It seems like it was not too long ago that I did my elder nephew's birthday and it seems like it was just yesterday that my baby nephew was born... Time flies really quickly and now it's his turn to turn 1!
My elder nephew really loves cars and so we did a Disney Cars-themed 1st birthday for him. However, my baby nephew has yet to express anything that he really like, thus we picked 'UP' as the theme. It is also a Disney movie and something that is matching to his age. One of the main highlights of the movie was the big bunch of helium balloons that Carl tied to his house, so we had rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple), white and silver (for metallic items) as the theme colours.
Similarly, we started planning about 1-2 months ahead and right till the party day itself. However, this time round, I did everything entirely on my own so it was a lot more to do and I slept on an average about 3-5hrs a day on days nearing to the party.
#1: The party held at With A Pinch Of Salt Cafe at Tanjong Katong.
#2: Complimentary 50 helium balloons (in red, yellow, green, blue and purple) and white balloons on chain.
#3: Dessert table set-up. Complimentary large number helium foil balloon with 6 helium balloons.
#4: Dessert layout, about $200 in total (exclude birthday cake).
Just an introduction to the desserts, starting from back left, anti-clockwise direction... Similarly I had a different character for each item.
#5: UP house model (Taobao), made entirely from paper. It came in sheets of paper and I glued all the pieces together. It's really light and fragile. The paper was really thick that small areas like the railings and the stairs are just impossible to fold and glue, so I improvise and swop them with toothpicks and cardboard.
#6: [Dug] Mini Custard Fruit Tarts - shortcrust pastry, custard, sugar-glazed fruits (strawberry, blueberry, kiwi, canned peach).
#7: [UP House] Vanilla Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting and Heart-shaped Sprinkles, with matching 'Grape Soda' cupcake toppers.
#8: Grape Soda cupcake topper - actual design.
#9: Another shot of the tarts and cupcakes. Cupcake stand from Taobao - I bought it many years ago so I think it's no longer available for purchase.
#10: The Carl and Ellie corner. [Ellie] 'My Adventure Book' that features photos of the birthday boy. Everything is kept as close as possible to the one shown in the movie, just that the photos are different. [Carl] Tennis Ball Cookies - butter cookies, ground pistachio, white chocolate. If you were to notice, Carl has a tennis ball walking stick.
#11: Paradise Falls Savings Jar - coins made from foil-wrapped styrofoam circles with some gold chocolate coins. I decided to make the coins myself as I wanted silver coins to match with the theme colours. Jar from IKEA.
#12: Coins and Notes - actual design.
#13: [Russell] Konnyaku Jelly Cups - colours from food colouring, white from coconut milk. Russell is a kid and which kid wouldn't love colourful jelly? Cups (CUP-PP-03, 85ml) from SKP.
#14: Rainbow cupcake topper - actual design.
#15: [Kevin] Chocolate Brownies with Dark Chocolate and Sprinkles, because Kevin loves chocolate!
#16: [Charles's Dogs] Rainbow Fruit Skewers - strawberry, papaya, canned peach, kiwi, blueberry, grape. Plastic bags and wire ribbons can be bought at SKP.
#17: A better view of the fruit skewers!
#18: [Charles] Tiramisu Cups with matching 'Wilderness Explorer' cupcake toppers. Russell plays as a Wilderness Explorer scout boy in the movie. Cups (CUP-PP-03, 85ml) from SKP.
#19: Wilderness Explorer cupcake toppers - actual deisgn.
#20: Matching UP theme 2-tier fondant cake that is rainbow on the inside, $300. Cardboard 'ASTON' letters from Artfriend, I just paint them white with acrylic paint. Glass cups from IKEA with skittles, styrofoam cubes from Artfriend, painted with black acrylic paint.
#21: A better view of the birthday cake.
#22: Rainbow on the inside with chocolate buttercream.
#23: Some pretty flower decors placed on the piano.
#24: The cafe is selling some super good Chinese New Year cookies as well!
#25: You can get them from the cafe itself, online or directly from the Chef!
#26: Another side of view of the dessert table.
#27: Food Labels - actual design.
#28: Table cover from the cloth shop, $2 per yard. Table skirting DIY-ed from 2 sheets of plastic table covers bought from Spotlight, and I just double-side it to the table cloth. You can learn to make the tassel garland from this video, crepe/tissue paper from Popular.
#29: The food provided by the cafe however was a MAJOR dissppointment. This is what you get for a price tag of $22 per pax. Such an ugly set-up and the food is all so cheapskate. The main - Mushroom Aglio Olio for instance, was just olive oil coated spaghetti with canned button mushroom slices. You call this an Aglio Olio? I'm not even a chef and I can still easilly do up an Aglio Olio way better than this! The Sausage Galore was actually just hotdogs. The food is just BAD, real bad.
#30: The food on the other side, equally bad.
#31: The balloons provided were cheap balloons as well. Can you see how cheapstake it looks?
The cafe was a great place to hold a party, the location, the convenience, with bus stops around and a huge open carpark just right behind the cafe. As compared to the locations we used for the previous parties, we don't have to serve our guests ourselves, we don't have to clear up the mess and throw the garbage ourselves, we don't have to cut and distribute the birthday cake ourselves, and we don't have to worry that there would not be enough food and drinks for the guests. BUT the food however, which is one of the most important thing for a party, is the factor that makes me NOT want to return to hold a second party. It was so embarrassing!
Other items that I have designed that were unfortunately not used during the party...
#32: Invitation.
#33: Menu.
#34: Welcome Sign.
#35: Thank You Sign.
#36: Happy Birthday Banner.
Click here for the RECIPES!
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