The Story
My daughter, Kaylee, asked me for a Hello Kitty birthday party this year. Was I dissappointed that she did not want one of my printable party kits? HECK NO! I was DELIGHTED she picked this theme as I am slightly obsessed with Miss Kitty myself. As a toy designer, I have designed many items including lots of Sweet Shops in general and Hello Kitty playsets as well for toy companies (which you can view HERE). So I thought it would be a good idea to mix Hello Kitty with a Sweet Shoppe theme for the party. And here begins the madness ---
The Sweet Shoppe Printables + Hello Kitty Stickers
For the paper goods I used my Sweet Shop Printable Party Kit (with editable text feature) from my shop. The colors were a perfect compliment to Hello Kitty!
I embellished all of the printouts with Hello Kitty stickers with the help of my daughter. THIS was so much fun! As you can see we had over 600 stickers to play with!
The Sweet Shoppe
I wanted to create a life-size playset that Kaylee could play with at her party and sell sweet goodies to the children attending--it was my BIG dream to make her this big toy to play with!
Even with a 2 month old baby to take care of, I was determined to make this happen for her--thank goodness for 2 grandmas we have near by to help!
There was a display with a plastic window built into the Sweet Shoppe to showcase her favorite cupcakes. Yes---there is actually a plastic window on the display :)
I used a new flower template to create these 4 petal paper flowers. I made them from color cardstock and I sell the templates in the Shop. Probably the only printable I used with no color ink needed!
I will post a tutorial of some sort in the future on this but basically the Sweet Shoppe was made using my office Ikea $20 table (yes--it is somewhere in there). Then I placed 1 inch thick foam boards for the bottom and top. The panels of foam board on top of the table and for the bottom of the roof have cut out circles for the poles to secure into. The poles are actually white wrapping paper rolls. I decorated the Sweet Shoppe with either decorative papers or my printable art at Staples on their large printer. Believe it or not this structure is pretty stable--those poles won't come down by shaking either! I think I better buy a new table---I can't possibly take this cute thing apart. Below is one photo I managed to take in the process of building it.
The Sweets
I wanted the desserts to reflect my daughter's taste and have items that children would like including Japanese candies. I also wanted the cake to have a whimsical, simple look as if a child created it and decorated it with paper.
At the end of the party each family was sent home with a lovely box of goodies.
The Table & Decorations
Throughout the party I also added Japanese accents like the phrase "I love Sweets " in Japanese, paper lanterns, a hanging Japanese store banner, origami stars, a bento box for Kaylee and origami lilies (which I made) for the tables.
Table mats were Wallpaper Art offered as a FREE download at Sanrio.com!
The Wall
The background, amazingly, was very inexpensive. I bought some coloring sheets on a roll sold at Michael's. I spent less than $10 on that entire wall and it looked so great next to all of the bright party colors.
My daughter, Kaylee, asked me for a Hello Kitty birthday party this year. Was I dissappointed that she did not want one of my printable party kits? HECK NO! I was DELIGHTED she picked this theme as I am slightly obsessed with Miss Kitty myself. As a toy designer, I have designed many items including lots of Sweet Shops in general and Hello Kitty playsets as well for toy companies (which you can view HERE). So I thought it would be a good idea to mix Hello Kitty with a Sweet Shoppe theme for the party. And here begins the madness ---
The Sweet Shoppe Printables + Hello Kitty Stickers
For the paper goods I used my Sweet Shop Printable Party Kit (with editable text feature) from my shop. The colors were a perfect compliment to Hello Kitty!
I embellished all of the printouts with Hello Kitty stickers with the help of my daughter. THIS was so much fun! As you can see we had over 600 stickers to play with!
The Sweet Shoppe
I wanted to create a life-size playset that Kaylee could play with at her party and sell sweet goodies to the children attending--it was my BIG dream to make her this big toy to play with!
Even with a 2 month old baby to take care of, I was determined to make this happen for her--thank goodness for 2 grandmas we have near by to help!
There was a display with a plastic window built into the Sweet Shoppe to showcase her favorite cupcakes. Yes---there is actually a plastic window on the display :)
I used a new flower template to create these 4 petal paper flowers. I made them from color cardstock and I sell the templates in the Shop. Probably the only printable I used with no color ink needed!
I will post a tutorial of some sort in the future on this but basically the Sweet Shoppe was made using my office Ikea $20 table (yes--it is somewhere in there). Then I placed 1 inch thick foam boards for the bottom and top. The panels of foam board on top of the table and for the bottom of the roof have cut out circles for the poles to secure into. The poles are actually white wrapping paper rolls. I decorated the Sweet Shoppe with either decorative papers or my printable art at Staples on their large printer. Believe it or not this structure is pretty stable--those poles won't come down by shaking either! I think I better buy a new table---I can't possibly take this cute thing apart. Below is one photo I managed to take in the process of building it.
The Sweets
I wanted the desserts to reflect my daughter's taste and have items that children would like including Japanese candies. I also wanted the cake to have a whimsical, simple look as if a child created it and decorated it with paper.
At the end of the party each family was sent home with a lovely box of goodies.
The Table & Decorations
Throughout the party I also added Japanese accents like the phrase "I love Sweets " in Japanese, paper lanterns, a hanging Japanese store banner, origami stars, a bento box for Kaylee and origami lilies (which I made) for the tables.
Table mats were Wallpaper Art offered as a FREE download at Sanrio.com!
The Wall
The background, amazingly, was very inexpensive. I bought some coloring sheets on a roll sold at Michael's. I spent less than $10 on that entire wall and it looked so great next to all of the bright party colors.
The Menu
The menu was so cool to work with! I used Baker's Twine from The Twinery to thread a Hello Kitty graphic on the top. I think it really came out cute and it makes a cute momento for Kaylee.
The Register & "Kaylee Dollars"
I put a cash register next to the shop for Kaylee. Each child was given "Kaylee Dollars" (yes--I designed her own currency!). As they lined up to go to the Sweet Shoppe, they gave my daughter "Kaylee Dollars" in exchange for goodies from the shop.
You can buy and make your very own currency, by personalizing with Editable Text features from the Shop.
Bento Box
My husband really is the one responsible for the making of this. He really pushed me to try a bento box for once. I was so scared to as I know if done well, they can look spectacular! And with Kaylee being a picky eater it was worth a try. I found a tutorial on YouTube on how to make a rice shaped Hello Kitty head and followed the instructions. I bough a mold for it on Ebay too. The nose is corn and the eyes and whiskers are made of that black stuff you see sushi wrapped up in :) I think it came out pretty cute!
The adorable Hello Kitty cookie next to it is made by the Cookie Mamas on Etsy.
The End . . .
After all of that hard work, I relaxed at the party with Mineral Water on my very own Hello Kitty martini glass :)
I loved this party. Kaylee had a blast and I had an amazing time creating it. My sweet little girl deserved every last detail.
I was beyond thrilled to have the party featured on the blog of Amy Atlas yesterday--what a sweet dream!
Vendor Credits
Sweet Shoppe Printable Party Kit: PaperGlitter (embellished with hello Kitty stickers)
Paper Flowers Printable Templates: PaperGlitter
Play Money Printables with Editable Text Feature: PaperGlitter
Lollicakes: Posh Nosh Cakery in Miami, FL
Cupcakes: Misha's Cupcakes in Miami, FL
Hello Kitty Cookies: Cookie Mamas
Japanese Candies: Hot Topic Stores & Tim's Oriental in Homestaed, FL
Donuts: Mandarin Gourmet Donuts in Miami, FL
Brown Gable Boxes: The Container Store
Twine: The Twinery
Washi Tape (decorating the Lollicakes): Le Box Boutique
Hello Kitty Table Mats: Free download at Sanrio
Dotted Paper Straws: Hey Yo Yo
Origami Paper Stars: Origami Palace
Brown Paper Bags with Magenta Ribbon & Hello Kitty Lunchbox : Target stores
Magenta clear cups and paper lanters: Party City stores
everything turned out so cute-you did such a wonderful job!
ReplyDeleteAmazing!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, Linnette.... holy WOW. You put so much into this party and every last detail is simply adorable!! I love it even more every time I look at it, your daughter is one lucky little girl!!
ReplyDeleteLinette, you are brilliant! My daughter and I always love your kawaii designs, and this party absolutely breathtaking. Look at the incredible details, even a little bakeshop window! And you created this dream party with a sweet, wee newborn? Standing ovation and hugs for you!
ReplyDeleteHey Linnette! Just came over after seeing ur comment on cutest-food. Wanted to tell u personally that i absolutely adored the hello kitty bento and all the supercute stuff that goes into the party!
ReplyDeletejust beautiful!!!! love the whole idea!!! love your work :)
ReplyDeletethat's totally amazing ! my kids love hello kitty so much
ReplyDeleteIts very amazing..
ReplyDeleteAll things are decorated very well..
nice to see this blog..
Games For Young Children
oh my goodness you come up with the best ideas!!! LOVE it! xxx
ReplyDeletecutest idea ever! You did such a wonderful job with all the details and within a budget! Everything looks like it cost a lot and is so adorale. I am in love with the sweet shoppe. I have bought the ikea table...I was wondering if you posted how you did the bottom before you wrapped it with the pretty sparkle paper (where did you find the wrapping paper-if you don't mind me asking). I am just wanting to make it for my daughter's birthday party for her military play group friends. I was hoping to use it for every party on too!
ReplyDeletewow look verey nice party
ReplyDelete