A Botanical Garden Birthday Party

I was so thrilled when I found this submission all the way from the Philippines, in my "in" box this week.  Anna hosted a 1st Birthday Party for her daughter Arie, that is so beautiful and elegant it would be wonderful for a baby shower as well.  The photos are from Karen Ilagan Photography, who captured all the sweet details.

The scene is set at a botanical garden with lush greenery welcoming guests.  Once inside, a long table is set with "Arie's Year of Firsts" showcasing photos and memorabilia from the past year.  The bird motif, flowers, and use of fabric create a stunning French Botanical feeling to the party.  

Tabletops are simple but stunning with an eclectic mix of bottles and jars holding an array of flowers.  Fabric strips adorn the backs of chairs and are seen throughout the party in swags, ties, and other decorative elements.

Below, you can see how the fabric was used to cover chipboard shapes (birds & owls) that were hanging on the note "tree."  It was also used to cover the children's tables - a lovely touch!

And at the end of the day each child went home with a monogrammed bag. 

There are so many take-away ideas from this stunning party:  the "year of firsts" table, the beautifully covered kids tables, fabric covered chipboard shapes...

I hope you'll incorporate some of these into your next party.

Thanks to Anna and Karen Ilagan Photography for sharing!

Cupcake Fondue

This is just about the cutest idea I've seen in a long time.  Cupcake Fondue, as seen on Pintsize Social by Amanda of Bake it Pretty.  All you need is mini cupcakes (unfrosted), powdered sugar, a liquid (juice or milk), light corn syrup, and some dry toppings.

This would be a fun kids activity as well as a romantic Valentine's dessert idea.  Check out the full recipe on Pintsize Social.

Valentine's Play Date & Giveaway {Guest Blogger}

A Big Thank You to Kori of Paper & Pigtails for guest blogging for me while I'm at Blissdom:

Hi everyone! I would love to start by saying I am SO EXCITED and

HONORED to be able to guest post on one of my favorite blogs! I began

following Celebrations at Home and Chris at the very beginning of my

journey into the party world and still consider it a go to blog for

inspiration!! Thank you Chris for the chance to guest post about my

Toddler Valentine Playdate!

I hosted a Valentine exchange recently for my kids and some of their

friends!! We hosted it early so that some friends who are in school

would have the day off to join us, and as I have house guests for

three weeks, we know doing it before would be best!

The whole concept started with the ADORABLE little red tin mailboxes I

found online (now available in the $1 section at Target). In an effort

to figure out how to make "mailbox stands" without too much trouble, I

happened to see these cute candlesticks in assorted sizes and knew

they'd be perfect. Once this theme was decided I received a box of

Twirlie Whilies pinwheels that were too cute to not include! So,

combining these elements, the entire design came together for the

holiday set and the playdate!!

As with most parties, things happen the day of the party that can't be

helped. For us, I planned a larger children's table using the

pinwheels and sucker centerpiece that ended up on the food table.

After the rain soaked the large table and chairs, I had to quickly

rework our round table for the four older toddlers as the little ones

don't sit long anyway. I used a pink runner I had from a previous

party, paper plates in reds and pinks, green "grass", mini mason jars

for the lemonade, and two of the mailboxes for a centerpiece (as we no

longer had room for the planned centerpiece). I also decided to use

the valentines from my kids as "table decor". My son gave Twirlie

Whirlies Pinwheels which were on each plate, and my daughter gave a

pink striped bag of heart gummies. The bags and mini mailboxes were

used for the kids to take their treats home in.

We had a table full of food that FULLY intended to hold the chicken

salad sandwiches and other lunch food, but when a friend showed up

with the beautiful sugar cookies she made and decorated herself, I

knew they had to have a place on the table! Once the "centerpieces"

for the kids table merged onto the food table as well, it ended up

mostly sweets....oops. We can assure you, the kids didn't complain!

I think my favorite part of the party was the Valentine Bingo

Printable Game I made to go with the set! Kids used stickers to put on

their cards and we kept playing until everyone had the chance to shout

BINGO! It was certainly a fun and memorable holiday party for my

little ones and hopefully their friends as well!
This full editable Valentine set is for SALE in my Etsy shop for $15! 

This Giveaway is now Closed
As a thank you to Chris's readers for putting up with my guest post, I

would love to offer a GIVEAWAY to you! I will randomly choose 2

comments left here to win an EDITABLE party set of your choice

(including circles, invitation, tent cards/place cards, bottle labels,

and large circles)!!
Simply Visit the Paper & Pigtails Etsy Shop and

see which EDITABLE design is your favorite, then come back and post a

comment to let us know!

The Winner will be chosen on Monday, the 31st.

Congratulations to Kelly (#59) and Dee (#12) for winning your choice of Editable Printables from Paper & Pigtails!

Your Ticket To Love - Bridal Shower

by contributor Kristi Delfino

With all the warmer weather we have been having this last week I am ready for Spring!  I bet you are too.  Well with Spring on my mind, I decide to put together a Pink and Green Spring photo shoot for you...all inspired by some tickets that I found at Michaels.  There are lots of ideas here that can easily be done for a bridal shower or wedding, or a baby shower, birthday, etc...  So let's get started shall we?

Just a small, simple escort area to start with.  I adore using vintage frames for a variety of projects.  For this escort area I trimmed a piece of foam core board to fit the frame, and covered it with some material.  A large white tag (that goes through the printer nicely) has a guest name and a ticket with the table they are to sit at.  I kept thinking of how I would love a ticket to 'BLISS', wouldn't you?  Anyway, next we have a small bar area...

I love using apothecary jars for ice!  And with just a couple of other elements - the tickets on the stir sticks, the fabric covered coasters, fabric tags on the bottles, and the yarn braids (this is the tutorial I used) - you can tie everything together for a cohesive look.  Continuing on with my pink and green Spring theme, I brought the same elements (and some new ones too) to the table...

Tickets stuck on painted wood blocks makes for a easy table marker.  And lastly, the small dessert area...

I found the crowns at Michaels for $3.99 each.  When I saw them, I thought they were the perfect size to hold a cupcake, and would be a great favor for guests to take home - a crown and a cupcake that is!  The burlap bags are from Beverly's, and there are so many ways in which to use them.  I decided to stitch on a heart to fit in with the whole theme.  The bags come with a plastic liner - so you can use them for plants, office supplies, etc...  You can see my tutorial on how to make them.  Hope you enjoyed this photo shoot today, and that I provided you with some inspiration!

~ Ciao

...concept, design, styling & photography all by luna and chloe weddings

Queen Of Hearts Valentine Shoot

There is a lot to see here today, as I styled and photographed this Queen of Hearts Valentine's Day shoot to help showcase the printable party collection by Paula of Frog Prince Paperie.  Paula created this very cool and modern set that would also work well for a bachelorette party, bridal shower, lingerie shower, or even engagement party - the LOVE theme here is universal! 

The dining table for two is covered with a simple white cloth to show off the black lace trim detail, and the centerpiece which consists of real flowers in vases along with some whimsical fabric & felt flowers as a "runner."  Love notes from the collection sit atop each plate and are the perfect romantic gift. 

Also part of the collection are the playing cards that spell LOVE.  One of the ways I used these was to attach them to a King & Queen decorative piece from Hobby Lobby(using double stick tape).  However, after I got the photo the wind was too strong to keep them there for long.

Another way to use the long straw flags is to make small heart-shaped stem markers.  I just used 2 different patterns and attached them with double-sided tape to make a heart shape.  To finish it off, I curled the tail ends.

I set up a small dessert table for two, with chocolate-dipped strawberries, mini cupcakes, and the gorgeous coordinating cookies from Allyson Jane.  I love how she can transfer any printable design to her cookies, and they taste as good as they look!

I used the classic circles to top the cupcakes and added to picks for the strawberries.  The wine bottle labels are one of my favorite items.  You can add it to wine or champage, but you could also use it to top off plain gift wrap.

No party is complete without something to hang.  I hung the LOVE banner across the front of the dessert table, but you can also hang it above, across a wall or doorway.

More decorative uses for the party circles and flags can be seen above on the milk bottles.  I used the flags in the traditional way on the straws, but also as decorative accents to the circles.  Below you can see just how pretty the love letters are both front and back.

A few more shots using pieces of the set to decorate small gifts can be seen below, including decorative paper sheets to use for lining trays or creating paper crafts.  Another one of my favorite items in this collection is the paper cone (bottom photo).  We embelished these with beaded trim, feathers, and ribbon to hang it on the backs of the chairs.  Filling them up with small heart-shaped cookies from Allyson Jane makes for the perfect party favor. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing this new collection from Frog Prince Paperie, and please visit my tutorial for using her papers as gift wrap, and a paper flower topper here.  Except for battling the wind for 2 hours on the day of the shoot, I had a fabulous time working on this. LOL

Visit Paula's shop for more information.

Styling and photographs - Chris Nease @ Celebrations At Home

Printables - Frog Prince Paperie

Decorated Cookies - Allyson Jane