Casino Theme Couples Wedding Shower

A few pictures of details from the casino-themed couples shower/party . . . .

Box for loose greeting cards.

Guests wrote messages to the lucky couple on a deck of white/blank-back playing cards (found on Amazon.com).

"Pick a card, any card!"

Elvis made an appearance to deliver the message, "Thank you for celebrating with us!"

Black and white Linzer heart cookies from Foodstuffs were a casino-like favor.

Swirlz mini cupcakes are one of my party staples.  Delicious, and much more approachable that full-sized cupcakes!  

Whole Foods flower bouquets re-arranged into small vases, playing cards stamped with "T&A," purple heart confetti and gold chocolate coins served as table centerpieces.

More cupcakes on the bar.

My first project with my new Silhouette Cameo cutting tool (thanks, Mom!) is impossible to see in these pictures.  I used the tool to cut big letters and mounted the letters on playing cards with spray adhesive.  Strung together, the cards created a "Tiffany & Andy SigeRICH in LOVE" banner that hung over the pizza and salad buffet table.

Picture-Perfect Birthday Party

My dad turned the BIG 6-0 in early January, so we threw him a surprise birthday party!  I believe the final headcount came to 75 . . . impressive that my dad has so many friends after ALL of these years!  ;-)

This article in Martha Stewart magazine from January 2011 provided inspiration for the photo-themed party.  In place of Martha's yellow, I used red as my accent color to the black, white and grey color scheme to tie in NIU Huskies colors (my dad is an alumnus and a huge  NIU sports fan).    

I asked guests to send old photos of my dad for a slideshow, and arranged black and white copies of some of these photos to create a "60" sign.

I found these amazing beer mugs at Dollar Tree and used photo corners to affix a photo to each glass.  Leftover pictures from the party invitations and silver-wrapped mints served as confetti.  Easy and affordable table centerpieces!

Noise makers were ready for the SURPRISE! in coordinating cardboard six-pack carriers.

Guests were asked to leave a message for the birthday boy.  Love the look of silver Sharpie on black paper!

Mini cupcakes from Swirlz - YUM!

Lots of beer was consumed at the party, so the koozie favors were used from the get-go!  Shout-out to CustomInk -- I was impressed with their superior customer service!

Happy Birthday, Dad!!!  XO

Halloween Bash

This Saturday, Mr. B and I hosted our second annual Halloween bash at a new bar in our neighborhood.  I love having an excuse to dress in costume!  

Last year, we hosted the party at our condo, which allowed me to have fun getting crafty with decorations and other party elements (sadly, these details went undocumented).  On a happy note, the 2010 was such a success that we had to expand beyond our 850-square-foot love nest and move the party elsewhere!  

Since we didn't have a dedicated room for this year's party, I didn't go all-out with decorations.  However, I did create these simple prize bags for the winners of our informal contest.  I used Apple's Chalkduster font in all caps and a few stamps I picked up from a $1 bin at Michael's last year.  The fill-in ballot for "most likely to . . . " forced guests to use their creativity!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Mary's 27th Birthday Bash

My dear friend Mary celebrated her 27th birthday in May.  Some of her closest gals met for dinner to celebrate.  Since her birthday was just about a year from the date of her bachelorette party in 2009, I couldn't resist commemorating that weekend with an "Eagle River Reunion" theme.  (Her cousins hosted her bach party at their cabin in Eagle River, WI, and we all had the time of our lives!).  The blue and green colors seemed to fit the theme - think beautiful blue lake and sky and fresh green grass and trees . . . ahhh, paradise.  Check out the details below!

We toasted the beginning of Mary's 28th year on the patio at Piccolo Sogno.  The outdoor seating at this restaurant is fabulous!  It makes me feel like I am on vacation in Italy.  Always a good thing!
Here is a view of the (crowded) tablescape . . .

Since my on-site photography skills leave much to be desired, I captured some pictures of the favors before the event.  I filled my favorite plain jane cello bags with delicious chocolate peanut butter fudge from Eagle River's very own Tremblay's Sweet Shop.  YUM!  Good thing this party planner ordered extra :-) 

In order to spice up the goodie bags, I included a map of Eagle River and the surrounding chain of lakes, as well a picture of the birthday girl on a recipe card for "Skip and Go Naked" cocktails (also known as "Summer Brew").  These drinks brought us many fond memories last May!

Spider Mums are my new favorite flower!  They are hearty and affordable and last forever!  This little arrangement is still alive and kickin' 3 weeks later.  I used a tip from the May 2009 edition of Martha and made a lattice pattern with scotch tape on the top of the little votive holders I found at World Market.  The tape helped keep the flowers in place.  And finally, a coordinating green bow and matching coasters from Third Coast Sisters completed the look!  I used three identical floral arrangements for our table. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Double the Fun: "DoubleMint" Party

Since my husband's birthday and Mother's Day happened to fall on the same day this year, I wanted to give our combined family brunch a special flair. I spent a day brainstorming ideas, and (albeit a bit cheesy) the "double the fun" concept kept popping into my mind. Here began the creation of the Doublemint Party theme.

Invitations

For lack of more sophisticated design software, I created the invitation in Microsoft Publisher with inspiration from the colors and double-arrow logo of Wrigley's Doublemint packaging. I borrowed the tag line of "double the fun" to complement my own byline:  "Please join us for a doubly joyous celebration . . . "

I wanted to jazz up the envelope with my own version of Paper Source's adorable decorative strip labels. Green paisley paper, double stick tape, and a basic Avery label did the job in Doublemint fashion! Although the stamp's red background throws the green and yellow color scheme for a loop, I have to give kudos to the USPS for the adorable design. This picture doesn't do this awesome stamp (which celebrates the Chinese New Year) justice. Mr. Postman, keep the cute stamps a'comin.

Favors

Although a simple concept, I am in love with the cellophane-bag favors I've recently seen in posts like this. I purchased classic green, dark green and yellow M&Ms in bags packaged in individual colors from Party City (these can also be purchased at Jo-Ann's and in bulk at various online sites). These M&Ms and a pack of Doublemint gum served as the treats for my bags. I adapted the logo from the invitation to create the "Double The Fun" design in Publisher, and transformed it into a sticker with my handy Xyron machine. Using more green paisley paper and double-stick tape, the favors were complete!

Decorations & Details

I used simple bud vases from Crate & Barrel and a lovely off-the-shelf bouquet from Whole Foods to arrange three tiny bud vases for our table.

Each bud vase was adorned with a tiny green bow.

I used custom-made coasters to anchor each bud vase on our table (see picture below).  Just another brilliant use for a Third Coast Sisters product! Check out our Etsy site here.

The "Happy Birthday & Mother's Day" sign

(the celebrations of the day listed in no particular order!) . . .

The key lime pie (compliments of The Lucky Monk restaurant) played on the green theme, and the "2" candle showed that even dessert was double the fun!

Confetti for the table made with a scalloped circle punch and various specialty paper to match the theme . . . too bad it got lost in my party bag and didn't actually make it onto the table!

Merely a coincidence, but the yellow mimosas really made the table pop!