South Beach Inspired Party

This surprise birthday party for my husband was inspired by the club spirit of SoBe. In an effort to transcend the ambiance of Nikki Beach and the neon lights of Ocean Drive, this is the byproduct.

 I set up a Pit Bull station on Pandora and that's what played the whole night off our computer. It doesn't get more Miami Club then Pit Bull!

 

 Centerpiece on the hors d'oeuvres table. Made of river rocks, grass and floating candles.

 Food was kept light at this event with a variety of sushi, fruit platter, veggie tray, chips & salsa and carrot cake cupcakes for dessert. The red packages contain detailed chopsticks.

Sheer curtains found at Target for $5/panel were hung using a piece of corner wood trim from Home Depot. 3m hooks are supporting the "rod" on each end. The palm and rattan pot were picked up from Home Depot to add to the tropical flavor of the space.

I hired a bartender to mix an array of drinks with a Miami spin. The top drinks for the evening were  a classic mojito and a cucumber mojito. The beer selection was Corona, Pacifico and Dos Equis. The ice actually had glow sticks in it and lit up purple when the evening fell.

Delicate high top centerpiece

These tables made the party. They really provided that Miami club vibe and even changed colors throughout the night on a setting that spun through an array of neon lights. Very cool when the evening turned dark.(I unfortunately forgot to have them on for my previous pics. oops)

Our kitchen island also served as a hangout spot for guest to sit and have a drink, so I wanted to tie it to the main party space by incorporating the same floating candles, river rocks and flowers.

Gold & Silver New Year's Eve Party

Happy 2014! Yes, I know it's March, but it's never too late to post pictures of a fabulous New Year's Eve party, right?

To ring in 2014, I threw a Gold & Silver themed party. I kept it simple, pulled the details together over one weekend and only invited one family to join us. The party combined party store staples with elegant, one-of-a kind touches. When you have kids, its important to make the holidays special for all involved. We still wanted to celebrate New Year's Eve with our son, but also wanted to have a good time as an adult. We combined both goals in one night and had a great time. This evening was filled with special touches for the kids like being able to color their table top to enjoying a special new drink for dessert. Once bedtime came for the children, we were still able to enjoy an adult evening of Cards Against Humanities (hilarious), signature cocktail drinks and a champagne toast at midnight. The family we invited lived a couple doors down, so better yet no worrying about them having to drive home either. Pretty much a win, win for all involved and perhaps a new annual tradition!

 

Gold fringe across the walkways was just a party store find. Balloons dangled from the ceiling with a few loose on the floor to serve as entertainment for the kiddos.

 

The Gold runner was a cheap Marshall's find. The votive candles were plain, so I glued glitter ribbon around them for added flair. The tiaras and horns were a party store find. Silver candle stick holders were a lucky find from a thrift store months prior. 

Here's a close up of the centerpiece I whipped up the evening of. It contained gold Christmas decorations I found on clearance at Michael's.

Bows tied from Glitter Ribbon. (I hit Michaels after Christmas...and they had major sales on "Christmas" ribbon!) Men got the top hats from the party store, girls the tiaras.

Kid's Table. I just taped postal paper to cover the top. Voila, coloring surface!

Closer view of the ceiling. It was literally balloons on string taped to the ceiling. They hung at different heights for added dimension. The white balloon string just blended into the ceiling.

Each adult received a champagne glass for the midnight toast. The rims were just dipped in water then gold sprinkles. For the kiddos special dessert drink, I dipped the rim of the shorter glasses in Nutella and then the same gold sprinkles. Filled them to the rim with milk. Needless-to-say they downed them and were asking for seconds!

The spread.

Vintage 50's Car Garage Party

For my son's recent second birthday, I went all out with a 50's auto garage theme. Think... Vintage tool boxes. Mechanic's tags. Tire cake. Vintage license plates. Tools. Every boy's little dream, right?!

This concept evolved out of my son's obsession over cars and trucks for the better part of his existence. So, I knew I had to incorporate this fondness into the theme this year. You can find lots of vintage car and truck theme parties, but I surprisingly couldn't find much with the more dominant garage theme. After this party was complete, I realized that I have a very distinct style when it comes to events and my home decor...I use very modern prints and graphics and juxtapose them with very rustic and vintage items. So none-the-less this party ended up true to form!

Guests were invited to the party by receiving a wooden veneer box which contained a vintage automobile key. I ordered a set on Etsy that had an eclectic collection of Ford, GM and Nissan keys. I made a key chain to attach to each one just out of cardstock/scrapbooking paper.  The key and key chain were nestled on a bed of shredded newspaper inside the wooden box.

Kiddos were instructed upon arrival to find their mechanic's name tag before they were sent off to build a hot rod. I made these tags using felt, embroidery thread and hot gluing a pin to the back. 

The kids decorated cardboard box cars with wheels, headlights, stickers, license plates and steering wheels. Their custom hot rods served as the new ride they were "picking up" from the Garage as mentioned on the initial invite key chain.

This party actually ended up being a very "green" or eco-friendly event. I got the boxes for the "cars" from the produce section at my local grocer (for free). And all the other boxes used as small tables for the kids were leftover from received Amazon orders. Some were wrapped in newspaper and others wrapped in brown painters paper. I also made most of my decorations out of old newspaper.

I was able to find a blank Wisconsin license plate image online. I changed the date on the plate in Photoshop to say March '13 (the month and year of his party).

The kids had a wall of vintage license plates to use as a photo backdrop. They took pics in their cars wearing the photo props seen below! I also added scarfs for the little girls and just draped them around the mirror!

I got the above cateye glasses from HERE. They were super cute and affordable. The boys' sunglasses I already had, and I believe were from Target last summer.

Party goer Calvin aka "Cool Dude" strikes a pose in his hot rod!

The snack menu was a cross between diner and southern flare consisting of BBQ Pork sliders, coleslaw, french fries served in wax paper cones, natural applesauce and raisins for the kiddos. (Raisins & applesauce are my son's favorites!) The runner you see here I literally made from newspaper, trimmed in black duct tape and lined on the bottom with white computer paper, so it wouldn't bleed on my white table linen!

I used a great tutorial on how make these wax paper fry cones HERE.

Drinks were served at the Fuel station. A selection of local bottled beer & soda for the adults and Apple & Eve's Fruitable boxed juices for the youngsters! If you haven't tried these juices, get them! It's a sneaky and tasty way to get veggies into your toddler's diet!

 

My son's tire cake with cake topper banner that read, "Vroom." The cake is just made from yellow boxed cake iced in chocolate icing and covered in black fondant. The bottom tire is 3 layers and the top tire has 2. I made the banner using wooden kitchen skewers, stamped letters on fabric and weaved yarn. Super easy! The number "2" was  a cheap buy from Michael's.

And, this is my son's cake topper banner in flames!!!.....Mama didn't realize lighting candles right underneath it would send the yarn and fabric banner ablaze mid "happy birthday" singing! Quite a comical and memorable moment! This photo totally cracks me up as it captures my innocent son vigorously trying to help mommy blow the flames out and me with a super worried and dumbfounded look on my face! Luckily, I grabbed the skewers in time and ran them to the sink! Whew! Disaster averted!

I made my headband out of scrap fabric. It was my modern take on Rosie the Riveter! 

In addition to the kids taking home their hot rods, each person took home a bag of tool shaped sugar cookies so they could "work" on their cars at home. Favor tags read, "Thanks for Vrooming by." The favors were displayed in a vintage tool box I got from a thrift store originally as a room decoration for my son. You can buy the cookie cutters I used HERE.

Real wrenches were sporadically incorporated into the design. They worked great to ground floor bouquets of balloons!

Looking for the perfect Mom & Dad gift for this party? How 'bout a real retro ride for your little one?! My son received this Retro Tricycle by Radio Flyer. Here's a tip when buying a tricycle- there is a 12" radio flyer one that is really cute. It has a bell and streamers, but after reading the reviews on it, it was just too big for a two year old even though the starting age is 2. So, learn from our research and buy the 10" one I linked to above and add this adorable bell. This 10" tricycle was the perfect size for our two year old, though he doesn't quite get the concept of peddling just yet!

The day ended with a big smile on my son's face. Mom and Dad had a pretty good time too. Nothing like hitting the 2 mile marker in style!

"Meet the Neighbors" Outdoor Movie Party: Mary Poppins

We have lived in our new house now for 3 months and have only had the opportunity to meet a couple of our neighbors. We had heard there were lots of kids and fun people....so what better way to get everyone in one spot than a party?! We have just under 100 homes in our subdivision, and I wanted to be able to invite all of them. This was tricky, as my first idea was a classic American BBQ feeding everyone lunch on a Saturday afternoon. I wanted people to feel like they could come and go as they pleased and leave out the formal RSVPs. Well, this sort of casual party left for many expensive unknown variables such as how much food and booze to buy to accommodate a possibly very large number of guests. I didn't want to spend so much on food and only have a few show up...that would be lots of food and money down the drain. I hit pintrest for some inspiration and stumbled across the image of a vintage backyard movie screening. Blankets scattered across a backyard lawn graced by a DIY projector screen. This launched my "Friday Night Family Flick Under the Stars" party idea. I could cut food cost by supplying classic movie theater "snacks" rather than a meal....provide soda, juice and water like a theater (and ask adults to bring their own alcoholic beverages if they wanted to drink) Instant $ saved! I saw many tutorials with DIY projector screens, so I knew it was possible with a paint drop cloth and lumber. I could also borrow a projector from my work for free!  Next, was figuring out which movie would inspire the evening. I liked the whole nostalgia of a past era as my concept melted a drive-in movie theater with a vintage carnival. I went to a classic for inspiration...Mary Poppins! This was a family-friendly film that accomplished exactly what I wanted...and who doesn't love a classic?! This theme allowed for quirky touches and a backyard wonderland of globe lights, floral blankets, popping corn and stripped straws. My color inspiration was Dick Van Dyke's stripe outfit with aqua tie in the English Garden Chalk Drawing Scene. With the help of Mary Poppin's inspiration and my new discovery of an AMAZING vintage rental company I am now obsessed with here in Madison: A La Crate, I was so excited to see this party come to life!

Color Inspiration:

Here are a few shots taken before the party kicked off.....

Guest were greeted by this "Welcome" table upon entering the backyard. Here guests were asked to fill out name tags in order to help us learn their names. There was also a basket of sheets in case anyone needed an extra or forgot theirs. Vintage blocks and crate from A La Crate Vintage

This was our outdoor theater. We made the screen from rubber-backed painter's drop cloth (have the rubber side as the screen...it caught the light better and made for a more vivid picture) We built a frame from 2x4's. Because it stays light here pretty late, we attached a dowel and draped dark curtains to help the picture be more visible as the sun was still setting when we started. This helped quite a bit. I scattered 2 blankets to guide people on where to sit and we rolled huge logs from an oak we had to cut down to allow for extra seating and/or drink tables. It was super cute when all the little boys hopped up on them and were dancing on their own "chimneys" during the "Step In Time" number.

 The Concessions area was equipped with "antique" popcorn machine, candy buffet, nacho station, antique (and working) gumball machine all set beneath handmade kites (a DIY project I did with fabric, string ribbon and skinny dowels), a Mary Poppins umbrella (my parasol from engagement photos) and carnival style globe lights (found at Target). The runner found here was actually a Goodwill score. The blankets above too were a mix of Goodwill finds and estate sale linens.

  Found these candy jars at Marshall's paired them with clear candy scoops. They are stacked on vintage books rented from A La Crate (the spindle candy label holders also rented from there) The vintage style popcorn boxes were an Amazon find and were amazingly sturdy and a great price! Carousal was a Goodwill find! Wish I had popcorn popped for these photos but we wanted it to taste fresh for our guests!

  As mentioned, the gumball machine was rented from A La Crate. I used a vintage creamer I scored at Goodwill for $0.99 to house the "Tuppence" the machine required to obtain a gumball. The kiddos LOVED this piece!

This ice bin was picked up at a garage sale for $1. Keeping with the theme, I had to use red and white stripped straws! I housed them in a mason jar.

This amazing sign stand was another garage sale find at a whopping $1 (starting to get the hint, I'm cheap?!) I made this chalk board sign from a piece of cardboard and chalkboard paper...super easy...and I can reuse.

Even though I asked guests to bring blankets and folding chairs, I still wanted to provide some seating. This "tea-like" table was set beneath glowing paper lanterns and right beside the kiddie "playground" which consisted of a sand table, quilt blanket with wooden blocks and a slide.

First Bee-day: Bumblebee Brunch

I had the best time planning my son's First Birthday (or Bee-day as I prefer to call it) party!!!! My chandelier over my dining table launched the whole theme as it looks like a bee-hive, of course coupled with the irony that kids can have honey after they're one...who could resist that theme?! Some of these items could be super cute for just a springtime or Easter party! I have SOOOO many DIY projects at play here I think I about drove my husband, Mom and Grandma crazy with them all....as I did put them to work! I'll try to break down the projects:

Invitations: Just cardstock. I designed them in photoshop using images found online (such as the green honeycomb and black outline) I then added a Martha Stewart bee for a 3D touch!


Mimosa Charms: Same ol' cardstock and photoshop. Used different theme oriented images to distinguish each glass. Punched a hole at the top and tied a ribbon around....Voila, Mimosa charms!

Bees on Beehive Chandelier: These were a labor of love from my Mom, Grandma and me. (Thank you ladies) These cute little bees are made of black and yellow pom poms (3/4") hot glued together. Next, we wrapped floral wire around to be able to attach them to the chandelier. Last, we hot glued the wings which were just cut from wax paper. These turned out amazing! We had a couple flying away from the "hive" These were on spirals that were supposed to go on the cake to hold my fondant bees....but my fondant bees were too heavy...oh well!

Beehive Cake: This was some work! But, so worth it! The big beehive is a 5 layer cake. I set out to make it from scratch but later gave in to Betty Crocker. To make the big beehive and mini (smash cake) I used 3 yellow Betty Crocker Cake mixes and 1 Milk Chocolate Betty Crocker cake mix. The icing was also Betty Crocker Whipped Buttercream. Delicious! I baked 3, 9" yellow cake rounds and 2, 9" chocolate. I leveled the cakes stacked them yellow, chocolate, yellow, chocolate, yellow (to give a beehive stripe effect). I used just a little icing between layers. Next, using a bread knife, carved the towering cake in to the shape of a beehive and added a crumb coat of icing. I tinted the icing slightly with ivory icing color and whipped it to help double in size. I piped the rounds using the rope tip by Wilton...believe was #99. Did all this the same for the mini cake but used 2 rounds of 4" cake pans and only used yellow cake.

Fondant Bees: I wish I could lay claim to these cute little things, but alas, I cannot. I found a YouTube video on how to make these and they came out just like they look in the tutorial. I had no experience prior to working with fondant or any of the cake decorating tools. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOX79uoN_vo

King Bee High Chair Sign: Just cardstock cut in circles using a compass and the letters are leftover adhesive letters from my DIY Closet Divider project. I just weaved ribbon to join them all.

Pennant: I just used fabric scraps incorporated into the party, cut them into triangles, hemmed the edges and joined with a handmade bias tape.

Menu: Bee-nana Bread, Honey-Nut Cheerios, Honeycomb cereal, Chicken Biscuits, Sun-dried Tomato Baked Brie served with crackers & grapes, Sausage Cups, Flower Tea Sandwiches (PB&J, Egg Salad), Bee Wings (Baguette with goat cheese, pine nuts, green onion & drizzled in honey), Fruit Bees (Blackberry, Pineapple ball...using melon scooper, Blackberry on skewer) We also had a Nectar Station where ice water was served with sliced lemon and lime rounds and you could find Milk, OJ and Mimosas.

Honey Favors: I ordered these from http://www.ebeehoney.com/honeyfavors.html They were fantastic to work with! Received them really fast! They came undecorated. I just put fabric over the top and tied them off with some twine adding a cardstock note that read "Thanks for buzzing by"

Wheat Grass Center Pieces:  I grew the wheat grass myself in cheap terracotta pots I got from Home Depot. The wheat grass was from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E7QYNG/ref=oh_o04_s00_i00_details We started the growing process about 9 days before the party. This would really be a cute center piece for Easter with either eggs or bees in the grass. The bees in my center piece are the fondant bees stuck on a bamboo cooking skewer I got from my local grocery store.

Crochet Bumblebees: I originally wanted to make these in addition to a soft beehive the kids could put the bees in the beehive....but that was a sewing flop so we just had these in a basket for a 1-year-old friendly game of putting the bees in the basket. An older guest (4 yrs old) tossed them into the basket at different distances. I found this cute free pattern here:  http://www.crochetspot.com/crochet-pattern-baby-bumblebee/

Little Boy Bow Tie: I had my heart set on my son wearing a preppy yellow bow tie....I could not find one in ANY of the stores! The only place I found them in abundance was Etsy...but not the right fabric...and a bit overpriced. Lucky for me I found this great tutorial! http://papernstitchblog.com/2011/03/29/diy-craft-project-how-to-make-the-cutest-boys-bowtie-in-time-for-easter/