I’m so excited to share with you the pictures from Cibella’s party today.
While designing this party, I keep trying to figure out a way to make our backyard a swamp. Trust me when I say that the idea of flooding the yard did not go over all too well. In lieu of flooding, we built 3 framed ponds to hold the water and an abundance of water plants including lily pads to create a backdrop to our feature table.
As a result of Hurricane Irene, there were many fallen trees and I was able to find stumps around town to use as seating for the children attending.
I stumbled upon the frog statue on clearance at Home Goods. A few coats of spray paint gave him a facelift, and he was ready for the party.
Layers of textured linens in chocolate and moss green with tree limbs, moss, and pods arranged down the center of the table helped create to bayou atmosphere. A lily pad was placed at each setting on top of satin chocolate brown napkins.
I created a sign welcoming the guests to Cibella’s Place which was hung among baskets of ferns.
I created 3 activity stations for the children; Masquerade Masks, Ray’s Firefly Friends puwhich allowed them to make their own firefly craft with glow-in-the-dark tail, and Not to Worry Dolls. While voodoo and magic are present in bayou areas and New Orleans, I wanted a craft that reflected upon this but was more child-friendly. It was the hit of the party – I think every guest went home with one!
Our beverages were given fun names like Swamp Water (for the adults), Mama Odie’s Good Potion (raspberry lemonade), and Facilier’s Evil Potion (punch). We served fried chicken, jambalaya, red beans & rice, chicken & biscuits, string beans, and oven roasted potatoes for dinner. The guests enjoyed having a taste of the theme’s regional cuisine.
The centerpiece of our dessert table was the stunning cake of chocolate and butterscotch filling created by Elyse of Joy & Cake; she is so easy to work with, and not only do the cakes look stunning, but they taste wonderful, too!
I used a cherry wood desk to hold the multitude of sweets and desserts. Caramel and chocolate fudge, 3 varieties of chocolate truffles, cinnamon sugar donuts, almond bark, sugar cookies, mudpie, gluten free cupcakes, and of course, beignets!
Wanting to create the elegant bayou feel, I used more tree limbs and moss, adding distressed urns with hanging amaranthus and tree bark wood plaques as trays. Instead of a fabric backdrop, I opted to use the natural greenery around our koi pond.
Cibella provided 3 different favors to thank her guests for coming to the party. For her infant cousins, a frog prince or princess plush animal with a storybook, for the adults, homemade pralines wrapped in ribbon with a double layer fancy sticker, and for the children, monogrammed aprons with a prince or princess frog cookie cutter, and a wooden spoon to help mom or dad cook in the kitchen.
Happy Birthday Cibella!
Our Bayou Frog Princess Collection, including favor tags, invitation, door sign, placecards, and cupcake toppers, will be in our store next week!
A very good sport, who volunteered to be the dragon.
