the hills are alive!

Hello to all of you who've found this post by searching for Sound of Music party ideas! I had so much fun creating this party for my baby, and I hope you find some ideas you love here! :) If you'd like me to make any of the party materials you see below (I'll provide the JPGs and PDFs), just let me know (via a comment in this post or by emailing me at booandloudesign@gmail.com) what you're looking for, and I can give you a price quote. If you're looking for just the invitation, head on over here to purchase your custom telegram invitation.

Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by! :)

So you all know our Belle's love for The Sound of Music. Everything in her world can be related back to the musical, and she knows every single song by heart. This says both something of her ability to retain music and my ability to use The Sound of Music as an excellent babysitter when cooking dinner. That said, it's embarassing how often I've been sucked into this lovely film this year. YOU CAN'T HELP IT. It's a classic. The music is addicting and catchy (and incredible), and Julie Andrews is seriously perfection. (Isn't she?!)

Anyhow, knowing Annabelle's love for all things The Sound of Music, I began planning her party months ago. Shockingly, Pinterest was of no help and I had to come up with all these ideas on my own. (Oh, the horror. An original thought.) I tried my best to put a little Sound of Music into every detail. I was also trying to do things on the cheap, which usually ends up being ridiculously time consuming, and this party was no exception. I spent hours designing (and re-designing), cutting, pasting, organizing, gathering. But honestly, it turned out better than I imagined. It was the most lovely day with family and friends a-plenty. We held the party at a not-convenient location 20 miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon at Silver Lake, but still they came. The hills were so alive, alive with birthday happiness and just simple family love. What follows is a big giant photo dump and a few details.

+ the invitation - I looked up several images of old telegrams and ended up with this:

This was probably the most time consuming part of the designing because I wanted it to be perfect. (For those of you who haven't seen The Sound of Music, communication is mostly done through telegram.)

+ the food - Because this was Annabelle's party, we went with "a few of her favorite things" for the menu. (For those of you living a completely incomplete life because you don't know what that phrase in quotation marks refers to, time to watch the musical.) It was a random bunch of food, but they were all truly things she loves to eat. I also "made" a donut cake. Both because it was a heck of a lot easier than hauling a real cake or cupcakes up the canyon, and because Annabelle really doesn't like cake or cupcakes, but loves old-fashioned donuts. (I just wish I'd bought more donuts - sorry!)

+ the decor - I used "brown paper packages tied up with string" like crazy. (If you don't catch that reference, again. Sad. Go watch the musical. :) ) Cheap, easy, effective, and super cute, right? Yes. Me thinks. My mom brought my old guitar case up, which we used to hold gifts from guests, and I bought a cheap straw hat from the dollar store (which more or less looked like the hat Maria wears when she leaves the Abbey the first time). I used pink and turquoise because Belle informed me they are her favorites, although I was originally going to use the Austrian flag and do everything red and white.

+ the parting gifts - More brown paper packages tied up with string. The "so long, farewell" refrain was a perfect thank you message, and inside the kids at the party found some super fine quality (sooo cheap) kazoos and harmonicas (so they could make their own "sound of music.") I also threw some Skittles in, as they're one of Belle's favorite candies.

Such a good day. I wish we could do it all again.

(All photos courtesy of dc photography. Also, thank you to the family members and friends who made the trek up the canyon and who helped me pull off this she-bang.)

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This party was featured on Apartment Therapy! 

To see a puppy birthday party, go here.

To see a New York themed going away party, go here.

To see an "oh so tweet" baby shower, go here.
To see a Lalaloopsy birthday party, go here.
To see a polka-dot birthday party, go here.