Xavi's Party Souvenirs from Booths Republic

the photo balloon from Booths Republic

For Xavi's 1st birthday party, we sent our guests home with personalized souvenirs from Booths Republic. Yep, personalized with the guest's name, even a photo in the case of the photo balloon, right there on the spot, thanks to their Instaprint booths.

It sounds like a lot of work, but it's not, I assure you. I just told Sarah Chan of Booths Republic that we were having a Cat in The Hat/Dr. Seuss inspired party and she recommended the Craft Camp, Photo Balloon and their latest Cartoon Keychain booths.

Just a few weeks before the party, we talked about images that we could use for the personalized keychains, and they came up with these four.

Cute no? 

During the party, our guests could just choose among these four designs, advise the name they want on their keychain, and by the time they got their cotton candy, could pick up their finished keychain at the booth.

Apart from the personalized keychains, the guests enjoyed the photo balloon booth too. They would go and get their photo taken, and it would be printed on the other side of this balloon. Very cute!

I think the most popular booth of all would be Craft Camp. From 2 year old toddlers to 7 year old kids, they all had a blast coloring and decorating their own masks.

It also took care of entertaining the kids prior to the party proper. It was nice and also a relief seeing the kids congregating at the Craft Camp booth, because for sure, there were no bored kids in our party!

Even the big kids gave Booths Republic a thumbs up!

More than just party or event booths, you may order stickers and printed products as giveaways, or for personal use from Booths Republic.

We love these waterproof stickers that we use to label Berry's books, sippy cups, lunch boxes and snack containers for school. These withstand washing and don't peel off even if they've gotten wet countless times.

Booths Republic offers practical, personalized products that your guests will love. As for you, it is so easy to work with them. Just advise them of the day of your event, and if it's available they can then block it off for you. Just tell them your theme too, so they can recommend the most complementary products and designs. They can customize stickers, balloons, keychains and more just for you and your guests.

Thank you Lala, Sarah and the Booths Republic team for being a part of Xavi's birthday bash! The kids, even the mommies, loved their Booths Republic goodies!

Booths Republic 
Sarah Chan / Lala Tsai
+63917 800 3323, +63922 888 3427
boothsrepublic@yahoo.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Booths-Republic/173717795978422

A Magical Party with Party Magic

There are party supplies stores, and then, there ARE party stores where you get a sense that they make magic happen.

I got that when I first stepped inside Party Magic on Wilson Street in San Juan.

It is so Pinterest pretty.

It is a far cry from typical party stores where all you see are cheesy styrofoam characters on the window, and cartoon character everything all over. This place is subdued and tasteful. Not to mention, it has everything you'd ever need if you decide to throw an impromptu party in a day or two.

From balloons (they can do both stick and real helium balloons, not those fire prone hydrogen ones),

to pre-packaged souvenirs like these bottles of jelly beans,

Princess, fairy, animal and Minnie Mouse headbands,

birthday crowns,

and all other party sundries like cups, napkins, disposable cupcake towers, and such.

I really only meant to order balloons for Xavi's party. I had felt Cat in The Hat hats that I ordered from Ant's Pocket and character cut-outs from The Candy Shop. I was also filled with the illusion that I could pull off decorating Xavi's party all by myself.

But when Michell started sketching on her notebook and showing me balloon walls and such, I was like, "Wow, we can do that?"

Turned out, she could. Easily. Perfectly.

The balloon wall at the entrance looked fantastic.

The inside was equally fun as well. I just asked my caterer, M Catering, to use red and blue table cloths and Michell took care of the rest - adding striped runners, and using the felt hats and buckets to ground the balloons. She also had mini frames to show well-loved covers of Dr. Seuss books:

Like I mentioned, the stage was sooo cute. Normally, guests don't really go to the stage. It was usually just an expensive backdrop, but this one was a hit with the kids, who all wanted to go up and have their photos taken there:

Berry and The Cat in The Hat (standee printed by The Candy Shop)

my godson Andres and his brother Anton

Oh, and here are more details from the most delightful dessert/candy buffet, also prepared by Michell:

The sugar cookies are by Joanne's Kitchen. I bought the marshmallows from Chocolate Lovers in QC, and then packaged in these candy containers from Party Magic. 

The Oreo pops are also by Joanne's Kitchen. Wafer sticks and candies were sourced by Michell:

I bought these red lollipops from Made in Candy in Rockwell. The Cat in The Hat mugs were souvenirs that Dada and I bought in Universal Studios Florida back in 2008.

These mini red velvet cupcakes with blue frosting are also by Joanne's Kitchen.

Check out my friend Tammy's dessert plate. "The Fat in The Hat" daw, LOLZ.

w/ a cupcake from Tazzy Cakes and chocolate chip cookies & milk shot by M Catering

Our guests loved everything, from the entrance to the decor, to the stage to the dessert buffet. And I have to give all the credit to Michell. Party Magic really does Magic. I promise.

Thanks so much also of course to Michell's supportive hubby Patrick! I can't thank you two enough for making Xavi's party look so fun and festive! I don't know how the party would have looked like if I did everything myself as I had planned, haha.

Thank you also to my friend Cathy, for introducing me to Patrick and Michelle! Mwah!

For your party supplies, balloon needs and event styling inquiries, feel free to drop by Party Magic on Wilson Street, beside JASH Mart and across McDonald's, or contact them via phone or email.

Party Magic
215 Wilson Street
Greenhills, San Juan
Tel: +632 955 5906
Mobile: +63917 344 8881
Email: partymagicph@gmail.com
Website: http://partymagic.ph/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/partymagicph

Xavi Turns One at Seussville!

I can't believe Xavi is one today. Our big, chubadubs baby boy who we call Spider Pig at home because he likes to crawl and climb everywhere, and whose hands are the stickiest (he can literally grasp a glass with one hand, no kidding), is officially a year old today. I'd spare you the sappy, sentimental bits, but I would just like to greet Xavi here a HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY! Heehee.

Whoever said "time flies" certainly knew what he was talking about. Because that's how it feels. One minute I'm pushing out Xavi, next thing I know, we're celebrating his first birthday. Which we did last weekend.

I shared photos on Instagram because I was so happy with how Xavi's party turned out. Many have been asking me about my suppliers, so I thought I'd do a quick post to share with you what Xavi's party was like. I'll do more thorough posts too, as these are just snippets of the party.

Background: I've been doing DIY parties for Berry and I did the same for Xavi too.  I planned Xavi's party myself, but this time, I was lucky enough to meet my friend Cathy Lim's sister-in-law, Michell Lao of Party Magic, who tastefully turned the Greenmeadows Clubhouse into Seussland!

Initially, I just wanted to order balloons from her, but as I told her about my theme, and she started sharing her vision with me, I found myself so excited with her ideas that I just let her do her thing, heehee.

The party invite was designed by Pat of The Candy Shop:

At the entrance, Michell set-up a Cat in The Hat balloon wall:

The stage was a great backdrop and looked like a page out of a Dr. Seuss story book. The kids loved having their photos taken here, sitting on the chairs. I used our own IKEA chairs:

Which was kind of like the ones in the Cat in The Hat book!

Michell was also inspired by the trees from The Lorax:

I loved the paper lanterns that Michell used, it made the Greenmeadows Clubhouse look very festive:

We had two types of centerpieces, which were either polka dot pails or these inverted felt Cat in The Hat hats handmade by Anne Mateo of Ant's Pocket.

The character cut-outs, as well as the Happy Birthday letter cut-outs on stage, were also from Pat of The Candy Shop:

My sisters Dianne and Nicole gamely wore the hats, haha. The big one was supposedly for Dada and the small one for Xavi, but the boys did not want to wear these, corny. Haha!

The Dessert/Candy Buffet aka Xavi's Sweet Treats were also set-up by Michell of Party Magic:

With baked treats by Joanne's Kitchen:

The actual cake was by Cat del Rosario of Tazzy Cakes:

Catering was by M Catering, and I arranged for an adult buffet as well as a kids buffet. The chocolate chip cookies and milk shots was the hands down hit for both kids and adults!

Apart from "real food", we also got corn dogs and cotton candy from Jeriz Food Carts, and fries from NYFD. Ice cream pops were courtesy of Nestle.

To keep the kids occupied before food was served and before "entertainment" started, Sarah Chan and Lala Tsai of Booths Republic set-up a Craft Camp...

...as well as personalized keychain and balloon souvenir booths, which were so cute! The guests loved this!

Rather than the usual entertainment, My Masterpiece Movement kept the kids entertained, with Cat in The Hat storytelling, games and music:

My brother Andrew was our official photographer for the day, but everybody got to bring home photos right there and then, thanks to Print Social's Live Instagram Printer. Pretty much, the party place was the studio, and anything our guests took a photo of using the hashtag #XavisFirstBirthday was uploaded, displayed live feed style on a TV set and printed automatically, right there and then:

All our guests loved Xavi's party, and I think, if you just go with suppliers I got, you would have an easy, stress-free party like we did! I promise more details and photos in upcoming posts! =)

One last photo by the balloon wall before it went pop! pop! pop!