misc

The Daisy 40th Anniversary party was a good sized celebration, with a lot of guests.  And a lot of glasses.  In these circumstances, wine charms can be very handy things.  I'm always forgetting where I set my glass down, especially when I'm playing hostess and photographer at a party.  

I'm guest posting over on Catch My Party again today!

This time, it's a tutorial for how to make your very own wine glass holders, perfect for a romantic picnic.

Who has lots of cookie cutters and various cake decorating stuff?

(raises hand)

Who always vows to get more organized every New Year?

(raises hand)

It's a perpetual struggle in our house, but I finally have a good system for coralling all my cookie cutters and various small cake decorating supplies, and I found the solution in the scrapbook section of the craft store.

We've probably all seen the beautiful snowflake shaped homemade marshmallows from Martha Stewart.  I've made homemade marshmallows before, and they're fun to make and delicious.  But sometimes you just don't have that kind of time (or perhaps a stand mixer, which makes making marshmallows a lot easier).

I recently made a gorgeous veil (through our sister wedding site, Tradewind Tiaras, Inc.).  Ivory silk tulle, chapel length, one layer, with the most beautiful Alencon lace the bride had found herself and sent to me.  When I was done making the veil, I had a bit of lace and fabric left over.  I hate to waste even a few inches of such gorgeous material, so I came up with a fun way to create a keepsake Christmas ornament with the fabric and lace.

Every spooky masquerade calls for a mysterious costume.

A flowing tulle cape was easy to throw together, and had just the kind of diaphanous, floating mystery I was after.  

Do you have about 50 rolls of wrapping paper cluttering up a closet somewhere in your house?  I know I do.  And it always seems like I can never find what I need.  It's a boy birthday party, and all I have is Barbie birthday paper.  It's a bridal shower and I have tons of Christmas wrap, but nothing appropriate or helpful for that event.  And so I go out and buy more.  (You'd think at some point I'd have everything I need, but somehow that hasn't happened yet).

I absolutely love the vintage striped paper straws that you can now find from many retailers.  They're so cute!  Colorful!  Not plastic!  But really, why stop there?  

I love Evite, don't get me wrong.  The ease of the rsvp list, how quickly I can send the invitation...  I use the service, I really do.  But no level of convenience will cure me of my love of stationary and beautiful invitations.  Sometimes, I just need to create something physical, tactile, special.

Piñatas are always so much fun, and it just wouldn't feel like a birthday in our family without one.  But we like our parties to be family affairs, and that usually means the guests span a large age range.  That works well for the actual whacking of the piñata (the bigger kids actually have a chance of breaking it open!), but when it comes to the dive for candy, it's a problem.  Tears.  Accusations.  Unjust distribution of candy.  It's not pretty.  

That's why, in our family, we do it a little differently.