Just a couple of pics of a recent Disco party we did. It was for 2 sisters — so the guest list was huge (bigger than we usually allow actually)…. so we bagged all the goodies right from the get go! Everyone got mylar wigs in an array of colors, disco ball bopper headbands and flashing disco rings. I love the colors of this party — 2 girls meant we could go for the fun funky 70’s bright colors…. which makes for a fun party palette. We used bright colored Dahlia’s and white Hibiscus in glitter ribbon wrapped vases to decorate the space a bit more (since all the goodies were pre bagged!) Pretty Party….

Well…. here at the COOP we pride ourselves on the fact that we can make ANYTHING a theme party! And we think this party is pretty good evidence of that!! Gracie was turning 5…. and she had VERY specific ideas of what kind of party she wanted. So much so, in fact, that when I was at her house one day (she’s the daughter of one of my good friends) she and I were talking about her upcoming BDay — and she was telling me that she wanted a “Dolphin, Donut, Disco” party. Ever the party planner, I immediately started throwing out ideas… “we can do this…. or this — wouldn’t it be cool if we did this?” I kid you not — she looked me dead in the eye and said “When we are on a playdate at YOUR house — we can talk about YOUR ideas…. right now, we are going to talk about MY ideas” I adore her. Thus began the planning for the fabulous Dolphin Donut Disco party you see above! Gracie’s mom had these super cute invites made with the dolphin wearing a rainbow afro wig sitting atop a heap of donuts — and off we went! I grabbed the image of the dolphin off the invite and had stickers made for all the goody bags, We did a really cool opalescent crinklie tablecloth all bunched up down the middle of the main table — which looked like water (very cool)… on which we placed the AMAZING cake created by the insanely talented Julie from Blue Cupcake (she is seriously a goddess when it comes to cakes and cupcakes…. all sweet treats, actually!) and some vases filled with all kinds of candies in shades of white and blue. The goody bags were filled with a plush dolphin, a rainbow disco wig (we tried to make it look like the Dolphin was wearing the wig as he peeked out of the bags), a disco ball necklace and a cool dolphin mobile. We had a Bubble guy come and do a show in the lobby — and then the kids had a free for all bubble fest out in the courtyard area. Super fun! We also filled the bouncer with clear and different shades of blue balloons — as well as some mylar dolphins too! It was great. My absolute favorite element was the milk and donut cups — clear cups with a theme sticker on them, filled with a shot of refreshing milk with a mini Krispy Kreme Donut looped on the straw! So cute … so delicious! Hope you enjoy the pics!

We have had not one, but TWO Thomas the Train parties over the past two weeks — so I think we better post some pics! It is clearly a hot theme right now! We used our fabulous red and white striped tablecloths which add a nice shot of color AND are reminiscent of railroad tracks… which is a cool bonus! As with most of our “branded” parties … we kept the really branded items minimal (balloons, plates, napkins) — and went for a cool train engineer inspired gift…. Engineer cap, wooden train whistle, red bandanna and a Thomas the Train sippy cup. The gift is great because it is gender neutral — which is easier and also lends itself to a more cohesive overall look to the party. Thomas is loved by boys and girls alike — so much so, in fact, that one of our Thomas parties was for a birthday boy, and the other was for a birthday girl!

Don’t you LOOOOVE!!!??!!!! We painted it like our cool wall in our lobby to make it “Tres Coop-e”!!! It’s been a BIG hit so far. Isn’t it great!?

Here are a couple of shots of an “Animal” themed party we did last weekend. As usual — the COOP can’t go the obvious route — so we did a MOD version of an animal theme. The mom and dad are super hip and cool — and we knew they’d love a modern take on the theme… so we went for it. It was a party for 2 little boys — so we used our new graphic blue table runners — and this was one of the fist parties with our Winter white balls hanging over the main table. Everyone got these super bright, super graphic (and super cute if I do say so myself) animal masks — and matching bags filled with all kinds of cute critter goodies. It was so fun — the boys (and mom and dad) were thrilled with how it looked!

We have gotten a lot of requests for Yo Gabba Gabba parties this year (maybe it has something to do with Brad Pitt as DJ Lance last halloween;) !) The FIRST time we got the request, there were no party supplies available — so I had to download templates to MAKE party bags in the shape of all the characters from their website. Very cute — waaaaaay too time consuming! Finally some party supplies hit the market. As we have mentioned before — sometimes it’s not possible for us to just do a broad modern interpretation on the gift — sometimes we NEED to do the branded stuff. When we do — we still try to keep the look neat and clean… as is evident here (I hope). I love the multicolored balloons — and the bright green paper “grass”runners. It’s a super cheerful, colorful fun party… hope you like!!!

Here is an example of us turning something that has virtually NO party supplies on the market(I am sure they will change that soon!) and making a party out of it. We took the GLEE logo and grabbed the colors for our color scheme — Red, White and Yellow – used the striped tablecloth and did flowers in that color scheme as well. As I mentioned there are no actual party supplies available for this theme — so we made our own! We printed stickers — and placed them on the goodie bags and cake plates to make it “Glee-ie” and used posters on foam core as decor all around the space. The goodie bags included red and white pom poms, glitter microphones and a Glee CD in each. We think it turned out great — it looked modern and clean and still “on theme”! Hope you agree….

Picture slideshow made with Smilebox

“>

The COOP is two today! Thanks to everyone who has supported us over these past two fabulous, fun (occasionally overwhelming !) years… we couldn’t have done it without the support of so many fabulous friends, and like-minded mommies and daddies who have made the COOP such a wonderful success. We can’t thank you enough for your love and support….

We LOVE these Lunchboxes. Lucinda and I are both going into our second school year using them for each our boys. We both loved them so, we now sell them at the COOP. Did you know that a typical American child generates 67 POUNDS of lunch packaging waste each school year! That is an astonishing figure. My kids go to a “no trash” school — which tries to get the kids to bring lunches that generate no extra trash (i.e ziplock baggies and juice box containers). We are officially superstars after showing up with our fabulous (and stylish!) GoGreen Lunchbox. The super cool (and insulated) exterior … which comes in lots of cool designs… holds a 5 compartment tray that seals with a turn lock so your food — no matter how gushy — doesn’t slosh into other compartments of the tray. It works great, looks great, and is great for the environment. What more can you ask for?

Another one for the boys…. I had someone in today asking about this party….so here are the pictures! Again — we made the table runners out of black wrapping paper that I added the yellow hash marks to, and then had laminated, to make a cool “road” runner. The hats are construction cones — which are so cute on the kids! And everyone get a super cool monster truck, some stickers and an awesome tire shaped sippy cup as their goodie to go.