Bubbles & Brunch 1st Birthday Party

Mood Board: Pastels combined with iridescent & metallic details, balloon 'bubbles' and repeating circle patterns make for a fun, bubble themed birthday celebration!

Styling and Hosting Tips:

Create "instagrammable" photo op spaces with the balloons, paper goods and ball pit. Depending on your space, below are some ideas.

Dessert/ Food Table: Create two balloon bundles (3 balloons per bundle) with the large clear, pink and blue balloons and place on either side of the table. Behind the table, place the "Happy Birthday" balloons. Use the cake, placed on a cake stand as your center piece, flanked by cake balls, stacks of donuts and a couple of small-medium florals in clear vases.

Use a dining table or other small table to set up your place settings (plates, napkins, cups and straws) and a centerpiece/ table runner made of the 5" clear balloons (assembled into a runner using the balloon garland tape with holes). This DIY table runner should be the long of the table, or slightly longer.

Create a fun space for the smash cake pictures, using the white and clear balloon garland, the "1" balloon and either a highchair, or a cute blanket on the ground for the birthday girl. Make sure to turn on the bubble machine for the pics too!

If you have a bar cart, this is a cute place to set up a mimosa bar; Keep a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket, fill 2-3 carafes with your favorite juices, add champagne flutes and invite guests to help themselves. Add a cute floral here, if you have room. Outside, away from the food, is a nice place to set this up, to encourage movement and mingling.

Flowers: Check out Trader Joe's the day before the party for white or blue hydrangeas and eucalyptus sprays for beautiful (but easy) DIY arrangements. Plan on 5 hydrangeas for a medium arrangement and 3 for a smaller one. 2 bunches of eucalyptus will easily be enough to use as filler for 2-3 small-medium arrangements.

Offer an activity or two, like a ball ("bubble") pit to play in, or invite kids (and adults!) to make giant bubbles with the bubble kit

Playlist: Search Bubbly Birthday Party tsc on Spotify

Recipes Ideas:

Spinach & Apple Salad
2 10oz containers of baby spinach
3 apples, thinly sliced

1 cup of dried cranberries

1 cup of slivered almonds

5 tablespoons of lemon juice

5 tablespoons of honey

5 tablespoons olive oil

4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Salad: Combine spinach, apples, cranberries, almonds in a large salad bowl. Dressing: In a mixing bowl, combine all other ingredients and stir. Toss salad with dressing right before serving.

Quiche Muffins (makes 24 small quiche)
12 Eggs
1 cup of milk
Salt and pepper

2 store bought pie crusts

8oz of cooked crumbled sausage or bacon

8oz of shredded cheese (I like to use cheddar, swiss or gruyere)

Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, ½ tsp of salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Coat 2 muffin tins with nonstick spray.

Unroll pie crusts and cut 3" circles using a biscuit cutter, you should be able to cut 12 circles from each pie crust. Press pie crust circles into muffin tins. Place a spoonful of sausage or bacon, and a spoonful of cheese on top of the pie crusts. Add egg mixture to each cup, filling about 3/4 of the way. Bake for 25-30 minutes (until golden brown). Serve warm.

Mushroom, Gruyere & Caramelized Onion Bites

2 tablespoon salted butter

4 tablespoons of olive oil

8oz of cremini or button mushrooms, cleaned and thinly sliced

2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced

Pinch of garlic salt

1/2 tablespoon of sugar

2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

4oz of gruyere, grated

1 egg, beaten

1 package of frozen puff pastry, thawed

Parchment Paper

Preheat oven to 400. In a large cast iron or stainless skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil. Once hot, add sliced onions. Cook until tender and brown (about 7 minutes). Add the sugar and turn down the heat to medium low. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20-25 minutes, until caramelized. Deglaze the skillet with vinegar, and allow the onions to absorb the liquid. Set onions aside. Add mushrooms and remaining olive oil to skillet, sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms to onions, season with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Allow to cool to room temperature. Once cool, stir in gruyere. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper. Take cold, but not frozen, puff pastry and cut it into 2 inch squares using a pizza cutter. Place squares on the parchment lined trays. Add 1 tablespoon of mushroom/ onion/ cheese mixture to the center of each square. Brush egg wash onto the puff pastry edges. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Desserts:

Donuts - These are a cute and super affordable way to add another sweet treat to your dessert assortment. Call the shop a day or so ahead of time to request certain colors of glaze if you'd like, or just buy an assortment of strawberry glazed, vanilla glazed and maple glazed. Stack them high on the acrylic posts and show them off on the vertical display.

Cake - You can either make a cake using your fav recipe, buy a simply frosted cake at your local bakery, or request a custom one. For a smash cake, 4" inches is standard. Add the lollipops and "1" candle to top it off!

If you want a cake for guests, a 6" round cake would suffice for 12 servings. Size up to an 8" to serve up to 20 and a 10" for 24 servings.

Birthday Cake-balls
1 (18.25 ounce) package of confetti cake mix
1 (16 ounce) container of prepared vanilla or chocolate frosting
1 package of white confectioners coating
Optional: Sprinkles
Prepare the cake mix according to the directions. Once done, cut into small pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Let the cake cool for 30 minutes. Once slightly cooled, add all of the frosting and mix with the cake until well blended. Melt chocolate coating according to the directions. *If you wanted to make these pastel colored, just separate the chocolate coating into small bowls after melted, and add a tiny drop of red to get pink, a tiny drop of blue for light blue, 1 blue + 1 red for lilac, etc...
Use a melon baller or small scoop to form balls of the cake & frosting mixture. Dip the balls in chocolate using a toothpick or fork to hold them. Place on waxed paper to set and quickly add sprinkles.

Additional Options:

Store bought is always a great way to save time... So, here are some tasty ideas!

Central Market, HEB and Whole Foods usually have large pre-made salads, pasta salads and large quiches that are perfect for a brunch themed party.

You can also pick up mini quiche in the frozen section if you'd prefer, that are super yummy and easy. The mini quiches are a party goer favorite, since they are more of a finger food and easy to eat while mingling! And of course, chicken minis are an all time favorite as well :)

Enjoy and don't forget to #theshindigco with pics of your event!