quick, i need a reason to throw a party...

because i found this blog.

oh no.

too many good ideas. {which is great, i can copy them! no need to be original here!}

like this one...


and this one...


not to mention this idea...


and that one...


or another one...


i could go on and on, so just check it out!

wedding decor-dinator

this was a new job for me. sure it was party planning, but a wedding?? that is serious stuff.

and it was seriously fun.

the theme was rustic elegance. complete with a candy buffet for the young and the young at heart.

winter "one"derland part 5: the favors

i skipped the pinata and bag of candies and went with something much simpler for the kids who attended the party.

snowflake ornaments. purchased at hobby lobby for half price. of course. i printed out a little tag for each ornament that says "thank you SNOW much for coming!"

simple. cute. and the kids seemed to like them!

winter "one"derland part 4: the menu

well. the party has come and gone. i think it was a success. we even had snow.



wanting to stick with an all white theme for food, this is what i came up with:

- white cheddar popcorn

- roasted red pepper cheese dip with french bread
- marinated mozzarella cheese and snowflake shaped ritz
- homemade cinnamon tortilla chips with fruit salsa
- mitten shaped cookies

- snow flake shaped white fudge
- white chocolate dipped oreos

- white cake with raspberry filling and cream cheese frosting


to drink a hot chocolate bar with two kinds of chocolate, marshmallows and peeps. for the kids these snowmen milks that i made using baby food jars.


as always i wish i would have taken more pictures, but with the busyness of the party, this was the best i could do. enjoy the pictures!


to sum it up if you are planning on doing a winter wonderland themed party two words: sugar. cheese.

tea party baby shower: the decor

this weekend was the baby shower that i've mentioned before. i think it was a success: good food and great fellowship and the mommy of honor felt very loved. all the components necessary for a successful party in my mind.




i decided that to have a proper tea party there must be no plastic present at the party. that meant i had to find enough tea cups and saucers for 30 people. oh boy. thankfully the endeavor was not that difficult - i had so many friends that have china {all white with gold!} and with my white dinner plates and white napkins the table was set!


as i have blogged about before, i made the centerpieces out of pink tissue paper. very cheap yet looked stunning against the bright blue tablecloth. i used paper doilies underneath the centerpieces. total cost for all the tables: $5. the key to keeping it so cheap was using paper. i had selected several scrapbook papers as my color inspiration and used every inch of those papers. i cut out tons of circles to sprinkle the table with and to place on the napkins as a pop of color. simple and cheap yet it was a nice added detail.

the final bit of decorating that i did was made pompom flowers for the ceiling and made a garland out of ribbons that matched my color scheme. 1/2 price ribbon at hobby lobby, so final cost for the garland was maybe $5 too.



the one "big" expense for the party was the tablecloths. $15 for a king sized sheet at target, then cut into 3 pieces and the edges sewn. for me though this was an investment. i love the color of the tablecloths and can see it being used at birthday parties and easter celebrations. and for a special someone's bridal shower i am planning for in march...

tea party baby shower: the menu

this is what really made the shower a success. i have very talented friends who made savory sandwiches and delicious desserts.

for some reason i struggled with what to serve at the party. i don't want you to struggle. i want you to copy if you would like!

we had chicken salad sandwiches served on crust-less white and wheat bread. i also made cucumber dill sandwiches on pumpernickel and my friend made tortilla spinners. all of these items were served on cake stands with paper doilies to continue the tea party feel.

my friends also made two salads and an assorted fruit tray. the final part of the menu was the most amazing part in my opinion.

charlotte's apricot and orange marmalade danishes:


melissa's white chocolate fudge:


and her cherry almond petit fours {garnished with white hydrangea which is not edible}:


and melissa's monogrammed sugar cookies {m is for micah, the baby girl's name}:


and finally melissa made mini carrot cake cupcakes which she embellished with toothpicks and paper that also had an "m":


the idea for food was to keep this fancy and dainty. i think my friends helped me to accomplish this! {thanks!}

of course there was tea, coffee and hot chocolate for non-tea drinkers.

tea party invites

have i mentioned how i love to throw parties?


well, i do. if it is possible, i think it might be my love language. maybe my spiritual gift? ok, maybe not.


anyways, i have a great one coming up. a tea party baby shower.


first step, of course, is getting the word out for the shower. i needed ideas, so i started searching the internet. {remember, i am a copy cat.} found this idea:



this was my inspiration. close to what i wanted, but not it completely. i wanted something where you had to pull the teabag out of the teapot.


so with a little bit of originality, this is what i came up with:


like it? go ahead! try it!

supply list:
- teapot pattern {printed from internet. i did a google images search and found it}

- scrapbook paper {got mine on sale at hobby lobby for 30 cents a sheet}

- white cardstock {about the same price as scrapbook paper}

- white ribbon {again, half price at hobby lobby for $1}

- glue or modge podge {maybe $3 a bottle? i've had mine a long time, so i don't remember...}

- needle


how to:
1.) on half of the paper trace the teapot face up.



2.) on the other half, trace the invite face down. this is so you can glue the two pieces together to have a front and a back. {i learned this lesson the hard way..}



3.) cut out the teapots and glue them together. glue only on the white side of the paper towards the borders on the bottom half only. you want to create a pocket with the invitations so don't glue them together completely and don't glue towards the top. i stopped gluing at the "lid" of the teapot.



4.) i decided to embellish the teapot. i printed "tea for two" on cardstock and also cut out some red paper to glue on the front to show where the lid of the teapot would be. i decided tea for two meaning mama and baby!



5.) next is the "tea bag". I printed all the information for the shower on cardstock and cut them out so they'd look like a teabag. I used the needle to put the string on the "teabag".


6.) stick the "tea bag" inside of the teapot and your invitations are ready to send!

birds & bees shower*

*NOT the birds & the bees. just some birds. and some bees.

last spring i threw a baby shower for my friend jenn. i searched online for some cute but classy shower themes. i found a site that had some great ideas for a shower decorated with birds and bees. i thought it was adorable. perfect for the iowa farmgirl i was throwing the shower for.


first, the bees. this idea i got from martha stewert, only she took a chinese latern and put butterflies all over it. i found these realistic looking bees at hobby lobby for $1.99.

i took some more realistic looking bees and put them near the food and on some of the flowers. i would have loved to do more with the bees, but ran out of funds.


next the birds.


to start i bought some unfinished birdhouses on sale at hobby lobby. i painted the houses to go with the color scheme of my shower and used paper for the roofs. these doubled as centerpieces and they were the prizes for the shower games. the extras now decorate my daughters bedroom. i used dried grapevine for "nests". i used a grapevine wreath to hold the paper plates to keep the theme going.



i used the same paper that i used on the birdhouses to make letters for the different tables at the party {food, cake, gifts}. to continue the natural feel of the shower, i used sticks to display the letters. if i would have known at the time how to sew a fabric bird, i would have also done that and attached it to the sticks.



the cake. this was my first attempt at a cake, so it needed to be really simple. i made a white cake and put raspberry pie filling in the middle of the two layers. i also added almond flavoring to store bought white frosting. the cake turned out pretty yummy! for the top, i made a birds nest out of chow mein noodles, melted chocolate and jelly bellies for eggs.



so there you have it. birds. bees. it worked well and was fairly inexpensive. in a month i am planning another baby shower for a friend. this theme is a tea party. invites are being made tomorrow, so stay tuned!

DIY: movie themed invite

here is an invite i created for a hollywood themed bridal shower my friend was throwing for her sister. i came up with the idea {an original idea! wow!}, but she put it all together and did an amazing job with it.

you should try it too!

supply list:
- black cardstock (29 cents a sheet - although it does go on sale for cheaper.)

- a square punch (at hobby lobby about $9 regular price. watch for sales or use a 40% off coupon)

- computer

-glue


how to:
1). first we cut the black cardstock so that it would fit into business sized envelops.

2.) next step was the hardest. my friend really hurt her hand with this one. punch the sides of the invitation to look like a movie film {up and down the long sides}. she made 40 invites, so i think her hand was really sore by the end.

3.) she used her sister's engagement pictures and microsoft word to create the rest of the invite. notice her use of movie terms in the invite: "palof productions presents...". you could also use words like "starring {bride's name", etc.

4.) cut the info part of invite so it fits in the middle of the punches on the cardstock and glue.



total cost: around 35 cents per invitation because we didn't use a 40% off coupon and there wasn't a sale on the punch. still very cheap and cute!

DIY: celebration sign

yep. that is me, the copy cat hosting a party. did i mention that is another one of my loves?

there are so many great blogs out there to give you ideas for decorating for baby showers, bridal showers, cute birthday parties, etc. i am a big fan of these blogs. once again, why go to all the trouble to create something completely original? it has probably been done before anyway.

this was an idea i found on one of these party idea blogs. a cute way to make a homemade banner. this party was for my friends' grad school graduation.


the supply list:
- ribbon {usually half price at hobby lobby, $1- $3}

- paper doilies {i used a 40% off coupon, so once again at hobby lobby $1- $3 depending on the size you get}

- scrapbook paper and white card-stock paper {again, wait for the hobby lobby 1/2 price sale. i spent maybe $1 on paper}

- scissors, tape

- letters printed off of your computer


how to:
1.) cut circles from your scrapbook paper. glue this onto the doilies.

2.) cut out your letters printed from your computer. trace them onto card stock. cut those letters out.

3.) glue the letters onto the scrapbook paper circles.

4.) cut slits into the circles so that your ribbon will fit through. don't cut your ribbon until you have all the circles on and know exactly where you are going to hang the banner.


total cost: around $4.

for some amazing party tablescape ideas check out these:

http://amyatlas.com/index.php/main/

&...

http://lifeoftees.wordpress.com/

& don't forget...

http://www.hostessblog.com/