing train of love cake + DIY pink wafer & Lifesaver candy train
• 3D paper hearts, box car ‘Elianna’ banner & pink heart blanket knitted by Elianna’s Grandmother
• Personalized place mats & train shaped soap party favors + homemade big pink heart marshmallows

PARTY DETAILS as told by Anne-Marie…

It’s that time of year again when I start planning my daughter’s birthday. I had flirted with this train birthday party idea soon after her 2nd birthday — it’s the party planner in me!:) Elianna seems to have an affinity for pointing out shapes in the most random places as well as her love for riding on trains so I wanted to merge the two to come up with a train made out of shapes. This decision was solidified when I asked her on her very first day of preschool this past August what she had learned. Her response, “trapezoid and octagon.” Done! I like the old school train aesthetic and the denim and white train conductor hats so I used this color scheme for the train and of course incorporated her FAVORITE color, pink. According to her, no one else can claim pink, hah! I created the design of the train with the help of a train puzzle we own and added the train track and pink hearts around the track to sweeten the theme. Hearts are the perfect shape for my little love! Rachel at Printed Ink really made this theme come to life. She worked patiently and diligently to try to get this right for me!

Desserts

When I ran across the wafer and lifesaver train on party pinching, I new I had to recreate it! I used white chocolate as the glue and edible pink candy hearts. It was completely edible and fun to put together.

I’ve never had gourmet marshmallows and have wanted to add them to my dessert table so when I ran across pink gourmet marshmallow hearts, it sealed the deal. Ann Carboneau from Whipped White surprised me with these scrumptious and large marshmallows. I couldn’t have been happier!

Decor

Glitter wishes by Kara custom made the birthday #3 candle and added rhinestone heart embellishments to coordinate with the theme. Bon Fortune provided the heart straws that were used for the water bottles, centerpieces, and cupcakes. They also provided the 36″ darling pink heart balloon as well as the smaller white and pink heart balloons that complimented the decor. These really softened the room and tied everything in. The heart blanket that decorated the dessert table was hand knitted my Elianna’s grandmother.

Favors

I wanted to have a reusable, memorable take away for the kids so I personalized placemats with their name and age. I printed them on 32lb paper and had them laminated so the children could take them home. Elianna refuses to eat without her placemat now so I’m glad I went in that direction. I also had them tailored for the boys as well!

Favor Boutique by Angelique did it again with her soaps. She did such an amazing job and her tags to accompany the little train soaps were perfectly executed. I knew the children would enjoy bathing with them. These not only looked yummy they smelled like delicious cotton candy! My guests wanted to eat them, that’s how appealing they were!

Katie Kouture Boutique custom-made Elianna’s outfit to match with the invitation. I love the simple details like the heart coming out of the smokestack to mirror the design of the party printables and the number 3. Elianna couldn’t have been happier in all her pink!