Malibu Maddie’s Beach Barbie Birthday


Maddie is a Barbie girl through and through so for her 7th birthday we went full on Malibu Barbie! Not the all-pink look most people do for Barbie parties, we wanted beachy bright colors and fun beachy things like surf boards and beach balls to be in the mix!

The party was BYOB (Bring your own Barbie) so all the guests brought their favorite doll and picked outfits and accessories for them, and had a Barbie doll fashion show. I made the coolest Barbie-sized Boutique + Surf Shop with 2 pools and a sandbox (filled with kinetic sand) and surrounded by fresh flowers and foliage. The girls loved using it for their Barbies and it also functioned as part of the decorations too!

To the right and left of the Barbie-size play area, 2 colorful panels and 2 favor walls were decorated with balloons, inflatable dolphins and beach balls and cut-outs. Favors displayed on the walls included pink heart sunglasses and Barbie scrunchies + croc charms on cute Barbie cards. Other favors included inflatable Barbie pool toys, Barbie clothes + accessories, beach balls and the cutest custom-designed sugar cookies.

The girls also colored on a giant Barbie-themed coloring table cover, played “Barbie, Barbie, Maddie!” (a derivative of “Duck, Duck, Goose!”), “Keepy Uppy” with their beach balls, Barbie Uno, watched an episode of ‘Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse’ and made doll clothes out of tissue paper and pipe cleaner.

The space was decorated with beachy tablecloths and fun florals. Our favorite piece was a Barbie boat floral centerpiece which looked like it was in motion!

The cake was a masterpiece — combining waves and beach together (with edible sand!) and when we cut into it — a surprise — it was PINK velvet cake!

No party is complete without some yummy food — the guests ate from baskets filled with McDonalds nuggets, cheese burgers and fries and drank pink strawberry lemonade. They also enjoyed Cuties oranges, pretzels, chips, popcorn and some watermelon and strawberry Sour Patch gummy candies.

All of the girls had such a great time. It was a fun + unique party and I am so happy I could make Maddie’s Barbie party dreams come true!

Vendor Love:
Cake: Flour & Flowers by MK
Cookies: Just Breathe Custom Cookies
Photography: Matthew J. Odom Photography


Malibu Maddie and her friends had THE BEST time! Cannot wait until our next birthday bash!

Cruella X House of Aria 11th Birthday

My daughter Aria and I loved Disney’s 2021 Cruella movie. It was such a witty, visually interesting, exciting movie filled with fashion, chaos and fun. It was the perfect inspiration for a fabulous party, darling.

A a fashion-inspired black & white motif was chosen for this event. Of course, pops of red had to be included as well as a nod to movie. Taking another cue from the movie, we named our fashion design house “House of Aria”. When Aria chose this party theme, I knew immediately that I wanted to fashion some sort of gown out of balloons and fresh flowers — so I got a dress form and made something truly unique! Ti Leaf, anthurium, baby’s breath, carnations and plumosa foliage accented the bodice and balloons. The balloons and floral touches flowed from the dress form across the room and into an arch in the doorway of the adjoining room. Cruella fabric was used for table runners and Dalmatian-print fabric was made into tablecloths for the food table. Lady head vases, white marble and white ceramic containers served as vessels for all-red arrangements of roses, carnations and anthuriums. These little touches of red perfectly popped around the event space.

A cart with sweet snacks and 2 favor walls sat beside the balloon + floral gown in front of 3 arched backdrop panels in black, white and red. The favor walls displayed the scrunchie favors which were merchandized on custom fashion backer cards. There were also black and white canvas pouches and totes that the guests got to decorate. A custom-designed coloring & fashion sketch table-cover adorned the guest tables and functioned as both an activity and a surface for the other craft activities.

The Cruella movie played during the party while guests ate snacks and designed their pouches and totes.
A build-your-own sandwich bar with toppings and assorted chips were served for lunch along with chic sugar cookies, red bottled Shirley Temple Pop and the coolest ice cream cake you’ve ever seen!

Aria and her friends (who all dressed in black and white) had a truly fabulous time. It was the perfect mix of fashion and fun (with a little chaos thrown in the mix too!) I am so happy that I could bring this Cruella party to life for my tween and her friends!

This party was featured as the party of the day on Catch My Party and on Kara’s Party Ideas!

Talented Vendors who helped make this possible:

Photography
Jennifer Kaye Photography

Ice Cream Cake
Flour & Flowers by MK

Custom Cookies
Just Breathe Custom Cookies

Chair Rental
Funtime Party Services

Let’s Take a Trip to Hogwarts!

My daughters are HUGE Harry Potter fans so we knew we would have to make their party pure Hogwarts magic!


We found the perfect venue (Sugar Fox Party) and transformed it into a magical Hogwarts experience for all to enjoy! Hogwarts acceptance letters were sent to all guests and they were also asked to visit a sorting hat website to figure out which ‘house’ they were in (Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw). Once Aria and Vivian (the birthday girls) discovered what house they were sorted into, they dressed in Hogwarts-inspired uniforms for Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.

On the day of the party, new students (guests) arrived to the venue and were instantly transported to an enchanting, Hogwarts-like place with so many things to experience!

The Decor: Sugar Fox Party is the PERFECT location for an event with Hogwarts/Hogsmeade vibes. It features beautiful built-in tables and shelves, rustic stone floors, a lamp post, and a large stone fireplace which was perfect for housing dozens of Hogwarts letters arriving by Owl Post! As guests entered the space, they were greeted by colorful tablescapes topped with Harry Potter themed linens, faux candles and candlesticks and balloon centerpieces with tiny hanging winged keys. The Hogwarts letters from the fireplace flowed onto a large backdrop of balloons with custom signs and textural flowers. Next to this area, a sign leading to Knockturn Alley marked the way to the restroom. A custom sign also denoted the location of Ollivander’s Wand Shop and a colorful treat display with backdrop and balloons welcomed guests to Honeydukes. A beverage display wall provided shimmering Polyjuice potion for guests while the other beverages were located in a vintage-style pink cooler marked with “the Leaky Cauldron” logo. Built-in shelves and tables housed all sorts of Harry Potter decor, including photographs, vintage bottles, faux candles, wands, vintage luggage and other HP paraphernalia.


The Food + Beverage: Guests/students were greeted by a feast of kid-friendly charcuterie, desserts, water, lemonade, and Polyjuice potion to drink! A gravity-defying cake was designed by the amazing Flour & Flowers by MK. It tasted as good as it looked!

The Activities: Upon arrival, each student got a “tie” in their House colors and then attended classes in Herbology, Charms class and Potions class. While attending Herbology, students chose a Patronus and made a little cloche environment with moss and stones to keep it in. They stopped by Ollivander’s where they customized a wand (which were all built by hand by my talented husband Matt), filled out a wand registration card and then practiced spells and charms with it. In Potions Class, students made magical potion bottle necklaces and flavored lip gloss. Hogwarts house-themed coloring pages and a Spells and Charms Matching Game were also provided as a fun activity. After classes wrapped up, students went on a Horcrux scavenger hunt and posed in front of a photo booth with fun props. They finished their visit with a trip to Honeyduke’s where they filled their favor bags with fun Harry Potter themed items and sweet treats!

Happy to report this party was featured on Catch My Party AND Kara’s Party Ideas!


It was a most magical experience for all and our birthday girls had the best time! I was so happy to create this whimsical world for them!

VENDORS:
Planning + event design, flowers, balloons, linens, signage, rentals and invitations by me! Kio Kreations / Kio & Kompany

Cake: Flour & Flowers by MK

Venue: Sugar Fox Party in Yorkville, Illinois

Photography: Jennifer Kaye Photography

Next Level Graphic Design + Illustration

This year I have focused heavily on building my graphic design clientele and I have taken on a lot of creative design projects recently! As so many of you know, I spent a lot of years with wedding flowers being my main focus, and while I never really stopped doing graphic design, I certainly wasn’t doing it as often during “busy wedding season”.

Here are some of my recent and ongoing projects for clients old and new…

Last month, I completed label design for Blend Apothecary. Blend Apothecary is a new product line created by one of my longtime clients (Blend Salon). Blend’s new line includes a full range of beauty products and candles– and they all smell divine! I worked with Cynthia (owner) to develop a logo for this line and fresh color palette that worked for all of the scents offered. Once we found the perfect fonts, she found the label manufacturers and gave me specs and I laid out each label for printing. I also created icons and individual elements that Cynthia will use in Canva to customize and create future templates and labels on her own.

I went to Blend for a facial last month and caught a glimpse of the entire Blend Apothecary line on display and MIGHT have stopped to smell each one. It was hard to pick a favorite but “The Blend” and “Sugar Berries” were top contenders. I was very proud of how this line looked in person and how professional the finished products are– but I know Cynthia and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

GroTurf is another company I do a lot of fun projects for. They have had a great past couple of years– lots of great projects, renovated and moved into an awesome new space in Wheaton and continue to get new projects daily. Brian takes his golf pro expertise and designs amazing putting greens and yards for clients all over the Midwest. I take his designs and turn them into digital renderings to present to clients. Brian and his team amaze me with their beautiful craftsmanship and design! We’ve worked on hundreds of these greens since the beginning and I still delight in seeing each and everyone come to life!

Sometimes I get to go back to my illustration roots and make tiny illustrations for maps! My friend at Jennifer Kaye Photography was in charge of a social media “shop local” challenge in downtown Geneva for the holiday season and needed some custom icons designed for a map she was making. I got to draw the local legend that is The Little Traveler as well as some other uniquely Geneva locations… it was a very fun project!

The Geneva map icon project led Ashley of Knack PDM to find me and she hired me to do illustration of her friend’s business. This drawing I did of The Pep Line was a labor of love and I ended up also doing a line-art version of it as well. This project was followed up with a recent project designing icons and infographics for another of Ashley’s clients– The Local Petaler, who is a talented wedding florist in St Charles.
I love when a chain of referrals and projects comes my way. I used to have this happen a lot with weddings- I would do flowers for one bride and then all of her siblings and friends would hire me as well. I always have loved that because I knew I was working with not one, not two, but series great clients!

I have done several Illustrations over the years for my friend Lynda at Greenstar Paperie. Her projects are always fun and creative and quite often I get to do them in watercolor (or watercolor-style digital, or markers blended like watercolor)…did I mention I love watercolor anything?! Well, I do. Here are some of my favorite little ditties I have done for her in the past. Lots of Chicago map icons in the mix! She takes these icons and makes them into beautiful wedding maps, signature drink menus and other beautiful event stationery and signage. If you are looking for wedding stationery– GreenStar Paperie is the place to go! I am just starting a new watercolor project with Lynda–and this one might be our best collaboration yet!

Like I said, we have so many projects in the works right now–but these are just a handful of them! I feel very fortunate to have a lot of great clients who come back again and again to me for their graphic design and illustrative needs! If you have a creative project– please reach out. You can find even more of my design work here.

Josh’s Penthouse Party in The Matrix

Josh’s 32nd birthday party was EPIC! So epic in fact, it was featured on Catch My Party last month.

Josh is a HUGE Matrix fan and knew he wanted to celebrate is 32nd birthday in full Matrix style! After seeing the amazing Sky Lounge atop his chic Chicago apartment complex– he knew it was the perfect space for his fête.

After re-watching the Matrix, my head was filled with ideas for decor including glowing “red pill/blue pill” centerpieces, a sentinel-inspired entryway piece, and some epic balloon balloon installations with falling code banners.

Josh found an amazing caterer in Lime Light Catering, who loved the theme and planned a menu with the Matrix in mind.

Josh’s friends got him a Matrix-themed cake and all of the desserts and drinks were themed as well– it was all so perfectly coordinated to our very cool theme.

Guests were asked to dress in black or white (and they came in style!) and were greeted by signs to “follow the white rabbit” when they entered the space.

Old computer parts, wires, and lights accented centerpieces throughout the space. A large floral showpiece sat next to our “white rabbit” and Jelly Bellies were presented as a choice the guests had to make– to take the red pill or the blue pill (one of many Matrix references made that evening!) Signs with Josh’s favorite Matrix quotes were scattered around the room. Signature drinks, wine, mixed drinks and beer were served at the bar, which was flanked with glowing blue and red “pill” centerpieces.

Food included an amazing Poké bar, chicken & waffles and other tasty items. The desserts were served along with cake at the end of the night and all were presented with Matrix flair.

Green, black and metallic balloons were used along with falling code that I designed for a photobooth backdrop area and to accent the column in the middle of the room. Designing the falling code was a challenging but fun project to undertake!

Josh’s friend Johnny was flown in from California to DJ and pumped the venue with lots of pulsing house music and it felt very futuristic and really set a cool vibe. Guests danced the night away before ending the night at Josh’s apartment for the epic afterparty.

I was so happy to be a party of Josh’s 2^5 birthday in the Matrix. He and his guests had the best time, it was such a unique and fun party to produce and it makes me excited for the 4th Matrix movie set to come out this December (12-22-21).

VENDORS:

Planning, Balloons, Flowers, Decor: Kio Kreations
https://kiokreations.com/

Photography: Ryan Moore Photography
https://ryanmoorephotography.com/

Catering: Lime Light Catering
https://www.limelightcatering.com/

Venue: 727 Sky Lounge at 727 West Madison (Chicago, IL)
https://www.727westmadison.com/

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