Super Bowl Parties: Giants and Patriots Cocktail Flags

Ready for the big game? Maybe I can help make it a little more fun with this year’s team cocktail flags / party picks.

giants-patriots-cocktail-flags

Since I first starting posting these cocktail flags (and other Super Bowl goodness, like the Football Whoopie Pies) in 2010, they’ve gotten a lot of attention – and since I love everything football and food, I’ll be combining my football recipes and party projects over at The Football Foodie. Please join me there – I’ve created a permanent home where you can download all the templates for these flags.

DIY Mixed Metallics & Naturals Placecard / Favor Boxes

Have you been following our Winter Wedding Tabletop Challenge on Floridian Weddings? All five of our lovely holiday-themed tabletops are now on display – including my own Mixed Metallics & Naturals table that was shown today.

mixed-metallics-naturals-tabletop_sm

I really love how everything turned out – the mix of gold, silver, copper and bronze shining against the natural elements of wood, kraft paper and greenery. It really captured that warm, rustic/modern, romantic feeling I was going for… with the shiny pop of metals to keep it modern and holiday-oriented.

mixed-metallics-naturals-tabletop-5-sm

My favorite detail is definitely the place card/favor box, which combines all four metal shades with the natural/rustic elements: brown kraft paper box, skeleton leaves, and romantic, copper-hued calligraphy. They are easy to make, so I thought you might appreciate a little DIY tutorial!

DIY: Mixed Metallics & Naturals Placecard / Favor Boxes

mixed-metallic-favor-box-place-card-1

You’ll need:

  • Brown kraft boxes that fit your favors (mine are 3.5″ x 3.5″ x 2″ boxes from Paper Mart)
  • Wide silver ribbon (mine is 1.5″ from Michael’s)
  • Gold cording (mine is also from Michael’s) – cut into lengths that will wrap once around your box
  • Gold, copper and bronze metallic skeleton leaves (available at craft stores or from Save-on-crafts)
  • Glue gun and sticks – low heat is best
  • Scissors
  • Silver cardstock (I’m using ’shimmer silver’ card stock from Paper Source) and a printer or pens for the place cards

mixed-metallic-favor-box-place-card-2

Instructions:
1. First, either hand write or print out your names for the place cards onto a shimmery silver paper… then cut them, freeform, into leaf shapes. Size for each tag should be about the same as your skeleton leaves.

2. Using the glue gun and small swipes of glue, attach a larger leaf behind the tag, and a smaller one (in a different shade) to the front, sandwiching the tag in between the two leaves. Make sure to offset the top leaf slightly so that the name is readable.

mixed-metallic-favor-box-place-card-3

3. Flip the bunch over, and apply a decent drop of glue to ’stem’ area, just a bit up from the end… then press the end of the gold cording into the glue and let it set.

4. Once it’s cool, flip the bunch over to the front and apply a thickish line of glue on the stem end – the same length as two widths of the cord you’re using. Then wrap the gold cord around twice, and press into the glue. Let it set until it’s secure.

mixed-metallic-favor-box-place-card-4

5. Now, for the box: tie the wide silver ribbon around the box and secure with a knot (or, if you prefer, a bow) as shown. Cut the ends to reach about the edges of the box; an easy way to get the triangle shape is to fold the ribbon inward, as shown, and cut at a downward angle.

mixed-metallic-favor-box-place-card-5

6. Unfold and admire your gorgeous little ribbon end.

mixed-metallic-favor-box-place-card-6

7. To finish up: slip the cut/free end of the cord under the ribbon’s knot, pulling the tag up against the knot, and wrap once around the box. Tuck the end underneath the ribbon and secure with a small dab of hot glue. And you’re done!

mixed-metallic-favor-box-place-card-7

Hope you like! Don’t forget to check out my post on Floridian Weddings for more photos of the table, details, and sources. And while you’re there, feast your eyes on the gorgeous tables from Chevrons & Stripes, Urban Flip Flops, The Things We Didn’t Buy, and i like it. i love it.

Urban Southwestern Paper Suite on Style Me Pretty

We created a wedding paper suite inspired by the fabulous jewelry of Fortune Favors the Brave for an urban-southwestern photo shoot designed by Ang Weddings and Events and Blush Designs. It was featured on Style Me Pretty this week – check it out here!

style me pretty feature southwestern shoot

More photos of this shoot, and of the entire paper suite, are in the portfolio.

Winter Wedding Tabletop Inspiration

We’ve got a really fun inspiration challenge going on over at Floridian Weddings this week and next – winter/holiday tabletops!

Rebecca and I asked three other South Florida bloggers – Alex, Marianne and Sarah – to join us in creating tablescapes meant to inspire winter and holiday season weddings (or any other event, really). The inspiration boards were posted today and they’re AMAZING – I love how each of us came up with something so different for the theme.

winter-wedding-inspiration-mixed-metallics-naturals-2

For my board, I was inspired by a mix of metallics – gold, silver, copper and bronze – with natural materials and textures. I envisioned a tablescape that’s simple and organic (without being too rustic), all glammed up with a modern palette of metals that will be bright and shimmery in the candlelight. I also wanted to give it a feeling of warmth and comfort with handmade items and DIY projects… the guests at this winter wedding would feel right at home!

{1. Gold dress from H&M via Real Simple, 2. silver bay leaf garland from Jamali Garden, 3. copper lights from YLighting, 4. table setting from Crate & Barrel, 5. gold lined bowl by Etco, 6. glitter slingbacks by Jimmy Choo, 7. monogram napkins from Martha Stewart, 8. birch candles from Pottery Barn, 9. sparkle birch branches from Nettleton Hollow.}

Check out all the other boards here – next week, we’ll be posting the photos and details behind each table!

2011 Holiday Gift Guide

I thought it’d be fun this year to put together a little grab bag of gifts – they’re mostly fun and under $100, many are handmade, and all are wishlist-able. And Pinterest turned out to be the perfect easy place to put it!

gift-guide-2011

Hope it helps you find the perfect something for someone on your list! Check out the gift guide here… I’ll be adding to it throughout the month.

Couture Confections Giveaway on Floridian Weddings

couture-confections-giveaway

Did you see the adorable Florida cookies I posted about yesterday? Well, we’re hosting a fab giveaway today on Floridian Weddings – one lucky cookie lover will win $50 towards any custom-designed goodies of their choice from Couture Confections.

Enter here, and good luck!

custom invitations paper goods favors for weddings and events