Only in LA

If you are in the LA area and are a hip parent you don't want to miss this event happening April 25-26 at the LA Convention Center. I attended it last year ( yes, I consider myself a hip parent) and it really is a fun event for both parents & kids. This year however, I will be one of the children's event designers showcasing in the Baby Celebration Party scape exhibit.
Won't say much about my theme. I will try to be secretive about it. FOR ONCE!
We will see how it turns out...or better yet, won't YOU come see?

and the winners are...

Chosen at random the winners are Dawn and Reiza. Both winners have been contacted and will be choosing from the Fantastic children's collection over at the Invitations Consultants. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Party Mission

The Invitations Giveaway has closed. Winners will be revealed Monday Morning!


This giveaway is coming to a close at 2400 hours. Thank you to all who have participated in this week long event. If you haven't entered your name, there is still time . All you have to do is visit the IC site and come back here and leave me a comment telling me which children's invitation design you would use for your next little shindig. Now if you want to double your chances to win, please blog about this Fantastic giveaway on your site ( and let me know you did by using Mister.Linky provided here). There will be two drawings at random (one lucky comment & one lucky blogger).The winners can pick any 25 children’s invitations not to exceed $125 per 25 on the IC site. And just in case you think you missed out because your kids party was last month...well don't worry, we thought about you too. Winners will have a year to use their credit.Remember this contest ends today! (2400hours). Winners will be revealed on Monday Morning.

I hope you have enjoyed the week long Invitations inspired party posts here and please take a sec. to check out my GI Joe Inspired board.

Thank you to Invitation Consultants !

This has been FUN.

oh do I dare say it? You know I HAVE TO!

Mission Completed.

Little Miss Cupcake

Welcome to Tablescape Thursday! Hope you don't mind but I asked my new friend Little Miss Cupcake to join us today. ( she is here helping me with this other thing this week)

As it turns out Little Miss Cupcake is a bit of a cook so I said, THAT'S PERFECT...I can set a pretty mean table.

A whisk, a couple mixing bowls, some cookie cutters, a rolling pin, tulle, other random stuff I had in the kitchen and Voila! your cupcake tablescape is served.

Little pink aprons? okay..lets improvise.

Extra sprinkles? ABSOLUTELY!

a few notes:

Cupcakes for kids-Recipes
Spatulata- Kids video Recipes
Aprons and chef hats
Baking supplies

Can't wait to see what everyone else has whipped up.

it's like Iron Tablescape America....

Who will reign supreme?

This is how I roll

Do you think they make these invites for 30something year old? When I saw this it reminded me of an old friend of mine, Tausha. We were in our 20's then and skating had become her new thing. She tried for weeks getting me over to her rink. She was pretty good on her skates..I had easily not been in skates for a good 10years so I always took a rain check. Her birthday is coming up in May...wonder if she would be up to dusting off those skates?

Only one way to go with this party. Make it fun and colorful, just like these groovy invites.

Yes, I said GROOVY.

Skate Party - by Shindigsgirl on Polyvore.com

Click on the board to learn more about these items. I esp. love the rainbow cake and those plates are a pretty good match. Don't you think?

30something year old or 8 year old ...don't know who would have more fun? But I am guessing the 30year old would have to play some 80's. (oops hope I didn't loose any readers for saying that)

Have you entered the contest?

Invitation Consultants have given moi, 50 fantastic kids invitations to give away to you! All you have to do is visit their site and come back here and leave me a comment telling me which design you would use for your next little shindig. Easy, right?!Right.

Now if you want to double your chances to win, please blog about this Fantastic giveaway on your site ( and let me know you did by using Mister.Linky provided here). There will be two drawings at random (one lucky comment & one lucky blogger).The winners can pick any 25 children’s invitations not to exceed $125 per 25 on the IC site. And just in case you think you missed out because your kids party was last month...well don't worry, we thought about you too. Winners will have a year to use their credit.The contest ends Friday 3.27.09 (11:59pm). Winners will be revealed on the Following Monday Morning.

Bowling Alley

Count my lucky strikes...look at what I just found! It's cool, it's hip and somewhat RETRO. An invite after my own heart.











This party can be done for a variety of ages. Best of all, it is a cool enough theme for the teen boys (toughest of critics really).

Decorating a Bowling alley would be easy.

Stick with Red, black & white to match the invites. Lot's of balloons!

Now the next thing I can think about is those cool Retro style bowling shirts. You will find a good selection for kids at Bowling Shirt.com

We WON"T talk about the shoes.

We will however, talk about the fact that if you are hosting your party at the local bowling lanes, you will probably not have to worry about the food.

You have catering on site.

I think they call it the Concession stand???

If you are allowed to bring party food to the bowling alley, you may want to consider these healthyer alternatives.

You might not be able to get yours from the PBA but that's okay because I found where you can buy them instead.

Now, if retro is not "your thing" and you want to do something out of the frame, you must go see this party .I promise you, it is Brilliant!

now tell me...

Have you entered the Invitations Giveaway?

image: Bowling Alley invite via IC

Little Lady Buggy

Isn't she adorable? I actually don't do so well with bugs..but SHE is just charming!




The prefect birthday party for the spring or summer. A few possibilities to consider
Antenna Headband
Dots Pink and White Beverage Napkins
Vichy Green Lunch Napkins
Hanging Lanterns
butterfly net
Flower Power Birthday Party and more fun kids' crafts, projects, activities...
Solid Cutlery Sets
Flower Pinata
Green Pink Dots Dessert Plates,
Butterfly Pinata
Polka Dot Chinese Take Out Boxes
Caterpillar Cupcakes

Set the tables like flower gardens with bright bouquets of paper flowers . Feast on buggy treats ..fantastic recipes here . Keep your guests entertained by making their own buggy headbands.
The possibilities are ENDLESS, but first things first. GET YOUR INVITATIONS!

Joining the drawing? Here is your info:
The Invitation Consultants have given moi, some fantastic kids invitations to give away to you! All you have to do is visit their site and come back here and leave me a comment telling me which design you would use for your next little shindig. Easy, right?!Right.

Now if you want to double your chances to win, please blog about this Fantastic giveaway on your site and let me know you did so by using Mister.Linky provided here. There will be two drawings at random (one lucky comment & one lucky person that blogs about this contest on their site).The two winners can pick any 25 children’s invitations not to exceed $125 per 25 on the IC site. And just in case you think you missed out because your kids party was last month...well don't worry, we thought about you too. Winners will have a year to use their credit.The contest will starts today Monday 3.23.09 and ends Friday 3.27.09 (11:59pm). Winners will be revealed on the Following Monday Morning.

Good Luck!

Image: Cute bug via IC Site

An early inviation...

Don't miss out on the Fabulous giveaway we have for you this coming week! Some very generous folks over at Invitation Consultants have given moi, 50 fantastic kids invitations to give away to you! Starting this Monday, I will post a party idea inspired by some of my favorite IC designs. All you have to do is visit their site and come back here and leave me a comment telling me which design you would use for your next little shindig. Easy, right?!Right.

Now if you want to double your chances to win, please blog about this Fantastic giveaway on your site ( and let me know you did by using Mister.Linky provided below). There will be two drawings at random (one lucky comment & one lucky blogger).The winners can pick any 25 children’s invitations not to exceed $125 per 25 on the IC site. And just in case you think you missed out because your kids party was last month...well don't worry, we thought about you too. Winners will have a year to use their credit.The contest will start Monday 3.23.09 and end Friday 3.27.09 (11:59pm). Winners will be revealed on the Following Monday Morning.

P.S Bloggers get a head start.To be entered to win in both giveaways., just Blog about this week long event happening here at Little Shindigs on your site and make sure to mention my new friends over at IC.

Don't forget to tell Mister.Linky so we know YOU ARE IN!

GOOD LUCK:)

Time to put the gloves on...

It's time to work, she has chosen a party, it's the Minnie Mouse Picnic! To be honest with you I had a strong feeling she would go for this one. The other two were wild cards really. Maybe it was a lucky guess but it doesn't matter...we have a fabulous party to plan. This event is not until this summer but I will continue to share some details about it with you as best I can.

And on that note...I would like to pose a bit of a question for you. My friend said something kind of funny to me today. She is familiar with my Blog and my work of course.She thinks my ideas are good and considers me a very creative person. She thinks it is NOT smart to share my ideas in such a public platform. She thinks I am giving IT away. Although I know this comes from a good place , it TOTALLY STOPPED ME IN MY TRACKS. What?! even My 2 year old will tell you SHARING IS GOOD!

I know the Blog world if full of people...very creative people.They share, they inspire and are inspired by their blog circles. I know my predicament is a little more complicated because I am financially tied to my creativity. However I don't feel like I am wrong in sharing. Outside of my clients and a few friends that can tolerate me talking about kids parties and ideas there is only this blog. It has become a part of my every day ( a good part..not like the dishes!) I started this blog to showcase my work and it's become much more than that. My dreams are bigger now: I would like to some day be a REAL authority in the field of children's event planning. You know, get published in a fancy Mag, maybe a book deal or two ( BIG dreams, I know) and how do I have a shot at realizing those dreams if can't reach people like YOU?!

So be honest..is it not wise to share?

AKA: sad kids party planner that thought it was "cool" to share:(

You Silly Goose!

I know what you may be thinking...Natalie has finally lost it! Here me out....the goose might dress a bit outrageous but she is tons of fun at parties!

We inherited "the goose" a few years ago when my daughter was born. Turns out my mother in law has had her for a while. If you have never seen one of these before ( and by that I mean a three foot plastic goose) let me be the one to inform you she is actually a Lamp. Yep! that is right Good looks and Brilliant too! However, she did not come with the tutu, accessories nor top hat..that was all us ( the kids and I). We thought it was only appropriate for her to get dolled up for this Fun table scape.

I tried making the place settings to resemble Lilli pads with what we could find around the house.

We had so much fun with this silly goose I forgot the silverware and stemware. Woops...oh well at least the Goose looks FABULOUS and I am hoping, we also made you SMILE!

Happy Tablescape Thursday!

For some not so silly but GREAT tablescapes please follow this link:

The Glass Slipper Ball

Glass Slipper Ball - by Shindigsgirl on Polyvore.com


The final pitch for this 5 year olds birthday party. A Princess party...but I call it the Glass Slipper Ball. Very girly with all the Royall settings. Attire: Princess or Princess casual? Actually, we would bring in our own royal closet to the party and let the kids have fun with all the costumes, brave knight costumes for the boys!

So what do you think? Which would you choose: a Minnie Mouse Picnic, A Mad Tea Party or This Glass Slipper Ball?

Mad Tea Party

This is the second party theme I have suggested to my client. A Mad Tea Party! Very whimsical and full of vibrant colors. If you were 5, Would you choose this party or this one?

If you like any of the items on this board, just click on it and you will be linked to the "Wonderland" that is Polyvore. They will tell you all about the items there. Have fun!



Mad Tea Party - by Shindigsgirl on Polyvore.com

Minnie Picnic

Minnies Picnic - by Shindigsgirl on Polyvore.com

Just a little peak at what I am working on this week. A little client of mine is turning 5 in a couple months. We did her party last year and it turned out really well and we don't want to disappoint this year. This years bash will very well be Disney driven.



Pitch 1: Minnie Mousse Picnic

It would be held outdoors and have all the charm that the lovable Minnie Mouse possesses. This is just a glimpse...I won't give out all my ideas...YET. I will share the other two pitches in the next two days so come back soon. Which theme will our Fabulous little client choose. ...the suspense is killing me too!

Blog BFF's

So to my surprise and delight Chris from Celebrations at Home did a sweet post about my recent Tablescapes. She said she was lurking around these parts for a while...wow, really? Thank you Chris. I am flattered.Now she is like my Blog BFF (best Friends forever) Helloo? she "like" spotlighted me on her great blog and is also one of my newest followers.

Actually, just between you and me...I'm guilty of lurking around her site too. So yeah, WAY flattered by this one....Thanks Chris!

and my other Blog-BFF ( I can have more than one , right?!)

All joking aside, this is actually an old friend of mine. Her name is Jenny. She is new to blogging but I promise you will LOVE her. Seriously.

Go say Hi.

Totally miss you Jenny!

Short and Sweet

Strawberry shortcake..that girl is sooo sweet just like her name, Strawberry shortcake! Can you tell I have a young daughter? We sang that song while putting this weeks tablescape together.

That is my daughter, NOT getting in the picture.

This is the inspiration for the table.

I found it at a thrift store over the weekend. I buy Christmas stuff whenever I find it and just store it away till the end of the year. It's fun because I like opening my bins and finding stuff I forgot I bought. My DH doesn't think it's NORMAL. But anyways cute place mat right?I was thrilled it was reversible. So I thought hmm it kinda reminds me of Vintage Strawberry Shortcake. So before I stored it away I thought I could try and pull off a tablescape with random things around the house. Granted my house has LOTS of random things, but this is how it went.First, a bowl. It has a cute little Turkey painted on the inside. It is actually not mine. My sister in law left it over Thanks giving last year (Yes Molly I have your turkey bowl hostage...I don't think you really read my blog like you say you do, but if you did...)

and I added a grass mat

and a cute little watering can with some flowers,
a matching bow and Shortcake herself.

Brilliant right?! Well not really I suppose...but my daughter does seems to think so.

No turkey bowl was hurt during this segment.

Pull up a chair it's