Earlier this week my friend Rick invited me to join him for a Gingerbread class at the Crescent Hotel. A second date, I was a bit nervous that I would scare him off with my OCD crafting tendencies, but as it turns out he’s a bit of a perfectionist himself, so things went super smoothly!

Neither of us really knew what to expect, so when we arrived we were excited to find not only pre-constructed gingerbread houses but also a well stocked bar! We grabbed some wine and settled in to get the scoop on the evening’s activities from Erica and Juan, the Crescent’s executive and pastry chefs.

They showed off a towering rolling cart with candy, gave some piping tips, and then let us alone to decorate as we saw fit. Rick and I started with a plan to tile the roof in grey M&Ms, but after a few rows we scrapped that idea and opted to start over.

Our second stab at the roof was much more successful. We coated the entire roof in red icing then smooshed candy cane crumbles on top. (Is smooshed a word? Maybe not, but I’m going with it.) We outlined the roof with alternating red and green M&Ms to look like Christmas lights.

Next, we decided to put a wreath over the front door. Rick had insane piping skills so he was tasked with creating the wreath. (Not until after I had him practice on the table cloth, that is. I’m such my mother’s daughter.) While he took care of the wreath, I used a half strand of red candy tape to create a lovely little bow. I LOVE how this part of the house turned out, and I am proud that we did it all by ourselves!

For the back of the house we didn’t have enough faith in ourselves to pipe the snowflake what we desired, so we recruited Erica – a piping pro – to work her magic. While she worked on the back, we added a marshmallow lined pathway, red twizzlers to the door, and brown swirly “flower beds.”

A few short minutes later Erica revealed her amazing creation! Not only did she make an incredible snowflake, but she also added super cute icicles.

It’s hard to see in this picture, but we made little flower boxes to sit in each window with green icing and red flowers out of M&Ms. We lined the outside of the house with white Christmas Tree shaped pretzels. We also went back and made our pathway red to make it pop a bit more.

For the finishing touch, we spread white icing over the entire base, covering it with granulated sugar to make it appear glittery. A huge fan of things that sparkle, this was by far my favorite part! Using powdered sugar, Rick coated the Christmas tree in front with snow and used more white icing to create realistic looking snow drifts. We also lined the entire thing with red berry candies, which was a great accent.

Here is a snapshot of Rick and me with our completed gingerbread house! Although it’s hard to be unbiased, I thought ours turned out the cutest of any house there.

The evening was so fun and I would recommend this class to anyone! In fact, I think it might need to become a holiday tradition!

Each year all of my coworkers gather together for our annual company holiday lunch. We cater in food to our office and enjoy an afternoon of eating and chatting. Last year when my boss asked me to pitch in for the planning, I asked if I could take things up a notch and decorate for the event. A $50 budget was all I would need, I promised. He agreed, and I got to work!

Half of me really wanted to do something neat for the event to make it special for my coworkers. The other half of me was intrigued by the challenge of decorating for a party for 20 on such a limited budget!

There are people of every faith in our company so I decided to go for a neutral “Winter Wonderland” theme for the party. The starting point for my decor was a roll of white and silver snowflake wrapping paper that I decided to use as a make-shift table cloth. Not only was it cheap, it made clean up a breeze!

Since the place setting would be the biggest feature of the table, I decided to concentrate most of my budget here. I purchased a pack of white, 12×12 inch scrapbook paper from Michaels to use as placemats. Next, I layered a silver charter plate. I own ten silver chargers and borrowed another six from a friend who I had gifted a set to the previous year for Christmas.

I splurged on large square paper plates that I found at Paper Affair. They matched perfectly and I just had to have them! Mixing the chargers with the paper plates gave a much classier look to the table.

I used white napkins and plastic silverware that we had around the office and rolled them up nicely tying them off with white curling ribbon I already had.

The place settings were completed with clear plastic cups that we had at the office. I spiced each cup up with a sparkly foam snowflake sticker.

For the centerpieces I decided that balloons would be a cheap way to make a big impact. I bought a pack of white balloons at Michaels, filled them for free using the helium tank in my apartment leasing office, and tied them off using white curling ribbon.

I anchored the balloons into three round, short glass vases that I own. I tied the balloon bouquets to binder clips and hid the clips by covering them with white floral beads, which I had from another party. (The binder clips were a last minute solution that our engineer Gary came up with!)

I used my trusty hot glue gun to adorn each vase with a stripe of glittery ribbon that I bought at Michaels and accented them with glittery foam snowflake stickers. Tea light holders were given the same treatment, except I added a white ribbon on top of the silver for a bit more depth.

I over bought on the ribbon for the vases and ended up using a spool to serve as a table runner. I spaced the balloon vases and tea lights down the table and filled in the blanks with silver jingle bells.

For the buffet I also covered the tables in wrapping paper. I used extra white scrapbook paper to outline where the dishes should sit and put out serving spoons. I decorated with two silver sparkly reindeer that I use in my home Christmas decor, plus a few snowflake napkin holders I had lying around. I used white chipboard letters that I had from a different party to spell out the party’s theme.

For the party I brought my two Crate & Barrel Cold Beverage Jars to serve water and iced tea. Again, I used the snowflake stickers  and silver scrapbook paper to give them a little interest!

We already had our Christmas tree up and poinsettias around the office which also added to the ambiance. As a finishing touch, I brought my Yule Log DVD and put it up on the flat screen TV that is displayed behind my desk. Everyone got a kick out of it and it added a homey feel to the office!

The best part of the party was enjoying the food and the company of my coworkers. The party lasted into the late afternoon and everyone had a blast! Here is a pic of me and Mike and Steve, the two partners in our company:

Our holiday lunch was proof positive that you don’t have to have a big budget to throw an impressively decorated party. I had so much fun putting it together and fit all my purchases in just at $50 and a dime!

For those of you who are interested, here are the supplies I used. I broke them down by what I own and what I had to buy. Not everyone probably has as well of a stocked craft/party closet as I do, but simple substitutions could be made if you don’t have all these items. This also makes a good case for making investments in neutral party decor like vases, tea light holders and beverage dispensers that can be used across your various parties, no matter the theme! 

Aren’t these bunny napkins the cutest?! I found inspiration for this easy craft while searching around for Easter table ideas on the blogosphere. I had never seen these before but obviously I’m out of the loop because once I started looking, I found them everywhere! Good Housekeeping added a button and whiskers to theirs and is my personal fav, but I also like the simplicity of Martha’s crisp white bunny.

There are lots of tutorials out there so here are a few I found to be helpful and comprehensive. Come & Peek shows that you don’t need fancy napkins to create beautiful bunnies, making them with paper napkins.

• Martha Stewart
• Delish (via Good Housekeeping)
• Come and Peek

I found some cute home-made napkin bunnies on Flickr too. I loved this one with polka dotted nakpins by Heidi Kennedy of  My Paper Crane.

I can’t wait to try to make these cuties for myself! And you can be sure I’ll post the results here when I do!

{Photos Courtesy of: MarthaStewart.com, My Paper Crane, and GoodHousekeeping.com}

Enjoy this guest post by my mom who has some great ideas for Easter decor and tablescaping!

Easter is a time for reflection, reawakening and renewal – a time to remember and celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Decorating for Easter is fun because it gives us a chance to infuse in our homes the bright colors of Spring and reflect on all the symbols of Easter and what they mean. So what do lilies, colored eggs and bunnies have to do with Jesus?

There are many traditions associated with these decorations. Many people think the Easter Lily, with its majestic white blooms, represents the purity of the risen Christ. I always include a cross or several crosses in my Easter decorating because of the subtle “reason for the season” reminder.

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Today is a special post on Pottery Barn tying together the I’m Sold! and Surprising Sources series.

Though I can hardly afford to shop at Pottery Barn it is still one of my favorite places to “shop.” Instead of shopping for plates and napkins and silverware I shop for inspiration! I love getting the PB catalogue in the mail to see what the new trends in decor and entertaining are. And I’ve had a ton of success at recreating some of their tablescapes and decor ideas with much less expensive versions I find at TJ Maxx and Walmart.

The staff is super friendly and always willing to help you match your color palette or give great tips and tricks. The two PB staffers above, Roy and Darren taught the recent Spring Entertaining Class and were friendly and full of energy!

Another great reason to “shop” at Pottery Barn is to find out about all their fun FREE events. It is a fun way to meet other entertainers in your area and spend a morning sharing ideas! Here’s a recap of the class I attended and lots of spring & easter entertaining ideas!

On Sunday I woke up early (early for me on a weekend at least) and headed to Pottery Barn to try out their Spring Entertaining class! It was lots of fun and the instructors were full of great ideas! Enjoy the following pictures and spring entertaining tips from the notes I took at the class!

Easy Easter Brunch

The class started off with tips for throwing an Easter brunch celebration. The instructors explained that brunch could be early – before church – or in the early afternoon after church. They gave these great tips and insights into what is “hot” this season for Easter entertaining:

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Looking for inspiration for your spring-time soirees? Then get your party planning tush to Pottery Barn this Sunday, March 15 for a complimentary entertaining class! I have attended a few pb classes in the past and have always come out super inspired and excited. The classes are usually on Sunday mornings before the store opens to the public. There has always been a good crowd when I’ve been (usually women) and it is really fun to spend the morning chatting and collaborating on design with other décor-loving friends!

Our local store has a great instructor who makes the class very participatory and is very good at explaining how to recreate the displays you see. One of my favorite parts of the class is that you don’t feel any pressure to buy anything. (PB is often a bit out of my price range) But if something catches your eye they offer 10% off all merchandise used in the class to those who attend. The main goal of the classes seems to be to get people in the store during a non-peak hour and explain more about all the services that PB offers.

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I had so many pics from my party I decided it merited two posts! (Go To Part 1) Here are photos and recipes from the food and beverage part of the party. More after the jump!

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I held my Fat Tuesday party on Saturday! I hope these pictures and ideas can help you in putting together your own Mardi gras celebration! Lots more after the jump!

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I am throwing an impromptu Mardi Gras cocktail party and I need your help! (See the pretty evite I selected above!) I have got some great decorations but am struggling with how to arrange them. I was thinking that I would use my dining table for food (king cake and other Cajun themed appetizers) and the area beside the kitchen sink for the cocktail/bar area. I also have a nice large coffee table I could use for something if I want. Here is a picture of my apartment so you can get a feel for where everything is:

I purchased some green, yellow and purple paper lanterns and have hung them at different heights over my dining room table  off the track lighting. I am struggling with how to do a centerpiece or table decorations with these low hanging balls. (They hang about half way down) I have bought and decorated several mardi gras masks with sequins, feathers, etc. and I have made a Bourbon street sign out of a wooden plaque.

Please post any ideas you have in the comments or email me through my new contact form!  Things I could also use help with:

• Cocktails – I’m debating how to best make bulk hurricanes. I found several recipes for individual cocktails but I am not looking to buy a million different ingredients.
• Centerpiece or table set up for food table
• Easy appetizer recipes (preferably with a Cajun theme)
• Playlist

Post links, ideas, or whatever you want…and remember, I’m on a budget!  Thank you!!!!

See photos of how this party turned out:

• Mardi Gras Party Flickr Album

Earlier today I posted pictures from the Valentines Day Dinner for Fourteen that my mom and her friends hosted last weekend. In the post, Mom mentioned that they played the Newlywed game to wrap up the evening. Her friend Veta came up with the questions which produced some fun and interesting moments! See below to  use the questions for your next party!

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