Create My Event - Event & Party Ideas Blog

Napkin Rings

Often underused, napkin rings are a quick way to add decorative flair to the table. They are easy to make just by tying a colored ribbon around each napkin and adding a small flower or some glass beads, but even if you're not the crafty type there are so many different rings for sale you can make your table look unique for only a few dollars. Four of my favorites below: at these prices you could change them out each season, or even each event

Cute zinc Starfish Tied with Nautical Rope. $3.50 each from Crate and Barrel.

Whimsical Feathers and Grosgrain Ribbon. 4 for $20 by decorativeinstincts on etsy.

Stylish laser-cut Wood Veneer Rings by Sarah Finn, in mahogany or maple. 6 for $22 at A+R Store

Quirky Ant Napkin Ring Set, in black or white metal. 4 for $24 at 2modern

Herbalicious Spring Party

We had an exceptionally mild winter here on Long Island and almost all my herbs, with the exception of basil, survived. That gave me an idea for my next bash. How about a herb-themed party?

I will decorate the table with small pots of different herbs: marjoram, oregano, thyme and sage, and tuck a few springs of lavender into the napkin rings.

Make name tags from brown paper and twine or buy these Garden Delight Gift Tags from etsy to tie around pretty jars of herbs that the guests can take home later as a memento of the evening.

Serve

Grilled Chicken Breasts with Salsa Verde
Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic; finely chopped
2 cups parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon basil, thyme, sage, oregano
4 tablespoons oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper

Blend herbs and garlic in a food processor or blender until they form paste. Add the oil, a little at a time, and mix well. Add the lemon juice, and season with sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

and Lavender-Honey Ice Cream

with Mint Juleps or Mojitos to drink:

Mojito
Ingredients:
2 parts white rum
1 part fresh lime juice
10 mint leaves
4 teaspoons sugar or 2 tablespoons simple syrup
Club soda
Spring of mint

Muddle mint and sugar in highball glass, add everything else except club soda. Fill glass with crushed ice, add club soda. Garnish with sprig of mint.

The house should smell wonderful, too.

Is that Edible?

Last week, I attended New York Magazine's Wedding event and the slew of participating caterers like Crave Catering + Events, R Cano Events and Sterling Affair put together fabulously inspiring presentations of treats and food so beautiful you wonder if they're edible!

For your next event, follow suit and forgo the normal cake and tea stand display. Instead,  "landscape" your buffet setup by blending your floral arrangement with hors d'oeuvres and sweets.  Use "natural resources" like banana leaves, a planter with some cut grass and nature-mimicking food items, like large sugar crystals that Crave Catering used to display their sugar-apples on.

For more on other inspirational wedding and party ideas I gathered from this event, please check out Modern Vintage Designs.

Blackboard Tags

Run, don't walk, to your local Pottery Barn! On sale now for $12.99, these mini chalkboard tags come in a set of six, chalk included. Available only in stores, grab a bunch of these sets and use them at your next dinner party. Hang them of wine bottles to let your guests know something about the wine your serving. Tie them around silverware and put your guests' names on the tag for a chic way to assign seats.

Go the extra mile and add more chalkboard details with chalkboard paint. For a shower, play a game of Jeopardy! Paint small 5X7 heavy paper boards (frame them in something pretty if you want - sans glass cover of course) and let guests use them to write out their answers.

For more chalkboard chic ideas, check out Modern Vintage.

cupcake couture.

Love these cupcake wrappers from Paper Orchid Stationery, perfect for any occasion where you're in need of some fabulous desserts!

From Something Old, Something New.  

Wee Itsy-Bitsy Halloween

Participating or throwing a Halloween party that include the wee ones? If you want everyone to have fun – you will need to think about your littlest members of your family. Though kids as young as 2 can enjoy dressing up, many a child gets freaked out at Halloween. Grasping what is “pretend” is a much older developmental skill. Here are a few ideas to get ready for the party, see more ideas at my blog-memorablegatherings.blogspot.com

Halloween Prep:
** Take some night-time walks in your neighborhood.
** Light a few candles the week before Halloween.
** Play games with turning lights on and off.
** Try costumes on and play in them.
** Try dressing up Fiddo in a fun costume- these always reveal the pet's face and can help kids start to understand fantasy and costumes... kids so identify with their beloved pets in powerful ways!
** Dress up a teddy bear for the holiday together, so that they can see a costume coming on and off beloved teddy.
** Read some books...non-scary books include:
- Dappled Apples, Froggy’s Halloween, Halloween Cats, Halloween Hats, It’s Pumpkin Time, Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin

Watch some non-scary holiday movies together:
- Monsters Inc., Incredibles, Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Monster Squad, House of Mouse Halloween, Veggie Tales

Throwing the party?
Learn from the experts! You can attend or borrow ideas from hosted kid-friendly Halloween activities. They are good role models about what works well. These can be found at:
** Public Libraries
** Zoos
** Nature Centers
** Botanical Gardens
** Nature Hiking areas
** Pumpkin Patches
** Farms

Other ways to get in the “spirit”? Choose for the first couple years to Trick-or-Treat only at friends and family's houses or attend Harvest Festivals at local churches, where they will know you and adjust for your wee ones.

Party image from: Carolyne Roehm

Best Pumpkin Carving Patterns on the Net

After years of carving goofy, toothy, triangle-eyed pumpkins as a kid, I've carried my love of jack-o-lanterns into adulthood. These days, my love of all things spooky often inspires creepier carvings. But if the internet is any indicator of how many ways a pumpkin can be carved, the possibilities are endless. This list of sites offers tutorials, creative ideas, and printable patterns you can use to recreate styles that range from classic to outrageously hilarious.

Seed of the Zombie Pumpkins! -My favorite Tim Burton inspired patterns! Check out the Rock Gods and the Freakish Freebies Collections. For $2 you gain immediate access to 2 patterns of your choice; paying $5-$20 earns unlimited access to all 138 and entry into a random prize drawing.

Pumpkin Carving 101 -Details every step of the process: choosing your pumpkin, pumpkin carving tools, traditional carving, pattern trace carving, and lighting your jack-o-lantern.
Advice on photographing your creations, growing your own pumpkin patch, and giving your spooky sidekicks a proper burial after they've rotted past their prime.

The Pumpkin Wizard -400 Free patterns as well as a Members Only section.

The Pumpkin Lady -Browse the free patterns section for some great classic pumpkin faces.

Carving Simulator -Not sure how your idea for a carving will turn out? Test it on this free simulator. Hand draw what you'd like to cut out with your mouse. When you're finished, press Done to illuminate your pumpkin for a preview of your carving.

Virtual Jack-O-Lantern -Want to share your spooky spirit with distant friends and family? This simulator allows you to send email greetings to your loved ones.

Extreme Pumpkins -Jack-o-lanterns like you've never seen them before.

SIMPLE HINTS ABOUT FLOWERS FROM THE FLOWER DISTRICT

Pictured: "prairie gentian"

Flower districts or flower marts in large cities are the premier resource for growers, shippers, suppliers, wholesalers, distributors, floral designers, and retail florists. Though primarily a wholesale operation, they are open to the public during certain hours for retail purchases.

This is not your normal shopping experience. Do not expect salesclerks and glamour or overstuffed chairs. It is cold (for the flowers) industrial, busy and intense! But, you can get some spectacular flowers for you party or event for amazing prices.

Bring cash. You'll get better prices. Say "Paying cash, how much?" Don't haggle with people like a shark. Flower people are some of the nicest folks you'll meet.

Be nice. The nicer you are (asking people's names, etc.), the more "flexible" they will be with you.

Go early. There will be no selection left if you are showing up at 9 am. They have likely been going since an ungodly hour like 4 am! The start of your day is the end of their day.

Only touch / pick up flowers that you are strongly considering - excessive and needless handling of flowers can damage their stock. They will observe this and not appreciate you.

Use care. If you pick up a flower and there is water dripping from the stem onto their container of flowers will damage their stock. They will observe this and not appreciate you. Amateur alert!

Gentle examination. If the blossom is closed on a loose petal variety of flower, you can blow one blossom open gently with your breath to see the inside.

To get organized when decorating for an event, make a dress rehearsal run down to the mart to determine parking, growers that you like and seasonal selection the week before your event.

Kuler Your Party

For both the color obsessed and the color challenged, Adobe Labs has developed a web-based color wheel community called kuler. Designed to compliment the Adobe Creative Suite, it offers a public forum to cultivate and swap color schemes. The easy to use program is self-explanatory. Browse designs by Newest, Highest Rated, or Most Popular.

Click “Create” on the homepage to make your own. If you have a few colors in mind, but don’t know how to organize them, try creating a scheme according the one of the Rules provided. Analogous provides similar colors, Monochromatic will give you colors in the same family but in different hues, Triad will give you three harmonizing color families.

Complementary will provide you with opposites, while Compound will serve up opposites and similar but not-quite-opposites. Shades looks much like the paint sample strip you might pick up at the home improvement store, showcasing the same color in various tints. With any of these selected, you can change the location of flags on the color wheel, or move the spindles on the color levels below each color block to change your scheme, much like any Color Picker available in Desktop Publishing Programs and Adobe Software.
The Custom option is where you can make a truly unique scheme. If you discover something fantastic, save it MyKuler, the area designed for your own color schemes. If you’re especially fond of your scheme, and want to share it with the world, publish it, so site browsers can find your distinctive palate. I’ve used this site for several projects, and I’m always thrilled with the results.

Wonderful Graffiti

Innovative brides will love this one... Wonderful Graffiti offers a breath of fresh air in the over saturated no-commitment vinyl wall decal market.  These whimsical designs adhere to walls, doors, floors, furniture...anything that will hold still.  Custom monograms, succinct quotations, and quirky motifs are a perfect way to add personality to an otherwise bare wall.  Think loft wedding! Choose from one of their options or create your own with their very cool design program.  Go ahead.  Write on the wall. 

by Kate Sinclair of Life In Style.