Treasured Creations: 2014

Monday, November 03, 2014

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Happy 30th Birthday!!

My oldest on her 30th birthday cutting her cake!

The inspiration for the cake from a Pinterest (or it may have been Instagram) photo I showed her combined with one she saw. It also helped us come up with the aqua and purple theme.

I used the same flowers from the sweet sixteen party just changed out the ribbon. We also used the lavender chair sashes and napkins. We ordered aqua table runners and additional chair sashes in aqua but the company messed up the order and sent dark purple chair sashes instead. Needless to say neither of us were happy and to make matters worse they never responded to our complaints.

We created a program for that evening on the computer and printed it out on white paper.

My daughter ordered invite cards online in the same color scheme as the decorations.

The only thing helpful from the Linen site we used was the free planning chart.

Quisha knew from the start she wanted a candy bar. That was the easy part. Not so easy was deciding on containers for them. Eventually we went with boxes from Michaels and used labels from Party City with a handwritten thank you on it.

I used my silver charges as a base and the aqua globes from the wedding on the head table.

Somehow I lost the original post I posted of my daughters 30th birthday bash. I can't even recall what words I posted at the time. But thankfully because of Instagram and Facebook I still had access to the photos (or at least most of them). It really turned out great but I'm kicking myself for not backing up my phone photos from the night that we set up for the party! Won't make that mistake again!

Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Garden Getaway Workshop Decor

This past Saturday our women's ministry held their annual women's workshop.

I made flower pens like this many years ago and gave them out to some of the ladies I met at The Scrap etc event! I decided this idea would be perfect for our "garden theme". The flowers are from the dollar tree and usually come four or five on one branch. So its super cheap to make!

The welcome sign came from my Family reunion stash from a few yrs ago. I found it at a discount store back then along with a few other garden themed items. I tend to recycle my inventory of decorations a lot as you will soon see.

Our registration area.

I picked up these beauties from Sams Club this spring when they started going on clearance. They had a few more items I had been eyeing but I never saw them on discount before they ran out. Its actually how I pick up the majority of my party dishes. Never pay full price if you can help it!

We served continental breakfast (fresh fruit, muffins, and croissants just to name a few) and a bag lunch which consisted of a deli wrap sandwich, cookies, chips and....watermelon slices.We kept the cost down by keeping the menu light and the clean up was a breeze! This allowed our team to participate in the workshop as well.

Even decorating cost were kept low in part because I happen to have a fairly large stash of supplies! I even pulled items off my wall and from the top of my kitchen cabinet to use. LOL

For instance the centerpieces have been recycled several times (yes these are some of the same flowers from the wedding, our anniversary lunch and the sweet sixteen party..lol). I will be using them again when my oldest daughter celebrates her 30th birthday later this fall.

I used a "love" plaque in the area where our service project supplies would be.

The funniest prop used that day is this bucket which we dragged off my front porch in the pouring rain to my daughters car to be used at the workshop. I mean I had to have something to put the dirt in. I even dragged out my rain boots that day!

I had several garden plaques strategically placed around the room that later that day would be given away as door prizes.

I almost gave these away but realized they went well with many of the other decorative items in my stash so I will be using them again at some upcoming events.

I picked these lights up at the Dollar tree before we set up for the workshop. I keep telling everyone not to sleep on the Dollare Tree. They are green leaves and blue butterfly lights. I mean you can't get more Garden Getaway then that! lol I always find something there that can be used for an event!

If I had thought of it I would have intertwined the lights with some garland and some flowers to adorn our podium. Next time for sure.

I took an existing wreath and floral centerpiece I owned and added some of the flowers that I used to make my flower pens. Not bad if I do say so myself! The wreath is now hanging on my front door and the centerpiece is going on my kitchen table (as soon as I take down my Fourth of July decor...post to come).

We had a successful workshop and the feedback from the ladies is that they really enjoyed it. Some who have never been before made a point of telling me they would be back again next year!!!

Monday, May 05, 2014

Sweet Sixteen

This weekend I got the opportunity to help set up the venue for the Sweet Sixteen birthday party of a very special young lady. I have known Raven since she was little and her grandmother and I hit it off from the moment we met many years ago. So when Mrs. M mentioned that she may need some help with setting up and planning her granddaughters party I did not hesitate to volunteer. I actually prefer working for family and friends because as passionate as I am about most things I love I also know that when you do things strictly for money it can tend to take the joy out of it. Will I accept a token of appreciation or a fee if necessary...most definitely yes but honestly I do what I do because I just love planning and decorating for party's.

The theme for this affair was right up my alley. Paris is one of two places I have told my hubby that I want to go to before I die (the other is London). Once Mrs. M told me what she wanted I immediately started pinning stuff on Pinterest! Next to the Dollar Store (lol) Pinterest is my number one inspiration for party planning!

Mrs. M was probably one of the easiest (non family member) person to work with. It seemed as if we were of one mind whenever coming up with ideas. I would send her a suggestion or picture and she would have already seen the same idea and loved it or tell me that was exactly what she was looking for. LOL

The cake table was decorated with mesh and ribbon from Sam's Club Easter supplies.

The Cake ladies (yes there were two) did an excellent job. The main cake was an almost exact replica of one that they picked from online.

Mrs. M came up with the idea of doing a Candlelightning ceremony. Raven called up several people in her life that she wished to thank for being there for her .... including aunts, uncles, big sisters, special friends, school and church buddies, second mom's (which included me) and last but certainly not least her grandmother who has raised her since she was a baby. She also lit a special candle on behalf of her grandfather who passed away but who had always promised her a Sweet Sixteen party.

Not sure if you can tell in this picture but there are large Eiffel towers flanking the side of the tables (with the balloons attached) which came from the Birthday girls room.

Each of the young men or women present were given a small key chain to remember the night. Boys got one with a horseshoe on it and girls got the number 16!

Mrs. M created the signs and I provided the stands for them to be on (courtesy of the Dollar Tree from years ago). I keep telling people not to sit down on the Dollar Tree! lol

My favorite decoration of all time were the centerpieces. We used Eiffel towers stacked on faux books from Michael's. A votive candle was lit with purple LED lights with Ravens name and date of party on it, along with my purple floral arrangements on a round mirror provided by the facility. Each place setting had a card with a run down of the evening activities and place cards (written by my aunt who is a excellent calligraphist) were held up with mini Eiffel tower clips.

The silver overlays are the same ones used at my cousins wedding last summer. That along with the napkins and the sheer chair sashes were purchased online for almost the same cost as renting them would have been.