Create My Event - Event & Party Ideas Blog

Fabulous Thanksgiving Tabletops

Stumped on ideas for a dazzling Thanksgiving tabletop?  Here are a few easy and stunning ways to glorify your tabletop.

When I saw this absolutely fab table from cb2, I had to order the bark and orange comma plates, plus, they're on sale! I love the leaves and the runner on the table, so clean and mod, and easily duplicated.

Here are some other great tabletop ideas....what can be simpler than a candle surrounded by dry corn? Line up a set of appetizer plates intriguingly garnished with large sunflower heads. A white-pumpkin shell becomes the vase for a colorful arrangement of roses, daffodils, ranunculuses, and other flora in fall colors. Smaller pumpkins and votive candles in orange-glass holders fill out the centerpiece. This luscious table arrangement of wheat and other dried grasses can be made weeks ahead. A pine cone place card on a bed of leaves. Make a "Thankful Tree” - Insert a branch into a terracotta pot filled with stones or rice. Cut out leaf shapes and have guests write on them what they are thankful for, and hang onto the tree. Use magnolia leaves to create a series of glowing centerpieces with large white pillar candles in glass vases. Use your menu as decor. Set pears, mini pumpkins and other seasonal offerings as place settings, and group bread sticks in drinking glasses. Not Just A Mommy!

Host a Dessert Party

A great party idea to get your favorite gal pals together! Nothing says the sweet life like an indulgent Just Desserts Party, and I recently hosted one this weekend.

I downloaded these print-and-mail invitations from Real Simple, and just filled in the details.

A palette of pinks and browns set a perfect scene. Have small, tight bouquets of your favorite pink flower in low glasses or silver vases. I used pink and red carnations. (BTW, the empty baby wipes container was for entering a drawing for a hand-painted martini glass, that I, wait for it, painted by hand.) Pink paper cupcake liners can turn an ordinary strand of white lights into a string of delicate blossoms.

No need for a stuffy tablecloth, instead pretty paper doilies are all you need to set off your dessert stands. Scored mine from the dollar store. And aren't you loving my striped coasters? They're from Social Couture. Have different kinds of dessert locations: fruits and cheeses in the kitchen, pastries on the dining table and a chocolate fountain at the sideboard. I served store-bought napoleons, strawberry shortcake served in martini glasses, homemade moon pies frosted with powdered sugar, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, fruit, and a truffle bar. Check out the amazing truffle recipe I used. I set out bowls of crushed chocolate candies, shredded coconut and powdered sugar for guests to roll their truffles in, then place in parchment-lined candy boxes to take home.

Serve flavored coffees or have a full coffee bar, complete with cream, sugar, cinnamon sticks, vanilla syrup with regular and decaf coffees. We had milk in pretty carafes and sparkling apple cider served in wine glasses.

For an added touch, send guests home with pretty toothbrushes wrapped in clear cellophane, tie the ends with bakery string and a tag that reads: “Sweet Tooth RX”. Or try candy sushi in miniature takeout boxes. I prefer this version that uses donuts and Twinkies instead of Rice-Crispy treats, because those are a pain to make (as if I don't have enough to do already!) Not Just a Mommy!

Recycled Aluminum Modern Candelabra

A Modern Candelabra made of recycled aluminum that can be used from Halloween through New Years - reasonably priced - display several for a stunning holiday centerpiece. $20 at www.2modern.com.

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)

Halloween 2008 - The Table's the Thing

Continuing on with our Halloween series, let's focus on tablescapes. The food is where everyone gravitates to at any party, so really make it stand out. Regardless of your party there are only two types, a buffet or a sit-down table. Here are some ideas to get you off and running towards your nearest craft store.

Halloween Buffet Table Ideas - A buffet is great for children's parties or if you are hosting a large adult party. Check out these ideas from BHG.com: A groan-ups' Halloween buffet table complete with tantalizing treats and decadent decor or this fa-boo-lous feast. A whimsical buffet complete with yummy mummy dogs and spiderweb soup will tickle the bones of all present. Martha Stewart's sweet-laden table is terrifying yet tantalizing.

Halloween Sit-Downs Table Ideas - Sandra-Lee's Semi-Homemade have a wonderful write-up on this tres chic tablescape. I especially love the candy bundles that serve as a place setting and a party favor. Have a spooky chic dinner party with HWTM's very hip tablescape. It's so easy to recreate this look with scrapbook paper and those plastic spider rings you can find just about anywhere. Their fun kids' table starts with a playful palette of bright purples, oranges, and greens for your table linens and partyware. Spell-bind your guests with Social Couture's ghoulish setting, complete with skulls and specimen bottles.  Not Just a Mommy!

Tropical White

One of the most elegant designs for your tabletop is the simple, all-white table. We created a formal tabletop that will impress your guests with white plates, white linens, simple flatware and clear stemware. You probably have many of the necessary elements to create this clean and modern look already at home.

We began with a white tablecloth and set a white dinner plate, glass salad plate and a small white bowl at each setting with a single Spider Lily blossom. Our flatware was simple stainless steel, but we set a formal table with two forks, spoon, knife and dessert spoon. Our glassware was also simple, but formally set with a water goblet, white wine and champagne flute. We printed individually monogrammed dinner menus on clear vellum and placed them at each setting to serve as both a menu and a place card for our guests.

To decorate our table we took three white dendrobium orchid plants in pots and painted the standard green pots white. Then we wrapped the pots in Spanish moss and placed white rocks over the dirt to create texture and interest to our all-white table. This centerpiece idea is not only easy, but also eco-friendly, as your orchid plant will live long after your dinner party. We mixed clear, glass candle votives with beautiful cut-crystal votives for additional dimension and soft dinner lighting.

For our favors we treated each guest to a pretty white box of Godiva chocolates decorated with a silver ribbon and charm.

For more photos and entertaining ideas go to Modern Living Hawaii. Aloha!

My Challenge: a Great Wedding Under $5000

so, i am super excited about this post. i know i haven't posted in a while {thanks for reminding me!}, but i have been so busy getting ready for my newest challenge. a fabulous wedding under $5000.

a very good friend of mine got engaged to her long time boyfriend. my girlfriend recently decided to quit her job and go for her master's and PhD, and then she spent her savings on a big down payment for a beautiful old house. all her extra money is going into the new/old house, but she still wants to have a semi-traditional wedding.

so, she called me up to ask me if i could help her. she wants a 'real' wedding, but she only wants to spend about $5000. of course i eagerly accepted the challenge, and the wheels in my mind have not stopped spinning.

research, research, and more research!

so last weekend, laurel and i got inspired to play around with some pretty table-scapes.

she wants her colors to be inspired by the beach. yellow for the sun, blue for the water, and neutrals for the sand. the wedding and reception will be on the beach, so we have so much natural beauty to help us out.

here is what we came up with. i would love to know what you guys think.

allison@occasionsandstyle.com

this first table is more formal. we used plain white cotton tablecloths with a watery blue chiffon fabric layered over the top. white, dotted swiss napkin were placed on top of silver charger plates so the napkins could hang from the table giving the table drape and more volume. my girlfriend has asked if she can use my china, and i of course obliged that request.

the china is a limoges pattern from tiffany&co called moderne. we also used my grandmother's silver and my crystal. the silver is faneuil also by tiffany&co. the crystal is the hampton pattern, again, from tiffany. it's very pretty, but it's not terribly ornate or cut, but heavy enough to be warm and elegant.

we scattered small votive candles in white and pale green.

laurel did these centerpieces. she used floral frogs to create the centerpiece of hydrangea. i bought the flowers from costco for $9!

i think i spent about $12 on this table between the flowers and the candles.

this is the second table we created.

this table was much more casual, but super fun and quite lovely. using the same white tablecloth i found some really sweet seersucker and stripe table runners at Target! i crisscrossed the runners to create 'place mats' instead of charger plates.

laurel, aka miss crafty made napkin rings from seashells i bought while i was at the beach. i think i payed a quarter for each shell, maybe even less! she glued white ric-rac onto a wide tan grosgrain ribbon. she tied the ribbon/shell napkin ring around a plain white cotton napkin. these can be purchased anywhere for any price!

the dinnerware is from Sur la Table. the deep robin's egg blue dinner plates with the pale yellow salad plates really made this table come to life.

we scattered tea lights around the center of the table and under the centerpiece. the flowers, again, Costco!! for $16.

we just basically threw more seashells around the table. i bought these seashells for my daughter and i think i spent about $10 on all of them.

i didn't want to use my formal crystal on this table, so we used some of my everyday wine glasses i found at Pier 1. i think i payed $3-4 per glass.

the sterling champagne bucket was also my grandmother's, and the bottle of perrier jouet in the bucket probably helped give me my late night energy to get this all done! the champagne flutes are the hand painted flutes that come with the perrier jouet gift set. my mother loved perrier jouet, so i have a set of about 20 of these flutes. lucky me!

all in all, i spent maybe $30 on this table. and, i think it's my favorite. i love casual elegance, and this table just makes me feel happy and easy.

if you have pretty china, crystal, and silver or you know someone who does, you can borrow them. if you can't borrow, then you can rent plain white china, and simple flatware and stemware. or, you can opt for a more casual table and use some fun, pretty everyday stuff.

i'm really excited about these tables. i think we can easily create this wedding for $5000!

i can't wait to read your comments!

allison@ occasions&style

A Modern Luau

When you hear of a "Hawaiian Luau Party" images of fruit punch, hula skirts and colorful plastic flower lei's probably come to mind. However, a traditional Hawaiian luau couldn't be further from the truth. Culturally luau's are a large part of Hawaiian culture and entertaining is an essential part of life. Even if you aren't in the tropics, throwing a modern luau today doesn’t have to mean kitschy. Here are my tips for creating a more authentic, and infinetly more modern, Hawaiian Luau.

DECOR:
For the table décor, focus on clean, organic lines with a lot of natural elements and just a few tropical ones. Keep the floral print to one aspect of the table, we chose to highlight a colorful floral tablecloth and balance that out by using many wood elements and limiting the use of color. Instead of floral centerpieces, we chose to use two large Monstera leafs in a simple wood bowl. Other beautiful floral options include orchids, birds of paradise and red ginger flowers. Clear votives with white candles were placed on wooden trays and set along the table.

For the place settings; simple, off-white ceramic plates were placed on top of a woven grass charger. Sleek modern silverware and stemless wine glasses complete our place setting. Little wood salt and pepper cellars with matching spoons hold the Hawaiian red sea salt and organic pepper. We placed a real leaf on top of each plate and wrapped them around the menus to give the entire setting a splash of natural color. For our guest favors a tin of authentic red Hawaiian sea salt was placed at each setting.

MENU:
Pacific Rim inspired cuisine is not only an accurate, but upscale menu choice for your party. Start with a refreshing Edamame Mint Salad followed by Cedar-Planked Teriyaki Salmon and Pork and Pineapple Kebabs. For dessert, try a Banana Vanilla Haupia Pudding.

Thanks for having us guest post today Create Your Event! See more at Modern Living Hawaii.

the Rad Mad Hatter Tea Party- birthday party for my 4 year old daughter!

my little sweet baby girl is turning 4 {actually, i'm quite convinced she is 15, but that's another story}. i have never made a big deal for her birthday parties as i felt she was too young to really remember them. but, this year, she will remember this party. and, since i am completely head over heals in love with my scoots {have no clue where the nickname came from, but it stuck!}, this party has to be great.

she loves tea and she loves to throw tea parties. yesterday, we had 12 tea parties in 2 hours. we both had a great time, and my daughter was the perfect hostess. always refilling my tea cup and "brewing" fresh teas {water} for me to try.

so, when she asked me for a tea party birthday, i thought, of course! but wait, all of her friends are boys. hmmm.

i was working on another event for a client who loves bright colors, and i stumbled upon this cake.

this cake {if you made this cake, please let me know. i found a picture online with no credit. it's amazing!} sparked the inspiration for the "Rad Mad Hatter Tea Party" the perfect compromise. it's still a tea party, but it's not completely girly. i mean, who hasn't read/seen Alice in Wonderland? {if you haven't read the Lewis Carroll books, you simply must stop whatever you're doing and read them immediately!}

i googled "Alice in Wonderland Party" and you wouldn't believe what I found!!! instructions, ideas, menus, recipes, games, crafts, and so much more!!!!!

the birlliant Meghann at Urbanity Studios is creating a custom design for our invitation. Meghann is another guest blogger here. If you haven't checked out her site, do so immediately! her stuff is simply amazing and lovely!

we will be using as many elements from the story/movie as possible. everything will be topsy-turvy, bright, colorful, delirious, and as the nature of children's parties, a bit chaotic. i can't wait!!!

as i get further into the planning and design phases of this party, i will be posting more information.

now, i just have to decide if i want to hire a petting zoo, a bounce house, a face painter, or all three! {ok- probably not all three}

as always, i love your ideas and suggestions!

thanks!
allison@occasions&style

my new favorite things

i stumbled across this website this morning, and i am just loving all this fun, funky melamine stuff!

as the mother of a very energetic and rambunctious almost 4 year old, we like love unbreakables. in my house, i don't get to break out the fine china as much as i'd like to, but we always have nice family dinners at the table every night. however, i always feel like my daughter isn't completely 100% included since she uses different dishes and glasses then my husband and me. i love my every day ceramic dinnerware patterns {i have so many to chose from, i never get tired of them!}, but our daughter has a few boring plain melamine dishes.

i guess my using different dishes always makes me feel a little incomplete. i doubt she cares, but maybe she does. now that i have found french bull melamine i really don't have to worry about excluding anyone. i love this stuff!!!!!

how much do you love this set? it's perfect for you and your kids, but you could even break this stuff out when you have a late summer backyard BBQ as a great alternative to boring, environmentally UN-friendly paper plates.

i just ordered this set to use for a little sweet girl's 5th birthday party. i can't wait to incorporate the pattern {which has served as my inspiration for this "sweet" party} into all the "sweet" design elements we're using for this. how cute will candy and cupcakes look on these adorable plates?

i think this one is my favorite! i love that the bohemian paisley is coming back. my neighbor's 10 year old little girl is such a little fashionista, i just know she is the next SJP, and she has given me her seal of approval on these fabulous plates.

she is having a back to school bash and has requested demanded that absolutely no pencils or apples be included in the decor, so these will be perfect for this little trend-setter.

i also think they'd be perfect for my 'say goodbye to summer' party as well.

and that is what is so great about these sets. you can use them for your kid's parties, your parties, and everyday dishes.

i also ordered this utensil set for myself as well as gifts fr 3 of my great friends. what a great gift to give the chef who has that funky, child-like spirit.

this last one is a bit more elegant. i think these would be perfect for those more grown up outdoor parties. maybe an evening garden cocktail party. i love the weight the pattern gives each plate. i can see my favorite 'fancy cocktail party' recipe!!!

slow-roasted beef tenderloin

1 beef tenderloin, between 5-8 pounds
1 bottle soy sauce
1 bottle worcestershire sauce

use a big ziplock bag and pour both bottles of sauce over the tenderloin in the bag. seal the bag and marinate for at least 24 hours.

slow roast at about 225 degrees until the meat reaches your preferred level of 'done-ness' i am a huge fan of very rare steaks, so i usually take this out when it reaches an internal temperature of about 140.

slice very thin and serve with artisan rolls. put out horseradish, dijon mustard, and an assortment of sliced cheeses for these delicious, gourmet cocktail sandwiches.

send me pictures of what you do with this stuff!!!!

have fun and happy eating!
allison@occasionsandstyle.com