stephmodo: Paris Birthday Party

Paris Birthday Party

• 31 January 2011


















































































































































































Almost a year ago, we started planning my daughter's Paris-themed birthday party...starting with the little Eiffel Tower key chains I bought during our last visit in the Spring. Yup...I schlepped those around for 9 months before finally having the chance to use them! Anyway, this was fun to plan together and I'm excited to share the details with you today. If you've read my blog for any amount of time, you know that I like to create homespun parties that don't break the bank (i.e. parties that don't cost more than $50-100). They are just kids after all! Keeping it sweet and simple is really the name of the game around here.

I debated about invitations for some time...and then I spotted macaron lollies in a recent issue of Donna Hay and knew this was just the idea I was looking for! Luckily, I was able to procure all of the necessary supplies locally. The macaron lollipop invitations provided the perfect excuse for hand-delivery; although driving around for an hour+ with 4 little ones at the end of the day is not recommended...:)

To set the stage for the party, we hung a Paris canvas brought back from Habitat. It was a such a pain to get back to the States, so I was happy to put it to further use! I laid a French linen tablecloth (albeit a little wrinkled despite my best efforts at the ironing board) on the table and added a few {mostly} borrowed Eiffel Towers (thanks Jihan!). The addition of cupcake stands, fresh hydrangeas and a handful of macarons completed the simple centerpiece.

Deciding on what food to serve took about five seconds--les crèpes et les macarons bien sur! We decided it would be fun to make the crepe-making into an activity, which the girls loved. They each donned one of my cooking aprons and went to town with the crepe batter (recipe forthcoming this week). They had a great time doing this and I'm happy my daughter politely reminded me that she was too old for some of the simple, old-fashioned party games I typically suggest. Anyway, once the whipped creme, bananas and nutella hit the table, it was all over! No one, including me, realized amidst the shrieks of delight, that we forgot to eat the cake. It really was all about the nutella--and rightly so!

For an additional activity the girls made their own Eiffel Tower out of sparkly silver pipe cleaners (again, thanks Jihan for the clever idea!). It was the perfect thing to do while waiting for all of the guests to arrive. We enjoyed watching each girl create her own monument in her own way. In the background we played the Putamayo French Cafe cd, as well as a few other French favorites my daughter enjoys. We also put a French spin on Hot Potato, using a miniature Eiffel Tower as the "potato" and the fore-mentioned French music. The girls giggled their way through the game and played it several times in a row. All in all, a successful party--I think it really helped my daughter feel more settled here in Seattle, which is all I hoped for in the end!

all images by Stephanie Brubaker


Update:  A few more birthday party theme ideas have been posted recently.

48 comments:

  1. i LOVE this! sooo cute. and those macaroons look delicious.

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  2. I love this party! You always have the cutest parties, but I love this one in particular. It's so simple and so much fun!

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  3. Beautiful. What a coincidence! I was planning a french party for my daughter also. I had quite a few things picked out, and then switched gears and ended up throwing a craft party instead. I thought I'd save the french theme for when she is a little older. I love the idea of cooking with kids....hmm, maybe that should be our party this year...

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  4. you always do such an amazing job of keeping it simple and beautiful. thanks for the inspiration!

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  5. Gorgeous party, and I do love how you create such unique and special events, at the same time keeping them simple and at home. Perfect.

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  6. LOVE the parties you throw for your kids. Thank you for sharing and inspiring.

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  7. How well I remember hand delivering party invitations as a girl. Stamps were too expensive, there was no eVite, and it was rude to bring them to school. It was a bit on an adventure because for some reason I didn't want to get caught in the act of slipping something into someone's mail box. Silly but fun.
    The party looks beautiful. I'd consider it for a grown-up girls gathering too.

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  8. Beautiful and refined- perfectly sweet and unpretentious. (I'm talking about you! ;)

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  9. This is great! I love how you pull it together, with every detail, for a reasonable price. It's incredible how much people can spend on the "perfect party" for their little ones. I'm on board with your simplicity without sacrificing style.

    Xo

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  10. so cute, Steph! We just found a place here in AZ that makes delicious macaroons; they are growing on me!

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  11. I love the elegant simplicity of this party! The girls look like they had a blast! Wonderful idea!

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  12. What a sweet birthday party! Your kids are so lucky to have such a creative and loving mom. I helped throw a french-themed baby shower last Fall and it was so fun to plan the food, the decor, and the games.

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  13. this is perfection friend...even better than i envisioned after we talked!!
    xoxo

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  14. What a fun party! I am obsessed with Paris decor. We have a lot in our home:) The macaron pops are darling! Love this party!

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  15. So cool! I really love this idea, pulled off quite perfectly.

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  16. absolutely adorable stephanie!!

    i'm also all about planning way in advance... it's so much easier to pick things up along the way than to scramble last minute for the perfect items.

    great job again!

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  17. I love this party. Where do you find all of your decorative boxes?

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  18. This is so classy and beautiful. I am obsessed with macarons. I would have loved a party like this when I was younger. Or now....! haha

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  19. Those little Eiffel towers are incredibly cute. I love the whole thing, actually. What I'd give for one of those crepes right now...

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  20. Oh my goodness, I love everything you do! I have posted a few pictures on my blog and linked back and credited to you. If that is a problem at all, please let me know.

    Beautiful, as usual!

    ~Jenifer

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  21. Wow! Stephanie you are amazing. Everything was beautiful, so thoughtfully placed, yet clean and simple! What a fun party. I hope your cute family is settling to your new new life in Seattle.

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  22. You throw the loveliest parties! I am in love with this one. You are truly inspiring. I used your Matryoshka party as one of my inspirations for my daughter's first. Thank you for sharing your creativity..

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  23. what a sweet party for those girls! i love when themes aren't the obvious choices. nice job!!!

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  24. Those macaroon stands are too cute. Good work, Steph.

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  25. this is the cutest little girl party ever!!! LOVE!

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  26. Wow, what an impressive party!

    Where did you get the rug? Love it!

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  27. Thank you kindly everyone for the nice comments!

    Angie, the rug is the Fallon rug--I believe I linked to it in my Modern Moroccan Rugs post...you can google it. My only complaint is how thin it is--I really wish it were more plush. But the design is killer!!! I don't know...not sure I'd buy it if I could do it over. Just an fyi :)

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  28. p.s. Lauren, they are pillow boxes from a scrapbooking company that went under--but you can buy pillow boxes from Paper Source.

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  29. What an amazing birthday party, makes me wish I could be a kid again so I could have a party like that!

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  30. Oh my! Or sould I say, Oh la la! I have a daughter turning 4 this month and although I've been planning a Paris party for her since we took her to Paris at 2, she still wants a princess party this year - thus le fete de Paris is still on hold for another year. I wish we would have been introduced (I'm tres bonnes amies avec CRN) because I would have offerred my big wire eiffel tower for your fete (I'm also in Seattle). Oh well, a la prochaine!

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  31. Love this Paris-themed party!!! Great ideas!!! My friend just recommended your blog to me...because I am a lover of all things French!!! I'm enjoying my experience!!! :)

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  32. C'est magnifique! I would love to throw a party like this someday... beautiful for a little girl, bridal or baby shower!

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  33. Wow. I want to throw this party for my daughter. And my 23-year-old sister. And my grandmother. it's beautiful and defies age and... wow.

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  34. i love this party! what a lucky little girl. sidenote: i also love your rug and have almost bought it about 100 times in the past few months.

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  35. Another fabulous party! I love ALL the details :)

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  36. I think this is one of the *loveliest* parties I've seen in a long time. Perfect, thoughtful details. Beautiful!

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  37. love the details of this pretty party - especially the Eiffel Tower table centerpieces and the macaroon stands!

    http://www.thelateafternoon.com

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  38. I love the pipe cleaner eiffel tower idea!

    My French-obsessed 10yo has been planning a french-themed party for months... and her next party won't be for over a year since we do even-number year friend parties. ha!

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  39. What a precious party! I absolutely love the idea of macaroon lollies! So simple yet so French. Magnifique!

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  40. i was looking for "paris party" ideas a few weeks ago and stumbled upon this blog, what great ideas! today is my sixteenth birthday and i'm in the process of planning something similar to this to have in a few weeks. you can imagine my excitement when i found the exact eiffel tower centerpieces at target today! thanks, stephanie! :]

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  41. I live in Canada, where can i find those nice wire centre pieces?
    I am planning my cousin's bridal shower and this is the theme!
    thanks

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  42. Anon, mine were gathered in France and from a friend; but I know you can find them at a lot of different places here in the US. I just jumped on Amazon and they have a bunch in different sizes, including the key chains I bought in Paris!

    http://www.amazon.com/?tag=hy7kju-20

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  43. i love your paris themed part idea im ten and my birthdaynwas based on all of yuor ideas!i will save them and have my child use it if i have a girl!!!

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