We had a fun time this weekend!
My mom came into town for Ella’s baptism. Since Ella didn’t have a friend party for her birthday, she really wanted a fun celebration for her special day. I have some really cute pictures of her throughout her eight years and I remembered my friend Becca at Blue Cricket Design sharing a tutorial of how you can print pictures on Blue Print Paper for very cheap. I thought it would be such an awesome way to create a giant photo wall for Ella’s special day.
Becca sent her pictures to a specialty photo company, I wondered if a mainstream company like Office Max or Staples would be able to do the same kind of thing. So I called around and Staples was able to print them. I was amazed at how affordable they were. All I had to do was upload the pictures to the Staples website and choose the size. The have 24″x 36″ and 36″ x 48″ sizes. And it’s amazing — my prints were ready within TWO hours. YAY!
To make the photo wall, I took the blueprint pictures and attached them to the wall with double-sided tape. It took a little bit of placement and my older kids were so helpful with this part. Once I got the photo wall ready, I set to work on the table.
I used some iridescent pink material with sheer netting over the top.
And then I made a Sunburst Mirror out of tulle to go in the middle of the photo wall.
For food, we thought tea party food would be perfect. So we made three different kinds of tea sandwiches — Chicken Salad with Cilantro, Cucumber and Cream Cheese and Nutella for the kids.
Then we made a four-layer cake. Have you ever seen the Rosette Cake from I Am Baker?? We frosted the cake with three different colors of ombre frosting. We used the Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator. I think I bought this about 10 years ago, but I love it.
Hayley, my 16 year old, actually frosted the entire cake and she did such a good job!! Really, rosettes are so easy to make!!
We also had yummy macaroons, fruit salad and cake pops! It was such a special day.
After the party ended, I rolled up the picture blueprints. I am hoping to use them in Ella’s room. Maybe framed on one wall of her room?? All in all, the pictures cost about $25, much less than they would have if we had them printed off on photo paper.
And this idea would be awesome for almost any type of party —
from Sweet 16 to an anniversary party, even an Over-the-Hill soiree!!
What was your favorite party you ever threw?
Let me know in the comments – I would love to hear YOUR ideas!!
Have a Creative Day!!
xoxo
HI. I’m curious how you got the varying sizes for your prints?? From what I have been able to find, Staples only has three options…18×24, 24×36, 36×48?????
Really sweet Birthday. I’m thinking of using some of the ideas for the ladies I work with. Thanks for the ideas! I love Pink…and Happy Birthday to you precious daughter. OH….I was shocked your 16 year old frosted the cake. What talent~
Loved the wall! It would be a great baby shower idea as well as a birthday party decoration. Also I thought the sunburst mirror was cute. I have been looking for a really cut idea for a girly mirror for the remake of my granddaughter’s purple room. I think this would be great!
So cool! I love it! I normally don’t comment but I had to when I saw you have an eight year old Ella too! Mine was just barely baptized too. We had a friend party and a family party, boy am I tired from that weekend. What a fun mom, love all your ideas.
The set-up was great looking! Like the chandelier as well. You’ve helped me cherish my job a touch more, thanks! We have a 60″ plotter printer that prints on just about anything on a roll and sometimes I forget how lucky I am (US Army Arts and Crafts). Another great resource to “blow up” pictures is BlockPosters.com. You can upload any picture and it formats it to a pdf. You dictate how many pages wide and tall. They have a gallery on the site to show what I mean.
What a great way to make your girl feel special on her special day! I love this idea. Wouldnt it be cute to make a wall like that for the holidays and paint Santa hats on heads and add snowflakes and Christmas trees and stuff?
x
Suzanne from http://www.smallchangsbigimprovements.com
Such a fun party! Love all the sweet touches Jen! XO, Aimee
LOVING that cake! And the tule sunburst mirror is a sweet touch. Looks like she had a great party 🙂 xo
Thanks girls!! We had such a fun weekend. She was so appy and that was so wonderful to see. Thanks for the sweet comment!!
xoxo
What a sweet party, Jen! Love the photo wall idea. You have such beautiful kids! 🙂
Thanks so much Amanda!! It really was such a special day!!
Love you!
xoxo
I love all the details, Jen! Those photo prints are great! That’s such great information to keep filed away. And that cake, gorgeous! I want to give an ombre cake a shot for my daughter’s first birthday! Thanks for sharing your sweet girl’s special day!
Hi Chelsea!! You really should try making the rosette cake. The rosettes were so much easier to make that I thought they would be. It would be so pretty for your daughter’s birthday!!
xoxo
Hello I am wondering if you can tell me where on the site you did this? everything I am finding is either 50 dollars a page or making the picture extremely tiny and won’t let me play with the color or anything? I am wondering if there is another option. I need this done before saturday and didn’t think I would have so much trouble! Please email me at [email protected]
Thanks!
C
Jen! Ella’s face in the picture with the giant piece of cake is the CUTEST!! So fun! What an adorable party! I love everything, especially the cake!! Amazing!
Kami Kam – I love you!! That means so much foming from you. You are such a great friend and so amazing!!
xoxo
It all turned out so nice! And Ella looked lovely in her baptism dress! My favorite party so far was a little cowboy baby shower for my best friend.
Hi kassi!!
Your cowboy party sounds so fun!!! I love that idea for a baby shower!!
xoxox
Oh that looks so fantastic!! So cute. And that cake – gorgeous!! I think I could do that.
Hi Rachel!!
You totally could make that cake!! It really is so pretty all frosted. Thanks for your sweet comment!
xoxox
this is so awesome!!! love the idea of blowing the photos up!!! what a precious party. and your oldest daughter did an amazing job on that cake!!! WOW!
Kelli!!
Thanks so much for the sweet comment!! I know – Hayley did such an amazing job frosting that cake. It took awhile to finish it but she stuck it out. And it turned out so pretty!
Love you cute friend!!
xxo
The cake is beautiful. My daughter’s 7th birthday is around the corner and I’m thinking this cake will be prefect! Most of all, congratulations. Looks like a lovely party.
Thanks Amelia!! Good luck with your daughter’s party!!
xoxo
So cute! Love the cake. I really need to try the Staples engineering print idea – so fun and cheapl! My favorite party I threw was my daughter’s Curious George inspired 3rd birthday party last year 🙂 http://www.idoinvitationsbymichelle.com/2012/04/curious-camis-3rd-birthday-party.html
Michelle!! Your party was so fun. I love the bright colors you used and the tissue paper flowers and the garland. What a wonderful day!!!
xoxoxo
What a fun party and idea Jen!! We don’t have a staples around us, but I made a phone call to a local printer and asked if they had a large scale black and white printer and they said yes! I had a huge print made for just $4!! I LOVE this idea of several for a party!! everything looks great! I made Amanda’s rose cake over the holidays, they are so easy and look WAY elegant Your daughter did a great job!
Yes!! It’s such an inexpensive way to make a big impact!! I love Amanda’s cake. It was really so much easier to make those roses than I thought it would be. Thanks for the sweet comment my friend!
xoxo
We did a Fear Factor for pur daughter’s 13 birthday…this yearis her Sweet Sixteen and I am loving this idea! Great job!
Oh my goodness Jen – Fear Factor sounds so cool. I bet your daughter loved it!! Good luck with her Sweet 16 this year. I threw a surprise sweet 16 for my oldest daughter last year and it was so much fun. She was really surprised and so so happy. They grow up so fast, don’t you think??
xoxoxo