Penelope’s Birthday Party Part II

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The party was organized chaos. I didn’t take very many photos of the festivities, but I did manage to document the food table. We had Bee’s lemon water (a delicious homemade beverage that’s clear – perfect for living room dining), pulled pork sandwiches, clementines, bananas, cut veggies, chips and cake. The food was all pretty low-key except for the cake, which took a few hours to make entirely from scratch. I made a white cake with lemon curd and lemon frosting. It was deliciously moist and dense. MMM! I’ll make it again and share the recipe with you, if you’d like.

I used the Silhouette to cut a P out of paper to use as a stencil for the decorative sugar. It kind of looks gritty as if I spray painted the P on there. I like that.

I kept the decorations simple by using balloons and a handmade garland using the same paper I used for the envelopes. It was really easy to make. If you’d like a tutorial for the garland, comment! I was going to make the vellum mobiles as seen on Oh Happy Day, but I didn’t have enough time to run to the store for more paper, so I opted to make the strips into a garland instead. The vellum mobiles would’ve looked really rad, had time been on my side. I also made Penelope’s party favors using the envelope paper and a variation on the petal box template (cut with the Silhouette). I filled the boxes with hard lemon candies and candy orange slices.

The festivities were really simple: eating and dancing. It was great to keep things simple, otherwise it would’ve been like hearding cats. Plus, after spending so much time on the invitations, I wasn’t about to plan a creative party curriculum. I’m much too lazy for that. The kidlets enjoyed dancing, screaming, fighting over balloons and playing hide and seek in the ikea garbage cans that we use for storing Penelope’s toys. I say it was a great success! Also, the kids were so entertained, us parents had a great time catching up.


Click here to read part I: The Invitation

Click here to read part III: The Thank Yous

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    1. For as much as I like creating you’d think that I go all out on my kids birthday parties but the truth is…I put them off as long as possible! Meaning, if they aren’t old enough to know what is going on or remember any of it…all they get is cake. And that’s because I want cake. Hahaha. I know, I’m such a turd.

      This party looked awesome! My favorite part is the round sticker that says Pen. I love it. You can make me one that says Car. Actually don’t. Just doesn’t quite have the same ring does it.

    2. stacy says:

      i love the colors, happy birthday to penelope! i’ll have to plan a party for avery in three months so if you have any ideas send them my way!

    3. marissa says:

      Is there a tutorial for “Doing everything as well as Melissa does”? Also, could you do my birthday party next year – hahahaha!

    4. tiffany says:

      aww what a cute party! i love the photos. you’re doing awesome with your photography!

    5. Brooke says:

      Wow Melissa, I am so amazed! It looks like the party was a hit!

    6. Shaela says:

      how fabulously fun and festive!

    7. Jenn says:

      I saw the velum mobiles – I am inspired.
      Jax got the short end of the stick when it came to his birthday party this year. I had moved into a new house the same weekend so I did everything store bought – decorations, cake, everything. It all came together well, but it didn’t have that over-achieving mom vibe I was going for haha. I stashed some of these ideas in my “projects for later” file so Jack can have the birthday party he deserves next year – even it is baseball themed :)

      Good job! and happy birthday to little miss P!!

    8. Very pretty! I love simple parties like that. It looks so nice when you opt for streamlined designs instead of all the cartoony kids stuff!

    9. Vicky says:

      I just adore the garland. What a beautiful party and a super fun theme!

    10. tvmom says:

      What a cute party!

    11. Too cute! Yum, I want a slice of that birthday cake right now!!!

    12. What a cute party. I love that you added fruits and veggies to the mix.

    13. Heba says:

      nice party :)
      what’s the Type of your camera plez?

    14. Gwen says:

      Hi! I am planning a sweet 16 in a month or so and the venue has poles that would be perfect for garland…can you please post the instructions for the garland you created? It looks fabulous!

    15. […] few of you asked if I would share my methods on the garland I made for Penelope’s birthday party last month and I think it’s time I share. This garland is quick and easy and has a slightly different […]

    16. Looks like a fabulous party! Looking forward to trying the garland! The cake idea is simple and sweet!

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