Tag: party decorations

Decorating for Both Christmas and New Year’s Eve
This post is sponsored by Lowe’s. While this was a paid opportunity from Lowe’s, all content and opinions expressed here are my own.

The Christmas to New Year’s transition: it can be done! I cleared the sideboard in our recently finished front entry to create two holiday looks, keeping the same base for both — silvery faux-birch allen + roth candles and white cotton ball ornaments that look like snowballs. Then I made a few easy changes.

I was eager to decorate the entry since we had just worked on the space, but these looks would work equally well for a fireplace mantel, console table, or even down the center of a dining room table.

Christmas

A green wreath and red flowers bring in traditional Christmas color, and the rest of the decorations are in a palette of white, silver, and gold. The neutral base helped ease the transition to the other look.

Small allen + roth gold votive holders are standing in as vases, and I mixed in a few Holiday Living gold plaid ornaments to add more shine. A trio of silver Christmas trees add height, and their texture plays well with the faux-birch candles.

Those candles have such a nice glow. They have a realistic flicker too — my little guy likes to pretend to blow them out and then we have to time the off switch so he thinks he was successful.

New Year’s Eve

Gone are the flowers and the wreath, along with the Christmas tree trio and the plaid ornaments. The most obvious addition is the backdrop of paper pinwheels.

I used two packs of pinwheels for a more full look. I also added a few more of the snowball ornaments to replace the plaid ones. There are two types in the mix — some made from cotton, and these Holiday Living white ball ornaments. They both look like snow and I like the variance in size and texture.

The simple wreath would have still worked for the New Year’s Eve style too, but allen + roth dots and stripes pinwheels are always so fun to break out for a party. They come with double-sided tape to stick them open, but we know the trick of using a paper clip instead so they’ll be reusable, yes? (If you didn’t, now you do.)

You can grab everything for these Christmas and New Year’s Eve looks from Lowe’s.

The base:
For Christmas, add:
For New Year’s Eve, add:
- allen + roth Dots and Stripes Tableware Paper Pinwheels
Christmas Decorating, Simplified

Bonus look number three!

I would do something like the above for a party, or if this was a purely decorative spot like the fireplace mantel, but here’s a quick shot of a pared back everyday version. We keep a tray on the sideboard to catch mail (because without it, paper will pile up and accumulate on any other available horizontal surface). The candles are going to be put to use elsewhere, the plaid ornaments will go on the Christmas tree, and the paper pinwheels are going into my party supply drawer.

This is how the front entry looks for us now, minus the stack of catalogs and other assorted mail that arrives daily. Simplified, but still festive.
November 29, 2016
Decorating for a Cute and Casual Backyard Party

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I was in charge of decorating for a party this past weekend. (Friends! Family! Put me in charge of these things — I love it.) It was a casual get together, but we still wanted to make the space cute.

I got everything we needed from Target, mixing it in with everyday white plates, silverware, and glass tumblers. Once the basics are covered, I think of decorating for a party (especially one without a strict theme) the same way I would for any room, in terms of pattern, color, and texture.

Pattern

The main pattern came in through the rope-print tablecloth and coordinating napkins. From there, I added a couple of substantial vases in stripes and zigzags, and even a patterned pillow that you’ll see a few pictures down.

Tablecloth • Napkins • Wooden Bowl

Color

The tablecloth had a white background with a pattern in navy that was so dark it almost looked black. It covered a table with a weathered gray fence behind it, and we used simple dishes on the table, so to bring in a little more color, I picked up a fun set of triangular serving dishes. A black and white vase with a green top matched one of the dishes, along with the green striped paper straws. A coral candle matched another, and then I hung two strands of colorful raffia tassels along the top of the fence.

Wooden Footed Bowl • Geometric Vase • Striped Vase • Serving Bowl • Candle • Wooden Candle Holder

Rattan Chair • Rattan Stool • Panama Hat • Shirt Dress • Cheese Board • Triangle Serving Dishes

Ignore the crazy hair under my hat. Right now it’s at the baby bangs and borderline mullet growing-it-out phase. (A haircut has been scheduled for next week. Grow it out? Keep it short? Ah, the perpetual struggle of the pixie cut. Hence, the hat!)

Texture

We needed extra seating, so I brought this rattan chair and matching stool outside. The shape and details are great, and they were nice and sturdy — heavier than I expected!

Rattan Chair • Rattan Stool • Black and White Pillow

The rattan was repeated in a tray that corralled drinks, and I also brought in some natural wood with turned candleholders and a footed decorative bowl. (Note that the bowl is not food safe. I placed a plate inside to use it for serving.) Wood and rattan are contrasted with smooth ceramic dishes, serving trays, and a white pitcher, and then the vases added even more depth with matte finishes and details. Plants and flowers are always a must, and of course the tassels in the background were a nice way to bring in even more texture.

The weather cooperated for us and it was so nice to be able to spend time with everyone outside. (Hopefully there’s no more snow to be seen until winter now!) I’d like to think that the decorations added to everyone’s enjoyment too. And I’ll leave you with this pro tip: make sure any adorable dogs present are suitably attired in a bandana to match your party decor.

(Such a party animal.)

April 19, 2016
My Sister’s Bridal Shower

My sister, Ashley, is getting married in September! Here she is with her fiancé, Matt, and a couple of very unevenly matched balloons.

Womp, womp, little blue balloon.

Their bridal shower was held at my house, and Ashley’s best friend, Sarah, co-hosted the party. We had about twenty five guests, but the photos in my post will focus on the decor and details.

I made a display out of paper fans (some that I already owned, and some that were new) to go above the fireplace, and spelled out “Ashley and Matt” with Rifle Paper garland.

I also wanted to do a honeycomb garland, and Jordan offered to send over supplies from the Oh Happy Day Shop (along with the giant Geronimo balloon and Ashley’s “Future Mrs.” headband). I used giant 19″ honeycombs and the tutorial used much smaller ones, so I bought chain instead of string for support. It was helpful for keeping everything in place while adding each piece too, since with string they would have wanted to slide down toward the center.

Brandon bought a couple of dry-erase comic book speech bubbles a few years ago. I’ve used them before at a baby shower photo shoot, but now we got to use them for real! We asked guests to write their best marriage advice for the couple, then snap a photo with it. Here’s Sarah, my co-host.

We had lunch, and then bam, four hundred and forty two desserts.

Queen and pincushion proteas with eucalyptus were a nod to the flowers for the upcoming wedding, along with green trick and little wildflowers.

I made the bridal shower bow bouquet, as one does at these things. I am sure my sister will forever cherish my creation.

Cheers to the happy couple! Everyone had a great time, and we’re all looking forward to the wedding!

August 10, 2015
A Fan of Fans

My sister is getting married in September, and I’ll be co-hosting a bridal shower for her this weekend with her best friend. We’re having it here at the house! I married Brandon in 2004 and my shower was held in his sister’s home (my baby shower too), and now I get to do the same thing all these years later for my little sister. I’m honored, and I’m looking forward to it!

My favorite go-to for parties is always clusters of paper fans. I’ve used them for the kids’ birthdays…

I’ve worked them into photo shoots…

And in one of my favorite styling gigs to date, a foxy baby shower theme…

I have a few other decorating tricks up my sleeve for the party this weekend, but the fans will be making an appearance too. All because I saw them on a blog six years ago. Funny how things get worked into your repertoire — I have a pretty good collection of them now!

I’m nervous (we’ve invited 40 people) and calm at the same time. I’ll know some of the guests that are coming, but there will be a lot of people I’ve never met before too, and I’m hoping everything will go smoothly. I want my sister to have an amazing time.

July 21, 2015
Stars and Stripes Forever

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We had some company over earlier this week, so I took it as an excuse to throw an impromptu backyard party. Setting a nice scene for the people I love always puts a big smile on my face (and theirs too).

I planned and set a Fourth of July table which is a little early, but hey, I’m a blogger! I figured it would be more helpful to give you guys some ideas before the Fourth instead of after. My friends and family are used to these quirks. Besides, it’s not as bad as when I would be designing Christmas cards at this time of year for my stationery shop!

I was pretty excited about the decorating possibilities of our our new table. The old one was in such bad shape that the only option was to cover the whole thing with a tablecloth.

I tucked a handful of little American flags into a pitcher along with one large one. Eleanor and August, like most kids, were happy to each have their own flag to wave after dinner.

I also made some cute paper flags out of decorative scrapbooking paper. I used bamboo skewers for the larger sizes, and I attached the smaller ones to toothpicks. I set the table with our everyday silverware and tucked a little flag under the fork and knife, on top of a white napkin. I used my vintage Star Glow dinnerware as salad plates because they reminded me of fireworks, and I set them on top of plain white dishes.

The red and white striped runner on the table was a no-sew project. I cut the length to size, then tucked in the edges along the sides. Eventually I’ll hem it so that it will hold up in the wash, but if you’re in a pinch, nobody’s really going to notice.

I wanted the flowers to be mostly white, so I picked up some hydrangeas and a ton of little daisies. I did put a couple of blue delphinium in with the hydrangeas, but didn’t go for full red, white, and blue floral arrangements. I put the hydrangeas and delphinium in a low vintage bowl with some greenery; the stems were kept in place by first criss-crossing clear tape along the top.

I tucked a few of my paper flags in to the centerpiece, but the daisies were cut short and gathered into little bunches. I used whichever small glass vases I could find for them, then tied them all together (literally) by tying ribbon around each one. Some had wide navy grosgrain and others had thin navy and white polka dot ribbon, all from the local craft store. I also added some of the wide ribbon to the handles of my pitchers and tied them into bows.

Seeing everyone gathered around a table that I’ve decorated for them always makes me happy. Are you planning anything yet for the Fourth?

June 28, 2012