"she changed my life with a new lamp and a can of paint!" s. mcdaniels, louisville, ky

2.14.2012

Sweet “Eloise at the Plaza” Birthday Party: Hostess with the Mostess


 



Sweet “Eloise at the Plaza” Birthday Party

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Charynn

:
“My daughter Madelyn has loved Eloise since she was 2 years old. She collects the dolls, books, and has ALWAYS asked for a party at The Plaza. Since it is such a special ‘number’ birthday – for her 5th birthday, I decided to style a pink, black, and white Eloise themed soiree. I enlisted the help of Kelly from WH Hostess to create an amazing invitation and coordinating party goods using Madelyn (and Eloise)’s favorite color, pink, and my love for black and white patterns. For the invitation, we had Vana Chupp of Le Papier Studio a custom silhouette of Madelyn created in an Eloise ‘pose’ that we carried through in several of the other party goods.

When Madelyn suggested the idea of an Eloise party, I immediately thought of an all-pink bakery that Eloise might visit on one of her trips outside of The Plaza. We built large risers to mimic the interior of a bakery store window, and created an awning using black and white striped fabric from Ikea. I used white cake stands and dessert ware from my collection, and I also greatly expanded my collection with a fabulous (and super inexpensive) project: DIY milk glass using glassware from Goodwill and white spray paint. It was styled with all pink desserts that were created by myself, with touches of black and white throughout.

Some of Madelyn’s favorite desserts were on the display, including: pink chocolate coated Oreo truffles, hot pink macarons filled with dark chocolate ganache, chocolate cupcakes with pink strawberry buttercream, NYC black and white cookies, mini donuts sprinkled with pink coconut, chocolate dipped pretzels, meringue ‘ice cream cones’ that rested on WH Hostess patterned paper to match that theme (and on a DIY ice cream cone stand!), pink gum balls and hard candy from Candy Warehouse, and absolutely adorable marshmallow pops made especially for Madelyn by The Marshmallow Studio. One of Madelyn’s special requests for the pink ‘bakery’: two different cakes: a pink rosette cake, and a fondant covered creation with pink stripes and a replication of her silhouette in fondant.

Another of Madelyn’s requests was to have a tea table set up for her and her friends to use at the party. As a surprise, I ordered an actual Eloise tea set from The Plaza to decorate the table, along with some pink and black cupcakes topped with pink and white swirled lollipops, strawberry cream cheese tea sandwiches, Eloise-themed stuffed animals, and pink and white polka dot suitcases. I made curtains using more of the Ikea fabric, and to tie the theme together, styled the floor with a black and white chevron rug. The tea table was so simple to pull together, and it was Madelyn’s favorite part of the party!

For the favor table, I really wanted to make it fun, whimsical, but also fitting for the preppy and modern theme. I made the ‘FIVE’ letters using wooden letters and small rectangular wooden plaques painted white and filled a bookshelf with the favors and lots of pink balloons. For favors, the kids at the party received a marshmallow pop from The Marshmallow Studio, ridiculously cute pink Eloise headbands made especially for the party by EmzBowz, and a custom memory card game featuring WH Hostess graphics custom-made for the party. The display was topped off with a banner from WH Hostess and striped fabric. One of MY favorite parts of the party were the little signs that Kelly and I came up with, using little phrases and key words from the books, including ‘Gifts from ME, Madelyn’ for the favor table and ‘oooooohhh, I absolutely love BIRTHDAYS!’ for the tea table. It was the perfect addition to the party to add a touch of the character feeling without going overboard.

The most talked about (and loved by the adults) part of the party was the inventive drink station we created. I have always found it amusing that, in the books, Eloise knew to order Nanny a drink from room service. Just like Nanny, the adults at our parties like a little ‘libation’ or two. I created a simple background for the table using a large silhouette from the stationery in an ornate frame from Ikea. Kelly created custom labels for the liquor bottles that were displayed on a cake stand for some height, and mixers were displayed in simple glass carafes. Another creative sign let all of the guests know that these were ‘Nanny’s Libations’ and were not for kids. A small game was also created using hot pink sixlets, as the guests had fun guessing how many ‘champagne bubbles’ were in the jar.

With a lot of pink and some key character touches for my little Eloise, and some modern patterns for my taste, I was able to create an adorable party that my daughter will remember for years to come. All of the hard work paid off when my daughter announced after the party that ‘Mommy brought The Plaza to my house!’”

*****VENDOR CREDITS & RESOURCES:



– Party Stationery: WH Hostess
– Event Styling: Two Sugar Babies and WH Hostess / The Party Dress
– Desserts: Two Sugar Babies
– Gumballs & Candy: Candy Warehouse
– Marshmallow Pops: The Marshmallow Studio
– Pink Headbands: EmzBowz
– Tea Table and Picture Frames: Ikea
– Fabric: Ikea, JoAnn Fabric
– Wooden Letters and Plaques: JoAnn Fabric
– Pink Suitcases and Paper Straws: Shop Sweet Lulu
– Pink Cupcake Wrappers and Swirl Lollipops: Target

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