Our Wedding Anniversary Arch

Been thinking about setting up a beautiful arch as a backdrop for our Anniversary blessing in the garden.  Or simply using it for beautiful photographs of ourselves and our guests.  I want the arch to be pretty and functional at the same time so I am very happy to realize that we already have the skeleton for the arch:

The planter arch will serve as the perfect backdrop for our Anniversary blessing and photographs.  I am thinking of replacing the pots with actual bouquets of flowers -- lavender if I can afford it.  Planning to use ribbons and lace as well to further beautify the arch.

I have some dried lavender bunches for my crafts so I tied them to the pot holders with pretty ribbons to see the effect.  I think it looks really pretty!

Adding the lace backdrop makes the arch even more romantic!

 

I am going to fill the rest of the pot holders with dried lavender bunches to have a pretty and aromatic effect.

I am really happy that I am able to use home items for the party.  A little DIY to make them gorgeous, of course!

DIY Gift Basket

My dear friend, Candy, invited me to her family's home for Christmas.  It was a spur of the moment thing and I didn't have any gifts for them.  I then thought of putting together a gift basket with all sorts of goodies.  Went to Whole Foods Market and bought some cheese, crackers, fruits, nuts, spiced preserves, truffles and salami.  I had a few good bottles of wine so I included two nice ones in the basket.  Also used some of my lace fabric and wrapped everything in it:

Whole Foods Market goodies!

Wrapped everything in lace and tied it with ribbon.  Added some pretty artificial flowers for a more festive look.

DIY Party Hostess and Aunt Marly

Sure, I could have bought a ready made Gift Basket but it was so much fun to buy all the goodies I wanted to share with this wonderful family and to creatively put them all together in a big basket. I loved making this special gift basket and my good friend, Candy, and her family loved it too!

 

Making the napkin pretty -- part deux

This is another way of presenting the napkin set -- in fact, I am going to do this at my June party:

I still used my Lavender stamper for the napkin and simply folded it in half again.  Inserted a lavender sprig and voila!  Doesn't it make a plain napkin look gorgeous?

I also placed my place card on top of the napkin.  I think this is super adorable!

Doing this to all the napkin sets will definitely make the tables very pretty!

Making the napkin pretty....

In one of my earlier posts, I had a picture of the napkin and flatware set I will use at the June party.  It was a boring picture since the napkin was plain.  I figured out a way to make the napkin pop...by stamping it with my large and beautiful lavender stamper....

This is plain and boring! But watch what my lavender stamp does to

this napkin:

Much better!

Add the flatware and a lavender sprig to make it more elegant!

Tying a pretty ribbon around it....

I just had to think outside the box to make my plain napkin and flatware set beautiful and elegant!

Another lavender-inspired favor idea....

Been browsing the web for more creative ideas to use organic dried lavender besides the usual garnish for drinks and decoration for my place cards and favor bags.  Came across the idea of using lavender for bath teas.  Since lavender is pretty pricey, I thought of mixing it with another component but I did not want to use bath salts.  I have never been a fan of bath salts since I find them too drying for my skin.  I did an online search and found Oatmeal!  Oatmeal is very gentle and nourishing for dry skin.  My plan is to grind the oats and lavender buds together to make a very aromatic and soothing powder.  In my pantry, I found alot of unused Tea filters which I will use to contain the powder. 
After filling with the aromatic powder, I will tie the filter with a pretty lavender ribbon then insert some dried lavender sprigs on top to make a small bouquet.  What a perfect party favor!  I will even send the guests home with a container of the ground oats and lavender so they can enjoy more soothing baths in the future.

Easy ingredients to find and easy to make with gorgeous results!

Very cute Place card holder

I bought these favor bags online only to discover that they were too tiny to use for my favors.  I was so dismayed and was about to return them when I thought of a perfect way to use these minute bags -- place card holders!  I stuck a tag on the bag and wrote a name and table number on it.  I will also use a customized stamp on the back that has our name, date and occasion.  To make them functional, I am filling these bags with necessities like a small pack of hand wipes and small mint tins. 

My cute place card holders....(-;

With mints...(-;

With a Lavender sprig

I think these bags will look gorgeous on top of a large tray filled with lavender buds!

Customizing paper cards and bags

I recently discovered the joys of stamping!  I bought this really cute stamp with dried lavender bunches hanging as the design...just adorable!  I used this stamp for my Thank you cards and favor bags to make them even more special. 

The lavender stamp made the bags and cards very unique and beautiful.  For the favor bag, I also used my hole puncher and inserted a lavender twig to add more elegance to the bag.  I can't wait to hand these out to our guests at the party!

The Lavender stamp made the card very elegant.

Very cute.  Looks like something I would get at a posh spa...(-;

This is a very easy project and extremely fun!  I am very happy with the way the card and favor bag look.  I will definitely do more stamping in the future....(-;

What I am doing with dried lavender...

I recently received my ultra cute Anniversary Lavender favors from Little French Boutique as well as dried Lavender bunches from Lavender Fanatic.  Right now the room smells heavenly with all this lavender.  Its a bit early to get them for the June party so I will store them in a box to make sure the scent remains. 

In this box, I am also including the Turquoise hand fans that I will be giving away at the party, Thank you cards, place cards and gift bags.  By storing them with Lavender, I am sure they will smell beautiful at the party.  This reminds me of the scented stationary I used to collect and receive from classmates in grade school.  Brings back alot of memories.

One more very important thing I am storing with my dried lavender....

My Anniversary dress will smell gorgeous in June...(-;

Wedding anniversary Flower theme and Colors

My Wedding Anniversary party revolves around a single flower theme and 2 colors -- Lavender and Turquoise.  These were the original colors I chose for my Wedding 10 years ago.  The colors were fashionable back then as they are now.  For the flower theme of the party, I chose the beautiful and aromatic Lavender - which also happens to be one of my Wedding colors.  Lavender Fanatic's shipment of dried Lavender just arrived and I am so ecstatic as I smell the gorgeous scent of this herb and flower.

I think having a unified theme and color(s) sets the tone and accent of the party.  I am planning to get several bunches of Lavender  - fresh this time - to decorate the buffet and eating area.  These dried bunches will be useful for my projects.  One of these simple but oh so cute projects is my place card.

I've seen this in quite a few blogs -- embellishing place cards with flowers.  Instead of using a blade to cut an incision on the paper, I bought a heart-shaped hole puncher to punch cute holes on one of the sides of a mini flash card.  Then I inserted a sprig of dried lavender and voila!  Tres jolie!

Other projects I will do are my Thank you cards and favor gift bags -- will be writing a separate entry on those.

The Turquoise color will be an accent in the party.  I bought Turquoise fans to give to my lady friends to use at the party.  I am sure I will get gorgeous pictures as the ladies cool themselves with these hand fans.

Stay tuned ladies for more cute ideas and projects I will be doing for the Anniversary party.

Summer hat project for a good cause....(-;

Braved the Holiday crowd and went to Michael's Craft store tonight to gather my materials for my floral summer hats.  I bought ten straw hats, a bunch of flowers, a few butterflies and some ribbon.  Michael's has a huge sale and I got the flowers for seventy-nine cents a strand -- very cheap!  The ribbons were a dollar per spool - not bad either!  Now all I need is a glue gun and my very talented sister, Lynn, to help me put all this together.   These beautiful summer hats will be sold at very affordable prices at the June party.  Proceeds will go towards my nephew, Lucian's college fund.  Lucian is my sister, Lynn's little son.  They are a young family and as such, need the support they can get from family and friends as they go through the challenges of family life.

This is what I have so far.  I took apart the flowers from their stems and arranged the flower heads on each hat to visualize the different designs for the hats.  Still need a few things like ribbons and perhaps more flowers.  My sister, Lynn, is coming over today to look at the hats and to help me with this project.  Its going to be a fun afternoon of girl bonding and crafts.

This is my very first attempt at making floral hats...and I luv it!

Me making my very first floral hat...(-;

My uber talented sister, Lynn

My gorgeous hat -- Lynn made this...(-;

I am wearing this to my 10th year Wedding Anniversary in June.  It will be a garden party so these hats will be just perfect!

So don't be afraid to grab that glue gun and start making your very own beautiful DIY creation.

Illuminating lanterns the safe and easy way...

Been quite worried about using burning candles for the cute lanterns I have bought online.  I know the lanterns will be fine with them but what about the tables they are on.  The lantern instructions stated to make sure the surface is heat resistant.  I'll be renting linen and tables for the June party and I can't run the risk of burning those linens.  One idea I had was to use heat resistant pads underneath but I like this idea better....

I placed my battery operated floral lights by Martha Stewart inside the lanterns and voila! Beautiful effect!  Any battery operated lights will do....so Christmas lights are perfect too!  My friend Rina's question on reusing bottles inspired me to do this.  Very simple and very safe.  I know my friends will love this as we continue to enjoy the party at night....(-;

Jars and cans - part 2

 

Been thinking about what else I can do with these jars and tin cans.  The yogurt jars have such large mouths that it will take a whole bunch of lavender flowers to make them look pretty -- not very cost effective.  I then discovered that these yogurt jars will make perfect mini ice buckets for my lavender facial sprays that I will put on each table!  This will keep the sprays chilled and oh so refreshing when the guests use them.

Don't you think the tin cans make perfect individual sized ice buckets for wine and other beverages?  Stick them in the freezer for extra frozen effect, add some ice and you have an inexpensive wine and beverage cooler!

A rather informal place setting...

Yup, this is pretty much how the place setting is going to look like at the June party.  It is very informal using paper plates, rice paper napkins as chargers, and mason jars as drinking glasses.  Not what you would expect for a Wedding Anniversary...or is it?  I learned how to fold the napkin from Youtube, and bought compostable, disposable plastic ware for the guests to use.  The plastic ware are all individually wrapped for sanitary reasons -- I luv this!  Since the pocket napkin is large, I was able to insert a lavender sachet sample in it...will definitely make the napkin smell nice!  The floral straw is a stand-in for the lavender sprigs that I am going to place inside the napkin.  Will make a rather boring napkin pop with color and scent!  Since it is a Garden party, I wanted to be more environmentally conscious with my utensils and plates so I decided to use all disposable, compostable items, except for the mason jars.

Although I am entertaining informally, I am sure it is going to be a beautiful event with lots of creative ideas from moi! (-;

Lavender favors for the June party

Been thinking about my Wedding Anniversary favors and wanted to make something for the ladies, in particular.  I scratched out the idea of making lavender sugar since there will be alot of people attending, about 30 + which means I would have to make and store alot of it -- too tedious.  Then I remembered something that I am already using -- lavender water spray!  I use this whenever I go to public bathrooms to make my stay more tolerable.  Read a few articles about it and alot of them suggest using distilled water with some form of alcohol.  I just use plain water and Lavender essential oil I buy from Whole Foods Market.  The result is simple and quite aromatic -- perfect for those places that need a refreshing aroma. 

This is how I make lavender water:
1.  Get a good mini spray bottle that does not leak.
2.  Fill the bottle with tap or distilled water.
3.  Place several drops of Lavender essential oil -- try 6 drops first then test spray to see if the smell is to your liking
4.  Once you are satisfied, reseal it and spray away!
5.  Make a fresh batch every 3 - 4 weeks.

Lavender water spray is also great for the office.  I use it during stressful moments when I need to relax.  Reminds me of my bedroom and immediately puts me in a calmer mood.

I will be adding my Lavender water spray to the list of favors I will be giving my guests at the June party.

My AdVase for a long and happy marriage....

This is probably one of my most creative ideas -- my AdVase!  It all started when I thought it would be great if I could share 10 good love and marriage advices with my friends and relatives at my 10th Year Wedding Anniversary party in June.  After coming up with the advices, I thought long and hard on how to present them creatively.  The idea of the AdVase sparked and I knew this was a winner!  The picture is just a sample of my idea -- basically a prototype.  I just wrapped the tin can with tissue paper, tied ribbons on the upper and lower areas to create borders then hand wrote an advise onto a sticky paper.  The result -- just plain cuteness! 

My AdVase prototype

Still a work in progress. Will need to be cuter for the party!

Freshly made AdVase...definitely cuter than the prototype....(-;

My AdVase collection is growing....(-;

Jars and cans

Been reading alot about using jars and cans as part of the party decor.  I am really impressed at how creative people have been in transforming these containers into really cute .... whatever!  For my June party, I am planning to use tin cans, small jars and yogurt jars as flower vases.  Mason jars will be used as drinking glasses as well as floral and tealight holders.  What I have pictured below is not pretty.  These are my raw materials - my blank canvas.  I tied a ribbon around the yogurt jar and mason jar to visualize my plan.  I stuck a flower on the side of the mason jar to show my intent of using it as a flower holder as well.  I got this idea from Martha Stewart - the DIY queen.  My flower and color theme for the party is lavender so I will be using fresh lavender sprigs instead of artificial flowers.  I know the jars don't look much right now but they will be gorgeous at the party, I'll make sure of this!

My Christmas Tree...

Of course I can't ignore Christmas!  People have started posting pictures of their beautiful and aromatic tree which reminded me to put up my own.  This is our Christmas tree for the past 8 years since we adopted our naughty cats.  We bought this tree from Target because we knew that our cats cannot destroy it.  It has provided us amusement with its colorful "leaves" -- less hassle and virtually no clean up afterwards.  Last night, I decided to decorate it with Martha Stewart flower poms and butterflies from Michael's.  I think it looked really cute especially when lit up.

This year, I think I will still get a very small tree with actual aromatic leaves.  I will move my old tree to another spot and place this one over there.  I figured there is not enough space on the table for them to jump on so I think the tree will be safe.

I'll post more pictures if I do any DIY stuff to it.

Happy Holidays!

Maita

Another exciting DIY party coming up!

Hello ladies and gents!  I am so excited to start this blog so I can share all my creative ideas with you to make your parties fabulously DIY!  I recently had a beautiful and successful birthday party celebrating my 39th birthday with a Mad Hatter's Theme tea party.  I did some DIY projects including using toy playing cards as place cards as seen above and large playing cards as Table cards that doubled as menu cards.  I also used paper doilies as my chargers for my beautiful flowery paper plates -- yes I used paper plates since there were about 30 people who attended and plus the plates were so pretty that it made the table colorful and fun.  I also made faux clotted cream for the scones and marshmallow icing for the cakes.  I can proudly say that this was my first DIY tea party -- exhausting but very fun and rewarding!  Friends and family loved the party -- it was a blast!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9rH-N6DejA -- This is a link to my video on how I threw the Tea party.  Here you will see alot of party details and DIY how to's.  It has 4 parts so enjoy!

I have another huge party coming up in the summer to celebrate our 10th Year Wedding Anniversary!  Yes, it will be another DIY event for me the DIY party hostess!  We are having it in our garden and it will be an all day and night affair.  I am already voraciously exploring the web for ideas and inspiration.  As the party draws closer, I will be posting tips, ideas, pictures that I am considering for the party.  I have 6 months to whip up a gorgeously DIY Anniversary party and I am certainly up for the challenge. 

Stay tuned ladies and gents for fabulous ideas, tips on how to be a DIY party host/hostess!