all deco’d out for 30

i think designing my own birthday invitation has been a bigger challenge than designing one for someone else. it took me a whole month to finalize the design and it went through several changes in the beginning construction phases until the final piece was complete. (the hardest critic is always yourself!)

so for my 30th birthday invitation, i decided on an art deco inspired theme. fitting don’t you think??? considering the art deco movement happened during the 30’s (1925 until the 1940’s to be exact).

incorporated into the invitation is a quote by Robert Frost:
“Time and Tide wait for no man, but time always stands still for a woman of thirty.”

la dolce vita

i recently had the honor of helping plan my cousin joan’s 40th birthday party.  when an italian party was decided on, i immediately knew the theme would be “la dolce vita,” which translates to “the sweet life” in italian.  what a perfect way to celebrate a birthday milestone, with a night full of all the sweetest things in life… food, drinks, music, and an intimate party with your closest friends and family.

from classy invitations by in a card to set the theme and tone of the evening…

ladolcevita_image1

to a complimenting and really “sweet” party favor…

ladolcevita_image3

ladolcevita_image4

each party favor, by in a card, had a little thank you note tucked inside and was sealed with a picture of joan when she was a little girl to remind everyone that she is “fabulous at every age!”

ladolcevita_image5

for decorations, i arranged fresh flowers and candles throughout the house

ladolcevita_image7

ladolcevita_image8

freshly picked from the downtown L.A. flower mart that morning, with the help of joan’s husband, jonathan, who is also by the way the person responsible for throwing this fabulous party to honor his wife

ladolcevita_image9

ladolcevita_image11

5 different wines plus italian cream sodas to wet the palette while enjoying caprese salad, chicken parmigiana, lasagna and garlic bread from a wonderful local deli, claro’s italian market

ladolcevita_image12

and what party wouldn’t be complete without dots cupcakes (served with a side of cannoli of course, from claro’s)

ladolcevita_image10

it was a wonderful party enjoyed by all and hopefully a very memorable one for the, always fabulous, birthday girl.

an oldie, but goodie

for my dad’s 60th birthday i thought it would be fun to take one of his old black and white pictures and turn it into a record album cover. and so my dad’s album (danny boy) was called, “an oldie, but goodie”. each invitation was mailed out as a miniature record album with details about the party printed on a record shape paper that you pulled out of the sleeve.

danny boy invitation

danny boy invitation

danny boy invitation

for the cake, my mom made it resemble an old record player. how cool is that???

danny boy cake

as guests left, each was sent home with a collection of songs that my dad enjoys. i found cds that resembled records and used that to burn each copy and tucked each one inside the same album cover that was used for the invitation with the addition of the song title and artists on the backside.

1 2 3 4