Lucas' 7th Birthday Party

I can't believe Lucas turned 7 on April 26th. Last year he wanted a Pokemon party but we ended up with a magic themed party instead. He's even more into Pokemon now so we did it up with a Pokemon themed party with my own modern spin on it. Remember his 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th birthday parties?

I designed the invitations with a simple and modern take on Pikachu's face. I initially wanted to mail each invitation with a balloon that had a hand drawing of Pikachu's face but it didn't quite work out the way I wanted. Instead, each invitation came with a yellow balloon taped to the yellow backing of the invitation. The custom envelope liner had a photo of Lucas looking at a Pokemon book written in Japanese from our date to the Kinokuniya bookstore. The invitations were mailed in sunny yellow envelopes and sealed with wraparound address labels.

For the party favors, I made Poke Surprise Balls (tutorial here) using crepe paper streamers, a Sharpie and red acrylic paint. Each Poke Ball included a few Pokemon figurines, some Japanese candy, and a colorful whistle.

As usual, we order all the donut holes and make custom paper cones. :)

I made a super easy red velvet cake and cupcakes and just added the Pokemon figurines on top.

We hired a face painter who specializes in Pokemon drawings. Some kids had their full face painted and others, like Lucas, just had a character drawn on their face or arm.

Initially I was going to get Mexican food, but then I realized that Japanese food would be perfect for the theme! The sushi platters from Kyoto actually turned out to be less expensive. I just added Japanese rice crackers, fresh fruit, and some gyoza from Costco which I heated the morning of.

Okay, so the whistles. ;) I thought the whistles in the favors were so cute! I mean, for emergencies or to hook onto backpacks, right? But when all the whistles are going off at the same time and parents are kidding but not kidding about getting me back at their next party... Haha!!!

The cutest Pikachu that ever lived!

Every year, Nick and I tag team on making the pinata. This year I made a Poke Ball using the paper mache method and filled it with Japanese candies and Annie's Bunny Fruit Snacks. Nick stayed up until 1 a.m. painting it.

Last year's pinata was a giant playing card that we made out of cardboard. It was unbreakable and hilarious because Nick had to stab it all over just to make it easier to break. This year was the opposite--it busted open just after a few strikes. We had to find ways to make it harder to open and sadly not everyone got a turn.

The look on Lucas' face when it was cake time is everything.

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Theo's 4th Birthday Party

A few weekends ago we celebrated Theo's 4th birthday party. Remember his music-themed 3rd birthday party last year? About four months before his party I asked Theo what kind of party he wanted. He said, "A chocolate party!" Two months later he said the same thing. Admittedly, I was a bit stumped. I mean, how awesome would a chocolate party be!? But then again, every parent would kill me if all I served was chocolate everything. So then I came up with the idea of "Theo's Chocolate Waffle Bar Party" that would incorporate his love for chocolate AND waffles--plus, give everyone different options including savory ones.

Inspired by my trip to Dinette in L.A., I decided to use metal trays lined with a custom kraft liner. The whole look was made even cuter with these bear face party napkins from my friends at Harlow & Grey. I vowed to never cook all the food for a birthday party again (Lucas' round-themed 2nd birthday party nearly killed me) but this waffle bar was pretty easy. I ordered scrambled eggs and popcorn chicken from the Whole Foods catering department in Berkeley, made a few batches of chocolate waffles in advance and froze them, made some syrups in advance, and just cut some fruit and baked tater tots the morning of. Oh, and you know what saved me was this little guy from Amazon.

Ready for a heart melt? Lucas made Theo this birthday hat out of paper, tape and string--one for Theo and another tiny one for Theo's "baby" stuffie.

Organic fruit and syrups with custom labels ;)

Homemade chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. I really need/want to take a cake decorating class.

A family tradition!!!

Somewhere along the way Theo transformed into a ninja. Haha!

We hired the best kids band ever Your Song My Song. They were taking requests and Theo wanted "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. So they figured out how to play it! High five!

This is the face of a happy birthday boy!

The party favors were delicious butter waffle cookies from Trader Joe's hand dipped in semi-sweet chocolate and sprinkled with rainbow nonpareils. I packaged them in glassine bags and sealed each one with a custom label.

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Ready Made Party Invitations are Here

Hey friends! I finally made these popular birthday party invitations readily available and customizable in my online Shop. Choose from 5 designs for now--Go Wild, Modern Superhero, Modern Circus, Colorblock and Summer Watermelon. Each one will be printed onto double thick recycled paper and comes with printed envelopes. Let me know what you think! 

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Lucas' 5th Birthday Party

For the last two years, I've been asking Lucas what kind of birthday party he would like to have. He didn't have much of a say for his 1st or 2nd birthdays, but starting with his Superhero 4th birthday last year, he's been very clear about what he wants. Of course, he gets the modernized version of it because that's how I roll.

This year Lucas turned five (can't believe I have a 5-year old!) and without hesitation, he said he wanted a "Wild Kratts" party. If you haven't seen this show, it's worth checking out. It's an educational animated series on PBS, created by and starring brothers Chris and Martin Kratt.  The show is full of fun facts about animals, ranging from polar bears to geckos, and each episode features a particular critter's unique "creature power". Lucas gets really excited learning about animal powers and defenses, and I love when he enlightens me with new animal facts! This year we decided to throw a joint animal-themed birthday party with Judah, Lucas' good friend from school, who turned five the day before.

This year I partnered up with Whole Foods Market, which provided the amazing appetizers, entrees, beverages and desserts for our party. The super-talented catering teams from the two Berkeley locations created a delicious picnic style meal that included fried chicken, mac 'n' cheese, deviled eggs, strawberry/spinach salad, a yummy cabbage crunch salad, "turtle sandwiches" and cupcakes in two flavors. In addition to the lunch menu, they created some amazing food sculptures to go along with our animal theme.  Mice out of lemons? Porcupines out of watermelons? Chickens out of eggs? Crazy cool and fun, right? And as a special added touch, the team at the Gilman store location were kind enough to make us custom paletas in three flavors -- blueberry cream, apple/pineapple and fresh strawberry.

To modernize Lucas' vision of a "Wild Kratts" party, I decided to go for a more generalized animal theme, with "Go Wild" as a primary graphic element. Starting with the invitation design, I painted abstract animal patterns using simple black watercolor paint, and hand wrote "Go Wild" which would later become a logo for the party. I took a cute photo of Lucas and Judah and used it as a custom envelope liner. The envelopes were finished with matching wraparound address labels. The invitations, liner and envelopes were made with recycled paper.

For dessert, I baked a yummy red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, decorated with rainbow sprinkles and five wild animals on top.

If you've seen our other birthday parties, you know that donut holes are a Jackson family  tradition. This year's donut cones were made with the animal printed recycled paper.

Judah's parents got each birthday boy a Wild Kratts "creature power" suit as a gift. Lucas started off as "Chris" (green), but by the end of the party had traded with Judah to be "Martin" (blue).

I love this photo of Lucas testing out the t-shirt favors.  He wasn't crazy about having his photo taken, hence the pouty face. I couldn't resist. 

For the party favors, I made a giant rubber stamp of the "Go Wild" logo, and hand stamped white t-shirts in various sizes that I ordered online. Each friend got a t-shirt to wear at the party and take home. (The shirts were also handy as a change of clothes for several kids who got grubby or cake-covered during the party). 

We originally scheduled the party for Saturday, and had all the invitations printed up. We later changed it to Sunday due to Little League conflicts. I didn't want to waste the old invitations, so I cut off the old RSVP information, and used the top half to make "creature power" trading cards that accompanied each t-shirt. Each trading card had fun facts about different animals. Cute AND educational! The bottom of the invitations were used to create name tags. Big thanks to Jocelyn, Judah's mom, for ironing and packaging each shirt with a custom hand written tag!

Jeremiah (Judah's little bro) and Theo!

We also set out a bunch of animal masks which the kids loved!

Partnering up with Whole Foods Market to provide all the food and desserts was a dream! The catering team was fabulous to work with.

How cute are these "turtle sandwiches" made of turkey, cheese, cucumbers and fresh bread baked especially for us by Whole Foods Market Gilman?

As the party's main event, we had Lick Your Eyeballs present a fun, informative and hands-on animal show. They were amazing! From geckos and frogs, to a kingsnake and caiman lizard, the kids were very brave and gentle with the animals.

Elsa holds a jar of gecko egg shells.

One of my favorite ideas for the party was to make "polar bear ice," aka popsicles. There's a Wild Kratts episode called "Polar Bears Don't Dance," and I wanted the "polar bear ice" to tie into that.

The team at Whole Foods Market Gilman made custom paletas in three fruity flavors (blueberry cream, apple/pineapple and fresh strawberry). All were a huge hit on the warm day.

I designed some packaging for the pops using wax food bags, snipped at the bottom and  sealed on top with a hand lettered label. The package kept the pops from sticking together in the cooler, and also doubled as a place for the melty drips to fall. But as you can see, the package was ripped right off. Devoured in seconds!

Birthday boys waiting patiently to blow candles.

I had no idea Whole Foods Market catered kids' parties, but now I'm spreading the word because the food was spectacular, and the catering team was open to my ideas, accommodating, easy to work with, and even delivered onsite (including compostable plates, utensils, napkins and adorable cups and straws from Susty Party). Special thanks to Lizzie at Whole Foods Market Berkeley for collaborating with me, to Jocelyn and Aaron (Judah's parents), and to my husband Nick, all of whom helped make Lucas' 5th birthday party a smash! For more information about Whole Foods Market catering you can contact the team here.

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Theo's Food Themed 2nd Birthday Party

I can't believe Theo turned two in August. It's amazing how time flies when you're having fun. And when you have kids. This year's party was really similar to his first birthday party -- a pretty low key celebration at our home with family and friends. By the time Theo's birthday rolls around, I feel like I'm just coming down from the excitement and craziness of Lucas' birthday party in April. This year's theme wasn't so clear cut -- Theo generally likes whatever his big brother likes, but no interests or obsessions in particular stood out in particular this year. I realized later that the big difference between Lucas and Theo is that Theo loves to eat. So why not a food-themed party?

The invitations I designed were inspired by his eight favorite foods, which include: blueberries, peanut butter, pretzels, and bok choy. I photographed each of the foods, and laid them out against a white background so they stood out. Under each photo, I inserted the name of the food, followed by Theo's own pronunciation. The invites were flat-printed on heavy, bright white cotton stock, and mailed in a kraft envelope with a custom liner (Theo's yogurt-covered face of course!). Finally, the envelopes were sealed with a black and white wraparound address label. My favorite line on the invitation was, "If you know Theo, you know this kid loves to eat." I mean, he wears the same size pants as Lucas except they're way too long. ;)

We decided to make breakfast at one of our favorite spots, Elmwood Cafe, a tradition on birthday mornings for the kids. We threw on the birthday crown for Theo and I snapped a bunch of sweet photos of the boys on the steps on our way to the car. Lucas has been the most amazing big brother in every way and Theo simply adores him.

It's always so hard to choose just a few items here. Everything is so delicious! We ended up getting the frittata with summer squash, peas, and poblano peppers with organic greens, a mushroom, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich, a cornmeal waffle with organic O'Henry peaches and Vermont maple syrup, a soy latte for me, a house coffee for Nick, and orange juice for Lucas and Theo.

While we waited for our food, I busted out the bag of good ol' random Legos and Matchbox cars to keep the boys busy. It's always fun to see how serious Theo gets when building things. He's got some pretty great fine motor skills for his age (whereas Lucas excels in those gross motor skills if you know what I mean).

After breakfast we walked down the block to pick up our giant order of donut holes from Dream Fluff Donuts for the party -- a tradition at every Jackson kid party. I designed the paper cones using abstract grayed out elements from the invitation as well as Theo's "signature". These are always a big hit with kids and grown ups alike.

And the biggest hit (other than Theo the birthday boy of course) were these S'mores Pot de Creme party favors. To go along with the food theme, I wanted to give something away that our guests could eat. We hired the amazing Andie from Bakin Bit again this year to cater our party (guys, she is crazy talented but also crazy busy!). I had seen these amazing creations she made for Oh Happy Day and asked if she could recreate it using Ball jars that would be given away as favors. They couldn't have bee more perfect -- food themed, delicious, super cute, and the jars are reusable! Many of our friends and family said they were the best dessert they'd ever had. I'm going to have to make these and store them in my fridge! I designed some coordinating labels for each jar to make them even cuter.

For a food themed party you have to have awesome food, right? While brainstorming menu ideas, I thought some sort of bar would be perfect for little ones. My first thought was a grilled cheese bar but then I remembered how last year Andie made this incredible mac 'n' cheese that people wouldn't stop talking about. I suggested a mac 'n' cheese bar and she went with it! She whipped up gooey mac 'n' cheese and had a slew of toppings people could choose from -- breadcrumbs, cherry tomatoes, pea shoots/peas, parmesan cheese, sauteed mushrooms, bacon bits, feta cheese crumbles, jalapenos, green onions, and sriracha sauce. She also made a strawberry, peach, and blueberry (all of Theo's favorites) salad with mint, a kale quinoa salad with cucumbers, and turkey dogs rolled in puff pastry on a stick (another crowd favorite).

The party REALLY got started when Eric (Theo's magical preschool teacher) and Jaime from Your Song My Song showed up to play music, sing, and dance in our backyard. They are just plain awesome and everyone loves them! They also sang Let It Go and you know all the kids got their groove on!

More dancing and noshing from the mac 'n' cheese bar!

The ever so sweet Jeanne from Shop Sweet Things and her adorable kids and hubby George (rockin' the polka dots!)

Not sure what Eric and Jaime did here (did someone take their pants off or something?) but I'm so glad I captured this photo! Theo's confused.

It was way past Theo's nap but Nana was secretly happy about that because look at Theo's little pudgy body melting in her lap.

It's cake time!!! I made a large carrot cake and a bunch of cupcakes. Remember how I said Theo loves to eat? Well, he ate that cupcake AND half the liner!

This year's thank you cards were postcards. Designed with a full bleed photo of Theo walking to pick up donut holes, along with his "signature," these postcards came out super cute while saving money on stamps and envelopes.

Thanks so much for everyone who came to celebrate Theo's birthday. We missed a bunch of friends but there's always next year! :)

+ Photos by me
+ Also featured on 100 Layer Cakelet and Oh So Beautiful Paper
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Happy Weekend and a Birthday Party Sneak Peek

Happy weekend friends! This week went by so quickly and now my little baby is 2. What?!? We celebrated his birthday last weekend with a little party at our home. It was so much fun but I'm so glad it's over! Lucas is helping Theo open one present each day, which really means Lucas is helping Lucas open one present each day. Theo is more excited about the boxes and ribbon!

Here are just a couple of pics from Theo's party. Stay tuned for more pictures of the invitations and details of the food-themed second birthday party.

What are you up to this weekend?

+ Images by me via Instagram (@good_on_paper)

Lucas' Superhero 4th Birthday Party

The theme of this year's birthday party for Lucas who turned four on April 26th was super heroes. While he loves all kinds of super heroes -- Captain America, Flash, Spider-Man, etc., I really wanted the party to be about the super powers of Lucas and his friends (I spend enough time getting shot with spiderwebs and saving people in the Batmobile).

The invitations were printed in black and green on heavy white cotton paper with a clean, minimal design highlighting Super Lucas. Each invitation set included custom tattoos and instructions packaged in a small glassine envelope for each guest. The tattoos had the guest's name (i.e. Super Connor) as well as super hero speech bubbles with expressions like "WOW", "OK", "YES", and "COOL" instead of the usual "POW" and "BANG" expressions. The envelopes were lined with a pattern of the same super hero expressions.

It's been our tradition to have Lucas' birthday parties at Tilden Park but this year we had the chance to have it at his preschool's outdoor space. It's an awesome space that's safe and enclosed, with fun play structures and multiple levels for the ultimate in superhero fun. The only downside to having it at the school was that we had a guest limit.

Last year I took Lucas to breakfast at one of our favorite places, Elmwood Cafe. We did it again this year and I think I'll make it a tradition. Since the day was all about Lucas, we had Theo stay home with Po Po (grandma) which he didn't mind one bit because she is the world to him. And side note here - it is WAY easier with just one kid. Just sayin'. We ordered yummy coffee, a latte, orange juice, an egg sandwich, a frittata with organic greens, and a buttermilk waffle with lemon curd and blueberries on top. After breakfast we walked down the block to pick up donut holes for the party -- a Jackson kid party tradition!

Lucas got to open one small surprise gift from us - a Lightening McQueen race car. He hasn't seen the movie Cars yet but somehow it's one of his favorite characters and he talks about him all the time. Needless to say, he was floored when he opened his eyes to find this little red racer in his hands.

For party favors, we made custom (no sew!) capes for each of the kids so they could wear them on the day of the party. It was a huge hit with the kids and so fun to see them running, jumping, flying around with them. Some of the kids even wore them to school the next day and beyond. A huge thanks to my mom for pretty much doing all of the hard work -- from measuring, cutting, and washing the material, to helping me paint each of the letters on late at night. We also made paper masks (simply cut out the mask shape onto colored card stock and then staple a piece of elastic on both ends) that kids could decorate with markers and star stickers.

My husband Nick also crafted a building scene out of old cardboard boxes, tape, and spray paint as a backdrop for a photo booth. Each guest was encouraged to strike their best superhero pose in front of the buildings using an instant Fuji Instax camera. The guests could stick the photos into a memory book and jot down something for Lucas to read later.

For lunch we catered mini bean and cheese burritos for the kids from a favorite local Mexican restaurant. For the grown ups we catered Vietnamese banh-mi sandwiches and spring rolls. And for dessert I made a yummy chocolate cake (Lucas' favorite) and cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. And lastly, our parties wouldn't be complete without our traditional donut holes wrapped in paper cones.

Everyone had a blast, even Super Theo who came to the party with Po Po and Nana right after his nap.

Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate. Lucas had the best time and is now talking about how he's going to be five!

+ See the party featured on 100 Layer Cakelet and the invitations on Oh So Beautiful Paper.

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Design: Lucas' Birthday Invitations

It's that time of year again -- Lucas will be a year older and I get to plan his birthday party. Yay and holy crap at the same time! First of all, I can't even believe he's going to be four in April. Where did the time go? I clearly remember all the details on the day he arrived and now he's going to be four?

One of my favorite parts of party planning is designing the invitations (naturally). Here are the last three invitations I designed for Lucas' birthday parties. Stay tuned for this year's party details. Let's just say it's going to be super.

// 1st birthday - modern circus theme
I have received numerous requests for customization of this invitation. Please email me if you'd like a quote.

// 2nd birthday - round theme
Lucas really liked balls and round things at the time.

// 3rd birthday - letters and numbers theme
I had the most fun styling this invitation using PB&J sandwich cut outs.

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