Christmas table decorating {Christmas Tea 2012}

 

Christmas is here again and my favorite way to welcome the season is with our church's annual women's tea. The tea is a wonderful tradition where the women of the church decorate and host tables and the men serve as butlers.

This post is about a year late as I am sharing photos of last year's tea. Hopefully I will get photos up of this year's event much quicker. I don't know what I enjoy more, preparing and setting up my tables or walking around and admiring the talent and creativity displayed in the other tables.

I decorated three tables last year, two for my invited guests and one for guests of the church.
My first table was a black and silver. I was going for a glam look with lots of silver and sparkle.

 

My second table was peacock theme. I found a gold peacock with blue and purple ornaments at Ross and I just knew I had to use it. The same week, I spotted gift bags and napkins at Home Goods that matched. I love it when things just come together.

My last table was a brown and gold table. I like adding brown  tones to my Christmas décor as I think it complements all the glitter of the season.

 

The following photos are of tables decorated by other women from our church. More than 70 talented women hosted and decorated tables.

For more pictures of the 2012 Christmas Tea, check out the facebook page

{GIVEAWAY} Candy Making for Kids by Courtney Dial Whitmore

The talented Courtney Dial Whitmore of Pizzazzerie has come out with her second book, Candy Making for Kids. Courtney is doing a Blog Book Tour and I am so excited she's making a stop here.

I love making lollipops and candy and I can already see my girls showing an interest in candy making. Anyone who makes candy knows that boiling hot sugar is not something young kids can work with which is why I am so excited about this book.

Filled with fun and easy recipes, it would make an awesome gift for the budding candy maker. None of the recipes require a candy thermometer so it's great for kids of all ages. 

You can get your copy of Candy Making for Kids on Amazon  and Barnes & Noble 
As an added bonus,  Courtney is offering book plates if you want your book signed. You can email Courtney at courtney@pizzazzerie.com with the subject line BOOK SIGNATURE.  In the email, include a  proof of purchase (screen shot of Amazon order, picture of receipt, etc) along with your address and who to make the greeting out to and she will send it your way.

OR your could try to win a copy here!

Courtney is giving away ONE copy of Candy Making for Kids to one of my readers. This is open to all U.S. residents, age 18 and over. A winner will be chosen on Friday, August 10 at noon (pacific time).

To enter the giveaway:
Head over to  Lollipops & Paper's facebook page and "like" it (or let me know if you already like it), then "share" this post and comment on who you will be making candy with.

How awesome is that?!


Photography by Zac Williams

Summer dessert table ideas

Summer is in full swing at our house which means lots of swimming, tantrums and planning for my oldest daughter's birthday in September. Last year, her Tangled Garden party at the park fell on the hottest day of the year.

Apparently, our city was the hottest area in all of the county.  I think it reached 110 degrees that day. A news crew doing their heatwave story stumbled upon our party and interviewed us.  For my 15 seconds of TV fame, I was sweaty and yucky. Oh Well. But you know what, my dessert table was in tact despite the heat because we loaded up on treats that could hold up to the weather.  YAY!

So today, as I plan her mermaid themed swimming party, I am sharing my favorite things to include in a sweets table that I've used over the years. The temperature can easily reach over 90 degrees in our area so I have several go-to things I use when I know it will be warm. While almost anything will melt or go bad in extreme heat, I've found that the following hold up really well.

 I hope this helps some of you as you plan your summer parties. Please keep your fingers crossed for us that the news crews and heatwave stay away from us this year.

 In the jars from left to right: marshmallows, popcorn, wafer sticks.

Animal crackers and pretzels are also great.

Popcorn and Goldfish crackers are in the apothecary jars.

The basketball was a Rice Krispy cake which also holds up better to heat than cake.

Rice Krispy cake by Cupkits Edible Creations

Cookies with royal icing,  fondant decorations or left uncovered hold up really well. The important thing is to not use chocolate.

Silhouette cookies by Cupkits

Licorice  and sour candy (either belts, gummies or other shapes)

Gumballs

And lastly, I almost always include my hard candy lollipops

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the summer

The Lorax Truffula Seeds FREE PRINTABLE

I can't believe my last post was Christmas. I guess I've been both lazy & busy.
For months I had hoped to do an elaborate Dr. Seuss themed party for my kids to celebrate Read Across America Day and the Lorax movie premier but that kinda fell through the cracks.
My girls still wanted to give something to their friends to celebrate the day so I ended up with these Truffula Seeds.
I just took an image from the Lorax book, added "Truffula Seeds" to it and printed them. I put Berry Kix cereal in a bag, slapped on the label and called it a day.

So by a request on facebook, I am sharing it with all of you.
You can download the PDF file here.
Enjoy!

Nativity Tablescape & FREE Printable {Christmas Tea Part 2}

As a mentioned in a previous post, I decorated three tables for our church's Women's Christmas Tea. For one of the tables, I chose a gold and silver color scheme and used my nativity figurines.



My husband folded these napkins for me which held the silverware

I wanted to incorporate some sort of saying or theme so I designed some Joy to the World tags which I used to dress up some plain favor boxes.

As my Christmas gift to all of you, I am sharing these tags with you.


They would be great as cupcake toppers, gift tags, etc. There are three tags, each with a line from the song, "Joy to the World," "The Lord has come," and "Let Earth receive her king." You can use either a 2 inch square or 2 inch circle punch for these. You can download theme here.
As always, please do not resell these and credit to Lollipops & Paper is much appreciated.

Enjoy & Merry Christmas!