Alice in Wonderland: Creating an Ambiance

Photos by Camp Fotografia

Ambiance is critical to the success of every party. As I suggested a few weeks ago, the Alice in Wonderland party had many possibilities and many characters to work with (see What About Wonderland?). The danger in a lot of imagery is creating chaos instead of a welcoming atmosphere. However, if your elements are harmonious, the outcome, as one observer of this party commented, can be quite... magical.

Cake by Carla Prado

I think the pictures speak for themselves. Especially these...

Photos by Camp Fotografia

101 Dalmatians: Favorite Things

There are some classic first birthday themes for little boys. Circus. Backyardigans. Mickey Mouse. Little guys love anything that barks or sings or jumps around. But for this little boy, one animal in particular stood out. The dog. Dogs were his favorite thing. I guess one would have their pick of designs with the countless breeds of dogs out there... but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. 

Existem alguns temas clássicos para o primeiro aniversário de um menino. Circo. Backyardigans. Mickey Mouse. Meninos amam qualquer coisa que lata ou cante ou pule por aí. Mas para este menininho, um animal em particular se destacou. Cachorros. Cachorros eram o que ele mais gostava. Algumas vezes não se pode ter demais de algo que gostamos muito.... 

Cake by Sucra

Sticking with the quantity idea, I had a solution. What's better than one dog? 101 Dalmatians. Unfortunately, dalmatians are black and white with red collars, not the color scheme I was interested in executing. Also, it had been more than ten years since the movie had hit the theaters, so dalmatian mania was long past. It was going to take a bit of creativity to carry out a visual representation of this Disney classic.

A partir da idéia de quantidade, eu achei uma soluçâo. O que seria melhor que um cachorro? 101 Dalmatas. Infelizmente, Dalmatas são preto e branco com coleiras vermelhas, não eram as cores que tinha em mente para esta festinha. Além disto já haviam se passado mais de 10 anos desde o lançamento do filme. Precisaria de um pouco de imaginação para representar este clássico do Disney.

Cupcakes by Sucra

Spots did the trick. Add a bit of baby blue and you've got a balanced palette of light and dark that makes for an effective scheme.

Quem procura acha e assim consegui achar pratinhos que posicionei na mesa como guardava na memória das minhas primeiras festinhas.

Photos by Camp Fotografia

I did manage to dig up some Dalmatian plates which I displayed over a blue polka-dot cloth. I added white balloons with black dots and some hand crafted paw prints (and of course, even little boys enjoy a flower or two). 

Adicionei balões brancos e pretos com pois e algumas patinhas (e claro, meninos também apreciam uma flor ou duas). 

Cookies by Sucra

Dog bones cookies finished off a room that ended up being simple and cute yet elegant. Next time, I might enhance the festa with a dog show that includes an actual dalmatian or two!

Biscoitos no formato de osso foram um detalhe que finalizaram esta mesa simples, fofa e elegante. Na próxima festa adicionaria um show de cachorros que incluisse um dalmata de verdade ou até dois.

Minnie Mouse: Object of Affection

Fotografia by Fazendo Pose

Many birthday parties, most in fact, are design around a character or theme. This one was a bit more specific as it was designed around a costume. A Minnie Mouse costume. So like many designers of interiors, I needed to design a party around an object. Sounds easy, right?

Algumas festas de aniversario, a maioria na verdade, são elaboradas a partir de um personagem ou tema. Esta foi mais especifica já que foi elaborada a partir de uma fantasia. Então, como muitos decoradores, eu tive que elaborar uma festa a partir de um objeto. Parece fácil, não?

Picture of costume. Minnie Mouse wouldn't be my first choice for a birthday party. Yes, she's cute and sweet, but she's something I might target for an older girl. (I mean, she's already got a boyfriend.)

Foto da fantasia. Minnie Mouse não seria minha primeira escolha para o tema de uma festa. Sim ela é uma gracinha, mas eu a usaria na festa de uma menina um pouco mais velha.  (ela já tem até namorado).

Classic minnie usually wears red, which would be even more of a struggle to create a sweet first year celebration. But luckily, the costume I was working with was pink and fit in well with a little girl theme. However, as much as I love Minnie, she alone wasn't enough to fill a room. Minnie needed a bigger theme and Mickey just wasn't going to cut it.

A Minnie Mouse geralmente usa um vestido vermelho, o que seria ainda mais difícil para criar uma doce primeira comemoração. Por sorte, o vestido que estava trabalhando era rosa e se encaixou perfeitamente no tema para uma menininha. 

Minnie and Mickey don't live in elaborate castles like the Disney Princesses. Historically their habitat resembled rather run down surroundings. And I certainly couldn't rebuild the current, high tech Mickey Mouse Club House playing these days on the Disney Channel. I needed a place to place them that was cheery and would lend to the use of enough girly elements. So a garden seemed most appropriate.

Minnie e Mickey não moram em um castelo como as princesas da Disney. E eu certamente não iria reconstruir a casa do Mickey Mouse que vemos no Disney channel. Eu precisava de um ambiente para eles que fosse alegre e bastante feminino. Assim, um jardim me pareceu bem apropriado.

Playing with pink and all the lush elements of a garden gave me ample material. Minnie is just a classic figure that there were a lot of elements to choose from at the party stores, plus I added my own touches like applying Minnie's silhouette onto bubbles and pink water bottles.

Um tema clássico como este da Minnie lhe da varias opções de elementos para escolher em uma loja de festas, além disto a festa foi toda personalizada desde bolhas de sabão até garrafas de água na cor Pink. 

Of course, Mickey got to make an appearance as well. 

E também não podia faltar o Mickey!

Minnie's favorite dress print, the polka dot, also let me create a playful environment.

Complete, of course, with a Mini Cake with a pretty pink bow and some adorably eared brigadier helped to set the stage.

Cake by Regina Rodrigues cake designer (21) 2275 3320 

Sweets by Fabiana D'Angelo

Convite e Lembrancinhas

Pink, polka dots and plenty of flowers and butterflies allowed me to create a lavish party for a sweet little princess. All based on one little costume.

Rosa, amarelo, pois e muitas flores e borboletas me ajudaram a criar uma festa suntuosa para uma Linda pequena princesa. Tudo baseado em uma pequena fantasia.

Intimate Baptism: Delicate Design



Photography by Claudia Novaes

I’ll admit it. I’m a lover of party glitz. I feel there is always that perfect equation between elegance and bling – and my job is to find it. However, in some situations, less is definitely more.

Take, for example, when you are holding a gathering in a small place of worship.

Sometimes the challenge you take on is one of location. For a baptism celebration held in a space that was distinctive in both shape and style, simplicity was the only way to go. Plus, with the aesthetics of Rio de Janeiro's tropical foliage surrounding the scene, there was little that would do better to enhance.

Regardless of the occasion, there’s an essential inventory of considerations to execute a fantastic event. In this case, my list focused on subtlety and style.



Lembrancinha by Agnus Dei

First – the invitation. While I normally am a tried and true trio person when it comes to color, for a baptism, I tend to trend toward coupling soft hues. Pink and white, obvious but classic, is where I strayed for this event. Pure, innocent, awesome.



Cake by Regina Rodrigues cake designer (21) 2275 3320 

I pulled this subtle scheme through the cake, sweets, decoration and commemoration. In the end, the atmosphere was sweet and light, while a glass of champagne in each hand made sure that everyone knew there was a reason to rejoice.

Toy Story Time Out



Photos by Camp Fotografia

 What to do when your limited on both budget and time?


As Buzz would say, "Sheriff, this is no time to panic."

Planning a party at the last minute might seem a bit nightmarish, but you'd be surprised what you can pull off under pressure.

For this party, the theme was an easy one. "Toy Story 3" had been released not so many months prior and because it was another Disney hit, party supplies weren't so hard to come by. But monetary constraints meant that a shopping spree wasn't the solution for this last minute soiree. So what was going to make this celebration of a little boy's 3rd year spectacular? 

Toys!

After a few phone calls and emails to friends and neighbors, I was set with plenty to adorn the party room. Lucky for me, the Toy Story franchise wasn't limited to Disney licensed products. 

Classic kid playthings like Mr. Potato Head, piggy banks and blocks helped in adding to the arsenal of Toy Story characters I was able to collect.

Going with primary colors, I made it easy to brighten up the room with balloons. Add some personalized labels on water bottles and candy, plus a stack of cowboy hats, and the theme is complete. 

Despite being short on time and budget, the party was a success. How could it not be when it was all about... toys?