Graduation Lei

Graduation season is here.

Just last week we were in Utah to attend our son Clark’s college graduation. We were outside taking some photos when I spotted something.

My kids are now use to me going up to perfect strangers asking to take pictures of their food, their outfit, etc. so it was no surprise when I stopped this new college graduate and asked to take a picture of his lei.

He was actually wearing three leis!  A traditional flower lei but then he also had a candy lei and a money lei.

The candy lei was made out of plastic wrap and candy bars and tied in between each candy bar with ribbon – so cute.

But the lei I liked the most was the money lei – what graduate wouldn’t love a money lei!!

Dollar bills were gathered up and tied in the middle and then attached to a piece of ribbon.

There were also little bags of Hershey Hugs and Kisses tied in between the dollar bills.  So fun!!

Everything was attached to some curling ribbon.  I am going to have to remember this one next year when Tessa graduates from high school!!

Cute Silverware Idea

One of the things that always throws me while having a party is what to do with the silverware when serving buffet style.

Do I just lay it on the counter? That doesn’t look too good.

What do I put it in?

This weekend we stopped for a beverage at a fun food cart in Portland and I saw this idea  – I loved it.  Could hardly believe it was a foodcart – antique silverware.

I love the idea of putting the silverware in mason jars!  How pretty is that!?

Do you have a fun idea you use for silverware at a party?  Leave a comment and let me know!

Party Guest}Carnival Themed Birthday

Today I would like to introduce you to Larissa of Just Another Day in Paradise.

Larissa is the mom of a cute little one year old and a couple of other cuties too!

After finishing up her job of being in charge of the school’s carnival Larissa decided to carry over the theme to her son’s one year old birthday party!

Lots of fun carnival food – popcorn, cotton candy and soda pop!

How  cute is that!

Larissa created the personal popcorn cake for her son from fondant.  The biggest complaint I hear about fondant is that it doesn’t taste good.  Well, Larissa has a recipe for marshmallow fondant on her blog that tastes good and is easy to make – be sure and check it out!

The birthday boy loved his cake!

For the rest of the guests Larissa made cute little blue cotton candy cupcakes.  She learned that you need to wait until right before serving though to add the cotton candy or it melts into the frosting – good tip Larissa!
Larissa also created the cute little birthday hat the birthday boy is wearing.  For a tutorial on how to make it check out this blog post.

Thanks to Larissa for sharing her fun carnival themed birthday party!

If you would like to be a party guest here at Your Homebased Parties please send me an email or leave a comment!  We’d love to see your party!!

Italian Dinner Party

In addition to her safari themed wedding brunch Ellen was also hosting the wedding rehearsal dinner the night before.  The dinner was to be held in an Italian restaurant but Ellen wanted to do something to jazz up the table decor and make it prettier!

Here’s a fun idea I found on a website that I thought was great.  I love it when you can use part of your meal as decoration on the table -filling glasses with biscotti and breadsticks!  It has a definite romantic, Tuscan feel to it!

I also loved the look of the large urn with roses and grapes.

I can’t wait to hear how Ellen’s big wedding weekend turned out!

Idea Board}Safari Wedding Brunch

Ellen recently contacted me about helping her put together some ideas for her son’s wedding brunch.  The brunch would be held at a hotel the morning after the wedding for all the out of town guests and as a final send off before the bride and groom left on their African Safari honeymoon.

Ellen’s main concern was not letting it look too much like a child’s party.  She wanted a sophisticated look but one that celebrated the adventure the bride and groom were going to be enjoying!

Here is the idea board I put together for Ellen’s party.  She also received a list of links to the ideas shown.

If you  have an upcoming event or party you would like some help with please visit my Shop to see the various packages I offer.

Easter Table Decor

So how are you going to decorate your table for Easter dinner this year?  I’ve  been doing some surfing around out there on the web and have seen some pretty cute ideas.

This one in particular!  Loving the use of the Peeps in the vase (I am a Peep lover)  The yellow Peeps with the orange  jelly beans and tulips is amazing.  If you are not an orange and yellow person there are all kinds of different color Peeps available.  I was at Target today and they have lots of different colors.

I think they probably used a vase within a vase and put the tulips in the inner vase.  I’m headed to the Dollar Store to see what I can find!  Our Winco grocery store has individual color of jelly bellies in bulk too!

I also think the idea with the ice cream cones stuck in the wheat grass with  green jelly beans wrapped in cello is brillant too!!

Photo from The Party Dress

Would love to hear how you are decorating your table – please leave a comment and let me know.