Introducing Personalized Pottery For Kate Landers Events, LLC

I am so thrilled to introduce to you our darling line of personalized pottery here at Kate Landers Events, LLC!!!

Our line of personalized pottery is dishwasher safe, lead free, and available in salad/dessert as well as dinner size plates.

Created by a charming, talented artist, our exclusive whale plates are the preppiest of party plates (and look beautiful hung on a wall of a bedroom as well!).

The Happy Birthday Plate is customizable in a variety of colors, and provides you with a very, very special plate to eat your birthday cake on year after year.

The "I am 2!" plate comes in any age and a number of color combinations, and you can buy an entire set ages 1-6 for a special discounted price--a FABULOUS birthday gift surely to be enjoyed. And the lovely thing about these plates? You don't just have to used them on your birthday--you can use them 365 days a year!

Our own exclusive design "The Birthday Girl" plate will be revealed soon...it is a personal favorite, and I can't wait to share it with you!

All of our darling personalized pottery will be available for sale in our online shoppe this weekend. Now taking custom orders at info@katelandersevents.com. They are first come first serve, so do not hesitate to contact us to place your order today!

Childrens' Party Tips #2: The Guest List

For anyone planning a birthday party for a young child, I would like to offer some advice regarding the guest list.

This is a VERY, VERY important aspect of your party planning process that I believe will have a tremendous effect on the enjoyment of your child's party--for you, your child, the guests, the parents--everyone!

Now please note that I do not believe that this is the end-all be-all answer, rather it is just my opinion based on my experience. I have chosen to share this advice with you because my passion is for planning parties for children, and I would feel a bit selfish if I didn't share with you some of my lessons I have learned along this wonderful journey!


The Party Guests

When it comes to creating the guest list, I suggest that for the ideal outcome, you keep the number of guests equal to the age your birthday child is turning. I believe that it can be do-able to add or subtract up to two additional guests (so if your child is turning 6, have 4-8 guests). In my experience, this is the absolute best way to keep the group manageable, and allow the opportunity for you, your child, and every guest to get the attention and greatest enjoyment out of the birthday celebration that you all truly deserve!!!

I have seen it far too many times where the entire pre-school class, sports team or ballet class are invited, and when you get to 15, 20, even 30 guests under the age of 5, it will likley be an incredibly stressful and out-of-control event. To be honest, I have found it down right exhausting, and not the ideal situation for having the best celebration of your precious birthday child!

The Parents Of The Guests

I believe it's important to not forget to factor in the parents, guardians, or caretakers of your little guests, into your total number of people you plan on attending your child's birthday party. Sometimes parents prefer to stay for the duration of the party, other times the may drop them off and pick them up when the party is over. Regardless, I suggest having enough to nibble on and sip as well as plenty of seating for all parents to sit comfortably, just in case they all decide to stay.

I recommend you might consider not having the parents stay for the duration of the party. I say this because it can be very confusing and distracting for a little one to have multiple authority figures in the same room. The conversations likely to develop between parents can overshadow the activities of the party. Children can get frustrated easily in this sort of situation.

You can, however, invite the parents to the party, encouraging them to participate with their child in crafts requiring their help or special activities and games you can design for parent-child participation. I feel I should warn you, however, that this can be a tough subject, because the line of appropriateness for expecting parents to help out at your child's party may not be taken the way it was intended.


The Siblings Of The Guests

Another group to consider when making your guest list are the siblings (often younger) of your child's guests. Don't be surprised if parents show up with their 5 year old guest, along with their 2 year old and 6 month old. And do not be surprised if the parent begins chatting with another adult and their younger children begin making their way into the party. You may not know for certain how many siblings will attend until the day of the party, but I think it is best to be prepared for the possibility of this occurance.

How do you prepare? I recommend having a special room or area set up with age-appropriate toys, books, games, activities, possibly a dvd, and a babysitter (1 babysitter for every 4-6 siblings) to help keep an eye on the children, primarily for their safety and well-being. This will also help keep the siblings away from your child and his or her guests-far too often have I seen younger siblings "interrupt" the party and cause a meltdown.

Why not incorporate siblings into the planned party activities? Children at different ages, as you know, have very different capabilities. The ability for a 2 year old to play pin the tail on the puppy is far different than the ability of a 4.5 year old. The younger ones can get frustrated very, very easily, distract your attention from your birthday child and the guests (all of whom will want your attention), causing tears to be shed by the frustrated sibling, even the birthday child.

Since we are on the subject of age, let me make my point on that quickly.

Age of Guests

It is important to keep in mind that the age range of the guests will affect what activities, games and crafts you will be able to do that will be comfortable and at the appropriate level for most of those attending. As mentioned earlier, the capabilities of a 2 year old and a 4 year old vary greatly, as do those of a 5 year old and 8 year old. So keep this in mind when not only creating your guest list, but also when planning the activities for your party.

Extended Family

Last but certainly not least, family is always a special part of any child's birthday celebration. Whether you expect cousins or aunts and uncles, grandparents or nieces and nephews, keep in mind the effect the presence of these individuals will have on the celebration as a whole. Older children may get bored easily, and more adults and people can cause more distraction and overstimulation for the birthday child and his or her guests.

Family is personally very important to me, and I think excluding family from the celebration of your little one's birthday is not the answer. Rather, I suggest having a separate more casual birthday celebration with family members (your child will likely be happier having two parties in their honor, anyway!). This could be a gathering for cake and ice cream or a meal; an afternoon in the park, at the country club, by the pool, or at your home.

I hope that this information may shed some insight on things to consider when planning your child's next birthday celebration. I believe all children deserved to be celebrated, and I like to create parties that are the most delightful experience as possible for everyone in attendance.

I warmly welcome any questions or your comments!

A Madeline Birthday Party

Please note: It is absolutely positively the most flattering honor for me that you may wish to share my blog on The Madeline Birthday Party or "borrow" images or copy or ideas from it, however I must kindly request that you refrain from doing so. If you wish to post any part of my Madeline Birthday Party feature in any way, please contact me at info@katelandersevents.com for my permission. This blog, all of its images and content may not be transferred or shared in any way without my prior authorization. Kate Landers Events, LLC © 2009. All Rights Reserved. Thank you for your understanding!



































































I am THRILLED to feature a "Madeline" Birthday Party I did recently! The party theme was "Madeline in Paris", based off the birthday girl's favorite series of classic "Madeline" storybooks about that charming little redhead in Paris.

Twelve young girls (including the birthday girl) enjoyed visiting our Paris Marketplace custom created for the girls to visit. The Marketplace consisted of four shoppes, The Candy Shoppe, The Book & Toy Shoppe, The Clothing Shoppe and The Flower Shoppe (custom signs were printed up for each in a French Script).

Each shoppe was represented by its own table covered with floor length white linens and a custom made scallop-edged table topper in classic red or a magnificent blue.

The fifth table featured the "Bonjour! Welcome to Paris!" sign where the girls would begin their journey by picking up their darling red suitcase personalized with a luggage tag tied on with a double-faced red satin ribbon. This suitcase would be used to fill up with their goodies from their journey through Paris!

First stop: The Clothing Shoppe!! This shop featured twelve custom made (exclusive for Kate Landers Events, LLC) Madeline-inspired capelets (beautiful blue with a white peter pan collar and double faced red satin bow), each with a gold safety pin attaching the darling custom made tags featuring the shoppe name, location, and the individual girl's name. The Clothing Shoppe also featured custom red double-faced satin hair bows for the girls (also exclusively created for Kate Landers Events, LLC). The most charming custom tags were created for each of these as well, and the girls would look to find the one with their name on it! Now everyone would look like they stepped right out of the pages of their favorite "Madeline" tale.

Second stop: The Candy Shoppe! Nine large clear glass apothecary jars were filled with red, yellow and blue sweets (to match the color scheme of the party, of chourse!), each labeled with a custom sign identifying what candy the jar contained. From yellow gumballs and sugared lemon slices to red ribbon and rock candies--to blue old fashioned swirled lollipops and jelly beans to red licorice twists and candy coated chocolates, the candy shop was a marvel to look at! Each girl was given a personalized clear cello bag and red satin ribbon to tie up their sweets with. Scoops were provided for parents to assist in getting the candy out of the jars.

Next stop: The Flower Shoppe. The flower shop had darling red, yellow and blue tissue pom flowers hanging above to designate its location. The table featured twelve white canvases individually labeled with a custom tag featuring the shoppe name and "Masterpiece by" and the child's name, so everyone would be able to easily identify which masterpiece belonged to which child at the end of the party. Darling pre-made crepe and tissue paper as well as card stock flowers (traditionally for scrapbooking, available through Martha Stewart Crafts) had pre-adhered stickers so the children just needed to peel off the backing and begin to create their floral work of art! Every child was given their own cello bag full of their flowers, pre-counted and sorted the night before to make sure everyone had the same flowers to work with!

Last stop: The Book & Toy Shoppe. Favorite "Madeline" storybooks by Ludwig Bemelmans and a "Madeline" doll sat on this charming little table that featured "Madeline" coloring pages, red blue & yellow cardstock and crayons. Guests were able to color away creating their own "Madeline" pictures to stash in their suit cases and take home.

The Paris Marketplace was also decorated with custom made fabric bunting, a personal favorite and must in my book for birthday celebrations. It featured small red, yellow and blue flags, with red fabric tape to string the flags together and hang. It is amazing what something as simple as 8 yards of fabric bunting can do to really add festivity to a room! Custom bunting, as well as the custom capelets, bows, tags, labels and other decor for this party is all available through Kate Landers Events, LLC. Please e-mail Kate at info@katelandersevents.com to inquire as these products are not available on our website!

After their visit to the Marketplace, the girls were engaged in a game of "Pin the Tail on Genevieve"--a custom designed game for Kate Landers Events, LLC, featuring the cutest friendly pup for this very special party.

The Dining Hall was created to resemble that which "Madeline" eats in--an extra long table, tumblers and plates, cloth napkins and flatware and of course, candelabras! The ten foot long table featured a white diamond-quilted tablecloth and custom blue extra long fabric table runner (custom fabric table runners available through Kate Landers Events, LLC, please e-mail to inquire). Two silver candelabras with red taper candles were placed right next to two beautiful full arrangements of yellow tulips. The place settings consisted of custom white rick rack tricked cloth napkins, fabulous red melamine tumblers and plates, red plastic forks and custom printed red and white place cards (available through our shoppe!).

The menu consisted of French macarons, miniature croissants filled with ham & cheese, and a beautiful fruit display in the colors of the flag of France. A large silver bowl was filled to the brim with crushed ice and juice boxes. Lovely French wine and a variety of fantastic cheeses and baguettes were served to the adults, along with a beautiful tower of cream puffs. Please note: food images are not from the actual party, I did not cater the food for the event, these are images in which the menu was inspired from.

The "Madeline" hat birthday cake--oh, the cake--it was created by Sweet Cupcake Bakery in Boston. It was a large round single tier cake covered in yellow fondant and finished with a red fondant ribbon and bow. It served as the centerpiece of the table--so guests to ouuu and ahhh at its beauty until it was time for the large red twisted birthday candles to be placed in the top and lit for the birthday girl to blow out and make her wish!!!!

I included my favorite invitation for the party, which strongly resembles "an old house in Paris covered with vines," created by Sarah LeClere. I also included an image of a darling birthday party dress featuring scenes of Paris that was just too cute to resist.

I absolutely adored every moment of planning this very, very special event. It turned out to be the classic, charming, traditional, old fashioned and darling event I had dreamed it would be. The best part: the biggest smile on the birthday girl's face letting me know we accomplished our goal: to use the event as a very special way to celebrate the birthday of this darling child!

I hope you have enjoyed this feature, and I can't wait to feature more parties throughout the year.

If there a specific themed party you are planning and would like to discuss, help planning (yes, I can do this long distance believe it or not!) or see posted on our blog? Please leave us a comment, or send us an e-mail at info@katelandersevents.com, we would be DELIGHTED to chat with you!!!!