Ahoy!

Last week I spent a few frantic days collecting as many ship props as I could find in order to style a photo shoot on board the HMSBelfast. The ship is permanently docked on the River Thames just south of Tower Bridge, with excellent transport links via London Bridge station which is just a short minute walk away.

We styled a nautical shoot, but of course had to be respectful of the ship, and be careful not to style the party pirate or sailor themed but instead channel a rustic, grand ship feel, to be in keeping with the ships heritage.

We set up a lovely little tea table using our own unique printables, along with our melamine plates and personalised accessories. We also set up a sweetie display using nautical themed treats and various props. The photo shoot was captured beautifully by Claudia Rose Carter.

Nautical sweetie display, all of our detail from the printables to the treats are tailored and personalised to your specific theme.

Our nautical tea table scene, with personalised napkins wraps, bottled water and party hats.

Our paper straws with our printable straw flags

Captain Noah's invitations and thank you cards

Our handmade party bags

Our main cake with anchor and rope details, and our buttercream cupcakes courtesy of Utterly Charming Cakes topped with our cake topper printables

Fantastic anchor detail on our main cake

Our personalised chocolate bars are always a huge hit on our sweetie tables,   and a lovely thing to keep to remember your childs special day

Anchor biscuits and hand painted nautical cake pops, courtesy of Cake Pop Princess

Our lovely litte 'Thank you' label which can be attached to our party bags 

If you would like any further information on this party or any other party themes that we do, please do not hesitate to give us a call on 020 8502 9988 or send us an email at info@lesenfants.co.uk,

I hope you have enjoyed this post, I certainly enjoyed styling it,

Speak soon!

Zahra Noble xxx

Pretty Printables...

We are thrilled to showcase a couple of our new printables for you that were designed last week. 

We have focused on some little boys parties this week including a fun 'cowboys and indian' theme and a 'nautical' theme party, which we used for our photoshoot this week on the HMSBelfast, in central London. 

I absolutely love this cowboy and indian theme, I have already started plannng a quote for this party with the hopes that someone will book it soon... such a rustic, different theme and suitable for boys and girls ... the party games would be great!

Our nautical themed printables were created for out photoshoot on HMSBelfast last week, make sure to check our facebook page and next blog entry for our shoot photos.

'You are invited to Captain Noahs Nautical Birthday!'

'Thank you card for Noahs Nautical Birthday! '

Rope napkin wraps

Our straw flags and sweetie signs

Our table scatters

'Captain Noah's Chocolate Bars'

'Happy 5th Birthday Noah'

We are currently in the process of creating some fantastic new printables which will eventually be available to purchase in our future online shop so make sure to keep an eye out!

Hope you are all having a good week! 

Speak soon, 

Zahra xxx

We Love Balloons...

We love using balloons at our parties, and I personally love researching new and different ideas on how to decorate the balloons! I personally have a huge folder full to the brim of photos and inspiration so I thought I would share a few of my favourites with you to inspire you to use these all time party favourites!

I love these chalk board balloons. A very quick and simple way to personalise your party! Of course black and white feels slightly more grown up, by adding colour to the balloons or ink, this could be brilliant for any childs party

Confetti filled balloons! A firm favourite of mine and very simple to do! Just make sure the balloons you choose are a pale colour so that you can see the confetti clearly.

Transparent balloons are a lot of fun, and by attaching streamers/ribbons or tassle you can tailor them to any theme or party. 

Here at Les Enfants we absolutely love using our 3ft balloons. Attaching fringing, whether its short tassles or floor length, it really does add some extra charm. 

I love this idea from, it would look brilliant in a tall room to have hundreds of helium filled balloons with this confetti detail attached. 

These ice cream balloons are so incredibly pretty. We created our own for our ice cream parlour party and they really do look very pretty indeed! 

I hope you are all having a lovely week and thank you again for all of our brand new likers, we really appreciate all of your support!

Speak soon, 

Zahra xxx 

DIY Party Hats

After last weeks 'madhatter tutorial' I felt inspired to do a little research on more party hat ideas and tutorials. I love designing tailored hats for our parties, not only do they add another design element to our tea tables, but they also look fantastic for the photographs afterwards. There is nothing sweeter than a long bespoke tea table filled with children wearing pom pom party hats or lace crowns whilst eating off their matching melamine plates and drinking from their stripy or polka-dot paper straws. The children become part of the design which really makes for some beautiful photography and lasting memories..

Below i have attached a few of my favourites with links to tutorials so that you can make your very own hats! Enjoy...

These beautiful pom pom hats would look really lovely at any party. These hats are available from American retailer 'Shop Sweet Lulu' (link) however, I urge you to try and make your own- its great fun!

I absolutely love this 'sock monkey' hat. Would be brilliant for a first birthday...
Tutorial

Pretty, pretty, pretty, A beautiful design for a summer garden party, (especially now as summer appears to be on its way at last!)
Tutorial 

I love these lace crown designs. I recently made 30 for a 'Once Upon a Time' party and loved how they looked on the table and on the heads of all the little princesses
Tutorial 

A really lovely design for a cowboy and indian party, or peter pan and the lost boys!
Tutorial

These hats will make any little girl feel like a princess. An 'enchanted fairytale' theme party would be perfect ..
Tutorial

I hope you have enjoyed this post and have a lovely week!

Talk soon,

Zahra xxx

Mad Hatter Tea Party Hat Tutorial

After making a pom pom party hat for my little dog this weekend (it was his 9th birthday, I promise I don't dress him up normally!) I started to research different party hat ideas to make at home. This one was my favourite by far, so I have decided to share this with you, enjoy!

(For the full instructions, please click here)

I hope you have a lovely day, 

Zahra x

Perfect Party Favours...

When deciding on the best gifts to give your guests, there are so many different possibilities it can be difficult to choose the ideal favour. This blog entry will focus on some of my favourites to show you a few ideas that are slightly different to hopefully give you some ideas to use for your next party...

These beautiful cake pop boxes come in a variety of colours and could be an incredibly pretty memento of your party

I love these DIY bubble gifts!  The stickers can easily be personalised for your own unique message, meaning they can be used for just about any party theme!

A different but very beautiful idea in my opinion. Fresh strawberries and scones with clotted cream, these would be perfect for a garden party!

if you have your perfect gift in mind, and just looking for a pretty party bag then why not copy this beautiful design?  You can either make your own or simply decorate a plain bag using ribbon and natural twine. Would be great for a 'shabby-chic' theme.

I love these ballerina party bags made using tulle netting. Such a pretty idea, and a bag that i'm sure your little guests will want to re-use over again and again.

A different idea again could be these 'cupcakes or cookies in a jar'. This particular idea has become fairly popular in the last year, and with the possibility to use any recipe it can be different every time. From my own experience, children simply love baking and will no doubt leave your party very excited to get cracking on with these homemade treats.

Following on from the jar idea... Popcorn is an incredibly healthy treat (with the right topping ofcourse) and is also great fun to make. Ofcourse you can add any topping you like.. melted chocolate and raisins, parmesan, sugar and cinnamon...I make popcorn almost every night drizzled with honey and a touch of salt.. messy but delicious! 

I found this photo about a year ago and have been dying to recreate these party bags.. however no one as of yet has had a party theme that I could use them for... I just really like them, such a fun a different idea! My little cousin Noah (he is 3) recently decided to attempt to leave home (he was grounded I think and in a huff..) and made himself one of these before asking my uncle to give him a lift to the train station, fortunately he changed his mind when realising he had no money but it gave me the idea of using these for a vintage train party.. I think the possibility of someone having a hobo-themed party in Central London is a little farfetched.. 

simply but lovely idea for an arts and craft party.

And finally these fantastic 'Neverland/Lost Boys' party bags. Such a simple idea that would look fantastic on any table. Ofcourse this idea can be tailored to any type of party just by simply choosing a different felt shape.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, as always if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me on zahra@lesenfants.co.uk.

Speak soon!

Zahra x

Pom Poms, Streamers (and everything in between!)

Good morning everyone! Here in the office, when it comes to decorating our parties, we are always on the look out for new and exciting ideas. The post today will focus on a few of my personal favourite decorations to hang up, as well as a couple of links to online tutorials to help you make your own. 

Pom Poms

Pom poms are a very popular choice when it comes to styling our parties. With so many different varieties  of colours, materials and styles, these can look very effective regardless of theming, age or gender. The trick is to be patient with them, and take the time to 'fluff' them out properly for their full effect.

Tulle (or netting) pom poms are probably my favourite, because of their delicate appearance. These decorations would be perfect for a garden party or little girls 'princess' or 'ballerina' themed party.

Tissue pom poms are the most commonly used and are incredibly easy to make. For detailed instructions please click here.

I have yet to use wool pom poms to decorate a party (these are usually slightly smaller so for a party would be best in a garland), however I have just finished making some for my home and thought it would be a shame not to include them!

Bunting

Bunting is another great way to add something extra to your party with very little cost involved. Bunting can easily be transformed into a banner for a personalised backdrop, or simply hung to give your party a pretty, vintage feel.

Whether you are after a country style garden party..

..a shabby-chic birthday or a simple backdrop.

Japanese washi tape is also great to use to create mini bunting.

Balloons

When thinking about ceiling decorations, balloons will not be the first thing that pops (ha!) into your mind- however if you are looking for a cheaper option to a hanging lantern, or just something different, this could be it.

 Simply place a marble inside a balloon and attach some ribbon or string and you have yourself a very pretty decoration! With so many different options of balloons available, it would be a shame not to experiment.

Lace Lanterns

I recently bought myself a whole load of vintage lace doilies with the idea to make this next suggestion for my living room, however- if you have a little time on your hands it could also be used as a very pretty party prop. 

 Once assembled, simply place a battery light candle inside from a lovely warm atmosphere at your next party. (Full instructions here)

Streamers

Although sceptical at first (I thought they were a little tacky...) with so many different possibilities, if done properly, streamers are an excellent and beautiful way of decorating your party. 

Whether your using as a backdrop,

creating a chandelier 

or hanging from the ceiling

streamers have the ability to be that 'wow' factor that your looking for.

I hope you have enjoyed this post, please continue to send me questions or suggestions for my next post,

speak soon!

Zahra xxx