Party on the Patio

Last week I shared the "mini lemonade bar" setup I put together as part of a birthday celebration for my parents a couple of weekends ago. The majority of our time together took place on our back patio, where we were blessed to have beautiful temperatures and a light breeze all evening while we enjoyed some delicious steaks my husband grilled for us. My mom is always the best about making family gatherings feel unique and thoughtful, and now that I'm married and have a home of my own to host family gatherings, I enjoy following in her footsteps (or at least attempting!) and creating special memories that she gets to enjoy!

If you've made any trips to Target recently, you've probably noticed the adorable "Oh Joy! for Target" fall collection. While I would have loved to have taken home literally every piece in the collection, I settled on the cute mini party hats! I don't know what made me think to put them on top of the mason jars, but I loved how that turned out! Scrounging up some craft supplies I already had at the house, I created some "present place cards" to compliment the party hats.  I liked the simplicity of this setup - a little really does go a long way, and it doesn't take much to add a few personal touches to your hosting efforts to make your guests feel special! 

DIY "Present Place Card"
1) Tear the edges of a piece of card stock to form a square.
2) Add a piece of washi tape down the left side.
3) Use sticker letters to label a gift tag.
4) Secure the gift tag with a bow. 

- details -
dishes || Fiesta (via Macy's)
mason jars || Target
mini party hats || Target
table runner & placemats || Target (clearance section - $5 total!)

I hope you were able to find some inspiration for your next family/friends gathering from this post! As always, thanks for stopping by!

Mini Lemonade Bar

Reed and I recently had my parents over to celebrate their birthdays (my dad, mom, brother AND myself ALL have birthdays in September - it's a crazy month!) and at the last minute, I threw together this "mini lemonade bar" (I had remembered seeing this one on the Pink Peonies blog earlier this summer which gave me some inspiration!) to add some festive fun to our drinks for the night! Fortunately, I had everything I needed for this setup except the fruit, lemonade and sweet tea. Thirty minutes later after a quick trip to the store, preparing the fruit, filling up the glass bottles and arranging all the details, our mini lemonade bar was open for business!  

I love adding fruit to water, lemonade, tea, etc.! There are so many options you can go with when choosing "toppings" for your drinks, but blueberries, strawberries, lemons and limes always seem to be favorites for most people! 

Confession: those lemons in the jar are fake! I actually use that piece as a decoration in a different part of my kitchen but knew they'd make a cute accent piece for this setup! 

This chalkboard always comes in handy whether I need it for a photo booth prop or for making a quick sign as seen here! 

I found these glass bottles recently at TJ Maxx for like $4 each! I knew they'd eventually come in handy for something like this. Also, I'm a sucker for cute straws and will use them any chance I can (those are from Target)! 

You guys remember the adorable "Oh Joy" line for Target over the summer? Snagged this pitcher from that line for $5 on clearance! It's such a great festive piece for entertaining guests! 

I originally set up our lemonade bar on our kitchen countertop for easy access, but because I utilized a serving tray, the whole setup was easy to transport to our back patio, which is where we ended up spending the majority of our evening.

How cute is that apron?! One of my favorite wedding shower gifts from my bestie! 

Our mini lemonade bar really was so simple to put together and provided an extra added element of fun and thoughtfulness to the evening! I encourage you to come up with your own spin on a lemonade bar at your next family/friends gathering - your guests will love it! 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend! 

Hot Cocoa Bar

Last month I had the extreme honor of hosting a personal shower for one of my dearest friends, Lindsay! Around the time I was starting to plan the shower, I noticed different hot cocoa bars circulating on Pinterest and thought that would be such a fun setup since the shower would be in December. For the spread, I offered a couple different flavors of hot cocoa, a variety of toppings, and a mix of cookies and cupcakes. My Keurig was setup near the table so the guests had quick access to hot water. They aren't pictured below, but I used craft twine to attach tags with each guest's name on each mug so they wouldn't get mixed up throughout the night. Overall, it was a hit! If you're ever planning a party/shower/event during the winter months, I highly suggest having a hot cocoa bar! It's an easy, affordable, fun treat for your guests and there are so many creative ways you can set one up (just search hot cocoa bar on Pinterest). Enjoy the pics!

You still have January and February of this year to try out your own hot cocoa bar! I'd love to hear/see your ideas! Thanks for stopping by!

50th Birthday Party

Both of my parents turned "50" this month - for my mom, it's TODAY! :) In honor of this milestone in their lives, I wanted to throw them a joint celebration with all of our family. Naturally, I turned to Pinterest for ideas...

One of my favorite ideas was creating a poster commemorating the year they were born, which in their case was 1963. The poster was more than a decoration though - it proved useful for a game we played later in the evening that involved trivia about the year 1963. Those that paid attention to the poster definitely had an advantage! 

Another Pinterest idea I had fun executing was the floral "50" inspired by this pin. I photographed my own execution of this project and plan to blog about it soon! What I loved about this craft is that it not only anchored the theme of the decor, but it was also a souvenir that my parents got to take home after the party! 

The party favors ("the 50s are HOT!") were another Pinterest-inspired idea - Hot Tamales! :)

One idea that I came up with last minute was to have all the guests write down "advice for turning 50" or a short message to my parents. We photographed each person &/or couple holding up their sign so I can compile them to give to my parents later on. Here are a few of my favorites...

Happy birthday, Mom & Dad! I'm incredibly blessed to have you as my parents! I love you! :)

Thanks for reading! If you ever have a 50th birthday party to plan or know someone else who will, I hope this post will provide some inspiration!