A Balloons & Bubbly Sprinkle

April 17, 2017July 3, 2017 | mel@apeaceofcreativity.com

On my husband’s side, between him and his two sisters, there have been 6 grandkids born in 4 years! With the next making her grand appearance this summer, we wanted to celebrate my sister in law and our new niece with a little sprinkle and the theme was Balloons & Bubbly! Two things that are very hard not to love and to decorate for. Needless to say, I was excited to help plan it and my inspiration: rose gold, blush and champagne. The drink and the color!

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In the entryway, I borrowed a gorgeous gold sequined table cloth from a dear friend to cover the console table. (Remember A Rustic, Glam Wedding?) Yes, it was gorgeous! It was the perfect place for the favors: bottles of rose champagne and rose gold goodie bags with personalized handwritten tags.

Going with the theme, goodies for the guest included everything that “pops”: bubbly, bubblegum, blow pops and popcorn!

A big thing right now is metallic cutlery and I was able to find these rose gold plastic forks, just perfect to eat the mini blush cupcakes with pearl sprinkles.

I used white melting chocolates to lighten up the pink ones to a very light blush color as well and decorated them with pearl white and gold sprinkles.

Using chiffon and tulle fabric strips, I strung them across the fireplace for a whimsical and feminine tassel garland. TIP: To give your fabric garland a more modern feel, try to keep each strip a uniform length and thickness. Also cut away any loose strings or frayed edges.

For parties and events, I love creating my own floral arrangements. I picked up a bunch of blush and light green roses and a bouquet of mixed white and green flowers. I always have a bunch of different shaped vases in the house and even use my tealight holders for the cutest mini arrangements.

Can you believe these champagne glasses are from the dollar store??? Since the party was on the smaller side (about 12 people), I wanted to personalize the glasses and decided to make custom initial charms. See the tutorial here!

Hanging over the dining room table, were diamond honeycomb decorations that I added rose, blush and champagne colored ribbon to. TIP: If you purchase decorations, try to find ones in basic solid colors or shapes that can be reused at other events. Small elements like ribbons can personalize it to the event’s theme.

To go with the bubbly theme, I used lots of clear balloons. I strung some and put them over the sliding doors and windows and also made a balloon wall where guests could take pictures. See how I made it here!

Since it was a “sprinkle” we wanted most of the time for my sister in law to visit with her close friends and family. We did include a small activity where guests could write endearing and funny messages on diapers for those rough midnight changings.

Honestly, I never really understood the concept of the “sprinkle” as I always thought that having another shower, which is basically what a sprinkle is, was a faux pas. But now, having had 3 kids, I really think it is not a shower but more of a last hurrah before the baby comes. A reason to throw a party and celebrate with all of the people closest to you before you become twice (or more!) as busy as you were before!

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Guest Peace: Cakes & Cookies

June 26, 2016April 21, 2017 | A Peace of Creativity

Tiffany is a full time working mom of 3 amazing kids ranging from 8 months to almost 8 years old. She has loved cooking and baking since she was a kid. After completing her master’s degree in business, she was still drawn to cooking and baking and decided to attend culinary school. Tiffany had her first child towards the end of her culinary education and since then making treats for family and friends has been her culinary outlet.

I started dabbling in cake and cookie decorating when my oldest son turned 3. I had very specific ideas of how I wanted the kid’s birthday cakes and treats to look which made the ones I purchased pretty pricey.

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As I decorate my treats my older kids often sit at the table and work on their own creations. They usually end up using the extra fondant like play dough which gets messy but it is fun quality time.

Most of my designs are based on what the client requests. And by clients I mean my kids, nieces, nephews and close family friends.

One of my latest projects was a doll cake for my niece. She knew exactly what she wanted and gave me detailed instructions. It was so much fun.

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The typical design process starts with the client telling me the theme of the cake. Then together we look at pictures so that I am sure to include important details. Once that is done I sketch out a rough drawing of the cake and create a game plan on how to accomplish the design. With the exception of the dolls, I try to keep everything edible.

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Larger figurines on my cakes are made out of rice krispy treats. What’s the point if you can’t eat it, right? If krispy treats do not work I use extra cake or even cookies to get the job done.

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Taste was also a huge factor in how I wanted to make my cakes and cookies. I was never a huge fan of fondant until I happened across a recipe for marshmallow fondant. What a game changer! Delicious and I could make all sorts of fun design with it.

For the cookies, I use candy melts for the simple designs. Candy melts on sugar cookies are wonderful! There are times when royal icing is necessary though. I try to keep the designs simple so that the cookies do not need extended drying times. There is nothing tasty about a dry cookie.

My fondest memories are cooking and baking with my grandma over the weekends. It was never anything particularly fancy but my grandma had a way of making the simplest things amazing. Now as a mom of 3 I want to create similar memories with my kids.

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GUEST PEACE: A Pineapple & Flamingo 30th

July 27, 2015April 10, 2017 | A Peace of Creativity

The last few months have been full of milestones here on A Peace of Creativity with a Kickstarter launch, the arrival of Mel’s niece, and her mom’s 60^th birthday. Today I’m sharing another milestone – my little sister’s flamingo-and-pineapple-themed 30^th birthday.

The decorations were a mix of DIY projects and curated discount store finds, but the hit of the party was definitely the pineapple made of gerbera daisies from my florist friend at Westwood Flower Garden.

From the beginning, I knew I wanted to keep the color palette limited to bright pink, green and yellow with touches of gold.

I like hitting a few different discount stores when planning parties, especially if it’s a seasonal event. These awesome flamingo goblets and “sunglasses” were $0.99 and I couldn’t pass them up. Just remember that if you’re really sticking to a theme, don’t try to justify things that only sort of fit your vision just because they’re so inexpensive – in the end you’ll end up with pieces you don’t really love and they’ll detract from what you’re trying to accomplish. I had to remind myself that pineapples and flamingos aren’t the same as luaus quite a few times No matter how cute those coconuts were, they didn’t fit this time around!

My favorite project was making the cupcake toppers – they served the dual purpose of bringing in more pineapple decor and adding a homemade touch.

To make them, I scanned a hand-drawn picture and added a circular border (using PowerPoint, believe it or not!) and then used the same size circular border with letters to spell out a message. I printed it all on glossy photo paper, cut out the circles, and used a circle punch to cut slightly larger circles from sparkly scrapbook paper. A little bit of glue, paired with a toothpick secured with washi tape, and they were done!

The perfect way to relay a birthday wish! As an added sentimental touch, I displayed the cupcakes on a tray that my dad made many years ago.

A party in my family is never complete without fabric bunting. I found pineapple fabric and selected other coordinating prints, folded all the fabric so I could cut out triangles with the flat side on the fold, sewed a seam about ¼” from the fold, and then strung them on string across the patio.

I spent most of the morning setting up the yard, but if you were in the Los Angeles area on July 18, you know what happened – rain! At least my tassel garland stood up to it!

The garland is fairly quick to make and so easy to customize in the colors of your party. I folded each sheet in half and cut strips starting from the bottom edge and stopping about 2-3” from the fold so then when unfolded, there was a solid strip down the center.

Starting on one side, roll or fold the tissue paper into a tube and then twist the center (the way you would wring out a towel).

Fold it in half and then twist the top so it forms a loop. At that point you can string them on rope or twine using knots to keep them in place; I’ve also seen people use glue to keep them evenly spaced.

My sister’s favorite fruit is watermelon…which just so happens to be the same color as flamingos. A flamingo-shaped cookie cutter was the perfect way to add another personalized touch.

Pineapple extract added an unexpected surprise to my mom’s homemade butter cookies.

We were all a little disappointed that we couldn’t join these guys in the pool (I think one of them took it all a little too seriously!)

But, the most important part was that we all made the best of the situation and my sister had a great 30^th birthday!

Lauren and I have been best friends for over 20 years and she is my “go to” person for any and all things crafty. Her technical mind mixed with a love of design makes for a beautiful and easy execution of whatever she decides to create.

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Totoro Party

April 6, 2015October 21, 2025 | A Peace of Creativity

My kiddo has been enamored by the Japanese animated film, Totoro, from the first time he saw it and we knew this would be the theme for his second birthday. Preparation started months before, not necessarily creating but brainstorming. This was not something I could run to the store and buy for, so I had to figure out how to create the best Totoro party from scratch.

Here are some supplies you can use to make your own!

More often than not, I start to create for parties without knowing exactly what I am going to do with them. My motto is that you can always find a place for things as long as you are happy with the outcome. The design of Totoro is so simplistic, it lends itself nicely to the imagination. The soot sprites are a sort of dust bunny in the film. What could be easier than googly eyes on a black poof ball!

I hardly ever throw anything out from a previous event. These buckets were the centerpieces at my daughter’s first birthday and I was able to draw a quick Totoro face with black marker and a little felt and use them for favors. Tags made of Japanese inspired scrapbook paper completed the look.

Creativity definitely runs in the family. My mother and sisters made the birthday banner, my cousin made the soot sprite cupcakes and my brother in-law took the photos at the park.

I still love sending mail and I think people still enjoy receiving mail! I found a pack of Totoro playing cards online and thought they would be a great addition to create custom thank you cards.

photos by cole-montgomery.com

I could not have been happier with the way the decorations worked with the location and I am so incredibly thankful to everyone who made the day so special for our little one!

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