Perfect For A Boy! - Stylish Dessert Table

Check out this fab table, and stay tuned for a fun giveaway later today!

I have another unique table display for you today!  This one comes from Imprintables, and was designed for Easter, but I think you'll agree it is the perfect presentation for any little boy (or big boy!). 

That backdrop is amazing and flanked by hanging poms creates the perfect frame for the table!  The natural color of the boxes and bags, with added details continues the masculine feel.  Change out the egg-shaped cookies for regular ones, and you are all set!  Another great design for the fellas!

Custom Inspiration Board - Red & Aqua Baby Shower

Carla and her friends are throwing a baby shower for another girl friend who doesn't know the sex of the baby.  She loves the popular combination of red and aqua, so that was the jumping off point.

We begin with a fun invitation in the chosen color scheme.  Continue the decor with a background of color in the way of hanging lanterns, table cloths, and runners.  A light lunch will be served so she can set up tables in alternating color ways (red on aqua for some, aqua on red for others).  Tight bunches of red flowers like roses or carnations look great as centerpieces. 

Place a welcome sign in a prominent place, and have shower activities set up, printed on coordinating paper. 

Set up a candy and dessert table full of  red and aqua treats.  You can wrap water bottles and rice crispy treat squares with colorful matching paper.  Hang a flag banner made from the same paper or fabric, above the sweets.  Serve a signature red cocktail/mocktail.  Provide attractive packaging to fill up with candy as the take home favors.

Photo Sources:

Invitation, diaper cake, hanging lanterns, gifts, tabletop

sign, chair swag, table setting

candy display, candy cones, banner

red drink, wrapped sandwich, game, centerpiece

favor packs, cupcakes, cookies, water bottles

Ladies Night Spa Table

I absolutely love everything about this table that Lindsey at Bella Grace Party Designs created!  Look closely...she combined spa items/favors with healthy spa-style snacks, and decor in a light citrusy color scheme.

Lindsey created this table with the same talent she exhibits in her etsy shop, Paper and Pigtails.  I'm crazy about those small chip boxes (popcorn boxes) that will be available in downloadable templates in her shop.

Great job Lindsey!  Healthy snacks never looked so good!

Cinco De Mayo Fiesta!

I recently stumbled upon a friend I've known since 6th grade(no, I will not say how many years that is!).  The irony of the story is that I stumbled upon her fabulously popular blog, Pink and Polka Dot, about slipcovers, thrifting, and overall musings of a mom.  She has a very engaging online 'voice,' and when I go over to visit, it's like we're sitting down with a cup of coffee, chatting!  

So, she asked me to do a guest post for a Cinco de Mayo party, that she could share with her readers.  Here is the post she'll be sharing on her blog today, and I hope you'll head over to Pink and Polka Dot to say 'hi! to my old friend, Kristi!

  

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a stylish and fun fiesta! Bright colors are the way to set the tone and of course some traditional Mexican details add pizazz! Gather together some friends for margaritas and heavy hors d'oeuvres. Make it easy by purchasing take-out from your favorite Mexican restaurant, or grocery store selections. Spend your extra time on presentation. Fun items like sombreros, serapes, and maracas can be found at many party stores this time of year. Serapes can be draped over the tables. Sombreros can hold tortilla chips, and maracas would make a fun napkin ring addition (just tie a colorful ribbon around the napkin and tie on a maraca). Hang colorful tissue poms, or printable banners from Paper and Cake. Tissue 'flowers' are also a traditional decor item you can place around the party space, in vases, or tie on to the backs of chairs. Take the party outside and set up multiple tables and blankets in the grass for a relaxed atmosphere. Now all you have to do is sit back and enjoy your guests. Ole!

Photo sources:
tapletop, hanging banner, striped straws,
salsa, layered dip, maracas,
outdoor portable table, fruit in dip cups, fiesta party, margarita 
chair tissue flowers, printable circles, printable party banner

Stylish Food Presentation

I think it's been documented here before, that I love stylish food presentation. So when Mandy Revzen sent over the pictures from her recent Housewarming Party, I was quite happy....then I was hungry!  What I love is that there are no fancy or gourmet recipes to fuss with.  But presented on skewers, and uniform rows, it looks like a million bucks.  BTW, food on a skewer should be a food group all it's own!  You can see more on Mandy's blog, Everyday Obsession.   

Featured On: How Does She?

This has been a great week for Celebrations At Home!  We've received much love for the Modern Safari party, and the Custom Inspiration Boards.  A HUGE Thank You!

We were also featured on an amazing site, How Does She?    This site is the product of 3 dynamic moms who have a passion for sharing all things crafting, cooking, entertaining, parenting, organizing, etc....you know, girl stuff!  You may remember the Baseball party I featured here, came from Shelley - one of the trio.  Spend some time on How Does She?...these are some fun ladies!

A Quick Shout-Out to Fab Sites Who Showed Us Love This Week:

The Cake Blog

Thoughtfully Simple

The Party Dress

Party Perfect

Accent The Party

Swank Sweets

Personally You Parties

Frosted Events Blog

A Blissful Nest

Kami Buchanan

Couture Parties

Entertain Exchange

  Maddycakes Muse

Trend Alert: Hanging Frames

Have an outdoor soiree in the works?  Try creating a bit of drama with one of these hanging frame ideas.

You can see this idea works great for creating a walkway, a 'wall' or backdrop, or a photo opportunity.   Just gather some old frames from yard sales, and hang them with ribbon or twine, from trees, tent frames, or a diy pole system.   This would be the perfect addition to an engagement party, outdoor wedding, birthday, or family reunion.

Sources:
Top: Snippet & Ink
Middle: Ruffled Blog
Bottom: Jessi Haack Weddings

Little Birdy Birthday

This sweet birthday party comes from Alannah Rose in Australia, in celebration of a 5th birthday.  There are so many details here from the twig 'tree' centerpiece, bird cage, and favor bags, to the color coordinated food, bird cookies, and amazing bird cake! 

I love the sophistication of this party and think you can gather ideas for a Little Birdy baby shower as well.  Check out the post for LOTS more photos and links to vendors.

Spring Fling Inspiration

I put together a little inspiration board to help you plan a Spring Fling outdoor party, graduation, or Mother's Day.  A soft color palette of yellow and pink, with florals, hanging rosettes, and color coordinated treats are the order of the day.  Add in a little lemon in the place card holders, frozen bottle coolers, and even fill a glass cylandar with whole lemons to repeat the look.  Then sit back and enjoy the sun!

Sources:

Hanging fans, tabletop, flowers, lollipops (martha stewart), candies

Chairs, mini mac n cheese

Place setting, menu card, door hangers, frozen bottle cooler

A 'Modern Safari' Girls Gathering

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)

I'm excited to share this party with you as I think it is perfectly suited to any Ladies Night, Bridal Shower, or Birthday Party!  I actually did this for my own monthly ladies gathering Friday night.  The inspiration for 'Modern Safari' came from the fun cocktail napkins above, and was reinforced when I saw the pink and orange zebra print table by Amy Atlas.  

To help set the tone I purchase the pink zebra sheet set and used it for a runner and the dessert backdrop.  For the dinner table, I bought some safari animal home decor pieces and spray painted them white, then added adhesive gems for the eyes.  The monkey is supposed to hold a votive candle but I added water to the well and popped in a gerber daisy head.  For the centerpiece, I nestled some floral foam on top of the white vase and covered it with yellow daisies, topping it off with a few pink feathers.  Flowers from my yard, as well as moss balls from Social Couture finished the table. 

At each place setting I added a faux tropical leaf, small flower clipping and a Duet Truffle that I wrapped in coordinating tissue and ribbon.  I added a band of green paper and yellow zebra ribbon (Michael's $1 bin) across the plate and hung a cute pink cocktail elephant on each glass.  Seriously, everyone loved the hanging elephants and monkeys!

For dessert I made brownie pops, cream cheese tartlets, lemon bars (in zebra liners), and purchased iced cookies and candies.   I hung bud-vase vials with a single flower in each, as part of the backdrop.  These were a $1 find at Dollar Tree!  Faux palm leaves lined the tartlet plates.

Finally, a cocktail table was set up to serve a lemonade-Lemoncello mixture (YUM!).  I hung mosquito netting (I've had for years) above, and set the drinks inside a small 'suitcase' lined with white feathers.  My fuzzy round rug made the perfect "table cloth" with it's fur-like texture, and more cocktail monkeys were hung on the glasses.

I really love how this party turned out, and hope you find something here inspiring.  Thanks for letting me share.  Cheers!

You can see more on Flickr or Facebook.

Crafty Flowers

One of my favorite 'crafty' design elements is faux flowers.  There are so many different ways to use them in your entertaining decor.  Add a few faux flowers into a bouquet of real flowers, create a centerpiece entirely of hand crafted flowers, create napkin rings, table runners, hanging decor...the possibilities are endless!  And depending on the materials you use, they can have a whimsical, sophisticated, or vintage feel.   

Some great materials to use are felt, scrapbook paper, tissue paper, hand-made paper, newspaper print, even an old phone book (as seen above).  Check out these great sources and tutorials for more on creating your own faux flowers:

First Set: One Charming Party; BHG

Second Set: American Crafts Studio; Randomly Speaking

Third Set: Chasing Snails; Stylish Events   

Choo, Choo! - A Train Theme Birthday Party

Kelly from The Party Dress designed this adorable little boy birthday party for a friend.  There seems to be so many cute parties for little girls, so when I see one this cute for little boys, I just have to share!  A great dessert table, fun centerpieces, and fantastic custom labels for bubbles, all make this party pleasing to the eye!  Read Kelly's post for all the information on this party as well as links to the invitations and other party goods. 

Custom Inspiration Board - Horse Theme Birthday

Stacey wanted a Horse Themed Birthday party for her daughter who is turning 6.  She already picked out the adorable red and tan horse invitations, so I went from there to create a fun backyard celebration!

Beginning with the invitations selected, add a horseshoe (real or a paper silhouette, or painted wooden shape) along with it.

The overall concept is "classic picnic-style". Set up the back yard with a tent or two, for shade and to define the space. Set up dining tables and chairs, as well as food or craft tables underneath. Place a "welcome" chalkboard sign near the entrance. Hang a photo gallery of the birthday girl over the years. Just tie a long piece of twine to 2 points, and attach photos with clothes pins. You could set this up as a backdrop to the dessert bar if you like. Just fill 2 flower pots with sand, insert a pole into each (like a broomstick handle), then tie the twine to each pole/stick.

Cover the tables with craft paper from the craft store (or make place mats with it). Centerpieces can be buckets of apples, or casual wild flower arrangements. Provide "twig" pencils for the kids to write/draw right on the craft paper. For lunch, serve Boxed Lunches! Fill them with a sandwich, cut veggies or fruit, and chips. The boxes can be lined up on a separate table to be distributed, or set up at each place setting before hand. Serve drinks with red labels (cokes, Izze, red juice, or water bottles wrapped with coordinating paper).

For dessert and snacks, set up a buffet of cookies, candy apples, and flavored popcorn (Kettle Corn is delicious!). You may provide bags to fill up and take home as well.

The big activity of the day is pony rides! You may also provide wooden shaped horseshoes from the craft store, and paints, gems, etc, for the kids to decorate their own horseshoe. Classic backyard relay games can be played also (sack race, water balloon toss, etc).

Set up a Photo Station with a bale of hay and horse saddle. Kids can sit on it and have their pictures taken. Provide either a cowboy hat or a riders cap if you like.

Place small galvanized buckets full of favors into a classic red wagon. You could fill them with a mini toy horse, the craft horseshoe they've decorated, dessert bags they've filled, a chocolate horse lollipop, twig pencils, etc.

Classic Hobby Horse toys can be used as decor (to line the walkway to the party area), as toys for the kids to use during the party, or as favors for each child.

Photo Sources:
chalkboard, hobby horses, horseshoes, invitation(Etsy)
sandwich, box lunch, place setting, tent, box with apple, twig pencils, kids table
cookie buffet, candy apples, drinks display,
hanging pictures, popcorn, caramel apples, red punch
horseshoe craft, saddle & hay, pony ride,
bucket favors, red favor bags, red wagon, sack race

Additional Shopping Sources:
Horse lollipop molds
Hobby horses
Twig pencils
Wooden craft horseshoes
Gable lunch boxes

'Love Birds' Bridal Shower

The "Love Birds" theme is a great one for a bridal shower, and this design photographed by Oh, Darling! (found via Design Sponge) offers some gorgeous modern-rustic inspiration and ideas.

This setting would be perfect for Spring showers ('Love Birds' bridal shower, 'Nesting Mom' baby shower, even Mother's Day), with it's mossy background, birch wood accents, and bird and egg details.  Even the wood grain paper cones and tray liners convey the look! 

Save money on flowers by creating terrarium centerpieces.  Do double duty with your favors by displaying them inside a birdcage and setting it center stage as a dessert table centerpiece.  Fill in with plenty of moss and candles, and tiny birds' nests at place settings.    

Design & Styling by Merci New York and Poppies & Posies