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| Photo by circussg |
This year, Big K turns 6. A milestone in my opinion as she will be moving on to the next stage— Primary School. CUE: Cries #emo Hence, it calls for a celebration. Apart from her full month party, I didn't quite throw a party of such scale. Our birthday celebrations had always been a cozy one with our immediate families. An opportunity for me to thank them for all the assistance rendered. It takes a village to raise a child (in this case, children) so I certainly see the need to thank these people in my life.
Knowing that props weren't gonna be easy to source, I had a grand plan to DIY! But of course! It's my forte afterall! So 2 months before the event, I started penning down on the drawing board. I was ambitious and wanted to do everything myself, from the invitation cards to the dessert table. Yes, those pretty things which people are willing to pay thousands for? I wanted it, but the pocket couldn't quite stomach the price. So, I'm going to walk you through this journey of putting together an epic birthday party:
INVITATION CARDS
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| photo by themishmashmess |
I chose a premade template from Etsy and got it personalised. Thereafter, I printed and cut them out one by one. My little invitees were thrilled to receive them. One was even so worried when she lost hers, thinking that it is mandatory for her to bring the ticket along.
DESSERT TABLE & DECORATIONS
Putting together the dessert table and decorations was superbly fun but amazingly tedious! Now i know why some companies charge sky high and have more than one person in the team! In my case, it was only me, myself and I. I envisioned having foam cutouts but once again, I couldn't stomach the price I had to pay for them and throw it away just after a mere 3 or 4 hour party! For your information, a 900cm high doraemon would cost about $110. OUCH! Too painful. Hence, I decided to cut and paint on my own! I did not one, but 4 cutouts! They were averaging 60cm in height. I managed to purchase huge foam boards from Art Friend at Bras Brasah, sketched the character on it with pencil and cut using a sharp penknife. Yup, a penknife was all I needed. The key was to have a sharp blade. It usually takes me about an hour to complete cutting. Depending on its complexity. The rounded areas were particularly difficult. Thereafter came the painting -- a more therapeutic process. I could have done each process on separate days but usually once I started, I couldn't stop. So I would work till the wee hours of the night to complete the standee. The end result certainly didn't cost me over a hundred bucks.
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| photo by themishmashmess |
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| photo by themishmashmess This was the only one which I didn't paint. It's a decal stuck onto foam! How clever is that! |
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| photo by themishmashmess |
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| photo by themishmashmess |
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| photo by themishmashmess |
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| photo by themishmasmess |
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| photo by themishmashmess |
I was beaming with pride when I saw the finished product! Never had I thought I could pull off something like that! In addition to the foam cutouts, I had a few items made out of cardboard as well. It wasn't easy to find huge cardboards but one day whilst doing my grocery, I spied a shop unpacking their stocks and managed to score a few cardboard boxes which they wanted to dump!
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| photo by themishmashmess |
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| photo by themishmashmess |
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| photo by themishmashmess |
Apart from the main casts, I had to dress the backdrop up. That itself, was another feat. I managed to order a plain backdrop and got a decal customised from Taobao. I thought that this was an easy and brilliant idea but alas! I didn't anticipate that pasting such a big sticker would be that difficult! One small shift and I may have an air bubble. I had to enlist the hub's help at 1am. He was initially disgruntled, nagging at me for putting myself through all these, but eventually when he saw the end product, I think, he too, was secretly proud of me! I peppered the rest of the backdrop with 3D paper flowers and precut letters which I already had. I wanted more flowers to give it a WOW effect, but time and strength were running out.
See, it made such a lovely photobooth! Glad Ashlyn made use of it! Such a lovely family picture!
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
Some of the pretty mamas against my pretty backdrop (oops, it's blocked!)
So as if all those weren't enough to zap my energy, I went a step further to dress up the dessert table. I put together a card tower using cards which cost only $1.50 and a hot glue gun! So easy and cheap!
In the story of Alice in Wonderland, Alice drank a potion which made her grow bigger. I wanted something like that and decided to have Ribenna in test tubes! There wasn't enough time to purchase them from Taobao. Such breakables if to go via ship, would have taken approximately 2 to 3 weeks. Hence I turned to Carousell and yay someone was actually selling brand new test tubes! Strange I know, but Carousell sells Everything!
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| photo by themishmashmess |
I had them washed inside out (just in case) and then, it suddenly occurred to me -- how am I gonna make them stand? A quick search and I found some test tube holders online. However, they were either too expensive or plasticky. So, once again, I decided to have them DIYed. I had a box lying around and decided to recycle it. The size was perfect. The cutting of the circles were a big pain. My blade was sharp but the cardboard was just too thick. To make them symmetrical was also a challenge. The original plan was to have it painted in a rustic brown but thankfully I found some laminate-looking stickers at Daiso and they were PERFECT!
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| photo by themishmashmess |
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| photo by themishmashmess |
I got so excited I even made a fence to go along! Just cut and stick! How easy was that!
A Bunny Clock from Taobao. I got it for slightly under $40 and can reused it for Big K's bedroom.
The other items on the table like the crates and logs were on rent from a seller I found on Carousell. Total damage for that was $32 for 4 days. That totally worked for me as I didn't want to hoard such bulky items at home.
TADAH! The final product!!! Am uber proud of myself!
CAKE by SUGARJ
A dessert table wouldn't be complete without DESSERTS and the highlight of it all had to be the cake! I can't bake for nuts so I had to outsource this task to a professional. At about the same time, I started asking around and I must have asked at least 4 shortlisted bakers, all of whom were too busy to bake for us! Boo Hoo! Panic mode! With less than 2 months to go, I wasn't confident I could get the right person for the job. I am very particular when it comes to cakes. It has to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye and palatable to the tastebuds. Most importantly, I wasn't quite willing to fork out $500 for a fondant cake. Major sugar rush! Fortunately, Claire from SugarJ came to my rescue! She was the creative hands behind Small K's cake in May. I loved how we worked together to come up with a masterpiece and was so thankful that she took in my order despite just having given birth to a beautiful little girl. We had a 6 inch chocolate cake and I was afraid it wouldn't be enough, hence I got her to bake us a tall one! I shouldn't have, because I had almost half of the cake left! I probably had approximately close to 40 guests. It was just too much. As I was afraid that the cake wasn't enough, Claire also suggested that I get some mini cupcakes made. Nothing fancy since I wanted to go budget. So I was quoted a price of $2.50 per pop. However, I couldn't bear to see them so bare, so I dressed them up in DIY cupcake toppers and liners. I got them off the internet here.
The cake is a big thing for kids at a party and I'm glad the little one was pleased with this cake. Surrounded by great friends, celebratory tunes blasted from them as Big K blows out 6 of her candles.
MACARONS by MILLEVILLE
Coupled with the cake, Alyssa from Milleville was kind enough to bake us some thematic macarons. They were soooooo on point. She has such deft hands to be able to create such gorgeous little goodies! They really beefed up our dessert table and made my table so complete. I had them in caramel and Nutella flavour. Our little guests couldn't stop sinking their teeth in them! I didn't even have the chance to taste one! I guess that's testament to how yummy they were. The feedback given by some of the adults who tasted was that it's not too sweet. They are currently having some Xmas sets with prices starting from $16.50 for a 3pc favor set. Check them out here They are extremely popular so if you decide to use them (which you should!) for your next party, do book them early.
TARTS
The Queen of hearts love her tarts right? To add to the dessert table, I had to get us some tarts. The original plan was to get some of those tartlets from Delifrance. However, there wasn't one in my vicinity. And after running to a few bakeries, I finally found some chocolate tarts from DJ Bakery -- a neighbourhood bakery. They were going at 60 cents per piece. Not too bad and it tasted fine too. Not too sweet.
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
DECORATIONS
I was focusing my efforts on the dessert table so much that it suddenly dawned on me that the room might be a tad plain if I didn't add a thing or two around the room.
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
Hence, I got some of these keys and frames made. Don't worry, I didn't kill myself by cutting them out myself. I've got a die-cut machine at home and that came in handy!
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| photo by themishmashmess |
Another last minute feature was a table centrepiece (ALICE LEGS). At 2am the night before the party, I decided to whip this up! Crazy or not? I had everything: scraps of foam, a box from buying stuff and blue tissue papers and paint. So, I just had to do it! It took me only half an hour. Not bad I say.
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
The door would be really bare if I didn't have anything on it. It was a little tough to decide on whether I should simply have the words HAPPY BIRTHDAY on the door or to go all out and make a card arch. I chose to go with the latter. Surprise! All thanks to pinterest, this idea was imprinted in my mind and I couldn't say no. I had to print both back and front and have them cut and stuck against each other. That's just me. I can't tolerate sub standard work. I must have about 50 of those giant sized poker cards. The result : AWESOME (In my opinion)! The removal: A MESS. I used the wrong type of tape (precuts foam double sided tapes from Daiso.. I thought I was being smart) and they were so difficult to remove! Thankfully I had three muscular men to assist me on this -- The hubs, Ashlyn's hub and May's hub. Thanks guys!! The ladies were also of so much help! I would have been a bigger mess if May hadn't surprise me with her early arrival. Was so blessed that Ashlyn, though having to care for baby, was also helping me to remove those cutouts on the wall!
She was so meticulous that I was able to reuse them and they now sit prettily on the wall in Big K's bedroom. SCORE!
ENTERTAINMENT
DIY GAME STATIONS
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
I bought two Croquet play sets and painted them all pink with Acrylic Pain. Cut and laminated those flamingoes and stuck them onto the clubs. As for the arch, I printed and laminated those little card soldiers and pasted them on. Effort max!
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
This was suppose to be "Shoot the roses" game. However, the kids ended up shooting the glass door. Because of the suction on the bow and arrows, the glass door actually worked better and the kids had immense fun!
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
My army of card soldiers! All ready to battle the bowling ball! I had them printed and laminated and pasted on mineral water bottled filled with expired beans! #recycle
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
Teapot toss. I handed the kids each 2 ping pong balls and had them to throw into those teapots. It wasn't easy especially since the holes weren't that big. I am mad proud at how I was able to transform an abandoned cardboard box into this!
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
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| A different kindof fun between mother and daughter :) |
Balance the teacups. The children were made to take one teacup at a time, balance it and pass it to the next team player. Game ends when all the teacups has been brought back to home ground without dropping. I got the templates for these adorbs teacups from here
I ploughed through the Internet and found several games which I could play with the kids. The Internet really is a curse and a blessing. The more I looked, the more I wanted to do. Yes, I had big ambition of engaging 21 children! I am great with kids but I totally forgotten how rowdy they could get when they get excited. Especially the boys! It was such a madhouse trying to contain them. Especially those with a more competitive streak. Thankfully I had my bff with me and she got my back on this. I had them in two teams and they wanted a boys vs girls team. Only problem, I had too many boys! So two of the older boys were sweet enough to join the girls team. The games didn't go as smoothly as planned. It was so noisy and tough to manage. It was however very heartwarming to see kids from different walks of life (some having met for the first time) to come together as a team and rooted their teammates on. Their encouraging cheers ricocheted throughout the compound. I was secretly worried that Security would come and issue a warning. Some didn't want to wait and ran amok but ok, at least most had fun! At the end of the day, the team which won was exultant at their victory and whooped triumphantly as they received their prizes.
MAKING STICKERS with Xyron
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
I was able to set up a sticker making station as we were blessed to have stickiemail to provide us with sticker making machines. If you haven't heard, it is the latest buzz in town! I was so amazed by how well received it was. Both the young and the older kids were so engaged in this activity. Set up for this was so simple too! Just a day before party day, I merely printed a bunch of Alice In Wonderland cliparts and those were placed at the station for the kids to colour and cut before feeding it into the sticker machines. Some of the kids were even drawing their own cliparts and making their own stickers. This is an amazing asset to have as it gives the parents a respite and set up is so simple! When at home, you don't even need to print anything, you can simple tear a page off a magazine and get your kid to cut and turn it into a sticker! Xyron is sold at Times Bookstores, Kinokuniya, NBC Stationery & Gifts, TOKYU HANDS Singapore, Made with love, The ELLY Store and Naise. Or of course, you may check them out online here.
MAD SCIENCE
No party would be complete without entertainment. Facepainting and magic shows are just too common. I didn't want a queue of impatient little children waiting and fighting for their turn to face paint as well. So when Mad Science came into the equation, I was tremendously excited. Mad Science is a leading global Science enrichment provider. Their innovative programs help kids learn about Science through hands-on, fun, after-school programs, preschool programs, in-class workshops, camps, birthday parties and special events.
Everyone knows my background and are aware how crazily involved I am with kids and education. Every minute is a learning opportunity. And I don't mean sit down do worksheets and drill them kind-of opportunity. I detest that at this age. Learning should be made fun. Fun is exactly what Alessa from Mad Science provided. The children and adults alike were mesmerized by the experiments shown. The celebratory atmosphere hit the climax when the Mad Scientist started her show. The children couldn't contain their excitement and kept moving forward. Alessa had to be stern and remind them to take 5 steps back as there were chemicals around and hence might be dangerous if one topples. Safety First! The entire show took approximately 45minutes to an hour. Imagine, kids being able to sit down for 45mins! It must mean something right? The parents also caught a respite. In fact, I caught the hubs taking an eyeshut!
There were several packages to choose from and we settled for Icky Gooey Bubbly which came highly recommended for my 6year olds. The kids had lots of opportunities assisting the Mad Scientist with exciting experiments. Many had their jaw dropped when the Mad Scientist burnt money and it remained unscorched! Kids, DO NOT try this at home!
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
The children squealed in delight when the Mad Scientist conducted the dry ice bubble experiment. The Dry Ice fun segment was loads of fun as it included tasting of a big burp potion. I could sense ecstasy screaming from every fibre of the children's body as they jumped up and down in elation.
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
An infectious chortle filled the air when the Mad Scientist brought Alien Irmadoodle out and transformed it with a chemical reaction.
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
Another highlight of the Mad Science entertainment was to get everyone make their own Mad Science Slime! That's something which kids of all ages (i had children as old as 9yos) enjoyed!
Jubilation was written all over the children's face and that really made me happy. The whole experience was so memorable and awesome that to date, some of her classmates are still talking about it.
I highly recommend this! And if there are no parties in the pipeline, you may want to periodically check them out for workshops. Right now for the month of December, they are running a holiday camp: The Mad Science Investigators will run from 11th to 15th December 2017 at Kidz Amaze Toa Payoh. You can expect fun and interactive patented content at this camp. Children will take home Science kits and/or projects every camp day. Best part, just drop your kid off at 9am and be back at 5pm to pick them up! Free play at KidzAmaze before and after Mad Science program each day! What are you waiting for? Register today here! You can also keep abreast of their happenings over on Facebook.
FOOD
This was probably arranged the latest. Just a week before the event in fact. I should have made liaison earlier however work was at its peak and so was procrastination. I was so glad I chanced upon Foodline! Listed on this directory are top 50 buffet caterers. It's really a great platform to order your buffet from! Imagine, in the past, I had to plough through each and every caterer which Mr Google suggested and narrowed down my search with pen and paper.
With Foodline, the search was made so much easier! I could search via menu type or caterer, or if I had a budget in mind, I could key that in and let the search engine do the rest. I was also able to key in the number of pax I was expecting and run the search. It was that simple!
Every caterer had a rating.
All the menus pertaining to your budget will be clearly displayed.
Photos of the food offered by your choice of caterer are also provided. And these photos are those take by customers so they can't be fake! A very good guide when it comes to selecting of menu. Very often when we read off menus, it's all words, words and more words. Some of these copywriters are really good at describing and their flowery words will make you drool but at the end of the day, the deliverables are disappointing. Since these are legit photos from customers, I believe they are good hence customers will want to post them right? On top of that, Foodline is also have monthly competition where customers who upload their photos, will stand a chance to win $150 in cash! I should go upload mine too!
If you are skeptical over the overall ratings given, the 726 reviews should warrant some kind of trust. I am able to see that each review is authentic. Because with so many caterers and reviews made, if they were made using a robot, that robot would have gone bongkus!
I also noted that several government agencies and private companies had used them. In addition, famous Mediacorp celebrity Xiang Yun is their spokesperson! Credible much! Ordering a buffet couldn't be easier! Oh! Did I also mention, their prices are sometimes better than when you order directly through the vendors? Look out for their deals and be kept updated through their facebook page here. And if you think it is only buffet that all they do, you are wrong! One can also order cakes and baby full month vouchers through Foodline!
So within that night, I narrowed down my search to three caterers, had a discussion with the hubs and decided that our gastronomic fanfare would be provided by Ronnie's Kitchen. I didn't know of their existence prior to this event. I certainly wasn't sure of their quality. However, through Foodline, I was able to make an informed decision and turned out that my decision was right! The food was great especially the curry and Yam Paste and the service was good. Portions were definitely more than enough as I had to pack some back for party number two that evening.
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
Upon receiving a confirmation email from Foodline, I received a call from Ronnie's Kitchen the next day. I was informed that the delivery had to be at approximately 1220pm as there were several deliveries that day. My event was to start at 1230pm! *horrors! I explained the situation to the lady and she put in a request for the delivery man to rush down as soon as he can! And he arrived at 1210, much to my delight. Setup was quick and professional and everything was ready to rock and roll by 1230pm.
For this festive period, Foodline is having a host of great deals on Xmas packages. Check them out here. They have various party sets varying from 5 to even 100pax! What's more, they guarantee the best price! (More info here: http://www.foodline.sg/guarantees.php)
DISCOUNT CODE
Quote FLJANICE10 for $10 (min $50 order) off their cakes purchased on FoodLine.sg/cakes,
FLJANICE30 for $30 off (Min $300 order, food only) their catering order on FoodLine.sg. Valid till 30 June 2018.
DISCOUNT CODE
Quote FLJANICE10 for $10 (min $50 order) off their cakes purchased on FoodLine.sg/cakes,
FLJANICE30 for $30 off (Min $300 order, food only) their catering order on FoodLine.sg. Valid till 30 June 2018.
For your festive needs, apply the code JANICEX38 to get $38 off all orders! (min $350 order, valid for all ordered submitted from now till 31 Dec 2017)
COSTUMES
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| Photo by mmlittlee |
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
To get everyone into the mood, I needed costumes that befit the occasion. Thankful to Mama G from TullelovebyGwen, the twinning and Bespoke specialist, I was able to don on the Queen's outfit and get a hat for the hubs. Yup, he had to be the Mad Hatter, much to his reluctance. Thankfully, getting him to put on the hat for the photos was much easier than to get him into a costume! For Big K, I of course had to dress her up as Alice! And her costume was bought from none other than Taobao. The family portrait wouldn't be complete if Small K wasn't in a costume as well. So, I had to DIY him a rabbit costume. It was pretty simple except the bit where I had to sew. I am hopeless at that.
PARTY FAVORS by LeBox
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
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| Photo by themishmashmess |
Lebox specialises in learning kits, however, they have been doing up educational party favors for children of late. Being one half of Lebox, I naturally needed to bring this element into Big K's party! I am not a fan of sweets and junk in a party pack (no offence) and would rather something meaningful. I managed to DIY some games to the theme of Alice in Wonderland and added a touch of fun with stickers made using Stickiemail's sticker maker. I've also printed a maze for the older children to try. Included in the pack was also a craft where kids could sew a hat for themselves. Think: Mad Hatter. Coupled with those, I had an Alice in Wonderland bookmark DIYed and included some Alice in Wonderland Karel Capek tea from onetaplifestyle. It smells divine and you can select from their child herb selection where there is no caffeine so even pregnant women can consume.
ok, if you noticed, I did include a little snack. Just in case all else fails :P
PHOTOGRAPHY by ThePixelFlair
The party wouldn't be complete without photos. It would have just been fuzzy memories in our brains if not for a good photo. I am really big on photos as it brings back so many fond memories. Finding the right photographer for the task was pretty straight forward. We attended a friend's birthday party recently and I had seen Jazsica's work. I love how she was able to capture the candid smiles on the kids and the vibrant colours of her photos. I didn't want those posey photos. It would have been impossible to ask 21 kids to stay still and pose for a photo. I knew this was something I had to outsource to the professionals. As much as I wanted to DIY most of the things, I know I am only human and the last thing I wanted was to go home without physical memories of it. All photos featured in this post is by Jazsica of ThePixelFlair unless otherwise stated. So vibrant and happy each time I see these photos. I could see have them on repeat mode on my screensaver! If you like what you see, touch base with The Pixelflair (Discount Code: Quote themishmashmessTPF17 and receive 15% off their standard rate, expires 31 Dec 2017)
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| From our family to yours: Thank you for sharing this joyous moment with us! |
This epic celebration for my 6 year old indeed zapped a whole lot of my energy and time, but seeing the smiles from the children made all the frenzy worthwhile. I am sure this momentous birthday party will be etched in Big K's mind for years to come! Happy Birthday my dear honey bunny!
