Thursday, June 30, 2011

Flowers for the Fourth of July

The last party I coordinated gave me a fairly generous flower budget for a birthday party, and it sparked my interest in the many different varieties of flowers available.  I plan on heading out this week and making a festive 4th bouquet for myself, so I turned to the trusty internet for some ideas.  

Red flowers seem pretty easy to come by.  The most popular and easiest to find is the red rose.  Florists always seem to keep these on hand.  I can almost always find Gerber Daisies at my florist, too.  The others probably have to be in season.

Starting top left and going clockwise:
Rose, Tulip, Gerber Daisy, Orchid, & Carnation


Blue flowers, on the other hand, seem very hard to find.  Your are most likely to find some that have been died, because true blue flowers are rare.  Most that are considered blue are more violet or purple.
Hydrangea, Delphinium, & Veronica

Now white flowers should be just as easy to find as the red ones.  Baby's breath (which I forgot to include in my collage, but I'm sure you've all seen it) is a great white filler to use, too.
Carnation, Hydrangea, Gerber Daisy, Daffodil,
Hibiscus, Jasmine, Orchid, & Calla Lily



A perfect way to top off a patriotic bouquet would be to insert mini American flags, and maybe some metallic streamers shooting out like fireworks!!  I will try to get a picture of whatever I end up creating, and I would love to see some of your red, white, and blue bouquets, too.  

Do any of you have a good flower suggestion for this holiday?

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words...

Wordless Wednesday !!




Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Dollar Junction Inspiration - 4th of July

I LOVE walking through Dollar Junction for inexpensive things to spark my creativity!!  If I spend a couple of dollars and an idea doesn't work, I'm not out too much money.  If the idea does work, I either have a very inexpensive new idea, or a base for a project that works, and I can confidently spend a little more to make it just right.

This time through, the red, white, & blue was catching my eye.

Okay, I admit it, I am usually drawn to the candy aisle.  The wrappers have done most of the decorating for me already!!  Just plopping these in a bowl on a table looks plenty festive, but I did think of a couple of different possibilities.


Tying the curling ribbons around the Tootsie Pops, I was trying to make the streamers look like bursting fireworks.  It seemed to look better when I didn't curl them, but cut them plenty long.  I used red hots in the bowl to hold the sticks up.  You could even hold the stick between your palms and twist back and forth to make the ribbons "fly."


This red pot with the star border fits right in with a "star-spangled" theme.  It was too deep for the sucker sticks, so I placed a shorter bowl on top of old ribbon spools to make it sit higher. 

These tootsie rolls look great in this star dish (also found at Dollar Junction!!)  If you place them under the upside down dish, you can put a candle or other decoration on top.  Looks good, but the guests can't really get to the candy.  Hey, perfect for saving a few for yourself after the celebration!!


Above is just another option combining both kinds of candies.  Below, I was attempting to make a tootsie roll star, but it could also easily be decorated as a "4th of July guy."  You know, a couple of googly eyes in just the right spot.  
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Some of you may have noticed that I didn't use the fudge-filled candy stars in any of the photos.  Well, I re-learned an old lesson with those.  If you are shopping on a warm day, DO NOT leave any type of chocolate in your hot car.  I ended up with a red, white, & blue lump!!  Still tasty, but not very pretty.  The bright side is that it was only $1 lost, and I've got enough time to get back to the store before July.  The stars would be great sprinkled on cupcakes or used to decorate sugar cookies.

I really hope some of these ideas sparked a little of your own creativity.  What holiday things have you found lately to inspire you?

I'll plan, so you can party!!



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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Animal Print Baby Shower

A fashionable baby girl deserves a very chic animal print shower!!  This particular baby shower was a co-ed celebration.  We picked a sports bar/restaurant with an upstairs party room so that the ladies could do the "girly" stuff, and the guys could play pool, video games, and poker, all while watching the ball game.  Everybody's happy!!


The gift table was covered with a zebra-print rug.  Glittery pink letters spelled out baby's name.  There was a huge mug for "Big Dad Cory" and a pretty tiara for Mommy Connie.


The guys' tables were set up with baby girl playing cards from Oriental Trading Company and pink cash and coins from Dollar Junction for poker playing.  Bubble gum or chocolate cigars make great favors for the fellas.


Upstairs the tables had floating safari duckies.  One table had a fountain in the center, which was a perfect place for these little guys to swim!!  The children at the party got to pick a "duckie" to take home with them.


I made these adorable baby bracelet wine glass charms for the ladies.  Here is a link to my tutorial blog:


The girls had their own games while the boys played downstairs.  Each received a book with a few baby games to fill out while we ate.  The pencils were personalized with baby Josie's full name and birth year. These cute animal print bags were filled with prizes for the game winners.  More "active" games were also played.  This super-cute corsage was one of the prizes.


After about an hour, we joined the boys downstairs to play onesie basketball, guys vs. gals.  
It got very loud and competitive, and sooooooo much fun!!  

                         

Cake was served while Mom and Dad opened gifts.  Personalized candy bars and little bags of animal crackers were passed out as favors.