Lu Turnz Two: Hip Hop Party

Since my daughter is quickly starting to form opinions and ideas of her own, I was well aware that this was probably my last shot at living vicariously through her birthday party. As a child of the 80’s, nothing is more near and dear to my heart than The Sugar Hill Gang’s classic beat “Rapper’s Delight.” While a Graffiti Hip Hop Party may not immediately sound like the most toddler-friendly theme, I assure you that after tweaking a few lyrics, its totally appropriate!

Since most 80’s-themed parties typically incorporate bright, neon colors, I thought that using a pastel palette would not only make it feel unique, it also seemed to create an overall softer vibe. Meghann Minello Creative is a fabulous calligrapher, graphic designer and lover of all things pretty, so I wanted to call on her to help me figure out the best way to put my concept into action. (Truth: My good friend and favorite creative Sydney was really the mastermind behind this party inspo!).

In order to pull this off, I knew it was going to take a small (but mighty) army. First and foremost, I needed to make certain that my favorite baker and confection connoisseur Lauren Lowstan was on board to help me dream up a menu of delicious treats for the kiddos (after all, the best part of any birthday party are the desserts!). We wanted to keep the flavors relatively simple though, because when it comes to sweets, kids pretty much like to stick to the classics!

Two Round Layered Cake—Chocolate with Vanilla Frosting and Vanilla with Vanilla Frosting. Lauren used edible paint for the graffiti décor, and since she did it on buttercream frosting it created a more watercolor, brushstroke look which worked perfectly in creating the graffiti.

The rest of the dessert table consisted of delicious, sugar-y treats:  Graffiti Caramel Apples, Graffiti Chocolate Bark, Boom box Sugar Cookies and Banana Cupcakes (because…that sounded like a reasonably healthy addition).

For the décor, I teamed up with Meghann Miniello to create some large framed prints with “Toddler’s Delight” music lyrics, a huge “Lu Turnz Two” graffiti-inspired poster, as well as some gorgeous custom laser cut cupcake toppers. Each framed print has reimagined lyrics from Rapper’s Delight written in graffiti-inspired font against white brick walls.

I realized I needed to reinvent the lyrics a bit to make them a bit more toddler-friendly, so I enlisted the help of my punniest pal, Erin B. to whip up some quite rewrites. We decided on:

“I’m the T-A-L-L, the U-L-A-H, and the rest is F-L-Y”

“Now what you hear is not a test, I’m rappin’ and I’m two.”

“Up jump the boogie, to the rhythm of the birthday beat.”

“See, I am Wonder Lu and I’d like to say Hello.”

“I got a color TV, so I can see…Minnie Mouse play basketball.”

My favorite Etsy shop (Oh Shiny Paper Co!) helped me create the tassel garland, cake topper, fringed letter banner behind the dessert buffet, and paper boom box cupcake toppers! Add a fringed boom box piñata from Target (which we didn’t actually break, because giving toddlers large sticks is a terrible idea) and some 80’s themed gear for the kiddos and their parents, and you have a PARTY!

The final step was getting my favorite photographer Emma Feil there to capture all of this pastel graffiti goodness! Add a fringed boom box piñata from Target (which we didn’t actually break, because giving toddlers large sticks is a terrible idea) and some 80’s themed gear for the kiddos and their parents, and you have a PARTY!

One small piece of advice: make sure if you stream 80’s hip hop Pandora you choose the “RADIO EDIT” option.