Thursday, October 16, 2008

the apple of my eye









My day was made when this party landed in my inbox. Thank you to my new Australian friend, Nathalie, for passing these beauties along! It's days like these that make blogging so fulfilling. 

I not only love the colors of this party, but I love the subtle appearance of the number 5 in some of the elements (like the 5 cents on the cider sign). When I worked at the MS Kids magazine, we would sometimes hide a single object throughout various stories in the magazine- like an apple. It was something sometimes only we noticed, or some very discerning readers. But it was kind of like an inside joke and also provided a sense of cohesion to the issue, as well as a subtle sense of play. I love that kind of thinking in this party idea.

Nathalie writes, "Having boys doesn't mean you need to tread down the pirate, cowboy and superhero party theme path. Think about theming his party around what your child enjoys- what makes him smile...in my case, it was apple pie!

Purchasing small child sized apples from my local green grocer, green toffee apples, serving apple lemonade and of course apple pie with ice-cream could not have been easier. Adding a bit of eco-chic with bamboo cutlery and plates and putting an Imprintables stamp on it made it even more ENJOYable!

We played traditional party games such as bobbing for apples, flying wooden airplanes, sack race and tug-of-war. It kept all of the boys entertained.

One valuable lesson I learned was to have an alternate plan for wet weather. With only one hour before the party commenced, the rain was horrendous. The initial concept of having a 'picnic in the park' was not viable and the venue had to change at home...which unfortunately was not in a state to be hosting a party. Thankfully it all worked out in the end and Travis could not have been happier!

Apple lemonade recipe:
1 bottle of apple juice
1 bottle of pear juice
1 2L bottle of lemonade
Combine; watch the children and mums alike devour this tasty concoction."

Apple of my Eye invitation $4 AD/set (includes personalized double-sided invitation, Kraft envelope, and thank you tag)

All photos taken by the very talented Kasia (who has an amazing product line herself!)

Thank you again to Nathalie! Anyone else who wants to share their 'party perfect' party with me, please send photos to hickspapergoods@yahoo.com.

9 comments:

Canoe said...

Wow, what a gorgeous party! I created the wooden apple for Nathalie, featured with the invite. She told me that she was having a "green-apple" themed party, but this is more than I ever imagined! Sounds like the kids had a great time. Thanks for sharing! Apple boxes can be found at http://missnatalie.etsy.com

be gifted said...

oh my goodness!! i am planning an apple party for my daughters 4th birthday this november. . . i spent the day frustrated because i could not find any inspiration at michaels. . .you have saved me. this is amazing. where does one get the bamboo square plates that are shown?? thanks for being my inspiration. . .

by Sara Hicks Malone said...

hi cari- this party was thrown in Austrailia, so I'm sure it would be cost prohibitive to have exactly what Nathalie used. I did find some interesting bamboo pieces at Plum Party... http://www.plumparty.com/partysupply/merchant.mvc?

be gifted said...

thank you so much! i will check those out.

Sharnel said...

What a divine theme for a party. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!

testing 1 said...

As the kids say, OMG, what a lovely party! I love unique themes, and this one hit the mark beautifully.

:: imprintables:: said...

Thank you for all your lovely comments!

Stay tuned as I will forward some previous parties held for my boys to Sara in the following weeks which I'll hope you'll enjoy.

I have some great news, the following list of suppliers are happy to ship to the USA and with our dollar performing poorly it may be worth the wait!

Bamboo plates - www.ikko.com.au
Bamboo cultery - www.ikko.com.au
Balsa Wood Gliders - www.downunderpilotshop.com
Plain green party bags - www.imprintables.com.au

and of course - the gorgeous wooden painted apple - http://missnatalie.etsy.com

Thanks to Sara for such an inspirational blog!

Kelly Tillotson said...

last september I threw an "apple of my eye" baby shower for my friend who was having a little girl. I thought it was a great fall shower theme...I had a lot of fun planning it! if you scroll through this blog page you can see pictures and recipes from the party!
http://homemakinghaven.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-09-29T12%3A03%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7

Sara Zmith said...

Great Party ideas.
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