Party Magic’s Latest Theme Mash-Up: Rafa’s Camp at Christmas!

SUMMARY

• Glee’s mash-ups made an indelible mark on our generation.
• I will show you our own version of a “mash-up” for event styling, in the form of combining two (seemingly) unrelated themes: Forest, and Christmas.
• I think these mashed-up themes will pave the way for a totally new and evolved way to style events: combining two or three different themes and coming up with something fresh and amazingly stimulating to the eyes.

GLEE’S MASH-UP LEGACY

For those of us who were (or maybe still are) die-hard Glee fans, who could ever forget their mash-up renditions? Here’s one of my favorites:

Let me explain my choice: my husband is a die-hard classic rock fan (Bon Jovi is a perennial top-3 in his Spotify playlist), and sometimes it rubs off! Usher is more in my backyard, though.

What I really like about mash-ups though is the pleasant surprise and wonder upon hearing the merging of two different strains of music, coming together in a surprisingly melodic manner. The more unlikely the two songs being matched, the bigger the surprise when they come together.

MY OWN VERSION OF A “MASH-UP” THEMED PARTY

When I put up my event styling boutique, Party Magic, a few years back, it began with a purpose: we were going to provide special, customized themes to our clients and make their dreams come to reality. While I believe this path (as opposed to offering “boxed”, pre-arranged themes) is 10x harder (not to mention expensive), I persevered simply because I knew our clients would LOVE to have this type of service.

One other reason I have never mentioned before though:

I get bored easily.

Maybe it’s because of the way my brain is wired, but after a while, I tend to look for a new design, new furniture, new graphic, create new props, and basically anything new to keep the excitement going, even if it is not at all required. Thus here’s the latest manifestation of my deranged chase for the nouveau:

Alessa’s Nutcracker-Ballerina-Christmas Birthday Party:

RAFA’S CAMP CHRISTMAS PARTY

The latest creation was actually not my brainchild, but Ethel’s, my client. Her main conundrum was her dislike of throwing a literal-looking Christmas-themed party. Can you imagine? That would be too tacky, and most dreadfully predictable (this line is best served in a haughty English accent).

Oh, the colors! Forest green, copper, chocolate brown, mint green, burnished gold, cream, deep red, with a touch of red-dark green plaid. Green for that camp/forest feel, gold for an ornamental touch, which sometimes translates to an Autumnal hue when combined with the green, and the plaid to make it look “Christmasy”. 

Rafa looks chill, Indian-sitting while strumming his guitar. I could actually hear the crackling of the fire and the occasional hoot-hoot of the owl. Welcome to Rafa’s Camp! Time to roast some marshmallows while singing, Baby, It’s Cold Outside!

Watch out though, for sleeping bears!

Side note: muchas gracias to the ever-wonderful, Den Llanos Dee of Delightful Little Darlings for these superb shots! Check out her page here.

For those of you who are famished from all that trudging through the trees, you can find your way into a clearing nearby and help yourself to some Christmas treats. I especially love those white distressed wooden Christmas trees off at the left (these are not edible, by the way, just eye candy)!

Seriously, who ever thought of putting an entire Christmas tree on top of a cream puff? Not to mention, smores on a cupcake? Answer: Chef Nikki of Simply Paris.

Christmas doughnuts, and Christmas macarons. I know it’s January now, but I can almost feel the Christmas air again while looking at these photos!

My other favorite spot in this party: The photo-op area (left side of the photo above)! It looks soooo cozy.

Check out the hipsters Mr. Reindeer and Bear hanging on the wall.

The photo-op area was so cozy, in fact, that it made for the perfect family portrait, right in front of the roaring fireplace.

A merry and (most) belated Christmas to Rafa and family! I am truly sorry for this late post. The holiday season was such a blur, I am just now starting to breathe again and catch up with all of my blog posts. For all my other clients – sorry, I will try my best to post as many of the parties we’ve done as possible.

THE ULTRA LEVEL 1,000 MASH-UP

Just when I thought that I had probably done every single theme out there, my clients never fail to come up with the strangest theme requests ever. Here’s a curveball theme that was requested of me:

Halloween / Mickey Mouse / Christmas

I’ll let you wrap your head around that one for a while, before I show you how that particular party ended up, in my next blog post!

Love,

Michelle