Well, we launched our business on May 5th 2018. As we were preparing to do our launch (which we did in less than 40 days), Amy and I asked each other….”wow, how did we get here?” So here is a post to reflect back on all of the event that led us up to making the decision to start our own small business.
The obsession to create began before our mom’s 50th birthday. We wanted to do something special for her and decided to throw a surprise party at a local fire hall. It was a large space and looked pretty bare, so we wanted to decorate it as much as possible. But before that, we needed a theme.
After going back and forth for a while, we decided on a Willy Wonka theme, and got right to work. Along with our other two sisters, we created backdrops with scenes from the movie, created cardboard cutouts of Willy Wonka and the Oompa Loompas, and put finishing touches throughout the party.
Everyone had the best time and we received a lot of compliments on our set up. People even fought over who would take home the Oompa Loompas. Haha.
The next big event…..Amy getting married. The first one of the four sisters to get married, so we kind of made a big deal….a really big deal. I worked with my sisters and mom to set up an engagement party along with a bridal shower (luau party). Those were more party planning instead of crafting but they both ended up being amazing parties.
For Amy’s wedding we did a lot of DIY projects: battery operated votives as table place cards, card box in the shape of a 3 tiered wedding cake, ceremony agenda that were fans to help keep cool on a steamy August evening, framed engagement photo as the guest sign in, amusing guest bags for family and friends staying at the local hotel, and a few more items that escape me right now. The wedding theme was nature so it was very fun to help create something that was so beautiful.
After marriage came the next big event….baby Emma was on her way <3 Amy decided that the theme for Emma’s nursery would be owls. At the time, there were zero owl-themed nursery bedding collections or decorations, so Amy ended up creating the nursery idea on her own. With the owl theme locked, we did decided to throw her an owl-themed baby shower.
We were all so busy enjoying little Emma’s company, time flew by and she was already turning 1! For her first birthday we stuck with the owl theme. Lots of DIY for her 1st first birthday party. This is when we realized that we really loved to craft…and that we really loved Pinterest.
Well, once we started the DIY…we really couldn’t stop. We continued to make every one of Emma’s birthday parties: 2- Super hero, 3- Little Mermaid, 4- My Little Pony, 5-Trolls
In between the 4th and 5th birthday parties, Amy and her husband decided to have another awesome kiddo….and just like that, Henry was on his way. Of course, we were all excited again and we needed to have another baby shower….Adventure Awaits.
The baby shower was such a hit that we were asked to assist with two other events: Graduation Party and 60th Surprise Birthday. But not before we helped out with our best friend’s bridal shower. It was Mary Poppins themed and we made the center pieces and some penguins! We picked the flowers as they matched Mary Poppins hat and we had to include the funny penguins.
Candy bar
Back to the other events. The graduation party was held at a really cute rustic cafe that specialized in grilled cheese sandwiches! The rustic surroundings made for a great setting for the rest of the decorations.
The 60th birthday party was after Henry was born so Amy was up for more crafting for the party….my PIC was back! This party was for a very close family friend. He was an extremely talented athlete in high school (just recently inducted into his alma mater Hall of Fame), so we decided to go with a sports theme.
After some requests to create other people’s party, Amy and I thought “why not?” We love what we do and love seeing other people enjoy our work. That is when we decided to go forward with the business and Two Peas in a Party Pod was born, but we had to figure out what would people really want. We did some research and noticed that a lot of decorations out there all looked the same and were pretty expensive. That’s when we came up with the custom-made party packs. Original designs, custom per order, and affordable. Once we started on this path, we hit the ground running. We opened our shop in 40 days with over 10 themes to choose from, and at least 10 more in the works.
Less than a month after launch, we still can’t believe we started this business. It feels like a dream, something we have been wanting to do for quite some time…and we did it! It’s a lot of work but it’s worth it. After all of these events and crafts we have completed, there is one thing that always stays with us….how much we love the work. We put a lot of love in everything we create, and we hope you enjoy the items as much as we enjoy making them.
So, my “baby” girl turns six tomorrow :*( Every year since she’s been born, we throw a big bash for her with all our family and friends. I just didn’t have it in me this year. Henry will be two in July and thinking about doing two parties at the scale in which I typically do them would monopolize my time and hurt my purse. But luck would have it that Emma wanted to have some of her friends play with her at BounceU instead of having a party at home. I was incredibly relieved! No pre-party cleaning, no post-party clearing, no putting extra food in tupperware, no piling up of the trash and recyclables waiting for trash pick-up in six days.
So, to make it up to her (actually, to make it up to myself because I felt guilty about not having a big party), I told her that I’d make her a DuckTales shirt along with some cupcakes to match. Imagine my surprise when my kid tells me that she loves DuckTales. I was shocked. It was the same show that I watched when I wasn’t much older than her! Granted, this is the reboot, but the theme song still gets stuck in my head (woo hoo!).
I found vector images online of the adorable ducks and uploaded them to Cricut Design Basics and got to work. As you can see, the ducks turned out pretty awesome. They were so cute to begin with that they make the shirt look good 🙂
To go with the shirt, I made 12 fondant duck faces to put on top of the cupcakes (using edible markers), and then created cupcake wrappers (with gold coins!) and cupcake toppers for the other 12 cupcakes.
Finally, I created some quick labels for the goody bags using the same images I found online.
Emma was super happy, which of course made my heart swell 🙂 The time and effort put into these things that I enjoy doing, just make it much more enjoyable!
My girl Emma celebrated her fifth birthday last May and was hugely obsessed with the movie Trolls. As soon as she told us what she wanted her party theme to be, my sister Betty and I started right away.
Her birthday falls right around Memorial Day weekend, so we typically have a small family party on the actual day, followed by a party with family and friends after the holiday weekend.
For the day of her birthday, I always make a homemade cake. And as you can see below, Emma was very happy with what I had decided to do. I baked a regular 9″ round cake and cupcakes, and created a fondant Poppy to place on top.
For the big party, my sister and I hit up Pinterest to see what was out there. In the end, we ended up coming up with our own ideas and make everything by hand. It was a ton of work, but a major success….see that kid’s smile?! 🙂
Cake!
Gigantic cupcake!
Dessert table
Gigantic cupcake!
A friend made these!
YUM!
Party shirt
Photo booth cutouts
Troll friends
More friends…
More friends…
More friends…
More friends…
Birthday stats
PARTY!
Center piece
Center piece
Center piece
Center piece
Colorful party favor bags
The chocolate covered pretzels, Oreos and marshmallow treats were created by Ronda’s Sweet Treats !
