Party Invitations, Party Planning & Event Ideas

Pink Parisian Bunco Party

Kylie hosted her first bunco party for 15 girlfriends this past weekend and decided the kickoff party had to be a Pink Parisian theme.

Invitation:Pink background with a Parisian cafe scene across the top and black and white damask along the bottom. The wording said: "Come to an evening in Pink Paris, For a Bunco Bonne Fete, C'est Magnifique!"

Decorations:Pink, hot pink, black, white, and silver were the colors she used. The party was held outside in her backyard so she had twinkly lights in the trees and candles on the tables. She made tissue paper pompoms and hung them in the trees.  She bought balloon lights from Michaels and strung them through the pompom so they glowed.  At the end of the light she hung a pink crystal with fishing wire so they looked like floating diamonds in the trees. She used black and white tablecloths and used the same crystals hanging in the trees in vases on the tables with "fake" candles to cast a pink glow. She designed and created all the bunco materials and each table had a different theme (Eiffel Tower, poodle, "Paris", and parisian cafe.) In the house I had more lighted pompoms with drop crystals, glitter garland (from Martha Stewart), strings of pink crystals in the windows, and pink, white, and black serving pieces.

Food:Chocolate dipped strawberries, strawberry wafer cookies, gougere, tray of french cheese and crackers, macaroons, puffed pastries, brownies, cookies, mini quiche, tomato and cucumber salad, and chips and dip. She also had lots of French wine and sparkling pink lemonade.

Wow factors for the guests:The twinkly tissue paper pompoms dripping with crystals. Everyone loved those and it was a fairly easy (although time consuming project). The coordinated scorecards, table tents, and tally sheets, wine charms, and accessories were a big hit as well.

You can purchase the Pink Parisian Bunco Set at http://www.etsy.com/listing/56344716/pink-parisian-french-bunco-bunko-party

Thanks Kylie for submitting this great party!

Photos by: Tricia Breidenthal.

Balloons and Polka Dots

Oops... I am a day late and a dollar short! I hope you all will forgive me when you see the sweetness of today's post! 

How cute is this 3rd birthday party? I love the cake and the details!

What a great, easy way to do bunting!

So sweet!

Until next week! xoxo EventLucky 

DIY Pirate Party: Eye Patch

Hello! Hope you have been following my Pirate DIY Party this month as this is the second installment; here is the first, DIY Pirate Invites.

This week we are delving into a world that lacks depth perception... Yup, were doing the famous pirate eye patch! These are so easy to make and ridiculously cheap! I probably spent 5 dollars on enough material to make 15 eye patches. This would be super fun to actually do at the party so the kids (or adults for that matter) can put their own twist on it. Here we go!

 

Supplies:

Black felt (enough for your attendees, about 1.5” square per person)

White felt (same amount as black)

Black Stretchy Cord (I have a child-sized head and used about 18 in to loop around my head)

Scissors

Hot Glue or Regular Glue if you want to make it kid-friendly

Sharpie

Step One:

Cut about a 1.5” square out of the felt (you could probably do a 1” for kids)

Step Two:

Fold the square in half. Then cut a slight curve on the very top half of the square. On the bottom, cut a more “u” shape. Unfold and make sure its the shape you want. I spent maybe 3 attempts to get it perfect. (or you can use my template)

 

 

 

Step Three: 

Using the first template you made, cut out as many patches as you need.

Step Four:

Cut two small slits in the top of your patch so the stretchy cord can slide through, Like this (the pencil is just to show contrast):

 

Step Five:

Cut out your stretchy cord to your desired length. Like I said earlier, my head is tiny, about the size of an 8 year old and I used a foot and a half of cord. Have your kids be the model or, if its an adult party, you be the model!

Step 6:

Thread your stretchy cord through the slits and tie off.

 
 

Step 7:

Using the white felt, draw a “jolly roger” that fits your eye patch (or use template). Then draw in eye holes with your Sharpie.

 

Step 8:

Put it on and look FIERCE!

 
 

Arg!

Okay, that picture is ridiculous. But hey, I always say if you do it with confidence, no one will question you. So I hope you go make your eye patches in confidence, now that you’ve got a little know-how!

Until next Friday for DIY Pirate Party,

its Christine

Just Loverly

ps Another good pirate-themed band is Flogging Molly. Though again, probably not for kids. I’ll find a good one next week for the kiddos!

 

Scary Spooky Halloween Invitations

Scary and Spooky Halloween Invitations from Sendomatic.com. Most designs have creepy sounds and music - hosts can sell event tickets, post to calendars, send text or phone call reminders. Enjoy!

 
  

Party Box Design Invitation Giveaway

I love to throw all types and sizes of parties, and I'm quite obsessed with invites. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, it sets the tone and gets your guests excited!  If you haven't heard, I would like to introduce you to Party Box Design, 'Anything And Everything Party'. Her shop is filled with incredibly fun party collections for every occasion. Check out my faves from her hot new Halloween line, just in case you are working on your upcoming holiday soiree...

Perhaps you just need some inspiration for the next birthday party or shower you're hosting? Head over and check out her blog, it's chockful of great party planning ideas and tips! To help you get your party started right, Jessica is giving one of my lucky readers their choice of a PBD invitation in the form of an E-invitation!

Once you choose an invite and customize your text, you will receive a high quality JPEG file which you can
a. go green and email to your party guests
b. print out as many copies as you need from your own computer or favorite photo lab

And psst...you can purchase all kinds of other custom party goodies to go with that snazzy new invite....maybe some cupcake toppers, or stickers for treat bags. And don't fret dearies, your prize is good for ONE year, so you have plenty of time to plan.

Interested?  Of course you are, who isn't interested in free party invitations!  Come visit my blog for a chance to enter, but don't waste time, it ends September 14! Not Just A Mommy!

Kids Campout Party

Thank you Lisa from Moore Minutes for sharing with us a Kids Campout Party! Enjoy!

Beautiful Elephants

I am obsessed with India. This amazingly painted elephants just make me think of all of the magical opportunities of this colorful land.

Well, I must not be the only one obsessed with elephants. I have seen this shirt on no less than 3 women in 2 days in Manhattan.

I think that elephants are going to be the next party trend! How cute would these items be at a baby shower or kids party?

1. Shopsimplethings Blue and Yellow Animal Parade Pennants on Grosgrain  2. Bombay Elephant Pillow and Udaipur Elephant/GiraffePillow 3. Decoylab Modern Baby Clock
4. Fauna Baby Romper - Elephant  5. Elephant-Print Short One-Piece 6. Q Collection Junior Elephant Parade Boudoir Pillows 7. TajBlanket in Pouch  8. Weepereas Reversible Baby Shoes

What do you all think? Do you see an elephant trend forming?

Until Next Week! xoxo EventLucky

Pirate Party Tutorial : The Invitations

I come from a family that likes to honor random holidays. You know the ones that no one really knows about, but are fun to celebrate anyways? Well my sister loves Flag Day (June 14th) and I love Talk Like A Pirate Day, which is September 19th. I really wanted to do a Pirate-inspired DIY in honor of this exciting day! Of course you can do this for a birthday, too :-) 

The first thing you need for a party are invitations. So I am going to show you how to make a treasure map invite! Here we go!

Supplies:
Off white paper or light antique paper
Printer
Computer (with a dash of computer savvy)
Pirate Font

Step One:
Open up your computers’ processing software (I used Word for Mac, but most any will do) and type up your parties info in a text box using a stylistic font. I used Blackmore LET that comes with the Mac or you can get this cool free pirate font at Dafont.com  I sized the text box to fit a little bigger than half page so it was a good size, but still fit in my regular envelopes. If I were making more of these, I would probably make them smaller so I can get 2 to a page. That is the beauty of using a text box; very little reformatting if you change your mind! Here is what my invitation said:

There be treasure to be found!
Come to 1224 Main St USA
on
Sunday Sept 19th

to find treasure beyond your wildest dreams!

We will set sail at 2 pm for the adventure of you life.

Any scallywags will walk the plank ARG!

You can have lots of fun with the format, size and info, just make sure it goes with the pirate theme! You could add a secret password to get into the party; everyone could request the right of “parley”, like in Pirate of the Caribbean. Very Piratey.

Step Two:
To add the dashed line for the map part, select the “draw it yourself” tool, usually under the “insert” header. Then scribble to your hearts content till you have the best path that doesn’t distract from your words. Then all you have to do is format the line. I made mine a 6 pt line that is dashed and red. I did the same for the “x”.

 

Step Three:
Print on your paper of choice. In hindsight, I wish I would have used either old book paper or maybe even and old map I have lying around somewhere. So moral of the story, don't limit yourself to what I do, get creative with your piratey self!

Step Four:
Tear the edges of the paper, using your fingers or a flat edge to guide the tears. You definitely don’t want to tear it into your beautiful creation!

 

Step Five:
Now this goes against every fiber of my being, but crumple the paper at least 4 or 5 times to achieve a “distressed look”. This would be an awesome time to get the kids involved!

 

Step Six:
Repeat steps 3-5 as many times as you need until you have enough invitations for your party

Hope this inspires you to create your own rad invites! I will see you guys next week for the next installment of my Pirate Party Tutorial!

Wishing you crafty success, 

Christine JustLoverly

p.s. I made this eye patch while listening to The Decemberists. Definitely good for an adult pirate party! You can check out their songs on Playlist.com