Tag Archives: party

Peacock Bridal Shower

Finally, a follow up to the Bridal Shower Invite I posted at the end of March.  The peacock themed lingerie bridal shower went off without a hitch, and was a great celebration of one of my best friends who will be getting married this summer.  I co-hosted with the Mom of the bride and the shower was held at her house, so I took full advantage of the time I didn’t have to spend cleaning my own house and got extra creative with crafty decor.

Peacock Feathers & Cupcakes

Shower Invite

Once we decided on a color scheme and looked around for party supplies and paper to make the invites, it was clear that we had to go all-out with a peacock them.

Bridal Shower Invite

I found this great geometric paper, which is remenicent of the jewel toned pattern in a peacock feather.  No need to buy pricy invitations when you can easily print them on card-stock at home and add specialty paper and ribbon to tie them into the color scheme.  For these, I used a strip of colorful paper to the left and wrapped one simple ribbon around the seam for some interest.

I also made a recipe card to go in each invitation envelope.  Guests were instructed to fill out a great newlywed recipe for the bride-to-be and bring to the party.

Recipe Keepsake Book

When guests arrived, I gathered all of the recipe cards and compiled them into a special recipe keepsake book that I made ahead of time.

Recipe Keepsake Book

To make the book, I used chip board (which is basically a scrap-bookers term for cardboard), and wrapped each page in coordinating paper.  I punched holes to the left, with my

Inside Cover

industrial strength hole punch, and used 3 ring bindings to hold it together.  To keep the hinge of the rings from shifting, and for extra flare, I added coordinating ribbon tied to each ring.  In the front cover I put the Bride & Grooms initials, and the back had the Bridal Shower Invite pasted in so she will forever have it.

Newlywed Recipe Book

Everyone brought a recipe card, and even some guests that couldn’t make it were nice enough to mail one in ahead of time with a nice message.

The bride-to-be loves to cook, so this was a great activity that made sense for her shower and didn’t require wrapping ourselves in toilet paper wedding dresses and strutting our stuff down the living room runway (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Magnet Favors

The Mom of the bride came across a great idea to create square glass magnets with coordinating patterned paper and give them away as shower favors.  Her inspiration came from Sabby in Suburbia and Simply Modern Mom.

Magnet Favors

She purchased square glass tiles from the craft store and we used colored pattern tiles she found from The Hourglass Studio on Etsy.  She printed them on photo paper and we cut out the ones that were relevant to our color scheme.  We used E6000 glue to attach the paper tiles to the glass and glued the magnets to the back.  To package them, she attached washers to cardstock and each magnet stayed in place on a washer.  Cello bags with coordinating paper and ribbon finished them off.

Fabric Backdrop

In order to make a statement with our color scheme and have the food and decor ‘pop’, I decided to construct a large fabric backdrop to hang on the wall, complete with the bride and grooms initials.

Fabric Backdrop

I’m so glad that I made this, as I’m sure I’ll be wrapping a different fabric around it and using it at my house for other parties down the road.

Wooden Frame

First, I measured the space above the table that I planned to hang the backdrop above.  Then, I measured my car, to make sure I could actually transport it.

With the help of my hubby, we constructed a simple frame from inexpensive trim (even less expensive because my dad just happen to have this on-hand).  We nailed in extra support at each corner, and that was it!.

Staple Fabric to the Frame

Next, I laid my fabric, face down, on the floor and centered the frame on top of it.  I used a staple gun and stapled the fabric on the back side of the frame.  I did one side, and then pulled the fabric tight and stapled the other side.  Repeating the same for the top and bottom sides.  One suggestion is to double check that your pattern looks straight.  I measured the distance of where the design elements hit on each side and tried to even it out as much as possible before stapling.

I picked up the jumbo letters at my local craft store along with some acrylic paint.  Unfortunately, they don’t make an ampersand symbol, so I had to get creative and make my own ‘and’ symbol out of a ‘B’ and another strip of wood.  I tied a coordinating ribbon around each letter and stapled the ribbon to the top of the frame.  We were able to hang the frame on three nails, without adding any fancy hanging wires.  The frame set directly onto the nails.

Mediterranean Spread

This was an afternoon shower, so for lunch we chose to do a mediterranean themed menu.  It was probably one of the easiest shower menu’s I’ve had the pleasure to contribute to in a while (maybe because I only had to make a few things).

Mediterranean Spread

We divided up menu items, which made it easy to pull it together the morning of the shower.

Antipasto Platter

The Mom of the bride made Marinated Shrimp, Roasted Red Pepper Crostini’s, Chicken Souvlaki Skewers, Greek Salad, and Pita & Hummus.  I made a Feta & Tomato Orzo (a Rachel Ray recipe), and a large Antipasto Spread including a variety of olives, greek cheeses, salami, prosciutto, roasted garlic, peppers, two tapenades, and roasted vegetables (I outsourced the roasted veggies to my Mom who is an amazing cook and of course they were a hit!).

Dessert!

Mom of the bride found these amazing corset shaped cookies, which were done with peacock details to go along with the shower theme.  These were a great dessert and also doubled as a second party favor since they were packaged in a cello bag to take.  We spent hours ‘ooh-ing and ah-ing’ at the amazing frosting detail.

Corset Cookies

I made mini chocolate cupcakes to round out the dessert choices.

Chocolate Cupcakes

To save time, I used a box mix for the cake, but I added mini chocolate chips along with my Mom’s secret box-mix trick.  She told me to substitute 2/3 of the recommended water with cranberry jelly.  The cranberry flavor made the chocolate taste even richer and they were super moist.  I may never make chocolate cupcakes from scratch again.  Of course, I had to make buttercream frosting from scratch; there are some things you should never take a shortcut on, and that is one of them.

To top off the 3 tiers of cupcakes I made round tags on appetizer skewers (which are slightly longer than a standard toothpick) with the bride and grooms initials.  I printed the initials from my computer and used two sizes of circle punches to get the uniformed shapes.  I’ve tried cutting circles the old fashioned way and it never works out.

Other Party Details

We had extra peacock ‘flare’ all around the party, like feather arrangements, and pretty peacock napkins, as well as peacock colors of deep teal & purple throughout.

Instead of the typical bridal shower activities, which were not fitting for this bride, the Mom of the bride hired a Mehndi Henna Tatto artist.

Mehndi Art

Mehndi Art

‘

We weren’t sure how many people at the shower would want to get a henna tattoo, but we were pleasantly surprised that almost everyone participated.  The artist even did a peacock tattoo for one of the guests!

This was such a fun theme, and all for a beautiful Bride-to-be!

G & B = LOVE

Robots & Aliens Birthday!

My son loves robots (at least that’s what mommy tells him).  So, for his 1st birthday I incorporated robots and aliens into the party theme.  I am planning on avoiding typical character themed parties as long as possible, so robots & aliens felt a little less predictable than say, Mickey Mouse.  I am dreading the day when he requests a party themed around a Disney movie or popular character, and I have to drag myself to the Party Store and fill my cart to the brim with 99¢ trinkets.  Mickey Mouse stickers, coloring books, Mickey ears, Mickey birthday banner, oh and don’t forget the coordinating plates and cups.  No thank you.  When your child is turning one, the party is more for the adults anyway.  A splash of bright color here and there, a cute invite tied in with the color scheme, yummy food for the adults and you can call it good.

Alien Invite

I ordered the alien invite from TinyPrints.com, which is one of my favorite sites for personalized cards and great when I’m too lazy to make my own (which seems to be almost always, now that I’m chasing a toddler around).

I also made a large poster with special pictures of his first year for guests to look at during the party.  It was basically a really big scrapbook page on foam-board.  I had robot paper, which was the initial inspiration for the theme, so I used that as the background.  I tied in the green, orange, and blue, found in both the invite and the robot paper and used those as my overall color scheme.  The poster was a great focal point on our table and gave guests something to chat about and remind them of how much he had grown that year.

Photo Board

His birthday banner was made from the same paper as the letters on the photo board.  The letters were die-cut at my local scrapbook shop, and I cut some simple triangles to place in between the words.  I used a thin hole-punch at the top points of each letter and strung a thin orange ribbon through.  I will admit, this banner took the man-power of 5 of my best girl friends and a couple of bottles of wine to produce.  Mounting all those die-cut letters on a shadow

Birthday Banner

background is very time-consuming.  And then the hole punching and the stringing… It was tedious.  But in the end I have a great banner with my son’s name on it, and I will probably keep it in the rotation of birthday decor for the rest of his life!

The food was definitely my favorite aspect of this party.  I tried to keep it to finger foods, instead of a heavy meal.   This kept people mingling around the food and also allowed me to use my smaller appetizer sized plates for less mess at the end of the day.  [Food pics below were taken by my wonderful friend Genevieve]

Caprese Skewers and Finger Sandwiches

The caprese skewers are very simple to put together, and they are always a party favorite when paired with my yummy dijon balsamic dressing.  (I will post links to these recipes soon).

Monte Cristo

I made three types of tea sandwiches:  White bread with salmon spread and dill, turkey on rye with cream cheese and apricot chutney, and gooey monte cristo filled with ham, provolone and swiss.  I also served teriyaki glazed meatballs to round out all of the sandwiches.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a 1st birthday without some sort of birthday cake.  Every parent anticipates their child’s reaction to their first taste of cake, and we were right there with them.  I was so curious if he would dive right in, or be the polite child who merely pokes it once and asks to wash his hands.  The answer – he was somewhere in between those reactions.  He watched us closely to gauge our reaction and see if it was ok to touch it.  Once he realized there were 30 people surrounding him, cheering him on, he decided to poke at it once.  I was not about to have that cake go to waste, so I decided to cut it into smaller chunks for him and see if he’d eat it then.  And he did…  It was pretty cute watching him shovel in the frosting (of course the frosting is his favorite; he is my child after-all).

First Cake!

Since he demolished the small cake on his own, I was prepared with home-made vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting for the adults, dressed in coordinating cupcake wrappers in orange, blue and green.  The cake was was a custom-order from Whole Foods.  I gave them color samples so they could match the specific shades closely, and asked for varied medium and large dots of icing.  It turned out perfectly!

Citrus Twist Bridal Shower

I hosted this citrus themed Bridal Shower for my cousin. It was a small group, but I wanted to make it special and tie into her wedding colors without being too similar to her wedding theme.

Citrus Twist

The ribbon-bracelets and safety pins were used for the classic ‘don’t say the grooms name’ activity. Everytime someone said his name, they had to give a safety pin to the person who caught them in the act. You could play this game with various items. The close freind that hosted my own bridal shower played this game with inexpensive garter belts from the craft store. It was hiliarious to see the girls in the lead wearing them over their pants or stacked up their arms. Another activity we played is a spin-off of the newlywed game. At this shower, I was able to ask the groom-to-be a list of questions about himself and his future bride ahead of time and record his answers. During the shower, I had the bride answer the same questions in her own words and then we compared the two. This is a common shower game, but it’s fun for the guests to get to know the groom through his responses, and also fun to expose some of the more embarassing aspects of their relationship.

Favors & Prizes

Of course, the favors and prizes are the easiest way to tie in a color theme. Inside the favor bags, were orange jellybeans tied in cute little bags with orange ribbon, a small orange soap from a local boutique, and a coral lipgloss to top it off.
To drink, I served ‘fizzy blood orange flips’ in sugar rimmed glasses and garnished with an orange slice. I bought blood orange italian soda from Whole Foods, which come in nice glass bottles, and

Fizzy Blood Orange Flips

chilled champagne in an ice bucket so guests could poor their own drinks, with or without alcohol. For an afternoon shower, this was the perfect fizzy beverage.  I also served coffee and tea, which was perfect with dessert.  Having a specific color theme made the drink selection much easier to narrow down.  Choosing one theme appropriate beverage makes sense and is way easier to manage than offering guest multiple options.  It was clear what the drink offerings were, which made guests comfortable to help themselves if needed.

To eat, I prepared a simple spread including a farfalle carbonara pasta dish with peas and pancetta, toasted and sliced baguette for sopping up extra sauce, cranberry gorgonzola green salad, fresh fruit, and sweet vanilla cupcakes dressed in orange polka dot wrappers.

Simple Spread

I’ve also included a picture of a citrus floral arrangement that I made for another party.  This arrangement would tie in perfectly to this party theme, and I wish I had thought about it at the time.  The cylinder vase was actually purchased at my local dollar store (I stocked up when I found it, just in case).  I placed

Citrus Arrangement

another smaller cylinder shaped vessel inside of it, which is what was filled with water and the stems of the flower.  Between the inner vessel and the outer vase was the perfect space for sliding the lemon slices in.  They stayed perfectly in place, and the arrangement lasted about a week before the lemon slices really started to shrivel.  If you do these ahead of time for a party, I would suggest putting the vase in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap to keep them extra fresh.

Pretty in Pink Baby Shower

I hosted this baby shower, with the help of another friend, for one of our best girl friends.  She was having a baby girl so we went all out with girly pink decor.

Barret Crafting Station

We kept the activities simple.  There was an ongoing station with supplies to make baby barrets, so guests who were interested could sit down for a quick craft session when it was convenient for them.  This activity was a hit!  The barrets turned out to be super cute and the guests had a lot of fun making them (and competing with each other to make the prettiest combination).  The supplies were minimal:  plain barrets, frilly buttons, scraps of fabric, various sequins, scissors and craft glue.

Tasting Game

The other main activity was a baby food tasting game.  We set out 5 flavors of baby food, with tiny tasting spoons and cards numbered 1-5.  Each jar had a number label on it, and only the hosts knew which number corresponded to which flavor.  The guests had to taste each one and write down what flavors they thought matched.  It was so funny watching the reactions people had to the mystery flavors, and some of the guesses were really strange.  The person with the most correct guesses won a prize.  Note:  Mac n’ Cheese flavored baby food is disgusting and unrecognizable.  I do not suggest using that flavor, or ever feeding it to your child for that matter.

It's a Girl!

We tried to incorporate the pink color theme into as many areas as possible.  Tags on the baby food game jars, layered pink tissue paper as the tablecloth for the crafting table, several bouquets of pink roses in every room, pink cupcakes, pink letters printed on onesies and strung as a banner on the mantel.

Trophy Cupcakes

Favors & Prizes

We also gave activity prizes in pink bags with pink tissue, and party favor boxes in pink polka dots were given to each guest filled with small goodies.

This was an afternoon shower, and we served a full buffet of asian inspired cuisine.  The menu included: veggie spring rolls with dipping sauces, thai chicken drumettes, jasmine rice, asian noodle salad, strawberries, veggie salad with sweet sesame vinaigrette, and of course those delicious Trophy Cupcakes.

Asian-Inspired Cuisine