REAL PARTIES: Indian Elephant Theme

As someone that adores bright colors and attention to detail, I’m just absolutely LOVING today’s Real Party feature – a vibrant & unique “Indian Elephant” theme created by the absolutely creatively gifted Jaime Curtis of Prudent Baby (who you might also remember from this clever DIY Cake Stand Tutorial).

And speaking of DIY, Jaime has also generously posted a bunch of tutorials on how to recreate several of the elements featured within this party – including the Fabric Silhouette Garland, the Kiddie Craft Station, and the giant Homemade Crayons!

Read on for tons of gorgeous, vibrant images – and all the party details, as told by Jaime…

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THEME
“My daughter just loves elephants… most kids like to play “horsey” when they walk on all fours, but Scarlet calls it “elephant”.  So I knew an elephant party was the way to go.

She goes to a daycare run by an Indian family and loves Indian food, so the two seemed to work together to make a fun party theme, so a little Indian food, Indian music, and a bunch of elephants made for a super fun day in our backyard!

DÉCOR
I rented tables (including one at toddler height), chairs, and bright tablecloths from party Party Pronto, and sewed a bunch of cheap, bright fabric together to create the ceiling “tent”.

I also added some tissue balls in bright colors and some theme-coordinating elements like the yellow lantern from Z Gallerie.

For the centerpieces, I planted flowers in bright 99-cent store buckets and covered the soil with white gravel, then added paper elephants that I’d decorated and glued to toothpicks.

I also made a few fabric silhouette garlands in the shape of elephants, one for the front door and one for the party space.

(Get the DIY details for the fabric garland here.)

DRINKS
We served an assortment of Indian favorites including mango, lychee, and coconut juice and (yum yum!) Elephant brand Ginger Beer.

We also served water and juice boxes with funny straws for the kiddies.

While we couldn’t get our hands on any actual Indian Beer, my husband did find this Belgian beer called India Pale Ale at World Market.

We also made a Mango Lassi recipe created by my friend Chitra at The ABCD’s of Cooking.

FOOD
We hit up local market India Sweets & Spices for mango, mint, and coriander chutneys, some imported snack mixes (being careful to keep the spice to a minimum for toddler mouths), and unbaked papadams as well as some Sri Lankan sesame candies (we love anything sesame in our house!).

I picked up some easy-peasy Samosas, Raita, and naan-style bread at Trader Joe’s, and throughout the party my girls Erin from Mix Tape and Kelly from Yes, Please threw the Papadams and Samosas in the oven for ten minutes or so to replenish the tables. My mom made curried chicken wings and delicious quinoa salad for the vegetarians.

For sweets, Cuppielove provided the adorable and delicious cupcakes:

I also whipped up some homemade marshmallows made with Prudent Baby’s recipe, and some elephant-shaped candies made using a candy mold found on Amazon.

FAVORS
Our favor bags included a homemade giant crayon shaped like an elephant (DIY details here), a pair of shiny sunglasses (8 for $2 at Walmart), a couple elephant stickers, a homemade elephant lolly (also made from a candy mold found on Amazon) and some elephant confetti.

We also made a little treat bag for the grown-ups with some shiny bangles from Forever 21, and few elephant trunks found on amazon scattered about lent a silly touch!

{Kelly of Yes, Please design created the cute elephant graphic for the favor bags, as well as the party invitation.}

ENTERTAINMENT
My husband created a playlist of amazing modern Indian music from Dublab that we rocked out to, and we rented a bouncy house from Party Pronto.

We also created a little craft station for the kiddies to decorate their own elephants, and then hung them to dry with wooden clothespins.”

(Get the DIY details for the craft station here.)

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Thanks again to Jaime for all the fabulous, colorful party inspiration!