Party Invitations, Party Planning & Event Ideas

Going Green For St. Patrick's Day

Everyone feels a little Irish on St. Patrick's Day. If not, these pretty green entertaining ideas will get you in the mood. Even when St. Patrick's Day is over, some of these green ideas will be lovely for any spring event. Green - the color of life!

1. & 4. Simple green ribbons can transform a basic white table into simply stunning. Martha Stewart Weddings

2. Love the horseshoe stamp on these party favors - for luck! Martha Stewart Weddings

3. A Shamrock Tea - as lovely as can be. The Par Tea Planner

  1. St. Patrick's Day crafty decorations. Martha Stewart

2. Use twine or raffia to make a rustic napkin ring. Embellish with a live or artificial shamrock. BHG

3. For a more elegant green table...skip the shamrocks and use rich fabrics and ribbon to create a beautiful spring table. BHG

4. St. Patrick's Day cupcake toppers. cupcakesdragonflies - etsy

Posted by Entertain Exchange

Alice In Wonderland Party Inspiration

With the release of the Alice in Wonderland Movie it is a perfect time to share these Tea Party Inspirations. This movie is sure to bring out the desire to plan many Mad Hatter Tea Parties! With the use of vibrant colors, a mix of textures and patterns and an eclectic mix of teacups, you can create a wonderful whimsical event.

Here is a collection of amazing Alice inspiration. Click on the links to see many additional photos with great ideas!

1. & 5. A vintage party not to be missed - from Sarah at the Middleton Family Blog.

2. This lovely Alice in Wonderland Party was created by Lollipop Events.  See more photos and details at HWTM.

3. Mad Hatter magic from A Fanciful Twist. You won't want to miss this one!

4. This party was done by In Good Company. Visit the blog of Amy Atlas Events for additional photos and a entertaining tips.

6. This Mad Hatter Tea Party was created by Party Wishes. See all the details here.

Posted by Entertain Exchange

Winter One-derland First Birthday Party

My son celebrated his first birthday on December 27.  I know as a first time mom I’m supposed to want to go all out and have a big bash for his first birthday, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.  I decided to save the big blow out for his second birthday.  Instead we just had a little very budget friendly “Winter One-derland” get-together with our closest family members.

Instead of sending out invites through the snail-mail I decided to go the quick and cheap route with Evite.com.  I created a “Winter One-derland” logo on Microsoft Publisher using clip-art that I used in the invitation as the main image.  Within an hour all the invites had been sent out and were sitting in inboxes waiting for RSVPs.

 
  
Budget Friendly Tip: You don’t have to be a genius at (the expensive) Photoshop to create cute digital invitations.  With just a little time and patience you can easily create one-of-a-kind invites or invite logos using Microsoft Publisher and the Paint tool found on most computers.  Since it’s becoming more popular to send invitations through email don’t be afraid to use the wonderful inexpensive services of Sendomatic.com or Evite.com.  Some of the most original invitations I’ve seen have been made using these websites.

I hadn’t really planned on decorating much since I wanted to keep the budget really small.  I popped on over to my local Dollar Store to buy some cute snowflake paper plates my sister-in-law had found and while I was there (did I mention this was on December 26?!) I discovered ALL Christmas decorations were on sale for $0.50!  I couldn’t resist the temptation, so I scooped up all the snowflake decorations I could fit in my cart.  I also bought snowflake covered tablecloths and plastic cups with blue and green snowflakes similar to these found at Windy City Novelties.  We didn’t have much snow on the ground, so I stuck snowflake stickers onto our door and windows. 

Budget Friendly Tip: While it doesn’t get much more budget friendly than the Dollar Store, you could make the decorations yourself.  It wouldn’t take much more than a stack of paper in white and blue, plus a pair of scissors to create dozens of snowflakes.  Hang the snowflakes from your ceiling with “invisible” fishing line. You could also shred paper to make your very own snow piles!  I’m also a huge fan of foam crafts.  For a low cost and in a short amount of time I made a “Sammy’s Winter One-derland” birthday sign.  I also made the birthday boy his very own party hat with foam board and stickers.

 
During the winter months I tend to be in the mood for foods that are hearty and remind me of being warm and cozy.  For the main course I opted for Sheppard’s Pie, one of my all time favorite meals.  This was an easy meal to make for a larger crowd.  Plus, it would be easy for the guest of honor, who was just starting to eat “adult” foods,  to chow down on.  I made cupcakes for the birthday cake.  I bought really cute ceramic cupcake pans at AC Moore, on sale for $5 from $20!

 
Budget Friendly Tip: Feeding a crowd is rarely budget friendly.  However, by sticking with a simple menu you can help keep your costs down.  It’s very easy to double or triple a favorite recipe of yours that you already love to make for normal family meals.  If you need a little help converting your “Serves 4” recipe to “Serves 25” check out this Recipe Converter.

Since I wanted to keep things low key, I didn’t plan activities or games for the guests.  We kept the event fairly short, so guests wouldn’t have time to get bored between eating and chit-chatting.  The kids in attendance were kept busy with the Wii.  Winter Sports 2, the Wii game, would be an excellent addition to any Winter One (or Won)-derland party.

Budget Friendly Tip: Had I chosen to have an activity for the guests, I would have saved money by combining the activity and the favor with a Make Your Own Photo Snow Globe.  Oriental Trading sells snow globes kits.  Instead of using the sports template included with the kit, I would have taken a picture of each guest with our birthday boy and printed them out during the party.  Then each guest could insert their photo in their snow globe!  Instant memories and a fun winter decoration for years to come!

 
For more pictures and details visit A Yummy Mummy on a Pink Park Bench.

Sports Themed "Jack & Jill" Baby Shower

When my cousin’s wife was pregnant, he really played a huge role in getting ready for baby, including preparing the nursery and helping tremendously with the registry.  When it came time to plan the baby shower we really wanted the Daddy-to-be included in the festivities.  We decided to host a “Jack and Jill” baby shower with a sports theme to appeal to both women and men.

Right off the bat (no pun intended) we knew the best way to invite the guests to a sports themed shower was with sporting event tickets.  To save money we opted to create our own invitations.   Every great sports team has a recognizable logo.  Since the baby’s nursery was decorated with monkeys, I created a logo for the invitations with a monkey and the baby’s name, “Baby Ryan.”  I also created a baseball card for the registry information, complete with stats!

Budget & Time Friendly Tip: One of the best ways to save money on invitations is to DIY.  However, sometimes DIY and NAT (No Available Time) add up to not-so-great invitations.  If pre-made custom invitations are out of your financial budget and DIY invites are out of your time budget, you could opt for semi-DIY invites by buying a digital custom invitation.  Once you receive the finished custom invitation file by email, you simply print it out on your own paper.  These are two great options from eBay sellers stephruiz915 and jacknjilldesigns.

 
The menu for this shower was very simple: typical sporting event foods.  We served hot dogs, chili dogs, hamburgers, French fries, pizza bites, soft pretzels, popcorn, and chips.  For dessert we had mini cupcakes decorated with candy sports balls and ice cream products, like Dreyer’s Dibs, Dove bars, and Italian ice.  We kept the sports theme going with baseball paper plates, football serving trays and bowls, and a field grass table cloth. 

 
Budget Friendly Tip:  If you don’t want to offer so many food choices, just serve your favorite sporting event food.  Love the greasy pizza? Rather than ordering pizzas, serve up your favorite frozen pizza or make your own pizzas.  Pair up sliders (mini-hamburgers) with cocktail weenies.  Instead of buying several boxes of individually wrapped ice cream bars, create a “Sundae’s Sports Bar” with your favorite ice cream and sundae toppings and let guests make their own ice cream sundaes.      

What is a sports themed baby shower without a little competition?  We kept guests entertained with several fun
games.  First, we tested the guests’ team mascot knowledge with “Mascot Match-Up.”  Next, we found out who could chug the fastest…out of baby bottles!  Guests also participated in a free throw contest.  And remember the “Section, Row, Seat” numbers on the invitation tickets?  Each guest had different numbers on their tickets, so we drew numbers out of a baseball hat for a winner. The game of the hour, though, was our version of NASCAR and March Madness all rolled into one in what we called, “Nascycle.”

I created the “March Madness” bracket ahead of time.  Guests raced against one another on tricycles until only one competitor was left standing!

Host(ess) Tip:  Originally, each guest was going to get a copy of the bracket and, in true March Madness fashion, they had to pick who they thought would win.  Well, I messed up when making the brackets.  We almost didn’t play the game, but then we just readjusted our plans and the rules of the game.  No one knew about my mistake and everyone had one H-E-double hockey sticks of a good time.  The point is, you’ve spent a lot of time trying to make your event perfect, but something will, no doubt, go awry.  As long as you don’t sweat it and you just relax and go with the flow during party time, your guests will never know something wasn’t exactly how you planned it and they’ll have a fantastic time.

The prizes for the game winners were presented in a similar fashion to the way we did the prizes at the Nursery Rhyme Shower.  We bagged each prize and attached a card with a word clue to the bag.  One tag read “Seattle” along with the logos for the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Mariners.  The prize was a bag of Seattle’s Best Coffee, coffee press, and mugs.  A dozen steamed crabs and a cooler had a tag with “Baltimore” and the logos for the Baltimore Orioles and Ravens.  Other prizes included: Chicago Cutlery (Chicago), Emeril cookbook, grill pan, and seasonings (New Orleans), Griddle pan and maple syrup (New England), Wine and Cheese Tote (Wisconsin), Netflix Gift Certificate, popcorn, and candy (Los Angeles) and Lowe's Gift Card (NASCAR).  

 
Budget Friendly Tip: Trying to come up with sports theme related prizes wasn’t easy since actual sport team items (like baseball caps) can be very expensive, plus not everyone loves Penn State or the 49ers. That’s why we put together prize packages that could relate to a team’s hometown.  However, rather than having several items as one prize, slim things down to stay within your budget.  A horseshoe key-chain, like these from Wedding Favors Unlimited, can represent the Colts or a tin filled with Hershey Kisses from The Hershey’s Store could represent the Hershey Bears.

 
After the food was eaten, the games were played, and all the prizes had been won, we sent the guests home with their sporty favors.  Each guest received a lunch bag with an NFL team logo filled with a koozie, a cookie lollipop in the shape of a football or baseball, a box of Cracker Jacks, and peanuts.  “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” was tied onto each bag.

 
Budget Friendly Tip: The epitome of a great sporting event is the box of Cracker Jacks! Make your own Cracker Jacks with this recipe from Savory Sweet Life, package them in these retro popcorn bags from Hey Yo Yo, and of course, don’t forget the prize!  These golf ball tape measure key chains from Plum Party would make a great and very affordable Cracker Jack prize.      

 

I hope these ideas help make your next sport themed party a home-run!
 

Holy Party, Batman!

The bat signal went out; my friend C needed inspiration. Like myself, she only has boys and of course we can't seem to shake the super hero party, and Batman is the obsession of the moment. That's ok, it can still be stylish, especially since pretty much all of these ideas can be adapted for any crime fighter. Luckily for her, I'm always bookmarking inspirational ideas...

Setting The Scene
How great is Creative Stirrings' great tabletop where she wrapped presents as Gotham City buildings. Clever napkin tip - scallop napkins to look like bat wings. Disguise ordinary water bottles as Super Water with a simple change of the label.

The Munchies
For the menu, go crazy with a bat cookie cutter. Make bat Jell-O Jigglers from grape Jell-O, bat rolls with pizza dipping sauce, and serve Bat Cream Sandwiches. Make bat cookies, sandwich softened ice cream between two and refreeze. What To Do Keep them busy with a cape-decorating workshop like at Ambrosia Girl's super hero party. Each child was given a package that included a cape, mask, and a stencil of their initial to trace onto felt; check out the free download patterns at Living Locurto. To make it more Batman themed, make black masks with initials in yellow like Cookie Monday's party. For those of you with serious sewing skills, check out My Tiny Sweet Cheeks for making pretty sweet capes.

Send Them Home With A Smile
Loving these bat bean bags from Roots and Wings Co, perfect for a bean bag toss or for party favors . I seriously heart this ridiculously cute Batman envelope treat bag from Just Jenn (which she also provides the pdf), but these bags sewn by Green Jello with personalized name tags are coming in a very close second. Not enough? OK, check out my last superhero party post....Not Just A Mommy!

Chocolat(e) Bridal Shower

My sister’s favorite movie is Chocolat, so I was totally inspired to have a chocolate themed bridal shower (or a Choco-Soiree as I called it) for her back in December. 

With a theme like chocolate inspired by Chocolat it was easy to go all out.  We had a chocolate-infused menu, chocolate candy buffet, chocolate games and prizes, and chocolate favors.  Even the colors, turquoise, red, and gold, and the location of the shower were inspired by the movie. 

I was blown away by the Vera Wang Retro Verso invitation.  While gorgeous they are also expensive, so I made the invites myself.  I took a page from Vera’s book and made the shower invites dual sided. I bought paper from Paper-Source.com.  I used the 5.5" circle card in "Pool" and the 5.75" square envelopes in "Red".  And, of course, I had to include the kangaroo!

 
We held the shower at a local winery that was described as a “French Country Chateau.”  The venue itself was simple, elegant, and embodied the “quiet little village in the French countryside” that sets the scene in Chocolat, so we kept our decorations to a minimum.  We used clusters of turquoise and red balloons too add some color.  We also bought centerpieces with all red flowers, including kangaroo paws, and turquoise vases.

 
Budget Friendly Tip:To help create a French Country atmosphere decorate with clusters of grapes and use empty wine bottles as candle holders.  Make this French Country tablecloth for $10. Bright reds and yellows for paper goods will also help give you a French Country feel.   

A local caterer helped us come up with a delicious chocolate menu, which included: 

Vegetable Display with Chocolate Yogurt Dip

Tiki Shrimp with a Ginger Dipping Sauce

Chocolate Soup with Mascarpone Brioche Sandwiches made with honey and cream cheese

Hot open-faced Ham, Swiss, and Granny Apple Sandwiches on Baguette with Dijon Mustard

Chocolate Fondue with Strawberries, Pineapples, Bananas, Pretzels, and Marshmallows

Raspberry Iced Tea

Budget Friendly Tip: Chocolate recipes can be found all over the internet.  Click on the links in the menu above for recipes.

We also had a gorgeous cake designed by the same cake artist that was making the wedding cake.  We kept it simple with three tiers covered with turquoise and red fondant and a gold damask pattern.  Each tier incorporated chocolate.  Our mascot, the kangaroo decorated the second tier.

 
Budget Friendly Tip:  Chocolate cupcakes with red and turquoise frosting or cupcake liners (like these found on Etsy.com at sweet treats supplies and make it sweet) on a tiered cupcake stand will look just as gorgeous and delicious. 

I like playing games at showers because it gives the guests something to do besides chit-chat.  Plus, they’re great icebreakers.  We played “How Well Do You Know the Bride & Groom?” trivia and our version of “Don’t Forget the Lyrics.” In keeping with all the chocolate, guests had to guess what candy bars they were eating and how many Hershey Kisses were in a jar.

Our prizes were chocolate related as well.  We gave away a fondue pot, a chocolate making kit, a chocolate spa set, and tickets to a chocolate making class.  We like to keep our prizes hidden, so guests get a fun surprise too.

 
Budget Friendly Tip: You can keep prizes simple by handing out the jar of kisses as one prize and centerpieces for the rest of the prizes.  Chocolate scented candles are also inexpensive.

The favors were wrapped in red damask boxes with turquoise ribbon and a kangaroo button. Along with an Egyptian perfume bottle (which the bride collects) each guest received the movie Chocolat, Bride and Groom Chocolate Miniatures from Oh Nuts!, Poppin' Time Brittle Bark from Brittle Bark , and white chocolate fudge covered Oreos with the bride and groom's picture on them from Cookie HQ.

 
Budget Friendly Tip:  Make personalized candy bar wrappers, like these from CandyUnderCover.com,  and let everyone take home the bride’s favorite candy bar.  For a slightly more expensive option, set-up a chocolate candy buffet!

In addition to our other favors we also set up a chocolate buffet.  Guests filled up their own bags before they left.  We bought some chocolate from a local candy store and some prepackaged chocolates from the grocery store.  Each chocolate had its own dish and was labeled, so guests knew what they were taking with them.

 
For more pictures and ideas visit A Yummy Mummy on a Pink Park Bench.

 

Nursery Rhyme Baby Shower

When my mom, sister, and I wanted to throw a baby shower for my cousin that was laid back, classy and had the charm of the quintessential baby shower, we jumped on a Nursery Rhyme theme.  With hundreds of nursery rhymes to choose from, we knew we would have hundreds of ways to find inspiration.  An excellent website to begin getting inspired by is:  Nursery Rhymes Online.

 
 
The invitation is always my favorite part of a shower because it lets your guests know what kind of event and atmosphere they can expect.  I made a simple invitation with the nursery rhyme Monday’s Child on the front of it.  However, if you’re not a DIYer you can buy personalized nursery rhyme themed invitations online, like these from Colors By Design:

 

Nursery rhymes even inspired the menu! We served meatball subs for On Top of Spaghetti, deviled eggs for Humpty Dumpty, and cupcakes decorated with a “B” for Patty-Cake.  We also had the Three Men In A Tub floating in the punch bowl.   We went so far as to make a game out of the food and guests had to guess which rhymes inspired each dish. 

We kept decorations at a minimum, sticking to paper goods and balloons. Fishs Eddy has a great collection of nursery rhyme cups. A huge collection of toile-like blue or pink nursery rhyme plates, cups, napkins and other decorations can be found at Party World’s PartyWedding.com.  The Cow Jumped Over the Moon plates and napkins that we used can be found at Cow Depot.

 

 

Aside from guessing the nursery rhyme inspired foods, guests also played Nursery Rhyme Pictionary and they guessed how many balls of wool Baa Baa Black Sheep had in his “three jars full.”  Game winners picked their prizes based on nursery rhymes attached to the prize bags.  Prizes included a restaurant gift certificate for Jack Sprat, a set of ice cream bowls for I Scream, You Scream, and a gift certificate to DSW for There Was An Old Woman.

 
After all the food, games, prizes, and gift opening the guests were sent home with green and yellow baskets stamped with A Tisket A Tasket and filled with Short’nin’ Bread bread mix, Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater pumpkin butter, Mary Mary Quite Contrary potted love plant and What Little Boys Are Made Of homemade cookies.

We found all of our favors at a local market.  Other great nursery rhyme favors would be Over The Moon bookmarks from Bellissimo Favors; Jack Be Nimble beeswax honeycomb candles from Beau-Coup; Humpty Dumpty kitchen egg timers from Weddingvows.net; and Ladybug Ladybug soaps from Simply Baby Stuff.

 

If you still need more inspiration for a Nursery Rhyme Baby Shower check out the details at A Yummy Mummy on a Pink Park Bench.

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! 

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

This week I received a desperate party planner emergency email from my reader P. Her six-year old has recently become obsessed with the movie Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and wants to change his upcoming party in a week and a half to reflect said obsession. And he ain't budging. I'm strapping on my utility belt and off to the rescue!

Since this movie is about a scientist causing food to rain from the sky, draw on that for inspiration. How about a Mad Scientist cooking party? Donna Hay Kids' Magazine features a very clever party with a few ideas with scientific bases that you can elaborate on while they are prepared; have them help you make Popcorn Explosions a.k.a. colored popcorn.

Create slimey goo dipping sauce by adding a few drops of blue food coloring to ketchup and mustard. It would go perfect with a for a Build Your Own Burger bar.

Have some fizzy fun with this DIY sherbet from the magazine. Their recipe - take 1 tsp citric acid (can be found in the canning section of grocery stores), 2 tsp. confectioner's sugar, 3 tsp. of any flavor gelatin, and 1 tsp. baking soda and layer in a small bottle or vial before you shake, shake, shake.
Set up a Make Your Own Soda bar and let them choose from a few different flavors.

Another direction is a cooking party. Don't be afraid to play with your food; show them how to roll homemade meatballs and mixing sauce for a spaghetti lunch.

Set up different stations to make fun not-foods like Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry, Faux Fish Sticks and Grilled Cheese or for making ice-cream sundaes or cookie-decorating.

Leftovers are plenty for favors. But if you must, how about filling inexpensive plastic measuring cups with food-related candy like candy peas and carrots, gummy fish, etc. Cover them with plastic and tie with colorful ribbon and personalized tags.

Hit up a dollar store or the dollar section of your favorite box store, there is always some form of play food that would also make great favors.

Yes, those infamous 'Cookies In A Jar' that seem to pop up everywhere during the holidays is another great take-home. Feel free to break out of the jar-box; any clear container will do. Acrylic boxes and deli containers are perfect because they are reusable and kid-friendly.

And no matter which way you go, your party's pièce de résistance are these spaghetti and meatball cupcakes from Hello, Cupcakes! Make them yourself or have vanilla cupcakes ready to decorate as a party activity; check out a great tutorial over at The Junk Drawer. 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!