Appreciating Volunteers

Each year our church's Family Life Ministry sets aside an evening to celebrate the many volunteers who minister to babies, children and students.  It's an evening to get away from all things "kiddie" in order to enjoy visiting with one another and to celebrate the many wonderful things happening in these areas of ministry.  I (Maria) was invited to lead the team in planning and hosting this special event.  Our Family Life staff decided on the theme of "World Experience," which was a lot of fun to work with!

The event was held in the church "dining room/gym."  I'm pretty sure every old Baptist church has one of these lovely rooms.  In the South they're better known as the "Family Life Center."  It's not the most beautiful setting, but it works.  We set out to, in a small way, transform the room into a warm, welcoming and beautiful party venue.  With the help of many hands, we were able to set a nice tone for the evening.

Each round table, which sat eight, was set with a white table cloth.  Centerpiece vignettes consisted of a world map, small European style luggage, small globe, flags from around the world and a vintage looking postcard displayed on mini easels.

Each attendee received a small gift of a leather luggage tag, which first served as their napkin ring.

The event was catered by Doug Cook of DCCatering.  He served fabulous appetizers in a cocktail setting followed by a delicious buffet style meal.  A coffee bar and dessert bar were opened up to guests to round out the evening.  No one left hungry!

The dessert bar was simple, yet held visual impact, and set in the middle of the room.  Root Beer float shooters were served in small 3 oz glasses which displayed perfectly on the tiered metal tray stands. The Texas Sheet cake, Tiramisu with strawberries and chocolate, and Tres Leches Cake were served in chaffing dishes and platters.  It was beautiful and even more delicious!

It was a wonderful evening of fun, food and fellowship.  I found it a great privilege to serve my church by doing something I love very much....styling events!

These beautiful pictures were taken by Agung Fauzi of Seize The Day Photography.  Agung also provided a fabulous self automated photo booth for guests to enjoy.

Hooray for Big Brothers!

This weekend was a special one for my son Carter, in just one short week he will become a big brother to a little sister so we honored his new role with a party.  As we practice the word baby and pat mommy's tummy, we thought we should also celebrate our little guy's new family position.

My wonderful business partner Maria has four children and as three boys became new big brothers they received a special dinner, "big brother" t-shirt, and little gift to mark the occasion.  With this special idea in mind, Maria and I put together a "Big Brother" party for Carter to build a new family tradition for my growing home.

Complete with free rides in the radio flyer and pizza, the party consisted of a dessert table, children's table, and an activity table.  The kids had a wonderful time and Carter received a few tips from his friends on his new position as brother.  I think he'll be a pro!

A few party details:

The theme incorporated red wagons and black and white polka dots.

These delicious Marshmallow Lollipops were made with love by Treats By Erica.

The Dessert Table carried out the theme with a little red wagon on top of the cake
matching the invitations (pictured above), red rock candy, a wagon with Marshmallow Lollipops,
chocolate covered popcorn and trail mix. 

The Children's table included candy bar gifts from Carter, personalized straws and Big Brother cupcake holders.

The children enjoyed coloring wagons and balloons at the Activity Table.

Carter celebrated with family and friends
(including Anna Pae, Maria's daughter) and had a wonderful time!

Check back soon for this special printable party package on our website, www.delightfulcelebrations.com.

It's an Easter tradition!

Each year our spring break falls the week before Easter.  Last year we stayed home for Spring Break, but I wanted to make sure it was a fun, "different" week for my boys.  We allowed each child to pick the menu for a breakfast, a lunch, a dinner and one activity for the week.  We grouped all the submissions into their respective categories and each night we chose the menu and activity for the next day.  It was so much fun!  More fun than I had imagined and the boys were thrilled with their Spring Break!

The "activity" we chose for our daughter/sister (since she is too young to choose for herself) was to host an Easter party and egg hunt for her and her little friends.  We did it again this year, so it's official....it's now a tradition!

The boys and I work together to stuff eggs, make carrots out of napkins and utensils, bake cute cupcakes, create Easter themed decorations.....all the necessary components of a fun, memorable party.

My favorite part is seeing the joy my boys feel as they serve their sister and it's all worth it to them when she says, "Dant du, Date and Owen!"  That's "thank you, Nate and Owen!"

A French Provencal Baby Shower, Bienvenue Bebe

What a blessing to celebrate a new baby!  This past weekend Maria and I had the opportunity to help host a baby shower for a dear friend.  She is expecting a baby boy in early May, just two weeks after me.  She has impeccable taste and has traveled the world, and her last trip with her hubby before finding out they were pregnant was to the Provence region of France, so we made her theme a French patisserie.  We hoped to have it outside but due to weather inside was  our best choice.  It was such a joy celebrating her and her baby on the way.

 

Some details:  The shower invitations were little chalk boards, thank you gifts to each of the guest included a little package of Madeline cookies with custom printables, and each of the food items had a custom chalked sign.  The colors of the nursery are grey and yellow so we used these colors and accented with a little blue.

Hosting Men!

Last month my (Tilly) husband hosted his men's Bible study group in our home.  Well, where there's men, there's food...naturally.  So what better way to feed men hungry for food and God's word then to fill them up on some chili!  Custom designed printables and a few "props" from around the house turned a plain 'ol chili bar into a fabulous, fun, festive night in for the guys!