All posts filed under: Celebrate.

this is how we fiesta.

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Everyone loves a taco party! Dinner al fresco lives on in my God-sister’s backyard to celebrate her birthday! We set the table with legit plates, napkin rings (cause we fancy), and desserts…lots of desserts. For our centerpieces we put together tiny vases of chamomile flowers, faux candles, and mini piñatas filled with more sweet treats. For our taco bar we picked up meat from Mi Tierra in Berkeley, and grilled up some vegetables. We had homemade salsas, guacamole, and aguas frescas, and all the taco fixin’s. And it wouldn’t be a fiesta without some honeycombs and photoprops. Group selfie with giant taco! Happy Birthday, my sister from another mister! How do you backyard bash? Share your party secrets below.

find your center(piece).

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As part of golden anniversary decor, my parents requested that I incorporate their party favors into the centerpiece arrangements. Challenge accepted! My parents have an awesome garden. Not only is it filled with a bounty of fruits and vegetables, they’ve got a pretty great succulent collection as well. They decided they wanted to give succulent planters away as their party favors. My Dad made a mix of soil, perlite, and rocks, and they planted a succulent snipping for each of their guests. They cared for the baby succulents for two months prior to the party so the plants could grow into their new pots. I ordered business cards from Moo and used them as favor tags. Like our desert plant love pun? “I will never desert you.” (Yea, you like it.) The tags shimmered with gold foil, as did the twine. There were eight tables to be decorated. My sister, niece, and I brainstormed for weeks and we finally decided on using round mirrors to bring all the centerpiece elements together. We stacked smaller mirrors and …

liquid gold.

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A table number how-to! I used these for my parent’s golden anniversary celebration. Now I want to put liquid gold on everything! 1. Cut paper to size. I used watercolor paper because I like the weight and texture, and cut sheets into 3in by 4in pieces using a paper trimmer. 2. Paint on liquid gold. In a well-ventilated area (seriously, this stuff smells like spray paint), brush on liquid gold to your hearts desire. It’s best to keep the liquid gold away from area you want to write on — the pen ink will fade into the gold a bit. Allow to dry for a few minutes and paint the other side. The paint dries quickly, but I would let these air out overnight or longer. 3. Write table numbers. Black permanent marker works nicely, but be careful not to apply too many layers because it may bleed through. Smooth out the edges of your numbers with a thin black marker. 4. Display. For my parent’s party, I used escort card holders as table number …

golden anniversary.

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My parents recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary! To commemorate this milestone occasion, we threw a little party. Per unspoken protocol I was in charge of some of the details! Here’s a look at the welcome table. Framed Photos We printed and framed a few ‘through the years’ photos to display. Guests loved these. Here’s a snap of one of my all time favorite photos of my parents circa 1965 when they were still in the ‘courting’ phase of their relationship. Guestbook We knew we wanted to have a guestbook for friends and family to sign. My sister found this accordion journal in her crafty stash. We thought it’d be perfect for multiple people to sign at once. The guestbook sign read: “Please write us a note about what LOVE means to YOU.” I was hoping that guests would subliminally read “LOVE YOU.” 😉 Plus we had pens in all the colors so guests could write and draw in all the colors of love. Escort Cards For escort cards, I used watercolor paper cut to …

donut worry.

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Next up in work parties: a baby shower donut bar celebration! We picked up plain and sugar donuts, plus donut holes. No need to make fancy glazes; we shopped the ice cream topping section for ideas. Caramels and hot fudge work well; also, crushed nuts, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, crumbled cookies, and sprinkles. We also served cold brew coffee and iced masala chai with a few milk varietals to wash down the sweets. The coworkers got to creating their one-of-a-kind donuts! Of course we needed appropriate signage and decor as well. We put up a “Donut worry, Sam” sign for the dad-to-be, plus creepy baby photos; and scattered large paper sprinkles on the table. And we can’t forget the cute baby gear presents! Enter butt paste and nasal aspirator! My work party crew and I are getting really good at this social event planning thing. Looking forward to planning our next celebration!

you are magical.

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When your niece requests unicorn themed crafts for her 10th birthday, magic happens. On the craft menu: unicorn headbands and unicorn poop slime in unicorn jars! Unicorn headbands. These are darling. We spent the week before putting together felt cones for the horns, and had her guests glue on all the flowers they wanted for super special birthday party headwear. Unicorn poop slime in unicorn jars. Slime is apparently all the rage with the kids these days – glitter slime, glow-in-the-dark slime, clear slime, colorful slime, so many kinds of slime! Each guest got to make their own slime with a simple glue, liquid starch, and food coloring recipe. We made golden unicorn jars beforehand so everyone could take home their slime creation in style. We had so many more ideas for unicorn crafts (rainbow tassel unicorn tails, origami unicorn bookmarks!), but two crafty stations was plenty to keep the party going. Unicorn party much? Share you magical party ideas below!

dinner al fresco: live oak park.

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Being a craft lady has the extra perk of having all these tables and chairs to use for things like pop-up dinner parties in the park! I’ve been wanting to throw a pop-up dinner party (aka fancy picnic) for a while now. I don’t have a backyard so a park is the next best thing! For my first of, hopefully, many dinners al fresco to come, I set up at Live Oak Park in Berkeley. I particularly enjoy this park because there’s a lot of grassy areas, a lot of parking, and it is also the park where Hubs and I got married. The most difficult part of the whole event was finding a flat patch of land that wasn’t too muddy. Once we found a decent location we set up two tables, place settings for 12, and all the yummies. The Menu I wanted to serve foods that were not only packed with fresh ingredients and flavors, but that also sat well (outside) and could be made the night before (with little day-of prep). I …