P is for Party

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

{Party Inspiration} A Chic Red, White & Blue Fete

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend with family and friends!

Although this red, white and blue weekend has come to an end, another patriotic holiday is right around the corner. Here is some GORGEOUS party inspiration from Style Me Pretty complete with a Float & Milkshake bar!

I hope you were inspired by this beautiful setting. I think my favorite style element might be the wine bottle wrapped in blue and white twine! Visit Style Me Pretty to see more photos from this breathtaking photo shoot.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

{DIY) Bee Hive Pinata

This DIY bee hive pinata from Country Living will be all the buzz at your next summer get together! For those who love crafting, this is the perfect inexpensive project that will make a buzz worthy statement!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

{DIY} Pie in a Jar

{image via Paiges of Style}

Lately, I have had an obsession with pies in a jar! I haven't made them yet, but I plan to and just placed an order for these tiny mason jars. The recipes seems easy, just maybe a little time consuming. But so worth it in the end! Take a look at the following DIY Pie in a Jar recipes from some fabulous blogs...

Our Best Bites provides a full tutorial complete with step by step instructions, pictures and a scrumptious basic recipe for any fruit filling.

Green Wedding Shoes shares beautiful photography and a styling idea for the cute pies. They also provide step by step instructions and an easier recipe using store bought pie filling.

Paiges of Style is a favorite blog of mine and I always enjoy her tutorials! Paige shows how easy it is to make pies in a jar and I love the way she packaged the favor!

I'm really looking forward to trying these little goodies out!

Monday, May 16, 2011

A Day in the Life...Chris Nease of Celebrations at Home!

I am so excited to be featuring Chris Nease of Celebrations at Home today! Chris was one of my first blogging friends and we still continue to e-mail back and forth about this and that. She is such a sweetheart and an inspiration to me! I'm sure you wonder, like I do, how she balances it all!

A Day in the Life of Chris Nease of Celebrations at Home...

I’m very flattered that Christi asked me to share a day in the life with you, however my first response to her was, “but I’m so boring!” Not that my job is boring, in fact quite the opposite. But to look at it hour by hour on any given day can be deceiving since every day is literally something different. I decided to take a “compilation” approach to give you a better idea of what my job entails.

First of all I’d like to explain that I began my blog (way back when) as a supporting role to my party styling business. Since then it has grown so much that I’ve shifted my main focus onto the site while I still do a limited number of client parties. My real passion is growing Celebrations At Home into a go-to site for inspiration for stylish entertaining!

7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

My mornings begin with coffee and The Today Show, and getting my 2 young kids ready and off to school - typical mom stuff.

9:00 a.m. - Noon

The mornings fly by as I’m on the computer checking emails, reviewing submissions, working on blog posts, and networking on Twitter and Facebook.

A lot of my time in the morning is devoted to email correspondence. Currently I‘m working on my new site design with my designer and can‘t wait for the relaunch!

In addition to emails, I'm reviewing contracts, writing articles for freelance jobs, brainstorming ideas for upcoming photo shoots, talking with a client about her party, and conversing with vendors that I‘m working with. Now that I’m a leader at the Savvy Living community on Blog Frog, I spend a fair amount of time checking in with the forum and spreading the word about the conversations we’re having there.

In between all of this, I’m prop shopping online & researching ideas for projects.

By the time 11:00 or 12:00 rolls around I’m hungry. I don’t really eat breakfast (unless you consider creamer in my coffee, breakfast) so I’m usually hungry for a lean cuisine.

12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Afternoons are good for me to run errands, do some prop shopping or craft supply shopping, editing photos, and writing. If I have something to craft for a design project, this is when I’ll do it. This week I’ve been consumed with a client’s bar mitzvah that is this Saturday. I’ve been painting, gluing, making banners & bunting, cupcakes in a jar, and more!

At 4:00 it’s time to get the kids from the bus stop and take a short break. By now there’s a whole new batch of emails to sift through and respond to and maybe another blog post to edit. This is no 9-5 job that’s for sure - there are things to do all day every day and I love it! Somehow I manage to sneak in dinner and time with the family before going to bed.

Aside from some of the basic every day activities listed above, there are also things like photo shoots, occasional meetings, doing regular site maintenance, and creating a tutorial, recipe, or editorial party design for my site. Some days I may be out all day shopping for a project, and some days I may not even get dressed since I work at home. But I’m so thankful and fortunate to be able to do this with a supportive husband and encouraging readers!

Thank you Chris for giving us a peek into your day!

Monday, May 9, 2011

{Real Parties} A Singing Party to Celebrate a First Birthday

My good friend, Kristen White of Frills Consulting, styled an adorable Sing-a-Long Party for a little boy who recently turned one. Kristen was inspired by my son's sing-a-long party last year and Kovidh's mommy thought it was fitting for the birthday boy since he loves his music class and their last name is "Singh"!

Stacy Gray Music was hired to entertain the children in songs. She brought small handmade instruments made of white mailing tubes which were filled with dry beans and rice. For the first half of the party, the children decorated their instruments and then they gathered around and sand with Stacy using their new instruments.

Kristen is extremely talented and crafty and made the invitation, paper goods and party hat!

The menu was prepared by Pink Avocado and was perfect for both adults and kids. The group feasted on tomato bisque shooters with grilled cheese squares, french fries with parmesan truffle oil, spinach and feta spanokopita, veggie cups, chicken fingers, mini ham and cheese sandwiches and mini mac n' cheese balls. They chose to serve cake balls instead of the traditional cake to give guests a variety of flavor options. I love that idea!