Party

Goody Bag

Halloween is fast approaching!  Are you planning a Halloween Party or gifts for a class?  In this post I’m sharing a fun an easy idea for  creating”BOO” favor bags!  We are using these for my daughter’s 8th Birthday party which we’re having on Halloween this year.  Her birthday is on November 1st and some years we just embrace the Halloween theme!  We put these little goody bags together and thought they turned out pretty cute!  Sharing how simple they are to make and what we put inside incase you are planning a little spooky party of your own!  Here is Autumn’s little party invite so you can see the color scheme we went with.

Halloween Boo Bag

To make these “BOO” bag we started with white treat bags and simply colored ghost eyes on them with sharpie.  My daughter did this after I used a pencil and drew the eyes for her.  We then printed out the “BOO” pennant flag from THIS Etsy shop.  I love supporting other small shops and it is such a time saver for me not to have to design this.  We used cardstock paper, cut them and glued them to the wooden dowels.  I found a pack of mixed ribbon from Michaels and we just tied them to the bottom of the little flags.

Halloween Birthday

Autumn is VERY into pop-it’s this year.  So we had to go with some Halloween pop-its as a cute little favor for the goody bags.  We also add some glow in the dark slime, spooky treats and glow sticks for trick or treating!

Halloween Party Halloween Goody Bag

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This past weekend we celebrated my sister and her upcoming fall wedding with a bachelorette weekend on Cape Cod.  My aunt has a beach house on a lake in Mashpee (C.C.) and graciously offered to host a group of girls for the weekend.  As we was brainstormed and planned out the weekend, I thought “what would be a nice way to kick off the weekend with guests arriving later on Friday that felt different from your typical restaurant dinner out?”.  I’ve seen these lux style picnic dinners on beaches popping up all over Insta and Pinterest.  I knew this would be the perfect setting and occasion to plan an event like this.  Also, I knew it would be a memorable evening for my sister one that she wouldn’t see coming and that she’d really love!   .

Before I share photos of the magical evening, First let me share some of the decor that made the evening vibe and vision come to life.  What we purchased vs. what we rented from local rental companies.  The boho vibe is a style that consists of lots of layered neutrals and greenery.  Very muted but greenery or very light shades of either pink or teal or rust can be added depending on your preference.   You can absolutely build and DIY a boho (low to ground) picnic table with wood, pallets or plywood (covered of course with linens) but we had such a large group that building three of them and transporting to Cape Cod seemed a bit challenging.  Renting three kids tables was so easy.  If you can find a local rental company check to see if they carry small children tables.

Boho Beach Picnic // Decor List

To Rent:

  • Three children height tables (perfect amount of space for a group of 17)
  • Dinner and salad plates
  • Cutlery
  • Table linens (3 long table cloth as well as napkins)

To Purchase (click the affiliate link to go to similar or the same item):

*A few extra long white curtains or sheets incase you need to drape more fabric is also a good idea to cover the sand or to layer over the tables if table clothes don’t cover completely. 

Food:

My aunt’s home is close enough to the beach that family style food could be cooked and brought down to the beach.  I knew that I could handle the decor and set up but for food I didn’t want the pressure of also cooking, so we hired Chef Adam Munroe and his team with Perfect Strangers Boston to help us come up with a delicious menu for our boho beach picnic.  We also used him last year for my Sister- In- Laws Backyard Bachelorette (aka during pandemic) which you can see here.  Other food ideas; you could also get the event/picnic catered from a local restaurant.  If you don’t have a large guest list keep it simple with some fancy charcuterie boards and pre-mixed cocktails. 

Boho Beach Picnic // The Set Up:

You can see the drop cloth makes a great base layer for the picnic. If you have less guests you could probably just use one drop cloth. Next we set up tables (bring a broom to sweep off the sand as you go. We then added the linens to the children size rental tables. You can see how the ends of the tables were showing the metal legs (vibe killer) so we had some extra white sheer curtains that we tucked under the ends to hide the metal legs. We then layered the runners down the center we used two but definitely could have used a third.

Boho Beach Picnic

I used blades of long beach grass and tied the napkins for a free napkin ring and to tie in some of those green tones. The chef and his team created a wonderful menu for us that was incredible!

We spread out the centerpieces which was a combination of pampas grass, candle, ivy and lanterns/woven vase at the center of each table. You want to be sure there is room for the food to be set down so I didn’t want to go too crazy with the centerpieces.

If you have any neutral pillows add those to the drop clothes and scatter rugs and of course if you have a pop of color in your theme incorporate that as well for example a pale pink velvet pillow or floor cushion would be so pretty amongst all the creams and whites.

Happy Bride to Be!!!

Thinking of hosting your own boho beach picnic?! I hope this post helps you achieve the look and gives you the tips to host an event like this. Between hiring a chef and renting some items it really made it so easy. Finding the decor and collecting the items was fun for me and I’m hoping to repurpose them all in our Vermont house. However the thought of renting it all out has crossed my mind too! Pin this post for later if you want to remember all the details.

Happy Decorating!

Jordan

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Hello Friends!!  I had the honor of hosting a very special party this past weekend, one that filled my heart so big and made me smile even bigger.  It’s been a tough few months for everyone.  We are living in a new normal with lots of uncertainties.  I feel deeply for the people that have been so very sick and also for those who have missed celebrating major life events such as graduations, weddings, etc… due to this pandemic.  We were supposed to travel to Italy this summer for my brother’s wedding.  Goes with out saying that trip has been postponed but their wedding has not!  We are so excited for their big day in just a couple weeks which will be super small family affair.

I know that each state is different right now in terms of gatherings and gathering sizes.  I’m writing this post to share ideas and a because I love documenting a happy occasion such as welcoming a beautiful person, that I care for very much into our family.  So many things we used to take for granted have been cancelled; going to hear live music, eating at a fantastic restaurant just to name a few that aren’t the same anymore- including Bachelorette’s.   I decided to surprise my soon to be Sister-in-law with an evening on our patio filled with great food, bubbles and live music!

Bar + a Backdrop:

If you are hosting a backyard Bachelorette you want to make your patio or deck area have a fun focal point.  I think the bar is the perfect spot to do that.  I started by building a bar with pipe shelves, pipes and wood.  I wanted a place to display pretty cups, reusable straws and of course wine/champagne in some pretty ice molds that I made.  Also for citrus infused water.  I hung faux greenery on 3m clips and then added florals to hide them.  Over the faux greenery hung the balloon “BACH” short for bachelorette 😉

Bachelorette Table Decor:

I decided to go with a citrus and floral theme… I found awesome faux lemon/orange stems at the Target Dollar spot as well as faux lemons and oranges.  I grouped those down the center of the table with tiki torches to keep the bugs away.  I then added real cut citrus that we used a torch to give a charred look to the fruit also helped keep bugs away!  It was the perfect very simple table focus.  We wanted to keep it very laid back so there wasn’t any formal sit down meal or sit down table settings.  The food was passed to each person individually and was all small serving tapa style food with HUGE flavor by personal Chef Adam Munroe of Perfect Strangers Boston.  I can’t recommend his food enough for a special event, birthday party or shower.   It worked perfectly for our little backyard bachelorette party.

Music to set the Mood:

Nothing is better than live music on a warm summer evening with a glass of wine.  We wanted to bring the fun atmosphere to this backyard Bachelorette so we hired a local trio called It’s A “J” Thing to play for us for a couple hours.  They are an amazing group that I’ve seen play before at different bars (pre-covid) and at other events.  I always kept them in mind and thankfully they had last minute availability to play for us!   Music in general can make or break a party in my opinion and live music really does set the vibe fore an amazing night.  I knew these guys played a mix of genres perfect for varying ages and music sensibilities.  Everyone at there that evening was a fan!!

Most importantly the guest of honor was surprised and couldn’t believe the little shindig we threw for her!  I mean she has to put up with our crazy family so it’s the least we can do 😉  I’m just kidding!  Honestly seeing the people I love and care for happy is the most rewarding feeling.  I had so much fun planning this and setting it all up to celebrate her and welcome her into our family.

So she was very very surprised!  Of course didn’t expect any of this which makes it all even better! Friends, these are definitely some crazy times, but through them if you can find a way to safely host a small gathering, with your close family/friends than I hope you are able to if it’s something you are comfortable with.   Celebrate those special moments with your loved ones because that is really what life is all about.   I take nothing for granted anymore that is for sure.

I hope you guys enjoyed hearing about this fun celebration I hosted!  I couldn’t have done it with out the help of my Mom and Sisters as well!  It was a night for the bright to be, really for all of us to enjoy the simple-happy things in life.   One we will never forget!

Happy Celebrating!

Jordan

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Levi is our English Yellow Lab he is the sweetest pup.  He really is like our third child.  We recently just celebrated his third birthday.  Today, I wanted to share some photos from his party and how the decor turned out, I whipped it together in like two hours.   I shared a bunch from the party in real time over on Instagram.  Be sure to follow the fun at @jordecor to see more of our family life and my decor ideas!

We invited several dogs over (my sister’s each have a dog and my brother in law and his family just got a dog so there was 4 total!) it was so cute to see them all play together and hang with their people on our patio too.

As you can imagine it was really hard getting all four of them in a photo so this is as good as we got!! Levi is clearly smiling here!  So cute.

I couldn’t resist myself with the toilet bowl water sign!  It just made me giggle!

The Food was simple some snacks for the pups and for the people.  I did a platter of fruit which didn’t make it into the photos because it was so hot this day that I kept refrigerating it.   Each dog got to take a bag of treats home as their “favor”.

I used left over turf as a runner, for the food and centerpieces.  It just made it look so puppy friendly.  You could also fill a large hurricane vase with tennis bowls as a centerpiece but we were fresh out of new ones and I didn’t think chewed up tennis balls would look as cute 😉

Our kids also set up a super cute obstacle course for the pups which I didn’t end up getting a lot of photos of but it was just so cute to watch the dogs and the kids have so much fun together!  This was the first “pet” party I ever threw and it was so so adorable!

Since I literally whipped this party together somewhat last minute, I also whipped together some cupcakes for dessert!  I melted chocolate and poured it into a bag, then created chocolate dog bones for the top of the cupcakes.  After putting them in the fridge I popped them off and added them on top of the frosting and added some mini chocolate chips too. 

The Pups had homemade dog popsicles that Autumn made with yogurt and fresh fruit puree but unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of them because the pups ate them so fast!!!!  The popsicles were perfect because it was 90!  I hope you enjoyed seeing some photos from Levi’s Birthday Paw-ty!

Happy Decorating,

Jordan

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This past weekend we hosted a Unicorn Spa Birthday party with 9 of my daughters friends!  I’m excited to share some photos from the party and the activities we did to keep them busy for a 2-2.5 hours.   The party was mostly inside our house, our house isn’t huge so we didn’t have a large party it was just the right size and thankfully with some extra helping hands the party was a huge success!

My daughter loves getting her nails done and loves unicorns so what better party theme than a Unicorn Spa party? Right?  I’ve been very excited for this party since we decided on the theme.  Unicorn stuff is everywhere so it was easy for me to find great party decor to make this a super cute part for my 6 year old!  

The party started at 1:30.  I knew there wouldn’t be too much time for sitting and eating a meal so I kept the food simple with fruit, veggies, snacks, cookies and homemade rice krispie treats.  Since the party theme was a spa I decided to hire a face painter to give the girls unicorn make up AKA a lot of glitter and jewels!  Best to do this part outside if possible.  Once the girls arrived they waited for their unicorn make up before coming into the spa.  They even got lipstick!

Welcome to the Spa!

Girls entered into our kitchen and had a pink silk robe and a pair of flip flops waiting for them (I got the flip flops on clearance from old navy online). It was absolutely adorable seeing them all putting on their robes. It honestly made me want a spa day with all my girlfriends! They grabbed a snack and some pink lemonade before heading into the spa room!

The Favors

For our Unicorn Spa favors I purchased these buckets from Party City for $1.50 each and filled them with; a pink loofa (found at target dollar spot) this unicorn mask sheet, a bath bomb (also from target) and this pretty hair clip.

The Unicorn Spa

Our Unicorn Spa was actually our playroom that I rearranged so that we could fit more kids in for pedicures. All of the pedicure and manicure things I purchased at the dollar tree or family dollar store. They have everything you need there for this and all very reasonable. I rolled a plastic sheet underneath a plus rug to make it extra cozy. I got baskets an filled them with a pumice stone, filer, nail brush and a little towel to dry their feet. I also got plastic gloves for my helpers to wear if they wanted to.

I made this simple focal wall and photo back drop wall with streamers, ribbon, chiffon table runners and some tissue poofs I got at the Dollar Store. My daughter and I made the floral 6 by cutting a 6 out of cardboard and hot gluing florals to it. She loved helping with this craft!
I also searched around the house for whatever unicorn themed decor we had like this fun pillow!

I’m so lucky my family was willing to help me because there is no way I could have attended all these little girls cute feet! Once they were done getting their pedicures I made a little manicure station on the outside of the playroom so they took turns going between manicure and pedicure stations. I also printed out spa and unicorn coloring sheets and had that on the floor with some markers so they colored while their nails dried. I was nervous about smudging happening all over my house but luckily the coloring sheets helped.

Last minute addition to the tubs of water were these gems that I found in the craft store. The girls thought it was so cool to move them around with the warm water and bubbles.

After nails came HAIR! These girls got pampered. I hired a local girl that works at a salon to do the girls hair. She set up a little braid bar and gave the girls whatever braid they wanted so this was the last party of the spa day. Once they were done with their hair they could sit at the table and get ready for cake and ice-cream! I made sure to also purchase mirrors at the dollar store too because they wanted to see how they looked of course!

The Table Decor

I always find that I’m much more into the party decor prep vs. the party food prep. The food is where I always feel like I just don’t have enough time or energy left. I should have definitely asked for some help or planned in advance with a baker. The cake is a GROCERY STORE CAKE. Baking is really not my thing and I’m not ashamed to admit that, you can’t always do it all right? I added this adorable unicorn cake topper and gold candles to my store bought cake and it looked amazing!! Plus 6 year olds don’t really notice the difference right?!

I added simple gold touches to the table with a gold paper runner, gold cups and straws. I let the birthday girl pick out the fun napkins and she loved the rainbow. I used some pretty gold votive candles I already had on hand which added more sparkle. I picked up some simple white roses at the grocery store too and it just made the whole thing look so glam and fancy. I took out the greenery and put them in mason jars to keep it minimal and fresh. The back wall I put up a “Happy Birthday” banner with a fun balloon banner to really make a POP.

I’d say all in all the party was a huge hit! The girls seemed happy and I think this age is the perfect age to do something like this. There were times they had to wait for their turn and they all did with no problem. The coloring pages and music also made the party super fun too! We did some freeze dance when we finished up in the Unicorn Spa room. I’m so happy I enlisted the help of my family members but also that I hired a couple professionals to come in as well. I hope you enjoy seeing photos from the party and that it gives you some ideas for future birthday parties you might host! Definitely start planning and purchasing your decor/favors before. Target, Amazon, Dollar Tree, Party City and using stuff from my own house was really helpful.

Also as a gift here are two downloads one is a party favor tag and the other is the welcome to the party sign that I created for the party. Feel free to print and use them just please give me credit or tag me of you do!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out our fun Unicorn Spa Party!

Jordan


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My sister and future brother -in-law have been together since they were in highschool- they are true high school sweethearts.  I’m so happy for them to finally tie the knot and make it official!!  They’re wedding is coming up this May and I’m so excited to share photos from her Cocktail Bridal Shower this past weekend!  When she told me she wanted to do something different than a brunch and instead have a cocktail party, I’d never been to or even heard of a Cocktail Bridal Shower before.  My own shower and all the subsequent ones I’ve ever been to, which were lovely, were during the day either brunch or lunch, you sit, chat and eat a yummy meal while the bride opens presents.

Her wish was to have a cocktail style shower that would allow her to really spend time with her guests and enjoy their company.  So that’s what we did!!  I found a local venue Little Bird Events to host us  with a hip industrial chic vibe and it was truly the perfect back drop for this event.   Hosting a Cocktail Bridal Shower at your own house would be a great option too, however we had a lot of guests and needed a bigger space.  Here are some of the details and photos from the day!

THE INVITATIONS:

The invitations were designed by my friend Kelly @KelisticDesigns we went with a simple white and green theme invite and added an additional card informing the guests that her shower will be a display shower (aka no opening gifts)…

“DISPLAY SHOWER:
Your thoughtful gifts will be put on display, so no need to wrap it anyway.  A ribbon or tie will do just fine leaving us with more time to visit and dine!”

THE DECOR:

The white floral and greenery theme, with hints of gold were the perfect accents to the beautiful event space with it’s industrial chic vibes. I went to local thrift stores collecting brass candle sticks to go down the long beautiful farm tables.  Simple greenery, mixed with faux white roses and layered over the prettiest chiffon runners added sophistication the long farm tables.   I purchased large cardboard letters from A.C. Moore and spray painted them gold and added white flowers and greener to the corners.  We used double stick tapeto adhere them to the large industrial doors- which was the PERFECT backdrop for photos through out the evening.  As guests entered the space they were welcomed with this stunning vintage mirror, which I rented and had hand lettered from Taylor @Topknottypography

I love how the gold accents of the mirror tie in so perfectly with the metal door in the background.

Here is the “Display” table where guests placed their unwrapped presents for the bride to see!

FOOD AND DRINK:

For the food and drink the venue served beer, wine and champagne.  Then we did a signature drink of a blood orange sangria which was so delish! The food was a mix of a stationary charcuterie table and passed hors d’oeuvres  and for dessert we did a cupcake display with all different types of flavors and frostings.

The “Love is Sweet” sign is from Hobby Lobby.

DATE JAR & FAVORS:

As a way for the guests to get involved we had a Date Jar- we used some tongue depressors, an antique blue mason jar and a letter board to ask the guests to share their best date ideas with the soon to be Mr. and Mrs.  For the favors we ordered these little tags from Etsy and printed them ourselves, then wrapped them around mini wine bottles.  We did a variety of wines because we liked the different colors.  To display them I took some crates from my home and turned them upside down to get different heights.

It was a beautiful shower and I’ve never seen my sister so happy!  We shared so many great laughs and conversations.  I loved spending time mingling with everyone and I know she did too.  I have to say I think I’m on team Cocktail Bridal Shower… I mean why have a brunch when you can have a cocktail party?!  I’m just so excited and happy for my sister!!

Thank you for stopping by! I hope this inspires you if you ever are hosting a bridal shower for someone you love.  It’s fun to try something different and outside the norm.

Jordan

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This year my daughter truly started to come out of her shell at school and build some friendships with girls in her class… it makes my heart so full to see her little budding personality and excitement for going to school.  I wanted to do something special for her and some of her new “Gals” so I decided to host a little Galentine’s Day Playdate.  If “Galentine” is a new term for you, it’s basically when you celebrate Valentine’s Day with your best gal pals!  I really do think it’s nice to take time to appreciate all the loving relationships in your life and that’s what makes February 14th a special day (not just for the candy and the roses although that’s always good too ;)).

For the girl’s Galentine’s Play Date I made the playroom festive with balloons a Valentine teepee and lots of music for dancing!

I also thought it would be fun to set up a cupcake decorating table and have a little craft at the end.

For the table set up I decided to use wrapping paper as a runner because the colors tied in so well together.  I love using wrapping paper as a runner because its inexpensive and there are SO many options.  Basically all of the party decor I already had on hand.  My Rae Dunn Ceramic bowls and vase which I collect (from T.J. Maxx and Marshalls), the pink chargers I grabbed at Michael’s last year for Easter and I was so excited when I realized they would be perfect for this holiday as well.  I grabbed the paper goods and wrapping paper as well as the heart garland from Target.

I baked some cupcakes (store bought, I mean who has time to do them from scratch?) with store bought vanilla icing (again who has time) For toppings I did crushed graham crackers, mini chocolate chips, strawberrys, conversation hearts and lots of sprinkles!


They loved decorating and most importantly eating their creations!  We did a quick little craft after creating Valentine’s Crowns

What a fun Gal’s Day celebration it was!! They laughed, giggled and ate a ton of junk food!   I hope my daughter grows up with loving friendships and remembers this special little playdate!

Have you ever celebrated Valentine’s Day with your Gals? What fun things do you like to do??

Thanks for stopping by!

Jordan

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