How much do you LOVE this child sized reinvention of the Eero Aarnio Pony Chair? The Giddy Up kids chair is just DIVINE and is perfectly at home at the COOL ole COOP! Come play with ours or get your very own from wwwlittlenest.com.

BEFORE ABOVE – AFTER BELOW

Over the Thanksgiving break the COOP closed for two days to celebrate…but while everyone was busy enjoying their turkey I got busy at the COOP! When Juliet and I were in the construction process at the COOP circa September 2008 we knew we had to do something cool and unexpected on the main wall behind the counter. We both searched for ideas and had all sorts of good ones but nothing felt quite right. One day while flipping through my former favorite magazine (former only because they discontinued it!) DOMINO, I came upon a tiny picture from the 60’s of a gorgeous bohemian socialite in an apartment with this super-cool graphic on the wall behind her. I showed it to Juliet and we both agreed that it was EXACTLY what we wanted so we got busy creating our very own COOP version. We had my husband Todd do the very precise taping and I remember giving him such a hard time because it took SO long and then our friend Megan painted it.
Recently the T.V. show “PRIME SUSPECT” shot at the COOP, and they wanted to put a plastic cover around the base of the counter that matched the wall – we said sure and then liked it so much we left it. So it was over Thanksgiving that I decided to improve upon their plastic version myself, and after six hours of taping – before I even started to paint I sure was wishing my husband was there! But the proof of my labor is in the pudding, or I should say WALL!

We did our very first Angry Birds party just a few weeks ago and it was FABULOUS!! The mom on this one was an absolute dreamboat – loved all my ideas and was happy to let me run with them. I decided that the space needed firstly to be super colorful so I went with the red polka dot table on the main table and happy tulips. I stuffed a bunch of Angry Bird toys in the glass cylinders and it gave a really COOL effect. I ordered a fantastic banner from Etsy (how much do we LOVE that site) and I also did two of the very special ginormous balloons. Julie from Blue Cupcakes took care of the DIVINE cakes and she even bought along our very own flying eagle. All the lucky little Angry Bird lovers went home with their very own stuffed toy, a slingshot (of course) a colorful boa a button and some additional Angry Bird lovelies from mom. I can’t wait to score more top points with the next one!

How incredible is it that it is already 2012! 2011 was a fantastic year for the COOP and for Juliet and I but I know that 2012 is going to be even better for us all. Over the holiday break I decided to host a party of my own – my husband and kids are so used to seeing me scurrying around and staying up very, very late to arrange other peoples parties that it was with great joy that they saw me do it for them! I decided that no Christmas Eve party would be right without a little snow – even in Los Angeles, so I set about finding the perfect (fake) snow. I wanted it to feel and smell like the real deal and I found it in a company called SNO WONDER (www.sno-wonder.com). It was super easy to make – just add water and voila, snow in Los Angeles. I wanted my dining room to be like a winter wonderland too so I added the snow there. I had beautiful glitter candles and my dear friend (who also happens to be my business partner) lent me her beautiful crystal Christmas tree’s. I added beautiful white flowers in tiny crystal vases and the effect was pure magic. Outside I put pockets of snow along the bushes along the deck and two of the super large balloons it was FABULOUS! I even had our beautiful COOP employee Lindsay help me make sure everyone had a lollipop champagne cocktail and she dressed the part too.
A very, very happy and prosperous New Year to you and yours from the COOP and ours x

Oh my — we did a FABULOUS party for a super sweet little boy last night. Normally we don’t divulge our celebrity kiddies that party with us at the COOP — but this party was well documented by the paparazzi — so I don’t feel bad mentioning it here as well! Bronx came in to the COOP a couple of weeks ago with his gorgeous momma Ashlee Simpson to talk about doing a birthday bash for him. Bronx loves animals — especially Elephants and Lions he said — so we went with a super safari theme! I am always so happy to get to use the gorgeous (I may be biased!) Elephant, Lion and Giraffe paintings I did for a Safari party a couple of months ago. They looked great in the windows (and served as paparazzi blockers — bonus!)– and the Lion held a place of Pride standing guard over the food table outside. I also repurposed another favorite of mine — the banner I made for my son’s party out of strips of material and ribbons — I just added some safari ribbons to really make it go GREAT with the Safari theme and hung it around the food table. I think it really added to the look out there! I also did “Bronx’s Jungle Juice for the kids which was basically some yummy Hawaiian punch with fruit slices floating in it — served in great little cups we jazzed up with ribbon and raffia. This party is essentially a COOP and Caboodle Theme party — meaning we did the cake (Julie/ Blue Cupcakes — she’s a genius!! Everyone RAVED about them as always), all the food, facepainter, and gorgeous flowers. I went for a really jungle-ie look with the flowers — different from what I normally do — but I think they turned out really cool and theme appropriate! The table had our moss and these darling cardboard modern patterned animals as the centerpiece… loved it! The kiddos all went home witha stuffed animal, a plush animal tail and ears set, and a really cool hand puppet that actually makes the animal noise. The party was wonderful and beautiful and most importanly — Bronx had a wonderful time with his whole family and all his buddies celebrating his 3rd year!!!

I know I already did a pretty comprehensive post on our other Fireman Coop and Caboodle Party, but I did one yesterday and I just wanted to share a few of the detail shots with you! I had the idea LAST party to do fireman boots as a vase — but I couldn’t find rain boots in the dead of the summer anywhere! Lucky me — it’s rainy season now — so Target had these adorable boots and I was able to try out the idea. I LOVE how it turned out! Aren’t they darling? Love. The fireman party is SUCH a great party — I love that it is simple and bold and has a great gender neutral gift! EVERYONE wants a fireman hat, a stuffed fire dog, a badge and a fire hydrant sippy cup! Right? The one I did yesterday I also added these darling Fireman vests which were soooooo cute on the kiddos. Mom and Dad were sooooo pleased with all the work we did on this one… said it was the ONLY way to do a party! Let the COOP handle it all — and sit back and enjoy the fun!

I am going to get some SUPER fab pics of this party from our wonderful photog Greg in a couple of weeks that I will share — but in the meantime… here are just a few shots from me! Pinkalicious is one of our most popular parties at the COOP — and i think because of this we rarely photograph it! WE are so used to it’s splendor — I think we overlook it! It’s a beautiful party — and everyone LOVES the wigs and boas and tiara they take home (don’t worry — we always do something fab for the boy guests as well — in this instance the BDay girl requested the boys get pirate loot!) Anyway — I just wanted to share a few pics as I just love love love this party and it’s pink overload! It’s every little girls dream!

I just painted us another fabulous Teepee for the COOP the other night! I love how it turned out. In the ever growing things my kids have lost to the COOP file — is the OLD teepee. Which was actually my son Grants Birthday present 2 years ago — and then I painted it COOP -ie and brought it down to the COOP where it was soooooo loved and well used — that it pretty much got trashed! Oh well… my boys are used to making sacrifices for the COOP! So — this past week I was inspired to get a new one done…. and this time I decided to add our COOP eggs and one little COOP chick on it. I love love love how it looks. Lucinda and I are trying to really get the COOP brand solidified — so I wanted to make sure it was unmistakably OURS! COOP eggs, COOP chick — super fab! I really wanted to do a band of 2 or three rows of eggs — but when I realized just how time consuming the detail work was I just did one! As it was I was painting till 2 a.m.! There is always next time!!!

We just had the most adorable Rock n Roll party where the mom wanted lots of pink and purple elements mixed in with the silver, and the effect is dazzling. The pink and the purple wigs and sunglasses along with the blow up guitars all made for a super cool party favors. Mom suggested pink and purple disco balls in the vases with glow rings which was fabulous as a center piece and we of course added pink flowers. The cake was an incredible work of art and delicious too! Ah to be young again and have the COOP as a party venue!