So many businesses/business owners I follow online, comment on their pictures and truly admire – I was able to finally meet and see their work or products in real life.

This was at the entrance to the venue – love the colour combo!:

Entrance to Confetti Fair

It was amazing to be surrounded by so many different stalls – each styled so uniquely. It truly felt like you were at a different party at each table you went to.

Confetti fair - Photo taken by Milk & Honey Photography and featured on the Hello May site

However looking back at the pictures I realise I didn’t get to take in all the details of everyone’s stalls and displays – probably because I was too busy talking to all the lovely ladies behind the stalls!

I truly enjoyed meeting everyone at Confetti Fair – most of whom I had dealt with online. It was so lovely to finally get to meet in person these wonderful women who inspire me (& many others) online and see their work in person rather than just onscreen!

I don’t want to mention particular names/businesses because to be honest we could be here all day and I’m bound to miss somebody!  I’ve just picked different pictures to show you from various business to give you an idea of what was on display- please click on the image to be taken to the business/image source.

Sweet Celebrations stall - photo by Nikki Fitt photography

everyone I met….yes everyone, was friendly, down to earth and welcoming!

You know how you see these AMAZING parties styled by people online, or brilliant cakes, or such unique printables…and you realise just how talented these people must be – and wander how they will be if you meet them ? Well each and every single business owner who was exhibiting was so genuine, lovely and humble!

Ruffles & Bells stall

Cupcakes by Theme my Party - photograph by Milk & Honey photography

Bon Bon Boutique's stall

Tiny Tots Toy Hire stall

Sweet Bambini Event Styling Hot Air Balloon table

Besides specific stalls, there were all sorts of collaboration tables set up all around the hall – lovely kids tables & dessert tables with styling, decor, treats etc all by various businesses combined!

Collaboration table. Cake by Minnie's Sweet Creations. Photo by Milk & Honey Photography

I wish I could put up a lot more images to showcase everyone’s displays however you can see more on the Confetti Fair facebook page.

There were party boutiques, handmade decor suppliers, party hire businesses, cake makers, printable designers, event stylists and more all exhibiting -  everything you need when organising a party!

If Confetti Fair is coming to a city near you, you HAVE to go….!

Whether it be to find some party ideas or products or to meet in person the people behind the amazing party businesses in these states – I assure you, it is worth it.

Here are the upcoming dates, more details and tickets via the Confetti Fair website:

Brisbane: 14th July

Melbourne: 4th August

Perth: 23rd November

Congratulations & thank you to Claire for organising Confetti Fair and to all the businesses who exhibited and put together such inspiring displays of their work/products/services for all of us visitors to enjoy!

However when I feel inspired about a theme – I really enjoy blogging about it – and that’s how I felt about this party theme.

Do a search for “lemonade stand party” in google or pinterest and you will find the cutest party images ever! This is such a gorgeous theme and even if you don’t style a whole party around this theme you could always incorporate a lemonade stand into another theme you are planning.

This blog post has really made me think -  WHEN can I include a lemonade stand in an upcoming celebration?!

If you are able to incorporate an actual stand into this party (and I’ve included some hire options for you and a great little number from IKEA) it makes it even more cuter! Although a sweet simple table styled well can look just as lovely!

This is the perfect party to include lovely drink dispensers, use cute mini bottles and coloured straws and bring some sunshiny yellow into your party!

Most popular colours for this party are mixing yellow with pink and/or green but for boys I would mix the yellow with grey, or blue (fantastic real party in this colour scheme under the “Real parties” section of this blog post).

You can go for a retro or vintage vibe with this party and include cute wooden crates/boxes/props for a unique look.

Hope you enjoy this post! I enjoyed putting it together!

Invitations/Printables

Starting off with these FREE printables:

FREE printables by the TomKat Studio

Lovely colours in this printable collection by Anders Ruff:

Pink lemonade party printables - Anders Ruff

Retro lemonade stand printables - Hank and Petunia

Some perfect options for boys:

Lemonades and Lollipops invitation - Anders Ruff

Chevron printables - Lemonade Design studio

cute FREE printables for some lemonade signs:

Free sign printables - One Charming Party

These labels are easy to just write your descriptions straight on and pop them on your table:

Yellow polkadot labels - Trains and Tutus Party Boutique

Love these chalkboard signs by Ashdown & Bee. Perfect for this theme!:

Chalkboard signs - Ashdown & Bee

Decorations

Lots of cute ways to decorate this party and particularly to string something pretty around a lemonade stand:

Scallop bunting - Red Elephant Creative

Fresh Citrus bunting - Giddy Gumdrops

Yellow paper bunting - The Social Boutique

A bright paper chain for a retro feel:

Yellow paper chain - The Party Parlour

Love these MINI tissue balls – only 12.5cm!

Mini 12.5cm tissue balls - My Garden Party

Tableware

This theme is the perfect excuse to set out a cute drinks table and use mini bottles and colourful straws. Here are some items perfect for this theme:

Yellow chevron tablerunner - Love The Occasion

Yellow dot tablecloth - The Party People

Yellow polkadot cups - The Little Big Company

Yellow scallop cups - Just Party Supplies

Love love love these PLASTIC milk bottles which come with lids as well. Perfect for smaller children!:

Plastic milk bottles with lids - Bon Bon Boutique

For older children who can handle the glass – these yellow dot glass bottles are cute!

Yellow spot glass bottle - Love The Occasion

Or go for a vintage feel with these little mason jars for your drinks:

Mason jars - Emerald and Ella

Pop in some colour straws:

Yellow striped straws - Saffy & May

Chevron straws - Emerald and Ella

Complete a retro look with this straw dispenser:

Retro striped straw dispenser - The Little Big Company

Yellow and white stripe napkins - The Party Parlour

You can’t have a lemonade stand party without drink dispensers! Either hire some or buy some of these lovely ones:

Drink dispenser - Alfresco Emporium

2 part drink dispenser - Leo & Bella

Ashley drinks dispenser - Sweet Style

Yorkshire jar drink dispenser

This lovely white tray would be perfect filled with your little bottles:

Retro white tray - Styled Sealed Delivered

Also love these square tins for this theme…fill them with some lemons perhaps and use as a prop?:

Square buckets - Saffy & May

These berry boxes would also look great filled with a few lemons if you are going for a rustic feel:

Wood berry boxes - Blank Goods

Or use these sweet ceramic punnet boxes in your party:

Ceramic berry punnet - Lark

For a retro feel, use these cookie jars for your sweets:

Cookie jar - Sweet Style

Top off your dessert table with a yellow cake stand!

This yellow wooden stand is also available to hire from Tiny Tots Toy Hire if you’re in Sydney:

Yellow wooden cake stand - Emerald & Ella

Buttercream milk glass cake stand - Leo & Bella

Special Theme Items

How cool is this little stand from IKEA?! It is only $20 and an easy prop to use for this party and your kids will love to play with it after the party as well. Just cover the coloured strips with coloured paper to match your colour scheme:

Children's market stand - IKEA

You can also hire a stand which you can use as a lemonade stand like this one available in Sydney from Tiny Tots Toy Hire:

Lemonade stand & props for HIRE - Tiny Tots Toy Hire (Sydney)

In PERTH try out Simply Sweet Soirees.

In MELBOURNE Utterly Organised Lolly buffets, events and hire have lots of props you could use for this theme.  I’m sure you can find something similar in other states as well or check out gumtree or ebay.

A canopy such as this one below (available for hire and you can probably find similar for hire in other states) would also look really cute for this theme with the yellow and white chairs as well:

Lolly canopy stand - Tiny Tots Toy Hire (Sydney)

These sweet yellow chairs for HIRE would also look fantastic for this theme:

Yellow ghost chairs for HIRE - Mini Party People (Melbourne)

Get your birthday boy/girl a fun apron to wear as they serve some lemonade! Love these waterproof ones:

Pink spotted waterproof apron - Max and Ella

These ladder shelves are so fantastic for around the house and I know when I’ve used similar ones in my parties, some of my facebook readers have asked where to buy them from. They would really suit this theme I think – fill the shelves with cups/bottles etc for your lemonade stand:

White ladder shelf - Mocka

A butlers tray table would also look really sweet filled with some bottles. I’m not suggesting you buy this JUST for a party – they make a great little table for around the home!

Butlers table - Lifestyle Home & Living

Some lovely props for this theme:

Wooden soda crate - The Little Big Company

Summer time wooden blocks - Fayes Attic

Chalkboards really suit a vintage feel for this theme:

Hanging chalk sign - Style Party Love

Mini Chalkboard - Bon Bon Boutique

Leave these suitcases open and fill them with bottles, cups, lemons, straws or just use them as risers under your drink dispensers perhaps?

Yellow paper suitcases - Bickiboo

A cute lemonade making kit:

Children's lemonade stand kit - Sarah J Home Decor

If you want a lovely lemonade setup but don’t have all the props and want an easy (but gorgeous) option, try The Soda Stand in Sydney – they come and set a lovely drinks table for you and supply the drinks, glasses etc! I’m not sure about if a similar service is available in other states, but it is such a lovely unique idea I just had to share!

Soda stand setup - The Soda Stand (Sydney)

Favours & Packaging

Give the little ones some of their own juicers to make some lemonade when they get home:

Avanti lemon squeezer - Belinda Janes

Cuisena wooden citrus juicer - Belinda Janes

Or send them home with some of your own homemade lemonade using these cute bottles:

Swing Top glass bottle - The Little Big Company

Lemon soap favours - Crismon Hill

Some sweet packaging options for other sweets/treats:

Yellow scallop treat boxes - The Party Table

Square patty cups - The Party Parlour

Yellow gingham treat box - Party & Co

Real Parties

There really are SO many gorgeous parties in this theme. Here are a few that really caught my eye for inspiration!:

Such an adorable pink lemonade party featured on Kara’s Party Ideas

Combine lemonade and tutu’s and you get one amazing par – featured on The Hostess with the Mostess website

A lovely summer lemonade stand party in blues, greens and yellows on the Hostess with the Mostess website

This lemon and lime party is a slightly different take on this theme but I love the colours & styling in this party from the Any Given Party website

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Anyone feel like setting up a lemonade stand after this post? It would be a lot of fun to style one!

I hope you enjoyed the ideas!

I’m not a particularly beachy person but I LOVE a Mermaid theme….I think it’s because of the gorgeous colour combinations that you often find with this theme….coral pinks, aqua blues, mint green, lavender…I love it all.

There is no limit to what you can do with this theme! It is very easy to style with shells and other sea related decorations. You can easily give the party an underwater feel with the use of streamers or ribbons and there are so many parties online in this theme for inspiration. I don’t even think you HAVE to go overboard with lots of sea related decor. You can just go with a very sea inspired colour scheme and using lots of these colours throughout your party alone can create a sea feel.

Here are some of the finds which will help you on your way to dreaming up a mermaid celebration for your child!

Invitations/Printables

Let the invitation set the colour scheme for your party – I’m loving these designs and colours!:

Mystical Mermaid printables - 2 Love Birds sweet design

Under the sea Mermaid - Anders Ruff

Mermaid and sea creatures printables - Ham & Pea Design & Paperie

Mermaid collection - The Tomkat studio

Mermaid invitation - Kristy Gray Designs

Little Mermaid invitation - Invite Me

Paper Eskimo mermaid invitation - Paper Marc

Tableware

These gorgeous tablecloths really set the underwater look:

Blue tulle tablecloth - Vintage Sew & So

This is a table for a photoshoot I was involved with for Tickle the Imagination magazine. Love the ombre tablecloth!

Blue ombre ruffled tablecloth - Vintage Sew & So

Using a hessian or jute tablerunner against a white tablecloth will also work well with this theme:

Hessian table runner - Don't Forget the Details

The wicker base of this dispenser makes it perfect for a beachy feel:

Drink dispenser with wicker stand - Leo & Bella

Love this dish:

Opalescent hobnail bon bon dish - Petite Portions

Some great options for risers on your table:

Wooden crates - -Saffy & May

Salt & Pepper mirror tray - Myer

Love the colours of these plates:

Teal dinner plate - Occasion by Design

Sambellina aqua plate - The Party Parlour

Or something fun for your mermaid party tableware:

Mermaid plates - Piece of Cake Parties and Celebrations

This is a fun party to style a little kids table for and it is easy to do with some great hire companies around to hire your kids table/chairs from:

Table and chairs for HIRE - Tiny Tots Toy Hire (Sydney)

Blue ghost chairs for HIRE - Little Chair (Melbourne)

Decorations

These breezy decorations really suit this theme:

Blush loves mint tassel garland - Blush loves mint

Garland - Red Elephant Creative

These soft tissue garlands are lovely for an underwater feel:

Pale blue tissue garland - Emerald and Ella

Gorgeous colour honeycomb ball:

Teal honeycomb ball - The Party Table

Use these clear baubles to create a bubble effect by hanging them from the ceiling:

Clear baubles - Occasion by Design

Use shells and other coastal decor for decorating your jars, bottles, party favours – anything really!

Mixed shells - Parties Online

Light blue starfish - Coastal Inspirations

Coloured shells - Coastal inspirations

White sand - Dusk

There are lots of great ideas online of how to use washi tape to add extra little decorating elements to your party. Pick one up in a striking colour like this green to match your colour scheme

Green striped washi tape - Emerald and Ella

Sweet Treats

Aqua lollipops - This Charming Candy on ETSY

Mermaid cookie cutter - Party & Co

Sea Critters - The Party Parlour

Coral fish pack - The Party Parlour

Shimmer gumballs - The Little Big Company

Chocolate fish - The Party Parlour

Mermaid cookie cutter - Cakes Around Town

Salt & Pepper cake plate with dome - Myer

Minty cake stand - Occasion by Design

Milk glass cake stand - Sweet Style

Teal cake stand for HIRE - Tiny Tots Toy Hire (Sydney)

Love this cake topper – it is perfect for an underwater feel!

Satin tassel cake garland - Red Elephant Creative

Favours

These muslin bags are perfect for a natural beachy look:

Muslin drawstring bags - Leo & Bella

Something cute for your favour packaging:

Mermaid treat box - Piece of Cake Parties and Celebration

The scalloped look of this box is great for a mermaid theme:

Scallop party box - Sweet Celebrations

I’m sure the party guests will love going home with a pom pom wand in matching theme colours. So pretty!

Pom pom wands - Pom Pom Princess

Also I’m loving these neckalaces and starfish wands:

Mermaid necklaces - These Tiny Treaures on ETSY

Mermaid ribbon wands - Ella Jane Crafts

Real Parties

There are many amazing Mermaid Parties you can find online. Here is just a small selection:

Incredible Under the sea mermaid party by Couture Event Styling featured on the Marabous blog

Gorgeous neutral & coral colour scheme in this mermaid party by Kate Landers Events

So many details in this beautiful mermaid party by Cakes By Sharon on the Homemade Parties blog

Love the decor in this mermaid party by Bubble and Sweet especially the tablecloth, backdrop and all the treats!

Lots of creative ideas in this mermaid themed party featured on the Little Dance Invitations site

A link to a Mermaid theme photoshoot I was involved with for Tickle the Imagination magazine with lots of lovely vendors!

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Hope you enjoyed the finds! Enjoy planning this party for your little one’s next celebration!

That is when Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, West Elm and Williams-Sonoma will be opening their doors in Bondi, Sydney!

I know I’m not alone in being excited about this so I thought I’d do some browsing and put together some Pottery Barn goodies that will hopefully be making their way down under and that some of you may just love for your celebrations!

Of course our Australian party boutiques already have a stunning range of cake stands, drink dispensers and candy jars and so I haven’t included a huge range of Pottery Barn’s range of those items in this blog post.

I’ve found Pottery Barn has a LOT of nautical and sea inspired items, perfect for any beach-side inspired party theme. Love this fisherman’s table throw which would make a perfect table runner for a Nautical or Mermaid theme party.

Fishermans net table throw - Pottery Barn

They have a few goodies for an ice-cream soiree such as this cute lazy susan to fill with toppings:

Ice cream lazy susan - Pottery Barn Kids

Another cute item for keeping small utensils & straws in:

Galvanized condiment tray - Pottery Barn Kids

There are a few items perfect for setting up a little lemonade stand at a celebration such as this sweet Lemonade sign!:

Lemonade sign - Pottery Barn Kids

These mason jar jugs are perfect for a lemonade stand as well:

Mason jar mug - Pottery Barn

I love these little wooden pedestals. They would look great on a dessert table for a vintage theme or woodland theme:

Blonde woode pedestals - Pottery Barn

Of course Pottery Barn has many lovely cake stands, cupcake stands & drink dispensers! Here are just a few I found which stuck out:

Manchester tiered stand - Pottery Barn

Which colour would you pick? Too many options…!

Colourful rhodes drink dispenser stand - Pottery Barn

How cute is this drink dispenser stand?!

Lifeguard drink dispenser stand - Pottery Barn

Some elegant options:

Caroline tiered stand - Pottery Barn

Claro cake stand - Pottery Barn

Again more sea-inspired items like this range of serving bowls:

Conch serving bowl - Pottery Barn

These colourful trays would be perfect for displaying treats, or turn them upside down and use them as risers!:

Rectangular lacquered trays - West Elm

Pottery Barn Kids has so many lovely items especially nursery & bedroom decor. However if your little girl loves tea-parties then you can’t go past this sweet tea set & amazingly lovely tea cart!

Porcelain tea set - Pottery Barn Kids

Tea cart - Pottery Barn Kids

Can’t forget the boys I know…! This pirate chest would be not only a fantastic party prop but work as good toy storage as well:

Pirate chest - Pottery Barn Kids

Ok I better stop there before I send us all into more debt! Don’t even get me started on their home decor & storage products!

This is just honestly such a small collection of the extensive range Pottery Barn & all the Williams-Sonoma brands have to feed all of our partyware-addictions!

Are you counting down the days until they open in Australia?

Are you planning a trip to Sydney just to visit when they open?

Time to start saving our pennies!

I truly appreciate my readers and enjoy being able to give you the opportunity to win fantastic goodies!

Personally I LOVE the look of these little milk bottles and they will definitely be on my purchase list some time in the future!

I loved reading everyone’s Mother’s Day styling ideas as well =)

Now without further adieu the winner of the giveaway is…

#20: Michelle Parker!

Congratulations Michelle! I will be in contact regarding claiming your prize.

Thank you everyone who entered and thank you to Bon Bon Boutique for your prize!

However I know many of you are loving CHEVRON patterned items at the moment, so I thought I would share some chevron party finds!

Most of the items I have included below come in various colours so make sure you follow the link to see if there is a colour that suits your theme

Enjoy!

Bunting - What She's Got on Madeit

Chevron Pennant Banner - The Little Big Company

Chevron tablecloth - Hunt and Style

Tablerunner in various colours - The Party Parlour

Chevron tablerunner in various colours - Love The Occasion

Chevron pastels party range - Saffy & May

Chevron bright coloured plates - The Little Big Company

Chevron green partyware range - Illume Design

Chevron square plates - Just Party Supplies

Chevron latte cups - Larkmade

Chevron straws in various colours - The Party Table

Chevron straws - Simply Sweet Soirees

Metallic chevron forks - Born To Party

Chevron wooden forks - Bickiboo

Chevron mini scoops - Bon Bon Boutique

Paper Eskimo baking cups in a range of colours - The Social Boutique

Here is a fun way to dress up any cake stand – a cake plate cling!:

Chevron Cake plate cling - Shop Sweet Lulu

Add some personalisation to your party with either a letter or whole name in chevron fabric:

Chevron fabric letters and names - Cheekee Monkeez on Madeit

Chevron candy bags - Saffy & May

Chevron treat bags - The Little Big Company

Chevron tote in various colours - Sweet Style

Hope you enjoyed the finds and they help you add a touch of chevron to your next party!

I also know how many of you LOVE the idea of plastic milk bottles with lids so I’m excited to offer you all the chance to win 24 of these lovely plastic milk bottles from The Bon Bon Boutique who have a lovely party boutique online. You can also find them on facebook here.

These bottles come with lids which have space for a straw which means less spill & easy drinking for little hands. I love them!

You will also receive one pack of silver striped straws and one pack of green striped straws

All you need to do is pop onto the Bon Bon Boutique website and have a look around and then comment on this blog post saying how you would use one of Bon Bon Boutique’s products for Mothers Day

Entries close on Friday 5th April at 9:00pm (AEST) and the winner will be drawn using random.org and announced on this blog.

Entry only open to Australian residents

Good luck!

Along with this makeover comes a new logo and I am thrilled to show it to you!

Thanks goes to the talented & patient Anna from Design With Style who has seen probably too many different shades of blues and greens thanks to me! =)

I wanted something with a celebration feel while still being classic and unique and I believe the logo is all these things!

Do you love it?

I hope so!

Anna has also designed the new website for me and development is starting this week!

Media kits will be emailed out in the next week so I can have everything ready for when the website is ready to go live which should be around June or July….my daughters’ first birthday party is also in July…crazy times ahead!

I look forward to stepping into this next phase of Life’s Little Celebrations with you ‘party mamas’ and I just know that the new directory is going to save us ALL a lot of time and put us in touch with some great businesses’!

xx

]]> http://www.lifeslittlecelebrations.org/?feed=rss2&p=2035 3 http://www.lifeslittlecelebrations.org/?p=2026 http://www.lifeslittlecelebrations.org/?p=2026#comments Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:05:30 +0000 Tanya - Life's Little Celebrations http://www.lifeslittlecelebrations.org/?p=2026 Continue reading →]]> Who doesn’t love gold?

It instantly dresses up any event to make it a little bit more special and mixes well with most colours.

Here are a few gold party finds you might just love:

Gold drinking straws - Little Dance Invitations

Golden glitter teardrop spoons - Red Elephant Creative

Lucy gold cake stand - Leo & Bella

Short gold royal cake stand - Bon Bon Boutique

Gold beverage dispenser - The Little Big Company

Gold glitter jars - Dunne with Style

Gold mason jars - Carousel Boutique

Large gold number and letter foil balloons - Occasion by Design

Giant gold balloon - Simply Sweet Soirees

Gold table runner - Hunt & Style

Gold foil crowns - The Party Table

Golden spot treat bags - Larkmade

Gold glitter cupcake wrappers - How Divine

Gold treat sticks - Polkadot Prints

Gold sixlets - Sweet Style

Old fashioned lolly treat sticks - The Little Big Company

Gold ribbon - The Social Boutique

Gold tape - The Party Table

Are you using gold at your next celebration?

Not only is she an amazing stylist, but she also runs the beautiful Sweet Style online store as well as her online blog (again one of my favourites). She is a wife, mum to four girls, involved with the Stillbirth Foundation Australia…yes you can imagine she is one busy lady! I have had the pleasure to meet Leanne in person and she is just lovely, warm and down to earth.

In this interview she shares her thoughts and tips for styling a dessert table, managing a work/life balance and having an event styling business. All the gorgeous images I’ve included in this post are Leanne’s work and are a true testament to her talent.

Milk glass cake stand in blue - Sweet Style