Party Invitations, Party Planning & Event Ideas

Valentine's Party

I recently put on a 3D Valentine's Day workshop for all of the girls!  They created over 4 fabulous projects while learning fun, new paper crafting techniques!  Just in time for Valentine's Day! 

The party table was a bit of a challenge for me as I am surrounded by boys... PINK is a hard colour to come by in my house!  I created fun tissue paper balls using a 1 1/2" styrofoam ball, 6" squares of tissue and lots of hot glue.  I love how they turned out! 

 

The decor was found in a variety of places.  I used a swatch of coordinating wrapping paper in a picture frame from my bathroom, I made fabric hearts out of scraps of material and I displayed all of our fun workshop projects (which included: a Valentine's Day card, triangle boxes, pin wheels and paper fortune cookies).

Of course I had to make PINK goodies!  My poor family was allowed to look but not touch until AFTER the party!

I love working with Rice Krispie treats!  I molded them into fun heart shapes, decorated them and put them on a stick!  These were yummy party favors for all of the guests!  You can find the tutorial here.    

For more fabulous event details and photographs please visit It's My Party Events.   

Eye Of The Tiger

Sorry about the title...it was just too easy to pass up. February 14 marks the beginning of Year Of The Tiger, and there are so many amazing party ideas for your own Chinese New Year celebration!OK, bits and pieces first....sushi and sake-inspired invite from Madi & Company; Japanese incense kits from Beau-coup would be so pretty as a parting gift; make your own sweet fortune cookies from a piecrust. How about using a silk-brocade coin purse to hold the details of your soiree? Can one ever be tired of making paper fortune cookies? I love how she used coordinated paper; Martha's floral balls. I. am. in. love. with. this. birthday. party! I am drooling over the details of design*dump's absolutely amazing party for her 8 year old daughter, inspired by a purchase made a few years back. That is so my kind of party because I'm always buying stuff thinking 'you never know when you'll need it'. There is just so much eye candy at Bridal Bubbly's bridal shower. No detail was missed, from the stunning bamboo centerpieces to a pond structure with real goldfish, down to the fortune cookie garnishes on the glasses and mini bamboo steamer favors. Be inspired by these two beautiful parties from In Good Company's Good News 13; both spreads feature great party decor, and give lots of tips and ideas for activities and fab favors. Saffron 59's simple white table is elegant with gorgeous flower centerpieces and red lanterns.

Not enough? Check out my post from last year. Not Just A Mommy! 

New Year's Disco Ball Bash

Everyone loves a bit of glamour and decadence on New Year's. Celebrate the famed Ball Drop with your own Disco Ball Bash! Silver, white and red are all perfect as your jump-off point.

Set your table with a silver tablecloth and white china, and accent napkins with red ribbon. Collect various sizes of pillar candles and mimic this fabulous tabletop from In Style Parties. Don't you heart the giant disco ball over the table?

Another option, add lots of sparkle with reflective surfaces, silver candlesticks, votive holders and vases. Fill oversized glasses with decor items a la Setting The Mood With Jamee's bash, and check out all her silver pieces.

In addition to disco ball ornaments, add to the bling with flat marbles, acrylic diamonds and sprinkles like this table setting from HWTM.

Social Couture's Hollywood Bash is complete with beautiful feather accents and I just love the mirrored napkin rings.

Dig out all of your candleholders and use them as support stands to create smaller-scaled accent pieces like these from Admar Decor .

Of course there will be these cupcakes from Paula Deen.

Have guests create their own blinged-out party hat, set up a photo area with a few more fun props like oversized sequined glasses and let the fun begin. Send the photos home as a thank-you card.

End the party and begin the new year right with these cute cookie favors from No Fuss Fabulous! I love how a simple cookie becomes a thoughtful treat and even better, she has provided the tag download for free! Not Just A Mommy!

Delightfully Unique Thanksgiving Ideas

The leaves have changed their colors, the wool sweaters have come out of hibernation, and the sweet smell of cinnamon potpourri permeates throughout the department stores. This can only mean one thing- Thanksgiving's around the corner! Here are a few simple yet unique ideas that are sure to stand out with your guests!

1. Pumpkin Spice Cupcake Recipe

2. Thanksgiving Treat Boxes

3. Pumpkin Pie Cookie

4. Candy Corn Cupcake Recipe

More ideas at Sweet Cuddlecakes 

Old-fashioned 4Th of July Crafts

Create these charming paper crafts for the upcoming Fourth of July Holiday.
These crafts can be created with simple craft supplies, newspaper and crepe paper. Find all the instructions and Victorian printouts at Country Living.
Posted by Entertain Exchange.

Stars And Stripes

Yikes! Fourth of July is zooming up fast!! Nothing screams independance like this invitation from Fine Stationery, to get your party started, and inspiring today's board.

Keep your cool with patriotic fans.

These festive lanterns are perfect for keeping little hands busy. BTW, we've made these before, super fun and easy, and you can change the colors for any season.

Let your table be the star...a super-easy centerpiece from HWTM; tablesettings can include these napkin rings and heavy weight dinner plates.

The perfect signature cocktail? Celebrations' Berry Breeze.

And of course, I had to throw in my super-cute Jello parfaits from last year, easy to make and eat! Not Just A Mommy!

Spring and Easter From Williams-Sonoma

Williams-Sonoma

Love Is In The Air

My last post was for the bitter; today's for the hopeless John Cusack-blasting-Peter Gabriel romantics. (And how heavy was that boombox in 1989???)

If You’ve Been Kissed By Cupid…
Invite a mix of sweethearts and singles to your love nest for a Dessert and Cocktails Party.

Food Check out my Dessert Party for some great tips. My biggest tip would be to stick to foods that don’t require much silverware - mini brownie bites, cheesecake bites, etc. People want to mingle, not try to balance eating off a plate with a fork. Use cookie cutters to shape ice cream sandwiches into hearts, and roll the edges in red sprinkles.

Signature cocktails Try a Celestial Fizz; cognac, Grand Marnier and cranberry juice, a Sweetheart cocktail made from fresh strawberries and strawberry liqueur, or chocolate martinis complete with chocolate syrup to coat rim of martini glass.

The Ambiance Set out these square votives, and beautiful red fishbowls filled with your favorite white flowers. Turn off the volume and have a tear-jerker playing in background; classics like Casablanca or An Affair to Remember, or more recent flicks like Love Actually, or Sweet Home Alabama. Play Spin the Bottle where players take a kiss, tell the truth, do a dare or take a drink.

Playlist Get everyone in the mood with such ballads as the before-mentioned "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel, John Mayer's "Your Body is a Wonderland", Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love", "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles, and the oh-so-not-subtle "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye.

Favors Have a heart or lip-shaped piñata filled with chocolate coins, condoms, small bottles of body paint and other adult goodies.

All My Single Ladies...

For some people, there is no crueler day than Valentine's Day. All the hearts, paper cupid cutouts, and over-priced-restaurant-couple deals can be sickening to say the least. Yes, we get it, you have a sweetie, UGH! 

Being single (by choice or circumstance) on Valentine's Day shouldn't make you feel like an exhibit in a freakshow; people pointing and staring, inviting you to be their "third wheel", trying to fix you up with a loser they would never consider the other 364 days of the year, etc. etc. Take charge and throw an event every couple you know will be envious of. Get your single gals and guys together, and....

If You Think Cupid’s Stupid…

Host an Ex-orcism
Have everyone bring pictures of their most dastardly exes and let the ex-games begin! When guests arrive, give them each a heart cutout on which to write an embarrassing tidbit of ex-trivia, from "He has a few 'bedroom problems' " to “Her breath was kickin' like judo!" Have guests guess which juicy morsel goes with which ex.

Name That Song
Play down-on-love Charades with a selection of lyrics from tunes like, Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With it", "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood, or Beyonce's "Irreplacable".

Create "art" on your ex
Using their pictures, hand out some permanent markers and go crazy. Give them titles like, "My Ex Without Me" or "Without Make-up". A prize should be awarded for the best work of art. Another fun activity - Write out your ex's full name, and create an acronym. For example: Clown-like, Hairy chest, Rude, Ignorant, Slovenly.

Playlist
Take comfort in these "inspirationals"; Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone", "Cry Me a River" and "What Goes Around...Comes Back Around" by Justin Timberlake, Amy Winehouse's "Love Is A Losing Game" and of course Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name".

Food
Set up a "Cheesy Valentine’s Day" spread. Set up a fondue station of your favorite cheeses with veggies and cubes of crusty garlic bread, so there is no chance of anyone trying to hook up at your party. Serve on this party set. Line up bottles of your favorite spirits and label them Love Potions numbers 1- 8. Class up the joint with your own cool shoot glasses. Check out Fred's Cool Shooters fill and chill molds.

Favors
Plum Party has great "Forget Him" tea packs. Bitterness reigns supreme over at Despair.com with their BitterSweets, featuring three unique collections - "Dejected", "Dysfunctional", and "Dumped". Candies are printed with such lovely gems as U LEFT SEATUP, BACK 2 KENNEL, and CELIB8 THX2U.

Need more inspiration? Check out my bitter break-up post. Not Just a Mommy! 

Free Valentines Day Goodies

The Curiosity Group a design firm in Portland, OR designs party kits, cards, photo cards and invitations for many clients. I particularly like these Valentine's day projects that you can download for free from from their clients over at HP.

The Groovy Love Mail Kit comes with a really cute mailbox, cards and stickers. Not your typical valentine's box!

The Valentine's Day Flower looks like a fun project to make too and are really quite pretty.

You can download more stuff free from HP here