Ok, as promised here are the prom style photos of the couples we had with us that night - our little dessert spread came in handy as our impromptu photo backdrop!
Now, on to the DIY projects - below is the dessert station backdrop again, I'm sure you're sick of seeing it, but I wanted to share how to do this on your own!
* tissue paper pom poms: i followed the Martha Stewart tutorial of course
*paper lanterns w/ hearts: I just used lanterns from Ikea, and then used my cricut die cutting machine to cut out various colors & size hearts, then used adhesive to stick them onto the lanterns.
all of these items were floating above the table thanks to some specifically placed hooks we screwed into our ceiling and hung clear fishing line to suspend the decor from.
forgive my lousy photo, I took this one w/ my camera
*sweet treats banner: yet another project that was created by using the cricut machine - I picked out teal paper w/ white details and white paper w/ teal details to create the hearts, then cricut cut out the coral letters, adhesived them together, did a little hole punching, sparkly gold ribbon stringing, and then voila they were hung on the wall.
{I do offer these banners in my etsy shop & would love to create a custom one for your next event!}
*a little note: i hadn't planned on having a teal fabric hanging behind the table, but the day before I really wasn't feeling like the look pulled together well - so I was at the mercy of Jo Ann's & while I would've preferred a pale pink to hang behind the table {allowing the banner to pop} it still looked cute and help unite the decorations.
The next DIY was this pleated doily swag which replaced our
Christmas card swag for this holiday occasion....
Remember from my first post about this party, that I had been inspired by the cute doily swag from
One Charming Party's valentines party? Well, I tried and tried to recreate that swag, and I couldn't because it turns out it was a Martha Stewart kit offered at Michael's... so I played around with it and figured out if I halved four doilies, did some paper airplane-like folding and then adhesived them all together I could create a complete fan folded doily... I was so proud of myself, haha!
I know I've already shown you the bottles, but I wanted you to know how easy it is to create stickers like this at home... I just made all of these on the computer, printed them, cut them out, then I ran 'em through my handy xyron machine... what's that you ask, well it's a fabulous tool in the crafting/scrapbooking world - check it out here. Basically it can create magnets, laminate things, and create stickers; which is what I did in this case just turned these little print outs into stickers I then stuck on the jars as labels!
again, you can find great jars like this at local flea markets or antique shops - i think I paid a buck per 3 bottles {great deal}!
Below are those bottle again along with one of my little floral "quasi-arrangements"... but what I'm showing you this photo for is the glass that flowers are sitting in... they look an awful lot like these cups from anthropology, but they're actually from Cost Plus {one of my other fav shops}. At $2.99 they're a deal compared with the $6 you'd cough up at Anthro - while that may not sound like a huge difference, to me it's all about getting the most for my money!
While I'm show you those cups & the flowers, here's another photo of all the pretty colors, again, forgive me, these photos aren't as great because they were shot on my camera
- oh ranunculus, you make me smile!
But people, you don't have to go out and spend a ton of money on flowers - go to a local wholesaler {if available} or Trader Joe's usually has some great bunches and just cut them yourself at home and just put them in a cute cup and you're good to go!
We also scattered occasional blooms for subtle bursts of color around the house in these great little bud vases I found while at Target one day... I wanna say they were like $2.99 for a 4 pack - I'm always looking for fun new decor goodies.
My last DIY project that came in handy for the party were the cake stands you see here with the cupcakes, haystacks, & lemon blossoms on them!
I found these great plates at my local Home Goods and the candlesticks - just use your imagination and you'll find some great ones! Here's where my inspiration came from to create them... Truthfully I hadn't made these for the party, I made them to sell, and then after making them I couldn't bear to part with two of each of them because I thought they'd be great for our Valentines get together. And they totally did!
Here's a view of them sans desserts {sorry for the doily in the foreground} oops!
Well, that brings my party recap to a close... I hope you enjoyed the photos, and my rambling, and are inspired to take on hosting a fun event for your friends & family - I promise you it's a LOT of work, but very rewarding!
*Blair
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