Category: Party Ideas

I love all of the little popup shops “popping” up everywhere, but what I love even more is a popup party! A popup party is a fun little party that you decide to have at the last minute, especially during the summer months when schedules have a bit more flexibility. Sometimes, I think the little impromptu parties are the best kind, because there’s not so much “stuff” to get worked up about. You know stuff like every detail down to the placement of the napkins. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a well thought out and detailed event just as much as the next person and can certainly appreciate the time and effort that goes into something like that, but sometimes it’s nice to just free ourselves of too much fuss and just relax. I think that’s why a fun-little popup party is so enjoyable. It’s carefree and easy, leaving more time to enjoy friends and family. Now, in order to accomplish this little soiree you will need a tiny bit of pre-planning that consists of what I like to call a Party To-Go Basket. 

Here’s what you need to complete your very own Party To-Go Basket:

• Clear plates and cups: You can never go wrong with clear. I think they look nice for casual or nicer events. They’re sturdy and they match anything. I keep two sizes of plates on hand—dessert and dinner. For cups, I like the nine-ounce size because they’re not too big or too small. They’re also a good size for serving wine.
• Faux “real” silverware: These plastic beauties have to rank as one of the best modern inventions in a while. They look nice and jazz up any event. You can barely tell the difference between them and the real thing.
• Colorful, yet neutral napkins: Always keep a selection of napkins on hand. Something like a burlap, black and white damask, plain white and fresh mint are good choices to add color yet stay neutral.
• Two white tablecloths: White tablecloths are a great foundation to build on for any table setting. You can layer them with burlap, fabric, table runners or make a pineapple runner as shown in the cover photo from www.avso.org, the possibilities are endless. It’s better to have more than two, but two will get you started. I prefer to use real cloth even for casual events, but I also like to keep a few plastic table covers in white and black on hand as well.
• Candles: White tealights are the perfect addition to any party.
• Mason jars: Keep several in your basket handy and ready to be filled with silverware, flowers, candles or whatever else you can imagine.
• Small baskets and doilies: You can use these for a multitude of things like holding chips and crackers. Simply transferring a bag of chips to a basket makes a world of difference even if it is a casual party.  

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that the overall theme for the basket is plain and neutral. You can add a splash of color with fresh flowers, balloons and party decorations. As your basket grows, add a few colorful party decorations. For example, anything patriotic works great from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Oh, who am I kidding patriotism is good for any time of the year!

Now that your basket is complete, you’re all set. All you need to do is add music and friends.

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Since my youngest started kindergarten, we’ve had a Halloween party. Actually, the Halloween party tradition started when she was in Pre-K in Florida. You see, we lived in Pensacola when Hurricane Ivan hit. Our property had minimal damage unlike many of our friends that lost nearly everything. I’m not sure if you’ve ever lived some place that a major disaster has occurred, but just the daily sight of debris strewn about and the constant reminder of pure devastation grows tiresomeness both mentally and physically. I wanted to offer some kind of normalcy to the neighborhood and the girls’ school friends, so we had a Halloween party! The kids dressed up, we had a parade and played lots of games. Now today, my youngest is a senior, so sadly this will be our last Halloween party (until I get grandkids J). I can honestly say that we’ve had just about every Halloween party theme you can think of. We’ve had a carnival, scavenger hunts, a Halloween parade, a mystery party, you name it, we’ve done it in the past 13 years.

I think my favorite party we ever hosted was a scavenger hunt in downtown Fort Smith, Arkansas. We utilized the Fort Smith National Historic site and the Ross Pendergraft Park. This one did take a bit of preplanning, as I had to go to the park beforehand to snap photos of various landmarks and locations for scavenger hunt items. I spent a few weeks gathering scavenger hunt items like eyeballs, fangs, skeletons, skulls, etc. I made a list of the scavenger hunt items and matched them with the photos that I thought would make the best clue, For instance,

“Find a garden that once belonged to the officers.  Some of the officers lost their hands.  You could probably use a helping hand, so be sure to pick one up.”

This clue was at the old Officer’s Garden and they had to find a hand.  Another clue was a cut up photo of this building and they had to put it together to reveal the location of their next clue. Here’s the most challenging part, we had 30 kids and that meant five different teams. You can’t have 30 kids all going to the same clues because they end up just following one another.  To solve this problem, I made five separate lists and arranged the order of the clues for each team, then sealed each clue in an envelope (I had something like 100 envelopes of clues) with the team number and clue number written on the outside.  Therefore, I would leave the item they were to pick up at the location and then leave the clue to the next location.  Each team got the same Clue #1 where they picked up a bag, a pencil, and their next clue.  It took my husband and me about an hour and half to set the scavenger hunt. 

To build excitement before the party, we made a series of invitations. After a week or so, we sent out a book of requirements that gave all the rules and revealed a few more details about the part without disclosing the location.

. Finally, the invitations were delivered in person as the original invitation stated. Since all the other details were given previously except the location, we chose to give glow-in-the-dark rubber ducks with the location attached.

Although there is a bit of initial legwork once, the kids get there the party pretty much runs itself. There is nothing worse than 30 sugar-hyped kids and not having enough planned for them to stay busy for two hours!

We kept the food simple since it was a 2:00 pm party.  We had easy finger foods like cupcakes, cookies, a veggie tray and chips and dip. Although the pavilion is beautiful, I wanted to jazz it up a bit to go with the theme, so I opted to use purple and black versus the traditional orange and black decorations.

For a photo booth, I used an oversized wooden frame equipped with props for the kids.

We hosted this party about three years ago and my daughter still says that is her all-time favorite! You can easily scale this party down if you would like, you can host it

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A couple of weeks ago, we hosted my youngest daughter’s last Halloween party. To say that I’m sad is an understatement. We’ve hosted a Halloween party since she was in Pre-K. Yes, there were many years that I thought to myself, “Why in the world did I start this tradition?” but in the end I am ever so glad that we continued it. Parents of young children, heck, even older children, I strongly urge you to start some sort of tradition with your kids. Now, it doesn’t have to be a party, it can be anything, just something that they look forward to every year and that they will look back on as a good memory. I promise you that you won’t regret it.

Grayson has always loved Charlie Brown, so she really wanted to do a “The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” party.

This party theme was actually pretty easy to pull off with minimal costs. Of course, it started with the invitation that was Charlie Brown themed.

We opted to do a dinner and movie kind of thing. You guessed, it the movie was “The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” We set up our projector and outdoor screen and lots of blankets. The outdoor screen was made of PVC pipe and a white king-sized bedsheet. We found the directions on Pinterest. Click the link to build your own outdoor movie screen. The only thing we did different was the bed sheet rather than purchasing the material for the screen. 

Grayson had a whole vision for this outdoor movie night. She wanted café lights for the lighting, so I ordered a few boxes and we strung them near the movie area. Just an FYI, I try to make or repurpose as many things as I can, but when I do have to purchase things, I try to make the purchase count, like the café lights. I know without a doubt that they are something I will reuse over and over again. For example, I know we will use them at our Friendsgiving celebration.

For the dinner, we served chili, a veggie tray, and other small finger foods. During the movie, we set up a popcorn bar. Guests were able to scoop their popcorn and add whatever they wanted like candy corn, M&M’s and pretzels. That was a big hit! 

Also, Grayson made a Charlie Brown-themed banner for photos.

She did this with Linus picture she enlarged on the printer, cut out stars from her Silhouette and a twin-sized bedsheet.

The party was a big hit and the weather was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for anything better for her last party.

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After nearly a decade of Nutcracker performances and rehearsals, this is my daughter’s final Nutcracker. It’s hard to believe that this is it. To say that I’m a little sad is an understatement. Next year will be very different for me because we won’t be listening to Nutcracker music in September, anxiously awaiting casting, spending every week at the dance studio nor scheduling all of our Christmas activities around Nutcracker performances. To some that may seem like misery, but to us it’s just a part of the holiday season.  One of Western Arkansas Ballet’s Nutcracker traditions I’m going to miss is the annual Clara party. You see, whomever is cast as Clara that year hosts a Clara party for the rest of the cast. It’s a tradition that the dancers look forward to every season.  Not a ballerina? No problem! You can host your very own Clara party this Christmas season!

The Nutcracker has a whimsical and magic feeling about it and that should show through in your Clara party. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to use non-traditional Christmas colors. Take cues from the performance itself. Think of Act 2 and the Land of Sweets. Colors like pastel pinks, blues, and mint green come to mind. Oh, and sparkly, you can’t forget the sparkles! Snowflakes make a great decoration for a Clara party to represent the Dream Scene in Act 1.

Set the scene with a backdrop to feature your food table.

This pink velvet curtain, like this one from Catch My Party is perfect for any Clara.  If you don’t have an extra pink velvet curtain laying around, no worries. You can make a backdrop from crepe paper and paper fans like this one from www.somethingturquoise.com. 

In this particular picture they used velvet ribbon streamers, which can get a bit pricey, so crepe paper is a good alternative. You can purchase all sorts of paper fans and crepe paper at The Party Place!

Stick with Nutcracker-themed food for the perfect Clara party. Things like these cute little Mouse King Bites 

Snowflake Pretzels 

and chocolate-covered strawberries 

are the perfect stars of the show!

Of course, you can’t forget the nutcrackers! Use nutcrackers to match your party colors.

When I host a kid’s party I always like to have a little craft for them to keep them occupied and keep them from getting restless. There are lots of craft ideas on www.rainydaymum.co.uk/nutcracker-crafts-activities-kids/.

A Clara party is a perfect Sunday afternoon get-together or a wonderful way to gather and celebrate before attending the Nutcracker performance.

 

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I hope the Christmas season is finding you well and blessed with the gifts of family-time and peace.  Of course, the end of Christmas does not signify the end of gatherings and parties, because we still have New Year’s Eve.

Now, most of my friends that know me well find this surprising, but I personally prefer to keep New Year’s Eve small and intimate. What better way to ring in the New Year Year than with close family and friends?  This coming New Year represents several new chapters in our lives—I completed my bachelor’s degree (one of my biggest regrets in life was not finishing school), my youngest graduates high school and she just performed her last Nutcracker ballet.)  Now, more than ever I want this New Year’s Eve to be filled with family and friends.

Sometimes, New Year’s Eve can be a bit of an afterthought, especially if you are busy with Christmas festivities. So, it’s necessary that you plan ahead.

First, it is absolutely imperative to plan your party music ahead of time.  So many times I have been to parties that the food was great, the company was great, the setting was great, but the music….blah.  Music really sets the tone for any gathering.  Think about it, music and feelings go hand-in-hand.  New Year’s Eve is supposed to be fun, lighthearted, and a celebration—your music should reflect that.  One idea for music is to play hit songs decade by decade:  start with the sixties and work up to now.

Food selections can be simple or elaborate for New Year’s Eve.  You could do a dessert only menu.

How about a banana-split bar including ice cream, hot fudge, and lots of homemade whipped cream?  You can also go retro and serve things your mother used to put out when she had parties back in the day, like sour cream and onion soup dip and baked pineapple chunks wrapped in bacon.   

New Year’s Eve decorating is really easy since you already have your home decorated for the holidays.  I simply revamp some of the holiday décor. When I think of New Year’s Eve I think of glitzy, so I focus on glittered items like glittered pinecones and lots of silver!  I remove things like Santas and rework arrangements to reflect the occasion. I leave the tree and stairwell garland and take off all the ornaments except silver and gold, then add party horns, New Year’s Eve-themed decorations and a banner with the New Year.

Photo credit:  www.diyinspired.com

 

You will also want to set up a simple photo area with props for your friends. This is perhaps one of the best things you can do, because the pictures and memories will last a lifetime.

The New Year is a time for reflection as well as an opportunity to welcome change and exciting things to come.

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It is always such a dilemma for me when this time of year when Fat Tuesday comes so early. I am torn between Valentine’s Day decorating and Mardi Gras decorating. Let’s face it the two couldn’t be more opposite when trying to combine the them.

Valentine’s Day is frilly pink, hearts and roses and Mardi Gras is crazy party it up with beads, purples, greens and golds. I have yet to figure out how to combine the two and not look like Cupid got into a fight with a member of the Krewe of Krazo!

Speaking of the Krewe of Krazo, I don’t know if you are aware of the Mardi Gras festivities going on in Eureka Springs, Arkansas or not, but it looks to be a really great time and we’re planning to go this year. Ok, ok, back to the matter at hand….the dilemma. Here’s how I choose, whichever one comes first, I decorate for and then as soon as it’s over I’ll put up the next one and leave up for a week or so after. I know, genius, right?! Admittedly, if my back were against the wall, I would have to choose Mardi Gras for a couple of reasons. The first being that’s where my heart is. We lived in Pensacola, Florida for several years and I had a flower shop/wedding business in Orange Beach, Alabama and let me tell you down South knows how to do Mardi Gras. There are so many fun and awesome events like balls and parades. The schools are dismissed and businesses close. It’s fabulous and once that’s in your blood, it never leaves you. The second reason sort of goes back to the first, I mentioned I used to have a flower shop and if any of you have ever worked or known someone in the flower business, their take on Valentine’s Day is quite the contrary to frilly hearts and bows. It’s absolute madness that simply can’t be put into words. It was not uncommon to work for 24 hours without leaving the shop. Upside, I do attribute my ability to not meltdown in front of customers and my employees to working all those Valentine’s Day. I can’t tell you the number of times I was crying and praying on the inside and smiling on the outside. There were many times that I know only Jesus got us through it, but that’s for another day. I could literally go on for days about flower shop tales, maybe I’ll write a book someday.

I went waaaay off track, so let’s get back to it. Both of these holidays are awesome reasons to throw a party! We’ll start with Valentine’s Day, because my seventeen-year-old just mentioned the other day how much she missed exchanging the little Valentine cards like she did in grade school.

In my normal fashion, speaking before I think, I said, “Then why don’t you have a party and go old-school and exchange Valentines?” She, of course, was thrilled and started planning right away! Fortunately, planning a Valentine’s Day party can be very simple or very extravagant, I feel like we will be somewhere in the middle.

Decorations are a snap when you stick with reds, whites, and a hint of pink. To give it a more glammed, grown-up look use a hot pink rather than a light pink. One of my favorite wedding bouquets I’ve ever created was a mix of red and hot pink roses similar to this red rose and pink peony bouquet by Tomobi Floral Art.

The various hues were beautiful and sophisticated looking. Next, you need, what else? Flowers! Everyone thinks of red roses at Valentine’s Day, but don’t dismiss the carnation. They make fantastic “roundy-moundy” arrangements and there are beautiful hues of carnations available In addition, scatter vases filled with red hots and candles for fun.

Red paper lanterns and fans are a nice addition to any style of party.

Last but not least, hearts. You need hearts to decorate for Valentine’s Day.

The food is even easier than the decorations, because Valentine’s Day is all about chocolates and sweets.

Do something fun like a chocolate bar like this one from Catch My Party. You can also serve chocolate fondue with things like cubed pound cake, strawberries, and graham crackers, anything you can think that would be great dipped in chocolate. I like to add fun little Valentine’s Day-themed picks to food to add a little extra detail without too much trouble.

It appears, I have been a bit long winded in this blog, so I’ll continue this blog next week to focus on Mardi Gras!

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It’s almost Fat Tuesday! You know what that means. Beads, beads and more beads! It has become a tradition that my youngest daughter, Grayson, take a sack full of beads to school to celebrate Fat Tuesday and my easy version of a King Cake.

Before we get too deep into decorating, I wanted to go over the colors and what they symbolize. Purple stands for justice, green stands for faith and gold stands for power. Now, let’s do a simple tablescape. Layering works best for Mardi Gras tables. Start with either a white or gold table runner or tablecloth then let the Mardi Gras decorating begin. Grab your handy dandy cylinder vases of varying sizes. Fill them with beads and arrange them on the table. You can either group them together or line up in a row to create a table runner effect. Next, you want to layer on the masks, doubloons, more beads, and candles. Mardi Gras decorating is one of the rare occasions that more IS better!

It’s time to move on to our favorite tradition—the King Cake and the little tiny baby Jesus (purchased in the baby shower section).

Here is my easy version of the King Cake:

2 (8 oz.) cans refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese

2/3 cup powdered sugar

½ tsp vanilla or ½ tsp almond extract

1 Granny Smith apple

¼ cup chopped pecans

Cinnamon sugar

Purple, green and yellow colored crystal sugar

 Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange crescent rolls in a circle on a cookie sheet.

In a bowl, mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Spread the mixture evenly over the dough. Thinly slice and peel apple, place the apple slices and chopped pecans over the cream cheese mixture and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

After the cake is baked, before you ice it, insert the tiny baby Jesus into the bottom.

 The person that finds the baby Jesus will have good luck all year.

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We’re right in the heart of crawfish season and what better way to celebrate than a down home crawfish boil. Hosting a crawfish boil is one of the best ways to feed a crowd and bring them together. Those Louisianians really know how to bring family and friends together and throw one heck of a party. Nowadays, crawfish boils have become popular for couples’ wedding showers, birthday parties, family reunions. Oh, who am I kidding? Just hosting a crawfish boil is reason enough!

The best part about hosting a crawfish boil is it is super easy to decorate. Personally, I always like to add a little of my own touch to any party that I host. You know, just add a bit of snappiness to the décor. In my opinion (and this goes for any event you are hosting), the invitations set the tone. I love sending invitations the old-fashioned snail mail way.  I mean who doesn’t love to get a pretty envelope amid the junk mail and bills. It’s like a little pre-party in your mailbox.  First things first, before the invitation, you need to decide on colors. When I think of a crawfish boil, I for sure think of red with accents of white wood-tone browns, yellow and a touch of navy blue or black. Ok, now we can focus on the invitation. You can either design and print your invitations yourself or you can buy pre-made invitations and handwrite them. One suggestion if you handwrite, go ahead and purchase a nice pen to make the writing a bit more special. Also, if you buy plain handwritten invitations why not put a little surprise in the envelope, like a little bit of confetti or you could attach a bit of burlap to the invitation to jazz it up.

Since the menu is basically done when you host a crawfish boil (you know, crawfish, corn on the cob, potatoes, onion all thrown in the giant crawfish pot), you can spend all of your time focusing on the decorations. I like to start with the tables and go from there. Typically, newspaper is spread on the table for a boil, but I prefer to use a plastic tablecloth underneath the newspaper. A red and white large gingham print or a solid red look great. Next, you’ll need paper towels, lots of paper towels. Although I add a roll of paper towels to each table, I still like pretty napkins. This is where you can add a pop of color like the navy or yellow. Roll the utensils in a napkin, tie with a piece of jute, attach an individually packaged wet wipe and then place in a galvanized bucket or Mason jar.

Of course, you can’t forget plates for your guests. For the crawfish, boil theme I think either a solid red, brown or clear look the best. For the silverware/plasticware I like to use either clear plastic or the faux silverware. I like things to match but not too much. It’s a fine line when it comes to being too matchy. It’s more pleasing to the eye if things flow and blend rather than identically match.

Adding a few flowers is always nice to soften the look and often unexpected at something like a crawfish boil. Keep it simple with just one type of flower. For example, sunflowers or daisies. Use a few small vases and add a single bloom to each. Balloons are also a great addition. Again, like the plates I would go with groups of solid red balloons. Lemons also make a great accent for your touch of yellow and your guests will need them. Add a few crawfish-themed beads for your guests and the table is all set.

I love setting up a photo op area for guests. Some of my favorite party pics are the ones that have some kind of backdrop. For a crawfish boil photo op all you need is a plain plastic tablecloth for a solid backdrop or a nice brick wall will work well too and red fans. Don’t skimp on the fans that are available at The Party Place. The picture will look better if they are layered rather than sparsely place. For instance, make one side heavier than the other. Twotwentyone.net has a great tutorial for making this amazing photo backdrop. If you want to amp up the fun factor add a few props for your guests.

Finish your look off with hanging paper lanterns or a crawfish banner., both of which are available from The Party Place. Now that you’ve got all your decorations, it’s time to get down to business. When purchasing crawfish, you’re better off to purchase fresh crawfish from a local supplier. You don’t want to pick it up until the day of your event or the evening before if you plan to start the boil the next morning. If you purchase from a reputable, local supplier they will be able to give you all the proper seasonings and tips on having the perfect boil. Turn on some music, relax and enjoy the day with your family and friends.

Get in touch with your local Party Place (Fort Smith, Rogers or Conway) to get your supplies (except the food) for your upcoming crawfish boil! Remember, they can even ship the supplies to you if you’re not close to a store!

 

 

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