Party Planning Basics {Freebie}

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How To: Witch Hat Cookies

Need a last minute and easy to make Halloween Treat?  Make some Witch’s Hat Cookies!  (This "How To" is totally kid friendly too!)

Bill of Materials:

Keebler Fudge Stripes Cookies

Hershey Kisses

White Icing

Yellow and Red (or Orange) Food Coloring

Ziploc or Icing Bag

First:  Gather up your supplies, and make space for your project on your kitchen table or counter.

TIP:  When buying supplies, make sure you buy extra cookies than what you need.  Sometimes the Keebler Fudge Stripe Cookies aren’t in one piece by the time you get them home.  (Or you might have little fingers steal one or two in the process!)

Second:  Mix Icing with food coloring to get that perfect “Halloween” Orange, put into a ziplock bag and cut off corner (or use icing bag if you have one). 

Third:  Take wrappers off Hershey kisses

Fourth:  Lay cookies upside down on your work place.

Fifth:  Put a thick circle of icing around the circle in the middle of the cookie.

Sixth:  Place kiss on cookie.

I decided to make my witch hats extra girly by adding bow streamers to the “band”. 

I hope you enjoy!  Happy Halloween!

Appetizer Aggravation

A few days ago I received this question on the Classy Event Organizer Facebook page:

Not only am I happy to find a solution to this appetizer aggravation,  I am happy to say that this question is the inspiration for an addition to the Classy Event Organizer website.  As you can see in the page listing above, there is a newly added “Services” tab.  (Go ahead, click it!)  I am now offering free services to help you alleviate  your party and etiquette headaches (the only catch is...I might use the question as a blog post!) 

Now, without further ado, let us address the original question.

Friday has been designated as "Martini Friday", any suggestions for a great appetizer or table decoration?

I LOVE the fact that you have designated a day of the week to Martinis, however I can see how that puts a lot of pressure on creating a new appetizer each week!

After scouring my cookbooks and the handy-dandy internet, I have found that usually olives are a Martini’s best friend (some people even say that a martini without a olive isn’t a martini at all!) due to the flavor of the olive changing the overall taste of the Martini.  Also, a Martini can be garnished with a lemon twist, for the same reason that the fruity zest of the lemon affects the overall Martini taste. 

You might ask why an olive or lemon, of all things, is an appropriate Martini garnish.  Well, usually when matching food with drinks, the rule of thumb is opposites attract!  The Dry Martini (as opposed to the Appletini, Chocolate Martini, Lemon Drop, or MY FAVORITE the Cosmopolitan) has a spicy herbal flavor that is best served with fruity or “light” refreshing food.  I have found that olives and blue cheese are favorites for light refreshing flavors to compliment a Martini.

I suggest using these two foods as a main focus on recipes for appetizers. 

One REALLY easy appetizer (and can be used as table décor) would be a platter of different kinds of olives and another platter of cheeses. To add some flair, you might even label each different type of olive and cheese with a toothpick and name tag!     

If you are looking for appetizers that are more filling (and scrumptious) than olives or cheese trays, here are some appetizer recipes that I found that use olives and blue cheese (they are really making me hungry!)

Olive Tapenade  (Joyfulabode.com)  This website also gives really good idea for how to serve Olive Tapenade!

Chicken, Bacon, and Blue-Cheese Sandwiches (Sunset.com)

Olive and Blue Cheese Ball (AllRecipies.com)

Bacon Wrapped Olive Wraps (AllRecipies.com)

Lastly, a few table décor ideas:

1.  Use extra Martini glasses, shot glasses, or cocktail shakers to serve other appetizers such as nuts, pretzels, or small candies.

2.  If you have bottles of Gin or Dry Vermouth left over from previous gatherings, use them as vases for flowers.   (Wash them out first!)

3.  Use a Martini Glass shaped cookie cutter to make decorated sugar cookies with each guest’s name on it for a name card on each plate

4.  Martinis remind me a lot of James Bond, so I would follow suit and stick to black and white for colors (maybe even add in a bit of deep green to compliment the olive!)

How To: Envelope Liners

Before mailing classy invitations to guests or thank you notes to a “gifter” one must have a classy envelope!  I LOVE envelope liners, they make a boring old white envelope into a piece of ART!  I have been showing you how classy does not always mean expensive and this is no exception, rather than spending brand name prices on lined envelopes you can make your own at home!  Not to mention if you make your own, you can use whatever color or pattern you want.  Here is a budget friendly (don’t forget classy!) envelope liner tutorial!

How To:  Envelope Liners

Bill of Materials:

Scrap Book/ Cardstock/ Construction Paper

Envelope

Glue

Pen

Scissors

Here's how to do it...

First:  Find a piece of decorative paper a bit wider than the envelope. 

TIP:  Depending on the size of the envelope, it’s entirely possible that you might be able to make several liners out of a sheet of paper.

Second:  Trace the shape of the envelope flap onto the decorative paper.

(Yes, that is my hand!)

Third:  Cut out the envelope liner along the traced lines

Fourth:  Insert liner into envelope and line it up to right under the envelope glue.  You might have to cut off some paper on the bottom and sides of the liner to get a perfect “fit”.

Fifth:  Fold envelope flap and liner to create crease in the liner at the proper spot.

Sixth:  Glue liner to flap.

Ta Da!  All Done!  

Don't you just LOVE envelope liners?  

Happy Half Birthday (to ME!)

TODAY is a VERY SPECIAL DAY!  Why?  Because it is my HALF Birthday (23.5!!)  Yes, I realize that most people over the age of 10 don’t count half birthdays, but I say “why the heck not?”  It’s another reason to celebrate and eat cake (and I REALLY like cake!)

To celebrate my half birthday with all of you, I decided to make a few presents (yes, I am giving YOU a present on MY half birthday)!  I took a few of my favorite quotes and created some classy (and FREE) printables.  I love these quotes because I think that these women were not only classy but their words were (and still are) inspiring.  You can use these printables for inspiration (like I do), in a smash book/scrap book (I do this too!), or however else you can think of!

Happy Half Birthday (to ME!!)

How To: Use Wordle.net for Party Decorations and MORE!

When it comes to party planning, my computer is one of my BEST FRIENDS!   It helps with organizing and implementation as well as with inspiration and creation.  One of the biggest uses of my computer when it comes to event organization is plethora of tools and utilities on the internet (many of which are totally FREE!) 

Not only are there fun websites like “Pinterest” that lets me save all my awesome party décor ideas, there are other websites such as Wordle.net and FontSpace.com which can be used to create awesome party décor (or even home decorations!)  

Today’s post is an introduction to Wordle.net and how to use this really cool (and totally free) website for party decorations, invitations, or just everyday awesomeness!

Wordle.net 

Wordle.net is a tool where you provide the text and it creates a word cloud.  The coolest part about the tool is that it gives prominence to the words that are provided more than once, meaning that a word that is entered twice is about twice as big as a word entered once.  (Perfect for creating a word cloud around a party‘s theme!) 

Once you have created your word cloud, Wordle also lets you change the layout, color scheme and font. 

Tip:  Save your text list (copy and paste it somewhere) while experimenting with Wordle in case you want to edit the list and try again.

Now that you understand how Wordle.net works here are a few ways I have used Wordle: 

Create Party Decorations/Invitations:

For an example of party decorations or invitations I played around with a Christmas theme.  I entered some words that I corresponded with a Christmas party into Wordle's text box and this is what was produced:

Christmas party invitation.  Also, this could be a great back drop for Christmas party dessert table as well.
I could use this picture in a variety of ways.  For instance, it could be used as the outside of a Christmas card or 

You could do the same thing for any type of Holiday or Party.  Get Creative! 

Create Inspiration:

One of the options on Wordle is to enter a website rather than list of words to produce a word cloud from the text on the website.  I used my blog and here is what came out:

I’m thinking about printing this word cloud out and putting in above my desk as a reminder of what my blog is all about!  I want to redo this one ever couple of weeks to see how my blog has progressed from one month to the next. 

Create your own Art:

I copy and pasted lyrics from a song I’m trying to learn on the guitar (“Breathe” by Anna Nalick).  Here are the lyrics from the song:   

I am thinking about printing this one, framing it, and putting it near where my guitar and music things sit.  The same could be done with a poem, speech, quote, or even a family tree.  Just print, frame and hang!

Have you ever used this website?  Do you have any “go to” websites to help you create wonderful (and FREE) party decorations?  Share in the comments section below!

Streamers and Garlands and Bunting... Oh My!

I have learned something new in the last few weeks and I wanted to share it with you!  

Garlands and streamers have turned from prom night crepe paper to classy “bunting”.  (I had actually never heard of the word “bunting” except for in sports jargon, but it closely resembles swim team flags but MUCH classier!) 

Now, I would consider myself as an expert streamer hanger!  Although I probably won’t put this title on my resume, it is a rather nice skill to have (perhaps I will write a How-To post on how to hang crepe paper streamers like a pro!  But, even being a super user of crepe paper, I have to admit I LOVE BUNTING!

After having learned of this new type of décor, I have put my skills to use during a Charity Fundraiser event at work.  I created my own flags, strung them up, and “ta da” my very first bunting garland!

First Bunting Garland

I made my bunting garland out of construction paper, but you could use fabric or any other kind of paper too.  Also, if you aren’t feeling very adventurous in making your own pattern (below is the one I made up ) {Or download the file from the FREEBIES page!}  You can always head over to Etsy and buy a party themed bunting pattern. 

First Bunting Pattern

Not only can bunting be used in a party setting, it can be used for everyday room decoration in craft and baby rooms. 

Lastly, here is a picture of “mini” bunting for a homemade card.  For this project I used cardstock and a bit of ribbon.  To create the homemade envelope I took apart an old envelope and used it as a pattern (then added some of ribbon for some extra class!)

Baby Shower Card

Happy Bunting!