Touchstone - Party Style: Kids Parties from Baby to Sweet 16

> dedication <

This first book is dedicated to my mother, Dolly, for giving me my love of holidays and entertaining at home.

My Father, Darryl, for always believing in me.

My children, whose dreams are the source my inspiration and my love.

Anthony, for grounding me and my creative brainwithout you, this book would not be possible, along with too many other things to count.

Jeanette, for always being willing to shoot my style.

And to all the www.ILovePartyStyle.com fans, whose continued support provides all opportunities for the Party Style brand.

Thank You, Thank You!

XOXO

Contents

> A Wish for the Style Maker in You <

To me, style and love go hand-in-hand. It is what we seek out in life that make us feel good, that makes us feel inspired, and that makes us feel alive and in love with our lives. There truly are so many variables to a style, and each person has the ability to create their own individual style by really focusing on what they love, what colors, textures, feelings, objects, and shapes conjure emotion. True style is developed by separating the likes from the loves, by meshing contrasting feelings, and by being able to convey a message visually.

My style shines through as I create parties, displays, and pretty settings that hopefully will make you feel something and inspire you to create amazing moments in time to share with the people most important to you. I like to think of planning and styling as an art, and a place in time is my canvas. With my art I aim to create a lasting feeling, a memory that each guest gets to take home and enjoy for years to come. Party planning is the most fun part of the experience for me. Getting to craft something special with a friend or a sister, staying up all night, rushing to get it done, trying hard to get it right, laughing at the things you missed or the things that go wrongas they sometimes do, no matter how well you planned it out. These are the moments that youll cherish, the fun working and the working before the fun; these are the stories that make up our lives. My wish is that we make magic together, whether it be through this book or my blog, or as you use my products to make memories in your home. I wish to inspire you to create meaningful, memorable moments with your family and friends that will last a lifetime. Embrace your true style and make your party shine with originality and personality. The fun thing about design is with the basic principles in play you can create something beautiful, stylish, and all your own.

chapter one

A Perfect Party

If you want to have a perfect party, then you have to have perfect planning. While there are many, many things to consider when planning your party, you will need to focus on what the party is about to get the planning started. Doing your best to be organized about the event details is the key to making the hosting a breeze and making your party go off without a hitch. It will make all the difference in the world for you if you sit down and plan out your vision. If you take a minute to visualize the party, who it is for, and what will make that person smile, then you can get the ball rolling on everything else. To start, write out a description on paper or on your tablet. Then, based on that description, write down your plan. This pre-planning description will save you time, save you money, and save you from stress come the day of your party. This should also be the very first thing that you put in your party-planning folder. The party-planning folder is an effective tool especially for first-time planners as you go through the process of organizing a little party for your childs birthday with all of their friends. To them, this party is a really, really big deal. Be prepared, plan well, and keep your party-planning folder up-to-date and you will not let your little one down.

Your Party-Planning Folder

As I give suggestions to people just starting out as planners of parties both big and small, I always start off with the very same recommendation: create your party-planning folder. It is a basic tool for planning an event, be it small or large, and the folder works with childrens parties or 80th birthday parties. Start with a folder like any two-pocket folder that can be found at a office supply store. If the party is going to be a larger one, then I like the Poly two-pocket folders with the three-hole punch so that I can bunch them up in a three-ringed binder. It doesnt matter if you use a Pee-Chee folder or a Top Grain Leather Padfolio Organizer Planner, as long as you have a folder dedicated to keeping track of all of your plans, budgets, orders, and receipts for your party. On our site IlovePartyStyle.com, we have a really cool party planner workbook that can be downloaded and printed with checklists and sample sheets to get you started on your party-planning folder. The basic information that you will want to keep track of in your party-planning folder is:

1. Party Planning Sheet: Helps you keep track of all of the important details in one placethe guest list, plans for food and drinks, the to-do list, and more.

2. Gift Tracker: This page is to log all of the gifts the star of the party receives, which will make thank-you cards a breeze!

3. Address and RSVP Page: Keeps a record of all of the addresses for sending out invitations, and allows you to keep track of RSVP responses.

4. Gift Planner: Allows you to plan gifts for birthdays or holidays, helping you keep the budget on track.

5. Party Planning Checklist: To keep track of the important to-dos!

6. Party Budget: This worksheet will allow you to create a budget and track expenses for your event.

These five questions will get you started with the party planning. What type of party will it be? When is the date for the party? Where is the ideal location? Who will be invited? How large of a party will it be? I like to call these the What, When, Where, Who, and How? party considerations.

A successful party, big or small, will take some planning, and most of that planning will be built on your answers to the five questions above. The answers to those questions will create the overall scope of the event. As you move forward in the planning process, it helps to have a well-defined image of the party in mind so that you can effectively move through the checklist below.

What

What type of party you are planning on hosting is the most important question to answer because it will set the stage for a few of the other considerations. This is where the planning fun begins. If it is a birthday party for a preschooler, your entertainment and activities might be different from the options available for a sweet sixteen party. You can be more creative with party themes for kids in the tween range, age ten to twelve, than you could be for kindergarteners. The tweens would enjoy themes related to blockbuster movies but the pre-k to kindergarten guests would be more comfortable with simple themes like cowboys, pirates, unicorns, or princesses. Another consideration is if the plan is to have the guests participate in activities like pony rides, or if the entertainment will be spectator-based such as a movie.