Okay, you’ve got the idea to change up the seasons and go with a fall look. You took a nice rust colored tablecloth out of the bottom drawer and ironed out its wrinkles. You found that straw turkey Aunt Sue gave you 3 years ago and blew the dust off of it and set it on your table. You went to the store and bought a medium size pumpkin and put a jaunty top hat on it. Now you’re getting the idea.
How about a nice gourd vase? Take a tall gourd, cut off the top and hollow out a space inside. Fill with a little water and insert some mums. You’re set. (Don’t forget to place that gourd on a plate or tray of some kind in case it leaks.) Or insert a bud vase into the hollow space and put the flowers in that. Or forget the flowers and just make an assortment of different kinds of gourds and squash.
Or buy an assortment of kale at the store and display it in all its glory in a shallow bowl.
Don’t underestimate the power of raffia, that straw like stuff that you can use instead of ribbon. Get some Indian corn and tie them together with some raffia. Just tying some raffia around an ordinary glass vase and filling it with some bright yellow and rust mums screams fall. In fact tying raffia around almost anything makes it look festive and fall like.
Fill some glass containers of various sizes with dried beans, nuts, birdseed, cranberries, kumquats, limes, tiny pumpkins. Tie some raffia around the lid and you’ve got a beautiful display.
Bring in some branches instead of flowers. They can have leaves or they can be bare. Put them in a vase or even a galvanized bucket and they will look fresh off the farm.
When all else fails, fill up any kind of container with wonderful, crisp apples. Try getting different kinds and different colors. And then when its time for dessert, just bring out a sharp knife, a selection of cheese and you are all set. Centerpiece and dessert all rolled into one. What could be better?!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Fall, Glorious Fall--Planning Your Party in the Fall
Fall, glorious fall. For those of us living in Southern California, fall means continued warm weather, Santa Ana winds and the hope that cooler weather might surface NEXT month.
Therefore planning a party around the seasons is challenging. But for the rest of America, fall means an explosion of color, crisp weather and a big change from summer. Well, even though we’re in So Cal, we’re going to pretend that we actually have a fall because it’s so much fun to decorate around the season.
As with everything Party Planning Perfected does, we’re going to tiptoe into to the season. Let’s start with some simple decorating.
Anyone who has grown up or visited an area where the colors actually change knows that it’s as though nature decided to have one last hurrah before the harshness of winter. This is your big chance to mix and match any color from yellows to bronze, from golds to reds and burgundies. Throw in some browns and oranges and you are ready to change it up.
Let’s start with setting the table. Since we’re celebrating that summer is over, get rid of your pastels and bring out some deeper colors. How about an orange or brown tablecloth? Or bring out your red place mats. Go to your nearest forest or backyard tree and gather up some fallen leaves. Scatter them on your table and you’ve got a free and timely centerpiece.
Look around and find a clear bowl. Fill it with cranberries, oranges, apples, persimmons or anything colorful. Once again you’re just bringing nature’s bounty into your dining room.
Pumpkins and squash are the stereotypical signs of fall but that doesn’t mean they can’t be just as fun. Try lining pumpkins up in various sizes on your table. Or how about decorating a pumpkin with markers or flowers? Cut some holes in your pumpkin and poke in mums for eyes, carrots or green beans for a nose and some marshmallow teeth? Or let you imagination run wild. There is no end to what you can create.
Therefore planning a party around the seasons is challenging. But for the rest of America, fall means an explosion of color, crisp weather and a big change from summer. Well, even though we’re in So Cal, we’re going to pretend that we actually have a fall because it’s so much fun to decorate around the season.
As with everything Party Planning Perfected does, we’re going to tiptoe into to the season. Let’s start with some simple decorating.
Anyone who has grown up or visited an area where the colors actually change knows that it’s as though nature decided to have one last hurrah before the harshness of winter. This is your big chance to mix and match any color from yellows to bronze, from golds to reds and burgundies. Throw in some browns and oranges and you are ready to change it up.
Let’s start with setting the table. Since we’re celebrating that summer is over, get rid of your pastels and bring out some deeper colors. How about an orange or brown tablecloth? Or bring out your red place mats. Go to your nearest forest or backyard tree and gather up some fallen leaves. Scatter them on your table and you’ve got a free and timely centerpiece.
Look around and find a clear bowl. Fill it with cranberries, oranges, apples, persimmons or anything colorful. Once again you’re just bringing nature’s bounty into your dining room.
Pumpkins and squash are the stereotypical signs of fall but that doesn’t mean they can’t be just as fun. Try lining pumpkins up in various sizes on your table. Or how about decorating a pumpkin with markers or flowers? Cut some holes in your pumpkin and poke in mums for eyes, carrots or green beans for a nose and some marshmallow teeth? Or let you imagination run wild. There is no end to what you can create.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Planning a Party with candles…Who doesn’t look better by candlelight?
When you’re a guest at a party, you want to have fun, sound intelligent and interesting and, unless you were just dropped off here from Mars, you want to look good.
If you think you are looking particularly fetching you are probably going to act more confident and have a better time.
So, when planning a party, you want to guarantee success as much as you can and one way to do this is to make your guests feel as comfortable, and therefore, good looking, as possible. Short of having them each meet with Clinton and Stacy of What Not To Wear immediately before your party, how on earth are you supposed to accomplish that? What a surprise, we have an answer. And it will not only make your guests look good, it will set a lovely tone for your entire party.
Try candlelight. EVERYWHERE. You can get inexpensive votive candle holders and bags of tea candles at.... Set them out everywhere. On your dining table, coffee table, end tables. Put them in your bathroom, entry, outside. Make them high, make them low, place them everyplace your guests will go. If you have taller candles, intersperse them and the effect will be magical. And the side benefit will be that all your guests (not to mention, YOU) will look their very best.
Now if you’re having a daytime party this really doesn’t work and you have to rely on good, old fashioned makeup. But at night you can give yourself and all your guests a little boost.
Another trick is to changing all the light bulbs in your home. By simply replacing your old bulbs with GE Reveal bulbs, you can bring out vibrant colors of fabrics, textures or create focal points with spotlighting. GE Reveal bulbs make everything look better. They are more expensive but they do give everyone a pinkish cast rather than the usual harsh yellow cast. Your guest will look their best, and a guest happy with her/his appearance will be happier in general. You can find GE Reveal bulbs at most discount, grocery, home improvement, office supply, and super center stores.
So go forth and conquer, knowing that when you plan a party you have left no stone unturned. And no matter what else happens, you’ve probably boosted the self esteem of everyone lucky enough to visit your house.
Leave a comment if you have a suggestion of what other party ideas you are interested in.
If you think you are looking particularly fetching you are probably going to act more confident and have a better time.
So, when planning a party, you want to guarantee success as much as you can and one way to do this is to make your guests feel as comfortable, and therefore, good looking, as possible. Short of having them each meet with Clinton and Stacy of What Not To Wear immediately before your party, how on earth are you supposed to accomplish that? What a surprise, we have an answer. And it will not only make your guests look good, it will set a lovely tone for your entire party.
Try candlelight. EVERYWHERE. You can get inexpensive votive candle holders and bags of tea candles at.... Set them out everywhere. On your dining table, coffee table, end tables. Put them in your bathroom, entry, outside. Make them high, make them low, place them everyplace your guests will go. If you have taller candles, intersperse them and the effect will be magical. And the side benefit will be that all your guests (not to mention, YOU) will look their very best.
Now if you’re having a daytime party this really doesn’t work and you have to rely on good, old fashioned makeup. But at night you can give yourself and all your guests a little boost.
Another trick is to changing all the light bulbs in your home. By simply replacing your old bulbs with GE Reveal bulbs, you can bring out vibrant colors of fabrics, textures or create focal points with spotlighting. GE Reveal bulbs make everything look better. They are more expensive but they do give everyone a pinkish cast rather than the usual harsh yellow cast. Your guest will look their best, and a guest happy with her/his appearance will be happier in general. You can find GE Reveal bulbs at most discount, grocery, home improvement, office supply, and super center stores.
So go forth and conquer, knowing that when you plan a party you have left no stone unturned. And no matter what else happens, you’ve probably boosted the self esteem of everyone lucky enough to visit your house.
Leave a comment if you have a suggestion of what other party ideas you are interested in.
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