Love Birds

I am updating this post with Breanna's own pictures. You will easily be able to tell where her photos end and my original post, with my photos begin. Enjoy her beautiful pictures!

Mother of the bride and the bride-to-be!

Today was finally the big day! I have been dying to show you these things for the bridal shower as I have been making them, and now I finally can! Let's start at the beginning...The invitations! I printed them on vellum, and tied it all in with the B&B theme. I stamped on some special ribbon. The background was scrapbook paper that looks like old whitewashed wood. I cut the bird and branch on my Cricut.

If you have read my blog for a few months, you will notice many of my projects that I showed how to make as you look through the party pics. Here is one of my sous chefs helping assemble the Rosemary Skewers.

Nana actually let me take her picture pre-curling iron! Can you believe it?

Cami helping me to roll out yet more flatbread this morning..

Emma and Lexi were happy to just play Wii while everyone worked, haha.

Here is the gift table, pre-guest arrival.

Here are the tables. Cloth napkins. Green napkin rings. Other napkin rings.

I showed how to make the cloth napkins and napkin rings in previous blogs. To make the menus, I used the same method as I used for the pinwheels, then added two layers of cutouts from my cricut, then I printed menus, cut them out by hand, then used a bird punch that I got on clearance.

I got 5 coordinating patterned old books for $0.25 each at Rescued Treasures! The old patterned keys I picked up for 10 cents each at Old Paris on Main Street! I just tied them to large mason jars with jute.

We filled the jars with flowers and rosemary from Joy's backyard. We lit tealights in different cut crystal teacups that were borrowed.

I got the idea for these pinwheels from Your Homebased Mom's site. I just added my own ideas to them. I layered 2 dfferent papers for the wheels, then a cut shape from my cricut, then the B&B. When Bree sent her save the date cards, she included two different poses from their engagement pics. I decoupaged one inside each jar (they are pickle jars). After it dried, I filled with stones that I used to have in a pillar candle jar. I then wrapped with raffia ribbon. I bought a dollar's worth of lace at Wal-Mart and it was scalloped on both edges so I cut it in half length-wise and hot glued it to the edges of each wheel. I love the detail it added to them!

Here is the other one. Are you keeping tab so far? See what you can do with next to nothing and a little creativity?

I think that this menu holder was originally a soap caddy for a bathroom. I bought it for $1.35 at Goodwill. I cut a piece of berlap and laid it in the bottom, added moss and a green bird nestled in. I printed the menu, triple matted it and tied it on. It also had the bird punched detail at the top.

Here's the little birdie.

After I had all of that done, while shopping at Michaels one day I saw this little birdcage that was in the jewlery making section. It even has a tiny bird in it. It was about 3 bucks. Perfect size and the perfect detail!

I made this sign with the leftover papers I had from making the invitations. I cut the scallloped flower shapes, and letters, then used bird stickers that I found on clearance. I also made some clothespins with paper and birds on them to clip them to the ribbon.

Here is the table pre-food.

Here is the homemade flatbread.

White chocolate raspberry cake. Yum! Moistest cake EVER. Period. Exclamation point.

Here is the flatbread and bruschetta.

Rosemary Skewers. Beauty on a plate.

Mediterranean Orzo Salad.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Bars and Chocolate Creme with raspberries.

Believe me, this is not chocolate pudding friends, it is chocolate creme. It is many steps, but it is so worth it! And you MUST, MUST I tell you, use Guittard chocolate when making it!

Here are the croque monsieur sandwiches. We did half ham and half Bree's version with prosciutto.

They are totally fat free. Riiiiight....

The one time you almost wish your 6 year old standing next to you can't read. Haha.

This frame is from Ikea, and I LOVE it! Originally we were going to have our party outdoors and I had this whole plan to put this on my giant whitewashed thingy that I have and surround it with little bottles of flowers. It would have been so funky and gorgeous, you'll just have to trust me because with the heat, that's where the idea will forever stay, in my mind. =) This was a good back-up adjustment. Joy has this gorgeous old dresser by the front door where we put the party favors, so we hung it above.

I didn't have the best quality photo so it didn't look ultra clear blown up but you get the idea. The thing underneath it I wrote with chalk on a gray piece of cardstock with a bird and branch shape I cut with my (what else?) cricut.

These are the favors that my WONDERFUL friend helped me to make. Homemade flatbread wrapped (first in a ziploc) in a $0.49 Ikea towel. I tied them up with raffia ribbon.

I printed up the recipe on cardstock and used the bird punch again. I slid a piece of colored cardstock between the front and back and then ran them through my laminator.

The last thing attached to the favors was a list of the websites where ALL of the recipes we tasted today came from. I am so glad I did this! There were so many people asking for them, so this was really handy!

The party turned out wonderful! I am SO thankful for all of the helping hands to make my plans happen on time!

Since I'm a mama and my kids and other family kids were going to be there, I made a kids table. We put it in the adjoining study, which thankfully has glass doors so we can see them but not hear them. =) These pics are what I did: covered the table in butcher paper, put out jars of crayons. Then I put together a little box for each girl ($1 section bendaroos from Michaels, roll of smarties, $1 section bead necklace kits from JoAnns). They loved it all and it kept them occupied for awhile.

Linking up to Bird's Party Blog