Bridal Tea Party - Decorations

Hello, friends!

Man, am I excited!  I mentioned in my last post that I'm planning to be a lot more intentional with this blog and start to make it a regular habit.  Part of my struggle has been that I wasn't sure what to blog about.  With the way life has been for me lately, I've had to put a halt to some of my creative habits so I didn't think I had much to blog about.  Sometimes all it takes is some focus.  I found a bunch of stuff to share that I haven't gotten around to for the past year.  So I've just planned out the next 18 posts!  I'm excited about making blogging more of a priority and giving you guys some more ideas.

Onward...

As most of you know, my sister was married last July.  Actually, most of my blog posts this year have been about the wedding gift I put together for Kim & Larry, the CHEAP Dates for a Year basket.  Head over and check out some of those ideas if you haven't yet.  I also shared some games with you that I used for her Bachelorette Party, but I guess in all the chaos, I forgot to tell you about the shower that my mom and I threw for her last June.  I can't believe I completely skipped over it, because we put A LOT of work into it, and were both proud of the outcome.

Mom and I wanted to throw a shower for Kim to kind of pull together a bunch of little groups of people and have one big gathering.  It was a way to get a lot of the people together that love her and share in celebrating.  So, we needed something that would sound fun to a variety of people, something that wouldn't be too expensive, and something that would easily fit in most everyone's schedules.  So, we decided on a Bridal Tea Party.  It's traditional, fun, super girly, and cost-conscious enough to feed a large number of people on a weekend afternoon, which most people have available.

Another reason is tied into a few of our family traditions.  I'll get to those in a second.  Like I mentioned, Mom and I put a lot of planning and detail in this shower, so there is no way that I could do a post that includes it all.  At least not one that most of you would read all the way through.  So, I'm breaking it down.  Today, I'll go over the general plan and share some of the decorations and special touches we included.  Later, I'll share four more posts; one for food, one for games and activities for our guests, one for the favors, and one with some tips for all you Maid of Honors out there.  Don't miss them!

DECORATIONS
We wanted this shower to be feminine but not too frilly.  Classic but not "grandma".  Traditional but personalized.  My parents' gorgeous home was the perfect setting because Mom's decorating style is right in line with what we wanted.  The flow of the floor plan and the neutral, classic decor left a lot of ease in the plans for decorating, so we didn't really have to do much.

The first thing we wanted to do was make sure that we had plenty of seating for when Kim opened gifts (we were expecting between 15-30 guests), places for people to sit and chat while sipping on tea and snacking, and different mingling centers.  It's important when you plan a party to provide opportunities for conversation that are natural and comfortable, even for people who don't know each other.  At something as personal as a bridal shower, all guests have something in common so this is pretty simple.

We wanted to include some flowers, but nothing too formal.  Mom had a great wildflower garden to pick from and I have a stunning hydrangea bush at my apartment, so that's all we used.  Use what you have growing in your yard!  It fits right in with your home and most importantly, it's free!

We saw this idea on the ever-helpful Pinterest!  So easy and different.  We just used some wine glasses mom had, put a cluster of wildflowers underneath, and topped with a tea light.  It was the perfect way to spruce up our plate and silverware table.  Mom and I used plastic white tablecloths, but got a couple yards of fabric to match the feel of the shower that we overlaid on top of the white plastic.  This dressed it up a little and pulled it together.

I didn't arrange the hydrangeas that well, just stuck them in a vase on the table.  But I had so much fun making the wildflower jars that hung in the window!

It was really easy but got a great response at the party.  I saw the idea original here.  I had several baby food jars that were sent to my classroom and never used.  My mom had a ton of old ribbon that she got from my grandma which I cut to fit around each jar.  It was as simple as hot gluing them down with a couple dots of hot glue.  Then I used some twine to tie around the lips of the jars and left a long enough tail to hang them over the curtain rod.  I think it's a more dramatic and whimsical to hang them at varying heights.  After they were hung, I used a pitcher of water to fill each jar about halfway, then added a good mixture of wildflowers to each jar.  I wish I had a better picture of them.  We liked them so much, mom kept them up for weeks!

SENTIMENT STATIONS

I know that's a silly title, but I don't know what else to call them.  One of my favorite things that we included in our decorations for this shower were personal items from Kim's past and/or heritage.  I typed up short descriptions for each of them and got frames at the dollar store to display them.  These explain more about why having a tea party was so perfect and fitting for Kim's Bridal Shower.  These also provided the mingling spots I mentioned above.  Once guests spotted a few of these, they talked with others about them and started searching for each one.  

When Kim first asked me to be her Maid of Honor, we spent one night in the pouring rain sitting in my car in the Arby's parking lot near a bridal store where we had stopped to look at bridesmaid dresses.  I'll probably always remember that.  During that conversation, I was asking her all kinds of questions about what kind of showers she wanted, things she wanted incorporated during this special time, etc.  One thing she mentioned was that she would love to have a party similar to one she had when she was younger.  For her birthday one year, mom threw her a tea party and a lady came with all kinds of dress up clothes.  So it was a dress up/tea party.  It was perfect, and definitely something I knew she had to relive as a grown-up before tying the knot!  To tie the conversation and the idea together on the day of the shower, mom pulled out a bunch of old photos of not only the party but other times we dressed up to display.

Phew!  I was still planning on adding more to this post, but realizing I can split the last bit into a whole post on its own.  I don't want to make this too long!  Stick around...I'll tell you more about this special shower soon!

Jeepers Peepers!

It's time again for another wreath!  Actually...time for an EASTER wreath!

I meant to get to this last weekend, but time just didn't allow it.  I saw this idea in a FABULOUS magazine for lovers of creativity, entertaining, and cooking.  It's called "Celebrate" and is done by Phyllis Hoffman.  My mom is subscribed to it, and I always steal borrow it shortly after it comes in the mail to browse at all the cute ideas.  It is a great starting place for party planning, even if you want to throw a party but don't know what kind.  She comes up with party ideas for anything and everything, and everything is cute and coordinated which I love.  The crafts and decor are not ones that LOOK homemade, if you know what I mean.  But most of the ideas are cheap, and the magazine (and website) has wonderful printables.  I will someday subscribe myself so I can have my own collection!  

Anyway...on to the WREATH!  Here is your tutorial for my twist on the one that is in the most recent issue of "Celebrate" complete with pictures:

Here's what you'll need:

1 Flat-Sided wreath form

2 boxes of bunny shaped Peeps (I obviously overbought, but that's ok because I love the fluffy little treats!)

Wide ribbon the color of the Peeps you purchased (Satin is best)

Glue Gun

Scissors

Ribbon for hanging

Jellybeans to coordinate if you choose

Step One:

Wrap your wreath form with your ribbon, placing a dot of hot glue every now and then to secure it in place.  I accidentally bought the ribbon that is stiffer, so mine doesn't look as smooth as it would if you used satin ribbon.  However, I knew that it would be covered, so if it's cheaper you can use it!

Step Two:

Lay out your Peeps.  DON'T glue them down yet!  I just laid mine out to get the spacing.  To help it look more fluid, I only separated the peeps at the ears and heads, and left their bootylicious hips attached.  This gave me a very close idea of how many would fit.

Step Three:

Attach your Peeps to the wreath using TINY dots of hot glue.  I put one under each bunny.  I ended up  taking one bunny out eating one bunny to make my wreath even.  I started with one set of four and moved around, letting the hot glue sit on the wreath for about 30 seconds before placing the Peeps so they wouldn't melt or roast from the heat.

Step Four:

This is where the twist comes in.  Phyllis Hoffman left her wreath with just the Peeps, but I wanted to add a little more color.  I checked out the jellybeans in the grocery store to see if I liked anything and found these WONDERFUL pastel Lifesavers jellybeans that were on sale.  I love the color of them, and think I'll actually put the rest in a glass bowl for my table decor.  After playing around with different colors and patterns I decided on using blue, green, and purple to add some contrast, but still keep some sophistication and not getting to childish with all the colors.  To place them, I just put another tiny dot of glue between the each two bunnies, then squeezed the jellybean in between.  You don't have to push it all the way to the glue, but it helps keep it in place once it's hardened.  I pushed mine only about halfway down, the fluff of the Peeps hold them in place.  They touch the glue just enough for secure placement.

Step Five:

I might change this on my wreath, because I didn't take my time and didn't like the kind of ribbon I was working with.  If you do want to make a bow, here's what you do.  Cut a strip of ribbon that is the length of the bow you want when folded in half.  Glue the two ends together to make a ring.

Step Six:

Use another piece of ribbon and glue it around the center of your loop.  I ended up folding the ends under to make it look nicer.  Here's what it will look like on the front:

Step Seven:

Pull the center together and use a safety pin to pull it together.

Step Eight:

Attach another piece of ribbon, folding over and gluing the end you attach.  You'll attach one on each side of the center.

Step Nine:

To make a finished edge, fold the ends of the ribbons in half, and cut at an angle.  They should look like this:

Step Ten:

 I attached a thin ribbon to the back of my wreath to hang it, and attached the bow to my hanger separately.

And there you have it!  Cute little Peep wreath for Easter!  Hope everyone is enjoying some sunshine and Spring weather!

Spicy & Sweet Bachelorette Party!

The rush has finally ended!  I have been working like a busy little bee the past few weeks to prepare for an AMAZING party for one of my dearest and best friends, Beth.  She's getting married at the end of May and I couldn't be happier for her!  She currently lives in West Virginia, but also has a lot of friends in the Nashville area.  So I decided to host her lingerie shower and bachelorette party.  It was a blast to plan and I'm learning how much I LOVE planning parties and being creative with all things entertaining.  Now that it's over, I can finally unveil everything I've been keeping secretive.  For this post, I'll just give you a quick run-down of some of the things we included.  Later on, I'll do an individual post for invite how-tos, game explanations, favor assembly, etc.  For now, enjoy these:

More to descriptions and explanations to come!  I just had to share something!

March Springtime Wreath!

Ok, I PROMISE there will be a surplus of blog posts in a few weeks.  I'm crafting, but keeping things under wraps until after my friend, Beth's shower.

In the meantime...it is March and time for a new wreath for my door!  Remember the heart wreath?  Well, that was fun and cute for February and Valentine's Day, but it was time to move on!  I wanted to do something green for St. Patrick's Day.  However, I didn't want to to be too cheesy or too shamrock-y because I wanted it to be able to stay up later than just for the holiday.  When I was trying to come up with ideas for this wreath, I decided I wanted it to be bright and colorful...something that looked "springy".  I also wanted it to have a lot of texture and fabric, but be different from my February wreath.  So...this is what I came up with:

It was SUPER easy, SUPER cheap, and SUPER fast!

Here's what you'll need if you want to make one similar:

• A foam wreath form.  You could do any shape, any size.  Mine is an 8-inch round. 
• Fabric in color/texture of choice for the main wreath.  I used a remnant of green soft flannel cotton I found in the bin at JoAnn's.  You could also use ribbon.
• Extra fabric scraps for the flower/accent decor.  I didn't have a lot to choose from at home (at least not in the colors I wanted), so I bought this pack of quilting squares for $5.00 at JoAnn's.  
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun
• Straight pins

Here's the steps I took:

1. Snip the end of the fabric in about 1 inch sections.  

 

2.  Grab both sides of the slit, and pull apart to the other end.  Most fabric will naturally tear through in a straight line without a lot of effort. 

When you're done, you should have a bunch of strips like this with beautiful, slightly frayed texture!

3.  Glue down the end of the first strip and wrap around the wreath.  I put a dot of hot glue about every two-three wrap arounds on the back side.  I glued it at a slant so that the fabric wouldn't bunch up in the center.  

When you get to the end of one strip, glue it down, then start the next strip in the same spot you ended the first. 

4.  Continue wrapping around with the strips until you get all the way around the wreath form.

5.  Continue wrapping and gluing strips until you've covered all the white foam.  Then, I pulled up the ends on the back and snipped the excess.  

6.  I pulled out all the scraps to decide.  Here were my choices:

I narrowed it down to these three.  I added a fourth later because I still needed some more "fluff" to make my flower look right and cover the pins. 

7.  Cut each square in two pieces.  It doesn't matter if you use a straight pair of scissors or pinking shears.  I used two squares of each pattern.  

8.  Fold each piece like an accordion.  This reminded me of making paper fans when I was little.  :o)  

9.  Stick a pin through the end and just stick all the little fans in a cluster on your wreath.  This part took the longest, because I played around with the different arrangements, fluffing them in different ways, making sure the pins were covered, etc.  I chose to cluster mine off-centered.  

10.  For the hanger, I just used an extra scrap of fabric and hot glued it really good.  

Here's my flower cluster:

And my final wreath:

I like the way it turned out, but I may add a little more "something"...not sure what yet.  

Hope you like it!  This can definitely be modified for other holidays/months/themes with different colors and fabrics.  Have fun with it!

Look forward to my April wreath for Easter.  I'm SOOO excited about it and it is SO easy and fun!

PS...This is my first time ever, but I'm linking up to Under the Table and Dreaming.  Head on over for some more great ideas!