The holidays are FAST approaching and I am in the spirit! This year I am honored to be part of the Tomkat Studio Holiday Gift Guide. You can see my free gift tags along with lots of other holiday gift inspiration here. Be sure to check out all of the goodies!
I created simple Kraft tags with white calligraphy. The set includes two standard gift wrap tags, a hang tag and a mailing label. DOWNLOAD HERE! The neutral colors compliment any wrapping color that you choose. I always have a hard time choosing! This year I did my tree in all gold so my wrapping will be gold and white with a touch of mint. I also tried these tags out with red and kraft paper and I think they work out great with these colors too.
Which is your favorite? I would love to hear how you would use the tags!
And here are the same tags in red. Loving this Target gift wrap!
We celebrated my husband’s 40th with a small group of close friends. I did not have a photographer there and I put my own camera down shortly after guests arrive so that I could just enjoy the party. I am just going to share a few DIY projects (with not so great photos).
My first and extremely inexpensive project was the matches. I bought boxes of matches 10/$1 at the dollar store and covered the front and back with fun sayings printed on cardstock. I used assorted candle holders to hold the cigars.
Here are my quick tips to add a little character to your bar set up.
For this party I set up two signature drinks. Rum-n-Coke and Black-n-Tan. I had all of the parts to make your own drink as you pleased and it worked out well.
I used a combination of leather, chalkboard and metal to keep this bar looking masculine.
I printed the BAR banner on kraft brown cardstock and strung up on the front of the table. You can download your FREE BAR BANNER here and print on whatever color works for you.
And my last quick tip to personalize a party like this is to add a menu board. This was the Menu Board for this party, it can be personalized in so many ways. I had this one printed on poster board and finished in one hour at my local walgreens for under $20. You can find them in my shop here and they can be personalized just for you!
Just a couple of special touches is all it takes to make your party personal. Happy Planning!
With the season changing I am adding seasonal elements to both my parties and my home. I used my new Rustic Charm Invite as the jumping off point of this inspiration board. I am loving gray right now and using it as my go to color lately. I love it paired with warm colors for winter and fall. What items would you add to create this style to your home or event?
Many of you have already seen my daughter’s pony party here, today I am sharing the recipe for “Kentucky Pie” in mini mason jars. This is also known as Derby Pie, however, that name is trademarked so I had to give it my own name. This is a great chocolate pecan pie with bourbon. These pies are easy to make and would be a great fall treat! Perhaps Thanksgiving take home goodies?
The finished product looked like this. I dressed up the lids by printing the pattern onto cardstock and cutting out circles. I then tied with rope. Nice and simple !
Press the crust into the jars. Put a spoon full of chocolate chips and pecans in bottom of jar top with filling. Bake them at 350 for about half an hour. Cool and enjoy!
This was a perfect fit for our pony party…don’t you think?
Game on! My son Tyler turned 11 in August and we were very excited to have the GAME TRUCK to our home. Two whole hours of 16 quiet boys! That’s right! They were in the game truck with the “game coach” for 2 whole hours. When they came out (looking a little like Vampires that had never seen the light of day) they all said that it was SO MUCH FUN! A pile of pizzas, a table of desserts and let’s call it a party!
My son is a HUGE Minecraft fan, along with all of his buddies. I designed a very “non-commercial” Game On logo for the party but had a couple of minecraft icons here and there. The door was decorated with just paper and tape because the graphics in minecraft are that “simple”. We also served “creeper juice” by adding black duct tape to my drink dispenser. For those who want to add a touch of Minecraft to your party stay tuned for a FREE minecraft printable coming up next!
We had Maggie Russo there to photograph it and my sister made the very cool gray cakepops with lime chevron sticks.
Now let’s have a look at this fun Game Truck Party!
Look how awesome this game truck is! 16 kids can play at once on 3 Big Screens. Very cool! We used Illiana Game Truck. I made VIP badges for the kids to wear onto the truck to tie in the design of the party.
The chocolate WII and play station remotes were a hit and took very little time and effort to make with these molds from Amazon. They set up in literally minutes so you can make a bunch quickly.
The cool vintage style Atari joy stick candy tins were found on EBAY. Even with this very modern party theme I had to throw my little bit of vintage style in there!
The boys seemed to love the game truck and for me the best part was that they were 100% entertained for TWO WHOLE HOURS!
See… our door had a little touch of minecraft too 😉
Not too creative or good looking, but easy and the boys got a kick out of it. I thought it would be better than a floral wreath on my door since the dessert and drinks were set up on my front porch.
You can find the whole set or just the invite in my shop to add a little DIY flair to your game truck party. Find it here!
And for you Minecraft fans I have a special FREEBIE for you. These bag toppers are sure to be a hit when you send the kids home with these easy little treat bags! Download your copy here! All you need are 5″ wide cello bags and candy (I used cherry sours).
September is here and that means Fall Parties! One of my favorite settings for fall parties are farms, orchards and fair grounds. This is the perfect time of year to take it outdoors. I love the County Fair theme because you can really use it for any occasion. I used mine for a family reunion, but it makes a great theme for birthday, wedding shower or baby shower as well. This was done on a small scale because I like the simple country feel of it, but I think these ideas would make a great jumping off point for a bigger party as well. Here are a few of my tips and tricks for a great {and simple} County Fair Party….
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I like to look for fun ways to add varying heights to my table. This time I used a rustic metal plant stand, vintage Pepsi crate and worn wooden boxes. Look around your house and you can get creative with this.
Use local grown fruit in different bushels and baskets to fill in space on the table. It looks nice and it fits right in with the theme. Lots of people appreciate a healthy option as well.
The County fair is all about great tasting desserts so skip the fancy fondant frosting and jazz up a simple cake with a prize ribbon. This cake was just $3.99 at my grocery store bakery and has the homemade “prize winning” look I was going for.
If your county or venue is known for something be sure to work it into the table. This farm is known for their Apple Cider Donuts so they made an appearance in a wooden loaf pan. The well known cider also had it’s own display.
Inexpensive fabrics are a great way to add color to your table. This blue gingham was just $1 per yard. A $3 tablecloth is a nice deal!
I love to add fresh flowers for a splash of color. The sunflowers were just right for this event.
Set the tone to your event with the invitation and pull it all together with matching printables. You can find the invite and the whole matching set in my shop.
And can I just add…how cute are they? Annabelle, Tyler and their cousin Jack.
And now for the games. You know my style is Homespun…..so these games are just that! My favorite is the Soda Pop Ring Toss. I filled my vintage Pepsi crate with 24 bottles of colorful soda and the kids had to ring them with small rings.
* We did not photograph lunch…. but corndogs, corn on the cob, pulled pork and fried chicken are county fair favorites for “real food”.
Photos by Maggie Russo Photo. For more County fair inspiration check out her County Fair theme baby shower. It was ADORABLE. I love the homemade chalkboard menu that Maggie made! See her shower feature on The Wise Baby Blog
Celebrating a brand new school year and a brand new BLOG {and} SHOP! I have been busy this summer working on moving my printable shop and blog into one place and it is finally ready to go! Come on in and have a look around! You can still view all of my other party posts at http://thehomespunhostess.blogspot.com/
Hard to believe it is time for the kids to get ready to head back to school! Summer goes by faster every year! Start this school year with my newest FREE BACK TO SCHOOL PRINTABLE. Welcome the kids for breakfast with this 5×7 sign wishing them a “Great First Day of School” and then use the cupcake toppers for a sweet after school snack.
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You can use these toppers on Cupcakes for after school snack, classroom treats or even on your breakfast muffins!
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Be sure to check out last years freebies on my Freebie page too!
{School Days Milk Wrapper} and {First Day of School Photo Prop}
