My baby turned 11 this past weekend. I can’t believe how fast she has grown! I remember when she came to live with us… she was a three year old beauty with the sweetest little voice and the biggest brown eyes! Fast forward 8 years and she is still my little Sweet Pea. We celebrated her birthday with 5 of her good friends and a Rock Star Glam Birthday Bash. And what an AWESOME time we had! All available printables are at the bottom of this post.
I designed Backstage Pass Invitations and she handed them out at school:
When the girls arrived at the house they were greeted by Security (My friend Krista) who had a clipboard with the VIP list – if your names not on the list, no entry! Once inside, the girls were ushered past the “photo studio” to the greenroom/make-up and hair station where they got glammed up with blue eye shadow, sparkles, lip gloss and hair extensions. It was great to see everyone had come dressed in their Rocker best.
Entry way with star and circle garland and balloons
One of the Make-Up and Accessories Tables we had set up
My helpers all had brightly colored shirts and I added their designation to the back with freezer paper stencils which I cut with my Cricut (affiliate link). I was the PARTY PLANNER, my cousin Melissa was MAKE-UP (and should have been CHEF too!), Krista was SECURITY, and Michelle was PHOTOGRAPHER.
Once the first girl was suitably gussied up, she was sent off to the photo studio for her magazine cover shoot. We had the lights, the camera and the action! We used a fan to help give the hair a wind blown effect, and we had a guitar, drum sticks and glasses for props. I turned the radio on and the girls had a blast in front of the camera. Some were more comfortable than others, but Michelle Chappel is a great photographer and was able to draw each girls personality out. For those that needed it, she helped direct, and those that didn’t, she let rock out. The girls were thoroughly impressed with the experience! They really were pretty excited about the whole thing!
I need to take a moment to thank my friend, Michelle, for driving the 5 hours up from CT that morning! She got there about a half hour before the party, got everything set-up and ready to go and started shooting! She left Sunday morning for the 5 hour drive back. My daughter and I are lucky girls to have such amazing friends, for sure! If you are in the New Haven, CT area and are looking for a Wedding Photographer, check out Michelle!
Once all of the girls photos were taken, us big girls stepped in front of the camera for some fun photos too! Michelle then loaded all the photos onto her computer and her and I picked out the ones we liked best. I inserted them into the magazine cover I designed and then printed them out. Once we trimmed them down, I inserted them into frames I picked up from the Christmas Tree Shop for $2 each.
***UPDATE: I’ve had a lot of questions on how to make the magazine covers. As a graphic designer I made my covers in Illustrator, but I’ve put together a Magazine Cover Tutorial for you that uses the free online software, PicMonkey. Hope that helps! ***
While myself and Michelle were doing this, the girls were eating dinner. For dessert we had cake pops, and an ice cream buffet – which was a big hit.
{I covered glass bottles of root beer and orange cream with custom labels that matched the rest of the party design}
{I purchased the favor boxes at Target for $1 each. Filled them with pop rocks, ring pops, shutter glasses, glow sticks, DIY custom guitar pick necklaces and a DIY felt ruffle flower barrette}
{I made the cake pops the easy way – with my new cake pop maker!}
I think everyone had a blast and this party will definitely be remembered in years to come!
Rock Star Glam Birthday Bash VIP List
Rock Star Birthday Banner – print onto 8.5 x 11 cardstock, cut out, punch holes in the two top corners of each piece and add to a length of ribbon or string.
What a fun party! Those “magazine cover shots” were amazing. How lucky you are to have a photographer in the family.
Kim, your just plain awesome. I want a party like this. You have a beautiful daughter, and she is blessed to have such a creative mom.
Oh my word. This party is FABULOUS!!! You are a girl after my own heart with all the details that went into this party. I just did a pirate party for my son and had a blast. My little girl is only 7 so it’ll be a couple years but I’m definitely putting this in my to do in the future folder. Thanks for sharing!! oh and I LOVE the magazine cover shots as a giveaway, so much fun!
too adorable. i just posted about my daughter’s bday also!
i’m a new follower 🙂
http://www.myhappilyeverafteragain.blogspot.com
All of your idea’s were wonderful. Can you please tell me which web site you used for the magazines phots shots. My daughter will be 10 next year, I would love for her to have a Rock Star Party. Thanks for sharing.
Anon- I’m not sure what you mean by which website. If you are referring to the design of the covers, I created those myself in Illustrator. If you are savvy in word, it could be done adding Text Boxes over a photo which has been sized to 8×10.
I’m throwing a Rock Star party for my 5 yr old next week and found we have a lot of similar ideas! Great minds… 😉 I also appreciate your sharing all those download files – so generous – thanks! I wanted to share the food table tents, but when I print them, they’re tiny since it has 10 tents on one 8.5×11 piece of paper. Am I supposed to be doing something different when I print the file you shared?
Hi! I am planning a party for my almost 12 year old and came across your fabulous idea for the magazine cover! Where did you get your ideas for the cover…I’m trying to come up with some cute stuff, but I’m running out of creativity. 🙂 I love your layout and the fun and different ideas for headlines. I’m using photoshop, it’s coming together slowly. THANKS for your help!
Hi Brindy – I pulled out of my head except for the Miranda Cosgrove one which I actually saw on a cover of seventeen. 😉 I would recommend looking at other Tween covers – maybe you will get other ideas from there. I created the layout weeks prior to the party, and then I just moved headlines around to fit around each picture. I did have to delete one headline from one or two covers so it looked right.
Good luck!
Kim
Spectacular and so fun!! Thanks for submitting to Living Creative Thursdays! Featured you here: http://www.livinglocurto.com/2013/05/adorable-party-ideas-for-girls/