Tweetheart Valentine's Day Party

 

You just have to go over to Quite The Occasion and check out this adorable Valentine's Day party we put together. I LOVE my side gig!

 

So cute right?  

Brown Paper and Glass Luminaries

I feel like I write about luminaries and candles a lot...considering I love them it is not surprising.  I am always looking for different ways to have candlelight at my parties.  I wanted a casual feel for the Chilly Chili party this weekend so I created these using glass vases, brown paper and raffia ribbon.  I can't wait to put them out!

I started with these basic vases/votives that look like flower pots.  Then I wrapped them with a square of brown craft paper and tied them off with raffia ribbon.  These are going to go outside around the railing on my deck.  I will also put around inside too.

Then for my front porch I created 6 large lumniaries using glass vases wrapped in brown paper.  I will put three on each side.

Here they are lit - pretty cool!

One of my favorite things about going to a party is the entrance and seeing the house lit up and ready to welcome visitors.  I think this is mostly true at the holidays.  When the house is inviting, bright and sparkling and is such a welcome relief in the cold night. 

Fall Tablescape Idea: Mini Pumpkin Food labels

On Monday night I had a group of girls over tonight for a Bible study.  The impromtu gathering was a great reason to try out some fall themed tablescapes and recipes.  I will have more on the food tomorrow but today I wanted to show you the cute pumpkin and gourd food lables I made with some avery labels, jewelry wire, a fine tipped permanent marker and few gourds and baby pumpkins I picked up at the grocery store today.

 

The great recipe for this black bean and sweet potato chili and spicy cheddar corn muffins tomorrow!  Several of the girls got seconds so I know it was a hit!

Candle Centerpiece - Manhattan Wedding Brainstorming

Theresa and I are certainly going big for our first wedding.  Our bride is from Manhattan and getting married right in the big apple.  We can't wait.  She loves simplicity and fell in love with these centerpieces from Martha Stewart.

 

You can find lots of great candle centerpieces by searching for "affordable centerpieces" or "candle centerpieces" on MS or even just in google.

 

So with the purchase of lots of great vases and candle holders, we decided to put some arrangements together to see what she thought.  Our bride wants a white on white look which will be so simple and elegant in her beautiful space of Guastivino's in Manhattan.

 

Here is what we came up with...what do you like best? 

 

 

 

And the winner is....this last one!  They liked using all 6 tapered candles and 7 pillared candles.  Can't wait to put it all together!

 



Craft, Create & Celebrate! Tween Birthday Party Activities

There is so much to share with this party that it couldn't fit all in one post.  Today I want to focus on the activities.  There were 5 distinct parts to the party:

 

1.  A Welcoming icebreaker- when the girls arrived my sister placed Disney character names on the backs of their shirts.  They had fun asking questions to figure out who their character was while they were decorating cupcakes.

 

 

2. Cupcake decorating - We did this in my sister's kitchen and the girls had fun chatting and decorating.

 

 

 

We used hard candies such as lemon heads and Mike & Ikes, basic white icing and cupcakes.

 

3.  Crafting - All of the kits were preset before the girls arrived.  A full tutorial on how we made our bulletin boards and felt push pins is coming.
 

We had lots of fabric the girls could pick from that coordinated with the flower theme.

Here is our sample board and pin created by Theresa:

 

And here is a finished board and pin.  Too cute!

 

4.  Snacks, Shirley Temples and Presents - we made the Shirley temples with ginger ale, cherries and grenadine.  Basic recipe that was delicious.

 

 

5.  Outdoor games until the parents arrived. My sister lead the girls in a fun game of spud for the last part of the party.  The girls loved it!

I love this photo!  What a sweet group of girls!

By the end of the day, they were all wearing their napkin rings as bracelets!

Even Reed joined in on the party fun!

 

It was nice to be able to spend some time with my Mom as well who helped me with the crafts and finishing touches.  

 

 

Craft, Create, Celebrate! Tween Birthday Party - Theme Concept

When my sister asked Theresa and I to style my niece's 10th birthday party, we were so excited!  This was our first girl's party and we couldn't wait to get started.  When we interviewed Hollins we learned quickly that she wanted a party where she and her friends could have fun, get crafty and enjoy her favorite drink - a Shirley Temple.  A tall order, but Theresa and I were up to the challenge.  After some thinking - the Craft, Create and Celebrate theme was created and we got to work.

First I designed the invitation based on a cute skirt pattern Hollins had that she loved.

 

From there we ran with the flowers and put them everywhere!  Here are the adorable felt flower and button napkin rings and place cards Theresa made.  Hollins wrote the names herself.  

 

Does the bunting look familiar?  We re purposed this from my neighborhood block party.  It matched perfectly and gave everything that crafty look.

 

Claudia's cheery front porch was decked out in bunting and balloons for the big day.

 

I made this custom sign with a piece of Masonite board, scrapbook paper, ribbon and mod podge.  It was a great way to welcome guests.

 

 

My present to Hollins was this sketch book that her friends signed. 

Theresa made this sweet felt flowers that we put all over the house in a few of my sister's vases.

I made this "H" using cardboard and yarn.  The girls said it was "the coolest H they had ever seen!" 

Theresa created the felt flowers that I glued on with a hot glue gun.  I will include the tutorial for the flowers and the H in another post.

I created these candy bowls using the school yard paper game.  The girls used this candy to decorate their cupcakes and it added some nice decor to the kitchen table.

My niece is in the orange top working hard on her cupcake.

Hollins got to have her Shirley Temples and the girl's loved the straws. 

We set up Claudia's back deck for the craft area.  More bunting and balloons!

I created the polkadot runner very simply with one yard of fabric cut into three separate strips.  I left the edges frayed  to coordinate with the crafty bunting.  I will probably finish them and leave them in three separate pieces so they are more versatile to use on dessert tables for other parties.

The Shirley Temples were a big hit!

The cupcake stand was created using plates and candle stick holders from the dollar store.  It was the perfect centerpiece for this party!

It was a great party!  Hollins loved every aspect and my sister was so pleased how it all turned out.  Several girls told me that we just had to do their birthday parties too.  So hopefully we will have some other opportunities to create special occasions in my hometown.

 

 

Here is Hollins crafting away!  She loved her party!

 



 

More on the menu, the craft how to and activities in other posts!