Elizabeth from To Be Charmed sent over some fabulous DIY inspiration starring Japanese washi tape that she thought you guys would love – and I couldn’t agree more! In fact, I can’t wait to try this stuff out myself and just researched a bunch of different places to purchase washi tape (resources listed below).

If you’re not yet familiar with Japanese washi tape, it’s basically a multi-purpose adhesive tape (similar to masking tape) that’s used for things like gift-wrapping embellishments and arts & crafts projects.

Pictured above and below are some fantastic examples from Elizabeth that demonstrate how the tape looks applied to vases and paper cups.

These examples utilize bright colors and fillers that are perfect for Spring… she even uses simple white eggs as a filler in of the vases – great inspiration for Easter celebrations!

Click here for more tips and DIY details from Elizabeth over at her {absolutely adorable!} blog. She also includes some helpful hints that she learned along the way to help make things easier on you.

Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth!

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Japanese Washi Tape – Where to Buy:
(The following shops have a GREAT selection of colors & patterns!)

• Happy Tape
• Washimatta
• Pretty Tape
• FindTape.com

In today’s HWTM post over at Real Simple, check out 7 Cute & Contemporary Kitchen Tools – from ladybug mixing bowls to “angelic” colanders … great gift ideas for yourself or someone else! (Added bonus: they’re all super affordable!)

Today’s adorable Real Party – created by Lindsey Mintrone of Bella Grace Party Designs – was originally designed as a Valentine’s Day celebration, but it would also serve as great inspiration for the always-popular “Love Birds” bridal shower theme!

From clever lollipop flower arrangements (so cute!) to a homemade “Love Birds Tree” centerpiece and adorable owl & birdie graphics, this get-together is full of charming details and great DIY project ideas…

Read on for lots more pics and all the sweet party details as told by Lindsey…

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“Nature and Birds have both been such fun, green and popular inspiration for party themes recently, and I thought… what cuter theme for Valentine’s Day then “Love Birds“?! However, I wanted to take this idea in an unconventional direction.

I chose a color palette of deep burgundy red, light pink, & bright baby blue to put a little twist on the traditional holiday colors. I also commissioned custom bird graphics to be illustrated so that we could include both owls AND love birds, instead of just one or the other, like I have typically seen.

My dear friend – the amazingly talented Courtney Vickers – photographed this adorably fun and kid-friendly event. She did a perfect job showing the party elements and details!

The adorable Love Bird tree centerpiece (pictured at top) was HWTM-inspired and crafted from branches from my own yard. The precious little birdhouse nestled in the tree was found last minute in the Valentine’s section at Target and made the perfect addition to the DIY project.

The Love Tree was the home to sweet little birdie favor bags filled with pink, white, and red M&Ms.

The delightfully delicious lollipop flower arrangements were inspired by Martha Stewart. Hand-crafted with coordinating paper hearts and red tootsie pops, the “flowers” made another adorable party favor.

Another dear friend and very talented graphic designer Kori Clark of Kori Clark Designs created the precious little love bird and owl graphic which were used to dress up the little Valentine gift bags.

Each little “Love Bird” at the party was given a gift bag to fill with Valentines from each of their little friends. On each bag hung a cute custom name tag and fun Valentine saying to coordinate with the graphic such as “Owl Love You Forever” and “WHO Loves You?”

Desserts and Drinks
The most delicious of the party foods – and of course the biggest crowd-pleaser of the party – were the cupcakes! (See image #2, above.) I baked, decorated and topped each one with one of my favorite party elements, cupcake toppers. Again, loving this little owl graphic!

The gorgeous little heart cakes were a hit with the kids thanks to Little Debbie.

A featured party drink is a must at every event! Now of course these were not for the kiddos, but I had to throw in a few details for the momma birds. This was strawberry lemonade accented with a sweet little birdie nest straw.

Another one of my favorite party details is the custom water bottle label and it was one more excuse to use the sweet little birdie graphic.

I think the most effective way to dress up a food table is by using the food as the decoration. These little snack cups filled with popcorn and M&Ms are adorable and are super kid friendly:

Another DIY project was the Be My Valentine Banner. The design and patterns for the banner inspired most of party details and was used as a backdrop for displaying the kiddos Valentine gift bags.

Of all the parties I have thrown for my daughters, I think that this was one of my favorites. Not because of the décor or the food but because of all the adorable little faces and great friends I was able to share it with… what better way to spend a Valentine’s Day?!”

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Thanks again to Lindsey for all the sweet party inspiration! =)

I stumbled upon this absolutely AMAZING Alice in Wonderland-inspired party on photographer Jessica Claire’s blog a while back, and even though it’s been almost 3 years since the party actually took place, it still remains as one of the most adorable kids parties I’ve ever seen…

It also feels especially timely to feature this theme right now with Disney’s new Alice in Wonderland movie by Tim Burton opening in theaters today… which I personally can’t wait to go see in IMAX 3D!

Something tells me there are going to be a LOT of “Wonderland” themed celebrations popping up this year… and hopefully for all ages –  I love the idea of tailoring the Wonderland theme to adult parties too – like milestone birthdays, bridal showers, and whimsical engagement parties!

This colorful tea party was actually a combined celebration for 3 different birthday girls, and each guest of honor received her own fabulously decked-out birthday girl chair:

The rest of the guest chairs were embellished with lots of brightly colored artificial flowers & greenery:

Place settings included real china tea cups, colorful utensils, rhinestone details for added sparkle, and a princess wand for each girl to decorate:

The ultra-creative “whimsical flower garden” featured giant flowers and an enchanted carousel horse with fairy wings!

Alice was even there to do a little face painting…

… as well as a petting zoo, complete with lots of bunny rabbits, of course!

A couple more shots of the guests enjoying themselves… does this look like a fun party or what?!

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Thanks so much to photographer Jessica Claire for all of the beautiful and “WONDERfully” inspiring images (pun intended)! =)

In continuing with the lovely Twilight Wedding Tablescape posted earlier today, here are some additional – and equally inspiring! – details from this creative & romantic theme by Lina and Heather…

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“We took inspiration from the iconic cover of the first book where hands are holding an apple. Apples were used as escort cards, candle holders, as the cake topper, and as inspiration for our signature beverage: Hot Apple Cider.

For Bella’s bouquet, we used peonies, roses, lisianthus, dusty miller and bluporum tied with a satin white ribbon that had the words “so the lion fell in love with the lamb” written by our calligrapher, Calligraphy Katrina.

Melody of Sweet and Saucy designed the cake. She took our themes and ideas and created a truly unique and beautiful cake that incorporated our color scheme, the branches and the apple of course!

Our ceremony décor consisted of floating rose heads and crystals hanging from a tree with a simple white rose petal aisle.

For the favors, we had several options including buttons with “Team Bella” and “Team Edward” (great diy project!), as well as miniature green trees and pashmina wraps in coordinating colors, which are also a great way to keep your guests warm at an outdoor event.”

Credits:
Event Design – A Stunning Affair and Events by Heather Ham
Photography – Meg Perotti
Floral design – A Stunning Affair
Cake – Sweet and Saucy
Rentals – Classic Party Rentals
Stationary – Calligraphy Katrina
Table Runner (featured in Part 1) – Sashes for Love

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Thanks again to Lina and Heather for all the wonderful inspiration!

If you missed Part 1 (the coordinating tablescape), you can check it out right here.

Today’s wedding feature is incredibly romantic and chic!

When Lina of A Stunning Affair and Heather of Events by Heather Ham first sent this over, I was immediately intrigued by the unique sound of the event… a “Twilight Themed Wedding“, and whether you’re a fan of the popular book series or not, chances are good that you’ll be visually inspired by all of this gorgeous eye candy!

Read on for TONS of beautiful images {shot by photographer Meg Perotti}, and all the creative details, as told by Lina.

(P.S. As an added bonus, there’s also a “Luxe  for Less” example that shows how to achieve the same look on a tighter budget!)

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“Our tablescape is based on one of the most romantic love stories… Twilight.

We chose elements from both the movie and book to capture the ideas for our Twilight themed wedding. The colors and elements are remeniscent of Forks, Washington, the outdoor setting for their breathtaking wedding reception.

For the main table we used a family style wooden table paired with wooden chairs.

Laying across the table was a custom lace runner made by Sashes for Love.

On top of the runner sat a variety of beautiful glass vases that held an assortment of flowers with different textures, hydrangea, roses, lisianthus, blueporum, dusty miller and touches of succulents.

In lieu of traditional candles holders, we wanted to do something a little different, we used two tall silver candelabras, glass vases with floating candles and apples as our candle holders. We purchased a candle carver, a tool that scoops out the center of the apple and leaves a perfect space for you to place a tea light candle (great diy project!).

The name of the table – “First Sight” – was taken from the first chapter of the first book of the Twilight Series.

At each place setting sat a white napkin enhanced with a brown satin ribbon and sparkly antique broach. Tucked into the napkin was a menu that doubled as a place card hand made by Calligraphy Katrina.

The Look for Less
We also decided to do a “Luxe for Less” look to show brides how they could take a high-end tablescape and interpret it into something more reasonable. Instead of the rented wooden tables, we used a standard 60” round table and draped it with a cotton poly linen in a shade of tan.

We used wooden folding chairs in an antique finish, apples as place cards, and a single candelabra with a few floral centerpieces for a similar effect as the main tablescape.”

Credits:
Event Design – A Stunning Affair and Events by Heather Ham
Photography – Meg Perotti
Floral design – A Stunning Affair
Cake (to be featured in Part 2) – Sweet and Saucy
Rentals – Classic Party Rentals
Stationary – Calligraphy Katrina
Table Runner – Sashes for Love

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Thanks so much to Lina and Heather for sharing this gorgeous theme with us! Stay tuned for Part 2 (featuring the cake, bridal bouquet, signature drink, and more) coming later today!

Continuing with the Oscars party ideas today, here’s some inspiration for glamorous red & gold centerpieces… starting with the gorgeous crystal adorned tree pictured above, which was created by Tic-Tock Couture Florals and is also from our “Old Hollywood Glam” themed Hip Hostess event in LA.

The key word here is INSPIRATION… I’m pretty sure that most of us won’t be creating something of this exact scale for our home parties!

However, the great news is that you can dramatically scale this idea down for your own get togethers – and it’s surprisingly doable. Promise! This exact project was actually part of the party decor demo I did at the event.

There are a few different ways to approach smaller versions of this look.

You can use a tall glass or ceramic vase filled with loose, decorated branches or fill a planter-style vase with floral foam to stand and secure 1-2 decorated branches in the center, then cover the floral foam around the branches with a pretty filler like moss, gold stones, red acrylic ice, or a tight “bed” of fresh roses.

Detailed DIY info below…

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YOU’LL NEED:

• Manzanita or Mitsumata Branches
• Gold Spray Paint (unless your branches come pre-painted)
• Acrylic Beaded Curtain
• Red Roses (with open blooms)
• Craft or Floral Wire
• Vase
• Floral Foam (optional)

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DIRECTIONS:

1. Paint branches gold and let dry.

2. Prep the vase.
• If you’re going for the loose-branch method and using a glass cylinder or other tall vase, try embellishing the vase with a band of ribbon, crystals, or marabou craft boa for some extra flair.
• For the floral foam/vase method, fill the vase with the foam, making sure the fit is snug. If you main foam piece is loose in the vase, add extra pieces around the sides to tighten the fit. If you’re planning to use fresh roses to cover the top of the foam, make sure to use “wet” floral foam so that the roses last longer.

3. Insert the branches into the vase.

4. Decorate the branches.
Start with pieces of the beaded curtain, trimming strands to size and draping randomly all over the branches. Next, trim the stems of the roses to just a couple inches long, then use wire to secure them randomly throughout the branches.

The rose blooms can actually survive for several hours without water, but to be on the safe side I recommend adding them to the arrangements no earlier than 3 hours before your party starts.

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TIPS:
• Manzanita & Mitsumata branches are widely available online, but you can often also find them in-store at floral supply shops and often even at craft stores like Michaels
• You can sometimes find branches that are pre-painted gold, which will eliminate the need for spray-painting altogether.
• One beaded curtain will go a LONG way! You’ll most likely have lots of strands left over, and these extra pieces are great for things like decorating frames, vases, & candle holders, trimming table runners, or wrapping around napkins for DIY napkin rings.

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Last but not least, here’s another take on this idea (via Ashley’s Bride Guide) that’s super simple, but still looks fabulous…

This version utilizes a glass fishbowl, one smaller gold branch, and just a few flowers. Of course you could still add a few beaded strands to this and a pretty vase filler (I’d recommend “red acrylic ice” to keep with the theme.)

These simpler centerpieces would be great as compliments to larger arrangements, or used just all on their own for a quick & easy solution!

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards are coming up this weekend (Sunday, March 7), and regardless of how into the actual ceremonies you are, the Oscars are always a fun excuse to have people over! You can chat with friends over casual cocktails & appetizers while the red carpet fashions and award presentations are going on, or create a more formal affair, complete with a fancy dinner party and Oscar Ballots for your guests.

So… for the next few days I’ll be featuring some different types of Oscars party inspiration for both casual & formal affairs, starting right now with one of my favorite (EASY!) decor ideas: Photo-Wrapped Cylinders.

This concept is simple, but there are so many great things you can do with it! All you need are inexpensive glass cylinder vases (widely available in craft/home stores and online) and images of movie stars or movie scenes/posters.

You can opt for current-day stars and films (maybe even some of the current Oscar contenders) or go for an “Old Hollywood” vibe as demonstrated in the examples shown here (which are from an event I did in LA last year).

The best places to find movie images are magazines, calendars, and books. You’d probably be surprised how inexpensive some of the coffee-table-style picture books can be in the special “discount” section of your local book store! I’ve honestly found great books with TONS of images for as little as $5 in these sections before.

Wall calendars are my personal favorite for images though – the pictures are huge (about the size of a typical sheet of scrapbook paper) – so they go a long way in the decor department with 12 big images for a typical price of anywhere from $8-$20!

Once you have your images picked out, use them to cover different sizes of glass cylinders to create Hollywood-themed vases, candle holders, and pedestal risers (for elevating everything from dishes on the appetizer buffet to floral arrangements!).

I also like to experiment with extra embellishments like ribbon, rhinestones, hanging crystals, and decorative trims.

Red or gold satin ribbon works great for a Hollywood Glam vibe, and you can also find rhinestone word stickers that say things like “fabulous“, “celebrate“, or “cheers” at most craft or scrapbook supply stores.

You can also set the wrapped cylinders on top of candlestick holders to give them extra height – as seen in image #2, above. *Note: Make sure to use a reinforcement like glue dots, sticky tack, or hot glue to help secure the cylinders on top of the candlesticks during the party, especially if there’s any sort of candlelight involved!

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This new Real Party feature is so much fun! It’s a “Vintage Circus” baby shower theme that’s chic, sophisticated, and even a little bit GLAM… how’s that for a fresh take on the baby shower concept? =)

The party was created by Sharon Taylor and features cool details like feather-topped cupcakes, kelly green paper pinwheels, and a vintage toy animal “circus train”.

Read on for lots of inspiring images and all the details, as told by Sharon…

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“We found a Vintage Heywood Wakefield Baby Pram at a local thrift store and lacquered it in a high gloss black. The wheels were adorned with rhinestones and placed in front of the cage to look as if it was pulling a circus train.

I created a faux credenza with black paint and white foam core board. The bebe’s Monogram of an “H” was placed in the center.

The credenza served as a dessert/gift bar, and another identical credenza was created for the punch & champagne bar.

Guests sipped fruit filled champagne and enjoyed dippers dipped in chocolate and cheese fondues.

I used vintage toy animals and dressed them up to ride in a “theatrical circus train” where sugar cookies were attached to the circus train bars…a twist on the standard dessert bar.

My team created kelly green pinwheels and custom made cupcake toppers of feathers, pipe cleaners, flags, and monogrammed “H’s”.

The Candy Bar was an old narrow book shelf found at a thrift store and painted with a fresh coat of white paint. Thrift store crystal dishes were filled with rock candy, marshmallows, gumdrops, green jelly bellies, and m&ms.

The Candy Bar shelf also doubled as a gift for the mom to be.

Credits:
Photographer: Janae Hardy
Venue: Fedora Social House {Historic Pub specializing in cocktails and fondues}

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Thanks so much to Sharon for the wonderful party inspiration!

When HWTM reader Laura recently sent over some info about a “Suspended Cupcake Tower” that her friends Vicki and Ray created, I just about died when I saw the pics! Seriously – how cool is this?!

FLOATING cupcakes… now that’s some creative genius!

Co-creator Vicki Anderson was kind enough to share some more details on this project – as well as contact info in case you’re interested in ordering one for your own wedding or party.

Read on for more gorgeous images (courtesy of photographer Ali Broach) all the details, as told by Vicki…

“My friend Jenell asked me to design the display for her cupcakes at her wedding. I was not given any parameters, only that there would be 72 cupcakes. So, I did some research on the web looking for cupcake displays and thought they were all poorly designed.

My intent for this was to design something unexpected, so table tops were out. Hanging was my focus. Thankfully the wedding location gave us the perfect place to hang from.

I started thinking about flowers, but Jenell was not using flowers in her wedding. She’s a vintage mod girl…so, I envisioned dried flowers. As you know, to dry flowers they need to be hanging.

My partner Ray and I began thinking about materials. Of course there are so many materials you can use, but we were on a tight budget. I made the patterns for the holders and Ray cut them out of 1/4″ masonite. Janelle’s wedding was magenta, so we painted them two shades of green and magenta. They were strung on threaded rod and we used nuts to hold them in place on the rods. The three rods were then hung off a 1×1 wood member.

This was a prototype and was designed for a specific location and wedding. We’d most likely use different materials if we were not going to be on location to assemble it ourselves, but we like a challenge and are also considering wall mounted designs, individual tabletop designs, and more!

Ray and I would love to design different holders for other weddings and can be contacted by email at andersvl@hotmail.com or by phone 602.909.6118.

I was so happy the night of the wedding when I heard someone’s husband come back to the table and tell his wife he did not see any cupcakes. He went back inside and then came out with the cupcake. He said, “They were hanging…cupcakes don’t hang.” That was EXACTLY the response I was looking for. What fun!”

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