The Quick List: Celebrating St. Patrick!

It is no secret that here in America we celebrate March 17th with an excitement that rivals our own patriotic holidays.  While actual 'Irelanders' go to church on the holy day of their patron saint, Americans wear green, make Irish food and drink (a lot) of green beer and Guinness.  Here are a few more ways to honor St. Patrick, enjoy!

#1. I did two Irish posts last year, one suggested a beer tasting party and the other using St. Patrick's Day as wedding inspiration. 

#2. Irish inspired dessert recipes.  So many delicious treats and only one day to indulge!  I'm pretty excited about these chocolate stout cupcakes with Bailey's cream cheese frosting.  And these adorable leprechaun hat s'mores.  Oh and who wouldn't drool over this lazy grasshopper dish? Who knew there were so many Green Isle confections?

 

 

#3. Looking to go all out? Here is the top 10 list of the best St. Patrick's Day celebrations stateside.  Ever since I heard about the Charles River being dyed green a few years ago, celebrating March 17th in Chicago is (still) on my bucket list.  

  

Inspiration Station: Spooktacular Party Ideas

Yep, I did use the word 'spooktacular' like some run of the mill haunted house advertisement.  But part of the fun of Halloween for me, a bonafide scaredy cat, is the campy nature of the holiday.  Corny & scary go hand in hand and with so many great party ideas out there, I wanted to share some of my favorites.  After reading so many posts with elaborate Halloween displays, I've decided to group together my favorite that are both low cost and easy DIY for decor & food/drinks.  I even included some FREE printable signs to add some pop to your party.  Enjoy!

#1. Marshmallow ghosts aka why didn't I think of this before



Source includes free printables

#2. Spooky candy bar

Source has free printables

#3. Spiderweb dip- add sour cream on top of guacamole for the web by starting in the center & drawing lines out to each edge.  Then create the 'web' by drawing lines in a outward facing curve from line to line.  Finally, use knife to smooth down original lines from center out to the edges.  Piping the sour cream would work best.

Source

Inspiration Station: Oscar Is On His Way

I.am.obsessed.with.award.shows.  That is a basic fact about me.  My top three favorites are the Emmys, The Golden Globes, and best award show ever is of course, the Oscars.  Luckily there are more than a few likeminded people in the event planning world and I found a complete Oscar party set up already!  As if that was not enough excitement for me, this post also includes FREE printables to create your own party!  Hello, free is always awesome.

This being said, I have not held a full-on Oscar party yet.  I usually get together with a few girlfriends to enjoy some wine and give our opinions/yell at the tv during the red carpet- and this year is no different.  Seeing this set up makes me really excited for possibly planning a party next year.  I would love to incorporate a pool to see who guesses the winners and maybe add in some delicious desserts in a nod to the nominees- this year I'm making Black Swan brownies and I believe there was mention of True Grits being served.  Since variety is the spice of life, I was really excited to see this post  with some great ideas on creating your own affordable (key word!) Oscars party.  Creating a movie snack area with popcorn, sno-cones, and milk duds will definitely be a hit.  And this post offers more great ideas plus an Oscars themed cake!  It really is up to you on how elaborate you want to be- from Oscar invitations to prizes to framing past winners as decor, there are so many options.  Whatever you decide to do, I hope you enjoy Hollywood's biggest night as much as I know I will!

 

(Source for all 3)

Delicious cocktails are a must! (Source)

Inspiration Station: Super Bowl Wedding Boards

Yes, you read the title correctly.  Inspiration can come from the most unlikely places which is why I wanted to feature the genius from Gig Masters that I couldn't wait to share.  This past Sunday, much like the rest of the country, I enjoyed the classic American tradition of watching the big game with friends, drinks, and great food.  I did a post on sports themed weddings awhile back & so when I saw the great idea of creating Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers wedding inspiration boards, I was intrigued.  To be clear, these boards focus on the color schemes and nods to each city's treasures.  It is a great way to incorporate your man's favorite team without having a 'tailgate wedding' feel.  Without further ado, here are the boards.  Enjoy!

  Source

 

Source

Inspiration Station: Holiday Parties

I get a lot of questions about the details of a party, people always want to showcase something new whether it is decor, food & drink, or invitations.  I am such a huge fan of inspiration boards, I decided to create two myself.  I hope you like something you see!

 

Christmas Party Inspiration Board

Sources for the Amazing:

Top Row: Source, Source, Source

Middle Row: Source, Source, Source

Bottom Row: Source, Source, Source

Inspiration Station: Dia de Los Muertos

Today is Dia de Los Muertos or "Day of the Dead", for those of you who are not familiar with this Mexican holiday, and it is celebrated November 1st and 2nd every year.  I spent a semester in Mexico (in the fantastic city of Puebla, which is about 2.5 hours southeast of Mexico City) while in college and I was fascinated by the elaborate details of this holiday which celebrates those who have passed on.  Families and friends create altars/displays for the deceased person with gifts or objects dedicated to that person's memory.  These gifts can be anything from favorite food & drink to photographs to actual gifts (shirts, soccer balls, etc).  It actually has very little to do with the commercial Halloween that we celebrate the day before (Source).  Here is a typical offering table or 'ofrenda':

 

Source

I was lucky enough to be in Mexico for this holiday and I went with my roommate to visit a museum in downtown Puebla which had a Dia de Los Muertos exhibit.  There must have been 70 ofrenda tables and all of them were as unique as they were elaborate.  Knowing that these ofrendas were for real people made the exhibit that much more interesting.  It was pretty awesome to see such a personal celebration in public.

This fascination with Dia de Los Muertos is not only in Mexico.  Many couples are using this theme for their weddings that fall around November 1st.  Here are a few photos of the theme tied into weddings from real couples. Enjoy!

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Inspiration Station: Halloween Done Right

As much as I love all things wedding related, event planning is a year round love for me.  From birthdays to holidays, being creative and infusing tons of details for people to enjoy is key.  With Halloween coming up this weekend, I wanted to show some great ideas for entertaining of the spooky variety.  Although some of these set ups are pretty elaborate, I want to point out that you do not need to spend a lot of money to have a great presentation.  It is always better to have a few items with spectacular details than have a bunch of items that were thrown together.  So whether you are holding a Halloween party or going to one, I found a few posts on the interweb for some inspiration.  Enjoy!

 

Check out this post for the full sweets table photos

Inspiration Station: The Wedding Chicks

I'm pretty in love with any website that continually is putting out inspiration in a very attainable way.  Enter The Wedding Chicks who are always coming out with new ideas, real weddings, sweet deals for brides and free DIY templates.  Because they rock.  And here is the latest, their 2012 Save the Date template.  And for those of you still needing Save the Dates for your 2011 wedding, here you go.  As I mentioned, TWC are full of DIY-friendly activities and even have a section for free downloads of their amazing templates.  We're talking table numbers, invites, menus, and more!

This is clearly a website run by people who really care about all things wedding related and especially trying to make the planning process easier and more enjoyable for the bride.  The Wedding Chicks shop has a variety of awesomeness (see below) and I particularly love the 'real brides' section that gives insight to the planning process as brides go through it. So check them out and let me know what you think.  Just try not to spend hours upon hours losing track of time on this website.  Because that is exactly what happens to me every single time.  Enjoy!

Vintage Bride Tank Tops

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