Love and Lion

party

FEATURED: ROWEN’S SHARK PARTY

We’ve been bugging our crazy-talented friend, Shara, for pictures of Rowen’s Shark Party since we walked through the door of the party… and had our mind’s blown. Modern, clean, fun, creative touches EVERYWHERE. Crafty in the coolest way, clever menu, fun games for kiddos…so good.
Shara used two slightly different colors of crepe paper and twisted them to create “water”. She hung all the sharks from string so they would appear to float on top of the waves. Genius.
 One of our favorite things of the party was this shark wreath! Shara spray painted a foam wreath core gray then hot glued plastic sharks (here) all around to simulate a shark attack feeding frenzy!
The fins on the mantel were pin-on fins for the kids to wear. Shara made them using stiffened felt and a template found here.
 I mean… really
Cake topper here

 Menu:
Shark Bait sandwiches (tuna salad)
Shark Fin sandwiches (cheese triangles)
Slow Swimmer Salsa and Sea Algae Guacamole with Fins (blue tortilla chips)
Shark Teeth (Bugles)
Whale and Goldfish crackers
Vegetarian Shark Food (crudites)
Watermelon Shark fruit salad (carved by Shara’s husband after she showed him pictures on Pinterest and convinced him it would be easy! Ha!)
Sea Dogs (hot dogs)
Great White Sugar Cookies
Fish Kabobs (gummy fish and shark candies on a stick)
Life Preservers (mini sugar donuts with red gel icing)
Jaws cupcakes (vanilla cake with vanilla whipped frosting and gummy sharks
Shark Attack cupcakes (blue velvet cake with coconut cream cheese icing and fondant fins)
Chum Punch
Shark Infested Lemonade
 Shara’s favorite things about the sharks hung from the ceiling were the shadows they created when the light was turned on. The slight movement of the sharks and the big shadows made it look like there were actually sharks swimming around the room.
Party Activities: 
Shark Dress Up Bucket- shark, sailor, and captain costumes, beach ball, surfboard, sunglasses, flower leis, blow up shark, beach paraphemalia
Air swimmer remote-controlled helium shark (Amazon)
Pink the Fin on the Shark (Amazon)
Make Your Own Shark Game craft station
Let’s Go Fishing Game
Finding Nemo Movie
 
Ari LOVED this activity… we still have his shark on the fridge!
 Favor buckets: “shark tank” bubbles, “under the sea” coloring book, shark stickers and tattoos, bag of shark and fish gummy candies, shark squirter toy, fish stamps, sunglasses, and glow bracelet
Invitation, favor tags, and thank you notes here
Gummy fish kabob!
Big Birthday Boy Rowen!
Thank you for sharing your party with us, Shara! We loved every minute of it (oh and so did our kids!!). 

A PRINCESS PARTY IN THE PARK

Our little Amara turned a whopping 3 years old at the end of September. I am really late in getting this post up, so I apologize! Anyway, we have a lot going on right now, and the end of summer/ beginning of Fall is always such a busy season for our family ( lots of birthdays and travel). So, I decided to keep Amara’s party simple this year! The biggest thing for me was NOT hosting it at my house. Last year, we did her party at a local vineyard ( 2nd birthday here ), and it was so nice not having a huge mess to clean up at my house afterwards. 
With that being said, the park seemed like a good choice. Kid’s could play, the weather is so gorgeous this time of year, and it is easy clean-up. You always take a risk having your party at a public place. There were NO empty pavilions for decorating, so we worked with what we were given. It all turned out nicely.

 The party favors were a mix of handmade and store bought items. There will be a more detailed breakdown of the favors on Monday! So, be sure to check back!

 Princess (fruit) wands were a hit…
 Pirate’s Booty (Amara’s favorite) snack bags!
 Our cupcakes began to melt in the sun, which didn’t make for a pretty photo-op, but I got some horse figurines from the Target dollar section to resemble “Minimus” from Sofia the First.
 I made sure all of the food was grab and go…. stuff that you could stand around and eat. 
 It is always good to save. I had tons of straws leftover from Amara’s party last year, so I just put them to use this year. 
 We hired an amazing face painter, and she was definitely the hit of the party. I could have stood there and watched her paint every single face. Such a talent!


Amara takes it VERY seriously…. 




 
Mastering her new number…

FEATURED PARTY: NOAH’S ARK 2 X 2 BIRTHDAY PARTY

We’re so excited to feature the cutest birthday party for twinsies you ever did see! Noah’s Ark Two-By-Two, a perfect birthday theme for twins, right?! Laura is super crafty and lucky for us, a Love & Lion reader. She used ideas from Ari’s animal themed party and took it to the next level! We love all the little details Laura put into her girls’ party to make it extra special. What a good mommy she is! We can’t imagine having twins… this lady makes every day special for her girls, and documents it on her instagram and blog here. Audrey and Evangeline are two lucky (and gorgeous) ladies!
 Laura painted an inexpensive tray with chalkboard paint and added these fun gold animal magnets. “Judgement Day Mimosas” are obviously our fav detail! Ha!
Audrey and Evangeline eating their rainbow cake like little ladies! For the hats, spray paint plastic animals gold, cut in half, and glue. More animal hats and other party decor here. 
Sipping “flood water” aka blue juice, through animal straws. Laura spray painted plastic animals then drilled a hole for the straw topper.
So simple. So cute. Why didn’t we think of this? 
The party invitations were on the back of the animal masks, and Laura asked guests to wear it to the party. She had 2 of each mask… two-by-two. Genius. Laura simply drew a rainbow in chalk for the photo booth backdrop.
Outdoor activities included crayon-covered tables, baby pools, balloons, bubble machines, play dough with animal cutters, chalk, and lots of cookie eating!
Menu:
ham sliders, rainbow fruit kabobs, rainbow cake, rainbow cookies, animal crackers, animal gummy kabobs, rainbow goldfish, orange/grapefruit “judgement day” mimosas, coffee, “flood water” blue juice
Sources: 
Dollar Store: napkins, animal plates, crazy straws, trays, kraft paper for coloring tables, pink sparkle candles, plastic animals, noah book party favors, bubbles, chalk
Target: mask invitations, hats, labels, cups
Michaels: plastic animals, spray paint
For more pictures, details, and a fabulous blog about being a mommy of twins, visit Laura’s blog,
  The Anderson Family Storybook. Thanks Laura!! You’re the best!

CAKE DECORATING PARTY

Today, we are “flashing back” to an absolutely perfect cake decorating party! My dear friend, Sally, threw her daughter, Kate, a sweet (pun very much intended) soiree for her birthday. Sally is so creative, thoughtful and just plain fun! She thought of all of the little details without over doing it, which we can TOTALLY appreciate. As a matter of fact, Leah and I were just talking about how inspirational a photo of a simple banner, cute cake topper, and a beautifully wrapped gift are to us. We definitely love a big party with details that most people may not even notice, but it really is about the few simple touches that can really make a party. That is how we feel about this party…… simplicity makes it stunning.
Sally’s garage is party play area…. part garage. She decided to decorate a small space in there to accommodate a few party guests. Icing + Kids can equal a bit of a mess, so it made sense. We just adore Sally’s love of color and pattern.
 Something about this tray of icing tubes makes us smile!

Sally embroidered the name of each guest onto their own personal apron.

Don’t you want to just lick eat every. single. cupcake?

Milk glasses with colorful striped straws never get old.

Thanks for sharing this with us Sally!! I know you had just as much fun as those kids. 
Happy Friday everyone…. we sure are ready for the weekend!

RYAN AND CHRISTY’S RUSTIC WEDDING : PART TWO

After the beautiful ( super emotional …. I am a crier) ceremony ended, we headed to the reception space. It was held in an absolutely gorgeous barn. Guests enjoyed a little cocktail hour which also included a nacho bar. The bride loves her nachos! Great way to keep those tummies full while they get their drink on, haha!  

There was a taco buffet set up on the bottom level of the barn. DEEEEELICIOUS, and so festive! 
I had so much fun doing these tables. I had two men ( wedding guests who offered to help set up that morning) channeling their inner florist. It was amazing, and I was so grateful! Christy wanted 3-4 brass candle sticks on each table and beautiful greenery intertwined throughout them. Super simple and elegant. We topped each table off with a few light pink and cream roses to accommodate their color story. I used live moss to add a little something extra to the bridal party/family tables. My favorite touch by far. I didn’t get a picture of it, but I also filled window boxes along the side of the barn with the moss as well. It is such an inexpensive way to make such an impact. So classy and so natural, which is exactly what we were going for.
Our sweet friend, Lori (aaaand her dear hubby), spent the ENTIRE morning assembling these napkins with a letters to their guests with cream ribbon. She worked her little heart out you guys!! These were placed on each place setting. Since the catering was done buffet style, Christy opted for these to make the impact of “plates” if you will. Such a beautiful letter written to share their hearts and express gratitude to their guests.
The dessert table was filled with mostly homemade goods and then some yummy treats from Whole Foods. The dessert table was devoured in no time!! We used custom made tree trunk cake stands, brass pieces and glass to make all of the treats look pretty.

Homemade cobbler and “strawberry shortcakes”….. oh my gawwwwwsh!

A friend of the couple made this stunning gluten – free cake for the big day! Look at those brass pinwheel cake toppers!!! Love! We simple wrapped the cake in live moss and a few roses.

While the reception was going on upstairs, guests were encouraged to come downstairs and take photos in the photo booth. The props were so fun, and you also were able to leave a video for the happy couple before your little photo session started. Then, the photo booth operator printed out photo strips for each guest….. one for them to keep, and the other to place into a book for the newlyweds.
These people can dance….. alllllll night long!
The lovely sparkler goodbye. Never gets old to me. Then, they rode off into the night on their motorcycle. (yes, I say “their” because it is no longer JUST Ryan’s bike, right?) hehe.
I am sorry, but I have to add some more photos (just because). You don’t mind, right?

Thanks for reading!! Ryan and Christy….. I was so honored to be a part of this day ( both as help and as a guest). You are both such special, giving, serving, genuine and loving people….. and oh so much fun! Wishing you all the happiness this world could possibly give you!
-J
You can see part ONE of Ryan and Christy’s wedding HERE
Photos by: Kristin Sweeting Photography

RYAN AND CHRISTY’S RUSTIC WEDDING

I am so excited to feature this wedding on the blog this week you guys!! I was asked to style the wedding of our dear friends back in April, and it was so much fun. Even if Ryan and Christy weren’t dear dear friends of mine and my husband’s, I STILL would have jumped at the chance because they are incredible people who also have great style already. They are just cool without trying, ya know? 
In talking to the newly engaged couple, they had very clear visions of what they wanted. My job was to just make it come to life. The ladies on Christy’s side of the family had lots of their own creative juices flowing, so I felt like I got to come in and just “touch up” and add to what was already beautiful. The term “rustic chic” is very overused, but that is what we were going for, haha! Lots of brass, peaches and creams, navy and other natural looking textiles. The most important thing to the couple was that they married in the middle of a “forrest”. They wanted nothing but trees and guests attending the ceremony. It was a genius idea, and made the entire ceremony so captivating.
 There are so many beautiful pictures to share, that I decided to break this feature up into two posts! So, I guess you will just have to check back tomorrow to see how this beautiful day unfolded. 
The couple decided to use Nashville postcards for people to write on as their guestbook. 
Christy (along with friends and fam) were on the hunt for months leading up to the wedding looking for brass containers and candlesticks ( which you will see more of tomorrow….eeeeek)!
We decided to use old cigar boxes that the groom had on hand to present the groomsmen with their ties and a pre-wedding cigar.
Isn’t that backdrop stunning? We think so!
Beautiful photos by: Kristin Sweeting Photography
See part TWO of Ryan and Christy’s wedding HERE

FINN’S CONSTRUCTION PARTY

There’s nothing we love more than throwing a party, and this time we were so excited to design a construction-themed party for sweet Finn’s second birthday. He (like so many little dudes) is obsessed with diggers and trucks, so naturally, his mom came up with a construction theme. We wanted to keep the look simple and modern like we do for our own parties, so we took out orange and kept the main colors kraft, black, and yellow.
To direct guests into the house, we set up a detour sign and lined the walkway with cones HERE. We bought a raw wood saw horse at Home Depot and painted the legs in black for that “dipped” look.
 Here’s the birthday boy, Finn! Isn’t he gorgeous? 
FOOD & DRINKS:
Because we peer pressured Finn’s parents to serve their guests alcohol at their kid’s party like WE do… 
a “Site Managers Only” sign was needed!
 The “road” backdrop in all of these shots is just black wrapping paper with yellow card stock lines stuck on with double stick tape.
FAVORS:
Teeny toy trucks HERE.
 We found these goofy tool tattoos at Hobby Lobby! A little stereotypical… but fun, right? 
Teeny treat bags HERE.
 Toddler crack bubbles from the dollar store.
Construction hats HERE.
Dirt Pops AKA jumbo marshmallows dipped in white chocolate candy melts, rolled in crushed graham crackers. SO GOOD you guys. You can display these bad boys in extra graham cracker crumbs.
Tip: dip the lollipop sticks in the candy melts FIRST, push that into the marshmallow and let dry- this will secure the marshmallow to the stick. Then you can dip the marshmallows in candy melts, shake off extra chocolate, and roll in the crumbs. You can keep these frozen for a week or so before the event.
We packaged the goodies up in THESE boxes and personalized them for each child.
FUN & GAMES:
 We made the photo booth by simply painting a flattened cardboard box!
 Photo booth props: We hot glued the paper props we made to dowels, vest HERE, hats HERE.
 Finn’s big sis, Annie.
Awwww yeah, every little boy’s fantasy, every parent’s nightmare. Finn’s parents are troopers! 
 The kids ate lunch picnic-style on tarps because… duh.
Happy Birthday, Finn! We had so much fun dreaming up your construction party and hope you got your fill of digging, dirt, and sweet treats!

JENNI’S PINK POM POM BABY SHOWER

I’ve been waiting (impatiently) to share one of my favorite events… Jenni’s baby shower! Almost three years ago I co-hosted this charming fete for my bestie along with two incredible and important women in Jenni’s life, Lori and Amanda. Although it was a couple’s shower, we decided on a pink pom pom / chevron theme to match Amara’s nursery (scroll down to see) and just told the boys to get over it! Plus I guarantee 99% of the guys never noticed the girly theme when there was plenty of drinks, great food, and lots of late-night dancing going on! And Jenni and Gabe’s friends can DANCE, people. Actually the dance floor was my favorite area strung with tons and tons of pom poms!
The dessert table laden with all pink desserts and a garland of little tissue paper squares.
Gabe and Jenni! Youngin’s…
I found this pink box in the office section at Walmart!! and filled it with teeny treat bags full of Gabe’s favorite candies, Reeses Pieces. Gotta give the dad one thing, right?
Lori made the BEST oreo truffles…omg 
We wrapped the vases and tables with ribbon – simple!
Late night s’mores around the fire pit were the perfect way to end the night!
My favorite thing to make for baby showers- a diaper cake! To fit with the pom pom theme, I just made tiny ones and stuck them in with floral wire.
To give the cake an ombre look, use matching tissue paper and ribbon: two fuschia tiers, one light pink tier, and two white tiers. Normally I use Pamper Swaddlers diapers since they’re all white… but honestly I had these on hand and didn’t mind the touch of green.
More of our diaper cakes HERE and HERE.
We asked Jenni and Gabe’s parents to send us pictures of them when they were little for the centerpieces, so we could imagine what Amara will look like! (Spoiler: exactly like Gabe).
We even anchored some poms in the pool to carry the theme throughout the yard. Amanda’s home is stunning, right??
I made this chevron photo booth backdrop with just squares of pink and white tissue paper. Just layer the squares- no cutting! I used double stick tape on two large pieces of foam core and Lori’s insanely handy hubby hung them with fishing line. 
Photo booth props: empty barnwood frames from Hobby Lobby, and a baby bump pillow were favorites. We also left a blank scrap book out for guests to write their best advice and wishes!

Here’s the gorgeous Jenni in Amara’s nursery- the inspiration for the whole shower! She and Lori hand painted this wall! To see Amara’s white and modern big girl room, click HERE, though after all that hard work painting, I can’t believe Jenni switched the look!
The invite! Inspired by the pink chevron wall above. By Rock Paper Scissors.
What a joyful night! We celebrated the crap out of these two. Deserving people who created the most special little lady, Amara. Let’s do it again, Jenni! (She’s reading this going, noooo way!)
-L

PAINTING PARTY AT THE VINEYARD + GIVEAWAY WINNER

Our party “throwback” this week is my daughter’s “Pom Poms & Painting” themed 2nd birthday party. Amara still enjoys painting so much! We kept it fairly simple by holding it not in our house… whoop whoop! outdoors at a beautiful vineyard. I assembled basket lunches for the adults, boxed lunches for the kiddos with juice boxes and canned sodas and called it a day! Of course we bought wine as well…. I mean, we WERE at a vineyard.

 I set up a painting table with a place setting ( 3 sheets of watercolor paper, an art smock and a paint set) for each little guest. Tags and invites done by Lauren at Rock Paper Scissors.
Follow our simple DIY party hat tutorial here. I additionally added some poms to each hat.  I hand -dyed some in water color water to get the pastel look. 
I actually cut circles out of one of Amara’s many paintings at home to make tags for the boxed lunches! It just made it all that more personal.
I filled clear paint cans ( found at Joann’s Fabric Store) with different colors of tissue paper to resemble “paint” and stocked each can with $1 items. My favorite favors were the mini paint sets!
I set up a dessert table with some sweet treats! I hot glued pom poms to the front of the table cloth to go with the theme.
homemade cupcakes with DIY cake toppers. I simply cut stripey straws into thirds and hot glued pom poms to the ends…. voila!
Rice crispy treats on a stick dipped in candy melts. These were much harder to make than I thought they would be, but they were a hit so they were worth it!
My favorite thing of all is the “year of instagrams” banner I did. I watercolored little flags, glued them to mini paper clips to label each month. I loved this banner so much!!

It was such a beautiful evening!! Now, its time to start gearing up for birthday no. 3… yikes!
** THE WINNER OF OUR STYLE ME PERFECT GIVEAWAY IS…….
MANDY LINTHICUM!!!!!!! WHOO HOO!!! **
CONGRATS!!! We know you will love the service, and even more importantly…. your sweet stylist!!
Thanks to all who entered!

PIPER’S BUNNY THEMED 2ND BIRTHDAY

You are officially invited to the most fabulous 2nd birthday party for the cutest little bunny lover we know. When Lauren of Rock Paper Scissors was deciding on a theme for her sweet girl, Piper, there was no question that Floppy ( her little bunny) would need to be the guest of honor. Piper and Floppy are BFFs for sure! We love how Lauren took something so meaningful to Piper and created a party around that.
We are so excited to share this with you all…. especially during this Easter season. The touches are all so sweet and the details are nothing short of perfection!
^^ Lauren is our girl when it comes to invites! We are just swooning over this beautiful invite she custom designed for the party. Who wouldn’t want to come after seeing this!?! ^^
^^ Honestly, our absolute favorite detail were these pink painted carrots! SO creative!! ^^
^^ Right when you entered, there was a little coloring station where each party guest could color their own “floppy”…. after you put your bunny ears on of course. ^^

^^ Can we just talk about this for a second?! Each flower was handmade by the fab mama herself to create a garland along the mantel. Definitely time consuming, but absolutely worth it all we think! ^^
^^ The celebration wouldn’t be complete without this incredible cake to blow candles out on. 
Beautiful! ^^

^^ We love that there was a little something there for the adults to do. A little bunny origami 
anyone? ^^
^^ There were actually REAL bunnies there for the party guests ( adults included) to snuggle on! They were a huge hit, and seriously the “cherry on top” of this big ole fat, delicious cupcake of a party! ^^
^^ Lastly, each little party guest left with their very own finger puppet attached to a custom designed card showing little Miss Piper herself. ^^ 
Lauren! We adore it all!! Thank you for letting us share your party. It is clear that so much love and thought went into making this day so special for your little.

A WEDDING SHOWER: PARTY UNDER THE LIGHTS!

Hi Friends!! I know it probably seems like we have forgotten how to blog here, but I can assure you we have not just been sitting on the couch eating bon bons. Although, that sounds nice. One half of us is about to put a house on the market ( we all know how stressful that is in itself) while the other is in the thick of wedding celebration planning and styling for a sweet sweet couple. Exciting stuff, right!?!
I just wanted to share a few photos from a wedding shower that I helped throw with some other lovely ladies! The engaged couple are such dear friends of ours, and we were all so thrilled and honored to host such a sweet night for them. It was a “Party Under the Lights” theme, so we just wanted candles and garden lights galore. Oh! And LOTS of dancing. It helps when there is a beautiful home as a backdrop! I was in crazy party mode, so my sweet hubby took these photos. Btw, it is so interesting to see what details draw him in vs. what draws me in. There were a few detailed shots that we missed, but I am grateful to him for getting these shots. It will help you get a feel for the party.

^^ My favorite thing about the shower was the “balloon chandelier” over the dining table. I attached photos of the couple with baker’s twine to each balloon. The pics were all different sizes and the twine was cut at different lengths just to add some dimension. I couldn’t stop looking at it all night. ^^

^^ the not completely set up dessert table 😉 ^^
^^ Jerk chicken anyone? Our friend, Damien, knows how to do it right you guys!”^^
^^ We had several chairs set up around a fire pit so the groom – to – be could enjoy some cigars with his buddies! ^^

^^ Another one of my favorite touches was filling these planters with living moss and candles. So simple and so beautiful. It was a great way to fill the planters that have yet to be “springified” 😉 ^^

^^ We set up a guestbook table for everyone to come in and snap their photo and write a little note of encouragement to the happy couple. ^^ 
Such a lovely night. Friends, family and good food make for a perfect party!
-J

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