Everyday Celebrating

Wordless Wednesday: Spring inspiration

photo credit:  Better Homes and Gardens 

Everyday Events: Cupcake Birthday Party

This cute birthday party was created by my friend, Greta of Tea Parties and Baseball Games.  Greta and I were high school classmates and later became sorority sisters in college.  

Her daughter Olivia recently turned 7 and her friends came over for a cupcake decorating party!

Greta and Olivia prepared for the party together by making the table runner.  Olivia placed the candy themed iron-ons and Greta ironed.   Then they glued on polka dot ribbon edging.

The apothecary jars were filled with treats!  The large center jar held the girl's goody bags.  These were filled with fancy lotions, soaps and lip gloss.  The smaller ones are filled with items such as lollipop shaped soaps, candies and a super cute idea that I love, birthday candles from years past!

The girls each got to decorate 4 cupcakes.  They picked the ones they wanted to eat at the party and the rest went home on green plates (purchased on clearance after the holidays.)  

    

 A great birthday afternoon spent with a few good girlfriends.  Don't we all need that every now and again?  :)

 

Table Tutus

Sweets floating on a sea of tulle!

Table tutus here at SweetsIndeed. 

 

Stamping napkins

photo credit:  Family Circle

Like the look of imprinted napkins but not the cost?
Create cute personalized napkins to fit in with your decor by simply stamping them!
Get inexpensive white napkins and stamp each one with a theme.  One of the benefits of stamping is that you can have many different kinds of napkins for just the cost of a single stamp instead of custom imprinting costs. 

These make a great hostess gift as well!

Still time to: create a beautiful Thanksgiving centerpiece

In the November issue of Taste of Home magazine, I stumbled across this tablescape and thought I'd pass it along for those that are still trying to figure out something quick and easy to adorn their Thanksgiving table.  

Easy to recreate!  Get bud vases from the Dollar store or Goodwill.  Fill with wheat and surround with candles. 

Done!

Whoville Christmas

Christmas plans are well underway at my house!  My son is 3 and he's a large fan of the Grinch.  He watches it the whole year through.  I'm not sure he totally understands that it's even about Christmas, to be honest, but he loves it, none the less.  He sings the songs... recites the words.... etc.

This year will be the first year that he "gets" Santa Claus and the tree and all that jazz.  And this year will be the first year that we'll begin new traditions because there are always NEW traditions when you bring  a child into the mix.  I mean, my husband and I weren't laying out cookies for Santa before our son came along, right?  LOL

So this year, I've decided to Grinch up our Christmas and decorate in a Whoville theme.  I'll be posting some of the preparations here partly for my own memory, but also to serve as inspiration for others looking for something different to do this Christmas. And PLEASE, I encourage you, if you have had a Whoville or Grinch themed event in the past and have ideas or pictures, please leave comments with links.  I'd love to not only see them, but use them here for inspiration.  :)

Let's get started with a few things....

I found an amazing tall, narrow, swirled green tinsel tree at Goodwill the other day.  Not only perfect for Whoville, but HALF OFF!  This will be the primary Whoville tree.  I need to pop the thing up and take a picture so you can see it. 

First question my husband asked, "will we still put up our traditional tree?" 
Yes.  It would be a fire hazard to put lights on the tinsel tree and I HAVE to have a lighted tree at Christmas, so yes, we will still have our traditional tree.  We'll have a few trees up this year.  [shuffle]
I know several of you probably put more than one up at your house, right?  RIGHT?  LOL

So I've been stockpiling items in Whoville colors which are also the very trendy modern Christmas colors as well.  At the Dollar Store, I almost shrieked in delight when I saw these. 

 

Perfect, right?  Can you believe it?   These are about 10 inches tall and one dollar each!  In stores, these are at least $10 each.  I may be going back for more.  :)

They go perfectly with this holiday fabric by one of my favorite fabric designers, Michael Miller.  I plan to incorporate it somewhere.

 

Which also goes with this 24 inch tabletop tinsel tree that I have.  It's more lime colored in person.

 

I'll be posting several things between now and Christmas about how this comes together.  And a few Goodwill transformations like this.  I bought this Hickory Farms cheese plate/dome for $2. 

 

Yikes, right? 
I'll be painting it and covering up the farm scene with holiday themed paper or fabric.  This thing is small.  Maybe 8 inches in diameter.  And I have the perfect use for it!  We'll be using this to hold our cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.  

So stay tuned.... I'll be posting decorations either new or transformed into a second life!  And again, I'd love to hear your suggestions!

Tailgating!

Football season is here and tailgate preparations are in full swing!  Let's look at some fun items to get the wheels turning ...

Just because it's a casual tailgate, doesn't mean you can't have fabulous invitations! 
I love these from Oriental Trading and they are on clearance!  $10 for a dozen!

These really add to the table.  A "turf" tablecloth

or table runner

Plum Party has this great inflatable cooler

For serving beverages, the Etch-It has become popular.  No coin needed!  Just scratch your thoughts on with your finger!  You can get these at quite a few supermarkets.

Lots of fun ways to become the ultimate tailgater!

Everyday Events: Girly spa sleepover in zebra and hot pink!

My friend Julie threw a fun spa sleepover for her daughter's 10th birthday last weekend.  Super cute zebra stripes and hot pink were the palette and it turned out adorable!  A few details:

Zebra fabric runner with scattered "diamonds" and beads.  Fabric hot pink bows flanked the cake.

Glasses layered with M&Ms in the color scheme and of course the beautiful cake!

A close up of the cake.

 

Treat cones were draped on the chairs. 

Fun times were had by all and all the work worth it as her daughter told her "thanks, mom! This was the BEST party EVER!"   Can't beat that!   Great job, Jules!

Sidenote:  This theme would also work for a bachelorette party, wedding shower or adult birthday.
Super cute simple invitation that would fit in perfectly:

Ragu does vegetable centerpieces right!

Ragu generously sponsored one of the lunches at BlogHer and that's no small feat considering there were close to 1,400 attendees and this was not a luncheon that required RSVP.

I want to share with you a few of the photos of the set up because it was extremely well done.  The fabulous folks at Larry Abel Designs get all the credit for the event design. Even though the event was branded, it wasn't overdone or in your face.

Lunch entrance.

Tables/chairs were covered in one of my faves - spandex linens.  Sculptware provides a great video on installation if you're wondering how they work.  So easy and striking!

The best part... the edible centerpieces!  Large pasta bowls filled with tomatos, onions and "flowers" made from bell peppers and mushrooms! 

Second best part, this amazing, huge jar of Ragu made entirely out of vegetables! 
Oh and that's my good friend, NakedJen posing clothed.  She would normally pose naked, however, I did remind her that people were eating.  LOL

Go visit NakedJen.  She's fabulous and you should know her.  Everyone else at the conference did. I linked to her post about BlogHer for those interested. :)  However, I must warn you that her blog does contain nudity.  Duh, right?  NakedJen?

Moroccan inspiration!

One of my readers wrote in requesting ideas for a Moroccan themed event.  She's hosting a shower for a friend and needed a bit of a visual to pull it together.

I turned this one over to my friend, Dianne of Colorblind Productions in the New Jersey and New York City areas.   Dianne put together this inspiration board to get the ideas rolling of color schemes and decor used in a Moroccan theme occasion. From Dianne:

"Opulent and rich are the operative words when you think of a Moroccan color scheme.  The key is to transform the space to a sensual interior with the right decorating touches.  Rich color palettes, luxurious appearing decorations, lighting and theme inspired favors.    A major decor element that would immediately welcome the Moroccan theme would be a pavilion style tent or a grouping of smaller tents.  Fill the room with the fragrance of dried rosebuds, cinnamon , ginger, cumin and citrus peels in glass bowls.
 
Alternatives to authentic Moroccan decor can be found in Indian brass work or spanish iron work.  Even some South American pottery has equalities that embody the Moroccan theme. Think brass and gold finished items!"
 
To say that Dianne and her staff are multicultural experts would be a severe understatement.  They are particularly adept at mixing cultures at weddings.  A Chinese-Mexican wedding?  sure  What about Macedonian - Filipino? no problem!  Puerto Rican - Syrian?  easy!  

If you're in the NJ/NYC area and are looking for an expert in the multicultural event arena, contact Dianne and let her transform your space into a faraway oasis!