About 10 years ago, during preparations for a fairy party, I asked my assistants Steve and Freda to create some large decor elements for the event.   My goal was to transport our guests to a magical forest.  The challenge was we only had 1 hour to transform a rather shabby rental space into an imaginary fairy grotto, complete with a dining area, crafting stations, and food tables.  Basically, I needed to make a big impact, quickly with as few easy pieces as possible.

Steve created free standing trees out of heavy foam core.  The trees had wooden bases that slipped into place like a paper doll stand.  The pieces could be used individually or grouped together to hide any less attractive areas (like the garbage cans).  

In addition, Freda make 20, double-sided clouds in various shades of blue and white, accented with sparkly, iridescent glitter.  These were strung with heavy duty monofilament so they could be easily hung with either a small hook, or even a pushpin.

Our trees and clouds

Little did I know that 10 years later these 2 basic decor elements would still be going strong!  Of course, we’ve had to touch them up over the years.  And yes, we’ve had to retire and remake a few clouds along the way, but I swear to you, these two simple elements go out to at least 65% of our parties!  

Here’s just a few of the party themes for which we’ve used them: fairy, princess, pirate, jungle, minecraft, pet vet, doll house, Wizard of Oz, rainbow, cars, trains, weather, farm, beach, dinosaur, sports, spy, Candyland, Willy Wonka, Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Frozen just to name a few.  The greatest thing about these props is that just by adding a few extra elements from the theme, they take on a completely different look and feel..  

Here they are at at a rainbow, train and dance party

When you do something as long as I’ve been doing this, you come to realize the importance of having a few very key elements to which you can always turn. Like my guitar, hula hoops and crafts, theese trees and clouds have become a staple in my daily party life.

It can be a bit shocking to realize that in my 3500 square foot warehouse, 80% of the space is taken up by things we use once or twice a year.  Which leads me to this: I’ve got a 12-foot long marquis, complete with lights!  Anyone want to take it off  my hands?  Make me an offer...

 FOR SALE!