It is so hard to believe that we got to celebrate DOUBLE DIGITS for our sweet Janie this year! Janie loves to be involved in the party planning process every year and is always thrilled to have her friends come and experience what we have dreamed up. This year, we really had to really scale back on the size of the group since we are still restricted under Covid laws, but we found a way to make the day just as wonderful for her.

Janie has always been an animal lover and when we discovered our initial inspiration for the Glam Safari party months ago, she was quickly all in on the theme. It really was a fun one for me to create and utilize a lot of the supplies from past parties.

Where Cindy has dived head first into the balloon art recently and I have assisted her on several projects, I am still learning the tricks of the trade per say in this fun new-to-me party medium. After creating a lovely balloon chandelier piece for a Joanna’s Baby Shower recently, I decided it would be a fun thing to try in my own kitchen.

To start with this balloon arch I start with Qualatex brand balloons. The individual balloon links and colors are linked at the bottom for easy purchase. We have found that while Qualatex balloons cost more, they are much easier to work with and are biodegradable, which is extremely important to Cindy & I!

I started with the 11 inch balloons in base colors of rose and wintergreen and created 5 clusters of four. I connected those clusters with fishing line to create the framework of the balloon arch. Once the larger balloons were in place, I created clusters of 4 with the 5 inch balloons which were the accent colors of pink, blush gold, rose and rose gold. Then I placed the smaller clusters in place with glue dots.

After all the balloons were placed, I added the faux greenery in several different lead shapes. Some of the pieces had a wire end which made them easy to place and keep in place.

One of my other favorite party hacks, especially for kids parties (most the kids just lick the frosting off anyway), is to purchase a cake from a grocery store and embellish them to match the them with a fun topper. Janie is a chocolate lover and I found this chocolate strawberry cake at our local Safeway. I added some pink sprinkles, a rose gold giraffe, a paper flower, Janie’s name and “10” that I cut with my Silhouette Cameo electronic cutter. I found rose gold metallic paper and made a lot of pretty paper flowers to embellish the centerpiece, candy jars and party favors. I also used my Silhouette Cameo to make these!

These Dollar Tree plastic animals were easily transformed with the Krylon Rose Gold spray paint and brought a great pop of glam to the Safari theme.

To set the rest of the dessert table, I used my white crates (again!!) to block off the sides and help to start the symmetry of the set up. In the middle I used put the sign for the 8 x 10 birthday sign in the white frame with oversized matte. I found this soft cheetah wrapping paper at my local Home Goods. I originally planned on it as a photo backdrop, but it was high quality and easy to work with for other craft projects. In addition to the matte, I used this paper to wrap glass jars, the beverage bottles and even a strip to tie in the safari hat. It was set off when paired with the rose gold sparkle ribbon.

Our family shares the opinion that parties require sweet treats!! I tried to pick up all of Janie's favorites including french marcoons from Trader Joe's, animal cookies, pink striped cookies, and lots of candy!

I had some fun pink and white striped goodie bags left over from a different event, stuffed them with candy and embellished with a paper flower. Pink and white animal cookies were bagged with a fun cheetah topper and rose gold ribbon. I found fun gold wire baskets at Dollar Tree to contain the treat favors as well as the favor baskets.

For the sleepover, I found matching nightgowns in animal print for the guests, along with a pink spa headband and peachy face mask. Each was placed in a gold, wire basket with a personalized name tag. I used bronze Circuit brand vinyl with my Silhouette Cameo electronic cutter to make vinyl name and safari animal transfers, and embellished the tags with ribbon and a paper flower.

For the personalized favors, I used my Silhouette Cameo electronic cutter and Cricut brand rose gold vinyl personalized name tags with names and safari animals. I have now had my Cameo for over ten years and absolutely love it and all that I can do. I occasionally replace cutting blades and mats but the machine operates just as it well as it did when it was brand new. I also love that the Silhouette design store has so many great designs to choose from as well and easy to use design features. I feel like investing in this tool really does allow me to affordably elevate the events that I create. I love to make personalized banners, cake toppers, favor tags, stickers, vinyl lettering and my very favorite thing to create are paper flowers. I have experimented making so many paper flowers through the years and love the texture and depth they add to my crafting. There are really SO many different paper flower designs to choose from in the Silhouette Design Store.

Photo back drop for the sleepover!

The original inspiration for this party were some of the decorations Michaels carried in the the spring that Janie loved. That includes the gold cheetah plates, pink flower plates, coordinating napkins as well as the Wild One and gold cat banners Unfortunately, this was a seasonal product and most items in this collection are no longer available in the stores. If I wanted to create this party theme again without this collection, I would look to Meri Meri’s Safari Animals or jungle collection and then add in elements of pink and gold along with the greenery.

Balloons: 5 inch and 11 inch Qualatex balloons with the faux tropical leaves added in. We used these colors:

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