Showing posts with label party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label party. Show all posts

Monday, April 1, 2013

easter fun!

Ebert and I hosted Easter brunch this year. It was our first time hosting a major holiday and our first time having any type of sit down meal for 16 people. There was a lot of borrowing of stuff and all hands were on deck but that's what's great about the holidays- everyone's in it together wanting to help out.

I decided to go with a green and yellow color theme for a springtime feel. I love how cheery and bright the apartment became with this color combination- it definitely made it look like spring inside even though it was still 40-something degrees outside. At least the sun was shining!

We used our old desk for one of the tables. I didn't have an extra-long white tablecloth, and I wasn't going to buy one, so I got creative and used what I already had which was a full-sized sheet. The green flowers were the perfect color, the size was perfect and nobody could tell the difference. I bought yellow scrap paper from Michael's for the placemats- a great idea when you don't own 16 matching placemats. It's inexpensive and you can really get creative with all the different color and design options. The flower vases are jars that I reused filled with gerber daisies and my favorite flowers.






We had so much delicious food: quiches, french toast casserole, potatoes, hash brown casserole, sausages, ham, asparagus, deviled eggs, salad, fruit, rolls…oh geez! I'm getting full just thinking about all this yummyness! The best part was that everybody brought something so all I made was a lemon zucchini loaf, mini frittatas, and...



…a pistachio apricot cake with a cream cheese marscapone frosting. Everything was delicious!

We also had a DIY Bloody Mary bar with particularly every kind of garnish. Bloody Mary's are a great brunch cocktail but I have to admit this drink is probably my favorite.







I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend filled with love and laughter, delicious food, and warm weather.

Spring is almost here in Chicago…this is so exciting!

{all images via create.your.happy}


Sunday, February 17, 2013

groundhog day party











{all images via create.your.happy}

"Well, it's Groundhog Day again..." just like it is every February 2 and since this year it fell on a Saturday and was the 20th Anniversary of the movie Ebert and I decided to host a Groundhog Day party. We also wanted to celebrate Ebert becoming a craftsman, although we didn't find out until the day before the party if he passed his apprenticeship. Good thing he passed (yay!) so there was lots of celebratory drinking!

The week leading up to the party was crazy busy so I didn't get as much pre-party stuff done as I would have liked. Needless to say on Groundhog Day Ebert and I had so much to do that when the first guests arrived at 5:59pm we were not ready.

We had a DIY chili bar with a "groundhog" meat chili and a vegetarian chili. We had an assortment of different chili toppings, as well as tater tots and noodles and fritos for the chili to go on top of. We made a "Gobbler's Knob" cheese ball and a gluten-free carrot cake served with rocky road ice cream. Friends brought cornbread, wasabi coleslaw, chicken wing dip and chocolate rice krispie treats. And, of course, to drink we had "Sweet Vermouth on the Rocks with a Twist" which is surprisingly good.

We played Groundhog Day trivia and the winning team got a copy of the movie.

Here's where I gathered my inspiration:

  • diy chili bar from celebrations at home

  • lily jane stationary's groundhog cake topper

  • groundhog day banner

  • green party template for the banner and food signs from birds party
  • As you know I love theme parties (as seen here and here) and this one was particularly fun to plan. I think we should do it again and again and again...


    Monday, November 14, 2011

    happy monday!

    A Prohibition themed party makes me happy!

    Thecatsmeow

    via create.your.happy

    Wednesday, July 20, 2011

    secrets of a great harry potter party

    This recent birthday has taught me a few things, or at least reaffirmed a few things I already knew- I love theme parties and d.i.y projects, I especially love when I can find economical ways to make the projects happen. I still wait until the last minute to get everything done which means I don't have enough time to get everything done so it doesn't all happen exactly how I want it to. And I never take enough pictures.

    IMG 7351
    The golden snitches were made out of rocher chocolates using this template for the wings.

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    Simply open a bag of these for some green, crunchy troll boogers.

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    Ok, these aren't real pumpkin pasties but I do love me some cheesecake.

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    I scored some adorable owl swizzle sticks on sale at West Elm.

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    Don't throw out your glass jars, reuse and repurpose them. It's eco(nomy)-friendly!

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    Another great find.

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    The dollar store had these gigantic beer mugs, a la Hagrid size- perfect for the licorice wands, but a little too big for the pretzel wands.

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    This is a great template for apothecary style labels.

    And every Harry Potter party needs a Platform 9 3/4 photo booth! I got the brick wallpaper from Michael's and handmade the platform sign.

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    All in all it was a great birthday and a very fun party! I'm so glad my sister and cousins flew all the way from Phoenix to Chicago to be a part of the magic!

    Now, what can I plan next?


    Monday, July 18, 2011

    happy monday!

    A Harry Potter birthday party makes me happy!

    IMG 7348

    Sunday, July 10, 2011

    sunday supper: harry potter party

    My birthday is in 5 days and my day of birthday fun will include seeing Part Two, going to a British pub for some traditional English grub, then having friends over for some Honeydukes treats and sweets. It's pretty much going to be an awesome day!

    butterbeer via bakingdom


    acid pops via tradewindtiaras


    drooble's best blowing gum via blowoutparty


    licorice wands via thepastryaffair


    dessert table inspiration via allfortheboys


    Friday, January 15, 2010

    30th birthday!

    My 30th Birthday is in six months and I want to throw a party! Here are some great party themes that I currently have crushes on.
    An outdoor lawn party is perfect for the summer time.
    Decorating with yellow and sunflowers is cute and summery, but I am a girly girl for pink.
    To celebrate the year I was born a 1980's party would be like a totally rad idea.
    This ice cream parlour party will keep everyone cool during the dog days of summer.
    A cocktail party is always a classic idea, as well as a wine and cheese soiree.
    I am loving the idea of a vintage party!