Category Archives: Parties

Party // norah’s french inspired birthday party

January 17, 2014

I can’t believe I shared a lot of Norah’s French inspired third birthday party with you, but not the actual party!
Oh my!  And, crazy, she will be 5 this summer!
So here are a few of the party details.
I wanted to do a French theme, since one, my dad is from France, so that is a big part of our lives, and Norah’s grandma and papy came home from france right before her party, and brought along some French goodies.
We served pastries.
Ham and cheese baguette sandwiches.
Various French cheeses.
Fruit cups.
Lots of French goodies and cookies.
Another sweets table. No lack of candy at the party, that’s for sure.
I made a vanilla cake with a white buttercream frosting and filled with lemon curd.
I put rock candy crystals on the sides of the cake for a little color.
My sweet girl was in heaven!
We used some wooden cutlery for the party that I hand painted to match the yellow and purple of the party.  See the DIY dipped cutlery post here.

I made some french macaron cookies in purple and yellow.

I made some DIY tassel garland (tutorial in link)

I also made some signs for the food, as well as the invitations with a little whisk of watercolors, see tutorial here.
The drink table.

The spread.

The party favor I shared here.

I put together a few fun GIANT balloons with fringe for the birthday girl.  See the tutorial I shared, here.

We are so lucky to have our sweet and sassy little girl.  These pictures make me a little bit sad, because she has already grown so much since this day.  Makes me want to bottle her up at every stage.

Hope you enjoyed the French inspired party pictures.

See more details about the party, here.

Party Sources:
Baskets- Hobby Lobby
White Trays- Walmart, Tai Pan Trading, Target
Tablecloths- Thrifted vintage fabric
Mini art easels- Hobby Lobby
Wooden boxes- JoAnns
White Vases- Ikea
Sandwich paper bags- Zurchers
Rock Candy- Zurchers
Fruit Cups- Orson Gygi
Cake Stand- Martha Stewart for Macys
Wooden Cutlery- Etsy (painted by me)
Paper Straws- Zurchers
Eiffel Tower- Hobby Lobby
Giant Balloon- Zurchers
Fringe- Zurchers

{all photos by me, Caroline Armelle Drake}

diy // wooden plank table numbers

July 23, 2013

I am really into bringing natural elements into a party or an event!  These wooden planks are so much fun and can serve as a serving tray, decoration, or even use them to make table numbers at a wedding!

There are so many options to dress up wooden planks with a wood burning tool.

For my step by step tutorial on how to make table numbers with wooden planks, be sure to check out my latest DIY post I did for the Project Wedding Blog!

{all photos by me, Caroline Armelle Drake}

DIY: watercolor paper goods …

June 5, 2013

I love the simplicity of watercolors, but they bring a big impact when it comes to paper goods.

I dressed up some food label cards I made for my daughter Norah’s French inspired party, and they really made everything come together with the color and theme, and they were so simple to make!

These would be perfect for any kind of party or even a wedding!
I am sharing the full step by step tutorial with pictures over on my post for Project Wedding today!
{all photos by me}