Parties and Pretties

Down Home Romance: A Real Wedding, Part 2

2011-07-30T14:34:00.000-07:00

The Details
White and green roses paired with green and white hydrangeas, kraft covered books with hand painted table name signs, mason jars and touches of lace and burlap were everywhere!

Photos by Whimzy Photography

Bride's bouquet

Stitched Program

The Cake

Nothing is more down home than bundt cakes and fruit pies so in lieu of the traditional wedding cake, we had a small tiered carrot cake with a cluster of bundt cakes and a cluster of pies to create a homey dessert buffet.

Place setting with homemade Salted Caramel Sauce favors

Simple aisle decor

To add to the fun, laid back atmosphere, we set up a S'mores area on the back patio for those wishing to enjoying the warm summer evening under the stars.

S'more Kits

Down Home Romance: A Real Wedding, Part 1

2011-07-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

Mr and Mrs V

She is bubbly and outgoing, he is quiet and reserved. She is passionate about celebrating life and he is passionate about her. When Mike proposed to Rachel, he wanted to give her the wedding of her dreams. Since dreams can't be bought with a price and real life vehemently disagrees, the two set forth to create a wedding that would fit into their modest budget of $5000 (which had to include all gifts, attire, rehearsal dinner and wedding bands).
Mike grew up in a small town in the southern Colorado mountains and met Rachel when they were both English majors in college. When I sat down with the two of them for the first time, we discussed the overall look and feel they were going for as well as how to accomplish those things with monetary restrictions. They wanted a wedding that is relaxed and fun in atmosphere but beautiful and romantic in feel. This is how we nailed down the "down home romance : burlap and lace" concept. It is classy and beautiful but earthy and gritty- much like the two of them.

Enjoying mojitos on the porch during beverage hour.

We set out to make most of the wedding elements ourselves so as to save as much money as possible without compromising the details that make an occasion stand out. We were blessed to be able to use the ceremony and reception facility for only $75 total, thanks to a friend doing us a favor. Her stunning photography was done at a VERY low cost by her lifelong friend, Shannon and her business partner, Celeste, whose business Whimzy Photography focuses primarily on maternity, infant and family photography. The catering was chosen both for its value and its taste (both the bride and groom were HUGE fans of Bird Dog BBQ) and we felt that it fit the theme perfectly.

The wedding party - all but two are family members.

The color scheme: various shades of brown, white and ivory with pops of granny smith apple green in order to echo nature and tie in the burlap and the lace.

Busy times!

2011-03-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

Well, it must be busy season again because I am currently planning one event per month for the next three months. I will try to update you as I go, but I can't promise too much.

Real party: Butterfly Garden Baby Shower

2011-02-24T15:55:00.000-08:00

I don't have very many pictures of the dessert table or the food table, but here are some GREAT detail shots of the foods and desserts and such. The party turned out to be such a sweet clebration of thsi precious new life!

Monkey Love...in progress.

2011-02-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

I purchased a printable girly monkey party package from Etsy that came with a party hat template. Here is what I have thus far:

I found a tutorial online that had these homemade "lanterns" for decorative use. I am a strong believer in adding a vertical element to your displays, so I took the plunge and got messy (VERY similar to paper maché process) to create these with my girls.

I have a ton more projects to complete: the main one being painting a base layer on the heart photo frames that I bought for the kids to paint/decorate.

Monkey Love: A Party in the Making

2011-01-27T15:48:00.000-08:00

My baby is turning two next month which is quite bittersweet as she will no longer be a baby... You may remember the Little French Bakery 1st Birthday Party that I threw for her last year, Well, due to the expense and time involved with throwing a very intricate and detailed themed party, my husband and I have an agreement to only do a "big" party every other year. I guess that means that I should be packing up the girls along with their cousins and heading to Chuck E Cheese's, but I just LOVE parties too much! In efforts to keep this year's shindig to a "small" party, we are trying to just do family and a few friends. We shall see how well I do at that...ahem.

Claire loves monkeys at the moment: from watching Curious George to reading her favorite bedtime story, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. But with Valentine's Day so close to her birthday and my not being able to do her party the weekend of her actual birthday (the hubby and I are headed to Rome for 5 days), I thought it best to combine the two by choosing a pink & brown color scheme and incorporating both hearts and monkeys to give...Sweet Monkey Love!!!

My favorite part of throwing a party with a simple shape is the vast number of possibilities from crafts to food designs. My four year old daughter has already begun assisting me with craft projects...pics to come. I purchased these gorgeous fabrics to use for the dessert display backdrop, the table topper and a "photo booth" backdrop.

I was delighted to find these cute Monkey Love craft kits at Target...10 for $5.

I plan on having a kids craft table decked out with craft supplies in cute heart-shaped containers with a few different crafts to do, ranging from the Monkey Love crafts to decorating little photo frames to cover the photos we take at the photo booth (thanks to digital cameras and modern technology which allows us to plug in the camera and print out copies of the photo booth shots in a matter of moments). These crafts will make for wonderful party favors for the kids to give away to loved ones for Valentine's Day two days later.

I just snagged these on Amazon for the kids! I may paint their names on them too.

Needless to say, I am already getting sucked in to this party. I wish I had a ton more time and money (and guests) allotted to make it truly out of this world, but I will do my best to give my little girl a day of wonder.

The New Website!!!

2011-01-20T15:41:00.000-08:00

I officially launched SAVOR Events & Sweets back in July, but I am just now finding the time, money and energy to create a website and do some serious branding!

I hope you get a chance to check out my new site to see my services, pricing, portfolio as well as featured parties. Let me know what you think!

Dark Chocolate Brownie cookies with Mint M&Ms

2010-12-21T13:42:00.000-08:00

In case you need a simple, tasty cookie, here it is.

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (I prefer dutch blend)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (regular or mini’s)

1 cup Mint M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a mixer beat together the butter with the sugars until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until smooth after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add vanilla. On a low speed beat in the flour mixture a little at a time. Gently mix in chocolate chips and the mint M&Ms.

On an ungreased cookie sheet, drop teaspoons of the batter about 2 inches apart. Bake until just cracked on top, about 8 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking time. Flatten the cookies slightly with a spatula after removing from oven. Cool completely.

Great new approach to party invitations-just in time for New Years Eve parties!

2010-11-20T21:42:00.000-08:00

With all of the craziness of Christmas and family, I love to just invite good friends over for a classy dinner party and some games for New Year's Eve...we usually just set up pack and plays for babies and have guests bring sleeping bags for their kids then we just hang out until the wee hours when everyone crashes at our house. Whatever style New Year's Eve party you like to throw, you should check out the new invitations that Shutterfly has created!
For the elegant celebration, you could do one of these:

And for your super fun family sleepover party, maybe try one of these:

Christmas is two weeks away, but there is still hope for you to get your family Christmas cards sent out.

I know you like parties, but in keeping with this blog's original intent of celebrating all things cute, I feel it is my duty to tell you about the super cute Christmas card styles being offered on www.shutterfly.com this season. Don't get me wrong: I have been using Shutterfly for my annual family Christmas cards since 2007. They always seem to have the best designs from traditional to simple and modern.

As for my family, we are stepping up our game a little this year by getting folded cards printed on premium cardstock. You can also add small images and personal messages inside. Here's a sample:

If you are more into the typical photo cards, what I like the best about Shutterfly is that they have several designs for multiple photos. SInce I spend good money on adorable family pictures, I can never choose just one! Here's a sample of a cute one I found.

For the first time ever, I think I am gonna do address labels because Shutterfly offers cute modern ones, unlike the cheesy ones I so often see. Here are a few samples, but you can see them all here.

Oh! And if you need some great gift ideas, I am a HUGE fan of photo books. I know there are several sites who make them, but Shutterfly is the best one that I have found to date. They are user friendly, fast and highly customizable. I have made three or four of them and always get rave reviews. Check out this one that I made for my girls: Sisters Photo Book Project

Here's a little secret, for all of you bloggers out there, you can earn 50 FREE photo cards. What's not to love about that!?!

Real Party: More "Cupcakes and Sunshine" Sip and See Details

2010-06-23T13:29:00.000-07:00

The Details

Dessert Table Centerpiece

The Napkins

REAL Party: More "Sunshine and Cupcakes" Sip and See

2010-06-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

The Cupcakes 

I made the following four varieties of cupcake treats:

Devil's Food with Marshmallow Cream Filling

Banana Malt Shoppe

Pink Velveteen
Mini Pavlovas

Real Party: A Sip and See

2010-06-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

When my brother and his wife were in town visiting with their twin daughters (Kelsey and Stella, 5 months) for the first time, I thought that a Sip and See would be a great chance for their friends to catch up with them and meet the girls at the same time. Since the majority of their friends have a few kids of their own, I chose to do the Sip and See on a Sunday afternoon open house style so that people could feel free to come and go as they pleased as well as to bring or not bring a baby gift. So I chose a "Sunshine and Cupcakes" theme to incorporate that summer afternoon with tasty treats feel and chose a yellow and white palette for the decor. Here a just a few photos:

Door Decoration

Cupcake Table

More pictures with great details and DIY info to come later in the week.

Cinco de Mayo Dinner Party

2010-06-12T23:05:00.000-07:00

Cinco de Mayo is the perfect event for hosting a dinner party. It's a fun, laid back holiday, no pressure, no hustle and bustle, everyone is just ready for a good time and the decor is bright and cheery!

We used bright table linens, a very loud table cloth partially covered in bright pink. We brought the tone back down by focusing on only green and white for the tableware, flowers, candles and lanterns overhead.

Each setting had a cloth napkin with tissue paper pom attached and a place card. The poms matched the bright green flowers (stems cut very short and placed in shallow bowls) perfectly. The place cards were backed with bright colored paper and the font had a 'fiesta' vibe.

We hung more brightly colored, coordinating lanterns in the corner of the room.

The tablescape was bright and funky, but also elegant.

The meal, of course, was the focus!

Guests were greeted with chips and homemade salsa and guacamole and frozen margaritas.

For dinner, we feasted on the most amazing chicken fajitas with all the fixings, sauteed veggies and spanish rice. The kids had chicken and cheese quesadillas.

The Margaritas were served in mason jars with the cutest pink and white swirled paper straws. We printed out these freebies and used them as 'charms' on our glasses, on the other side, number the drinks: uno, dos, tres... so guests can keep track of their drink

We even touched up the water with bright limes

AND dessert!! We kept with traditional mexican fare and finished our meal with Tres Leches cake and cinnamon sugar Sopapillas served with honey. Oh. My. Goodness. What a treat!

Everyone had a wonderful time!

You don't have to wait for next Cinco de Mayo! It can be any reason to celebrate, just use a Fiesta as the theme! Plus, who doesn't love Mexican food?!

Baked desserts in a tin: A new kind of birthday gift

2010-06-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine has recently gone gluten free due to health reasons and she is often discouraged by the yummy dessert options, so I decided that the best birthday gift that I could give her would be an amazing birthday indulgence that she can eat without health repercussions. So I combed the internet for the perfect Flourless chocolate cake recipe coupled with a Chocolate ganache frosting recipe (both courtesy of Martha Stewart site).

I love the potential of this idea: Bake and wrap up the birthday boy or girl's favorite dessert and deliver it for him or her to be able to enjoy at his or her leisure!

Barnyard Birthday Party

2010-06-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

In March I posted ideas for a Barnyard theme first birthday party. My friend, whose parties you've seen before, took inspiration and threw this fun party for her son, Colby, who turned one!

We were greeted by a barn door

The table spread:

I love the use of the picnic tablecloth, baskets, bandana and other cute linens like the yellow and red napkins to line bowls and baskets (or in this picture, cover the food until ready to eat).

Some of the food served was BBQ sandwiches on buns, 'Colby' Mac n' Cheese, a 'veggie garden' platter, 'Little Piggies'- mini bigs in a blanket, and potato chips.

(Click on picture to see larger)

The Cake

Drinks were chilled on ice in a wheelbarrow

also served were sweet tea and lemonade.

Homemade birthday banner, also seen at Claire's party, instructions here. This garland is so easily customized using scrapbook paper and ribbon or your choice and fills a large space on the wall.

Fun, large animal ballons

Pictures from baby's first year

Favor table

Bandana's and boxes filled with farm themed treats for the older kids

and t-shirts for the other babies at the party

All complete with "Thanks Y'all" tags.

Since we all know kids need to be entertained at a party, one activity was planting seeds to take home and grow. All supplies were provided and seeds, such as different flowers, vegetables and even herbs, were laid out for easy planting (with parents help).

Outdoor craft table

The other activity was a hayride! How handy that Colby's dad already had the ATV and trailer, all he had to do was throw a couple bails of hay in the back. The kids (and parents) loved this!

Lastly, don't forget to dress the part! Farm attire doesn't have to be overalls, the birthday boy's outfit was found at Gap.

In the works: "Sunshine and Cupcakes" A Sip and See

2010-04-27T21:56:00.000-07:00

This sunflower table decor is cute. I plan to use lemons along with the sunflowers too!

Love the use of mason jars for lemonade!

I hope to do a pretty lemonade jar and a yellow candy & cupcakes display similar to the one pictured from this party.

In the works: "Butterfly Kisses" Baby Shower

2010-04-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

[Courtesy of Martha Stewart]

Wouldn't this be a cute wall hanging for the nursery?

For the invitations, I am toying with the idea of doing a boxed invitation using Kraft jewelry boxes and a bed of 3D butterflies like the ones above...?

DIY Butterfly mobile to mimic this Pottery Barn Kids one:

The mobile could not only work to adorn the party space, but also to decorate the nursery.

These would be cute centerpieces because they add height and they are natural as well as simple. Guests could take a pot home for their prize when playing shower games.

On Broadway: A children's theatre birthday party

2010-04-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

My friend's daughter, Isabel, is about to turn seven. Up to this point, she has had just about every cool party theme one can imagine so I am on a quest to create something totally fresh and new. Since Isabel loves acting, we thought it would be fun to do a children's theatre of sorts.

Invitations: Play bills with title for the production and "starring Isabel on her 7th birthday" with a picture of her below.

Primary Activity: Kids practice acting out a narrated script that prompts their blocking and lines. Each character gets a costume and some silly props. When kids are confident and ready, they will perform for the other teams and the judge (a parent). Their mini plays will be video-taped and while the kids are eating food and/or decorating cupcakes, the videos will be recorded onto a DVD to hand out as party favors to the kids...complete with a DVD cover that has the play title and the birthday girl's photo.

The stage: the entry way of the child's home could be transformed into a "stage" by stringing a clothes line from one wall to the other and using a few red sheets to make a curtain. Move the living room furniture to face the "stage" and have little popcorn boxes for kids to munch homemade kettle corn while watching the other teams perform.

Activity/dessert: Have kids decorate cupcakes. (You could have each child decorate four different cupcakes to coincide with the four main characters of the play. They would then get a cute little box to transport them home to their family. The box would have the name of the play and the "starring Isabel on her 7th birthday" on a label or tag attached with a cute ribbon.)

The foods: Use the setting of the play to inspire the foods served.

The play: As for the play, it may be cool to make twisted fairy tales based off of familiar stories with wacky characters. For example, you could do Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast as a trilogy all set in modern day Italy. The food could all be Italian and the dessert could even be gelato. OR, you could look online for simple kids plays and find something, I am sure.
I love themes though...with the "trilogy of twisted tales" you could have a forest hunt where kids had to do a scavenger hunt to find the props or costumes to use for the play? Then, instead of a kiss from Prince Charming, Sleeping Beauty could be awakened by the magic cupcake with would lead to the cupcake decorating activity. Each of the mini plays could incorporate a cupcake solution to help Princess Isabel.

"It's the thought that counts." Thoughtful party planning.

2010-04-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

It has often been said that "It's the thought that counts." I think that often times people use that old adage to cover a mountain of laziness, especially when it comes to throwing parties. By no means am I implying that all parties need to be over the top in order to demonstrate love and devotion to either the guest of honor or the guests. In fact, some super elaborate parties are done that way in order to draw more attention to the host, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since the host is well-deserving of the praise.

A truly wonderful party host not only is attentive to making things beautiful, but is also careful to be thoughtful and considerate of her guests. I feel that this is especially important when it comes to wedding planning. Sometimes brides get to wrapped up in themselves when making wedding plans that they forget that they have guests...not witnesses or slaves, but guests. If they truly want to cater only to their own desires, they should elope. I digress. Back to general party planning...

SO what kinds of things make guests more at ease? How can the party be worth their time and money (the gifts they bring)? I think we should break it down to a few categories!

1. Children's birthday parties

A) Organized fun.
I think that a theme is a necessity. Not only for the decorating and beautification of the party, but also for the entertainment factor. If you are having a barnyard pals party, you can have hayrides or play Duck, duck, goose or whatever. For a Tinkerbell party, have kids decorate cookie wands, do a treasure chest pinata or a treasure hunt. Themes help inspire fun. Having one or two organized activities for children is thoughtful for your guests: the kids will have more fun AND the parents will enjoy watching the kids. Also, the adults will not feel as though they are at a chaotic playgroup with kids running and screaming with no organization. Kids thrive within structure.

B) Props to the kiddos.
Another benefit to choosing a theme for a kid's party is that kids can all feel part of the event by giving them a prop to become engaged. One example is my daughter's Tinkerbell party: I made tutus and bought fairy wings so that when the girls arrived, they each were "transformed" into fairies complete with fairy dust (body glitter). My other daughter's 1st birthday was a French bakery theme. To engage the kids, I used fabric paints to write their names on kids aprons that I'd purchased online. In addition to the kids feeling like the party is not just for the guest, but also for them, giving them "props" that they can reuse is far more thoughtful than simply sending them home with a sack of candy. My friend made mermaid tails for the guests at her daughter's Under the Sea party. These props don't necessarily have to be elaborate. At a barnyard pals party, giving each child a bandana to wear is a small but fun thing for them to feel part of the event.

C) Favors.
If the children are really little and they haven't gotten any sort of "props," giving them each a gift bag filled with small toys or colors right after the birthday boy or girl opens his or her gifts is a VERY thoughtful idea. Small children don't understand why one child gets presents and they do not. By providing small toys or colors (NOT just candy) as favors in gift bags, each child understands that it is a "thank you" gift from the birthday child.
D) Food for all.
Be sure to provide food and beverages that are adult friendly if you are having adults at your party. Serving only star-shaped chicken nuggets and Cheetos may be inexpensive, but does not communicate a loving message to your guests. Although the parents are there to accompany their children, they too are guests in your home. Throw in some sub sandwiches and a veggie tray and something to drink other than CapriSuns.
Also, please see C & D of the Dinner Party tips.

2. Dinner parties
A.) The kid factor.
Having friends with small children over for dinner can be difficult. You are forced to either request for them to pay for a sitter or to shout over kids all night. One thoughtful option would be to provide child care on site: hire a teenager or two to watch the children in the basement while the adults mingle inside. Ask your friends to either chip in for the sitters or bring a dish to contribute towards the meal: don't ask for both. If kids will be present, try to provide food and beverages that are kid-friendly and an area apart from the adults where they can eat. Happy kids make happy parents!
B) Know your audience.
If guests are uncomfortable around alcohol, make the party an alcohol free event. If they are more likely to be socially-inhibited, provide a few simple alcoholic beverages to help them relax. The same question arises when planning the menu: if your guests are on strict diets or have allergies, it'd be thoughtful to prepare something they too can eat. When planning a desserts party, be mindful that some people do not like sweets and try to have an alternative available. Always remember that food and drink are as much a social thing as they are practical so it is always wonderful to try to think of all of your guests needs when planning. It's also nice to be aware of allergies...
C) Greet your guests.
This is a lost art. I am guilty of neglecting this ritual. I am often too busy with last minute preparations. If this is true of you, it may be a good idea to assign the greeter role to your spouse. Someone should greet guests, take their coats, explain the child care situation (if necessary), and usher them to the waiting area where you wish for them to mingle before sitting down to dinner. It's then customary to get each guest a drink or point them in the direction of the beverages. Even better, have a few snacky things laying out in the conversation area.
D) Label things.
I know that this is done largely for aesthetic purposes, but labeling foods and drinks on buffet tables is very thoughtful to your guests. It saves them from making the awkward, "What's that?" question aloud in front of the host. It can also help the food stretch further because guests will know what they are taking prior to putting it on their plates.

E) Use place cards.
Strategic seating arrangements are nice because they help ensure that the conversation flows well. Assigning a place for each guest helps him or her to not have a "uh, does it matter where I sit?" moment where they just stand in front of the table trying not to offend the host or other guests.

F) Serve a balanced meal.
Try to not only offer meats and starches or just vegetables, but create a menu that is well rounded. Serve things that can be made in advance so that you can join your own party. I have made this mistake often and have ended up feeling more like hired help than a host.
G) Have background music.
This helps suck up any awkward silence. Warning: don't have volume high enough to drown out conversation.

3. Co-Ed Showers (bridal or baby)
coming soon.

Fabric is your friend!!!

2010-04-20T16:01:00.000-07:00

All around the party blogosphere I have noticed an awesome trend: using fabrics to make your party space pop. There are basically three great uses for fabric:
1. As a table runner or table cloth
2. As a backdrop for display areas
3. To create a makeshift "photo booth"

The Table Runner

The Backdrop

This "vintage nesting" baby shower used remnants of fabric to make table runners, tablecloths for buffet tables and backdrops for display areas.

The back drop pictured above is from this adorable Elephant Dessert Buffet (it's actually wrapping paper, which could be used as an alternative to fabric in all three of these cases).

The Photo Booth

Here's a great shot of a photo booth created by pinning up large pieces of fabric as a back drop. This was a "Candyland" first birthday party. For more, click here.
For some expert tips on making your own photo booths for a party, visit this post from the Hostess of the Mostess blog.

These photos, borrowed from this blog post talks about the use of chalkboards in photo booths. SO cute!

Bridal Showers?

2010-04-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

In the past few weeks, I have been approached a couple of times by friends who are wanting help planning a bridal shower. Although it's been a while since I have planned a bridal shower (or attended one for that matter, since most of my friends are on to the baby shower phase of life), I have compiled a list of questions for you to use when brainstorming ideas for the setting, time and theme of your bridal shower. If you would like my help in coming up with ideas and gathering things for them from sites for you (creating "inspiration boards"), you can type out your answers to these questions and email me. I will do my best to get back with you to some extent or another within 24-48 hours.

Q: What is the bride's personality?
For a shy or contemplative person, a small gathering of close friends and family members may be best. If she is a lively and outgoing person, perhaps you would like to try a drinks and appetizers during cocktail hour type of gathering and invite all female members of her friends and family. If she is more of a homemaker type, perhaps a kitchen and/or home goods shower is right for her. If she's already gotten a lot of those things, perhaps a "personal" shower would be best which would include but not be limited to lingerie, lotions & perfumes.

Q: What are the bride's hobbies?
This information can be very helpful in steering towards the perfect unique theme. Recently, I had a friend planning a shower for someone who loved having coffee with friends, journaling and traveling (particularly to Europe). So we came up with an Old World Cafe coffee talk theme that would have a dessert buffet that had an assortment of desserts from various cultures, vintage feeling decor in rich jewel toned colors, framed photographs from various places where bride and/or groom had traveled, coffees with various creamers, and little travel journals as favors.

Q: Where will the couple be going on their honeymoon?
This can also help you build a theme.

Q: How involved is the groom in the wedding process?
If the groom is really involved with the wedding plans and the couple has several "couple" friends, it may be fun to include him as well and through a co-ed shower. These are often similar to an engagement party and can be as casual as a BBQ or as formal as a sit-down dinner.

Q: Do you have help hosting the shower?
I have learned that the greatest parties are the ones for which you have help: co-hosts keep you sane. You can still be the planner and send your friends ideas or links or whatever, but dividing up the responsibilities is key. It can be as simple as having one friend be in charge of the shower games (if you choose to have them) or having one friend provide the food or beverages.

Q: How can you get your guests involved before or during the shower in order to make the experience more meaningful and sentimental to the bride?
One example would be to create a book of marriage/relationship advice in which all of the guests wrote a page sometime during the shower festivities. When they arrive at the party, snap a digital picture of that person and later glue it to the page that faces her advice page. If you want something more lighthearted, at a lingerie shower, have each guest bring a pair of new panties in the bride's size that best reflect that guest's personality. Upon arrival, put the panties on a clothesline and then make the bride (and guests) guess who gave which pair.

I hope this helps get you started!

Forest Friends Baby Shower

2010-04-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

Voilà the finished product! The table centerpieces were a collaborative effort from myself and my two co-hosts. One made the topiaries and the other painted the birdhouses. My contribution was the linens and the Kraft paper runner as well as the river rocks (from The Dollar Tree).

For the place settings, I made edible nests (for the DIY, click here) and little penant flags for the names.

The owl pops were made from an owl mold that I purchased at http://www.bakeitpretty.com/.

For the guest book, we thought it'd be fun to get a theme-related children's book and have guests sign inside of the cover. What a great, useful keepsake!

For the official favors (guests wrapped up the owl pops and their edible nests as well), I made sugar cookies with chocolate ganache icing in the shapes of a squirrel and an acorn (yes, the cutters were from Bake It Pretty as well!). I loved the forest friend scrapbook paper I found so I simply printed the message on it and matted it against the green to give more color. The twine bow helped keep a more nature-like feel.

The banner hung from the mantle.

Here's a few shots of the delicious brunch foods and their presentation.

Easter nests (and their cute treat baggies)

2010-04-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

The nests
Chinese chow mein noodles (1 bag) are combined with melted butterscotch chips (1 bag) and semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup) and then scooped onto wax or parchment paper in small circular mounds. While still warm (but not too hot or it will melt candies), press three egg-shaped candies of your choosing (I have used both Peanut butter M&Ms and mini Whoppers Robin Eggs) in the center.

The baggies
I found these free printable tags here and decided that I wanted to copy and paste to create my very own baggie toppers out of them. Find the PDF that I created here. You can do like me and simply select, copy and paste it into Word and then insert a text box over the current text and print. I always just print using my color printer on cardstock. These fit standard 4x9 cellophane treat bags. I like to staple them on first and then use my small punch to create holes for the thin ribbon.

Woodland Forest Baby Shower (Planning in progress)

2010-03-16T16:23:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's time for another baby shower!

This time we are doing a brunch for a bouncing baby boy. The first time parents met while working at a national forest (both are biologists) and have decided to go with a forest friends nursery theme. In honor of this nursery (and their love story), my co-hosts and I are throwing a Woodland Forest themed baby shower.

The Invitations
I used my new favorite site Pingg.com to create these online invitations (Side note: We also ordered some mail invitations to be delivered to family members and guests who live more than 30 minutes away straight off the site). Here is what they looked like:

The color scheme
Like the nursery and the invite, the decor will all be shades of brown and green along with splashes of white and light blue.

Some fun details
After seeing an adorable owl baby shower post here, I was inspired to find some twig pencils of my own to use for the guests to use with the [obligatory] shower games. I am pretty thrilled to have found these ones here :

The Table Decor

My co-hosts are working together to create crafty masterpieces for the centerpiece inspired by this Woodland kids birthday party here :

I am thinking of making edible nests with bird eggs to use as place card holders similar to the inedible ones pictured below.

Here is a post explaining the edible nests and here is a wrapped one used as a favor:

I would like to buy a birch branch (Got any clue where I could find one?) and cut it up to use it to hold label tags for the food items on the buffet display, like they did at this Woodland Critters baby shower

If only I could find or make the stuffies in the critter shapes...

Custom Inspiration Board: Barnyard 1st Birthday Party Ideas

2010-03-12T20:57:00.000-08:00

A friend just started planning her son's first birthday party with a barnyard theme in mind. She would love to get inspired so I have combed through the blogosphere to find all the the cutest party details related to this theme.

From a 2nd birthday party at Polka Dots & Pirates

The next two are from this adorable first birthday party at Busy Bee Birthdays

This party (from Hostess with the Mostess) is FABULOUS!!! See the full post here.

This party was featured on Maddycakes Muse. Thee animal paper hats are cute...(Full party post here)

You can buy these printables at the Celebration Shoppe here.

That's all I've got for the moment...

One Sweet Girl: A tea party baby shower

2010-03-08T19:53:00.000-08:00

For my sister in law's second child (another girl), I wanted to throw her an intimate baby shower. In order to make it extra special, I enlisted a few of her best friends and we got to work planning a girly tea party. We chose a color scheme of all shades of pink and wanted to include a candy buffet. We broke out the fine china and linens and dressed the table for the occasion. My favorite touch was the fuschia and white striped paper straws from http://www.bakeitpretty.com/blog/2010/02/soda-shoppe/ ).

The Hello Kitty Cake Pops were a huge hit! They were NOT easy to make, but here is a close up shot for you!

in case you missed the original post, you can find a link to the DIY tutorial here.

I made this mini fabric flower garland to add extra beauty to the decor as well. It was simple but very tedious and time consuming. Find the tutorial here.

I was inspired by some cupcake pennants that I saw for sale on Etsy. These are just scrapbook paper, double-sided tape and toothpicks. I made the template myself. I will post the template as soon as I figure out how to convert the pdf into a webpage. For the macaron recipe, click here.

I was inspired to make the tea bag-shaped place cards from Martha Stewart (Who else?). A friend handmade these napkin rings for the occasion and gave them to the mama-to-be as part of her gift.

Here's the food display...

Here is the best shot of the table. Sorry you cannot get the full effect.

Cute tags for place cards

2010-02-28T13:05:00.000-08:00

As you may (or may not) know, I am hosting a tea party baby shower for my sister in law this week. For a unique twist on place cards, I thought I may do these tea bag shaped tags (from Martha Stewart) and attach them to the napkin rings with thin pink ribbon.

Amidst the cake pop rage...

2010-02-27T14:58:00.000-08:00

Cake pops seem to be all the rage on the party blogosphere so when seeking inspiration for some cute little girly treats to add to our candy/dessert buffet for a baby shower, I couldn't help but fall in love with these. (For the full DIY, click here)

Don't get me wrong, I am not at all obsessed with Hello Kitty. However, the guest of honor happened to choose this bedding set for her nursery so I thought it may be fun to incorporate one tiny Hello Kitty touch into her shower as well.

What do you think? Should I whip up a batch?

"La Petite Boulangerie" First Birthday Party

2010-02-24T16:08:00.000-08:00

La petite Claire recently turned one year old.

To celebrate this occasion, I created the following French Bakery themed party.

As you will see, there are several elements that made this party stand out. The first of which, of course, was the theme. I cannot take credit for it, however, since I got the idea off of a party blog (see previous "inspiration" post). In random order, here are some things I did and how I did them.

The Paris Postcard Invitations

I used a customizable postcard of the Eiffel Tower on www.zazzle.com and added in the text and photos to both sides. Before mailing them out, I added a vintage postmarks from Paris from a rubber stamp collection (being a French teacher, I own these kinds of things). I thought they were the perfect invitation to set the tone for the entire event.

The Pastries

I used the lovely assistance of David Lebovitz and Julia Child in making the pastries pictured above. The tartes aux fraises (strawberry tarts) and the babas au rhum (rum soaked mini cakes) were from the Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook by Julia. The macarons au chocolat (French chocolate macarons) and the madeleines (shell-shaped little cakes) were from David's website (click here). I used a Martha Stewart recipe for the raspberry macaron base and got creative by making a raspberry chocolate ganache filling for them using the leftover chocolate ganache from the chocolate macaron filling and adding in high quality raspberry preserves. I made a few pains au chocolat (chocolate croissants) as well. The cream puffs and éclairs were just prepackaged ones from Sam's Club, but I couldn't make ALL the pastries!!!

The cake was obviously homemade and not too French. I did that because I wanted it to look cute and wanted the cherry chip cupcakes as a cheap and easy choice for the little kids to eat. The black and white damask cupcake liners as well as the pink bakery treat boxes were purchased at www.bakeitpretty.com.
The Piroulines were on clearance at Marshall's (of all places!) as were the "C" black damask napkins pictured on the "café" table. The black damask stands that held the food labels were just 3x5 notecards from Target cut in half. Double sided "permanent" scotch tape is my best friend with party decor.

In the other room I set up this café area with typical French café beverages and snacks. I found the black metal letters in the dollar bins at Michael's and bought a simple chalkboard at Hobby Lobby. I simply covered the oak frame with hot pink ribbon.

The Foods and Beverages

I made miniature French baguettes and made two types of sandwiches out of them: Les hot-dogs (small sausages in French baguettes) and sandwichs au jambon (sandwiches made of ham, butter and baguettes). I set out a jar of Grey Poupon for the hot dogs as well as some croissants, Brie cheese and red grapes. I added Nutella last minute just because I love it.

In true French café fashion, I got Coke in glass bottles, Orangina, limonade (a lightly sweetened, lemon flavored soda) and Perrier. To accompany the many sweets being served, I had milk available. I fully intended to have coffee too, but got too busy.

Party favors for the kids

For all of the kids age 2 and older, I ordered these kids cloth aprons online and personalized them with fabric paints before hanging them on display. After a while, I announced that each child could come and get his or her apron to put on for our baking activity. They were thrilled. I was fun to see how excited they got when discovering their names on their very own aprons.

Baking time

Once they put on their aprons, I took groups of two or three to go to the baking stations to make their own "Pains au chocolat" which is basically chocolate-filled croissants. I didn't use actual croissant dough for this, but just used pre-frozen puff pastry dough and chocolate pieces along with an egg wash on top. The kids seems to enjoy rolling them and painting them with the egg. After I baked them, I put them in the pastry boxes for them to take home as their party favor.

I used www.picnik.com to edit some snapshots that I took of Claire throughout her first year of life. I then added hot pink, black and white borders as well as her age at the times of each shot (written in both French and English). I did a similar treatment on some recent photos of Paris taken by a friend and then interspersed themwith the shots of Claire and displayed them on the wall.

The birthday girl

I think that the party was a huge success overall. Claire had all over her grandparents, several aunts and uncles, cousins and lots of friends there with her. The guests all seem to have had a great time trying new pastries and enjoying one another's company.

Now it's time for those darned thank you notes...

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: A Co-ed Baby Celebration

2010-02-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

Voilà: the final product of the shower I have been planning for quite some time. I cannot take all of the credit: I have two wonderful friends who hosted with me. Thanks for the help, Liz and Rachel!

I made this ribbon star banner with a tutorial from Martha Stewart. Click here for the instructions. I have to say, however, that it was not easy. Hence the very "homely" looking stars. Overall, I think it was pretty cute.

The foods were a collaborative effort. We tried to meet the palettes of both men (honey ginger wings) and women (veggie pizza bites) as well as carry our theme throughout the foods. The Posh Piggies were the first to go. You can grab their recipe here.

The lemon meringue cupcakes were a Martha recipe, of course!

Once again with the guidance of Martha (DIY tutorial from her website) I made this sugar scrub as a favor, packaged in baby jars with a large star tag. One side said "A star is born" and the other said "From our shower to yours." These were a big hit!

Under the Sea/Mermaid Party

2010-02-06T20:20:00.000-08:00

Little Kyla has been asking for a "Mermaid Under the Sea" party for four months and her wish came true.

The inspiration came from Living Locurto's Blog, where there are several party ideas and themes to choose from. She threw her daughter a Mermaid themed pool party and describes it in detail here. Living Locurto sells a printable party pack for the party that includes these cut outs:

That turned out like this:

And these cupcake toppers:

That turned out like this!

The other downloads were the invitations, thank you cards, and candy wrappers.

For decor, Kyla's mom covered the windows in blue plastic (tablecloths) to give the room an underwater feel, then used blue and green streamers (see below) and twisted them to look like seaweed. Felt sea animals were hung from the light over the table and around the room.

For the tablescape, a pink tablecloth was used to make it girly and blue shimmery organza to feel light and wavy. Pearls were strung around the table to make it pretty.

The snacks served were pink marshmallows (birthday girl's favorite) with umbrellas, fruit, goldfish crackers, Gogurts (Spongebob), fruit snacks (sharks and Nemo) Capri Suns for the kids, ham, cheese and cucumber 'Sushi' Rolls and Hershey's nuggets (wrapped in theme).

Can't forget cupcakes and the birthday girl's ONE special request,

A Volcano Cake! 'Lava' included.

The felt sea animals were handmade using a template found here. They were hanging around the room, but later cut down and used for...

a fishing game!

The kids used a fishing pole with a clip attached to the end and took two turns each tossing it over the shower curtain beautiful ocean scene. Kyla's mom, hiding behind the curtain, attached a felt sea animal to the clip and the kids reeled them in. They got to keep them as part of their favor!

They also got sand buckets filled with bubbles, silly straws and candy. The girls got handmade mermaid tails, instructions here.

The printable mermaid downloads unified the theme while the details made it special. This truly was an adorable party.

Cute supplies!

2010-01-15T21:48:00.000-08:00

These gorgeous supplies are from Bake It Pretty. I just ordered the cute pink treat boxes to use for favors as well as the black damask mini cupcake liners (below) for the Petite Parisienne 1st Birthday party that I am planning for next month.
Be sure to check out their store for adorable party supplies. I love the candy molds in various shapes and themes. See for yourself when planning your next party!

A modern AND vintage nursery?

2010-01-10T15:36:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law is expecting her second girl in a few months and we've been brainstorming nursery decor ideas. She loves Hello Kitty, but doesn't want it to be cheesy and over the top. Sh, she found this nursery bedding set online at Target at a great price. It's cute and vintage Hello Kitty design with the use of fresh modern colors to balance.
Our new idea is this: Play up the deep fuschia "raspberry" color and use a lot of the pale celadon green to balance it. Aside from the bedding itself, and perhaps a few small details like knobs for the dresser, there would not be any Hello Kitty stuff. Some heart decor bought off valentine's clearance may come in handy?

Tossing around the idea of doing a white chair rail with the raspberry color below and the pale green above. Another fun way, one that is perhaps more subtle, is to buy a used chandelier and spray paint it the raspberry color similar to the one pictured below.

My inspiration: "Petite Boulangerie" Party

2010-01-07T21:32:00.000-08:00

Check out this amazing party on pen n' paper flowers blog to see the inspiration for my daughter's first birthday party. I thought a French bakery with mini pastries would be adorable since Claire has a French name and I am a French teacher. I plan on attempting some of the pastries myself.

Christmas Tabletop Decor

2009-12-22T19:04:00.000-08:00

I am hosting our family Christmas Eve dinner this year. The dress is "holiday cute," the food is fancy and French and the decor is simple and modern. Check out a few pictures of the decorations I am working on!

Photo frame candle centerpiece

2009-12-12T21:16:00.000-08:00

One of our good friends just turned 40 and we missed the party planning window to be able to pull together my fabulous idea: an "It's a Wonderful Life" themed dinner party. The basic concept would be to use black, white and red as the colors and do everything in an old-fashioned, vintage feel while showing off as many photos of the birthday boy throughout his life as possible. One way to achieve that goal would have been to create these vellum photo frames to put around votive candles on the table as part of the centerpiece. That Martha Stewart (or her contributing writers and editors) sure does think of the greatest things!!! Get the full step by step instructions here on her site.

If you are interested in hosting a dinner party with that theme, Better Homes & Gardens' website has a full menu to coincide. Find it here.

Christmas Cookie Exchange Party

2009-12-12T20:58:00.000-08:00

My fabulous friend Joanna leads up a mom's playgroup and has recently started an annual tradition of doing a mom's night in that involved a cookie swap for the holidays. This year, she wanted to spice it up and take the cuteness up a few notches. Using inspiration found on a few party planning blogs, she gave the presentation a facelift with her crafty labels and jar decor as well as, well, you will see...

It was not only adorable, but delicious as all the cookies were amazing. Joanna even went so far as to provide cute little git boxes with Christmas-themed tissue paper for us to package up our new cookie assortment. It's the small touches that ake parties great. Thanks, Jo for letting me share your success with the cyberworld!

Simply DIY wall hanging

2009-11-13T22:01:00.000-08:00

I can't wait to try to make this for my daughter's nursery which is already decorated with birds and flowers in a modern, whimsical way. You can get all of the instructions and the template for the bird here.

Animal themed Nursery

2009-11-12T20:57:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law is pregnant with her second who we've presumed to be a boy. If this is true, she plans on using some safari animal themed baby bedding from her sister-in-law. In order to help make the nursery fun, I am helping her compile creative and cute ideas to build on the theme.

These night light covers are a DIY from Martha Stewart.

Good ole Martha also has a great DIY for making your own animal wall hangings. so cute!

Sesame Street Party

2009-10-29T15:55:00.000-07:00

Fun with Elmo and friends! My friend, Rachel decided to go all out for her daughter Scarlett's 2nd birthday. She invited EVERYONE she knew and got in major party planning mode. Since Scarlett is enamored with Elmo, she thought the natural choice would be a Sesame Street theme. Check out some of these pictures!

Boy birthday idea #1: Construction Party

2009-10-29T07:38:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine recently commissioned me to hunt for great birthday party ideas for her little man who will soon be 2. In my searching, I came across this super fun party. Although it may not be ideal for his age, I could not pass up the opportunity to share its cuteness with you all.

See more from the party by looking at this mom's original post here.

Announce the gender with a party!

2009-10-28T13:13:00.000-07:00

A couple of ideas to steal...guests were asked to dress in pink or blue to indicate their guess...a colored gumball hidden inside the cupcakes denoted the gender (everyone bit into their cupcakes at the same time).

I am always looking for a good excuse to throw a fabulous party, so when I came across this Gender Reveal Party, I fell in love! With my second child I did something similar, but on a smaller scale, for sure. Click here to see the full post.

Cookies AND cupcakes!?!

2009-10-28T08:34:00.001-07:00

How about edible cupcake toppers? If doing a simple shape such as this star, go ahead and top your cupcakes with decorated sugar cookies. So cute and tasty!

Cute Retro Sign

2009-10-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

How cute would this retro-style sign be when hung as decor for the Twinkle Little Star baby shower? The soon-to-be mommy could then hang it in the baby's nursery. Awe! (Buy it here on Etsy)

Vinyl Wall Art

2009-10-27T20:01:00.000-07:00

I am loving these vinyl wall decals more and more. I originally discovered them when decorating my daughter's nursery in January and I am finding more and more great ones out there. They are especially popular for decorating children's rooms, but they would be a fabulous way to carry out a theme for a party. This set of three birdies is $6.50 at this Etsy seller. What a cute way to decorate for a birdie-themed party.

Printables

2009-10-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

Printables are all the rage in parties these days. Simply purchase the designs and you are emailed the PDF files to print out on your own either at home or at a local print shop. Check out this printable party package for a birdie baby shower found here on Etsy.

This package includes:

* 5 x 7" Invitation
* Banner for door or front lawn
* Pennant banner - "Celebrate"
* Note card - 4x6"
* Bookplates
* Gift log
* Game sheet
* Folded thank you note - 4x6"
* Cupcake pick / party food lables / name tags
* Cupcake wrappers / snack cup wrappers
* handbag-style favor bag / place card

Moon and Stars Baby Shower

2009-10-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

This is the second idea I have for that same couple. It could be pretty fabulous too...

There's a feature article on Parents.com where you can see some great ideas such as these ones featured on here and many more. Click here for the article.

Don't worry, it's just a "mocktail"."

Bird-themed Baby Showers

2009-10-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

I am currently working on some ideas for a co-ed baby shower and I am trying to compile all ideas and images in one place. Bear with me as I add all things birds and all things cute.

This inspiration board can be seen in greater detail here.

This is from a Nesting Shower that was thrown by Creative Party Girl. Get more images and info here.

This birdhouse centerpiece as well as the mini nests on this table can be found here on Not Just a Mommy.

These cupcake toppers are pretty cute: easy customizable with both colors and wording. Get them here here on Etsy.

These cupcake toppers are ADORABLE, but much pricier! Check them out here on Etsy.

"Pretty in Pink" Baby Shower

2009-10-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, like the 80s movie! This shower was not only gorgeous, but impressively creative and fun.

Check out this link to Hostess with the Mostess blog for the full details. Love, love, love it!

Apple-themed Party

2009-10-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots of an Apple-themed birthday party that my friend, Brenna threw for her daughter's 3rd birthday. Her attention to detail and dedication to the theme were commendable.

Too cute! Perfect for fall.

Candy Corn Decor Dinner Party

2009-10-24T16:01:00.001-07:00

I realize that these are unbelievably lame photos. I took them the morning after the dinner party. I had white plates and white cloth napkins which were adorned with napkin rings made of candy corn orange ribbon and little gift tags with a pumpkin stamp and the guests name on it. They were quite cute...sorry I didn't capture it in time.

"It's a Small World" Birthday party

2009-10-24T14:55:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this birthday party for a 2 year old and read the details with my jaw gaping open. Check out her site for yourself. Wow.