RE-invented style

Jane Austen 200 year anniversary party

2012-12-31T18:32:00.001-06:00

I don't want to say good-bye to 2012 without celebrating Jane Austen's breakout year: 1812. Sense and Sensibilty was published and Pride and Prejudice was sold to a publisher and would be printed the following year. My sisters and I are Janeites. We love all the Jane Austen novels. And since the Pride and Prejudice miniseries on the A & E network in 1996 there has been a resurgence in Jane Austen popularity. There have been big- screen movie adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and Emma. PBS recently adapted all the novels into movies. Plus there have been updated stories based on her novels such as Clueless and an Indian version called Bride and Prejudice. There's been a popular novel making Elizabeth Bennet a vampire killer that I read Keira Knightley has optioned to make into a movie. Downton Abbey is a popular series on PBS (season 3 premieres January 6, 2013) and the Dowager Countess played by Maggie Smith is surely a descendant of Lady Catherine from Pride and Prejudice.

When One King's Lane had some Elizabeth Bennet, Fitzwilliam Darcy dinner plates and Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley salad plates on sale, how could I resist?

Fitzwilliam Darcy dinner plate

Miss Elizabeth Bennet dinner plate

Mr. Charles Bingley salad plate

Miss Jane Bennet salad plate

For this table setting, nothing but the finest would do. So the chargers and napkin rings are silver plate and the silverware is sterling. The crystal goblets are Waterford Sheila.

For the centerpiece, I used Jane Austen novels as small pedestals and then I used sterling sugar bowls and small milk pitchers as the vases for the flowers from the garden.

The tablecloth is one I gave to my mother from Switzerland. I love the delicate embroidery. I think Miss Jane Austen would approve.

written by Reba

Hope you had a happy 4th of July

2012-07-07T14:52:00.002-05:00

A friend was having a few guests over for an Independence Day dinner and I lent her the three blue checked runners which she used across the width of the table. I loaned her some red chargers, the fireworks salad plates and the blue and red star napkins. She had red glasses and napkin rings and she bought some red and white flowers for her centerpiece. Her dessert was a cake I make every 4th of July, pictured above. Its is simple to make and everyone likes it when they see it. I just use a yellow cake mix, whipped cream, strawberries and blueberries. The cake bakes in a rectangular glass cake pan. After it cools, I spread whipped cream. The blueberries go in the upper left corner as the star field and the sliced strawberries form the stripes. The first time I made this cake I was a newlywed. We were invited to my in-laws for the 4th of July. I had seen this cake in a cook book with sparklers. I was so naive that I thought they were real sparklers instead of candles with sparkler effects. I bought real sparklers which when lit spread ashes all over the cake and created black smoke in the kitchen and dining room. Needless to say, the decorations on the cake were ruined. The flying ashes from the sparklers burned a hole in the in-laws' countertop and the windows throughout the house had to be opened to get rid of the smoke. My husband joked that the neighbors were going to call the fire department because of the smoke pouring out of the windows. It wasn't far from the truth. If I had seen that amount of smoke, I would have at least called the neighbors to see if they were okay. Moral of the story: Never light fireworks inside the house.

We hope you had a happy and safe Fourth of July holiday and we will be posting again soon.

Written by Reba

RE-cycling: Curtain Rings to Custom Napkin Rings

2012-04-14T13:08:00.000-05:00

ADORABLE RECYCLING CRAFT. I went over to my friend Martha's house and she showed me this adorable craft she had just finished. She wanted napkin rings to go with her dining room and kitchen table settings, but her color combinations are not trendy and she couldn't find ones to work. She decided to try to make some and found the idea of using old plastic curtain rings, string and glue to turn them into custom napkin rings. The supplies ended up being a little less than $1 a ring which was a good deal for getting napkin ring that match her setting *EXACTLY*.

GLUE FOR THE ENDS. All Martha did was wrap the string around the ring and secure the ends with the fabric fushion liquid above.

HER FIRST COLOR COMBO.

HER SECOND COLOR COMBO.

I told Martha these were great color combinations in general for summer and I happen to have a pack of plastic curtain rings around so I think I will be trying this project myself.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE. THE POST THAT INSPIRED THIS PROJECT:
http://www.thesweetestoccasion.com/2012/02/diy-colorblock-napkin-rings/

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

Our Western Tables Settings can be seen HERE

RE-cycing projects for a Greener Christmas are HERE

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Camp Half-Blood Kids Party discussed HERE

St. Patrick's Day Table featuring lots of RE-cycled items/crafts is HERE

LINK PARTIES:

See more Tablescapes HERE

RE-ceiving Guests: A Traditional & Feminine Table

2012-04-13T12:56:00.002-05:00

TRADITIONAL. It feels like I haven't seen a table set like the ones of my childhood in a long time. My mother's tables are very different from mine. Her settings are always much more formal and traditional. While I do enjoy more modern looks, my model for table setting goes to the formal tables my grandmother, aunt and mother would set for ladies parties, luncheons and holidays when I was a child. When I was home for Easter, I snapped some shots on my iphone (hence the poor photo quality) of my mom's Spring china/table to share.

THE DORIAN GRAY OF TABLE SETTINGS. I took this picture last week, but I probably could have taken the same picture 35 years ago, too. My mother's dining room hasn't changed in all that time. The very feminine floral china is from Limoges. The silver is Towle Old Master. I don't know who made the goblets. The white embroidered tablecloth is one Reba brought back from a trip as a gift for our mom. The silver candelabras are older than I am so they fall somewhere between "vintage' and "antique". ; ) The glass bud vases may be new in design and by "new" I mean less than 35 years old. I wonder if a younger person would find this look appealing at all or if they would think it is horribly dated? Personally, I think it is a look, that while not trendy, is still appealing. When I grew up tables were very feminine because they were thought to reflect the taste and style of the hostess. A very feminine table was the norm and I still like a feminine table with floral designs and lace.

DELICATE. FINE. DAINTY. Right now I am really into all things rustic and/or modern for decor and table settings, but looking at my mother's table settings over Easter, I remembered enjoying and admiring the details in a finely cut piece of delicate floral china. I still really like pretty and feminine as a look, what about you? Classic or out of style? I'm curious what you think.

PLATES CLOSE UP. I think silver or colored chargers would make the table seem more modern, but I didn't add any because that wouldn't be my mom's style. One detail I liked was how the scallop of the napkin's edge matched the scallop edging of the plates and the curve of the silver ware. No modern sharp angles here. I find it funny how things go in and out of fashion. Who knows what will be in 35 years from now.

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

You can see Reba's Pink & Green Toile Table HERE

Purple, silver and white wedding tables discussed HERE

Blue Toile & Buffalo Check Pattern Table is HERE

LINK PARTIES:

See more Tablescapes HERE

RE-ceiving Guests: Percy Jackson Birthday Party

2012-04-12T18:10:00.002-05:00

MAKING MEMORIES. When our daughter was younger, I always made a big deal out of her birthday parties but when she hit 7, she started wanting parties at places like Chuck E. Cheese and LaserTag so I stopped doing as much for her parties. For my daughter's 10th, I felt like I wanted to do something special again for the big double digit turn. I talked her into going with a Percy Jackson themed birthday party at home. If you are not familiar with this popular book series, you can read about it HERE. The books made my daughter into an enthusiastic reader so I was very keen on them and I thought the Greek mythology focus in the books would lead to fun party ideas. The author, Rick Riordan is from nearby San Antonio so a local bookstore hosts a wildly popular Percy Jackson/ Camp Half-Blood summer camp that many of my daughter's classmates attend, so I knew her classmates would know all about the books and be into the theme. The only down side to the theme choice was that there are no licensed Percy Jackson birthday party supplies so I had to look around online and I found some really great resources that I am sharing below.

INSPIRATION #1 I got invitation wording, games and food ideas at the peanut one blog HERE

INSPIRATION #2 Another great Percy Jackson party idea post this time by blogger micahcmicahdo HERE

INSPIRATION #3 MakeitDo.com posted TONS of creative Percy Jackson Party ideas HERE

INVITATIONS: After being inspired by the above blogs, I decided to make the party invitations above by using sheets of old parchment looking paper, rolling them up and tying them with twine to look like old messages. I found an image of Camp Half-Blood via google search and used copy/paste to insert it into the invitation text. I found the Greek alphabet font I wanted to use, called DALEK for free download via this SITE . I got frustrated with the font at first bc after downloading the font, it didn't install automatically until I found online instructions how to install a new font. If you're also not very techy, here is a video that goes thru the process step by step: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0ofg7sNi0E
The invitations were a big hit. Several parents complimented the invitations in their rsvp's ("so clever" "adorable" "Fabulous!") which was very rewarding. I was also amused because a couple moms replied in the spirit of the invitation and addressed me as "Eldarose, Daughter of Goddess Hera" and said their "demi-god" child would be attending. LOL

SETTING THE STAGE. In the Percy Jackson books, Percy attends Camp Half-Blood with all the other offspring of Greek Gods and humans where they go thru warrior training competitions. While trying to image how to create a similar party experience, my mind went from fight to the death Spartan battles to "Battle of the Network Stars" LOL. Now, I knew I couldn't really capture the surreal glory of BOTNS without a track-suit-wearing team captain, Telly Savalas, smoking on the track or Amazonian babe Lynda Carter carrying Gabe Kaplan aka Mr. Kotter on her shoulder like he was the studly hero of his team, but I thought I could copy some of the cheesetastic fun if I got the kids to feel like they were part of a MAJOR, serious business competition. To do this, I bought an an orange pennant banner from Oriental Trading and I made a big "CAMP HALF-BLOOD" banner from orange butcher block paper bought at a Teacher supply store to hang on our gazebo. I also bought aquatic themed name tags to set up teams when the guests arrived. For the games, I went to a sporting goods store and bought an archery set for an archery competition. For a moment, I thought about using pool floats for some version of the BOTNS kayak competition, but decided regular swimming for clues would be cheaper, easier and just as fun. I also thought about doing a Tug O'War and calling it a "Clash of The Titans" but ultimately blew this off because I had more activity ideas than time for the kids to realistically do them.

GREEK LIKE ME. I rented Greek columns for the party to greet the guests. Above some guests took a picture beside one of the columns. I guess it was fun, but I don't think it was a "must have" decoration or anything.

THE MADNESS BEGINS. I will be honest. The party started off crazy. I expected 24 kids to come and I prepared for an extra 3 kids just to be safe. However, I got RSVP's the night before and the morning of the party for an extra 6 kids (which meant extra favors and craft supplies were needed) which I had not planned for. Also, I was expecting 2 helpers that morning and one was a no-show and the other arrived after the party had started. I was seriously pressed that morning. I was SUPER lucky that the mother of one of my daughter's friends and her husband offered to help me when the guests started arriving. The kids came ready and EAGER to start their "quest" and the 1st activity (making a shield at a craft table) wasn't ready for them so my 2 recruited party volunteers above helped buy me time by handing out pizza for the kids to eat when they arrived. Meanwhile, my hubby put out drinks & trays of greek olives, cheese and party meats.

SAY CHEESE. My super awesome party volunteer took this pic of the girls eating their pizza before the activities began. The party menu was simple. Lots of cheese, Hawaiian and pepperoni pizzas were delivered and we put out Greek olives both stuffed and whole, cheese and party meat trays, ambrosia (a cocktail) for parents who stayed, sodas, waters for the kids, blueberries (Percy's favorite color and fruit), strawberries and birthday cake.

SHIELD MAKING. Since we ended up having 30 kids, I decided to break the kids up into boys and girls to do their 1st activity = shield making. The boys played with inflatable swords I bought from Oriental Trading to give as favors, swam or ate pizza while the girls made their shields. The shields were made of cardboard, spray painted black on one side with duct tape used for handles on the other side. Several of my MOM camp friends helped with this craft so I could attend to the other kids. They helped the kids put 2 strips of duct tape on the shields. One strip wide enough for the kids to put their arms thru and the other for them to grip with their hands. Above, the girls are using the gold paint and paint brushes I put out to design their shields. I also put out a couple of pages of Greek shield designs as examples for the kids. Both the boys and the girls enjoyed this activity. Now, I want to share a lesson I learned with this activity. As you can tell from my RE-cycling posts HERE and HERE, I try to recycle as much as I can, so at first, I tried to make shields out of recycled cardboard boxes. BIG MISTAKE! It was harder and more time consuming than I imagined it would be. It took hand strength (of which I have *ZERO*) and the repetitive motion sorta hurt my hand after doing about 10. I gave in when I realized I would still have to spray paint them black which would also take time and so I decided I needed to just buy round cardboard cake plates at Hobby Lobby. Unfortunately, my Hobby Lobby didn't have enough of the size I needed so 2 nights before the party I made a run to the other Hobby Lobby store and bought theirs out, too. Even so, when the extra RSVPs came in right before the party, I was going to be short if I hadn't made some more from recycled boxes the morning of the party. If I had to do this over again, 1) I would have bought the cake plates to save time and 2) I would have bought the cake plates earlier and I would have bought WAY more than I needed. I could always return unused ones later. Please learn from my mistake and consider these issues if you do this activity.

KING OF THE SEA. I made a Poseidon figure as a decoration for the party and put him beside the pool. Celeste, one of my book club/ MOM camp friends generously lent me her husband's Poseidon costume for the party. The costume had a torso, a white beard, a crown and a trident. I stuffed the torso and bought a styrofoam head from the craft store to put on top of it. I painted the head with acrylic paint to look like a human head. I used old packing material for white hair and used some green fabric stuffed with newspaper for fins. I didn't have hands for my Poseidon so another MOM camp friend, Renae, also of Fabulous Christmas Dinner Under The Stars fame, lent me some fancy flared black gloves from her kids' dress up/make believe bag. The kids really enjoyed seeing "Poseidon" at the party.

IMAGINATION RULED THE DAY. Once the kids made their shields and got their swords, they were into acting out duels. You can see the sons of our neighbors battling Greek warrior style above.

ALL INJURIES WERE PRETEND. Even though the kids were often "fighting" with each other during the party no one got hurt bc I brought inflatable swords from Oriental Trading. I got the kids to leave Poseidon's harder plastic trident alone and I tried to keep the kids very occupied throughout the party so they were always under adult supervision so the pretend fighting never got out of hand.

SWIM TIME. After making swords, the girls got free time in the pool while the boys made their shields.

INFLATABLE SWORDS. You can see some of the girls playing with the inflatable swords in the pool above.

SHOOTING MEDUSA. After everyone made their shields, I gathered all the kids in a line and they were each given a chance to shoot Medusa using the archery set I bought as part of their "Quest". I made sure to get a set that would be appropriate for kids at the store which is important for safety.

GIVE HER YOUR BEST SHOT. I used an old styrofoam ice chest filled with landscaping rocks and sand for the target. I painted a piece of styrofoam with green paint and hot glued snakes to it to make it Medusa's head. I then hot glued the green piece to the ice chest. The kids who won this quest were given extra points for their teams. I was again very lucky because my nephew volunteered to guide/supervise the kids one by one to take their shot. Even though this activity made me nervous, I have to admit the kids *loved* it. It was something new and action-y that made them all feel like tough warriors especially the kids who had never shot an arrow before.

THE QUEST. For the main activity, I made clues to lead the kids all around the yard on their quest. For the 1st clue, I gave each team a clue saying Poseidon would help them on their quest but he left his helpful letter in his home. (I'm sorry I don't have the clues anymore bc they rhymed and it took me awhile to make them up, but I didn't have a blog so I didn't think about keeping them. ) The kids all knew Poseidon is King of the Sea and they saw plastic baggies in the pool so they were eager to jump in the pool immediately, but I held them back and told them they'd have to take turns. I split up the kids into teams and let each team have 30 seconds to gather up all the clues in the pool. I had cut up pieces of the paper with the next clue on it, put them in double ziploc baggies with rocks to make them sink and put them in the pool. The kids got all the clues very easily within those 30 seconds. The next clue was about looking for Athena's animal form which is an owl. A few of the kids really into the Percy Jackson books knew this already and so they shared the info with their teammates. I hid an owl from my Halloween decor in the gazebo on the ledge where they could find the last clue. The last clue was about looking for gold under Hercules' weapon.I had made a large gold lightning bolt and put it in the yard against the fence with a box filled with twenty Sacagawea gold dollars from the bank. In the end, 2 teams were close to the finding the box but there was a lot of chaos, so I set up a race with representatives of the teams to swim over and find the box. You can see that race about to start above.

PIECE OF CAKE. I set up a cake table in our cabana with shells, gold chocolate coins and seashell necklaces all around. The kids were very attracted to the table and while we were doing other activities they ate all the chocolate coins and grabbed most of the necklaces. Oddly, it was the boys who took the seashell necklaces. I think they saw them as trophies from their quest. I thought that was pretty adorable. The cake was vanilla and ordered from a bakery. I ordered the cake the week before the party. Normally this isn't a big deal, but for some reason my favorite bakery was too booked to take my order and my runner up bakery which is not as good with designer cakes gave me a hard time about using the wedding cake columns I had purchased at the craft store hoping for a Greek Temple style cake like the one in the first Inspiration pic above. Our compromise was a cake with blue frosting and a large yellow trident seen above. Even though the cake is rather simple decoration wise, I like it because the bakery makes incredibly moist cakes.

THE CAKE. Sorry I don't have a better pic, but I was still scrambling to keep up with the kids and by this time many of the parents had returned so people were leaving and vying for my attention to look for missing clothing items, thank me for the invitation/good time etc. The favor bags were orange bags with labels saying "Thank you for visiting CAMP HALF-BLOOD. From Renata" on them. Inside I put blue colored candy because that is Percy Jackson's favorite color in the books and a cord necklace with a single blue bead to represent finishing a session at Camp Half Blood as in the book.

In the days following the party, I got several incredibly sweet emails from parents about how much their kids enjoyed the party and were still talking about it and how much they liked different elements/activities etc. Even though I had received nice comments about other kids parties we'd given before, I have to say the amount of glowing feedback and compliments about this party were in another league. The kids gave it rave reviews and my daughter said it was one of her favorite and most memorable birthday parties which I think had to do with the theme of going on a quest seeming very exciting and adventurous to the kids. Percy Jackson and the Camp Half-Blood really is a great birthday party theme for kids this age. I highly recommend it for anyone.

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

My Latest Post on a Traditional and Feminine Table is HERE

RE-ceiving Guests: Purple, Silver and White Wedding Table & Flowers

2012-04-05T09:37:00.000-05:00

I recently attended a beautiful wedding in Austin for the son of friends. The young couple met in the capital city where they both worked. The bride is an Austin native so the wedding was held there. The rehearsal dinner was held in an old wooden church that had been moved to Austin from a small town to serve as an events venue. It is set in a wooded lot with a beautiful garden not far from downtown . The stone steps leading into the dinner were lit with candles in glass cylinders. Inside the tables were set with purple tablecloths with some of the most beautiful flower arrangements I have seen.

The main rectangular table was set for the entire wedding party and had these beautiful candelabras with hydrangeas, orchids and snapdragons.

Notice the pretty arrangement in the silver mint julep cup on the window sill in the background. There were small floral arrangements spread around in unexpected areas that added a special touch to the setting.

This was the flower arrangement on the round tables for the rehearsal dinner guests.

The mother of the groom is very attentive to details so she rented special linens for the party. The purple tablecloth provided a perfect backdrop for the incredible flower arrangements. The clear glass charger is rimmed by silver spheres. On top of the folded napkin was the menu card imprinted with the couple's initials. Above the charger on the left was a chocolate wrapped and tied with a purple ribbon.

The female guests were all given a silver shawl as a favor. They were tied with a purple ribbon to the silver leaf bamboo style chairs.

This arrangement in the silver urn was surrounded with candles floating in glass cylinders.

Flowers were also in the sinks of the ladies room. The flowers gave a very pleasant fragrance which greeted guests when they opened the door. It was a very nice and thoughtful touch to carry the flowers into every space open to guests.

WRITTEN BY REBA

You can see Reba's Easter Table with Vintage HandPainted Eggs HERE

See Eldarose's Butterfly Spring Mantel HERE

A Peter Rabbit Themed Party is HERE

A Christian Cross Bead Craft for Kids (Great for Easter Playdates) is described HERE

LINK PARTIES:

RE-ceiving Guests: Easter Table #2

2012-03-29T11:13:00.002-05:00

CASUAL BREAKFAST TABLE. I posted this week about using a Butterfly Theme on my Living Room Mantel which left all my cutesy, pastel Easter stuff unused. I decided to use it in my family room. The pink felt placemats are from Target. They are in the Dollar bins. The bunny placemats are from Pottery Barn Kids. I bought them 9 years ago for playdates and I still really like them. The coordinating egg shape plate is also from Pottery Barn Kids as part of the same set. I used a white cotton tablecloth and white napkins. I used the green and white polka dot paper left over from my St. Patrick's Day table to decorate the napkins. The crystal old-fashioned is by Gorham.

Bunny Convention. I gathered our stuffed bunnies and put them on a cake stand for a centerpiece. I have pink and green tulle remnants that I used for make believe and different parties when my daughter was young so I wrapped some around the centerpiece for a bit more color.

Got Bunny? We have a lot of bunnies left over from when my daughter was young so Easter allows us to get a bit more use out of them.

Big Centerpiece. I normally don't have such a big centerpiece on this table, but I had so many bunnies to use that the centerpiece grew and grew. I didn't even use half of our bunnies. I was especially sorry to not be able to figure out a way to use our moss bunnies, but the table was just not big enough.

Green and Pink. The Pottery Barn bunny place mats and plates come in 4 colors: green, pink, blue and yellow. I have 2 sets (btw, wish I had a third, but I haven't seen them again, not even on ebay, don't you hate it when that happens?) so I decided to only use the green and the pink to emphasize those 2 colors since it is a smaller table. This also allowed me to use items like the green and white stripe candles and polka dot paper covered tin cans left over from my St. Patrick's Day Table which was nice.

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

You can see Reba's Easter Table with Vintage HandPainted Eggs HERE

See My Butterfly Spring Mantel HERE

A Peter Rabbit Themed Party is HERE

A Christian Cross Bead Craft for Kids (Great for Easter Playdates) is described HERE

LINK PARTIES:

See more Tablescapes HERE

RE-modeling: My New Living Room Part 4

2012-03-27T15:52:00.002-05:00

I had posted about remodeling my living room and promised an update so to keep my word, here is a living room update. You can see Part 1 HERE, Part 2 HERE and Part 3 HERE. The big changes are 2 seagrass rugs, a zebra skin rug, a vintage midcentury modern bar set and a decorated mantel. I have new chairs that I am having reupholstered and I need a chandelier so there will be more, but here is where the living room is currently.

THE LIVING ROOM THE WAY THE PREVIOUS HOME OWNERS HAD IT.

THE LIVING ROOM THE LAST TIME I POSTED.

LIVING ROOM TODAY. As per Reba's suggestion, I got 2 seagrass rugs to divide the room into 2 distinct sitting areas. The rugs were a good deal from Amazon. The vintage bar set is also new to me, as in bought 3 days ago. My friend, Martha, spotted it in an antique store in Blanco, Texas and insisted I buy it. I loved it, too, but I hesitated because I already had crystal decanters out that I liked. Martha brought up how well this set would go with the midcentury modern touches that I am trying to add to my otherwise traditional, verging on frilly older stuff. Martha was absolutely right. I love the brass stoppers and the lucite tray. It replaced a silver tray with crystal decanters that we had just put out recently. The crystal decanters were very pretty, but had an overall feminine feel. Since I am trying to be more gender neutral in my decor, I like that the masculine, Don Draper-esque air of this bar set will offset the feminine crystal figurines and bowls it sits among. Thank you for insisting Martha!

OUR NEW LIVING ROOM WAS A STORAGE AREA FOR OVER A YEAR.

THE LIVING ROOM SOFA AREA THE LAST TIME I POSTED.

THE LIVING ROOM SOFA AREA TODAY. The coffee table and rugs I wanted are above. Kinda funky, right? I know, but I think it is fun and bold and that is what I am trying to go for. And again, I wanted it nothing like my FORMER YELLOW LIVING ROOM IN OUR FIRST HOUSE which I felt had gotten a bit old ladyish. I wanted youthful. I hope that is the feeling this gives. A chandelier has to come next. I bought the lucite coffee table on Ebay from a mega seller called Southeastflorida and I couldn't be happier with my table so I thought I'd give him a plug. The lucite coffee table was $320 plus shipping which is a great price if you've shopped around for lucite tables. Although it was well packaged, the coffee table came in with a slight scratch and as soon as I emailed the man from South East Florida about it, he promptly replied saying he had already called FEDEX to come pick up a new table and it would be at my door in 2 days - and it was! No muss, no fuss. The zebra skin rug was a bigger decision. We debated whether to go faux or do a cowhide rug dyed like a zebra rug or go with the real deal. I feared the real deal would be a bit creepy, but my husband really liked the idea of one and so we went for it. I am happy to report that I don't find it creepy as I feared I would. I know it isn't for everyone, but I live in Texas so animal skin rugs are not too big a deal here.

A TOUCH OF MIDCENTURY MODERN. I like how the new bar set picks up on the gold trim of the mirrored chest. I am also pleased because I think it will also go with the new chairs I bought to go by the fireplace. The chrome legged, midcentury style chairs are in my hometown currently waiting to be reupholstered. They came in black leather and I want to have some blue velvet slipcovers made for them. When they arrive, I will update once again my living room remodeling saga. I hope I have a chandelier for the room by that time. If you have any ideas on my light fixture, I am open to suggestions. I wanted a drum shaped gold leaf chandelier, but because I have low ceilings (8 feet), I cannot get the one I wanted because it would hang too low. I considered making one, but I am not sure how to go about doing that.

THE MANTEL LAST TIME I POSTED.

THE MANTEL TODAY. I am pretty excited to have a mantel to decorate for the seasons again. Sharing my Easter/Spring mantel was actually what got me to take pictures of the living room. I found it hard to decorate for Spring with this living room color scheme because most of my Easter stuff is cutesy pastel stuff and I didn't think it would go with the style of the room. I had a few ideas of what I might be able to do, but I ended up going with butterflies. My husband bought me 3 wood folk art looking bunny figurines pulling carts from Wisteria. I decided they were ok for this room so I used them as my centerpiece. Then, when I complained of being uninspired, my husband suggested butterflies would go with the eclectic and colorful style of the room. My husband can be very helpful when he wants to be. I took that idea and ran with it. I dug up some old butterfly prints that I meant to sell in our garage sale, but forgot about. They were in gold frames which goes with the mirror already on the mantel. I also saw that Michael's had butterfly magnets at 4 for $1 and single fabric butterflies for $1.50. I bought some of those and spread them around. I pulled out some old cards with butterflies on the cover and placed them in gold frames to fill out the display. I like how colorful the display turned out. I am also happy because I don't think it is too cutesy, but it is still whimsical which I enjoy.

A COLORFUL TRIBUTE TO SPRING.

CLOSE UP SHOT.

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

Our Western Tables Settings can be seen HERE

You can see Reba's Easter Table with Vintage HandPainted Eggs HERE

A Peter Rabbit Themed Party is HERE

A Christian Cross Bead Craft for Kids (Great for Easter Playdates) is described HERE

LINK PARTIES:

RE-ceiving Guests: EASTER TABLE WITH HAND PAINTED EASTER EGGS (CASCARONES)

2012-03-23T02:03:00.000-05:00

This Easter table starts with hand-painted Easter eggs I inherited from my husband's grandmother. Decorated Easter eggs are a tradition many places, but in South Texas we use them in a unique way. They are called cascarones in Spanish and that is what we call them here. Legend has it that Marco Polo brought the tradition of hollowed out chicken eggs to Italy from China. From Italy the tradition spread to other countries and eventually the Empress Carlota (originally from Belgium) brought the idea to Mexico during her short reign in the 1860's. In Italy, the eggs were filled with scent. In Mexico, the eggs were filled with confetti. From Mexico, the tradition spread north to South Texas. During Easter, we break the confetti filled eggs (cascarones) over people's heads which supposedly is good luck. In South Texas, cascarones are so popular that Easter weekend there will be road side vendors selling large bags filled with colored confetti-stuffed Easter eggs. Even our local grocery chain will sell cascarones by the dozen.

The women's guild at my grandmother-in-law's church would hand paint cascarones as a church fundraiser. I inherited four dozen of these eggs that date from the 1950's and 1960's from my grandmother-in-law. Most are decorated with whimsical animals, but some have flowers. Two are extra special to me because they are painted with the wrought iron gate of our home which has bougainvillea growing over it. Our home originally belonged to my husband's grandmother and one of her friends painted those Easter eggs for her as a gift. So after Ash Wednesday, I put these hand painted cascarones out in a moss covered basket as a display.

I will set the table with wicker chargers that I bought a couple of years ago at Wal-Mart. The light green silverware was purchased at Target. The pink plates were purchased at Dillard's four years ago. The bunny egg holders are from Tuesday Morning. The Easter napkins are from Pottery Barn purchased this year. Also, Pottery Barn had these little glass Easter egg ornaments that I purchased to use as napkin holders by adding a ribbon. The pink glasses are from Horchow. The pink bud vase is from Target also. We are lucky enough to have gardenias flowering right now so I added the bud vase to enjoy the great scent.

This year, Easter will be spent with my family at my brother's house. He has a big backyard perfect for children to run around hunting for Easter eggs. Some eggs will be filled with toys or coins or candy, but the ones that will be the most fun will be the cascarones that the children will crack on each others' heads. I will set the table with green plastic straw, foil covered chocolate Easter bunnies in the center and cascarones.as a centerpiece After the Easter egg hunting is done and the cascarones are all cracked, all my nieces and nephews will come inside and I will allow them to take home one of the chocolate bunnies from the centerpiece as their Easter present.

Written by Reba

Reba's Pink and White Luncheon Tablescape is HERE

You can see the Peter Rabbit Birthday Party and Easter Playdate Eldarose threw HERE

See My Spring Butterfly Mantel HERE

LINK PARTIES:

See more Tablescapes HERE

RE-ceiving Guest: Pink & White Luncheon

2012-03-21T18:34:00.002-05:00

OUT ON THE PORCH. As Reba mentioned in her post on Blue Toile Tables, she likes to host guests outside on her covered porch. She fits 3 tables of 10 there easily and since weather in our area is warm most of the year, she doesn't have to worry about it being too cold. Almost 4 years ago, Reba hosted a luncheon in honor of our niece's graduation from high school. For the party, Reba chose a pink and white theme. Reba used light pink and white buffalo check runners over rented hot pink tablecloth on the tables. Pink and fuchsia colored roses in white pots were the centerpieces. As with the blue table settings linked above, Reba chose personalized M&M's in white tulle drawstring baggies as favors for the guests at this party. White and pink paper placecards were used at each setting.

Reba used her lighter pink glass goblets and clear water goblets. Silver chargers under white plates broke up the pink infusion. Reba found a cute set of white and cotton candy pink napkins at Pier One with different designs (polka dot, stripe etc.) on sale. She bought all the ones they had in our local stores and asked me to buy some in my town so she would have enough for 30 place settings which she has mentioned is the number of guests she plans for when she shops for tableware/entertaining items. She placed the napkins on top of the plates at each setting. She used her Towle Old Master silver for flatware.

I think the party setting turned out super cute and very appropriate for the occasion. Hope you enjoy the pics.

When she began planning the party, she originally was going more pink, black and white because she found some cute party invitations that match our niece's personality. However, the adorable napkins from Target made her go more pink, silver and white in the end. If you're curious, Reba found the invitation online HERE

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

You can see Reba's Pink & Green Toile Table HERE

You can see the Peter Rabbit Birthday Party and Easter Playdate Eldarose threw HERE

LINK PARTIES:

See more Tablescapes HERE

RE-laying Tips: No More Mold on Berries

2012-03-21T08:59:00.001-05:00

A delicious superfood, strawberries are full of anti-oxidants to boost your immuno system. Additionally, their bright color adds a cheery touch to any plate and a festive garnish to any drink. I especially like to combine them with blueberries on breakfast or dessert plates as you can see above. The only thing I do not like about strawberries is that they can mold very quickly. Organic or non-organic, I've never seen any difference regarding their propensity to mold. It is lousy to toss away fruit after a few days because of mold, but that happens to at least a few of the strawberries in almost every basket I've ever purchased. So this emailed tip from my friend, Celeste, was a big help to me. (It took me a minute to find the original source, but I believe it came from JENNIFER at Memoryjournalists.com)

When you get your berries home, "prepare a mixture of one part vinegar (white or apple cider) and ten parts water. Dump the berries into the mixture and swirl around. Drain, rinse if you want (although the mixture is so diluted you shouldn't taste the vinegar,) and pop in the fridge. The vinegar kills any mold spores and other bacteria that might be on the surface off the fruit."

Hope you enjoy this tip, too.

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

RE-ceiving Guests: St. Patrick's Day Table #2

2012-03-15T16:00:00.003-05:00

Green and white shamrock napkins held in silver napkin rings are the focus of the setting. I used green glass goblets and green handle flatware. White plates on woven rattan chargers complete the casual setting.

SHAMROCK ORNAMENT. This shamrock ornament is a Christmas ornament I tied around a bud vase. I saw the above flowers in a bunch at my local grocery store and picked them up. I do not know what kind of flower it is, but whatever it is, the flower is very hardy. I've had them for 2 weeks and they look as good as the day I brought them home. That is my kind of flower!

CLOSE UP OF PLACE SETTING.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

WRITTEN BY REBA

You can see Eldarose's St. Patrick's Day Table made of recycled and crafted items HERE

LINK PARTIES:

This entry will be party of Cuisine Kathleen's St. Patick's Day Blog Crawl. You can see many more St. Patrick's Day tables, crafts, holiday decor and ideas HERE

See more Tablescapes HERE

RE-ceiving Guests: St. Patrick's Day Table

2012-03-13T13:44:00.002-05:00

GO GREEN. Even though neither I nor my husband are Irish, I was loving all the St. Patrick's Day tables I saw other bloggers putting up and I was bummed because I did not have any green and white tableware to do a St. Patrick's Day table of my own. I always went to Catholic Schools, so I am use to celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Not to be left out, my solution was to rely upon a lot of recycled materials, scrapbook paper and craft projects to set up a festive holiday table setting. I am pleasantly satisfied with the end result above.

RECYCLED INVENTORY. The round green place mats were from our old home. I forgot we had them until I started rummaging around looking for green items for the table. The glass plates I got a long time ago from Garden Ridge Pottery here in Austin, but I know the Dollar Tree always carries some, too. I think glass plates are handy. Some may recall how I used glass plates and tissue paper to make DIY Christmas Plates. For St. Patrick's Day, I used scrapbook paper in a green and white gingham pattern to make shamrocks to adhere to the underside of the plates. It took one scrapbook sheet to make the 4 shamrocks for the 4 plates. I free hand drew the first template. It isn't hard to draw a shamrock, it is just 3 hearts and a stem. The glasses are old pickle jars I have been saving up for a summer table setting. I had green and white polka dot name tags which set the palette for the scrapbook pages I bought. I lucked out and found scrapbook pages with green and white polka dots and used them to wrap old tin cans to use as flower containers. With the paper scraps left over from wrapping the tin cans, I cut out 4 strips to put around the napkins and I used adhesive spray to keep them folded. The leprechaun hat/leprechaun trap is a craft from felt, scraps of paper and an old plastic 2 liter bottle for the base. A piece of St. Patrick's Day scrapbook paper under the hat and some gold foil wrapped chocolate coins on a cake stand are the centerpiece. The pots of gold are made from recycled yogurt cups.

Mix of patterns. I had 3 main patterns. The name tags on the glass jars and the scrapbook paper on the napkins and the tin cans match a scrap of material I used as a runner. The gingham print is on the hat and the shamrocks under the plates. The darker green and white shamrock print is under the centerpiece.

ANOTHER VIEW.

A PLACE SETTING

LEPRECHAUN HAT/LEPRECHAUN TRAP. The idea for the centerpiece comes from a Family Fun magazine craft you can see HERE I didn't have a can to use, so I used a 2 liter soda bottle for the base.

MY SUPPLIES. Spray Adhesive. Glue gun. Felt squares. Scrapbook paper. Old plastic bottle. Cardboard piece cut out in a round.

Spray Painted Yogurt Cups. I save yogurt cups for different craft projects and I always have gold spray paint around.

POT OF GOLD. Recycled Yogurt cups, painted with gold spray paint, filled with rolos candies, green tissue paper, a quickly drawn rainbow and a cloud, add another recognizable Irish element to the table. These are great crafts for kids in Sunday School. For my Sunday School class, we normally make shamrocks with images for The Father, Son and Holy Spirit for each leaf to explain and represent The Holy Trinity to the kids the same way St. Patrick did, but this year, we won't have class for St. Patrick's Day so I don't have the supplies handy or I would have added that in somewhere.

GREEN MINT PUNCH. I filled the glass jars with a mixture of green lime sorbet, diet limeade and diet 7 up. The green and white paper straws I got at Sur La Table. I really want some more paper straws in other colors so I might end up ordering some online because I haven't found the other colors I want locally.

White Simple Flowers. My local grocery store had a bunch of the above flowers for $4.99 so I couldn't resist picking up a bunch which was more than enough for the 2 tin cans.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY.

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

You might also enjoy my post RE-cycling Ideas for a Greener Christmas which you can read HERE

You can see Reba's St. Patrick's Day Table HERE

A Christian Cross Bead Craft for Kids (Great for Easter Playdates) is described HERE

You may also be interested in my new post this week on MOM CAMP which is HERE

Reba's Blue and White Toile & Check Luncheon Table is HERE

LINK PARTIES:

This entry will be party of Cuisine Kathleen's St. Patick's Day Blog Crawl. You can see many more St. Patrick's Day tables, crafts, holiday decor and ideas HERE

See more Tablescapes HERE

RE-ceiving Guests: MOM'S 80TH- MEMORY DECOR

2012-03-02T11:55:00.001-06:00

We are throwing our Mother a party for her 80th birthday in May. I talked about some ideas for the color scheme for the party HERE Now, I want to talk about other party decor ideas. At Christmas time, I organized my parents' house a bit and put their old pictures in photo boxes which gave me the idea that we should use the photos for her big birthday party somehow. I am a sentimental sap. I come from a line of saps. My mom, sisters and I cannot see someone cry alone. We have to cry with them. I refer to us as "lloronas" (Spanish for crying women) a lot. I think being sentimental and nostalgic is in our DNA. So, for our mother's 80th birthday party, I think going sentimental is a must. The following ideas struck a nice sentimental chord in me.

WALL DECOR. Since I just went thru 80+ years worth of pictures over Christmas, I know we easily have enough photos to copy in black and white and form an "80" as a wall decoration at our mom's party to copy this look Source: Pinterest, but sadly I couldn't find the original entry because it looks like a great party. On Pinterest, pic was attributed once to http://cakeslikesaparty.com and another time to http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/

PHOTOS IN THE CENTERPIECES. My original idea for the pictures was to use them on the tables as part of the centerpieces. I couldn't find an image of what I was imagining exactly, but basically, instead of the type of floral picks being used above for table numbers, I imagined us using double-sided pictures of our mother with the guests at that table and sticking them into the floral centerpiece. We could frame the pictures out in black or a coordinating color and then each guest would see a picture of themselves with our mom. I thought that would be very personal and do-able, because the tables will likely be grouped by different aspects to my mother's life (relatives, co-workers, people she knows thru church etc.) so each table could have a different theme. I was thinking the table with her relatives could have pictures of our mom as a child, for example, and the one with co-workers, could have pictures of different work projects or the place where they all worked, so it would also be a stroll down memory lane for the guests at the table. It would also give them something to talk about as soon as they sat at the table. Above image source: http://www.weddingchicks.com/gallery/esther/?nggpage=2&pid=27829

INDIVIDUAL PHOTO PLACE CARDS. When I shared the photo floral picks idea with Reba, she like it a lot and suggested we could use photos of Mom with the guests and put them in inexpensive frames and have that be their place card, so instead of looking for their name, the guests would look for their picture when they found their table. I really like this idea. Image Source: Pinterest.

DOLLAR STORE FRAME. Ever since Reba mentioned using photos as place cards, I've been keeping my eye out for frames that would work. I saw some white ceramic ones with stands at IKEA that are like $1.50 each and I saw silver plated ones like the one above at the Dollar Store. I mentioned in my post, Romancing Your Spouse for Under $5 that I had bought the frame for something else. Well, now you know, I bought it to show Reba the frame in case we used this idea. It would be a lot of work to find photos of all the guests to do this. And it would be time consuming to print out 200+ pics and put them in frames, but I think they biggest obstacle is getting pics of all the guests to do it.

PHOTO TABLE MARKERS. I saw these 25 photo table marker blocks pinned on Pinterest for $150 and thought they were cute. They seem to have gone up to $175 on the Etsy shop where they are sold. If you're interested, they are being sold HERE

PHOTO LANTERNS. I think the above photo centerpieces would be amazing as part of a table display. The above image was found on Pinterest, attributed to google, which sent me to http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/need-help-making-these

MARTHA STEWART CRAFT. Based upon the forum discussion on the first photo lantern picture, it seems the idea originally came from Martha Stewart and this project. The above image and detailed instructions how to use vellum paper to make the lanterns can be found at: http://www.marthastewart.com/267514/photo-centerpiece

WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE VIGNETTES. Our sister, Elsa, suggested we do a slide show for the party. She and our niece, Alex, have made some for celebrations for our parents before. I suggested to Reba that we hire a video person to do interviews with us (meaning my entire immediate family) about both our parents and use some old footage from some awards video presentations where our mom was honored to piece together a bigger, more current presentation for the party. I am still in favor of the video idea, but the picture above, made me think about vignettes for the party. Our parents have a LOT of junk. I wondered if we could set up some vignettes like the one above as decorations to capture different periods in their life together. Maybe not with dresses and stuff, although, come on, wouldn't that be interesting and different? And very, very memorable? OTOH, it would be a lot of extra work to do it. Still, our mother saved the dresses she wore to our weddings and we have pictures of her dancing in them with our father and she has some groovy old coats from the 60s and I bet anything she saved other significant outfits out of nostalgic reasons. The funny thing is that it would make use of things she has likely been saving for years without any reason to believe she will use them again. It reminds me a bit of how much my husband enjoyed it when we used old maps and playbills he had been saving in our Living Room Project. Just throwing that idea out there. Source: Pinterest, Idea and Image attributed to http://joyworks-shopgirl.blogspot.com/

A SIGN OF LOVE. A Houston, Texas man took out this billboard ad for his wife on their 50th wedding anniversary. Yes, I get a little weepy seeing this grand romantic gesture. Beautiful. I know we could do something like this for our mother, but I honestly don't think she'd like it. I think she would prefer the money be spent on the party. Still, I thought I would mention it because it is a wonderful idea and I think would be a lovely, memorable way to celebrate a big milestone birthday. Image and backstory Source: http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/06-30-11-the-most-romantic-gesture-ever-giant-50th-anniversary-billboard-is-in-the-running/

GUESTS CONTRIBUTION. We've already agreed the party is going to be "No Gifts Please" but Reba and I have both talked about how we would like the guests (our parents' nearest and dearest) to participate/contribute to the evening. Someone got guests to contribute a memory letter/notecard to give the birthday honoree at his 60th birthday party. I am pretty sure we could do this and it would make an amazing surprise for my mother. Reba mentioned doing a sign in book for something like this, but I am wondering if giving folks time to bring a picture to the party or give them time to really plan out what they want to write, might not be a good thing. Picture and Idea Source: http://nothingbutbonfires.com

NOTECARDS FILLED IN BY GUESTS AT THE PARTY. For her grandmother's 90th birthday, one blogger had guests fill out notecards with the honoree's picture on them and then hung up the notes as decor. I think Reba favored an idea like this. We could put them into a book later. The notes would be short probably. I am verbose which is why I probably favor the above letter idea. Image Source: http://inchmark.squarespace.com They also made her a memory book with 90 pages thru shutterfly that is awesome. I saw someone made a scrapbook with a page for each year their grandmother was alive that tried to summarize the highlights of that year for them. I wasn't sure we could pull that off, but a photo and a blurb, maybe? You should check the shutterfly book here: http://inchmark.squarespace.com/inchmark/2010/1/27/ninas-book.html

Okay, those are some cool ideas I found. One last thing......

The blogger at Simcoestreet.blogspot.com threw a lovely party for her grandmother's 80th birthday at someone's home and I am a big fan of how it turned out. You can see her party entry HERE

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

RE-ceiving Guests: Navy and Orange Breakfast Table

2012-02-28T11:59:00.000-06:00

GOOD MORNING. My new orange and blue breakfast setting above.

RISE AND SHINE. I am bringing in more and more deep blue into my home lately so I picked up some blue and white fabric for a new table cloth at Hobby Lobby this past weekend. I wanted a more modern looking pattern to update the cobalt blue pieces I have since I first married 16 years ago. While at Hobby Lobby, I found these orange and white quatrefoil design plates on sale. They are plastic and I thought they'd be fun for summer and outdoor parties. I also thought they'd be fun on a breakfast table with my Mexican made cobalt blue rimmed glasses. Above, you can see I also added orange and blue rick rack ribbons for some extra table top color. I am thinking of using this modern blue and white fabric for place mats and using the rick rack for trim. Place mats can be fun and easy for casual meals, imo. Also, I admit I still feel like I want something for under the orange plates, but I didn't have anything solid navy blue and square or white and square to use. Because the geometric shapes are a big part of the appeal for me in this setting, I don't want to use round place mats, plates or chargers. I think it would make it seem less modern. I may make some square navy place mats since I plan on using this setting for awhile. I may google around for some solid color DIY place mat ideas. Whatever I do, I will do a follow up post.

IMPULSE BUYS. The orange and white plates are on sale right now as part of the Spring collection at Hobby Lobby and couldn't resist buying some. I used orange napkins I have long had for use during Halloween/Thanksgiving on the table. The colors match well enough I think.

VISUAL STIMULATION. I know the patterns and colors are bright and busy, but I find that very stimulating and enjoyable.

WHITE ACCENTS. I also have white ceramic bowls and platters from Crate and Barrel and Wal-Mart that I can use with this setting. I really like the square bowls from Wal-mart that I bought a couple of years ago. They were super inexpensive and go with many different settings. Plus, they add a modern feel to settings.

BREAKFAST. FRUIT CENTERPIECE. Oranges and blue berries in bowls are the perfect complement to this color scheme and a very practical one for a breakfast table.

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

You may also be interested in my new post this week on MOM CAMP which is HERE

You may also like our entry on Blue Tables HERE

Reba's Blue and White Toile & Check Luncheon Table is HERE

St. Patrick's Day Table using lots of Recycled items for decor is HERE

LINK PARTIES:

See more Tablescapes HERE

RE-ceiving Guests: Mom's 80th Bday Color Ideas

2012-02-23T11:39:00.003-06:00

We are throwing a sit down dinner party for our mother's 80th birthday. We will have 200+ guests. We all agree we should use yellow roses for the centerpieces because those are my mother's favorite flowers. Reba and our sister, Elsa, went to talk to the lady about the tables and flowers and before things are finally decided, I wanted to share some looks I liked. I would like the party to be deeply personal and capture not just my mother's, but also, my father's journey. For this reason, navy and yellow is speaking to me. When my mother ran for public office in our small town, those were the colors of her campaign posters/stickers/cards. They are also the colors for the advertisements for our family business. I worry it will seem cheesy because we do use those colors for the family business, but at the same time, there are memories attached to those colors. I remember learning way back when my mom chose these colors for her election ad campaign, that black and white have the most impact in advertising because they have the most contrast and yellow and dark blue have the second most impact and my mom deciding she'd use yellow and blue because it looked prettier than black and white. The site for the party will have gold chairs like the ones above, and I like how the dark blue table cloths, the white centerpieces, blue napkins and gold accents work together. Image Source http://www.hwtm.com

The dessert table is very cool, but the two tiered cake in the middle especially caught my attention. Very unique design. I'm not sure it is right for this occasion, but I do admire it greatly. Image Source: http://www.hwtm.com

Image Source: http://www.mywedding.com/

Image Source: Google image at http://pinterest.com/kbiason/wedding-decor/

Image Source: http://calligraphybyjennifer.net/blog/navy-blue-and-yellow-wedding-tablescape//


Image Source: http://pinterest.com/jessisue/


Image Source: http://thebeautybridal.com/3216/sweet-saucy-shop-wedding-cakes.html

Image Source: http://thetwistedsifter.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/fondant-wedding-cake-navy-yellow-gerber-daisy-bardstown-ky/


Image Source: http://www.divineeventslv.com/tag/wedding-ceremony/

Image Source: http://petalena.wordpress.com/

Image Source: http://www.onewed.com/photos/show/unique-wedding-reception-escort-card-idea1/

Another post on PHOTO DECOR for MOM'S 80TH BIRTHDAY is HERE

You may also like to visit my orange and navy blue breakfast table post HERE

RE-ceiving Guests: Blue and White Luncheon

2012-02-20T15:19:00.002-06:00

OUT OF TOWN VISITOR LUNCHEON. A couple summers ago, Reba offered to host some out of town visitors for one of the groups she supports over to her home for lunch. This was during the summer time so she kept the menu and the color scheme very light. She used white table cloths with navy blue and white toile runners and navy and white buffalo check napkins for the table linens. For the centerpieces, she used her round oriental white and blue round planters. As you can see HERE, she has gotten a lot of use out of those pots and the Blue Italian plates. She also placed white basketweave ceramic baskets for bread in the middle of the table.

FRENCH COUNTRY BLUE. Reba used Spode Blue Italian plates on dark blue chargers. As we have mentioned before, Blue Italian was my everyday china when I got married and Reba liked it so much she began collecting it, too. Our other sister, Elsa, joined in as well, so now if anyone hosts a large party, we usually have enough Blue Italian/Blue Room plates for everyone. The goblets are blue cobalt. The silver is Towle Old Master, Reba's wedding silver.

NAPKINS & NAPKIN RINGS. The navy and off white buffalo napkins were held by monogrammed silver napkin rings and placed on top of the plates at the place setting. White roses and blue hydrangeas were used for the blue and white centerpieces. Reba made a frozen dessert for the party that looked like watermelon from different sorbets. Either Reba or I will make a separate post about the dessert soon.

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

You may also be interested in my new post this week on MOM CAMP which is HERE

You may also like our entry on Blue Tables HERE

We are throwing a dinner party for our mother's 80th birthday and in my latest entry, I discuss a possible blue and yellow color scheme HERE Image Source http://www.hwtm.com

You might also like to visit my navy and orange breakfast table post HERE

LINK PARTIES:

See more Tablescapes HERE

RE-inventing Camp: MOM camp aka best camp eva!

2012-02-20T12:44:00.001-06:00

WHY MOM CAMP? For the last few years, my friends and I have done a 1 week summer "MOM CAMP" that is basically a cooperative camp. My book club has 10 ladies in it and most of us met because our first kids are about the same age. My friend, Martha, came up with the idea that our book club could organize our own camp for our kids by sharing our different talents with all the kids. My group of friends loved the idea. We greatly enjoy that our kids are growing up together and now that they go to different schools, MOM CAMP gives them a good opportunity to continue their childhood bond. We also are blessed to have really good kids that we hope will be a good influence upon each other as they develop new friendships that may not always be the best influences on their behavior. I was thrilled by the MOM CAMP idea because there are many talents I lack which my friends have (e.g. culinary, sewing, scientific) and MOM CAMP allows my child to learn from my friends while I reciprocate by sharing what I have to offer with their kids. Plus, the moms would get to spend time together which we love. A big win all the way around. Above, our kids are posing for a picture on COOKING DAY at Martha's house. This was our first day of MOM CAMP.

HOW IT WORKED: We had 10 moms so 2 moms were jointly responsible for 1 day of camp. That allowed the moms who work outside the home to participate because they would only have to take one day off from work. It also worked because fortunately, our kids are mostly school age and well-behaved so 2 moms would be enough to handle the whole group in most situations. My friend, Kerry, has the youngest child (a toddler), so she sent along her babysitter to watch after her to make sure the other moms weren't spread out too much. If any of our children had behavior issues or really special needs, then it might not have worked unless that child's mom attended to look after him or her. The kids would be dropped off by 8:30 or 9 and picked up in the afternoon. Some moms kept the kids for longer than others, but the plan was usually to pick up at 1:30 p.m.

COOKING DAY: Most of my friends are great cooks, so this day had a lot of options for leaders. Kerry and Celeste organized it. Above, you can see the kids are preparing dough to make their own pizzas. This day the kids made their lunch, but for all the other days, they took a packed lunch unless the moms in charge decided to provide lunch. This day, the kids also made goop from a recipe Celeste found. Last year, we decided to add a philanthropic aspect to our activities, so the kids made food/snacks for baggies for the poor on Cooking Day along with making their own lunch. Another reason, I really love MOM CAMP is it is a way for our friends to reinforce the values (respect for adults, consideration, compassion) we are all trying to instill in our kids.

ART DAY PROJECTS: Martha and I did art day the first year and my friend, Grace and I did it last year. Since MOM CAMP happens in June, we usually have the kids make gifts for Father's Day. Above, the kids are painting $1 wood frames I purchased at a craft store. I also allowed them to paint some wood pieces with slogans like "#1 Dad" and glue them to the frames if they wanted. I already had the paints so this was an inexpensive craft. I took pictures of the kids holding a sign saying "Happy Father's Day" and printed them out on the computer to complete the gift project.

CLAY WORKS. Martha likes to work with clay, so she set up a clay station for the kids on Art day to make small bowls/holders for their dads. Last year, we made stepping stones from kits. The moms all agreed they wanted the kids to do the project so I bought the kits and they all paid me back. I bought extra molds and decorative stones and the kids left their stones to dry until the next day. Tshirts, rock painting, paper mache, recycled goods used for art.....this day allows for a lot of creativity in finding supplies for the art projects for any budget.

GETTING MESSY? YES! My friends, Kathleen and Linda were in charge of Water Day. The kids were all dressed in swimsuits and above, they are gearing up for a big shaving cream fight before they clean off in the lake. We were very lucky that Kathleen has a lake house, but a swimming pool or a water hose/slide and baby pool full of water balloons set up in a backyard could work for Water Day. The basic element is getting messy and cleaning off with water.

OLD FASHIONED FUN. My friend, Linda, hosts a "camp out" party in her backyard in the summer that we all love. Our city kids make hot dogs and smores, sit in tents, run around, catch fireflies and have a massive water balloon fight. MOM CAMP'S Water Day has similar old fashioned fun. Above, the kids are engaging in a watermelon seed spitting contest. LOL! I'm guessing that was Kathleen's idea, but I'm not sure.

SHAVING CREAM FIGHT. I blurred out the mom's image who was engaging in some shameless shaving cream fighting action against the kids to protect her identity *cough* Linda*cough* Btw, protective eye wear can be helpful for this game.. All our kids swim and Kathleen was a trained lifeguard, but because swimming is so dangerous Diane volunteered to tag along on this day to have an extra mom/set of eyes to supervise.

NATURE TRAIL DAY. Renae and Diane organized a trip to Austin's nature trails for the kids to observe the insects and animals. I am SUPER sad that I don't have pictures of this day to share. The photo above is an official visitor site pic. Renae and Diane prepared *ADORABLE* insect themed snacks for the kids (apples, peanut butter and pretzels used for spiders and butterflies, gummy worms in bags etc.) and nature observation kits (party store magnifying glasses, note pads with pens attached to write down all the different animals/insects they came upon) and water bottles. They made the nature observation a competitive game. The kids got points for the animals/insects they spotted. The kids got really into it. The nature trail also has a dinosaur pit and the kids dug for stuff there. If your city doesn't have a nature trail for hiking, then a zoo day or day at a farm would be a similar experience.

TIME OUTSIDE. For the last day, we sometimes scramble, because not all the moms in our group can participate for the whole week every year. The first year we did MOM CAMP, for the last day, we went to a local park for swimming, playground fun and a picnic. We attended to our own kids. Last year, Celeste volunteered to take an extra day and took the kids to the movies. A local movie theater runs special kids movies for $1 during the summer in the mornings. Martha's husband, Walter and I volunteered to help with supervision. After the movie, Celeste had all the kids over to her house for free play time.

OTHER DAY SUGGESTIONS:

SCIENCE DAY - plan 2-3 experiment stations at home and break up the kids to do them supervised or alone.

SEWING LESSON DAY - Set up tables with sewing projects (e.g. sewing buttons on) at home. Both boys and girls could use this life skill!

MUSEUM DAY - kid admission is usually very low or free. I think it is easier when the days are at home so the kids don't mingle with a crowd, but museum visits are so educational, they are worth the extra work

ZOO DAY - Most zoos have special activities during the summer in addition to petting zoos.

FARM DAY - Got a friend with a nearby farm or ranch? Let the kids be farm hands for a day. City kids will especially learn a lot.

MOVIE DAY - At home or at the theater. Great alternative if bad weather ruins a planned outdoor day.

CONSIDERATIONS:

We do not charge money for MOM CAMP so it is a social function, the same way hosting a kids party would be. The moms in our group are all responsible as are our kids. It is important to find responsible adults to be in charge. For the safety of all, it is also important that kids who need extra supervision (e.g. very young, behavior issue or special needs) receive extra supervision or be excluded. Moms are not professional caretakers so no one should be placed in a position of taking care of too many kids or being spread out too much to properly supervise the entire group.
The Buddy system was always used. Even on days when we were at someone's house, the kids were all assigned a buddy (or two) to stay with so the moms could keep track of everyone more easily.
Cost is not that great, however, it is up to the moms to decide budget for their day. Most moms bought most of the supplies, but if some projects were going to be $10 per kid or more, we decided to chip in extra to cover that. We also sent lunch with the kids. I am not sure if this camp cost less than sending my daughter to a regular camp would have (because I am bad about sticking to a budget in a craft store) however, MOM CAMP allows her to spend time with her childhood friends and be influenced by my friends, so that adds a lot of value to the camp imo. If you belong to a social club or if you are close to neighbors or relatives with young kids, then you could unite to pull off a MOM camp. It is a pretty cool camp for a week. A lot of our kids have said it is their favorite summer camp.

Questions? Feedback? Let me know in the comments section.

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

Peter Rabbit and Bunny play date parties discussed HERE

Madeline Birthday Party discussed HERE.

The Dora the Explorer Kids Party and related crafts are discussed HERE

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Camp Half-Blood Kids Party discussed HERE

LINK PARTIES:

RE-crafting: Valentine Wall Art

2012-02-14T12:26:00.000-06:00

MARTHA'S SCORE. For her fabulous couples Valentine's Day party, discussed HERE , Martha wanted to put up some themed art on her wall. The end result is above and in person, it is simply amazing. Martha claims she has little artistic talent, but as you can see, that is not true. Still, I admitted surprise at how great the project came out because even though she is very talented, this was so good, it looked like a professional artist did it. Martha is sharing the details of how she made the art, in case someone else might like to try it.

INSPIRATION PIC. Martha couldn't remember where she found this painting, but she did a google image search that brought it up and copied it to her computer. The painting was for sale, but there was no way she could get it in time for the party, so she decided to try to MAKE something similar.

ART PROJECT SUPPLY LIST

Leftover Yellow Spray paint from sconces

Leftover Black Spray paint from bulletin board

Red spray paint

off white spray paint

(happy accident that it "splattered")

Craft paints

turquoise

red

maroon

yellow

orange

green

Canvas 60" x 48" from Michaels ($60 with coupon)

1 3" foam brush for the whole thing!

No real technique...

Started with large heart in red spray paint

started adding other colors and "smudging" them together with foam brush

outlined hearts by squeezing a little red directly on canvas for shine and texture

ended with white splatter spray to highlight spots.

Took about 30-45 minutes.

Martha and her husband posing for a picture in front of her art right before the guests began to arrive for the party.

The art hanging in her living room above her sofa.

LINK PARTIES:

RE-crafting: Teacher Appreciation Gift

2012-02-14T11:21:00.001-06:00

INSPIRATION: PINTEREST PICS. I want to give credit to the folks who gave me the idea.

THE BLOG EIGHTEEN25 CAME UP WITH THIS ADORABLE GIFT IDEA. YOU CAN SEE IT HERE

THIS IS THE INSIDE OF THE BOX ABOVE CREATED BY THE BLOG EIGHTEEN25 WHICH AGAIN YOU CAN SEE HERE.

INSPIRED BY THE PROJECT BY EIGHTEEN25, THE BLOGGER AT CLEAN & SCENTSIBLE MADE A PINK VERSION. YOU CAN SEE IT HERE

THE BLOGGER AT APPLEVALLEY GIRL ALSO MADE A GREAT RED, PINK & SILVER VERSION YOU CAN SEE HERE

MY BOX SUPPLY LIST

1 red and clear plastic storage box from Lowe's = $3.48
(fyi, I saw that Wal-Mart has colorless boxes a little larger than this size for about a dollar fifty cents more. A blogger who did the project found her box at a Dollar Store, but I've never seen these at the ones in my area)

3 sheets of scrapbook paper (50 cents each) from Craft Store = $1.50

1 pkg of heart erasers at Dollar Store = $1
1 pkg of pens at Dollar Store = $1
1 pkg of pencils at Dollar Store = $1
1 pkg of large clips at Dollar Store = $1
1 pkg of small paper clips at Dollar Store = $1
1 pink heart pencil sharpener from a favor package = 50 cents

Stickers from a sticker booklet = 50 cents
Raspberry hand sanitizer from Target = $1
Chocolate kisses = approx.50 cents
Chocolate hearts = approx. 50 cents

I bought the box and some of the supplies awhile ago, but I put off buying the paper to decorate the box until Sunday and of course, I had a lot of other things to do so I was very pressed. The selection of holiday papers was slim at Michael's, and truth be told, I wasn't thrilled with what I was left with. I am not a scrapbooker so I didn't just have decorative papers around for this project. It still tuned out ok anyway, though, imo. I used a purpleish sheet, a red and hot pink sheet and a solid purple sheet to try to go with the colors in the Dollar Store supplies I already had. I used the pink and red sheet to line the bottom of the box. I used a big piece of the other sheet for the inside and placed one of my daughter's personalized gift tags on it. The gift tags were purchased a long time ago.

Once lined, I put all the stuff inside. I placed small heart stickers on the pencil sharpener and the large paper clips.

CLOSE UP OF THE CONTENTS

FRONT COVER OF THE BOX. Since I am not a scrapbooker, I didn't have a lot of stickers around to doll it up. I think the letter stickers are good, although, I was going to use all lower case letters and my daughter told me I shouldn't because her teacher would think she didn't know names have to be capitalized. LOL! I couldn't argue with that. :D I happened to have a few puffy hearts and swirlie stickers that went color wise so I added them. Ms. Davis is an excellent teacher so I hope she likes the gift. It's the thought that counts, right?

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

LINK PARTIES:

RE-ceiving Guests: Champagne Tasting Party

2012-02-13T00:51:00.000-06:00

A PARTY TO LOVE. My friend, Martha, and her husband, Walter, hosted a wonderful champagne tasting party this weekend to celebrate St. Valentine's Day. Martha and Walter graciously allowed me to take pictures and to share many of the thoughtful details that made the party a big hit here.

TWIN PINK HEART WREATHS. Before the hosts even opened the door, guests were greeted by charming pink floral heart shaped wreaths which Martha hung with ribbon on her front doors.

FULL OF SURPRISES. As soon as I walked in the door, I noticed a new large piece of artwork in Martha's living room. At Christmas time, Martha had a mid size piece of folk art over her living room sofa and 2 small canvases which she used to make folk art style Christmas trees from strips of Christmas gift wrap. If you want to compare, you can see the "before" in the Christmas Tour entry for Martha's home HERE This new art piece with graffiti style hearts was colorful and whimsical, just like Martha. I thought it was perfect, not just for the party, but for the space. It really captures Martha's high energy, fun vibe. Walter, caught me admiring the art and proudly informed me that Martha had *MADE* the art work for the party. Martha shared how she found an image online as inspiration and then made the wall art in about 30-45 minutes in another entry HERE. Martha and Walter stand in front of her masterpiece above. Seriously, it is AMAZING in person and nearly every guest ended up inquiring about it. Before I left the party, Martha said she was thinking of leaving it up after Valeintine's Day is over and I told her she should absolutely leave it up - it is AWESOME.

THE SETTING. You can see the canvas fits the space very nicely.

THE FIRST STATION. Martha asked each couple or single person attending to bring a bottle of champagne for the tasting. Some dropped off their bottles early if they could, so the bottles were already chilled when the guests arrived. She had plastic containers set up on different tables with names tags identifying the bottles only by a number. She wrapped each bottle of champagne up in aluminum foil so the bottle's packaging wouldn't influence its scores. Above is her dining room table aka Station #1.

CLOSE UP OF DECORATED CHANDELIER. Martha hung glittery hearts from her gold leaf dining room chandelier.

CLOSE UP CHAMPAGNE INCOGNITO. One of the goals of the party is to sample a variety of champagnes and discover a new favorite. It isn't always the expensive bottles that people end up loving so Martha encourages folks to bring something different for the tasting party. This party works well because people' tend to buy champagne for Valentine's Day. Why not have people bring their champagne over and get to sample other bottles as well? Plus, restaurants are crazy hard to get into on Valentine's. Martha had red, black and pink plastic containers for the bottles and I wondered where she found them. She found $6 plastic bathroom trash bins at Wal-Mart and used them as champagne buckets. Clever, right? Martha has a great philosophy - it isn't where you shop, it is what you buy. These great trash bins/champagne buckets are just one example.

SCORE BOOKLET. Each guest is given a booklet to write down their reviews of the champagnes they taste. There were too many bottles for everyone to taste all of them (responsibly, at least) so Martha pre-assigned numbers to the cards in the booklets so guests would end up drinking from certain bottles at each station, but there was a mix. For example at Station #1, I tasted from #'s 3 and 6 while my husband tasted from #1 and 7. Inside our booklet, Martha had made scorecards for each bottle and a survey to score the champagne's color, bubble-consistency, aroma and taste on a scale of 1-5 and to leave some notes. The comments were anonymous and we each left the note cards beside each bottle we sampled so they could be ready later.

EXTRAS ON ICE. Our wonderful hosts, also provided extra bottles of champagne for the guests when they arrived (and in case there was a shortage for some reason). Above, you can see a couple of bottles of bubbly were put on ice in the bar's sink.

DRINK RINGS. Martha placed rings on the bases of the different champagne flutes to help the guests keep track of their flutes throughout the party.

RED TULIPS. Martha placed red tulips on the tables. Above, you can see she also placed one in a white urn in her bar area. The flower is flanked by 2 tall red candles in hurricane lamps. A lot of hostesses would have used traditional red roses for the tables, but Martha likes to go for the unexpected choice.

CHEESE, PATE, FRUIT AND CRACKERS. Each table had an assortment of appetizers for guests to enjoy along with the champagne. Notice the heart shaped crackers? I thought they were darling. I lent her my red heart shaped ramekins to hold crackers at the different tables.

BLUE CHEESE FILLED DATES. These were a big hit. People were talking about them in each room and going back for more. Someone did quibble that the blue cheese affected one's palette, but most people didn't let that stop them from enjoying a few of these blue cheese filled dates.

CANTALOUPE WRAPPED IN PROSCIUTTO.

SALMON, CAVIAR AND CREAM CHEESE ON CHIPS. SO GOOD!

THESE WENT LIKE HOT CAKES.

HEART SHAPED PASTRIES STUFFED WITH CHICKEN.

CLOSE UP.

STATION #2. Martha set up another large station in her kitchen area. Again, unexpected red tulips instead of red roses. White doilies under each champagne bottle set them of from the red table. As for the food, I have mentioned before that Martha is a great cook and although she made some of the food, she also got a caterer to do the big bulk of the food preparation. All the food was FANTASTIC so I am going to plug the man in case you or someone you know needs a caterer in the Austin, Texas area. The caterer was Derek Gillespie whose email address is:

dgillespie1976@gmail.com

CLOSE UP. Herb Roasted Vegetables in red heart bowl. Beside each dish, Martha placed a place card framed in red hearts describing the dish. All the roasted veggies were great, but the brussels sprouts were especially incredible.

FRUIT, CHEESE AND PATE ON A WHITE TRAY.

OLIVE AND CREAM CHEESE FINGER SANDWICHES IN THE SHAPE OF HEARTS. This is one of my favorite foods that Martha makes. One time, I asked her to share her recipe to make them for a playdate and mine did not turn out nearly as good. I will try to post the recipe. They are basically filled iwth olives, walnut pieces and cream cheese, but I think Martha's spices make hers so good. I will see if Martha will share her recipe with the blog.

PASTRY COVERED BRIE WITH HEART DESIGN.

DESSERT STATION. In addition to the tasting stations, Martha set up a fondue/dessert table. Martha used a plastic Valentine tablecloth and laid out an avalanche of strawberries and pastries directly on top.

CLOSE UP OF PASTRY AVALANCHE.

FONDUE FIXINGS. Strawberries, pieces of cake, marshmellows, and skewers combine for a help yourself fondue bar.

OUTDOOR FIREPLACE. Martha has a lovely deck and outdoor fireplace which she was going to use as an extra station if the party got too large, but her house held the party group perfectly so this space was not really used. It was very pretty though with the red lantern lights hung up and guests enjoyed the view from inside.

There was zip line fun and dancing after the midnight hour, but I was not given permission to publish those details (and photos). Sorry. This was an incredibly fun party and even though Martha and Walter are supremely generous hosts and offered a very deluxe menu, a group of young couples could easily do a simpler version of this party. The host could offer cheese, crackers and fruit and invite the other couples to bring not only a bottle of champagne, but an appetizer as well. Index cards and pens could be left at the tables for the anonymous reviews and at the end of the evening the reviews and reveals could be done.

Thanks to Martha and Walter again for allowing me to share their wonderful party details on the blog.

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

Eldarose's Valentine's Day Table is HERE

Reba's Red & White toile Table is HERE

Romantic Gestures for Valentine's Day under $5 are discussed HERE


Reba's other Valentine Tablescape is HERE	n

LINK PARTIES THIS WEEK:

See more Tablescapes HERE

RE-ceiving guests: Valentine's Day Table 3

2012-02-08T18:28:00.002-06:00

One last Valentine Table before the holiday. This place setting rests on a red and pink heart place mat from Target which is still available on line. The plate is Wedgewood Colisseum with a heart salad plate from Tuesday Morning.

CLOSE UP OF PLACE SETTING

Silver is Old Master by Towle. Red Linen tablecloths. Crystal bird figurines are used as "love birds."

CLOSE UP OF HEART SALAD PLATE FROM TUESDAY MORNING.

A LITTLE GIFT. A little red box wrapped in a white ribbon is part of the place setting. If you want, you can have a candy, a cupcake or a cookie inside. If you are a romantic, think of something like a poem. You don't have to be the poet; you can just hand copy the poem or just a stanza or a lyric from a song. If you're playful, it can be a promise of what the night holds. If you're sporty, it can be a date for an outdoor activity or a gift certificate for a golf lesson or aerobic class or a back massage.

GLASS WARE: Waterford Millennium Balloon Goblet. This set has hearts as part of the design perfect for Valentine's Day.

WRITTEN BY REBA

Eldarose's Valentine's Day Table is HERE

Reba's Red & White toile Table is HERE

Romantic Gestures for Valentine's Day under $5 are discussed HERE


Reba's other Valentine Tablescape is HERE	n

LINK PARTIES THIS WEEK:

See more Tablescapes HERE

RE-ceiving Guests: Dora the Explorer Party

2012-02-03T17:00:00.000-06:00

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL AND HER BACKPACK PINATA. When my daughter was 3, she loved Dora so we used that as her birthday party theme. The Dora back pack pinata above was a gift from my parents for the party. It was bigger than my daughter. LOL. A man from across the border in Mexico would make them and a party shop in our home town would import them for us. With all the problems in Mexico and all the restrictions making it harder to cross the border, the party shop unfortunately stopped taking order for these pinatas awhile ago. It's too bad because I though they were so pretty. The man who made them was an artist really.

INVITATION:

We took this photo of our daughter to use for invitations like we did for her Peter Rabbit, Madeline, Hawaiian, Make Believe and Fairy Princess parties. I loved the photo, but when I printed out the postcard invites, I ran out of ink with barely half done. It had taken awhile to format. At the time, I was also still busy making party favors and game components and I decided I was spending too long on this party task. To make things easier, and to finish the invites faster, instead of going to the store for another printer cartridge, I bought some standard Dora invitations, wrote in the info, and pasted the picture in those.

For the Invitations and Thank you notes, I bought personalized address stickers on ebay. I didn't know about etsy at the time, but I would look there now for this product.

I also bought personalized candy wrappers from the same vendor on ebay. Again, now I would look for this item on etsy.com. I don't have a copy of ours to share, but the picture below is similar.

You can order these here: Etsy store

ENTERTAINMENT:

For a preschooler party, the bouncy house is pretty typical fare. We got a Dora themed house and put up a white tent in the front yard which was much bigger than our back yard. Also, it had a fence around it so kids could run around safely which worked for this casual party.


Does it look enormous? It really was, but our daughter LOVED it. It was hard to get her out of there to do other party games.

"Dora" was at the party. My daughter's older cousin, Sara, dressed as Dora, and is about to surprise my daughter at the party above. Sara was very sweet to do this for me as a favor. She came dressed in the red shorts, purple tee shirt and tennis shoes and I gave her the pith helmet and backpack to wear to be "Dora The Explorer."

Sometimes my daughter would forget "Dora" was there, but then I'd see her smiling at Dora and checking her out. It helped make the party extra special even if my daughter wasn't entirely sure what to make of it due to her age.

BREAKING THE PINATA. The pinata was hard to fill for 3 year olds. I think I used raisins, goldfish, fruit rollups and one bag of pinata filler candy.

All the kids sitting down sorting thru the loot after the pinata was broken. I think my daughter is reaching for a box of raisins. The funny thing is for kids this young raisins and goldfish are as much a treat as candy.


The adults decided to help the kids fill their bags after awhile. The kids were so young, they each got a few things and became fascinated with that, but there was still more loot to be picked up. It took some prompting to keep them going.

TREASURE HUNT. The next activity was a treasure hunt in the back yard using Map, Dora's friend who helps her thru each adventure. I drew a map for the game and had one copy laminated for each of the kids. I am sorry to say I don't seem to have one anymore especially because I was happy with how they came out. I made "Crocodile Lake" from blue butcher block paper from a teacher supply place cut out in the shape of a small lake and I bought an inflatable crocodile to place on the blue paper lake for the kids to cross. I put my daughter's talking Swiper the Fox doll in the yard and somehow we ended the game with the kids getting their favors that were hidden in our dog house. Everything they got went into a favor bag I made for each of them from purple felt to look like Dora's back pack. The favor bags are above. I bought one long piece of purple felt and cut strips so I could "sew" up the sides with purple yarn and leave a little extra on one side to be the flap to close the bag. I also cut out 2 strips of felt to "sew" into the back with purple yarn. My daughter says the treasure hunt is her strongest memory from this party and her favorite activity of any of the parties we've thrown her.

At the end the party and we ate cake while we watched a personalized Dora video I had ordered for my daughter's birthday. The youtube video below shows what the personalized video was like.

FOOD:

I spent a lot of time working on the entertainment, so I didn't spend as much time on the food. I had a local restaurant called Papasito's cater everything except the 7 layer dip which I made. I took everything out of the boxes and poured it into Fiestaware bowls my SIL, Yvonne, lent me. I also put all the chips in a jumbo stainless steel bowl and placed all the food on a long table with a Dora tablecloth as a buffet.

7 layer dip

Chicken & Steak fajitas

Rice & Beans

Tortillas

Guacamole

Chile con Queso

Salsa & chips

Snow Cones

Cake

DRINKS: Bottled water & soda

DECORATIONS:

CHARACTER BOARDS. In the right corner of this pic is a Dora the Explorer posterboard I made as a decoration. I recycled the posterboards I has used the previous year for the Madeline Birthday party. Next to the Dora is a smaller poster of Tico, the squirrel. At the end of the food line, there is a little bit of the Swiper The Fox board visible as it is propped against the pecan tree. Nickelodeon has instructions how to draw Dora and Boots here. I free hand drew and painted the other characters. It took a little bit of time, but it wasn't hard. I only used very basic art skills to make them.

The Swiper the Fox decoration is more visible in this picture. The really large standing picture of Boots the monkey in a tree and Benny the Bull standing next to him I painted with cut outs for people to poke their heads into is slightly visible next to the tent. I put out another long table with a snow cone machine and snow cone fixings, next to the food tables.

The Boots & Benny the Bull picture is slightly more visible in this picture. I bought some colorful balloons and a couple Dora mylar balloons to make things festive. I also saw some inflatable monkeys from Oriental Trading Company to hang as decorations for $3 each when I ordered the candy for the pinata and binoculars for the favor bags. They still sell the them if you are interested. Link to inflatable monkeys

I used a small licensed Dora pinata as the centerpiece of the kids' table. The long and low kids table was a find by my sister-in-law, Yvonne. It has a formica type top and isn't pretty, but, once you covered it with a tablecloth, it was perfect for kids' parties. Many, many friends with similar aged kids asked to borrow the table and chairs because they worked so well. On a tip from my friend, Martha, a major bargain shopper, I bought the white plastic chairs from Big Lots for a couple of dollars each. I used them for many birthday parties and play dates. They were a great purchase. I thought the party turned out well, but the important thing is my daughter still says this was a favorite party and that made all the extra work worth it for me.

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

You might also be interested in a Peter Rabbit Birthday Party and Easter Playdate HERE

A Madeline Kids Party can be seen HERE

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RE-giving: Visiting the Sick for Valentine's

2012-02-03T11:45:00.002-06:00

Cards prepared by Sunday School students for a visit to a local nursing home for Valentine's Day.

Several years ago, my friend Celeste, invited our group of friends and their kids to join her family when they visited a local nursing home for Halloween. She had arranged to do a tour of the nursing home with reverse trick o' treating. The kids, dressed in costume, would visit the patients and hand out candy. Oh my gosh! I loved this idea so much. We went and it was fantastic. The patients were *SO* excited to get visitors for the holiday. People may remember to visit nursing home patients at Christmas time, but not so much for the other holidays. And it is true that old people love being visited by young people.

When Celeste invited us, I remembered that when I was a child, the nuns at my school always had the students visit the local nursing home to sing. Was I a huge fan of it as a child? To be honest, no. As an adult however, I look back and see those visits as an important part of developing empathy. As a mother, I welcomed the opportunity to show my daughter that I value being kind to others by my actions instead of just telling her how important it is. I mentioned how much I liked this idea to the religious ed. coordinator at our church and she decided that we'd have all the kids in our program make Valentine cards for a local nursing home and we'd do a tour and visit them together as a project. Isn't that great?! My friend Celeste got the ball rolling and for the last several years, because of her, a whole other nursing home in our town, has been getting a big bunch of flowers and cards and a visit at Valentine's time. My Sunday School kids have been making cards for the last few weeks and will be making them this Sunday before we go to the nursing home.

At the nursing home, we will have a bunch of carnations and cards for the kids to hand out. We will also stop and do 2 "concerts" in the different wings of the nursing home = the kids perform 3 songs. They sing "You are my Sunshine", "If you are happy and you know it" and the third song changes. Even toddlers all seem to know "You are my sunshine" and "If you are happy and you know it."

I know this isn't a new idea, but I thought I'd throw it out there in case other folks might like the idea the way I did, but also forgotten about it or not thought of it. It doesn't have to be a Sunday school thing. My friend, Celeste, organized a group of friends (plenty of whom were not religious at all) to visit the first time for Halloween. It is just an act of kindness for folks who may be lonely and could use a little sunshine in their lives. And it is very easy to do. Just call a local nursing home up and I am sure they will be glad to set a time for a visit. The people who work at nursing homes really enjoy these visits because it breaks up their day with a little sunshine, too. I think it is a great addition to our holiday celebration.

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE

THE BEST BLOGS YOU HAVEN'T DISCOVERED...yet

2012-02-02T10:58:00.004-06:00

Last Week, Jen From Harrison Home gave RE-invented style The Liebster Award, a recognition from a fellow blogger that a smallish (usually new) blog is worth following. To me, it is like the blog world version of TV Guide The Best Show on TV you are not watching issue which brings attention to quality material that deserves a wider audience. Jen is very creative so it is a big compliment that she likes our blog.

Jen's hallway from her BEFORE & AFTER PROJECT . She noticed she hadn't decorated the space yet, so she quickly changed that.

AFTER. Jen used white paint to add horizontal stripes and a lot of visual interest to the hallway. I love this project and had been thinking of doing horizontal stripes somewhere in our new house so I was really excited when I saw her post. But, it was Jen's can-do attitude evident in her faux fireplace project that got us to follow her. You can check that out HERE

It was incredibly sweet of Jen to give us this award and now it is our turn to pass it on to the 5 blogs we think you absolutely *NEED* to follow. Seriously, these blogs are treasures and founts of cool ideas that you will want to follow before everyone else discovers them so you can get credit for finding them early on.

AT NANN'S TABLE is a wonderful blog about entertaining and home decor. Nann is very sweet and her recipes are different than the ones I normally see. I especially enjoyed her 12 Days of Christmas series where she made different foods to represent each song lyric. Above are her TWO TURTLE DOVES croutons on a salad bed which you can see HERE. Wouldn't they be adorable as love birds with a heart instead of a ribbon for Valentine's Dinner or a bridal shower? You should also check out her amazing Swan Cream Puffs on a Chocolate Lake HERE They are incredible! Actually, just check out her whole blog. :)

SO MANY TABLES by Denise focuses mostly on tablescapes, but these are *NOT* your Party Store standard themes. Above is her Brown Derby Oscars Viewing Party setting. She made the black chair covers with the movie star names and copied Brown Derby caricatures to cover sports pictures in their bar area. There are many little details to love in this setting which you can see HERE There are only 42 entries on the site since 2010 so she doesn't post a lot, but whatever she posts has been totally original. Check out the ANSEL ADAMS TABLE HERE or her Abe Lincoln Table HERE. She also has really cool crafts like the 5 Generations of Women's Hands Craft you can see HERE I've never interacted with Denise (my stalkerish gushing comments may have made her shy to reply back, since she has no way of knowing I'm relatively sane and harmless) so I hope this is okay to post, but I had to share how excited I am by her ideas. If you like Between Naps on the Porch and A Stroll Thru Time, then you should absolutely follow So Many Tables.

CRAFTY MISCHIEF BY BRITTANY is a wonderful blog by a young mother who comes up with a lot of family projects and recipes. If you like Family Fun magazine and blogs like Tatertots and Jello then you will enjoy this blog. If I could, I would friend match make Brittany with Christy from Wallace Family Blog because they remind me so much of each other. They have that strong energy that young creative mothers have. They both recently came up with adorable party ideas for their kids' parties and did a lot of the ideas themselves.

WALLACE FAMILY BLOG as I mention above, has featured a lot of fun kids ideas, including the Minnie Mouse party invitations above that Christy designed and made. You can check those out HERE Christy is a 1st grade teacher so you know she is organized and has tons of creativity. For the Family Fun and Tatertots and Jello crowd, Christy's blog along with Brittany's blog plugged above, are great additions.

UNCLUTTERED LIFESTYLE is a DIY and home organization blog that runs a series I enjoy very much called Unclutter it Thursday. If you are in need of organization help as I am, it is great because it has weekly tips on tools to use and inexpensive ways to keep (or get) your household in order. A post on Pantry Organizing Tools is HERE The above picture is from an entry on organizing a spice cabinet which you can see HERE

TO THE AWARD RECIPIENTS, IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE (FYI, no biggie if you don't) HERE IS HOW THIS WORKS:

1. Post the award on your blog.

2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

3. Reveal your 5 picks for the award and let them know.

4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people in the blogosphere... other bloggers.

5. Finally, the best rule of all, have fun and spread the love!

WRITTEN BY ELDAROSE