Create My Event - Event & Party Ideas Blog

TIME to celebrate

Hi all!

Denise here and I’m a new guest blogger at Create My Event. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of a blog dedicated to one of my loves...entertaining!

In my opinion there is always time for a party!

You don’t need a birthday, holiday or some other big event to host a great shindig. Sometimes all it takes is a free morning, some creativity and a great group of friends to have a memorable party.

I recently hosted a brunch at my home with a theme that celebrates simply for the sake of celebrating. The theme...TIME. Although the party I hosted was for a friend’s birthday this theme was specifically created to be used as an anything theme. I went with “TIME to celebrate” but the time theme ideas are endless…

School TIME (for a start of the year party)
It’s about TIME (for the friend that is finally getting married, or a recent graduate)
Free TIME (an especially good theme for a just becasue party
TIME is ticking (an new take for an over the hill party)

The list could go on and on. I’d love to hear some of your thoughts. If you were planning this party what TIME theme would you go with?

This party was simple to put together. If you have been reluctant to throw a party because you’re not sure where to start I’d encourage you to go with this theme - it’s an “any one can do it” idea that your guest will oooh and aaah over.

So it’s about TIME to get started (total pun intended) I found the clocks at Ikea. To brighten them up I hit them with some spray paint in pink, orange and a couple shades of green. These served as my chargers. It was especially fun to watch the clocks tick away as we enjoyed our meal.

The centerpieces were pink and green photo stands (again found at Ikea - a great source for a party) that I tied fun watches to. The watches were found at a clothes store - Forever 21 and came in pink, orange and white with a little bling for sparkle. To fill out the centerpiece I added cupcakes with candles. This proved to be an easy and inexpensive way to complete the centerpiece plus it made dessert easy to serve.

Now all you need to do is throw in your own plates, glasses and utensils and invite some friends over - it’s really that simple. But wait, it gets simpler. Act now and I’ll throw in (said in my best infomercial voice) the chance for you to win these chargers, photo stands and watches so that you can throw your own TIME bash. Head on over to my blog at Little Ant Design and enter the giveaway. But hurry this offer ends Tuesday the 23rd (again, in my best infomercial voice)

Travel Keepsakes that Don't Cost a Dime

I am sure many of you have been busy traveling during this summer season, taking photographs to capture the memories and purchasing great things that you have found along the way.  Here is a tip that you can incorporate into your next adventure in addition to your fun photos and purchased treasures.  It is something that I learned from my mom, is free and makes for a great visual display when you get back home. 

Whether it be a rock I found on a hike in Europe or a seashell I have discovered on the beach in California, I always make sure I pick up a stone or something I have found while I am visiting someplace new.  I bring it home with me, write the place and the date on the item with permanent marker and place it in glass vase. I have various glass vases displaying my little treasures, making sure the writing can be seen.  I keep my collection of rocks, seashells and even wood pieces in my front room, which makes for great decoration as well as conversation, and reminds me of my various vacations and adventures.   

Color Me Beautiful, Mr. Moore

If you're in the market for a little home improvement this weekend and have been agonizing over paint chips and color schemes...get excited.  House Beautiful Magazine and Benjamin Moore Paints have come together to make the "what color should we do the bathroom" decision process a little easier, and a lot more fun.  Go on line to play with their new Paint Brush tool and experiment with the thousands of gorgeous shades that could bring new life to that old wall.  You can choose from a variety of decor styles and rooms in a kaleidescope of colors- sure to keep you mixing and matching for hours on end.  It's Nintendo for the decorating set...outstanding.

Visit the HB PaintBrush and let the fun begin.  by Kate Sinclair of Life In Style.

Easter Egg Decorating Party

Who says egg decorating is only for children?  It is fun for all ages, so plan a party this Saturday night so you'll be ready for Easter Sunday (yes, it is THIS Sunday!).  The sky is the limit on ideas for this party...

Start with an e- invitation from Sendomatic.com.  Easter Eggs is the perfect one for this party.  Be sure to have plenty of hard-boiled eggs ready for your guests when they arrive.  You can buy packages of egg dyes or you can try making your own natural easter egg dyes.  You can have contests for the prettiest egg - and give little prizes (jelly beans, chocolate bunny, etc.).  If this is a brunch, you could make poached eggs, deviled eggs, or a tasty quiche.   If it is a dinnertime event, for dessert, place a perfectly round scoop of yellow (mango, lemon, etc) sorbet or sherbet in a small bowl of fluffy whipped cream.  It will look just like a freshly cracked egg!

Enjoy your company AND your creativity at this event - and most of all, have a very happy and healthy Easter!

Easy Party Banners

Custom party banners are easy to make, and quick, too! You'll need card stock, ribbon (enough for the length of your banner + 5") hot glue gun, oh, and your computer, or markers or paint.

Using your favorite computer program, print the letters for your banner from your computer onto cardstock. For the "Let's Party" banner above, we placed 2 letters on a horizontal sheet of letter size cardstock and then cut the page in half. You can also hand write or paint the letters directly onto the cardstock.

Arrange the letters in order, and turn over so that the back side of the cards are facing you and the phrase reads backwards (as seen above). Hot glue a continuous strip of ribbon to the back of each letter near the top of the cardstock and also a 2nd strip at the bottom, leaving at least 5" extra at the end of each side. The extra ribbon will be used for hanging the banner. 5/8" or wider ribbon works best. The longer the banner, the wider your ribbon should be.

Hang the banner by the extra ribbon by tacks, tape or knots, add some balloons, streamers, and you've got an instant personalized party!

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Info and images provided by the paper-peeps at Anna Bella Stationery.

Get the party started with paper tubes

There are two key elements to successful party decorating:
1. Coordinating pieces
2. A lot of them

But you don't have to break the bank to achieve maximum decorating bliss, so go on, put your wallet away. All you need is a ream of paper, double sided tape, some string, and a bit of time - the perfect ingredients for the perfect party decorating diva, the paper tube! Uh, huh. Paper tube. It can solve any decorating dilemma.

Let's start with coordinating pieces.
You've got a color scheme (if you don't have one yet, I'll wait a moment while you get one)...OK, so you've got a color scheme. Transfer this to a sheet of translucent vellum via your ink jet or with markers or whatever you're handy with. Then, measure the height and the circumference of a votive candle holder, cut the vellum to size, wrap around your votive, secure with double sided tape and you're done! Instant ambiance!

Decorate an entire sheet of paper, roll up and attach string in 3 places, forming a triangle. Gather the strings in the middle and you've got an instant paper lantern. Carry the tube theme throughout your party - even your napkins. Cut short strips of paper, long enough to wrap around a rolled napkin and secure with double sided tape. Go through every detail of your party in your mind and ask yourself, "What can I wrap a paper tube around?" You can wrap vases, silverware, invitations, bowls, plates, cups - it's infinite. And you don't have to decorate your own paper. Save time buy purchasing some funky wrapping paper or scrapbook paper.

Let's focus on the "a lot of them" part of decorating.
Multiples of anything in coordinating colors makes an impact and give parties the "wow" factor you're looking for. Don't just add one small pot of flowers in the center of the table (with your paper tube around the base of the pot). Add 5 or 6 or more - add one to each place setting. Don't just hang a few paper lanterns here and there, hang tons of them. Fill the sky (or your living room ceiling) with paper lanterns, all at different lengths to create interest and drama.

What's neat about paper tubes is they're inexpensive to make, easy to make, and make you look like the hostess with the mostest. You'd better get started...you've got about 50 more paper lanterns to make!

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Info and images provided by the paper-peeps at Anna Bella Stationery.