I recently had the honor to create a party in a box for Hallmark actress Jen Lilley’s daughter’s first birthday party!! It was oh so much fun to create! Last year around the time she was born, I had sent a baby shower gift and started having this vision of doing a peach themed party for a little girl. I was sooooo hoping somebody would have a girl or a baby shower I could do the theme for but just didn’t seem the right fit for the parties I did do. When Jen and I connected over the box, I sent a list of theme ideas of course with the peach theme and a few others secretly kinda hoping she would pick that one but so excited to run with any idea! Well, she chose the floral, peach theme and I couldn’t have been more thrilled! It was as if the Lord had already been orchestrating her party from the time she was born with all the ideas I had already put together all of which that could be put into a box! So the crafting began!
For the favors I made a homemade, natural, soft peach playdough using essential oils and then some fabric and bakers twine to add a sweet touch. But I also wanted to include the adults in favors as well, so I created a stress relieving blend (including peach of course) of essential oils for some peach shower fizzies–who doesn’t need a little extra stress relief right now?! Since some of the activities had things the kids could take home in addition to the favors, I also handpainted some bags using a halved peach and some extra but simple detailing for them to put all their goodies inside.
I always like to have about 4 activities at parties for the kids to enjoy that are themed and appropriate to the ages so since we had a floral, peach theme I included the following activities:
- Peach scavenger hunt like an Easter egg hunt but with peaches (fake peaches were in the box so they would be easy to find without a mess)
- Floral art (with boys you have to make flowers and art a little more fun, so I painted some wooden hammers for them to hammer the flowers into the paper and create their own floral artwork)
- Peaches in a bushel (I included a bushel for the kids to try and toss the peaches into from different distances)
- Bubbles (This was one of my favorite projects! I made personalized bubble wands with some beads and gold wire and then included some cute jars for the bubble solution with pink lids and mint bakers twine to tie them together.)
And of course I had to create her outfit! Every so often I get inspired in sewing and this party certainly motivated me! I had never made a floral headband before but had always wanted to try so that was super fun!
Lastly, I included several other decorating elements: balloons, balloon arch tape, napkins, cups, gold utensils, plates, straws, floral garland, candle and flower cake topper, mint frame, handpainted invitation, table cloth, peach and mint cloth napkins, handmade bunting, white crates, “one” for high chair, some powdered delicious peach cookies from Rahab’s Rope (that unfortunately ended up getting crushed during the shipping), and then collaborated with my favorite cookie gal again, Inga, from Inga’s Custom Cookies. In addition, I tried to include some ideas, punch and bubble solution recipes and instructions for the activities as just a jumping off point so they could make it their own! But mostly so that it wasn’t too overwhelming when opening the box. The two weeks of creating made my kitchen smell absolutely amazingly peachy!
Jen then ran with it all and did a PHENOMENAL set up! And the peach, watercolor cake she made was just stunning! I love how she incorporated all of her own decor as well as the vintage high chair! Not to mention how busy she was earlier in the week advocating for children and then putting together this party! She truly is a super mom!
I am starting the process of making these custom, handcrafted party kits available for purchase. In the mean time, if you would like to discuss a custom box, please contact me and let’s chat!