REAL-LIFE
showcasing real-life parties from you
I spot this amazing birthday a few days ago on Flickr. I immediately felt in love with the levels of details. Andrea, you and your daughter impressed me.
The mother and daughter team will cherish these memories all their life. Andrea asked for the help of her daughter Ava in planning the little girl 8th birthday. Andrea told me that they had a fantastic time planning and pulling it off.
Get Inspired by A Real-Life Birthday Party
They planned for lots of cool activities. This is important to get your guests occupied. The kids learned how to write their names in Chinese. Picking up pompoms with chopsticks was a hit; it is harder to do than it seems.
The kids drank cheery lemonade with maraschino cherries frozen in ice cubes served in ornate Chinese tea cups. The decorative elements include various styles of Chinese paper lanterns and Chinese umbrellas.
Categories:
KIDS party
REAL-LIFE
KIDS + BABY
posted @ Sunday, September 07, 2008 11:46 PM | Feedback (1)
I went to the vernissage of Starmail, the latest exhibit by Bettina Forget, a Montreal painter who specializes in astronomical themes.
My friend Bettina, photographed here, is also an avid hobby astronomer. She is always stylish.
The Art Concept
Bettina converts her own Amelia Earhart's drawings in rubber stamps with the production help of Central Stamp and Seal store on avenue Du Parc, here in Montreal.
Mail Art is born out of a famous woman aviator theme with some envelopes, rubber stamps and the airmail concept. I bought two envelopes, similar to those.
Serving Tips
Being a tasteful artist, Bettina always finds simple and inexpensive ways to serve food and drinks. Here, she cut the brown paper bags to serve nuts and chips. It was so appropriate with her theme and so cute. Remember it for your next movie night.
Categories:
REAL-LIFE
ENTERTAINING
posted @ Monday, August 11, 2008 1:42 PM | Feedback (0)
Jaime of It’s a Jaime Thing sent me the pictures of two bridal showers she designed last year for a cousin and a best friend. They are lots of clues who can recycle for your own parties.
The Sunflower Sunshower
A hand-made tiki bar and lots of fresh sunflowers set the tone of this party. Her cousin, the groom to be, built the tiki hut for his father as a Father’s Day present. It is so cool to reuse his own creation for his bridal shower.
If you wish to host a tiki bar, check out ebay or your local kitsch stores to get your hands on a few tall tiki mugs. Get for the lucky couple a scorpion bowl for 2. These will make nice souvenirs to the couple.
Categories:
REAL-LIFE
ENTERTAINING
posted @ Tuesday, July 29, 2008 5:06 PM | Feedback (1)
I am happy to announce that the Real-life Party series which will feature actual parties done by you is officially opened.
To be fair, it is the third real-life parties from readers since I showcased the Caveman Theme for a 40th Birthday Party in January 2008 and Yuri Gagarin's Night Party 2008 in Montreal in April 2008.
Birthday Cake and Party Favors
Steph, a.k.a. KiwiGirlSteph on Flickr made these adorable cupcakes for a boy fourth birthday party. This mom is very talented and she bakes cakes for her friends and family.
Categories:
KIDS party
CAKES
REAL-LIFE
ENTERTAINING
DINING
KIDS + BABY
posted @ Thursday, July 17, 2008 8:47 PM | Feedback (1)
My friend and painter Bettina Forget hosted a great party last Saturday (April 12th, 2008) to commemorate the anniversary of First Man in Space. Yuri Gagarin became the first human to reach space on April 12th, 1961. Yuri orbited the Earth.
The Decor
The loft apartment was nicely decorated for the event. Several guests rented or made cool science-fiction costumes.
Astronomical art exhibit of paintings done by Bettina coupled with the projection of space images and astro-art iMovies created a wonderful atmosphere.
The Space Agency gave us posters, pins, stickers, tattoos so people without costumes looked more festive. Individual gift bags greeted us at the door.
The Drink Menu
Russian vodka was on top of the alcohol chain. The signature drink was Cosmonaut, a drink made of vodka and Tang. At the bar station, the Space-Themes Drink menu was filled with Apollo ‘n Lemon, Sputnik, Saturn V, Soyuz Capsule, Voyager, Mir, Rasputin and Sea of Tranquility.
Categories:
EVERYDAY entertaining
FOOD + drinks
PARTY ideas
REAL-LIFE
ENTERTAINING
DINING
posted @ Friday, April 18, 2008 2:41 PM | Feedback (0)
Denise, a reader, can teach us a lesson or two about party themes. She likes parties and it shows. Her design looks amazing. She is obviously talented but her strength is to let her imagination flows and she is not afraid to put the efforts.
Many of her parties include rentals, new accessories mixed with things that she already owned. But not this one.
Denise developed the Caveman theme for the 40th birthday of one of her friends. For her own words, this over the hill birthday party was easy to prepare. And with her tips, you will know what to look for if your wish to experience the prehistoric charms for a night.
This tabletop for 12 guests costs less than $100, in fact $7-8 per person. Denise found everything locally and at really good prices. Let’s review how she did it.
The decorative elements
The dinosaurs belong to her kids. The stone chargers come from the home improvement centre. Denise roughly cut the edges. Then she decorated the economical stepping stones with a brown craft paint and dirt to simulate old stones.
Categories:
EVERYDAY entertaining
TABLESCAPE
PARTY ideas
REAL-LIFE
ENTERTAINING
posted @ Thursday, January 17, 2008 9:55 AM | Feedback (2)