I am Loving: Homemade Photo Booths

I've been seeing a lot of this trend lately in the blogosphere.  And while I love the fancy, professional photo booths that print out strips of photos (like I talked about here), today I am loving homemade versions. 

 I haven't had an opportunity to do this at a party yet, but I will have to soon! 

Here's some of my favorites from around the web: 

This adorable booth is from a Circus Party by Tori of Thoughtfully Simple. It's made from a refrigerator box, fabric, and paint.  There was a box of props for guests to pose with too. 

This one is from the Gingham Birthday Brunch thrown by Kellie at This Blessed Nest.  Kellie's DIY instructions are here.

This one is also from This Blessed Nest, from the recent Cute as a Bug Party.  I LOVE this! It couldn't be any cuter!

Jenn from Hostess with the Mostess always has great photo booths at her parties. Hers are more like a "photo area" with room for many models and lots of fun props to match the theme. 

From her Something Blue Bridal Shower.

From her Sunshine & Love Bridal Shower. 

I love the idea of having these at a bridal shower.  It serves many purposes, but mainly as a fun activity for guests and a great keepsake for the bride-to-be. 

You can also keep it very simple and still end up with cute photo-ops for your party. 

It doesn't get more simple than these: 

Christy of P is for Party used an adorable Ikea frame as a mobile photo booth at her son's It's a Wonderful Life birthday party. 

 Just a quilt hung as a backdrop, but isn't the cutest?  They had lots of props too at this Lumber Jack & Jill Engagement Party by Frilly Milly Events. 

Love this simple take on the photo booth by Victoria of City Cradle Design.  DIY instructions are here. This is from her Sherbert & Spice Birthday Party.

Martha Stewart Weddings has this graphic available for free download here.  They suggest getting it printed on large paper at a copy center and using it at a wedding reception. 

Now, do yourself a favor and hurry and check out all the parties I've linked to here if you haven't already! With photo booths this creative, you know there are many other details worth clicking over for!

Conference: Bloggy Bootcamp San Francisco

I attended my first blogging conference this weekend: Bloggy Bootcamp San Francisco!

The location could not have been more amazing. 

The Westin St Francis in Union Square. 

Several of us remarked it would be a beautiful place to have a wedding...and then as we were wrapping up at the end of the day there was a wedding about to start! Lucky couple.  This place was seriously amazing. 

The conference was held in this room. 

Lunch was in this room. 

But the most gorgeous thing was the views! 

The day was filled with great speakers, excited attendees, and tons of great information. 

Pretty Tiffany, of SITS, has definitely found her calling in running this conference. I absolutely loved hearing what she had to say.  Whenever I felt a little overwhelmed by all the information, she would bring it down a notch and remind us all the most of all blogging is about having fun.

I did learn that I might be the only person in the world not on Twitter yet! Considering joining, but I'll keep you all posted. 

I have a stack of adorable cards sitting here on my computer desk and I can't wait to dive in and explore the blogs of all the amazing women I met at Bootcamp!

DIY Idea: Back to School Cupcakes

Summer fun isn't quite over for me, but for many kids its already finished! (It flies by, doesn't it?)

This sweet school bus, from Taste of Home, would be a perfect to soothe any back-to-school blues, don't ya think? 

Find the step-by-step instructions (with pictures!) here. 

Real Party: 60th Birthday Party

I've been talking about the 60th Birthday Party that my friend Ruby and I helped to style recently.  Our clients were very happy with how everything turned out & I'm so excited to finally share the details! 

The party was thrown by the birthday girl's 2 sons and daughters in law.  Each daughter in law had received tea sets from the birthday girl as wedding gifts, so we knew this had to be incorporated into the decor.  We decided to make the party a tea party, and then settled on the theme of "Six-Tea".  It was so much fun! 

First up: the dessert table!

The centerpiece was a teapot with flowers and a custom sign with a teapot graphic that I made.  

(We had a little mishap with the styling: the hostess in charge of bringing all the flowers was running very late, so we improvised and found some in the backyard.  I think they looked okay.)

Goodies on the dessert table included cake pops, chocolate covered strawberries, yogurt covered pretzels, vanilla cupcakes, sixlet candies, frosted brownie bites, and madeline cookies. 

All the candy was labeled with a custom label with the teapot graphic. 

The teapot graphic was also featured on the to-go boxes. 

Also in the kitchen was the tea station that I showed you recently.  We rented a hot water percolator, and displayed the two hostesses many tea cups and saucers.  Several kinds of tea and the invitation were also displayed.  Ruby made a {TomKat Studio inspired} garland to hang around the table. 

We also rented several cocktail tables and spread them around the level of the house where the party took place.

On each table was a fabric square to match the dessert table background.  We grouped various other teapots, teacups, and creamers on each table.  With the flower debacle, we had to improvise again, and ended up putting candles and chocolate candies in them.  And my little signs stuck in the spouts. 

The hostesses served made little sandwiches and fruit kabobs, which I did not get a picture of. 

What a great day! When I returned to help clean up, every bite of the desserts was gone! People had packed their to-go boxes full! :) Happy Six-Tea Jaye!

Vendors: 

Tables, linens and hot water percolator were rented from Your Party Rental Company

To-go boxes from Paper Mart

Pretzels from Nuts Online

Sixlets from Candy Direct

Strawberry Rhubarb Cream Cake

Sorry again for the long absence...what a busy summer it has been. 

I've been here...

...relaxing, barbecuing, catching up with friends, and toasting these two...

Jason & Jen
(my good friends who are recently engaged!)

We decorated our cabin with a little last-minute-construction-paper-banner in honor of them!

Enough about my friends' exciting news though, the reason for this post is actually to share a new cake recipe.  (Which was adapted from one that Jen gave me over the weekend.)

Strawberry Rhubarb Cream Cake
Make one yellow boxed cake as directed and pour into greased 9x13 pan
Sprinkle 2 cups of thinly sliced rhubarb and 2 cups thinly sliced strawberries over the uncooked cake
Sprinkle 3/4 cup sugar over the uncooked cake
Pour 1 cup heavy whipping cream over the uncooked cake
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes

We ate it with whipped cream - YUM!

And special thanks to my parents who let me raid their ridiculously-huge rhubarb bush...

...for the baseball-bat-sized rhubarb used to make this cake!

You've got to try this cake, its perfect for summer!

PS thanks for your patience while I get together the post about the Six-Tea party! I promise I'm working on it!

I am Loving: Crochet Graffiti

Quick disclaimer: This post has nothing to do with parties. 

I know many of my readers are crafty, so I thought this was appropriate to share here. 

A few weeks ago we did a weekend trip to Denver with friends.  We had so much fun exploring the city.  

In the middle of downtown was a huge construction site, surrounded by chain linked fence. In other words, it was very ugly. 

But, the 100 yards of fence was completely covered with crocheted flowers.  

It was absolutely beautiful! 

It was mind-boggling how long the display was. 

There were even lady bugs, bumblebees, and other critters worked into the design.  

I did a little research on Google and discovered the display was put together by the Ladies Fancywork Society , at the request of the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs.  It will be up for about 6 months while the Union Station is redone.  The news story is here.  

Bravo Denver!  Love the creative and crafty solution to a potential eye sore! 

I am Loving: Summer Party Play List

image via

We all know that perfectly planned parties require great music.  

This is a detail I have been known to overlook. 

Luckily I can count on Martha in this department! Her summer party playlist is great! 

Check it out here.  I am loving this list for barbeques and other summery shindigs! 

Are you as surprised as I am that Martha's list includes Guns N' Roses?  I guess even Martha likes to rock out in the summer sun!

Now go get your Ipod and get outside! :)

Sneak Peak: 60th Birthday Party

The "Six-Tea" party I told you of recently took place today. It was perfect. I can't wait to share all the details...and I will as soon as I get all the pictures organized. 

For now, here's a little sneak peak of the "tea station", where we displayed the invitation. 

Real Party: Girly Baptism

One of my bloggy friends Jackie Fo recently threw a too-cute party for her niece's baptism. 

In true Jackie Fo style, the party was perfectly coordinated and full of fun DIY details. 

A few of my favorite details: 

The chair decor...simple & sweet. 

These cookies are everywhere lately...and I love Jackie's pink & white versions. 

Such pretty flowers...can't go wrong with mason jars, especially with a touch of raffia!

Custom water bottles, bearing the baby girl's monogram. 

Such a cute party for an adorable little girl! 

Thanks for sharing Jackie!

Check out Jackie's post for more pics and details. 

Inspiration Board: 60th Birthday Party

I've been busy this week preparing for a party I'm styling this weekend, and I realized I haven't even shared the inspiration board yet! 

This is a 60th birthday party. 

My clients are the birthday girl's two sons and daughters-in-law.  They wanted her to have an extra special party.  We came up with the idea of incorporating the tea sets that each daughter in law recieved from the birthday girl as wedding gifts. We are doing a classy tea party, which has be renamed the "Six-Tea" Party! I love this theme - perfect for many milestone parties: 40 becomes"Four-Tea", 50 becomes "Fif-Tea"...I'm sure you get it! :) 

We have lots of fun ideas for the party and I can't wait to share pictures next week. 

In the mean time, here's some of the inspiration photos we collected: 

We're definitely doing some flower arrangements in teapots (via Rachael Ray Everyday), teacups (via The Glamorous Housewife), and creamers (via Project Wedding). 

Finger foods will be a must at this afternoon party, like these little sandwiches (via Merriment Design) & veggie shots (via Bella Grace Party Designs). 

A dessert table will include cupcakes and more! 

And lastly, I love both the delicate paper garland from TomKat Studio (via Project Nursery), and the accordian rosettes (via Pepper Design Blog)...some kind of paper art along these lines will be incorporated!

Stay tuned...