Birds and Branches for the Table

I did a little internet Trend research this week for Tabletop products.  The Atlanta Gift Market (for the trade only) was last week and there were several manufacturers showing dinnerware with twigs and birds.  The birds are a trend that I've been following for several years and they are adorable for tablescape themes. The twigs are rustic and fit in with that trend perfectly!

This is part of a Baby Shower tablescape that I did with friends for the CHA show.  I simply stenciled the twigs and vines on a plain white dinner plate using pebeo Porcelaine 150 paints.  I placed the embossed green plate on top of a saucer (to give it lift) and tucked the branch underneath.  For guest favors; the mini bird nests are filled with pastel Jordan Almonds, wrapped in cellophane and decorated with ribbon and flower.  Do you see the little stuffed bird tied onto the napkin on the left?  Kelly Hoernig made those.  (I wish I had a better picture!)

Elena Pecora created fabulous arrangements for the back of each chair using twigs and flowers.  We tied them with ribbon and pinned them to the chair covers.  A really special look that is a DIY project.  I loved them!

Have you seen the new Pottery Barn Birds and Twigs dinnerware and accessories?  Make sure you scroll all the way down the page to see the napkins and table linens.  So pretty!

Part Five - Baby Shower - Beaded Bracelet Theme - Games

I thought I'd finish out the posts on this Baby Shower with the games. 

 Elena created the a guessing game with really cute Scrapbooking supplies. I don't remember the designer or manufacturer but would love to update with that information if you know it.

We made a 15 minute Diaper Cake (really....I forgot to put it together until the last minute!) so it's a little shabby looking but Sarah liked it anyway.  We rolled up the diapers, tied ribbon around the layers to hold them together and decorated the cake with Scrapbook stickers.  For a nicer version of the diaper cake, check out my article on the Creative Home Arts Club website.

I set up a station in the back of the room with Fabric Painting supplies, onesies and bibs. This is Suzanne painting a Onsie for the baby's first 4th of July. (We go to her house for the parade each year.) The guests could wander over there and spend a few minutes making the baby a personalized memento and play with the Fabric Fun Dye Sticks and Gel Roller pen for Fabric. One of my favorite products. So easy to use and very permanent.  Look for my original designs and patterns soon.

Part Four - Baby Shower - Beaded Bracelet Theme - Desserts

The girls went all out with the mini desserts.  Each one was pretty simple to make but the variety, display and flavor was outstanding.  We had both Chocolate Cheesecake and Cherry Cheesecake in pastry cups, Apple Cinnamon muffins,

Berries in White Chocolate cups with whipped cream and drizzled Chocolate,

my favorite; Key Lime pie filling in Chocolate cups with berries and mint leaves,

and the ever popular mini Chocolate Eclairs and Cream Puffs purchased from Sam's Club.

Part Three - Baby Shower - Beaded Bracelet Theme - Food

Melissa and Elena chose an appetizer and salad menu.  They had so much fun (with lots of help from family and friends) and we ended up with a huge selection of tasty treats for lunch. I'm sorry, the pictures just don't do the food justice but I wanted to share a few anyway.

We created an interesting display with tiered servers and boxes tucked under the baby flannel tablecloth to make "lifts and levels".  A garland of hydrangeas flowed down the table, tucked in and around the dishes.

We had a really long table full of food!

 

A beautiful and tasty appetizer made with Olive Tapenade. Click here for the recipe. It's really easy.

Caprese Salad made with fresh mozzarella, grape tomatoes, and fresh basil.

Part Two - Baby Shower - Beaded Bracelet theme

OK, so I've got the colors and a theme that involves letters and beads.  What's next?  I wanted to find the assorted pastel plates.  Since we were planning the shower in the Spring there were Easter colors available but the cost was just too much for that many place settings. And how many times would I need to use 36 pastel plates?  I could the paint the back of my glass plates. I already had enough of them.  I could match the colors exactly and I didn't have to buy cups, saucers and accessory pieces that came with a pre-made dinnerware set.

The paint technique had to be durable enough to hold up to handling, a food safe application, simple and relatively quick and hopefully removable.  The solution?  Liquid Starch.  Yep, the stuff in the bottle in the laundry aisle that was used to make shirts, curtains and tablecloths crisp when ironing.  I grew up with spray starch but my Grandmother used liquid starch to make her crocheted angel ornaments and the ruffles on doilies stiff.  I've used it to attach fabric onto my kitchen walls and have decorated the back of glass plates with scrapbook paper.  Why not try mixing it with paint?

It worked!  And it actually matched the vases perfectly.  The color is on the inside of the vase and the back of the plate so you look through the clear glass on both.  Yeah!  With Elena and Melissa's help we had 36 plates painted and ready to go.  I'll post a step by step tutorial for this technique and how to remove the paint soon.

I found the acrylic pacifiers at the craft store.  They were supposed to be party favors but worked great as napkin rings.  There are little acrylic pacifiers on the glasses too.  They were also in the baby shower section of the store.  Again, I think they were package ties for favors but worked perfect as drinking glass charms.  We used assorted satin ribbons to pull everything together.

We decided to decorate the cupcakes with fondant circles and use them on the table too.  After cutting the circles out of the fondant we pressed a rubber stamp in each one to decorate them. Since we had a fabulous selection of food and desserts (thanks to Melissa and Elena) we had cute boxes available for cupcakes.

Extra large sugar cookies decorated with a food safe marker repeated the BABY beads on the invitation and provided another take home favor for the guests. The cookies were propped on both sides of the table on a foam board stand covered with flannel receiving blankets.

 

The overall look was simple and classic but the details were special.  We all loved it. 

Next: The food (oh! the fabulous food) and a craft activity for the guests.

A Baby Shower theme that started with a Bracelet - Part One

This shower would be hosted by three people, Sarah's cousin Melissa, her Aunt Elena and me.  Since we would all be working together we were able to divide up jobs and help each other with all the projects.  I recommend having help for a large event like this if you want to do so many special touches.  After gathering the guest list, we found a location and set date for the party.  Aunt Linda, Grandma and Nani really helped out with that.  I just wanted to mention this up front because most of the large events that I do are a success because I don't do it all alone.  "Many hands make light work!"

So... how did I come up with a theme for Sarah's Baby Shower and how did it all come together?

Many times new parents have a specific theme planned for the nursery.  It's easy to design a baby shower around a cartoon character, trucks & cars or a even a garden themed room.  It's common to already know the sex and possibly even the name of the baby before it's born. After talking to Sarah and Jason several times; this is what I learned.  They didn't know if they were having a boy or girl, they both love words and reading, planned on painting the nursery green, her favorite flowers are hydrangeas and peonies and she loved the look of shiny mixed pastel plates on a crisp white tablecloth. I spent alot of time thinking about a theme since Sarah is my daughter in law and the new baby would be our first Grandchild! 

It all started with a baby bracelet.  It was so cute! The little beads could be assorted pastels.  The letter beads were a classic style suitable for a boy or girl and I could string the beads myself and attach it to a card.

I used the die cut machine to cut out the B (for baby) from embossed cardstock and found textured green paper that matched the wall color.  The small card size was based on the size of the die cut. It took a long time to make so many invitations but it was a labor of love.

A random trip to Ikea and I see the perfect solution for centerpieces.  Small round glass vases in assorted pastel colors.  They look like beads!  I'll be able to get future use out of them and they'll be lovely with peonies down the center of the tables.

Next:  The search for pastel plates and "What in the world are you going to do with liquid starch?"

Wedding Shower

“A Touch of Paris in an Urban World”
CHA Designer Tablescape # 15

Designed and Created by: Barbara Woolley-Lead Designer,
Helen Bradley, Madeline Faiella, and Patt Bell



Today’s young bride is making a statement in all she does. She’s trendy and hip, she has traveled and yet she’s still anchored to good ol’ family values. Our bridal shower tablescape is urban and chic with just a touch of the elegance and romance that is Paris. Sophisticated colors of steel and black combine with beautiful line art graphics and are offset by a surprising touch of color in the polka dot accents. The look is young, classy and fun. We’ve combined easy to create fabric projects, scrapbooking and paper crafts, clay and wire in this inspirational tablescape.

Wedding Reception

Wedding Reception – “Sheer Elegance”
CHA Designer Tablescape #14

Created and Designed by: Eileen Hull-Lead Designer
and Lorine Mason



Traditional white combines with soft pink and green to set the mood for an elegant and romantic wedding reception. This table for two is where the newlyweds will finally sit down to share their first dessert together as husband and wife. The paper cake and desserts “du foam” are decorated with rhinestones, beads, clay and texture paste. Gossamer table linens, chair covers and mirror tiles add sparkle to the occasion. The basic designs are easy but the details are what add that “something special” to this tablescape.

Baby Shower Tablescape

 

As part of the Craft and Hobby Show the Designer members created a special display of tablescapes made with craft materials that featured Manufacturer member products.  It was a way for us to showcase our skills as designers and encourage DIY projects for parties and events.  This is one of the tables that I worked on entitled "Welcome to the Family Tree". 

Baby Shower - "Welcome to Our Family Tree"
CHA Designer Tablescapes #1 -Designed and Created by: Cindy Rippe,Elaina Pecora, Kelly Hoernig and Phyllis Sandford.  Notice how the flowers and crafts that look like flowers play a big part in this design.

Gifts for the baby are used to create the tablescape. Receiving blankets for the tablecloth, "burp" pads for the placemats, diapers for the cake centerpiece, little toy birds sewn for napkin holders, crocheted blanket, photo album, scrapbook organizer bag (to be used for a diaper bag) and more. Moss baskets used for the fabulous "Family Tree" centerpiece (mini babies were tucked into the roses!) and the cookie basket can be used to store baby items in the nursery. Roses on the diaper bag and cake are made from baby socks. Little felted nests are tucked into baby shoes, a memory box (tube), crocheted baby booties, a punch needle onsie, painted dinnerware and so much more could be found in the display . The floral decor on the back of the chairs can be reused to decorate the curtains or windows in the nursery. Guests are invited to paint little fabric squares instead of playing games. The finished squares will be made into yet another gift for the baby, a special quilt! Once they are told how the tablescape is created, Moms to be love to search for all the items they'll be taking home from the table!

Family Tree Baby Shower

Welcome to our Family Tree!

This is the theme of the Baby Shower Tablescape that I'm currently designing. Think eggs, nests, trees and babies! The entire project has been so much fun. When I design a Baby Shower I like to use part of the gifts for the tablescape. This time I'm making my own receiving blankets, etc to use in the display, painting dinnerware and working with a team of CHA Designers for the Celebrations Tablescape Display. Fun!


As usual, Sarah and I had fun designing cookies for the event. This time we chose a "onsie" cookie cutter and sent the cookies along with the invitation. They turned out so cute!


Here's the recipe for both the Chocolate and Vanilla Sugar cookies. They are delicious. Sarah baked the cookies and I decorated them this time. Note: this can be dangerous territory you are on a diet. (oops! broke the sleeve, need to eat that one)