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Fab Fete: New Years Eve Party with Oh Joy for Target Decor

When I saw the Oh Joy for Target Decor, I felt compelled to party plan right then and there.  I loved the unique color mix!  The colors are unisex enough to be versatile for all sorts of occasions and the splashes of gold give it an air of sophistication!

I could see myself using this for my birthday party (see below), new year’s, and a future summer garden party.  This new year’s period, it didn’t matter if I was getting over a cold.  I was determined to make this year’s new year’s eve occasion less lame than last year’s.  So I ambitiously planned my first-ever dinner party at our new apartment and was determined to cook most everything.  Looking forward to entertaining at home actually helped me to stay in great spirits despite dealing with my never-ending cold.  And it gave me something to look forward to.

I cut up the coordinating napkins to create the 2015 numbers on the backdrop wall below and attached some gold party blowers to the center lantern as well as adding a patterned border to my countertop just to bring the color forward even more (again with cut napkins).

The menu included Asian:

• Salmon and rice
• fried dumplings
• Chicken noodle salad
• sushi
• edamame
• Baked By Melissa chocolate covered mini-cupcakes
• French Macarons by Financier
• Peanut Butter Chocolate chip cookies (baked by me)
• champagne, prosecco, and watermelon infused water with lime

Needless to say there was plenty of food leftover.  Or maybe I should take it as a hint and just cater in next time 🙂

Our littlest of party-goers enjoyed staying out past their bedtime and modeling their new Oh Joy for Target hats.

Baby Vienna couldn’t resist getting a closer look at Juliet’s shoes.  Here’s the whole outfit. I kind of obsessed with those sneakers too!

It was so nice spending some quality (shared) family time together in the comfort of our home.  With two babies in tow, it really made the most sense.  And as Juliet says in this video, it made for a very happy new year!

Can you believe I hosted a toddler tea party the very next day?  Click here for some more cuteness!

 

Fab Fete: Orange and Fushia Chevron Baby Shower

I have known my dear friend, Janell for about 6.5 years and she is one of those people that just brings a smile to your face.  I’ve celebrated meeting her ever since I met her while traveling in Dubai.  She is a bright ray of sunshine.  You know, one of those people that is always so positive with an amazing, contagious energy.  I loved her the minute I met her!

So when she expressed possibly needing a venue for her baby shower, I volunteered our apartment and my event planning services.  And though I didn’t know exactly how I’d convert my post-renovation apartment with construction materials still there into a party space I thought it would be good to have a deadline in mind for us to work towards cleaning it all out.

Turns out orange and fuschia were the colors Janell was imagining for her nursery so we agreed on making that the color theme of her baby shower.  The colors are so fitting given her personality is just as vivacious and fun.  Next, we threw in her favorite pattern, chevron, (also likely to be used in the new nursery) and boom, that kick started all my brainstorming which you can see on my pinterest board here.

With the budget in mind, I found these great FREE, downloadable party printables with the orange-fuschia-chevron theme.

And I continued the theme at the all-important food station (which typically becomes the center of any party) by purchasing a similar orange and white chevron blanket at Century 21 for less than $15.  Thumbtacking it to our wall, created an eye-catching backdrop.

The banner was created by printing large blank papers from that downloadable link, cutting flags out freehand and handwriting the message with a sharpie in as consistent of a font as possible.  (I’d advise printing out onto card stock to prevent wrinkles).  Lastly, I covered my kitchen cabinet pull handles with some fuschia fabric I bought on sale a while ago for another purpose.

I created the diaper cake centerpiece out of newborn and sz 1 diapers, some ribbon, fuschia napkins, some florals and a baby headband.   I’m always looking for an excuse to use my glue gun so I was happy to have an excuse to pull it out again!

The orange tray that you see here was found at a dollar-type store for just over $3 and the orange runner on my countertop was made with paper bought on clearance at Michaels.

 

The cupcakes were homemade by the other 2 co-hosts, sprinkled with fuschia sprinkles and finally topped with a chevron onesie that I bought from Etsy designer, Scrapbits. 

In addition to these cute cupcake desserts, the brunch menu consisted of:

• mini quiches (3 varieties)
• Croissants (3 varieties)
• Yogurt parfaits
• cranberry brie bites
• fruit skewers
• trail mix
• mimosas, OJ and coffee
• sparkling water  (orange or rasberry flavored to match the color theme)

    

Cupcake liners in your party’s theme colors are a great way to present and distribute items that require a handful. And baby items in coordinating colors sat next to some of the food displays for an additional dose of cuteness.

Every baby shower needs some sort of an activity for the guests.  But since the mom-to-be in this case didn’t want traditional shower games, I offered to create a fun photo booth setup instead.  The guests at her wedding all seemed to be into the photo booth in the past so I knew it would be a hit plus what better way to commemorate the event than with pictures?  It didn’t hurt that her guests were so photogenic…

 

To make this DIY photo booth, all I did was set up a remote control SLR to a tripod and hung orange curtains with some leftover crystal beads from an old curtain I once had.

Props included:

• bibs
• rattles
• bottles
• paper pacifiers from Etsy designer ScrapStarz
• felt bowties, mustaches, lips and hats

Presents were opened and stories were shared underneath a banner that read, We (heart) Vienna – the baby’s name.

And simple white onesies hung in the living room windows.

Guests left with orange M&M favors in these cute bottles from Etsy seller Lovingly Mine, 

We added the signs with the free, downloadable prints that I found.  They just required some printing, cutting and ribboning.

My thank you goes out to Janell for letting me co-host her very special baby shower.  I hope that it was memorable and everything you dreamed it to be.  You are going to make a wonderful mom and I’m so excited to be able to share in this new chapter of your life!

• See my Instagram account @fabgabblog for the party video highlights!

• Click here  for more ideas on how to set up a dessert bar or food station.

• Click here for other fab fetes that I’ve organized.