Thanksgiving Ideas

Top left is kids table. Right and following pic adult table.

I found the green with chocolate brown dots fabric in a clearance bin at Hobby Lobby. That fabric inspired my Thanksgiving table this year. I could not find a table cloth large enough to go over two tables that I put together so I used a king size chocolate brown sheet. I got another fall inspired fabric to make fabric pumpkins on either side of the centerpiece. Scrapbook paper was placed under the brown plates to make them pop off the table cloth. I found fall stickers and put words like autumn and grateful on each candle. I hate not knowing which drink is mine after dinner so I made cute drink tags out of scrapbook paper and put a number on the bottom of each one. Since I already made place cards in front of each plate I didn't want to put names on the drinks too. I tied these to the goblets with ribbon. I enjoyed decorating this fall table and I am already planning my Christmas table. Stay tuned!

New Moon Premiere

To celebrate the release of Twilight saga's New Moon another hard core friend and I hosted a New Moon premiere party. I created a vampire table and a wolf table. I wanted the rooms to sparkle so I hung twinkle white lights and used a mirror to make a small table. I placed gems and candles to create sparkle like vampire skin in the book. I created drink tags that listed blood types like Type A, Type B. We played trivia games until time to head to the movie premiere at midnight.

Candy bar where guests filled a bag of candy to take home.

This cute little container held the bags for candy bar.

Centerpiece on drink table made with fresh fruit. Two apples hold tea light candles.

Hay and pumpkins are all it takes to welcome guests. This was in the foyer so it was the first thing guests saw when they arrived.

Treats to take home.

Brownies, pumpkin bars and Blondie's on dessert table.

Cute little votive candles that were rolled in glue than glitter add a great harvest feel to the party.

Food table needed little adornment other than food. One white and green vase full of twigs and two green taper candles did the trick nicely.

Table in foyer welcomes guests to fall cocktail party. Scrapbook paper was used to make little leaves and letters.

I enjoyed working on this party for my friend. We used natural elements found right in our own back yards to throw this Harvest bash.

Halloween plate setting

Halloween is usually thought of as a holiday for our kids. However, I think it is a great time for adults to have a darker themed dinner party or cocktail party. Here I used black and white scrapbook paper under the plate. A black rose is used for the napkin ring jazzing up the white plate. My favorite thing was the blood splattered place card. Of course it is only red paint. I put the skull on a candle holder to make it a centerpiece.

Daisy themed birthday party

I was shopping in Target one day and ran across some yellow and white striped plates that inspired me to throw a yellow and white daisy themed party for my daughters third birthday. I covered a Styrofoam cube with scrapbook paper and stuck lollipops in it. Made a candy topiary by hot gluing yellow and white peppermints on a Styrofoam ball anchored in a yellow pail. I found the cute daisy favor boxes on clearance in Martha Stewart's wedding collection. I put marshmallows on a three tiered stand and my friend Alison made the cute mini cake. I love home made party banners so I just cut out the circles and used stencils to paint Happy Birthday. The little chocolates on the table say thank you. I used a store bought candy mold for these to make a sweet treat with a message. We also had a store bought cake with daisy's on it.

Place setting

One of the things I love most about dinners is designing the place settings. I wanted to do something natural and organic. So I used raffia to tie the napkins. The place cards are actually note cards I found at a craft store. I loved the birds and limbs on them and used stamps to put every ones name on them. It isn't practical to buy a table runner for every party or event so I often use an inexpensive yard of fabric in the center of the table. The square fabric is actually a napkin unfolded and put in the center. I also love to do something different at the heads of the table so four plates are gold and two are blue with patterned napkins.

Murder mystery

Lounge area. Floating roses in little glass trays.

Card playing

These are pictures of my 1920's speakeasy murder mystery party. It was called Murder at The Four Deuces . I did a black and white with little touches of red theme. A good friend of mine made the four deuces playing cards for the wall. I used two black sheets hanging from the ceiling to make a black swag. Martini coasters decorated the food table, but the best decorations was the great tiered black and white cake from Pat a cakes. One room was the gambling room set up with a blackjack table. We also had a lounge area and dance floor. One of my favorite crafts was making the roses in a vase of domino's. It wasn't easy getting the dominos lined up in glass vase like that but it was super cute. One thing not pictured was the room with dance floor. On one wall I used black streamers to make stripes on the wall. All the guests got their picture taken in front of this wall too. It was an easy way to create a focal wall. I really enjoyed this party and look forward to another murder mystery in the future.