It was a very festive weekend — we celebrated my little brother’s high school graduation with a big backyard fiesta! I think my sister and I started planning this party almost a year ago when we realized our baby brother’s graduation was impending — we love to throw a good party and this was a big reason to celebrate. The theme was inspired by some mexican blankets that we found at a thrift store for a few bucks a piece, and thought they would make awesome table linens for a summer fiesta. We had a taco bar for dinner and a make your own margarita station with festive drink stirrers. For decorations I ordered tons of papel picado and we strung the banners all along the backyard fence and above the bar. Of course it wouldn’t be a fiesta without a few piñatas too (and I brought some confetti cannons which were a hit!). It was a perfect day of food, family, and fun.
If you follow me on instagram, you may have seen my little brother graduated from high school this week (cue the tears!). He’s the baby in the family, and is lucky to have two big sisters and a mom that L-O-V-E -love throwing parties, so you better believe we’re going to be throwing the biggest and best graduation party for him to celebrate. He requested a taco bar which lead to an obvious theme of fiesta! — so I’ve been busy crafting up piñata-inspired details this week to make sure it’s a fiesta to remember. Using tissue paper, I cut 1.5 inch strips in different colors and used fringe scissors to create the piñata-like texture. Next, I used a glue-stick to coat the non-fringed edge, and began to wrap it around the party horn whistle (I got these at a party store and removed the paper wrappers that came on them). Keep wrapping until you get to the end and add a little extra glue to ensure it’s sealed, then repeat with additional colors layered on top. I replicated the same process for drink stirrers, just wrapping a bit tighter around a small skewer, and used a few extra tiny scraps to make some tooth-pick flags for garnishes; can’t wait to use these at the party this weekend!
There is no better day than Cinco de Mayo to add a little extra flair to your cocktail, am I right? Which is why I made some pinata-inspired drink markers for our margaritas this year. Here’s how you make them: first, trace the bottom of your margaritas glasses on a piece of card-stock and cut out the circle. Then cut into the center of the circle about halfway, and cut out a smaller circle a little bigger than the circumference of the glass stem. Using strips of colored tissue paper, use fringe scissors to cut fringe. Cover the card-stock circle with glue and then start to wrap the fringed tissue paper around the outside. Repeat and layer on each new color until you’ve covered the full circle, and tuck the ends of the inner layer underneath the center circle to finish. Then slip your little pinata-inspired drink marker on to the bottom of your margarita and get ready to fiesta (think about making them in different colors to help your party guests identify their drinks!).
Last week I went to a super fun event — The Flower Potluck – -thrown by the fun gals of Lauren Wells Events, Boston Pollen, and Cambria Grace. These ladies thought of everything, from the craft paper place cards, to garlands of carnations, to little cookies with edible flowers on them — it was beyond picturesque. Everyone that was invited brought a few bunches of flowers, and the ladies at the event spent the time making flower crowns while sipping on de-licious drinks by Flask & Funnel (I had the orchard fizz, which I’m still dreaming about, yum!). The gentlemen at the event, like my great sport of a husband, crafted up boutonnieres. And I’m so darn my proud — my guy won best boutonniere (and now refers to himself as an award winning florist, ha!). It was such a fun evening spent with lots of creative and kind people, I want to do one every week!
I shared a few sneak peeks last week, but absolutely could not wait to post all of the amazing pictures my bridesmaid and bestie Taz took of my bridal shower. Am I not the luckiest girl in the world? I have the most talented friends — from the candy bar to the flowers, to the handmade tassel garland, I walked around the room with my jaw-dropped at how much effort they had into throwing me the prettiest bridal shower I’ve ever seen.
All photos by Bring to Light Photography
I’ve been off-line for a few days doing something very important: celebrating my birthday! I’m a very lucky girl and came home to freshly baked funfetti cupcakes by my fiancé and opened some amazing presents (hello, how gorgeous is that pink zebra wrapper paper?) My favorite gift? A new instax mini camera! It was a hit at the bar; I snapped some instant photos and handed them out to friends as ‘party favors.’ Here’s hoping the rest of year 28 is as fun as this weekend was!
It normally takes about 3 days to fully recover from New Year’s Eve, right? I’m working on it — it’s so hard to get back into ‘reality’ mode after a long holiday! Which is why I’m a little late sharing some pictures of our annual New Year’s Eve bash. Having a few extra days off after Christmas gave me the time to craft some fun decorations and think up some tasty dishes and cocktails. It was a great way to kick off 2013, and I hope it sets the tone for many more fabulous parties to come this year (like, ahem, a pretty exciting wedding coming up in May). How did you celebrate the New Year?
On Friday night we tried a new neighborhood restaurant and I fell in love with it before we even ordered when I saw how fun their cocktail menu was! I played along and settled on a greyhound — it was delicious! Then on Saturday one of my girlfriends hosted a blind wine tasting party — everyone brought a bottle they’d never had before and we got to work sipping and rating our favorites! Aren’t the little cards she designed the cutest? All in all, it was a pretty fine weekend!
It’s one of my favorite nights of the year: the Academy Awards! I am settling in for the night with some champagne, popcorn,and movie theater candy to get my celebrity viewing on. I even got some ‘red carpet’ red velvet cupcakes for the occasion. Watching the coverage of all of the ball gowns strutting into the theater is like my version of the Super Bowl, I’ll be sure to post all of my best-dressed picks tomorrow! Are you excited for the Oscars tonight?
PS: My blog is up for a Homie award on Apartment Therapy for Best Home Design Blog! Won’t you go and cast your vote for DomestiKatedLife?
Today seems like an appropriate day to share all of my Valentine’s Day girl’s night pictures. We had tons of fun, but then again, how can you not when the champagne is flowing and the cupcakes are stacked high? I’m still recovering from my sugar-high, I think Valentine’s Day dinner tonight will have to be something savory to balance my icing intake from the past few days. What are you doing for Valentine’s Day?
