Toy Kingdom

Good evening everyone, I hope you are all having a lovely summer. Here at Les Enfants we have been busy jet setting and enjoying the school holidays, I am off again tomorrow to Bergen in Norway which I am very excited about, Helen has been enjoying the Spanish Sunshine, and Katie has been touring the beautiful french countryside. However, I have had time for one more blog post before I go..

We have been busy over the past few months researching and liaising with some fantastic children's party venues across London, so I thought it would be a good idea to showcase a new found favourite of ours, 'The Toy Kingdom' which is situated on the third floor of Harrods. 

Sweet Treats

We have all had our thinking caps on in the office this week, trying to come up with some new and different ideas for treats to go on our sweetie tables. With so much inspiration from our American neighbours we have managed to suggest a number of delicious treats to our fantastic supplier utterly charming cakes and are all very much looking forward to trying them out next week! 

I am going to give you a sneak preview of a couple of our ideas in this blog post, and if you have any further suggestions yourself i would love to hear from you!

Simple but delicious chocolate covered pretzel sticks, can be decorated in many ways to fit the theme of your party or sweetie table

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

Love is in the air...

Valentines day is just two short weeks away, giving us enough time to decide how we want to spend the day. No matter what you decide, there are plenty of ideas out there to inspire even the busiest of people.

Whether you choose to decorate your house, hold a party, create a special card for a loved one or just rustle up some tasty treats with the kids, I hope the following entries will be of some help to you. I have searched the internet for the best ideas and will have great pleasure in sharing these with you over the next couple of days.

Valentines Party Ideas

Decoration  

With some pink streamers, a couple of balloons and some paper fans a room can be transformed into a beautiful and classic Valentines setting

This Valentines tea table is perfect, i especially love the poms poms attached to the wall!

I simple love these love heart balloons, (see link below)
http://www.partydecorate.co.uk/product-catalogue/Heart_Shaped_Balloons

With some hessian, paint, string and a glue gun you can easily make this lovely bunting which could make a lovely addition to your Valentines party, whats more the kids will have a great time painting personalised designs

However, if you feel more capable these felt heart garlands  may take a bit more time to create, but are incredibly pretty!

This beautiful valentines table has such a simple yet, beautifully effective backdrop that is incredible easy to replicate with a few envelopes, a ruler and some masking tape

 I love this idea for a photo-booth during your party, of course this requires a bit more DIY but the photos at the end will surely be worth it (once hung they can also be used for future Valentines decorations!)

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us via facebook or email (stylist@lesenfants.co.uk) for further suggestions. Over the following days I will be suggesting delicious valentines treats ( both healthy and not so much...) as well as drinks, valentines party games and ideas for homemade cards, 

in the mean time I hope you all have a lovely weekend and I will speak to you soon, 

Zahra xxx

A New Beginning

Good afternoon! Here at 'Les Enfants' we have been a tad slow in our blog updates- the Christmas period was extremely busy and kept us all on our toes.

Before I let you all have a sneak peak of our Christmas events I would like to introduce myself. My name is Zahra Noble, I am 23 and the newest member to the 'Les Enfants' team.

I am originally from Edinburgh, but moved to London in order to study 'Events Management' at Greenwich University. I have been decorating shop windows within my families company for many years and love coming up with new and original ideas. Previous to working with 'Les Enfants' I styled and decorated many friends and families themed parties. One example of this could be my own 21^st enchanted forest theme party which was held in a large, empty barnyard in the Scottish countryside ( photos below). I spent weeks creating tables out of tree trunks I found in the forest, covered the longer tables in turf (which turned out to be a very messy job!) managed to some how build a swing inside and covered the entire ceiling in cherry blossom and lanterns. It is creativity and design that I really enjoy, and I love the idea of taking a blank canvas and completely transforming a space to create something unique and personal.

When I joined 'Les Enfants' after completing my degree I was immediately attracted to the original and personalised styling that appears in every one of their parties. However, I happened to join at the most hectic time of the year, Christmas! so my stamina was definitely tested!

We had a brilliant Christmas period, but I have to admit I am very happy to wave goodbye to the holiday season and begin planning new and exciting 

parties in 2013.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or queries, and please look out for our next instalment! 

Speak soon! 

Zahra xxx