How adorable are these Minnie Mouse party centerpieces? Gumdrop topiaries with a pink bow for Minnie. I love what she used to fill the pots - rainbow colored twizzlers!
These centerpieces and this amazing cake were made by the ladies of Lil' Bella Boutique. Located in south Florida, these ladies make some spectacular cakes. Look at these!
This cake had working headlights!
If you're in the South Florida area, Lil' Bella Boutique is the one to call!
The time of year is perfect for an outdoor dinner party! Julie of A Reason to Get Together took advantage of the perfect weather and her love of Julia Child to put together a French dinner party in her back yard.
Julie had each of her guests bring a dish out of a particular cookbook as well as the wine that complimented the dish. For invitations, she used Evite which kept track of what everyone was bringing and avoided duplications.
This party was extremely budget friendly and Julie shopped her decor from previous parties as well as her local thrift stores and yard sales. For example, the ties on the backs of the chairs were strips of sheets she found at yard sales.
She created 60 YARDS of bunting herself that draped from the fence and trees. The same patterns of fabric were used as napkin rings.
I love the fabric flowers!
Drop in to Julie's blog to see more photos of this fresh vintage design!
One of the best craft items you can have on hand are topiary forms. I have several and I can't tell you how many times I've used them. One of those occasions was the Fruit shower I posted a couple of years ago. (Yep, that was back when I created the fancy post graphics.) Anyway...
I ran across this balloon topiary on Ready, Set, Create and thought it was cute and colorful and yet another use for topiary forms.
Of course, it's easy to make an inexpensive topiary form. You just need a dowel rod or stick, a block of floral foam and a floral/styrofoam sphere.
To create this, just use a bag of your favorite color balloons. Or multi like the one above. Or color combinations for occasions like Halloween, Christmas, etc. Hot glue them on and done!
You know what also would be cute? Paint and stripe the stick!
A great way to serve individual portions of a favorite BLACK candy over at Room to Inspire. Just wrap a few pieces in scrapbook paper and lay out on your favorite tray. Embellish with creepy Halloween creatures to create interest. Great for a children's party or to take around to people's offices for a worktime treat.
Have you met my friend Tonya of Create Celebrate Explore? She's one crafty talented girl. And meeting her in person, you notice her beautiful smile and sparkling eyes first and then this glorious Australian accent! Charming!
Tonya has twins - a boy and a girl and they recently turned 4 years old. So Tonya put together a Bears and Bees birthday picnic that is precious.
First, the adorable invitations! Love a fabric element to invitations!
and the bears and bees hats that she made herself!
And this adorable and HUGE cake? Yep, Tonya made that as well.
And the treat bags, filled with various bee and bear themed treats and activities.
Visit Tonya's blog where she has more photos and lists all the details of her party with links. Don't forget to follow her on Twitter and also like her Facebook page. :)
Kalleen of Second Street gives you the details on making this beautiful cake bunting.
Isn't it fun and unexpected?
A simple large glass fishbowl filled with coffee beans and several large white flowers...
add in an LED tea light ...
and it turns into this at night. Beautiful.
photo credit: life in the thrifty lane
It's time to do some prep work for your Halloween gatherings! I like to start early on creating new pieces for every occasions. The earlier you start, the more time you have to play around with your design and placement and fill any holes you may have.
Tammy of She Wears Flowers gives a great tutorial on how to make a spider plate. You just need a plate, a bowl or stand, some pipe cleaners, googling eyes and glue. This is a great elevation piece for your holiday table!
Don't forget, you may be able to find the plate and bowl/stand at Goodwill. BUT.. if you are planning on using this for food, you should not get something and plan to spray paint. Goodwill/Thrift items would be perfect to spray paint if you're using this piece to stack favors, pumpkins or other non-edibles.
Let's face it, children LOVE balloons! And a balloon drop is easy to do and creates a large impact with children.
The drop above was part of a first birthday party over at Dukes and Duchesses. The how to is easy!
Simply tape up yards of tulle to a wall. This can be from a ledge or a door jam or from a ceiling fan or light fixture. (Use putty or command hooks or some types of painters tape to ensure no damage is done to the walls. Use ornament hooks to hang the tulle from light fixtures.)
Fill it with balloons you've blown up yourself. Remember that no helium is used in a balloon drop. Balloons can be blown up a couple days ahead of time.
Release one or both sides and let the balloons rain down on the little ones! Smiles all around!
Visit Dukes and Duchesses to see the rest of this cute party include these pinwheel centerpieces!
More eye candy for those interested in cute presentations of dessert tables comes from Emily's birthday party over at The Estes Family. Here are a few of my fave details...
Love the poms tied to the vintage high chair
Love this LARGE cupcake stand. I love that it's large enough to hold many cupcakes plus the smash cake. It really makes a statement and I love the tulle bottom.
And I love how the colors of the candy aren't separated by color. There has been so many parties lately where the candy is in monochromatic style and separated by color and that's nice too, but sometimes it's fun to have a splash of MANY colors - especially for a child's party.
And my fave detail.... the toothbrushes! Perfect! (Tip: They sell children's toothbrushes in packs of 10 at the dollar store.) A great addition to a candy table! Makes the parents happy and who couldn't use another toothbrush?
View more photos of this party over at The Estes Family. :)