This sweet birthday boy was named after his father and appropriately nicknamed "Dos", making this fiesta theme a perfect fit for his 1st birthday party!!! With vibrant colors and fun fiesta inspired details, this party was fun for all!

​The dessert table was bright and cheery, anchored by the DIY fringe wall created using plastic tablecloths. The same look can be achieved with pre-made or DIY paper fringe as well.

Dos' birthday cake was decorated in layers of ribbon frosting with this super fun "UNO" pinata cake topper. Guests were served cactus cupcakes displayed on terra cotta pots serving as cupcake stands. Desserts were served on red pepper paper plates inspired by his invitation with custom imprinted foil beverage napkins.

Seated tables were draped in a simple white medallion linen and decorated with vibrant florals and fun mini donkey pinatas in the party's colors.

During the party, guests snacked on delicious items from the taco truck parked out front and adults enjoyed margaritas and Mexican beers.

Dos celebrated his big birthday candle moment in his high chair decorated with colorful fringe and his custom made "Dos es Uno" bib.

Guests took home mini maracas with fun gift tags reading, "Muchos Gracias".

Vendor Credits:
Party Styling & Printables: Crowning Details
Cupcakes & Cake: Frost Bake Shoppe
Cake Topper: Etsy (Viva La Fiesta)
Paper Plates: Crowning Details
Florals: Horton Thompson Floral Design
Linens: House of Hough
Pinatas: Lula Flora Designs
Maraca Favors: Oriental Trading

Stella's 7th birthday party was not only beautiful, but a blast for the party guests, held in the gazebo area of a private garden and social club in Houston. 

Can you guess what Stella's favorite color is!?! We used purple as the jumping off point for the party's design, covering our backdrop in this bright spring shade. Stella's name was applied to the plywood backdrop as two pieces of printed vinyl lettering. The butterflies were applied to the backdrop in such a pattern to appear as though they were flying into the background. For dimension and color variety, we used several shades of pink mixed with a lighter shade of purple and white.

To soften the table's design, we added a beautiful white tulle table skirt. And then the splurge decor item for this party was most definitely the stunning floral garden wrapping the entire front of the dessert table.

For desserts, we selected a small hand-painted birthday cake for Stella with fresh floral accents. For variety and for the party guests, we served custom made butterfly petit fors on floral dessert plates.

Seated tables were decorated simply with medallion white overlays and spring floral arrangements accented with butterflies. Doubling as a party activity and a party favor, guests created their own DIY butterfly gardens using personal buckets, top soil, peet moss, flowers and a  variety of miniature garden decor items. These were a huge hit with the girls!

Vendor Credits:
Party Styling & Backdrop: Crowning Details
Custom Vinyl Lettering: Created by Jackie
​Linens: House of Hough
Flowers: Horton Thompson Floral Design
Cake & Petit Fors: Timtations
​Paper Plates: Amazon

William's birthday party theme request was Star Wars lego...so we worked with his mommy to create a design that worked for not only her aesthetic, but that would thrill William and his little buddies.

The focus of his party design was definitely more on Star Wars the movie than legos, pulling in the building toys into a few elements into some key components versus a "lego" party.

The dessert's backdrop was an amazing galaxy standee personalized with not only the birthday boy's name, but his age. We chose a black linen for dramatic effect and added this galaxy inspired "Happy Birthday" banner from our online shop. 

The centerpiece on our dessert table was the fondant cake featuring "Star Wars" text and the iconic Death Star. To incorporate the lego concept into the design, we added some fun lego men around the top and base of the 2-tier cake. We decorated simple store bought cupcakes with personalized "Let the Force be with You" wrappers and used miniature light sabers as toppers. We also offered Star Wars lego character inspired cookies on a tall pedestal.

Desserts were served on Star Wars paper plates nestled in between life sized light sabers and a Storm Trooper's helmet (the birthday boy's favorite movie character).

Seated tables were decorated simply using black and lime green coloring with buckets of lego bricks in open containers as centerpieces, doubling as a party activity for guests. For fun, we had this Storm Trooper lego figure photo prop created for some great party photos, and as a keepsake for the birthday boy.

Each guest took home a favor bag filled with a mini lego-kit, sure to be a hit not only with the kiddos but the parents.

Vendor Credits:
Party Styling & Printables: Crowning Details
Table Backdrop: Shindigz
Cake: Dessert Happiness
Cookies:
​Cupcake Wrappers: Shindigz
Photo Prop: Created by Jackie

When planning sweet Eliza's 1st birthday party, her mommy wanted something simple, elegant and personalized for her daughter to be set-up in the family's home. 

When creating the party's design, we wanted to utilize a variety of pink shades along with white and fresh greenery.  Guests were greeted with stunning balloon arrangements along the pathway to the birthday girl's home.

The focal point of the dining room was this elongated balloon garland, covering the length of the table and beyond. To soften the balloon garland, our florist add sprays of fresh flowers throughout the garland.

For our sweets set-up, we utilized the dining room's buffet table as a base. A simple white, textured buttercream cake was centered on the buffet and then for a smash cake, we served sweet Eliza a mini-naked cake with a hot pink balloon topper. For an alternate dessert option, painted macaroons were displayed on a 2 tiered serving dish.

One of our favorite details for this event were the stunning 36" round white balloons with custom, floor-length floral tassels. For personalization, "One" and "Eliza" were added to the balloons in calligraphy. These balloons were truly stunning!

As party favors, each guest took home mini balloon pops on colorful paper straws. Balloons are perfect gifts for children of all ages!

Vendor Credits:
Party Styling & Printables: Crowning Details
Balloon Garland: Up, Up & Away Balloons
36" Balloons & Custom Tassels: Big Ass Balloons
Cakes: Timtations Bakery
Painted Macaroons: Macarons by Patisse
Flowers: Horton Thompson Floral Design

Over the past several years, we have had the pleasure of assistingk a friend and client with their annual client appreciation event. This year, the chosen theme for this corporate event was "Fiesta" and we knew just the venue to fit that ticket. The Parador, nestled near the Houston Medical Center, offered the ideal backdrop with its Spanish inspired architecture and multi-room setting.

As guests entered the venue, they were greeted by Begay & Associates staff and encouraged to sign-in and find their personalized name cards on our table decorated simply with Sarapes and this custom made, lit "Hola" signage.

During the first hour of the event, guests dined on Mexican inspired appetizers, listened to the background music provided by live Mariachi and had the option of sampling tequila from our manned station or taking fun photographs in the photobooth.

Once the main dining space doors were opened, guests were ushered to their seats in the large dining room space. Tables were draped in sold white linens which worked in perfect in contrast to the dark mahogany Chivari chairs. We brought in vibrant color to the space through custom florals and mini handmade pinatas by the talented designers at Lula Flora. For centerpiece height variation, we also utilized tall glass hurricanes with Spanish references on a number of the dining tables.

Prior to dinner service, guests listened to information about the financial markets and introductions by the Begay & Associates team of financial professionals. Upon completion of speeches and accolades, guests enjoyed dinner with the acompanyment of live mariachi music.

Vendor Credits:
Event Planning & Styling: Crowning Details
Venue: The Parador
Florist: Horton Thompson Floral Design
Mini Pinatas: Lula Flora
Ole Signage: Created by Jackie
Caterer: Mandola's Catering
​Photographer: Brandy Stoesz Photography

Merry Christmas! 

During the holiday season, I always find myself searching for simple, yet tasty hostess gift ideas; things to keep on hand or to make in bulk for holiday parties, neighbor gifts, teacher gifts and for colleagues.

When I stumbled upon these super cute moose mugs from Oriental Trading, I couldn't resist filling them with Moose Munch and adding our fun personalized tags and some adorable holiday ribbon.

To create your own fun Moose Munch gifts, fill your mugs with homemade popcorn (recipe below) in clear cellophane bags and then simply add your favorite holiday ribbon and our personalized gift tag.

These silly moose mugs and delicious treats are sure to bring a smile to anyone's face!

Moose Munch Recipe
Author: Erin Browne
Ingredients

• 12 cups popped popcorn
• 1.5 cups nuts of choice (peanuts, pecans, cashews, etc)
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• ¾ cup butter
• ½ cup light corn syrup
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1.5 tsp shortening

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 250F
2. Spread popped popcorn and nuts into a large roasting pan, or divide between two pans.
3. In a heavy bottom saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes, or until mixture comes to a boil.
4. Continue boiling for 2 minutes.
5. Remove pan from heat and stir in baking soda.
6. Pour warm mixture over popcorn and nuts and stir well so that the popcorn is coated.
7. Bake for 60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and transfer popcorn to wax paper, don't break into chunks.
9. Allow to cool completely.
10. Once cooled, melt chocolate chips with shortening in the microwave in 30 second intervals on 50% power, stirring after each one. Alternately, you can melt chocolate in a double boiler.
11. Using a fork or spoon, generously drizzle chocolate over the popcorn and let stand 3-4 hours until chocolate is set. Break into pieces and enjoy!

This review is based strictly on my opinion. I was provided the sample free of charge by the company to provide my honest review. No other type of compensation was received. All ideas and opinions are my own.

Every holiday season, one of our favorite traditions is to sit together to enjoy Christmas movies.

My preschoolers absolutely love the magic of the movie, Polar Express. And....I have to admit, that I love the movie as well. There is something magical about a child's belief in Christmas and I know that I will be sad down the road when our children stop believing....

But for now, we are full force into Christmas everything and celebrate not only the meaning of Christmas, but the commerical side as well. This year, weather hosting your own movie watching pajama party as a family, with friends or with school mates, give out a bit of your own holiday magic with our FREE "Believe" printable and oversized bells from Oriental Trading.

These little magical bells also make great stocking stuffers!!

Simply download, print and trim our printable shown below and attach using your favorite Christmas ribbon to these fun bells.

Our 5 year old son Harrison requested an "army soldier" this year after I presented a number of possible theme options. Generally, he isn't picky at all and just wants cake, friends to come and presents. This year, I think he in part requested this theme as he overhead that daddy was in the army....and well, it is super sweet that he wants to grow up just like him.

As guests arrived at the front door, they were greeted by an over-sized hummer standee. In the party area, they were given their own personalized dog tags to wear along with soft camo children's hats during the party. These items also doubled as part of their favors, all displayed on a table decorated with a Happy Birthday banner and over-sized tank standee.

When preparing the design for this "army soldier" party, I wanted to focus more on kid-friendly images and less on guns...after all, this is a group of 5 year olds :)!! So, we landed on a saluting soldier and a parachute as our primary jumping off point for design. With that in mind, I had this 3D parachute backdrop created as the centerpiece of our dessert table. To pull in the soldier concept, I also had her create a self-standing 30" tall saluting soldier to stand at the base of the table.

For desserts, we served a camo cake for the birthday boy and green grass cupcakes topped with toy soldiers for the guests. For fun and for height, the cupcakes were displayed on green ammo boxes. To nibble on during the party, we also offered grenade cake balls displayed in dirt, aka crushed Oreo cookies, and camo inspired sugar cookies. All of the desserts were served on our newly designs party plates featuring toy soldier imagery outlined in camo.

The seated tables were draped in brown paper linens with camo netting as a full overlay. Our centerpieces were 3D custom created saluting army soldiers holding parachutes full of white balloons.

During the party, guests had a blast throwing grenade water balloons at attacking soldier painted boards, shooting nerf guns at targets along the fence, tossing camo bean bags at aluminum cans, practicing their balance test on a board and running the tire course.

Guests took home camo bags filled with army toy soldiers and camo binoculars to add to their stash of gear.

Everyone had a great time at his toy soldier inspired party!!

Vendor Credits:
Party Styling, Paper Plates & Printables: Crowning Details
Backdrop, Army Soldier Standee, Soldier Centerpieces & Grenade Toss Signage: Created by Jackie
Cake & Cookies: Frost Bake Shoppe
Cupcakes: HEB
Grenade Cake Balls: Angie's Cake
Tank Standee, Hummer Standee, Tank Pinata, Burlap Table Skirt: Shindigz 
Party Favor Bags, Dog Tag Necklaces, Binoculars, Child's Camo Hats, Camo Costume: Oriental Trading

Lila's Peppa in the park party was perfectly simple....just like Peppa. We chose to focus on a few key design elements to keep the concept fun and playful, yet modern in styling.

One of the main focal points of Lila's party was the custom tablecloth, sewn in bright blue sky with green grass and floral accents. How would we omit including Peppa's iconic house from the design?!?! Since the party was outdoors, we decided to create a 3D Peppa house to store napkins and forks; the perfect solution for a windy outdoor day. And, the fun custom made house doubles as a play toy after the party for sweet Lila. 

For a whimsical touch, we designed this self-standing, 3D apple tree for red donuts, aka apples. This was such a fun creation and huge hit with the party guests. 

To complete the 360 degree visual for the party table, we added this simple balloon cloud bunch above Peppa's house for height.

For dessert, guests enjoyed this custom Peppa cake, personalized with the birthday girl's name, age and an ice cream cone topper which coordinated with the party's invitation and the ice cream truck guests would enjoy later in the party.

A little birdie told us that Peppa herself made a surprise appearance for Lila's party to the delight of all of the guests!! 

Party guests each took home a bag of sidewalk chalk, a perfect favor for this preschool aged crowd.

Vendor Credits:
Party Design & Printables: Crowning Details
Apple Donut Tree & Peppa House: Created by Jackie
Cake: The Cake Fairy
​Balloon Tree: Up, Up & Away 
Tablecloth: Etsy (Made in Burlap)

Kate's 4th birthday party was her fairytale come true!! Her request....a Belle party. So, we delivered! With the recent release of the 25th anniversary edition of Beauty & The Beast, timing couldn't have been more perfect to play with this theme!! And, for those of us who remember the original movie release, it was super fun to reminisce. 

Party guests were greeted in the yard by a hand painted, pink frame full of the most well known character silhouettes from the film.

Kate's dessert table pulled imagery from the film in coloring and deconstructed concepts. The custom made yellow table skirt played homage to Belle's stunning ball gown. Iconic character silhouettes were displayed in ornate, pink frames against a floral textured backdrop. To pull the pink coloring through the base of the table's design, we added a printable "Happy Birthday" banner from end to end.

Kate's two-tiered birthday cake created by Dessert Happiness also pulled inspiration from Belle's dress as the base tier with yellow swags and rose details. To keep the design simple and modern, our top tier was simple white buttercream and we opted for a single "4" gold glitter topper for personalization. Rose buttercream cupcakes, also pulling from the rose in the film, were displayed on stacked books. For added dessert variety, we also offered a gorgeous set of personalized sugar cookies; tea pots, Belle dresses and floral details.

Guest seating indoors was formal, with tables draped in floor length linens, white chivari chairs and stunning florals. The table was set using these ornate gold paper plates, using 3 coordinating, yet different patterns for visual interest and contrast. Two gold candlebras with florals around the base were displayed on each of the long guest tables along with a coordinating floral in between. For fun, we set Chip and Mrs. Potts cutouts in the room, which were also prime photo ops for party guests.

Throughout the party, guests were entertained with over-sized cardboard coloring castles, DIY princess crowns, Pin the Kiss on the Frog and of course, an appearance from Belle herself, along with her princess pal Cinderella.

Guests selected from among sweet hand mirrors or royal scepters as their party favors, inclusive for both genders attending Kate's party!

We hope you enjoyed, "Being our Guest" at Kate's 4th birthday party and that you gained inspiration for your next event!

Vendor Credits:
Party Styling & Printables: Crowning Details
Cake & Cupcakes: Dessert Happiness
Cookies: The Sugar Jar
Florals: Horton Thompson Floral Design
Welcome Sign & Tea Cups: Created by Jackie
Table & Chair Rentals: A Finer Event
​Scepter & Mirror Favors: Amazon
White floral sheeting: Shindigz
​Princesses: Princess Party Productions
Photography: Kat Silva Photography