Pearls of Wisdom One Year and Six Days Later

Oh my! It is hard to believe it has been a year and six days since I started this blog for Kate Landers Events, LLC. I strongly considered some sort of exquisite blog first birthday celebration. 

After all, your support has been tremendous and there is no one else in the world, other than my dear family, that I would rather celebrate this occasion with other than you.

I considered a *huge giveaway* (thankfully have been blessed with those weekly), a free imprintable (did that awhile back too)...I wanted to offer you something spectacular as a thank you for taking the time to read my posts, to care enough to take the time and leave a comment or write me an e-mail or share my posts with your friends and fans. I also wanted to make sure I expressed to you how very much YOU have impacted the last year of my life. WOW. I never thought possible that within 12 short months I would be introduced to so many brilliant, beautiful, talented, creative and inspiring people. I feel truly blessed and know that you are one of the greatest gifts this blog has given me--other than providing me with an outlet to express myself creatively!

Then it occured to me, the greatest gift I feel I have to give to you, is to continue offering the very best inspiration I can. Continue to introduce you to lovely women entrepreneurs, share a few DIY party tricks here and there, let you in on some of my favorite resources, feature some smashing parties designed by others, and of course continue to create and share with you my newest signature parties, designed to ***inspire you***.

A giveaway will only reward one of you when I want to reward you all--it's like giving a party favor to only one guest--and that simply doesn't suit my fancy!

 A free printable is lovely and I certainly hope to offer you one again--but again, on this occasion, I wanted to offer you something unique and extraordinary and designing printables is not what I am known for doing best as so many others do.

Then the perfect idea struck me: I am going to give you some pearls of wisdom that I have been given over the last year and six days, that I hope might save you the trouble from learning "the hard way"!!! After a few e-mails every week from people starting similar businesses asking me "how did you do it, how should I start?" and the hundreds of responses of those wanting to learn how to start a business in children's party planning and design, I decided this is probably the greatest gift I have to give.

1. Time is one of life's most precious gifts. Don't forget to factor in time spent creating, designing or styling, as well as the time it takes you to write those detailed e-mails and online searches and international phone calls finding exactly what your client needs to make their party perfection. Factor time into your profit margin.

2. Be prepared to change your business plan, again and again. Learning to let go of what you initially created and THOUGHT was going to be the right way to go may very well not be. This isn't as easy as it sounds. Let go of what doesn't work, hang on to what does, and forge ahead with your innovative new plan. This is the only way to stay one step ahead.

3. Never undervalue the importance of branding your business. Know how you want to brand it, and come up with creative strategies to implement it. Branding is hard work, time consuming, but crucicial to your success.

4. *Help others*. I cannot express this one enough. While I do not undervalue the importance of sharing your accomplishments to build a strong reputation, it is extremely important that you work together with others in your industry, networking, building relationships and helping each other.

5. Originality is key to your success. It is your passion, your style, your talent and uniqueness that will give your product and design its own place within the market. And if you ever, EVER find inspiration from someone else, be sure to properly credit that person for whatever bit if inspiration they gave you.  Side note: you are creative, your are talented, you are unique: rely on that more than anything else when you create something.

6. Don't forget the golden rule: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." Apply this in all that you do.

There are about a hundred and one more lessons (at least) I could share with you, and I am sure you have many you could share with me (please feel free to comment with lessons you have learned!), but maybe I should save those for my book....

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for being a daily dose of sunshine in my life.

Oh, and the winner of the set of 8 fairy tiaras from Nicole of Tradewind Tiaras is Leticia!!! Leticia, please e-mail me at landers.kate@gmail.com right away in order to accept your prize!!!

Little Ladybug Dessert Table {Stylish Guest Party Feature}

Corinne recently launched her own business, Style My Party, and was kind enough to allow me to share with you her little ladybug dessert table!

I absolutely adore the little suitcase that Corinne creatively used to dislay her lolly bags in! The red works perfect with the spotted interior, allowing the sweet light pink mini spotted bags with little favor tags and pins to shine! 

Candied apples are gorgeous, and with it being the week of Halloween I couldn't resist featuring this party that uses them for an event completely unrelated to the holiday! One of my favorite things about this photograph is how it features that Corinne not only used candied apples but also a red colander (darling touch!) with fresh apples too, for those who prefer the more natural kind! What a *lovely* idea!!!!

Corinne shows that there is more than one use for a pretty decorating baking cup--such as using them for popcorn! The little polka dot theme is carried throughout with the design of the baking cups she used here, as well as the pink and red color-scheme. I also like how she has the long, narrow container featuring some of her candy (they look like pink marshmallow antennae to me!) as opposed to everything being vertical and clear glass--a bit more unique!



Corinne designed her own little signs for her dessert table, and I am in love with this idea of displaying them on mini easels! The chocolate ladybug is a cute touch, too. We enjoy chocolate ladybugs here for Valentine's Day...it's nice to see them used outside of that holiday.

And finally, the entire table presentation! Corinne used pennant flags in front and a custom banner in back (I haven't seen two strands of bunting used at once like this before, it is a unique twist and works well for this, especially as the tablecloth doesn't cover the front of the table--she allowed the pennant flags to serve that purpose instead!). Love the polka dot paper lanterns, too!!! Note: there is no birthday cake, and nothing on the cupcake stand! However, I want to point out how the empty cupcake stand sprinkled with chocolate ladybugs actually stood out as a decoration as opposed to a means of displaying desserts: very unique!



Some notes to take away:

1. Mini wooden easels are a charming way to display your dessert table signs.

2. Carrying three related themes all at once can work well, if you keep them each very simple: in this case, Corinne used the actual ladybug theme, a polka dot theme, and a pink and red theme, and it all pulled together nicely.

3. Don't be afraid to experiment with different types of vessels for your desserts, such as the long and low container with the pink marshmallow "antennae" as I call them! Another great example: the red colander, and the mini red suitcase, and cupcake stand. Corinne used these four different containers and display items and they added loads of charm to her table.

4. A fresh idea: serve fresh fruit as well as the candied kind, to appeal to the different tastes of your guests.

5. There is more than one use for a baking cup; Corinne proved that using hers to store popcorn as opposed to the traditional cupcakes!

6. If your table linen just covers the tabletop, consider using pennant flags across the front edge of the table. And to bring your eyes up, you can still use a personalized banner. Using the combination of triangles and squares worked well here.

THANK YOU for sharing your DARLING dessert table, Corinne! You can visit Corinne on facebook here, her shop here and blog here.

{Credits: Images courtesy of Center of Attention Photography. Pennant flags by Paper Eskimo, Paper Lanterns from Pink Frosting, printables by Style My Party}



And lastly... a couple lessons I have been learning with dessert tables I have been working on (since we are on the topic of dessert tables today!):

a) Press your linens before putting them on the tabletop. Then, be sure to bring a handheld steamer to steam out any wrinkles that may inevitably occur during the process of setting up.

b) I personally recommend using floor length table linens, unless the table itself is a decorative piece all its own.

c)  If the table is dark in color, consider putting a lining under the fabric tablecloth so the dark wood doesn't show through.

Yes, I am still learning a lot each and every time I create a dessert table, and hope to share with you my lessons along the way!

What lessons have you learned in designing dessert tables?

{Tuesday Giveaway} and Preferred Sponsor Spotlight: Sweet Little Birdy

I am so excited to introduce you to the charming Tara of Sweet Little Birdy, one of the lovely preferred sponsors of Kate Landers Events, LLC!  Keep reading for a great interview and FABULOUS GIVEAWAY!!

I hope you enjoy peeks at some of her fabulous product offerings throughout the post (oh, and you might enjoy her blog, too!) {images courtesy of the fabulous NFE Design}





I have already picked out about 10 things I want to order straight away!!!

I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to not only host a giveaway sponsored by Tara, but also help you learn a bit more about the fabulous woman behind the business!!!

Tara has an online shop called Sweet Little Birdy, offering darling party products.

One of the best parts? International shipping is available!

So be sure to take a peek at the unique array of items she offers.

                                                        {photo from Sambellina}
I asked Tara (isn't she lovely?)a few questions to help everyone get to know her better.

She has some really fun and thoughtful answers, I thoroughly enjoyed reading through them and hope you will too!!!

{Question} How did you come up with the name, Sweet Little Birdy?

{Answer} We had no idea of the name and jotted a few down that we thought were suitable. ‘A little birdy’ was on the list, as the saying ‘A little birdy told me’ had become a bit of a running joke in our house so we put ‘a little birdy’ on the list as a bit of fun, and thought we could use it nicely in marketing and it kind of stuck and we decided to use it. When we went to register the business the name was taken. A few of the other names on the list started with ‘sweet’ so we combined sweet with little birdy and we loved it!

{Question} What was your inspiration for starting Sweet Little Birdy? How and when did it come about, and how long did it take for you to get it off the ground?

{Answer} Sweet Little Birdy is a combination of what I am passionate about. It combines my love of party styling, the colour pink, my decorating styles, my attention to detail, gorgeous home decor, my love of photography, online shopping, social networking and the internet. It all started to come together when I started to compile a ‘scrapbook’ (of sorts) whenever I came across pictures and articles of things I loved – I didn’t really have any sort of goal in mind at the time but often wondered what I could do to combine all these fantastic things that I loved so much, and over time Sweet Little Birdy really just evolved and in June this year I made the decision to just go for it and did just that.

{Question} What are your future goals for Sweet Little Birdy?

{Answer} I have so many ideas for Sweet Little Birdy ~ we plan to continually add to our collection, introduce new ideas, inspire people with how to use our products and to also help other people achieve their dream by sourcing products from the many talented and crafty people out there. We have some wonderful photo shoots coming up next year, and some fantastic party styling events will be taking place.

{Question}  Do you have any secrets on how to manage family and work? What are your priorities (in what order) and how do you help stick to them?

{Answer} I believe that a work, family, home and life balance does not mean it has to be an equal balance ~ I think the key is knowing which one needs the most attention at the time. Family will always be first, and I am more than happy to stop what I am working on and give my gorgeous family the attention needed. Setting realistic goals and boundaries are also important, and not being hard on yourself or expecting too much is a definite rule.

{Question} What birthday party are you planning next? {party details welcome!}

{Answer} Nothing at the moment ~ we are busy planning our Christmas soiree, as well as some photo shoots and baby shower for next year. Lots of ideas for the future though!

                                                               {Image from Style Me Gorgeous}
{Question}  If you had to select 3 favorite products in your shop, what would they be and why?

{Answer} Too hard!!! Lol. Because I personally select every item to fit in with the ‘feel’ of Sweet Little Birdy I do love everything… but to pick they would probably be our oversized dotty cups ~ these are just so perfect for some many things (and I also have a head over heels weak at the knees love of pink polka dots), the birdy bloomers set from our ‘cowboys and cupcakes’ label of clothing ~ handmade and just gorgeous, and lastly our set of 3 metal cake stands ~ they look amazing tiered or individually, the sizes are perfect, and they are ‘child-friendly’ (no risk of broken glass at parties).

{Question} What are your favorite websites and blogs to check on a daily basis?

{Answer}  Definitely Kate Landers Events LLC… also Eat Drink Chic, The busy budgeting mama, bakerella … Some gorgeous Australian blogs like The Ivory Social, Chic Mother and Baby, My life – my loves (Sharnel Dollar) and Mon Tresor… These are just a few – there are many many more I LOVE ~ thank goodness for RSS feeds!

{Question} Any tips for party planning and how to incorporate your product for a children's party?

{Answer} Think outside the square ~ all too often we look at a product and only see one use. A perfect example of this is our craft turntables – these make amazing lolly/treat holders and the novelty of the turntable just adds to the party atmosphere. Don’t be afraid to try new things and different ideas.

A HUGE thank you to Tara for the wonderful interview!!!!
Now... here is your chance to win some DARLING treats from Sweet Little Birdy for this week's {Tuesday Giveaway}!!!
 

 
Tara is generously offering one lucky winner *ALL* of the following:

 A turntable with your choice of pink (think a girl party, baby shower, even Easter!)...

 Or red (a boy OR girl birthday, baby shower, andChristmas is just around the corner...with Valentine's Day not far behind!) buckets.

AND a set of paper straws in your choice of available colors!



AND.....a $50.00 (fifty dollars) Gift Certificate to her sweetest online shop, Sweet Little Birdy (shipping complimentary).

Are you excited yet? Here's how to enter:

1. Visit Tara's shop here, and come back and leave a comment on this blog post sharing with us TWO of your favorite items!!!

AND

2. Become a fan of Kate Landers Events, LLC (if you are already a fan, thank you kindly! Feel free to leave a note on my wall just to say hello!)

AND

3). Become a fan of Sweet Little Birdy, and leave her a note just to say hi and letting her know you dropped by! Compliments welome, of course!

That's it!!!

For an extra entry, in your comment you leave on our blog tell us what you found most enjoyable about Tara's interview!

This contest is open to people ages 18 years and older, and internationally.

Contest ends Monday, November 1st at 11:59pm EST.

Good luck!!!
{Please note: Kate Landers Events, LLC, is not responsible for the products or delivery there of of any offerings in any of our giveaways other than products or services from our own shoppe. We do our very best to make sure we work with the most delightful and reputable vendors and designers out there, but we hold no responsibility or liability for any giveaway item(s). We are merely the hosts of the giveaways, not the sponsors and hold no liability should the sponsor not deliver what was promised}

Party School Survey

For those of you who have been so kind as to show great interest in the Kate Landers Events, LLC, School of Children's Party Design...I am thrilled to share with you that we are getting one step closer, with my very first survey.

If you are interested in webinars, seminars or workshops, the next step to help create the perfect program for you is to learn what you want to learn, and how you want to learn it!

Whether you wish to learn more about styling parties at home, or possibly starting up your own business in children's event design, I encourage you to take this survey and get us one step closer to providing you with the resources you desire!


Have a friend who might be interested? Please pass this information along! It is open to you INTERNATIONALLY!!!

A *huge* thank you for those of you who have already completed the survey, also!

Tissue Rose Piñata {DIY Feature} And Chickabug Giveaway Winner

I was blown away when I first saw the gorgeous tissue rose piñata from the Cornish Fairies Party by Nicole of Tradewind Tiaras. Nicole was kind enough to share the instructions on creating it, so if you love it as much as I do, you can do it yourself and create one at home! Nicole mentioned the thought of using it at a bridal or baby shower--basically, these aren't just for children, but adults can enjoy them too!!!



Materials You Will Need:

One balloon (Nicole went with a 24" round version, to avoid that distinct oblong balloon shape, but any would work)


One glass filled with stones to act as a weight


Tape


Newspaper cut into strips


Wallpaper paste

Tissue paper

{Step One}


Making a papier mache pinata is simple, but does take several days (including drying time).
1) Tape your balloon, knot side down, to the glass filled with rocks. This provides a weight and stabilizes the pinata as you're making it. Don't worry about the hole--that's where you'll fill the pinata when it's done.

2) Dip strips of newspaper in the wallpaper paste, wiping off any excess. Smooth on the balloon, covering the entire visible surface. Pay extra attention to covering near the base, where the glass meets the balloon. That's where you'll end up drilling holes and threading ribbon to hang the pinata, so you want it to have some extra strength.

3) Allow each layer to dry before adding another layer of newspaper. Criss-cross the strips of paper to make the pinata stronger.

4) Cover the pinata with at least three layers of newspaper. I did four, and it held up very well through two rounds of fairies whacking it with a stick. If you're doing a painted surface to your pinata, use white paper or paper towels for your final layer of paper. You'll have to use far less paint to get good coverage that way.
Once the pinata form has been made and is completely dry, cut away the tape and pop the balloon inside. Ta-da, a basic pinata!

 

{Step 2}

You'll need a lot of tissue paper roses to cover a pinata. Way more than you'd guess. I made what I thought was an excessive amount for my pinata...and covered only half of it. In the end, I used about 300 tissue paper roses to cover the entire pinata.



{Step 3} 

Cut the tissue paper into strips approximately 4" wide. Happily, this was basically where you find the folds in a standard package of tissue paper.
 

{Step 4}

Don't worry about the edges curling a bit on one side where you cut on the fold--that actually adds volume and separation of the petals and is desirable.

{Step 5} 


Fold a single layer of the tissue paper in half.  Wrap loosely around your finger.

{Step 6}

Carefully pull the rose off your finger, and pinch at the base.  Staple at the base to secure the rose shape.  I used wire to wrap a bunch of the bases, and while that works, it was a lot more complicated, and I'm glad I finally figured out that a stapler worked just as well!

 

{Step 7}

Use a pair of sharp scissors or a drill to punch a hole for the ribbon to hang the pinata.  Be careful, especially if you're punching through with scissors!  The pinata is surprisingly strong, and it takes some real effort to push through.

Spend some quality time with your glue gun and glue all the roses to the pinata.  My pinata was hung high enough that I didn't bother covering the hole on the top, since nobody could see it, but it could easily be covered by gluing a sheet of paper over the gap and gluing roses on top.

Then, your finished piñata!!!  Nicole shares that in their family, instead of inserting loose candy and treats, they fill the piñata with small bags each filled with the exact same amount of everything--that way, they avoid tears and tantrums, and help make sure the little ones get the same amount as the older ones--brilliant idea!!!

Now, for the winner of the $50 gift certificate to Heather's fabulous Chickabug shop.....

Karissa!!!!

Congratulations Karissa! Please e-mail landers.kate@gmail.com to accept your treat from Heather's shop, and I will put you in touch with her directly.

Stapler

Scissors

Ruler

{Stylish Guest Party Feature AND Surprise $360 value Tuesday Giveaway}: Cornish Fairies Party by Tradewind Tiaras

I have a VERY special surprise for you!!!!! The second Stylish Guest Party Feature on Kate Landers Events, LLC, along with a HUGE (over $360 value) SURPRISE {TUESDAY GIVEAWAY} At end of post!!!!



Nicole of Tradewind Tiaras submitted her daughter's Cornish Fairies Birthday Party for it's debut right here on Kate Landers Events, LLC, blog! And trust me, you will want to make yourself a cup of tea and sit down to enjoy this one.





Nicole narrates: "My daughter requested a fairy themed birthday for her 7th birthday, and I was delighted with the choice. What a fun excuse to indulge in fairy girlishness! There are a lot of wonderful woodland fairy parties out there, so we wanted to put our own spin on the theme."




{Inspiration}

"Inspired by a summer trip to Cornwall, the fact that we've been studying Cornish as a family (a Celtic language), and our family heritage, we decided that our party would be a Cornish Fairies party. That gave us a specific folklore framework from which we could draw inspiration. Think standing stone circles. Mischievous Spriggans. Playful Piskies. Cornish pasties. This was one *fun* party to plan!


{Invitations}

"To introduce our guests to Cornish fairy traditions, and to get them excited for the party, instead of a standard invitation I wrote an adventure book. Within the body of the story, the invitations were customized for each invited child.

"The story ended with an unresolved conflict in the fairy world, and an urgent need for my daughter Ainsley to bring her little friends back to the fairy world in order to defeat the evil spriggan fairy, and recover the piskie fairies' stolen treasure (Nicole's post on invitations and full text of the story can be found here).



{Color Scheme}


"I loved the red/white/green palette that many fairy parties adopt (Kate Landers Events, LLC's was a huge inspiration, in fact!), but wanted something different. Greens and browns of the woodland scheme were a given, but for our accent, I went with soft oranges. That brought in the fall colors for an October birthday, and was something I hadn't seen before."

{Decorations}

Nicole made all of the decorations herself {Wow}including...

A pomander ball pinata with over 300 tissue paper roses
{a special tutorial feature on how to create one will be in the next blog post, so stay tuned!}

A standing stone circle based on the Merry Maidens circle in Cornwall {all made out of styrofoam}

A circle of mushrooms (where fairies are rumored to appear), 3-dimensional created out of fabrics to match the bunting.
 

A Dessert Pavilion (creating a grand dessert table)
Nicole adapted a 7x5 tent she found online that was designed to shade grills! She also made the bunting.

A hand-painted the muslin tablecloth

Floral arrangements and burlap & lace table runners

Suspended vases of flowers that floated above the tables under the fairy tree

Toadstool Cake Stands

Nicole says she did purchase the fairy door (found here), however she did make the bunting to go in front of it!

{Dessert Table}

If you aren't already impressed, read on: Nicole made all of the goodies on the dessert table.

Nicole says: "I decorated sugar cookies, lollipop topiaries, meringue mushrooms, browney-made-brownies, gnome-made scones and strawberry jam (the idea for that label came from Kate Landers Events, LLC, too), the cake, edible wands, branches from the crystal forest (rock candy sticks), considerate caramels (from a detail in the invitation story text), and wee trifles.

"I'm particularly proud of the Lollipop Topiaries. I've never seen anything like them before, and was very happy with how they came out."

{Kate here: A personal favorite below, bringing back fond memories of my Woodland Fairy Party}

{The Cake}

Yes, Nicole even made this cake. Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!

I love the details!

{Favors}

Nicole created the following favors for the birthday girl and her guests (all 22 of them!):

Tutus for each girl

 

{As well as wands for each girl (oh, and the girls were given wings, too)}

Tiaras with Swarovski crystals for each girl
{Nicole shares: "It's good to have a mom who is a tiara designer if you're a girly girl!"}

Fairy Dust, of course!

Nicole shares that she had shields to decorate, elf ears, tunics, and boy-wands for any boys, but none of the invited boys came!
Nicole mentions that she LOVED the wooden forks, knives and spoons from Ecoware.

{Activities}

The festivities included face painting, decorating fairy wings with sticker jewels, and a treasure hunt including the evil Spriggan (Nicole's husband) who made an appearance at the end to try to keep the stolen treasure!

 The rest of the time was just free-play, and we had families and little fairies racing around the yard, playing and reenacting the story I'd written until 10:30 at night!

{Menu}

Nicole says: "We served the above-mentioned desserts, but also had salad (with homemade dressing), apples, and a selection of Cornish pasties (Peanut Butter and Jelly, Cheese and Onion, Chicken Greek, and the traditional Oggie) from the Cornish Pasty Co. It's one of our very favorite restaurants. They'll even allow you to buy the par-baked pasties and bake them at home! I might not have made the pasties, but I did build the wood-fired oven we baked the pasties in!"

I love the beautiful beverage container and label, don't you?

A gigantic THANK YOU to Nicole for allowing us to debut her *spectacular* Cornish Fairies Birthday Party. It was a visual delight and a tremendous source of DIY-inspiration!

And now for a ***spectacular giveaway***!!

Nicole is offering one incredibly lucky winner a set of EIGHT gorgeous fairy tiaras (over $360 value!) as featured in this party!

Take a look at the beautiful tiaras "in action"!

Here's how to enter:

1) Visit Tradewind Tiaras website, and come back here leaving a comment on this blog post telling us which tiara style is your favorite.

AND

2) Become a fan of Tradewind Tiaras, and be sure to say hello to her letting her know you stopped by!

AND

3) Become a fan of Kate Landers Events, LLC and leave a note saying you stopped by (if you already are one, be sure to leave a comment in your comment on this blog post letting us know).

That's it!

One VERY lucky winner will be drawn at random. Ends Monday, October 24th at 11:59pm EST.
{Please note: Kate Landers Events, LLC, is not responsible for the products or delivery there of of any offerings in any of our giveaways other than products or services from our own shoppe. We do our very best to make sure we work with the most delightful and reputable vendors and designers out there, but we hold no responsibility or liability for any giveaway item(s). We are merely the hosts of the giveaways, not the sponsors and hold no liability should the sponsor not deliver what was promised}