Inspiration to the 50th Degree

I recently completed a fundraising auction/dinner for a non-profit organization. It was a fun event because the organization was celebrating a significant milestone of 50 years of service to the community. I thought I would share with you some of the elements of this event.

Concept

This year was the organization's 29th annual auction, but since they were celebrating the 50th anniversary, we decided to ditch the traditional Irish theme of the event (it is held in March every year) in lieu of incorporating elements of a "golden" anniversary. We traded the green decor for black, gold, and cranberry. The whimsical was elevated to classy, and party beads were exchanged for gold and glitz.

Champagne flutes featured a custom 50th anniversary logo; guests who purchased a glass were entered into a drawing to win a beautiful diamond bracelet.

We also had chocolates on the tables and gorgeous rose centerpieces with gold floral accents.

In a fun twist, the desserts even color-coordinated with the colors of our event!

This was an all-around inspirational event that reconnected donors to the mission of the organization. The hard work of dozens upon dozens of volunteers helped make this event possible!

Oh! The Places You'll Go!

My favorite Mermaids recently asked if I would write another article for their e-zine, Mermaids of the Lake. This time they asked for a graduation party concept. My inspiration came from Dr. Seuss' book, Oh! The Places You'll Go!. Check out the article here.

Happy 2nd birthday to the Mermaids on the Lake! :-)

Have an Egg-cellent Easter!

This post is just a quickie today to wish all of my readers a wonderful Easter!

Annnnnnnnd, since I can't wait to share this with you, here's a peek at what I made to bring to a potluck Easter dinner tonight.  These Rice Krispies egg-treats are fun for kids and adults alike.  They were super-easy and fun to make!  Check out the Rice Krispies website for fun and creative ideas.

Before:

After:

Spring Update

Oh, where have I been?? The first four months of the year are usually difficult for me to maintain regular blog postings because that is my busiest season of the year at my day job. One major event down, two more to go! I recently completed a successful fundraising auction/anniversary celebration dinner, so I will post a recap of that event and pictures about in the coming weeks.

In addition, I'm working on getting some real life wedding stories to recap for you as well. I'll keep you posted on those.

Seeing as Easter is RIGHT around the corner, and if you're as busy as I am, it might have snuck up on you! I will be posting a couple of creative Easter ideas as well as some Spring decor and entertaining ideas for you.

First up: Eggshell Votives!

Photo courtesy of MarthaStewart.com

I saw the above photo and thought this was a festive idea as yet another way to incorporate eggs into our Easter celebration. Follow the link here to get instructions on how to make these votive candles. Quick tip: hot glue your wick to the bottom of the shell before filling the shell with wax (this will prevent the wick from floating in the wax).

Next Up: Chocolate Eggs!

Photo courtesy of MarthaStewart.com

This one's for the die-hard chocoholic! Warning: this project is somewhat labor- and time-intensive... but HOW can you resist the charm and beauty of your own chocolate eggs inside a REAL egg shell?? Follow this link to get the how-to from Martha. The instructions tell you how to create a chocolate shell within the egg shell so you can fill the shell with ganache (recipe provided). Be sure to read the comments for the instructions to get some good feedback and tips on how to make this project a little bit smoother the first time around.

**Both of these ideas can pull double-duty as table decor and favors. Consider making these as nice take-home gifts for family and friends by wrapping each in colored cellophane and a brightly colored ribbon.**

More ideas to come!

Photofetti

Image from Photofetti.com

CHECK.THIS.OUT! What a fun addition to your child's birthday, a wedding, anniversary, graduation, or other celebration... Photofetti is photo confetti that you can customize with your own photo(s). They will mix your Photofetti with colored accent pieces to match your event and voila, you've got a party!

Visit Photofetti here.

Valentine's Food Fun

Whatever your plans are for Valentine's Day, here are a couple of quick and super-easy ideas involving festive food for the occasion.

Pick up a metal heart cookie cutter at your local store and use it to make a heart-shaped breakfast for your sweeties. This works well for pancakes and eggs. You can also use the cookie cutter to cut hearts out of slices of toast. Don't forget to spray the inside of the cookie cutter with a little bit of cooking spray so the food doesn't stick to it.

Another fun food idea is cutting shapes from brownies and putting a dollap of frosting on top. Wilton has combo cutters in two shapes, "minis" and hearts. I used the minis cutter for these Valentine treats for my co-workers. You can find the minis combo cutter here and the hearts combo cutter here at the Wilton website (see photos below). These cutters are so easy to use, and the three...yes, THREE... batches of brownies I made were cut up in a snap!

(Hearts combo cutter and minis combo cutter. Photos courtesy of Wilton. Links to photos are above.)

Last Minute Super Bowl Idea

I was shopping at Cabela's a few weeks ago (it's an outdoor sportsman's store) and saw a display that they had set up for the Super Bowl. I really liked the "football field" they created, so I grabbed a quick shot of it on my cell phone (sorry for the photo quality).

You can recreate this same idea on a green table cloth or table runner to make it a fun tablescape. Use your creativity to add goalposts and team spirit. Don't forget to leave room for the yummy finger foods! If you are still in need of some ideas for your game-time eats, check out my previous Super Bowl post here.