A "Love"ly Picnic

What a view!  Can you imagine having a lovely engagement picnic or anniversary picnic here?  Jacin of Lovely Little Details designed this Valentine's shoot for Brenda's Wedding Blog, but I think the ideas here can be re-created for any celebration of love. 

The quilt used as tablecloth, the adorable place mats, the paper doilies used in different ways throughout, the recipe cards, and even the pretty display of easy to find sweet treats make this a unique and inviting place to dine.  Take these ideas and incorporate them into your own color scheme - yellow would be nice!  You'll have to find your own perfect view though...; )  

Photos by Gladys Jem 

Custom placemats and labels by Cut the Cake Design

Candies provided by Glam Candies

"Sweet-Heart" Valentine's Day Cocktail

Nothing like a color coordinated drink to help you celebrate Valentine's Day!  Whether you're sipping it with your love or celebrating "singlehood" with your girlfriends, this yummy "Sweet-Heart" cocktail will hit the spot.  A little bit sweet, a little bit tart...the perfect signature drink for the night!

The Sweet-Heart {created by Chris Nease}

1/2 oz Amaretto

1 oz Vodka

3 oz Cranberry juice

Combine ingredients together in a shaker with ice, and shake or mix.  Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a jelly candy.  Cheers!

Valentine's Gift Wrap & Paper Flower DIY

After working with Paula from Frog Prince Paperie, on the Queen of Heart Valentine's shoot, I had several printed papers left over from the collection.  I decided I'd create something fun with them using 2 different patterns and a few other crafty embelishments. 

The printable papers make a great gift wrap for small (sparkly?) gifts so I chose to use one pattern for wrapping and another pattern for a heart-shaped flower rosette.

1. What you'll need:  2 patterned papers; paper or fabric flower pieces from scrapbook isle of craft store;  decorative brads; scissors, and hole punch.
2. Make a fold down the side of the paper and cut out half of a heart shape, so that when you open it, it looks like a full heart.  You'll need 5 of these for 1 flower.
3. Layer the hearts on top of one another and punch a small hole at the bottom.
4. Layer a flower piece on top of the heart shapes and push a brad through everything and secure it.  Now fan out the hearts to form a flower and attach it to your package using double sided tape.

I also added one of the straw flags from the collection, as a little "stem" to the flower for extra detail.  What other ways could you use these heart flowers?

Valentine's Day Salad

by contributor Lisa Thiele

The countdown to Valentines Day continues. First, it was heart shaped marshmallows and now, heart shaped beets. Oh the possibilities are endless with cookie cutters. If you’re staying in this Valentines Day, this is great salad recipe that’s nice and light plus the red (heart shaped) beets add a special, “I love you” touch. If you’ve never roasted beets before, don’t be afraid, they couldn’t be easier. Just make sure you allow enough time for them to cook. This recipe is simple, delicious and the presentation will leave your guests/significant other very impressed.

Roasted Beet and Orange Salad {adapted by Epicurious}

6 medium beets, scrubbed

2 large oranges, peeled and cut into segments

1 small sweet onion, cut into thin wedges
Package of mixed baby greens (spinach, arugula, watercress + Boston lettuce –
washed and dried)
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
salt + pepper
Goat cheese, optional
Directions

Preheat oven to 400° degrees F. Drizzle beets with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper before wrapping each beet in foil. Place beets directly on oven rack and roast for about an 1 hour 30 minutes – or until tender when pierced with fork. Let cool. Peel beets and slice lengthwise, about ¼ inch thick. With your heart shaped cookie cutter, cut out individual hearts. Either discard scraps or save for leftovers.

Place mixed greens into your bowl and then add heart-shaped beets, orange segments and onion to mixed greens. Whisk together vinegar, oil, garlic, and orange peel in small bowl; add to salad mixture and toss to coat. Salt and pepper to taste. Let the salad stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.

Little Girl Damask Birthday Inspiration Shoot

These photos are from various photographers attending an I Heart Faces photography workshop.  Amy of Living Locurto (and I Heart Faces) blogs designed the printables for this, as well as the pinwheel craft and tabletop styling.  I wanted to share it with you now because I think it has some beautiful ideas for decor and would be lovely for Valentine's day (only a week away!).  You can even get a free Valentine's day version of the set by liking Living Locurto's Facebook page here.

I have always loved the bold color combination of black and red and white, and to see it in this high-style children's party setting is so refreshing.  Not all little girls love pink - I know because I have one of those "anti-pink" girls!  ; D

Other Credits:

Printable Party Set - Printables by Amy

Cookies - Bake At 350

Be Mine, Valentine!

How pretty is this party design from Gwynn Wasson Designs?!  So pretty!!  You may remember Gwynn's printable designs from the "Mad" Hatter Halloween party I created in the fall.  Here she has set up a beautiful dessert table full of sweet treats, sweet ideas, and sweet printables.  Some of my favorites are the 3 dimensional heart centerpiece, the hanging heart streamers on the backdrop, the pinwheels, and adorable mini cake bunting.  To see more of Gwynn's Valentine collection visit her Etsy Shop. 

Valentine's Play Date & Giveaway {Guest Blogger}

A Big Thank You to Kori of Paper & Pigtails for guest blogging for me while I'm at Blissdom:

Hi everyone! I would love to start by saying I am SO EXCITED and

HONORED to be able to guest post on one of my favorite blogs! I began

following Celebrations at Home and Chris at the very beginning of my

journey into the party world and still consider it a go to blog for

inspiration!! Thank you Chris for the chance to guest post about my

Toddler Valentine Playdate!

I hosted a Valentine exchange recently for my kids and some of their

friends!! We hosted it early so that some friends who are in school

would have the day off to join us, and as I have house guests for

three weeks, we know doing it before would be best!

The whole concept started with the ADORABLE little red tin mailboxes I

found online (now available in the $1 section at Target). In an effort

to figure out how to make "mailbox stands" without too much trouble, I

happened to see these cute candlesticks in assorted sizes and knew

they'd be perfect. Once this theme was decided I received a box of

Twirlie Whilies pinwheels that were too cute to not include! So,

combining these elements, the entire design came together for the

holiday set and the playdate!!

As with most parties, things happen the day of the party that can't be

helped. For us, I planned a larger children's table using the

pinwheels and sucker centerpiece that ended up on the food table.

After the rain soaked the large table and chairs, I had to quickly

rework our round table for the four older toddlers as the little ones

don't sit long anyway. I used a pink runner I had from a previous

party, paper plates in reds and pinks, green "grass", mini mason jars

for the lemonade, and two of the mailboxes for a centerpiece (as we no

longer had room for the planned centerpiece). I also decided to use

the valentines from my kids as "table decor". My son gave Twirlie

Whirlies Pinwheels which were on each plate, and my daughter gave a

pink striped bag of heart gummies. The bags and mini mailboxes were

used for the kids to take their treats home in.

We had a table full of food that FULLY intended to hold the chicken

salad sandwiches and other lunch food, but when a friend showed up

with the beautiful sugar cookies she made and decorated herself, I

knew they had to have a place on the table! Once the "centerpieces"

for the kids table merged onto the food table as well, it ended up

mostly sweets....oops. We can assure you, the kids didn't complain!

I think my favorite part of the party was the Valentine Bingo

Printable Game I made to go with the set! Kids used stickers to put on

their cards and we kept playing until everyone had the chance to shout

BINGO! It was certainly a fun and memorable holiday party for my

little ones and hopefully their friends as well!
This full editable Valentine set is for SALE in my Etsy shop for $15! 

This Giveaway is now Closed
As a thank you to Chris's readers for putting up with my guest post, I

would love to offer a GIVEAWAY to you! I will randomly choose 2

comments left here to win an EDITABLE party set of your choice

(including circles, invitation, tent cards/place cards, bottle labels,

and large circles)!!
Simply Visit the Paper & Pigtails Etsy Shop and

see which EDITABLE design is your favorite, then come back and post a

comment to let us know!

The Winner will be chosen on Monday, the 31st.

Congratulations to Kelly (#59) and Dee (#12) for winning your choice of Editable Printables from Paper & Pigtails!

Queen Of Hearts Valentine Shoot

There is a lot to see here today, as I styled and photographed this Queen of Hearts Valentine's Day shoot to help showcase the printable party collection by Paula of Frog Prince Paperie.  Paula created this very cool and modern set that would also work well for a bachelorette party, bridal shower, lingerie shower, or even engagement party - the LOVE theme here is universal! 

The dining table for two is covered with a simple white cloth to show off the black lace trim detail, and the centerpiece which consists of real flowers in vases along with some whimsical fabric & felt flowers as a "runner."  Love notes from the collection sit atop each plate and are the perfect romantic gift. 

Also part of the collection are the playing cards that spell LOVE.  One of the ways I used these was to attach them to a King & Queen decorative piece from Hobby Lobby(using double stick tape).  However, after I got the photo the wind was too strong to keep them there for long.

Another way to use the long straw flags is to make small heart-shaped stem markers.  I just used 2 different patterns and attached them with double-sided tape to make a heart shape.  To finish it off, I curled the tail ends.

I set up a small dessert table for two, with chocolate-dipped strawberries, mini cupcakes, and the gorgeous coordinating cookies from Allyson Jane.  I love how she can transfer any printable design to her cookies, and they taste as good as they look!

I used the classic circles to top the cupcakes and added to picks for the strawberries.  The wine bottle labels are one of my favorite items.  You can add it to wine or champage, but you could also use it to top off plain gift wrap.

No party is complete without something to hang.  I hung the LOVE banner across the front of the dessert table, but you can also hang it above, across a wall or doorway.

More decorative uses for the party circles and flags can be seen above on the milk bottles.  I used the flags in the traditional way on the straws, but also as decorative accents to the circles.  Below you can see just how pretty the love letters are both front and back.

A few more shots using pieces of the set to decorate small gifts can be seen below, including decorative paper sheets to use for lining trays or creating paper crafts.  Another one of my favorite items in this collection is the paper cone (bottom photo).  We embelished these with beaded trim, feathers, and ribbon to hang it on the backs of the chairs.  Filling them up with small heart-shaped cookies from Allyson Jane makes for the perfect party favor. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing this new collection from Frog Prince Paperie, and please visit my tutorial for using her papers as gift wrap, and a paper flower topper here.  Except for battling the wind for 2 hours on the day of the shoot, I had a fabulous time working on this. LOL

Visit Paula's shop for more information.

Styling and photographs - Chris Nease @ Celebrations At Home

Printables - Frog Prince Paperie

Decorated Cookies - Allyson Jane