Strawberry & Pinwheel Party - Front Door Welcome.

 

Being the self proclaimed "branch lady", I made a welcome tree for the front door and added pinwheels and flowers made out of recycled newspaper.

Photos taken by Courtney Burge.

Strawberry & Pinwheel Party - Kid Table.

There actually was not a physical table, but a picnic blanket. And on one corner of the blanket the kids had their own tea party set up. I had found a miniature ceramic strawberry tea set for four at a yard sale, and knew I had to incorporate it into the design of the party somehow.

Photos taken by Courtney Burge.

Strawberry & Pinwheel Party - Sweets Table.

We had a dessert table for our Strawberry & Pinwheel party. We served strawberry shortcake in a mason jar (get the recipe here), made sugar cookies, dipped strawberries in chocolate, opened a package of Oreos and some Little Debbie cakes, strawberry flavored Whoppers, strawberry bon-bon candies, and strawberry marshmallows. I made some of the food labels using the lid of a mason jar, the rest were just made out green card-stock.

I made the backdrop of the sweets table by covering two foam boards with recycled newspaper and adding a row of pink, green, and red pinwheels.

Photos taken by Courtney Burge.

Strawberry & Pinwheel Party - Cake.

We made strawberries out of fondant, cupcake liners out of recycled newspaper, and pinwheels. I also made a small cake for the birthday girl by stacking two cupcakes together.

 

Photos taken by Courtney Burge.

Strawberry & Pinwheel Party - Drinks.

Our original plan was to hold the party outside, but threatening weather predictions and high humidity made us move it in. A friend gave us the picture frame and I made a pinwheel covered "E". I made custom water bottle labels using recycled newspaper and adding pinwheels and strawberries to them.

Guests drank out of green straws that I added pinwheels (made out of recycled newspaper) and garnished with a fresh strawberry. We served pink lemonade and filled our drink dispenser with strawberries.

Photos taken by Courtney Burge.

Strawberry & Pinwheel Party - Food.

We served our guests brown bag lunches. Inside was a turkey and cheese sandwich that was wrapped and tied with a bow, a bag of chips, and some carrots with ranch dip. Guests drank pink lemonade from mason jars garnished with a fresh strawberry.

Photos taken by Courtney Burge.

Strawberry & Pinwheel Party - Activities.

For our two year old strawberry & pinwheel party I made the little girls floral head wreaths and ribbon wands with ribbon and flowers I picked up from the Dollar Tree. Keeping the guest list small was key to making this a successful, stress-free party. For the two boys who were at the party, I made hats out of recycled newspaper and gave them a plastic recorder to make music on while the little girls twirled.

All the kids played with the child-friendly decorations. And unplanned by me, they thought their food that came wrapped up in a brown paper bag was a present, and had so much fun opening it up and seeing what was inside!

There was a live soft bunny that was brought inside for the kids to pet, and then it was bubble time! We purchased two bubble machines and they were the highlight of the party for the kids!

Photos taken by Courtney Burge.

Sweet Sixteen - The Dessert Station.

Look at that cute cake a friend of the host made for the birthday girl! We made custom zebra print cupcake wrappers and toppers. Again, we used zebra print bandana's on the tables. The fringe backdrops mimicked the zebra stripes. We didn't get a chance to get pictures of the tables with the food, but they also served "Zebra Cakes" by Little Debbie.

Sweet Sixteen - The Drink Station.

To coordinate with the cookout menu that the celebrant had requested, we served drinks out of mason jars tied with zebra print bandana fabric. We made custom tags for the drinking straws, and water bottle labels. Soda's were served out of two galvanized buckets.

Sweet Sixteen!

Today we designed a sweet sixteen birthday party for a girl who wanted zebra stripes and hot pink as her theme. One of her main requests was to incorporated pom-pom's into the decorations. I carried the stripes on the big monogrammed "J" we hung from the front door of the clubhouse and in the backdrops we used. Instead of purchasing yards of zebra print fabric, it was more economical to use zebra print bandana's that my client picked up at Hobby Lobby.

I think you can officially call me the branch lady. We used branches and spray painted them black and white, adding zebra print leaves to some of them. Branches are such a great economical centerpiece. Take them off of any tree, and you have free centerpieces that make a big statement. For vases, I used recycled beer bottles that I got from friends, and spray painted those as well. A strip of bandana fabric in the zebra stripe finished off the look.

Pottery Barn's Party Planner Tips.

Several months ago, a friend of mine told me that our Pottery Barn here in Myrtle Beach, was holding a little FREE get together and giving out party planning tips. Pottery Barn was featuring their "Around-The-World Tasting Party". Specifically Mediterranean tapas. Here are some of the tips I walked away with when planning a party, and I wanted to share them with you:
 

• Decide who you're inviting
• Decide on your theme
• Preparation is the key to a successful party
• Candles (use unscented candles around food)
• Botanicals
• Music
• Plan your menu
• Get your guests involved
• Personalization
• Place cards
• Label the food
• Personal touches
• A good guest list size is 20 or less 

Spa Party.

What a fun idea for a party to host. What a great way to get friends together. Our client hosted a spa party for her guests. She hired a masseuse so guests could enjoy hour long massages as well as a nail technician so guests could receive manicures and pedicures. Wouldn't you like to be a guest at this party!

Spa Party - Beverage Station.

We matched tablecloths from Home Goods for our food table as well as our drink table. A board of white tissue paper pom-poms served as a backdrop for the drinks. Typical of spa's we served cucumber water as well as a fruity sangria.

Spa Party - The Decorations.

When designing this party, I tried to keep the idea of light and fresh in the back of my mind. Natural loofahs, scrubs, cotton balls, and face sponges were displayed in apothecary jars.

Featured.

Today our "Cowboy Cookie Corral" was featured over at the Birthday Blog. Thank you!

Spa Party - The Food.

There was great food served at the Spa Party today. The host of the party made all the food from scratch. Cream puffs from scratch. Amazing. This food would be great served at a bridal or baby shower as well. It was a very light, fresh, and refreshing spread.

As part of the table decor I incorporated q-tips and face sponges into the serving dishes.  I made food tags in the shape of eye masks to go along with the spa theme. I picked up these colorful tablecloths from Home Goods, and I picked up on the soothing green color in the food tags.