Noah's Ark Birthday Party {Noah's Second Birthday Celebration}

Noah's Ark was the inspiration for our own sweet son Noah's 2nd birthday party.

Our little Noah has a very strong fascination with and interest in animals, a whole "ark" of stuffed critters snuggled in his room with him every night.

He also loves building towers, walls and passage ways with large cardboard blocks.

Then of course his name is Noah, and he is turning two--those precious animals entered that ark "two by two"...it all just seemed too perfect.

 As he is still a bit young to be capable of planning or communicating a dream party of his own, I enjoyed this extraordinary opportunity to create a special birthday celebration for him.

I was ecstatic when Noah's party debuted on Layla Grayce last week!

Here I am going to share a few additional photos and details I hope you might enjoy. {please forgive smaller image sizes...my blogger program is not functioning properly at this time but I simply could not go on any longer without sharing it!} I made the white fabric and pom pom party hats (as I love creating party hats for his special events), and even some adorable DIY bubble jar toppers, but many treats you will see were created by the hands of brilliantly talented men and women that I am blessed to know.

Noah absolutely LOVES books. He loves it when any one of his dear family members reads to him, and in his babbling (mixed in with 100s of words and short phrases) I know he loves telling us stories, too. I went to vintage children's storybooks telling the story of Noah's Ark for inspiration for the party. Loralee Lewis was, I knew, just the person who could bring those storybook pages to life at the party.

Loralee used her extensive knowledge of illustration and graphic design, and worked incredibly hard at creating an entire Noah's Ark paperie collection for the party. It is stunning. I LOVE IT. We have six precious prints of pairs of animals from the collection framed and hanging in his room--looking forward to sharing those with you in a future post.

 

The rosette banner, rosette cupcake toppers (turned into decorations at each place setting), custom signage and labels, all pulled the entire party together. Thank you dear Loralee, for this extraordinary collection-and continuing with the most spectacular quality of design and paper, and gorgeous packaging--it always makes each event feel that much more special!!! The many opportunities I have had to work with you have been tremendous privileges--I am always looking forward to the next one. {check out these darling birthday bubble favors--clear French square plastic bottles from The TomKat Studio, adorned with Loralee's labels, and dressed up with my own spray-painted plastic animals on top}.

We surprised Noah with cardboard blocks (with wood grain pattern) to "build an ark" with his guests at the party.

 They were a huge hit!!! Keeping activities simple at this age was so important.

Of course the cake was something I was beyond excited about. I wanted Noah's birthday cake to be a focal point of the party. We had a beautiful two tiered cake (4 layers of blue ombre cake inside each tier) covered with soft blue ombre buttercream waves. So soft, beautiful and sweet.

The cake topper was like nothing I have ever seen before. It was by far one of the most extraordinary edible works of art I have ever, ever seen. Brenda of Sugar High, Inc, is one of the world's most talented fondant artists. She has a gift that sets her work apart, and her ark and animals show that.

 Check out the unbelievable detail of this magnificent cake topper! The hay, the shingles on the roof, the wood grain pattern in the ark...and of course, the animals.

The way Brenda creates them gives them dimension and life. She created Noah's most favorite animals, and did everything in the most perfect soft and light colors I desired. We have held on to this topper, storing it under a bell jar so we can admire it for years to come. It is one of the most treasured gifts--thank you dearly Brenda, we are beyond blessed.

One of Noah's most favorite sweets are cupcakes. We just had to have animal cupcakes for his party, and I knew just who could create the most perfect fondant animal toppers ever--my dear friend and spectacularly talented fondant artist Brittany of Edible Details. I asked her for a vintage-inspired, illustrated look...a 3-d head on a traditional 2-d topper design, in the absolute palest colors. That was it. It was up to Brittany to interpret that and literally imagine and create these designs. Wow, did she do it brilliantly!!!! Every design is entirely hers--she created these mini works of art from her own creative vision, and I cannot have wished for anything more perfect.

Noah loved them. As did the other children. Thank you sweet Brittany, for this most precious gift. I couldn't imagine these beautiful toppers as any sort of "sideline" dessert, so I made them into the centerpiece of the party table. Stacking two graduated white Rosanna cake stands from Layla Grayce, the animal cupcakes were an absolutely darling display!

 

Let the animal sweets continue...I love cookies. LOVE them. And they were one of Noah's very first favorite sweets. I absolutely love having cookies match the illustrations of the paper products of the party, and Tara of Bambella Cookie Boutique ALWAYS creates spectacular iced renditions of Loralee's paperie.

Her cookies are absolutely beautiful and taste delicious. One of my personal favorites. Noah loves cows, pigs and elephants, and I knew how excited he would be to see their images on his cookies.

It was a huge gift to enjoy Tara's cookies at his party--Tara, thank you dearly for these most precious and perfect cookies, you always amaze me with your tremendous talent!!!

There is one dessert Noah fell in love with before all the rest...Oreos. He ADORES them. Especially the double fudge oreos with that chocolate frosting inside--he doesn't care for the white frosting. I reached out to fabulous custom chocolate covered oreo designer Sharon of LeBonBon LA, and she went above and beyond, custom creating oreos with a wood-grain pattern to mimic the "ark"--W.O.W. LOVE! They could not have been more perfect, or eaten any faster--thank you dear Brenda, for once again adding such sweetness to our event!

Cake pops are so popular and perfect bite-size for kids (and adults!). Christina of Sweet Escape Cakes NY introduced herself to me, and I immediately fell in love with her white puppy cake. DARLING!!!! I asked if she could make white dog cake pops, and she gladly agreed to do so. So cute! Christina was so sweet to work with, it was a true pleasure. I highly recommend popping over to her site and seeing her beautiful cakes...swoon over all those sweet ruffles!

With the primary "color" of Noah's party being white, I wanted a white dessert that kids would love, and represented the fact that Noah was turning TWO. Jennifer of Banner Events introduced me to Roni's Sugar Creations for the PERFECT sweet: white chocolate drizzed "2" rice krispy pops. Oh my gosh, these are the absolute most DARLING desserts, we all devoured them. This was the first opportunity I had to work with Roni, and I sure hope we will be able to work together again in the future, as I am a new big fan of her edible creations!!!!

 

To wash down all these yummy sweets, we had ice cold milk. I am completely smitten with the mini milk bottles Kim from The TomKat Studio got for us for Noah's party. We drilled holes in the white lids and inserted yellow stripe paper straws (PERFECT FOR TODDLERS!!!). I tied a bit of yellow twine around them for decoration--perfect!

Thank you so much Kim for these darling supplies (along with the bamboo cutlery which could not have been more fitting for the wooden "ark" themed fork and spoon!). Kim has been a dear friend and special part of my celebrations for Noah--it is such a precious gift, we are so grateful.

Bethany of Sweet Georgia Sweet introduced herself to me, and we instantly had a great time corresponding about our little boys, faith and parties! She created a beautiful white ribbon garland and stunning wreath and bow (with a darling white "2" to hang on it--I chose to put it on the white fringe piñata I made instead, but it would be precious on the wreath too!).

They were beautiful décor that definitely got everyone's attention--many compliments on her beautiful work.

I love our continued chats and cannot wait to see Bethany's next line of products!

 The special handmade details at a party bring it such warmth. Thank you dearly!!!

I am a big fan of these "chalkboard posters" for birthday parties. We simply had to have one to share with all our guests Noah's favorite foods, height and weight, favorite activities and "loves" at age two.

Stephanie of Pickle Noodle created the most darling sign for Noah, which I framed and photographed him with. I think it will be a perfect decoration for his playroom we are currently decorating! A BIG thank you to Stephanie for this incredible special treat.

I wanted guests to go home with a special party favor, and animal finger puppets were just what I was looking for! We put a little handful into each custom made ark favor box, made with great love, care and the expertise of the dynamic duo at Piggy Bank Parties. I was in complete shock when these boxes arrived--they were perfect--from the cardstock, folds, perfect print quality, I could not have been happier.

These are the most spectacular custom shaped favor boxes I have ever seen! And working with Do was one of the most special experiences for me. Her kindness and generosity made the process that much more memorable. It is nothing but a great blessing to have had the privilege of working with her. And Noah LOVES his ark box--thank you dearly!

 If you need a custom favor box for your next event, I highly recommend checking out Piggy Bank Parties. I am incredibly particular with the products I select, and can say with great confidence these are superb.

A tremendous thank you to Liza Voll, who did a beautiful job photographing all the details at the party. Working with Liza over the years has been a true delight.

She is one superstar photographer and I still have to pinch myself sometimes that I have the honor of working with her. Thank you Liza, thank you thank you thank you.

A HUGE thanks to all who made this celebration so beautiful. My love for Noah grows stronger with each and every day. Goodness, how blessed we are to have such a healthy, loving, beautiful boy in our lives!!!

VENDOR CREDITS:

Design & Styling: Kate Landers
Photography: Liza Voll
Custom Paperie: Loralee Lewis
Cake Topper: Sugar High, Inc.
Cupcake Toppers: Edible Details
Rice Krispy Pops: Roni’s Sugar Creations
Chocolate Covered Oreos: Le BonBon LA
Animal Cookies: Bambella Cookie Boutique
Cake: bakery info available upon request
Cake Pops: Sweet Escape Cakes
Party Supplies: The TomKat Studio
Ark Favor Boxes: Piggy Bank Parties
Custom Table Linens: Sweet Tea & Linen
Cake Stands: Layla Grayce
Custom Wreath & Fabric Garland: Sweet Georgia Sweet
Custom Chalkboard Art: Pickle Noodle