neon surprise party ::: 30th birthday

Soooo one of my many flaws is good intentions combined with a bit of forgetfulness. Namely, not posting projects because I intend to submit them to other blogs someday...and then forget that was my plan.

I now present to you a party that was styled a while ago.

Remember these amazing party invitations I posted? (No, of course you don't because that was forever ago.)

Neon. Confetti. Subtle Mexican Fiesta nuance.

The food served was a nacho bar and a gorgeous chevron cake. Yum.

 

One of the activities was that each guest filled out a favorite memory with the birthday girl, totalling 30 envelopes of memories.

And a incredible, ginormous, teal, pentagon piñata. Full of more confetti!

And a paper chain photobooth backdrop with metallic balloons and playful props.

A mess to clean up means great times were had. Yay friend collaborations to celebrate a friend in style!

What do you think, is this a fun way to help a friend over the hill?

Photography by Chase Oros

ombre pinata cookie

Oh ya know, another practical/easy/purposeful diy project! (Not in any way. Even a little bit.)

And timely. (I made these for my 28th birthday 3+ months ago.)

But sometimes you just want to do something because it's pretty and pointless and takes forever. Yes, that is what I wanted for my birthday. Aaaaaaannnnd there's a surprise....!

BAM. Take that blog world. Yep. Pinterest, I will own you.

Just wanted to give you a some pointless trend-candy. A labor of love, emphasis on the labor. Pin away, folks! 

Oh. And if you want to even consider making such silly piñata cookies—you can find the original instructions by Sandra Denneler for She Knows right here. If you are wanting to make them for Cinco de Mayo, you might want to start soon.

let your heart be light {holiday party}

This is the theme of the Holiday Party I worked on last weekend! We wanted the event to reflect all things "merry & bright". (Which is surely on target with large glitter letters)

Luminaries led you to the door, where you walk in and were greeted by the entrance below.

The canopy of candy cane & lights was one of my favorite elements.

Then you'll run into another large undertaking (with volunteer labor)—two large "curtains" of snowball garlands. The two curtains helped to separate the dancefloor space from the seating areas.

Simple centerpiece above: gold doilies with hurricane vases of snow & branches.

A festive bar area.

To incorporate polka dots into the party, I found these great straws. And we also created a large wall of hanging bulbs—totally mimicing polka dots!

So fun, right?! Hopefully my near-instagram-filter-looking photos are still able to give you an idea of all the details at this holiday party. It was a blast planning & making such festive decor.

Happy Weekend to you! I'll be plowing away on making Christmas gifts—we're attempting all handmade this year. It's taking far more time than we'd hoped. Fingers-crossed the payoff is worth it! How about you? Plans for the last weekend before Christmas break?

starburst drink labels

The last few weeks I've been obsessively using gold starburst labels.

My favorite idea is using them as drink labels, but I've also used them in holiday packaging and other random projects recently. I found these at Office Max, and it's probably good they come in packs of 100 because I love them.

Wouldn't this be perfect at a party...perhaps with a large batch of winter sangria?

party welcome sign {quick peek}

Well hello again. A little behind with photographing blog posts at the moment.* I've got A LOT of photo editing before I can showcase the details from last weekend's holiday party. But for now a quick peek at the entrance sign I made (that I took way too many photos of). 

Hope you're having a good week! And hope to soon have more blog-worthy images!

*The window of daylight is so small these days!

july 4th bbq ::: festive sprinkles

Apparently this year for July 4th all I care about are food related posts. So here's another—with fun sprinkles! After crossing paths with these festive red-white-blue balls, I knew they needed to be used in something like this ice cream sandwich. But taking these photos made me think "perhaps something that doesn't melt would be better". Like smothering rice crispy bars with nutella and then sprinkles. YUM.

Hope you're having a fantastic mid-week workday!

lovely bundle {horse race}

TOMORROW is horse racing time! It has been one of my life long dreams to attend a race wearing a huge lovely hat. Someday. For now I'll enjoy the excitement of watching on screen instead.

I'm rooting for you to have a great weekend!

Image Sources: 1. Red Leaf Studios featured on Wedding Chicks (via Pinterest) // 2. Oh Happy Day // 3. Southern Dixie Photography (via Pinterest) // 4. Leslee Mitchell (via Pinterest) // 5. Triple Crown hopeful I'll Have Another, Getty Images by Al Bellow (via Bleacher Report) // 6. Associated Press Photo by Darron Cummings (via Denver Post) //

triple crown race *free printables*

It's geek confession time.

I absolutely adore horses. Growing up I actually competed in various equine events until age 20ish. Now that I'm a city girl, it's been 5+ years since even a trail ride. Some days I sorely miss spending time with a 1200lb pet. But enough background info on why this post makes me giddy.

Some may not know that this Saturday is the Belmont Stakes. While this could be just another horse race, it could also be the most exciting moment in the horse world since 1978. BECAUSE we could watch a horse (I'll Have Another) win the Triple Crown, being the first in over 30 years! The Triple Crown is given to a horse that wins three specific races, only in 11 history have won while 21 have come close with 2 out of 3.

So I'm having a party! Above are wands I made for each of the race contenders.

Below is a betting card with the name and odds of each horse, and then a token with racings emblems. I plan to put these in a bowl and have guests each draw a horse to cheer on with their wand! If we're feeling brazen, we may all put in $1 with the pot going to the winner.

Should you want to HAVE YOUR OWN PARTY, fear not. You may download the party invitation + circle icons here, and the betting card + tokens here. I hope you do! AND if you want to email an invite (since this is short notice) you can select the graphic below and then paste it into an email. Super easy.

Anyone else plan to wear purple and cheer on I'll Have Another?!

lovely bundle {easter eggs}

Easter week has snuck up on me! Are you prepared??? Here is a bit of inspiration whether you are or not!

Looking forward to *hopefully* relaxing weekend, with less than normal projects planned. How about your weekend plans? Hope it's wonderful!

Image Sources: 1. The Faux Martha // 2. Mooo (via Creature Comforts) // 3. DIY by Cupcakes & Cutlery for You Are My Fave // 4. Images by A Creative Mint for Decor8 // 5. Williams-Sonoma (via Pinterest) //

baby shower sneak peek

Happy Monday to you! Wow life is a WHIRLWIND. December is almost halfway gone! It is nearly the year two thousand twelve. Unbelievable.

Remember these invitations? Well yesterday was the shower and the weekend FLEW by (as did the last week of travel + party prep). Not sure I've got enough photos to do this party justtice but I want to show off a few images. The party was a smash hit. So fun.

Well I am back to normal life pace and WILL catch up on posts. Here's to a great week!