Back to School party

Well now that school is in session I thought I would finally post my back to school party. (Please excuse the poor quality photos- I cannot find the cord to my nice camera so had to use my other one and I also forgot to put my glasses on. OOPS!)

The first few pics are of the center piece. I found the vintage globe at a garage sale for $3. I thought it was a good deal and it is in really good shape. I thought it worked perfectly for my tablescape. I found the printables off of someone's blog and I cannot remember were now. I need to learn to give credit were credit is due. I also liked how it seemed vintage like too.

In looking at my pictures I realized this is not the complete center piece. I also had a pencil vase with fresh flowers. Please excuse the mess on my hutch in the background. These pics were pre-party.

I really liked how my mantel turned out. I kept it really simple and love the results and will do the same next year. The banner is back to school fabric from etsy. It too has a vintage feel to it. (Sorry for the blurry picture.)

This is a shot of my flowers looking down at them. I added rulers and pencils into the mix of flowers. I thought it turned out cute. I got the idea from the Celebrate Fall magazine by Phyllis Hoffman.

These are the goody bags I did for the kids. I filled them with back to school supplies and age appropriate since I had a mix of ages.

Here is a picture of the table before the kids saw it. Please disregard the boring looking plate in the bottom of the pic. That was my plate and I should have removed it for the picture.(I really should learn photoshop.)

This is what everyone's placemat looked like. I used black scrapbook paper and wrote their names on it. Very simple and I thought it looked cute.

Underneath everyone's plate I wrote a little personalized message. They all loved it.

My attempt at a sandwich made to look like a cake. Very cute but do it for only a few kids not 5! You use a lot of bread and you waste a lot of bread. Kids LOVED it though. So worth the work put into it.

And finally I served cupcakes that looked like apples. The kids loved those too. The stems were tootsie rolls and the leaves were starbursts.

So there you have the back to school party. We also played Back to School bingo which I purchased off of Etsy. The kids enjoyed that too. I will have to do it again next year. It was so fun and worth all the energy that went in to it.

A Bridal Shower

Yes, I am finally posting. It has been busy around these parts. More on that in another post. A couple of weeks ago I hosted, along with my s-i-l Julie, a bridal shower for my nephew's fiancee.

Her colors are cream, black and green. Below are pictures of decorations. ( sorry, not the best and I am not sure what setting I should have it on to make them enlarge. I also need a better camera.)

The first is the food table. My sister picked up the paper supplies for me at Hobby Lobby ( we do not have one here in Minnesota). Of course, no picture! ( That is the bad part of being the hostess and doing it by myself-NO TIME before hand) The plates were black and with white flowers, very modern flowers. My silverware was the green. I was excited to find some fabric that matched almost exact to my plates. I used the fabric on the food table and on the dining room table. I tried my best to stay in the black, white(cream) and green theme, with using what I already had. If look close, you can see the bride to be in the background behind my mother in law. ( don't worry I moved the kids chairs out before it all started. Guests came a little to early.)

Here is the centerpiece for the main table. I took clay pots and spray painted them a green. ( I got the paint at Lowes, but I cannot think of the color.) Then I used my trusty cricut and cut some letters using vinyl. I have another fun thing to create with. The vinyl is so fun to work with. Then I just went to my local nursery and bought some plants that I thought looked somewhat modern and wedding looking. They looked really nice in person, not so good in pics though. I filled some little crystal glasses with black, white and mint m& ms. Those were a hit but I am hear to tell you, very expensive treat. It is hard to tell but the white flowers around the pots are lit. They are from Michaels and they are Martha Stewart. ( I also thought they would be fun for birthday parties or hanging somewhere in Emma's room.) I also wrapped tule around the base to soften it a bit. You cannot see them in the pictures but I also scattered some diamond rings (courtesy of Wilton, $1.99) Very simple, but everyone loved how it looked.

These are the cupcakes. Julie got them from Walmart and they were yummy. Again, we tried to stick to our color theme. The cupcakes were chocolate with white frosting and the design was green. What we should have done was put a C on them ( the brides future last name)
O.k. my pics are out of order but I am too tired to move them around. Here is a close up of the food table. You can get a better look at the fabric.
From my kitchen light I hung diamond rings from sheer ribbon. Another hit of the guests.
Well, there you have it. Very simple decorations, but I was trying to spend too much money. It was a very nice shower and the bride to be loved everything so that is what matters the most. I am off to Chicago today. Jim is there on business.

Tickled Pink!!! (Part 2)

Here are more pictures of the party. I thought it would be fun to do a craft and have a keepsake to take home. The older 2 girls and Evan had a good time doing this craft. ( For some reason I cannot download more than 5 pictures, so I don't have all the letters posted, but they all turned out cute.

Emma's way of saying "cheese" when we take a picture. It is cute, but hard to get a good picture.

Here is Evan, the only boy. He was having a great time. I think he will like parties.

Here is Rachel showing off her finished "R". She was very specific as to where she wanted things. It was so cute. It was also her birthday in a few days and she thought (at first) that maybe the party was for her. How cute!!!!

Here is Sarah showing her finished product. What I did was paint all the letters beforehand and then the kids decorated them with stickers, ribbons and flowers. Some items of course where hot glued on (by an adult of course). This is Evan doing his letter. I did not paint his letter. I thought it would be cute to leave his as is. He had so much fun putting his stickers on. It was cute, he would put them all in the same area, so I would have to rotate the letter to get them in different areas. He did not want to stop doing it. Maybe a future artist or crafter on my hands.

All in all it was a very nice party. Sheila and I had a very relaxing time (once I got Emma settled and the kids had lunch). We sipped on raspberry tea and actually had time to chat without kids always interrupting.

Tickled Pink!!!

I know, I know, it has been a long time......and I have no excuses. I guess I am lazy. Life has been good and not much happening. However, a few weeks ago Emma and Evan hosted a "Tickled" Pink party to our friends Sarah, Rachel and Naomi and of course their mom, Sheila, came as well. I will spread the pictures out over the next few days. The first series are the table decorations. Of course, most everything was pink. Poor Evan, all that pink. He had a great time. However, his sister was a big crab the entire time. Pretty typical!!

Here is the table and the all the decor. It was nice to only have one little area to decorate.

The two older girls had their very own place setting. They absolutely loved the glass slipper and were so excited that they could bring it home. My wands did not turn out the way I wanted them too but oh well.
I made ants on a log and dyed the cream cheese pink. (thanks Sue) The girls thought that was pretty neat. I bought raspberry tea cookies at Target and they were so good. I also made pinwheels (again, thanks Sue). They were made with white bread and raspberry preserves. The tablecloth is from my Grandma. She did all the stitching on it. I believe it was all pre-printed on the cloth. None the less, I love it and will cherish it always.
This is a view looking down on the table. I also served chocolate fondue with bananas, pretzels, raspberries and shortcake. The flowers where from my garden. I filled some jars with candy. Boy is hard to find pink candy!!
Another view looking down at the table. The older 2 girls thought this was a pretty neat party. After all, it was really for them. The little ones really didn't care too much and Emma, well, in time will love a party like this.

Next time I will post the craft that we did.

I would also like to congratulate my niece, Jessica, on the birth of her son Jackson. He is a cutie and I cannot wait to see him in September.