*Patriotic *Party *Paraphernalia

I always begin planning a party with the decorations and these will be so much fun! You twist the bottom to make them pop. No pulling the string on these babies. I’m hoping they are more than the impressive packaging and not a dud. Probably filled with little pieces of confetti that we will be finding all summer long. 🙂 Pier 1 $1.00/each.Next, I think about what can I add to the food or serving pieces to bring in my… [Read More]

Preamble to a 4th of July Party

4th of july party invitation

I love the 4th of July!In the past we’ve been in parades riding our vintage bicycles and even cruised the main drag in a purple Prowler. We’ve clapped rhythmically to Sousa marches at the Hollywood Bowl. We’ve watched the spectacular Rose Bowl fireworks from a turn-of-the-century Pasadena villa eating more than our fair share of homemade ice cream. But having a party at home is my favorite thing to do and this week I’m doing a lot of the prep… [Read More]

4th of July Printable Downloads * FREE*!

  Just when I was wondering how I was going to make my own printables for a 4th of July party, I found Brandi’s at Tweedle Dee Designs! If you are planning a celebration you have to head over to her blog. Brandi is a very talented designer who is sharing her entire July 4th collection with us! Thank you Brandi!Her free downloads take you from Invitation ~ (Who could resist a party when it looks this fun & inviting?)… [Read More]

Glowing Tablescapes

  As my niece Mizz finds all things wedding on the internet she came across this site called www.save-on-crafts.com. I love the tablescapes made with these little battery operated lights called floralytes.Wow! Look at these palms made with ostrich feathers, vine lights, Eiffel tower glass vase and a blue floralyte.Here are the instructions to make the feather palm tree. With blue martinis and white palms. Spectacular! These little lights come in a variety of colors and styles. These are called… [Read More]

Printable Downloads

Kate’s Paperie has a couple very cute downloads on their website. First is a shamrocks and clovers template for colored paper which I like for a change so I don’t use up all my ink.The pdf file is here. The second is an adorable carrot box that all you need to do is print, cut and tape or use glue dots. So cute in a lunch or little favors on your springtime table. The pdf file is here. I’m working… [Read More]

This Is The Last Straw!!

I promise no more posts featuring these straws but I KNEW there was something adorable you could do with them!Check it out at A Field Journal.

KISS For Valentine’s Day

Keep It Simple Sweetheart…Fancy Flours. Love, love, love. Especially when I’m feeling a little lazy. Let them do the cutting. Let me eat cake. A cookie is a blank canvas. Stencil it! Feeling retro? Let your cookie be the Valentine card. *Wafer paper goes on top of the icing. If you’re not a baker, buy plain cookies in the market and a can of icing or spread royal icing on and let it dry for a hard cookie. No, the… [Read More]

Wedding Decorations Dress Rehearsal…

wedding decorations paper rosettes

Just a quick update on the decorations dress rehearsal… I chose from stacks and stacks of paper rosettes I made and brought one set to play with for the prototype.This is what I decided on. The additional larger sizes worked out great. I will flip the tails of the ribbons over to hang on the right side. These will go on 12 interior doors of the ballroom. The groom-to-be approving one of the two entry doors to the villa. Today… [Read More]

Weekend Update #3: The Bridal Shower

After the ‘design consultation’ at the villa, the trip to the church for our table setting dress rehearsal and a consult with the florist, this bride still had plenty of smiles left for her party! I gave my niece 3 gifts for her bridal shower. The big package first. A plate of my mom’s. Very 50’s. Very cute. Next was the medium package. I gave her a framed picture of my mom (Grandma Mac) and her that I took 21… [Read More]

Weekend Update #2 – Wedding Table Settings

After the villa, it was on to another Martha project my niece is incorporating into the table decorations. It’s a is a grid of ribbon surrounding the table’s cake. Each table will have it’s own mini wedding cake as I posted about last week. They will sit on a yellow wooden square bordered by the ribbons.Since we had the bride for the morning, I asked my s.i.l. if we could get the same sized table and do a mock up… [Read More]