{Real Parties} Cupcakes & Cocktails

I'm blessed with great neighbors.  Once a month, we, 'The Chase Ladies Club' gather at a designated members home to have some wine...chat... have some wine... eat... have some wine... well, you get the picture! Basically, each person has an opportunity to host a month and have the ladies over. February happened to be my month, the theme?  You guessed it!

Cupcakes & Cocktails

my inspiration for the party circles came from a candy mold for gems that I picked up at Hobby Lobby in Kansas City. I couldn't stop making pink gems, so I decided to pair it with one of my favorite patterns, damask.

I decided on two types of cupcakes with matching cocktails...and in my world, the cupcakes come first!

Kahlua martini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and edible gems (paired with a Kahlua martini)

and champagne cupcakes with strawberry whipped cream (paired with a champagne cocktail)

Normally, the unanimous drink of choice is wine but the ladies seemed to enjoy the champagne cocktail and Kahlua martini for a change.  I say that because only one bottle of wine out of 8 was opened!

the munchies menu consisted of an assorted cheese platter, sausage stuffed mushrooms, asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, spanakopita, some kettle corn and a cupcake fondue recipe I found on Pintsize Social

we all ended the night with a cupcake pop (really just a marshmallow dressed up as a cupcake)

One last and final picture I just MUST throw in....

my 'sometimes' supportive husband making the fondue for the cupcake fondue station

I got a lot of heat for writing that under the about me section of this blog so this one is for my husband, who was incredibly helpful that night... Thank you John!

{Real Parties} Blush and Bashful

Well, with a lot of coaxing, I finally did it... I think?? You see, I'm not very computer savvy so please excuse the appearances until I can learn a bit more about 'blinging out' my page.

So, the point of my blog will be to share my love of any celebration, big or small.  My goal is obviously to post the end product but I also want to share the steps and instructions along the way.  Wish me luck!!

The first party I want to share with you is a shower I planned for my best friend's niece Lauren.  My best friend of (dare I say) 22 years, Susan Hart, asked me to plan a shower that was pink and whimsical...

In order to make this vision a reality, the party literally started at the front door.

To greet guests…yards of tulle, a feather boa wrapped 'I' and a tray of sparkling pink champagne with paper butterflies perched upon each glass.

My inspiration for this shower came from recently learning how to make tu-tus. I was looking for a cute homemade gift I could give to some of my friends kids and discovered a great tu-tu tutorial on Mommy blessings blog. From there, I wanted to make tu-tus for everything… hence the giant tu-tu on the sweets table.

The idea of the onesie garland makes for great shower décor as well as a perfect shower gift. All I did was design a graphic that matches the décor of the shower. Printed it out onto iron-on transfer paper (don't forget to flip the design before you print). Cut out the design and iron onto each onsie.

One of my favorite activities of the shower was the photo booth. Each guest was instructed to get gussied up in tiaras, necklaces, cocktail rings and boas and have their picture taken with Lauren, the mommy-to-be. I think the photo booth really helped the guests to let loose, as did the mom-to-be.

Along with the photo booth, a wish tree was made from simply spray painting a branch that I cut from one of Susan's trees. Each guest was instructed to write a 'pearl of wisdom' for the mommy to be.

One of the games I planned was 'don't say baby'. I'm sure many of you have played a variation of this game with a clothes pin or a diaper pin. This one was played with a handmade corsage that I made to keep in the pink and girly theme.

Guests left with favors of homemade brown sugar scrub (which smells divine).

I want to thank Melanie of Scout for capturing the moment with her incredible photography and of course to my best friend Susan Hart for giving me this opportunity. 

Stay tuned for a tutorial on the onsie garland!