Leave No Milestone Left Unturned

A garden brings life and beauty to the table. - Alice Waters (via Talula's Garden)

This past weekend I had the honor of hosting a milestone birthday celebration for one of my best girlfriends!  The birthday girl chose the venue and then tossed the reins over to myself and another co-conspirator to run with it.  We were immediately inspired by the farm to table menu and cozy atmosphere at Talula's Garden in Philadelphia!

After deciding to incorporate floral elements, we developed a modern palette of lilac, peach, and crimson with golden highlights to pop against the weathered garden setting.  I wanted to create some party elements while keeping it simple since we would be in a restaurant and not have a lot of room on the communal table or a lot of time prior to our seating to set up...

The solution was bright tissue paper flowers wrapped around colorful 'seed bombs' in gold flower pots that performed double duty as table decoration and party favor... and with the swipe of a paint marker could have served as placecards too!  Similar instructions can be found from Martha Stewart.  The whole table was visually tied together with a roll of gold web ribbon and pre-made dimensional flower stickers running down the center.

As pretty as the party table turned out, we still needed to highlight that this was no ordinary birthday - this was the big 3-0!  So, taking more cues from the garden setting, I created a pair of 3-0 topiaries out of styrofoam wreaths (dollar store!!) and adhesive backed sheet moss.  I modified one of the wreaths into a three with some strategic cuts and toothpicks to hold it all back together.  I spray painted some dowels with the same gold paint used on the flower pots and inserted them into the wreaths and a block of styrofoam in a flower pot. (psst! would make great table numbers too!)  Lastly, I added some more moss and fairy critters to the base and some ribbons in the party colors to the topiary stem!

The Birthday Girl has a soft spot for all things magical!

Another way to celebrate my friend's special birthday, we displayed some photos of her as a baby and growing up!  Some were framed in gold frames while others with coordinating lilac and crimson floral scrapbooking papers and they were all tucked in amongst the restaurants existing display of found objects. 

Both the guest of honor and all of the guests got a kick out of seeing the birthday girl on the day she was born, her 1st birthday, her college graduation day, her wedding day, etc. which made a great conversation starter!  We all had a great time and great food - including the birthday girl's favorite: donuts and s'mores!

Happy Easter!

Enjoy your celebrations!!  As a hostess gift, I created a simple Easter centerpiece from a basket ($1!!), two pre-potted mini-daffodils, a cute green flocked bunny pick (that I thought looked like a mini topiary!) and some paper shreds to cover the pots!  After the holiday, the flowers are ready for replanting!

Bunny

Happy Spring!

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" ~ Robin Williams

 "Weeds" + Empty Bottles = Instant Centerpiece!

Winter Cocktail Fete

Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand-and melting like a snowflake… - Sir Francis Bacon

This winter we gathered some friends and threw a cocktail party at our little apartment.  I love extending the sparkle of the holidays into the New Year to help brighten the darkest days of the year!  We have lots of great things to look forward to this year and this was a fantastic way to kick it off!

For a frosty effect, I pooled together my most sparkly Christmas decorations and my white and metallic everyday items.  This included my ever expanding mercury glass collection comprised of candlesticks, vases, and ornaments.  I used the pieces in little groupings on the food table.  To continue the winter effect into the living room, I created a tall arrangement for the coffee table using found sticks and white carnations.  It was very easy and was inspired by this post from Gibson King!

Outside, we lined the driveway in luminaries to greet guests and lead them to the back entrance.  They were simple to assemble: LED tea lights from the dollar store in white paper favor bags from the party store with some sand from the beach to weight them down.

Our tree features more of my Mercury Glass collection and glittery snowflakes plus some ornaments inspired by our beach side home.  This year I upped the frosty feeling by weaving in white feather boas among the branches - it was a beautiful glowy snowy effect!!

Awhile back I had scooped up some beautiful multi-tiered serving dishes from Home Goods and couldn't wait to use them for a beautiful dessert display.  For this party, I was very excited to use them to create an all winter white Dessert Bar!  I paraded them 3 in a row down the center of a runner so they could double as decoration!

Here are some "Winter White Dessert Bar" Suggestions...

• Sugar Cookies
• Mini Vanilla Cupcakes
• Powdered Donut Holes or Mini Donuts
• Merangues
• White Chocolate Covered Pretzels
• White M&M's
• White Chocolate Truffles
• Kettle Corn

My latest cocktail obsession is St. Germain liquor!  For the feature cocktail of the evening, I poured up glasses of chilled Champagne, topped them off with some St. Germain and dropped in a few raspberries!  The drink was refreshing and a huge hit!  While sipping cocktails, nothing is better in the winter than a cozy fire!  We don't have a fireplace, but my boyfriend was excited to get the bonfire pit going for guests to gather around!

Boogie Man

Put on your boogie shoes...

Milestone birthday's call for milestone parties... so for a family member's 40th birthday we surprised him with a party straight out of the decade he was born in - the 70's! I researched all the fun found in the 70's and came up with some great ways to transform the hostess's house into a groovy love lounge!

Fondue dinner parties were huge in the 70's and the perfect way to get the family together. The hostess went all out with 3 different courses - cheese for appetizers, oil for entree meats, and chocolate for dessert!  Pre-cutting up all the bite size pieces for dipping and borrowing fondue pots from family members made switching up the courses easy.

Framing the entrance to the dining area were funky beaded curtains. Since the tables would be crowded with fondue accoutrements, centerpieces had to go up - as in hanging psychedelic lanterns from the ceiling centered above each table. At each place setting was a toy kaleidoscope to add to the trippy fun! Throughout the house we hung printouts of classic 70's movie and TV show posters like King Kong and Starsky and Hutch.  Playing on the TV throughout the night were 70's episodes of Charlie's Angels and scenes from Saturday Night Fever!

Speaking of Saturday Night Fever, what's dinner without some dancing? So the living room was converted into a disco complete with spinning disco ball and flower power garlands radiating outward from it. To add to the lounge vibe, the couches were dressed up with colorful fuzzy pillows and throws.

Garden Party

Daisies are like sunshine to the ground. - Drew Barrymore

Friends of mine had a wonderful joint birthday party this weekend held in a community garden on the Upper West Side. It was the perfect afternoon under the trees, surrounded by brick buildings covered in ivy! The party colors were sunny yellows and bright whites and the invites proclaimed their combined ages. I took these cues and created some festive bouquets of daisies for the birthday girls. Here are some of the tricks behind these arrangements...


One centerpiece used a large square glass vase. To keep the flowers from clumping together or flopping over, I used clear tape to make a grid on the top of the vase. (About 3 strips across each way.) Then simply slip a stem or two in each grid opening!


Another centerpiece used two plastic cups of water tucked inside of a square bamboo box. The plastic bends to fill in the corners of the box!

Creepy Chic

Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble. - Shakespeare (Macbeth)

A good friend was planning to host a Halloween Party at a local bar and we were coming up with some simple yet festive ways to decorate the room. We didn't want the typical black and orange theme so we decided to go "Creepy Chic" as if the party were held in an abandoned, haunted bar. This would be easy to pull off with the bar's large windows, exposed brick walls and dim lighting. All we had to add was some stylish details and a healthy dose of cobwebs!

A fun project for the occasion was to create a pair of candelabras to flank the bar top itself. I started with large sheets of black foam core (make sure the core is black too!) and a stencil. To create the stencil: fold a large sheet of paper in half and draw half of a candelabra including the swirling arms, candles, and base. Cut the paper while still folded to create a perfectly symmetrical silhouette. Next, trace the stencil onto the black foam core and cut out with an x-acto blade or utility knife.

After cutting out each silhouette (my cat Herbert helped supervise!), measure halfway down and cut a slot the width of the foam core material. One silhouette will have a slot on the top half, and one will have a slot on the bottom half. Then, just slide them together and voila!

We brought the candelabras to the bar and set them up with cobwebs and creepy crawlies to complete the look! This is a great project for any occasion: use hot pink foam core and feather trimmings for a swanky birthday or bachelorette! Use silver or gold foam core and rhinestones accents for a glamorous bridal shower or New Year's Eve dinner party! For the really ambitious, enlarge the scale even more and create a hanging chandelier!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Birthday

Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven! - Lord Byron

We celebrated one of my best friend's birthdays this month with a wonderful Spring evening gathering out on the patio, under the stars. My friends and I share a love and facination of stars (3 of us have star tattoos!) so this motif worked its way into the party setting!


I love things that are high on impact, yet low on time, so I decided to focus on one element to make the party feel special. I picked up 5 glass containers from the $-store and got out the craft supplies, including my favorite star punch. I cut bright colored paper into strips the height of the containers and gave them a simple smattering of star cutouts. Then I simply taped the paper around the container and added a few tea lights to each of them.

Since it was a Spring birthday, the signature drink for the evening was a white wine Sangria. I chose cantaloupe and honeydew melon for the fruit and gave them a special upgrade... using a small star-shaped cookie cutter, I cut them into colorful stars to float around! I had also made star shaped ice in a flexible mold to mix into the pitcher. I should name the drink "Shooting Star Sangria", because it went quickly!!

Two Lips

Earth laughs in flowers. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everyone will tell you that the #1 easiest way to spruce up your home for company (or just yourself!) is to set out fresh flowers! I'm going to tell you how to maximize the impact... either choose flowers all the same color or all the same type - or for a bolder statement, choose both. Another key is to use a few large, bold flowers such as 3 Gerbera Daisies in individual stem vases or a whole bunch of small, dense flowers such as a bucket-full of Aster Flowers. My absolute favorite flower is the Tulip for its graphic shape and intense color.

*Pretty*

*Gorgeous*

Cornucopia With A Twist

"Heap high the board with plenteous cheer and gather to the feast, And toast the sturdy Pilgrim band whose courage never ceased."
- Alice W. Brotherton

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday filled with friends, family, and delicious food! In this spirit, what better table centerpiece than an edible one? Making a traditional cornucopia entirely of bread and using it as a serving dish is a great festive addition to the table - without taking away valuable real estate! A cornucopia or 'horn of plenty' goes back to Greek mythology but in modern times is most notably recognized as a symbol of the fall harvest's bounty. Instead of traditional fruits and vegetables, I recommend filling the cornucopia with the following:

~ An assortment of mini bread muffins such as cornbread, orange cranberry, pumpkin, etc. for everyone at the table to enjoy!
~ A savory dip that compliments the breadsticks. Prior to making the cornucopia, determine what bowl your dip will go in and create the opening size to match.
~ A variety of fancy cheeses and cured meats and crackers spilling out!

I found the following recipe for a bread cornucopia in a magazine years ago and its a classic that is both quick and fun to make. There are many different versions out there but I find this one to be the simplest. All you need is heavy-duty aluminum foil, 3 tube cans of refrigerated bread stick dough, and 1 egg.

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a baking sheet, at least 17 x 14 in., with nonstick spray.

2. To make form for Cornucopia: Tear off a 30 x 18-in. sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Fold in half to 18 x 15 in. Roll diagonally to form a hollow cone about 18 in. long with a diameter of 5 to 6 in. at wide end. Fasten end with tape. Stuff cone with crumpled regular foil until form is rigid. Bend tail of cone up. Spray outside of cone with nonstick spray. Place on baking sheet.

3. Open and unroll 1 can of dough on work surface. Separate breadsticks. Gently roll with hands on work surface until breadsticks are about 18 in. long. Begin by wrapping 1 breadstick around tip of cone. Tuck end under, then press on another breadstick. Continue spiral-wrapping cone, slightly overlapping dough, until there are 6 breadsticks left.

4. Pinch 1 end of each of 3 breadsticks together, then braid, attaching remaining 3 breadsticks to first 3 by pressing ends together. Continue to braid. Brush bread around opening of Cornucopia with glaze. Gently press on braid. Brush entire Cornucopia with glaze: 1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp water.

5. Bake 45 minutes or until bread is a rich brown. (If parts start to darken too much, cover them with foil.)

6. Remove from oven; let cool completely on baking sheet on a wire rack. Remove foil when cool. (If freezing, leave foil in bread for support. Remove when thawed.)

7. Fill Cornucopia directly on serving surface, letting contents spill out of the opening.