Garden S'mores Bar

I know you must be thinking..."another party? Didn't she just do one?" Yep! But I love it! This party was for my mother-in-law, Lynette's 50th birthday! She is so fun to love on with this party.  Ever since Nate and I started dating, I have been not only accepted but welcomed into the family.

INVITATION:

Music is an essential party of Lynette's life. She grew up playing various instruments and singing, and still does.  So that was part of our theme. I designed the invitation on Adobe Illustrator but ran out of room for my RSVP. So I used bakers twine and a tag. I think it turned out great!

ENTRANCE:

The other part of our theme was kind of "garden party style."  My father-in-law and sons worked really hard fixing up the yard for her special night.  We hung lights all around.  If you saw a previous post, you know I am obsessed with backyard canopy lights.

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION:

Lynette is very similar to me in that she feels very loved by words of affirmation. I made a frame that said "Write your favorite thing about Lynette."  We had people use clothes pins to hang them on the lattice. Oh...and her favorite color is purple, so of course we used purple pens.

We also had a few people share a favorite memory with Lynette.  I think she felt very loved.

 S'MORES BAR:

The s'mores bar was a hit. So many people said "I don't remember the last time I had a s'more."

My wonderfully creative sister-in-law, Jenalyn, made the cutest pennants out of sheet music, 

as well as the tassel garland to add color to the tables. 

I created a S'mores instructions frame for those who had forgotten. 

I wrapped candles in music paper to decorate the table.  

We had honey, chocolate, and cinnamon graham crackers, PLUS striped cookies.

I made a s'mores menu to encourage people to try different combinations. 

For candy, we had Hershey's Milk Chocolate, Hershey's with Almonds, Reese's, and Kit Kat.

We also had toppings: multi-colored sprinkles, coconut and banana.

We had three different types of marshmallows: chocolate, original, and mint.

I really loved hearing all the different combinations people came up with. 

Some were even making up names for them...smurnutter?

DECOR:

My sister-in-law made some awesome banners to hang along the fence with doilies along with lights

People roasted their marshmallows AT THEIR TABLES! We used Terra Cotta pots, filled with a little sand, and cans of Sterno Chafing Fuel. We used wood skewers

In between the pots we put mason jars filled with babies breath. I wrapped them in music papers and tied twine around it.

FRIENDS:

This party was the perfect atmosphere for people to just relax and chat. 

We did have a "Name that Tune" game with some of Lynette's favorite songs.  

 

We put a candle in a marshmallow on top of a striped cookie!  One of the things I loved most about this party was how perfect it was for Lynette. It was fun coming up with ways to love her on her birthday!

BIG thank you to the whole family! It was an awesome team effort and I couldn't have done it without you. God blessed me with incredible in-laws!

Movie Theme Party

Another party for some people that I love to love...my grandparents!  Their birthdays are 1 month apart and so many people came to celebrate their 80th birthdays.  They are such a fabulous couple and I am so blessed to have them in my life.  Everyone at the party has had their lives significantly touched by these two.

INVITATION:

I designed to invitation to look like a movie ticket.  It was fun to hear peoples responses and my mom brag about her daughter that made them when people RSVP'd.

I made a sign using my Cricut to put with balloons to point people in the right direction.

When people arrived, there were a lot of things for them to do, so I designed a program to hand out as they walked in the door. It was fun trying to come up with movie-theme terminology. 

Weren't they so stinkin' good looking??

I threw this party with my mom and aunts. My mom did an AMAZING job collecting most of the decor and filling up the large space.  

ENTRANCE: 

My mom had bought the "1933: Pages of Time" for them a few years ago. She copied the pages and put them on boards for people to look at. 

We had everyone sign a picture mat so they can look back at all the people there.

My husband and I made this marquee "80." We used white foam board and strips of regular poster board.  We hot glue gunned the pieces together.  Nate spray painted all of it.  Then we added lights we had found at Michaels that are made to be put through posters. Ta-da! Definitely a two-person job.

TABLES:

The party was held at the club house for their community.  So nice of them to coordinate their color scheme with ours :)

Every table had a white table cloth and black square of fabric in the center. We scattered some "movie candy" around with the most awesome film strip frames.

We also put cards for people to write their favorite memory of the birthday couple.  My mom found a film strip roller stamp that really spruced it up.

The height of the centerpieces were these gold stars with their favorite movie posters on them.

FOOD:

True to the theme, we had a popcorn bar!

I used my Cricut to make a concession stand sign and used the same lights as the "80" marquee to punch through the foam board.

We had four different types of popcorn. Kettle Corn, Tex-Mex, Zebra, and Garlic Parmesan. It was a lot of popcorn to make sure 100 people would have enough.

I designed labels for each in Adobe Illustrator.

If people hadn't gotten enough sweets with the popcorn bar, we had "Blockbuster Brownies," "Get In Line Lemon Bites," and the cutest 

The cake popes were made by the talented Mrs Nicole Terrazas. 

AND more sweets!!!

We had every candy imaginable.  This is a must for a movie party right?

THE MAIN EVENT: 

We decorated the podium with giant film reels and tissue pom poms.

We played a game with questions about the stories of their lives with movie tickets for the winner.

Numerous people shared about the impact Ken and Mary had had on their lives

My dad put together a movie of photos from their lives set to music. It was perfect!

One of the highlights was the photo booth. We collected two tables worth of props. It was fun to see the different combinations people chose.

Big THANK YOU to our photographers...Mark and Erica Gunderson!

And this is our family (minus a few).  Thank you all for your help in making this day so special and so perfect for Grandma and Grandpa!  I know (because they have told me over and over) they felt so very loved!  And that is why I do this!