Welcome to the jungle!

For this birthday boy’s first celebration, Trizaya created a fun and colorful jungle theme with lions, monkeys and giraffes. Using natural tones such as hunter and olive greens, yellow, orange and different shades of  browns we were able to bring the jungle inside.

Burlap was used to cover the tables and vases that showcased the custom designed table toppers. Rice Krispie treats were displayed on textured tray cover with custom toppers.

Jungle animals were highlighted in the beautiful candy holders with 3-D designs, complemented by fabric in two different shades of greens and delicate toothpick toppers.

The custom-made “Happy Birthday” banner was framed by the two beautiful balloon trees.

The use of natural materials such as the burlap, rope, twine and green foliage throughout the table and hanging from the chandelier enhanced the jungle feel.

“MOOdern” beverage stations

Hosting in a large space can be quite a challenge. Adding a few of beverage stations will give the space more ambiance.

“Warm” your guests with a simple, “MOOdern” Coffee and Tea station (I personally would love some hot cocoa as well).

We introduced the cow theme with some black labels to contrast the white “milk” bottles. The cow print runner gave it a sophisticated look.

We introduced the pink by adding place-mats over the cow print runner and hanging a wreath over our table.

The soda station was bright and happy!

Did I mention we did have ONE cow? Isn’t she cute? And because every little detail counts…our bottle caps had black and white texture. We played with polka dots, stripes and of course, our cow print!

The water station looked classy… and to give the clear and white cover some color, we used cow print table mats under the water goblets.

Finally, our personalized touch with a special message: Liz is on the way!

Liz was born on February 5th 2012! Congratulations Lia!

Baby Shower “MOOdern” and Chic to create the “COW” factor

One of us is expecting a baby girl! Our dear Lia is due very soon. We were faced with our biggest challenge: throwing her a baby shower that would surprise and WOW her?

Lia has a passion for cows so we used COW print as our inspiration. The black and white cow prints were the main colors, we used rosa electric as the accent color. We added other black and white patterns, polka dots and stripes, to complement and soften the cow print. Our design was modern and chic but warm and inviting.

Our second challenge was the venue. Lia’s first baby shower was in the same location so we wanted to give it a total different look, another way to WOW her with her COW theme. We placed the desserts and food in round tables, facing the beautiful pool, instead of the usual, which is against the main wall. We hand-made boxes and flowers that highlighted the theme and colors adding happiness and life to our design.

The dessert table

We made a Faux cake to match our theme, and surrounded it by the most delicious Latin-American desserts.

We hand made these miniature boxes to place the Brigadeiros, a popular Brazilian chocolate ball. We customized the boxes to our theme.

We also placed the Brigadeiros in delicate white flower wrapping to soften the design.

We prepared creamy strawberry gelatin to match the rosa electric accent tone, and placed the delicate serving glasses on a white tray, over our customized polka dot paper.

Tres leches, a heavenly dessert, fit perfectly with the cow theme, as it means “three milks”.

Peruvian Alfajores, another heavenly treat made with dulce de leche. They melt in your mouth! We placed them on a white tray over customized cow print paper.

…And last but not least, a Trizaya invention made in honor of the baby girl, “Tres Leches a la Liz”.

Our next post: “MOO”dern beverage stations for the “COW” factor

Studying at Hogwarts

For this special mid-fall session, students were divided into three different groups with students from all four houses. Each group was given a schedule of classes.

The birthday boy enjoyed the presence of all his wizard friends as his schedule was special and allowed him to take each class with a different group.

Classes:

Herbology

Students met with Professor Sprout and planted beans which they sprinkled with Magical Dragon Scales that made the plants grow faster. At the end of the party, their plants had magically sprouted!

Care of Magical Creatures

Professor McGonnagal waited for the students by the Forbidden Forest. She was substituting for Hagrid who was off on a special mission. Students learned about 3 magical creatures and had to find them in the Forbidden Forest.

Potions

Snape was ill, so the students had the privilege of having Professor Dumbledore teach them potions. This was defitinetely the favorite subject among students. Dumbledore taught students to make Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent. This special potion exploded in front of them, they were amazed! Ingredients included Gillywater, Dragon Blood, Powdered Unicorn Horn, Dragon Scales, Blind Cat Eyes.

Students also made Felix Felicis, which is the good luck potion, and were urged by Dumbledore to save it for a day they would truly need it.

It was a magical work for us too!

The Banquet at The Three Broomsticks

Magical Foods & Drinks

All students were invited to a Hogwarts banquet at The Three Broomsticks.

A special banquet table was set for these students. The napkin holders had the colors of the four different houses.

Pumpkin juice was served in goblets, Butter Beer in special mugs that glow in the dark. Gilly water bottles were available with a variety of magical powder that turned plain water into Fizzies.

Children enjoyed a magical menu of Jelly Slugs (jell-o), Blind Cat’s Eyes (round cheese breads), Magical Wands (Chocolate-covered pretzels), Herbology fruit cups, Giant Worms (hot dogs) served with Owl Spit (mayo), Dragon Blood (Ketchup) and Caterpillar Blood (mustard).

The banquet was a hit and parents were amazed to see 30 children sitting at a table during the entire meal. They truly felt as if they were in Harry Potter’s magical world and enjoyed every detail offered at the banquet.

Next Post: Studying at Hogwarts

Ollivander and Honeydukes Candy Store

After all the hard work attending the classes, students had a chance to go shopping at Hogsmeade.

The young wizards enjoyed purchasing treats at Honeydukes Store.

There were chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans among other treats.

All wizards were treated to a special chocolate treat with a personalized wrapping with the birthday boy’s name.

Students also visited The Ollivander’s Wand Shop, where wands cost 2 galleons!

Wizards enjoyed being chosen by their wands!

All treats, wands, potions, magical creatures were kept in their cauldron which they purchased at the Cauldron Shop in the beginning of the party. Cauldrons had a special Hogwarts tag with the name of each student.

Shopping at Hogsmeade was definitely a blast among wizards!

Next post: The banquet at  Three Broomsticks

Secrets from Hogwarts

YOU ARE INVITED!

Trizaya just prepared an awesome Harry Potter party. The “wow” factor was there. You could see the sparkling in the guest’s eyes!

Every detail was thought and planned ahead of time. So here is our first, and probably, most important advice: if the party is big make sure you have a lot of prepping time.

And now, welcome to Hogwarts!

The seven to ten-year old guests entered into Hogwarts through a brick wall.

　

The first stop was Gringotts Bank to withdraw some money. Of course, the coins were gold Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts, all carried in a little suede brown bag.

The main table was beautifully decorated with table runners in the colors of each house.

You would think that all the elements displayed on each section came directly from Hogwarts! Black was the overall background color and the houses were represented by their colors:

Gryffindor:burgundy/gold

Hufflepuff:yellow/black

Ravenclaw: blue/bronze

Slytherin: green/silver

The cake was a piece of art from our friends from The Latin Bakery.  Harry Potter’s glasses, a Gryffindor scarf, the Golden Snitch, the Sorting Hat and a magic wand depicted the important components of the Harry Potter world.

The guests were sorted into one of the four houses by nobody else than the Sorting Hat, assisted by Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore.

Some guests were dressed as wizards and others as muggles.

The tags, flags, banners and other elements came from the four house colors: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin houses.

We loved the time we spent preparing for this party. We discussed all the details to ensure that the guests would feel as they were in the magical world of Harry Potter.

Next post: Shopping at Hogsmeade