Showing posts with label party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label party. Show all posts
Pick A Color Any Color

A woman I deeply admire has an amazing set of systems and collections. Among them she has collected enough dishes to feed an army in style. When asked about her approach to collecting so many and keeping a cohesive look she said that when she was in high school her mother told her to pick a color for her dishes,
any color,
 and simply stick with it.
Her color is blue. And she has stacks and stacks of beautiful mismatched dishes in all shades of blue. 
Inspired I came home, took stock of what I loved and decided to pick a color:
 Green.
So hopefully someday someone will admire my collection and ask the same question. It is all about steering our passions into productivity isn't it? Do you have a color for your dishes? Happy Saturday!
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Evite or Punchbowl?

In our go-go society digital invitations seem like a good fit. Personally I LOVE receiving snail mail, but sometimes there just isn't the time. Or in some cases it is more effective to use digital invites, depending on the demographic of your group. I have noticed a level of accountability with digital invites that isn't there with paper invitations. People know you can see when they have viewed the invitation and really, it is as simple as click a button and commit. This year I have found a new to me site called Punchbowl. As a loyal user of Evite I was hesitant to stray from the tried and true, but people. You have GOT to give this site a try. I don't think you will go back.

Punchbowl Love:
~ Easy to use
~ Clean and Clear Interface
~ Ease of linking with social media sites.
~ They have an envelope that sits behind the invitation, makes it feel less digital to me
~ The Love is in the details, changing the "stamp" on the front, the different fonts, etc...
~ The ability to add a variety of polls. Amazing.
~ The addition of automatic maps. You RSVP yes and it provides the guest with a map. Brilliant.
~ The level of personalization. Period.

Minor Drawbacks:
~ The "Plus" options that require payment for membership $19 a year. Slightly limits your options...
~ Long name. There is something so easy about saying you are sending an "evite". A punchbowl however, requires more explanation and isn't as easy when rolling off the tongue.
~ The required learning curve for everyone used to evite. However point two above makes this less concerning.

Let me know if you give it a try, I would love to hear your feedback as well!

*I am in NO way compensated for this review, although not opposed to it <wink>. Just trying to spread a little holiday love.
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Crafted With Love
One of my favorite little boys just turned 2 and for his birthday we decided to do something a little different for his gift. So if you have a toddler birthday coming up here is an idea for a fun, easy and to quote the lovely Sandra Lee, semi-homemade.
Elmo ABC book, Animal flashcards, washable markers, paint set, colored pencils, crayons and a
tub of sidewalk chalk
We made him a craft tub filled with goodies that were all washable or erasable, aka the only type of colored writing item to have in the house. The awesome part of this all is that stores like Target have a plethora of these items beginning in mid-July and lasting through the middle of September. So stock up during this time! There are more options and they are usually less expensive during this period as well. And don't forget Target's discount section near the front of the store. I ALWAYS stop in there and add to my secret stash of fun items. Great for coloring books, containers, stickers, etc...
We found a shower caddy and added puff paint to snazz it up and make it clear just 
who these treasures belong to <wink>. 
My tools
The homemade part was my favorite, so of course I saved it for last! We have a roll of paper from Ikea that we use for all our craft times and I LOVE. I decided to use some of this durable paper and create spaces for this little one's masterpieces. To make the frames as uniform as possible I used an 8x10 picture frame's backing and traced it with a thick black marker, then decorated away. This way whenever he is done with an original piece his mommy can cut it off and hang it on the wall. I must say that by the end of this project, aka nap time coming to a close, I knew I needed to make some for Baby Love. 

Total cost for this gift was $13.75, easily $15 dollars less than if these items had been purchased elsewhere. Absolutely love being able to give a gift for less 
without compromising any of the quality! 
To our sweet Aedan, we have loved being able to love on you this last year and 
can't wait to see what this next year brings. You are a very special little boy and we are so glad to have you in our lives. Happiest of Birthdays!

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An Elegant Affair
I was honored to be able to co-host a baby shower for my best friends sister, who I also consider a sister as well. We threw this shower at the beginning April and now that sweet Baxter has arrived I thought it would be fun to share a few details from this wonderful celebration.
The colors in his nursery are Lime Green, Black and White. Going with those we decided to make the baby shower more bridal than baby, an elegant affair if you will. 
I found the invitation kit on clearance in the Bridal Section of Michaels Craft Store.  The information about the shower was on top with instructions to fill out the bottom piece (that was removable from the pocket) with a prayer or hope for sweet Baxter and to please bring it with you to the shower. 
 Then the Sweet Notes were attached to the safety pins we had hanging off ribbons from these long tree like branches. 
We found this awesome bird for a few dollars at Michaels and it was a wonderful addition to our tree of sweet wishes and dreams.
The tree in all it's glory.
Water bottles with specialized labels created by yours truly.
The incredible cake designed by a friend of ours. 
A specialty drink concocted for the occasion, something I am known for, my love of tasty drinks. They make a party, am I right?
The drinks were set up on the left hand side of the cake table, the water on the right side. The umbrellas were handmade as well. (I found a tutorial here, but made many, many changes to the directions.) The tiny details are so much fun!
Marshmellow Pops
My solution to keeping the Pops upright on different parts of the table, stab them into an apple!
Recognize the stand? Yep my trusty cupcake stand became a holder for wontons and peanut sauce. We put them in these wonderful little cupcake cups. Made prepping more for refills a breeze.
Part of the food table. Since it was in the early afternoon we thought we should have a variety of sweet and savory items. We are glad we were prepared because the food was loved by all!
These were little tags that were intended to be used on the invitations but we thought would be nice in decoration. We used strips of black paper and ribbon to tie in the vases with the color theme of the shower.
The diaper "game". We had these diapers and pens out in the middle of the room where the gifts were and encouraged the guests to write funny sayings on the diapers. Then the Mom To Be picked the one she thought was the most humorous as the winner. The fun part was that these diapers went home with her to chuckle at later when changing yet another diaper at 3 am.
Gifts! Notice the lovely puffs? Handmade and super easy, slightly altering the directions found here. I loved making them for the shower and they will most likely make an appearance at my parties this summer.
Party Favors. Sugar Cookies with those sweet labels from above. Easy, inexpensive and with a little practice a sweet homemade addition to any party.
The party planners and best friends.
Megan, the sweet Mommy To Be.
We also requested that the guests dress in the colors of the invitation and gave a prize to the most festive and decked out guest. Having everyone dressed in the same palette made the pictures look so great together!

The trick for a shower like this was to gather all of our found items that were black and white and then accent with green ribbon or in this case were used some great cheap green apples and limes that we found at Costco. Combining this idea with some tricks found online and making most things ourselves really made this shower more personal and less expensive. Win Win! So blessed to be able to do this for my sweet friend and excited that our little boys will get to grow up as buddies.
Declan and Baxter meeting each other for the first time. Buddies for sure!

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Birthday Surprise!
The rhymes were fun,
But when it was done,
Our brain it was empty,
No more rhymes aplenty.
A few of our favorites here we will share,
Although none of them are very rare!

Our dear friend Katie is a leap year baby and as such it is always tricky deciding when to celebrate her. We made wonderful plans for this year but at the last minute, 48 hours before, the weather changed everything! The icy conditions and tempestuous nature of the storm made us nervous to drive to our retreat for the weekend. So at the last minute we pulled it together and adapted, adapted, adapted! I must say that in the end the result was fabulous and we were able to show our sweet friend just how much she means to us!


The theme was beach retreat. I designed the invitations and created all of the rhymes that followed on her clues. I punched holes at the top and threaded Ace Jute Twine 147 through the two holes, tying tightly and then glued a shell at the bottom of the clues. 
<Please don't use without permission!>


We arrived with a breakfast tray of her favorite things and another clue. 

"While the snow may have changed our plans,

And we are sad to not be able to run to the sands..."



She had a massage by an incredible masseuse and was picked up by one of our friends while two of us waited for a table at a wonderful local restaurant that is always PACKED for brunch!


"We hope the massage soothed your soul,
And your appetite is the size of a troll....."
Bringing a little of the beach to the restaurant.
The place mat was the same paper design I made for the invitations, edged with creative scissors.
Impromptu cone made from the same paper.
The flowers were wrapped with  paper towels that had been wet and wrapped in plastic.
Above: The Birthday Girl and Shannon, some of the delicious Brunch items, Caitlin and I. 
Afterwards we returned to her apartment where we had everything laid out for her make up to be done professionally while sipping on wine and nibbling on chocolate.

"After a day of fun and surprises,
That fortunately never required disguises,
We desire to help you primp for what lies ahead
For at 6 O’clock he will arrive it is said
No more can we say about what’s in store,
For to secrecy we have been swore (n),
And rhyme we can’t anymore.<wink>"
To end the evening she was picked up by her boyfriend and we made our adieus. 
Happy Happy Birthday Sweet Katie, You Are Dearly Loved!

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City Living Space Solutions- Freezer
There are many pluses to having a house, space for an extra freezer is pretty high up on that list. Growing up this was commonplace for us both. It goes without saying that this is not an option for those living in small spaces, like us. One solution we have come up with is space sharing. It works really well for those trips to Costco, or frozen meals prepared in advance for an event.



Here is how our arrangement works. We have always made friends with our neighbors and have even worked to move friends into our buildings. If you find a good thing, spread the word! Our friends trust us and have loved living in the same building as people they trust. Some of our good friends work long hours and don't have time to cook often. So they let us use their extra freezer space and in return we host meals often at our home. Many times using the items we are storing!


Family Dinner
In order for this to work you need to trust those you space share with as you would want to give them a spare set of keys to your space. We have always swapped keys with a few people, making sure we are never locked out of our apartment and guaranteeing peace of mind when you think the stove might be on.


This is a great solution for both. A great reason to share meals, inspire creative dishes for a wider palette and no space is wasted! This idea can be used for a variety of reasons. Have extra closet space not being used? Why not let your friend/neighbor store some coats in the back? In exchange maybe they will lend you extra fridge space before a party. Again, trust these people. But as "city dwellers", as our good friend Cari put it, you learn to create community wherever you live. Whether you are protected by a white picket fence or hallway. And we are very grateful for our little community that are so generous with the extra space they have.
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Baby Reveal Party
Sorry this took so long, we have been itching to share all of the details we alluded to here but wanted to be thorough.
Our hosts and dear friends blogged here about the party as well. Pop over and see what they had to say. We were so incredibly and abundantly blessed by their love for us and this sweet little boy.
That morning Kevin and I dressed to reflect what we thought it would be, he wore pink and I wore blue. While waiting for him to come home for our afternoon appointment I was inspired to make these:
Blueberry Muffins
Which were a huge hit with Baby Love. I think he ate two in a sitting. Kevin arrived and we headed out, leaving Baby Love with our In-Loves. We revealed in getting better acquainted with our new little boy. Then we set out to collect blue balloons filled with helium, "It's a boy!" Mints and a blue hyacinth plant. Our cousin Erin and back up birthing coach for Baby Love wouldn't be able to stay until the reveal so we made a little card and filled it with these little mints(wish I had taken a picture!) for her to take home with her. And our Aunt Mary, also our other back up birthing coach for Baby Love and incredible life saver during Baby Love's birth, wouldn't be able to make it to the party. So we left the blue hyacinth plant scattered with the mints and a card on her doorstep. These two have been incredibly special to us and we can't imagine the past few years without them.


Off to the party where our sweet hosts had the place decked out with all sorts of food boy and girl themed.

There were pink lemonade cupcakes, mini weiner dogs (oh come on, thats funny!), Fruit Skewers, homemade Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies, and so much more! There was an old window that they have hung in their dining space and using erasable sharpies they put up a space for you to cast your vote, in case you changed your mind part way through the night.


Little Love in the shirt I made him for the special occasion.
As soon as everyone arrived, had some food and cast their vote we started Bunco! The tables were able to all be in the one main area so we just shuffled from table to table. Well everyone except Abbey of course. Normally a great Bunco player she spent most of the night at table #3, the lowest of the tables!
Table #1 at last!!!
After we had all run around to the different tables and adequately tasted all of the delicious bites, it was time to tally the scores. And the winner of the most Baby Bunco's was...Pat Haffner! Kevin's mother.So she got the honor of opening the large box that we had filled with balloons. Up floated all of the beautiful blue orbs. Then we pulled out the pictures of the ultrasound, took plenty of pictures and enjoyed the company of our dear friends. We were so blessed to start this next chapter of the journey feeling so incredibly supported.
Team BLUE!!
Team Pink!
Helping Uncle Chris "Clean Up"
Yep, he went up again and again until all of those balloons were back in the box!
With my sweet friend Katie.
Baby and his very excited Aunts
With the hostess and my dear friend Jessica
Sweet Baby you are so loved already. Your arrival is highly anticipated not as the main event but as the beginning of a new chapter that we are all so excited for. Your world is full of loving people and wise role models. We can't wait to welcome you to our little corner of the world! 
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