Monday, July 15, 2013

From The Book of Life: A Golden Books Birthday Party

A Birthday  
by Christina Rossetti
My heart is like a singing bird
Whose nest is in a water'd shoot;
My heart is like an apple-tree
Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;
My heart is like a rainbow shell
That paddles in a halcyon sea;
My heart is gladder than all these
Because my love is come to me.

Raise me a dais of silk and down;
Hang it with vair and purple dyes;
Carve it in doves and pomegranates,
And peacocks with a hundred eyes;
Work it in gold and silver grapes,
In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;
Because the birthday of my life
Is come, my love is come to me. 
Isn't that the sweetest poem? I'd never read it until today, but it makes me think of the joy of motherhood; that when we are blessed to become mothers, we know our love has come to us. It has certainly been the "Birthday of my life," any time I have met one of these sweet little ladies I call my own.
For my youngest, I wanted to throw a little family party with a Golden Books theme. 
1- because she's still young enough for me to pick the theme.
2- because I seriously LOVE golden books. Especially the old ones.
3- because it's pretty easy, assuming you have a printer and some golden books on hand :)

For the invites, I scanned a golden book cover into my printer, then I modified some of the words on it in Photoshop.  I made the dimensions on my pics 5"x7" but you could go larger or smaller according to preference.


Note: if you want a font similar to the "Little Golden Book" font, and you don't want to pay $90 for it, the free font "Wendy" is a really close substitute :)
Then I scanned the inside cover, and made a fake page with my little one's pic, and a silly little poem with the details of the party. I printed out both pages on separate slips of paper, and glued them together with a glue stick after I cut them out. I folded my little books and put them into envelopes, and delivered them to our family.


For decor (Which was minimal- let's remember that the kid doesn't even realize this is about her until the presents come out), I made a super simple pennant out of pages of my torn up copy of the "Eloise Wilkin Stories" treasury. I cut triangles out of the pages, and folded over the tops, STAPLED (Classy, I know) them over a ribbon, and called it good.


(I definitely have a second, still-intact copy of that or I would NEVER ruin it. EVERY mother of little girls should own a copy. It is such a sweet compilation, and Eloise Wilkins's illustrations are just precious!)
And I made tiny cupcake toppers out of the announcement cover, just printed small. (Also, these totally didn't make it on to the cupcakes because I forgot about em by the time dessert rolled around. But we all got cupcakes, and I am pretty sure that is all that matters. In life.

I displayed a bunch of books.

And made a few cute vases out of book pages wrapped around old soup cans :)



And that was IT! We served Cafe Rio/Chipotle/Costa Vida style salads/burritos, and everyone was happy :) Especially the birthday girl who has a deep love of "Beedos" (burritos). 

17 comments:

  1. What a great idea--- soooo adorable!

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  2. That is so cool. What a fantastic idea.

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  3. Cute ideas! I've a fondness for Little Golden Books. Recently found one in an antique store that I'm giving to my sister for her grandsons.

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  4. Okay - this is one of my favorite original ideas I've seen in a long time! I love custom made invitations and I also love Golden Books. I have over 50 of the old ones. Congrats on an adorable party!

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  5. I love those sweet illustrations. Wonderful invitations and pennant! I am also a big fan of vintage children's book and all started with my love for my old kid's china collection.
    Besos from Argentina!

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  6. Such a fun idea. I love Eloise Wilkins' illustrations. Also a big fan of Golden Books. My kids always got a book when we went to the grocery store.......we had so many.Happy Birthday to the sweet baby.

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  7. Love Little Golden books. My dad used to read them to me and my sister. My husband and I collect them and have acquired one of every book- even the ones with a complete puzzle in the back, with un-cut paper dolls, etc. They started in 1942. Eloise Wilkins has always been my favorite. We enjoy our collection! Love your party!

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  8. These are SO SO adorable!!! I love all of these ideas!!!

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  9. What a lucky little girl to celebrate her birthday with books and family. Such a cute idea! I love books!

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    1. Oooooooooooooooh I love Golden Books too. My youngest daughter's baptism was sort of a The Golden Egg Book theme. I scanned pictures from The Golden Egg Book and used them to make a custom t-shirt for her big sister and a custom onesy for her. The way the bunny treated the egg reminded me of how her big sister treated her. :)

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