In These Stilettos

After attending a fantastic workshop with Melinda Connor yesterday from “Pretty things for you” , I left feeling so inspired to create again. Thank you, “mommalikeme” for convincing me to go!

I grew up in events, my mum ran a very successful events company (florist, hiring, design and decor) for years and I would spend myweekends helping her drape marquees or finalise flower arrangements. I have an absolute passion for it and I think maybe that’s why I always insist on throwing parties for my kids. You’ll remember over here , I said I wasn’t going to throw one for my 4-year-old this year as he wanted a rather large present. Well guess what? I changed my mind (and we chose him a smaller ferrari car). After finding a fabulous FREE venue, with mini roads and traffic lights, I convinced myself it was a sign to throw a party. Which I then had 3 weeks to plan.

It was always going to be a racing party, he is obsessed with F1 and Motor GP and rides around the house pretending to be Sebastian Vettel or Mark Marquez. So here’s a few pics and tips to hopefully inspire you.

Food

For me this is the most important aspect of any party, especially when other parents attend. I picked a few core themes and worked around that.

“Stop and go” Veggies – Red, Yellow and Green Veggies in a red pepper humus dip

“Traffic Light” Brownies

Fruit Cars – Made from cut up Oranges and apples with Grapes as the wheels

Spare Tyres – Mini chocolate doughnut’s or Oreos (which I forgot to put out)

Car cupcakes

Gravel pit chocolate mousse.

Those were my base, and then I served savoury chicken wings, spinach and feta quiche’s, mini cocktail pies to go with it.

I also had car shaped sugar cookies for the kids to ice, which leads me to my tips:

1. When hiring a venue make sure you have ample time to set up. I had to bring everything over to the venue, table, vases, plates, all decor items, food etc. I thought an hour would be enough time and boy was I wrong. Try and pack what you can away in the car ready to leave the next morning so you are not running around like a chicken without a head before you are due to leave. You will run out of time and things will get left behind. I initially was not going to share these pictures as because I was rushed I ran out of time and the food table wasn’t presented as I would have liked, I forgot to add height with some of the boxes I had packed and completely neglected the sweet station.
2. WE ARE HUMAN, and no one else will notice the things that you thought were essential. My personal preference is NOT to use plastic table clothes, the creative in me shudders when I see them, and if my mum found out I used them I think she would disown me 🙂 But guess what? In my rush I forgot to pack table clothes and literally had to use them as an emergency cover up. ITS OK if you forget things. I catered the entire party in an effort to cut costs, so of course I ran out of time to do some things; ie; icing the sugar cookies 🙂 In a quick decision I grabbed some icing things and turned it into a kids activity. What 4-year-old doesn’t like to add their own icing and sprinkles to things. I had made up a checked racing banner to add to the back of the food table as a frame and only remembered as I unpacked the car after the party. I had racing signs that I had cut out such as “Pit Stop” and “Finish Line” to stick up which were also forgotten.
3. If friends/family offer to help, take them up on it! I would have been lost without my cousin Zaheera and bestie Meg from “Mommalikeme” helping me set up.
4. Stop fussing about the small things and enjoy the party!

Additional things to tie in to the racing theme:

I love detail so I made up “Pit Crew” lanyards for the children to wear.

I made up the party packs to look like a road, with a black bag and drew on road lines. Each party pack had a little car and a racing medal in it as well.

 

Fuel labels for the drinks and tool labels for the cutlery

I hope that inspires you a little bit with a racing theme. I LOVED the theme, I think this and the construction theme we used for his 3rd birthday have to be my favourite! With all the stuff I forgot I think i’ll have to throw my youngest another racing party in a few years. After Melinda’s workshop yesterday, I will be sure not to forget the basics when it comes to styling a gorgeous table!

Happy Planning !