Archive for the ‘entertaining’ Category
30 Days of Creativity – Day 14: Farewell Gifts
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been busy making a few things to give away. It’s just that time of year: end-of-school, graduation parties, summer birthdays, etc. And, I have all these ideas and inspiration, but there’s just never enough time. For my daughter’s teacher who is retiring, the class wrote letters of gratitude (or poems and just goodbyes). I put their little works of art together with pictures from school parties and their last field trip.
Over the weekend, we also hosted a going-away party for my sister-in-law and her husband who are moving out to the West Coast. *sad face* Really, we are so proud and excited for them. We will miss them so much… thank goodness for video chatting. So, a few friends and family came over, we laughed, we feasted on some favorite foods and bid them farewell. The thing about going away parties (I don’t like saying “goodbye”.), it’s all about spending time with your family and your pals. You could go nuts with decoration or theme, and I might have if there were more time. We just pulled together a few things. My daughter and I wrote cute messages on some vellum that we embossed, then we taped them to some glass jars for homespun hurricane jars.
And for our guests, something to conjure up Washington (state): some Starbuck’s to go, a copy of a vintage downtown Seattle postcard, and my sister and brother-in-law’s new address.
How would you prepare for a farewell party? Share some website loves in the comments!
Tags: 30 days, farewell, Friends and Family, going away, party, summer, teacher gift
Cookie Exchange 2010: Too. Much. Food.
Clearly, I’ve fallen off the face of the earth with journaling here. Last week, the house was finally clean and decorated, cookies baked, and menu prepared for our annual cookie exchange party. Nine years running. Amazing. I’ll be back this week after recovering from the sugar coma.
Food and Gift Packaging
I was super excited to get these goodies from the offices of Martha Stewart Living via Craft Critique. If you’re getting ready for the holidays and looking for ways to wrap or package your baked goods, please take a look at my review on Craft Critique! Leave a comment at their site and you just might win your own set of treat bags and boxes!
Tags: favorite things, gifts, martha stewart
Calphalon & Williams-Sonoma Video Contest
Remember the Calphalon & Williams-Sonoma party I hosted earlier this year? There’s more…
Calphalon & Williams-Sonoma are proud to present the Easy & Elegant Brunch Video Contest!
There are 4 days left of this contest!
Submit a video answering these three questions:
1. Why do you need Calphalon Unison cookware for the Holidays?
2. Why are you excited to meet and cook brunch with Chef Michael Symon?
3. What will you buy on your Williams-Sonoma shopping spree?
You could win a trip to meet, dine, and cook with Chef Michael Symon!
PLUS! The first 150 approved videos will all win a FREE 8†Calphalon Unison Omelette Pan! (a $100 value!)
Important Dates:
November 14th:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Entry Period Closed
November 18th:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 3 Finalists Announced
November 19th – 28th:                                 Public Vote
November 30th:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Winner Announced
For more information, or to enter, please visit http://www.facebook.com/Calphalon.
All official rules and requirements are available at the contest entry page.
One Grand Prize will be awarded:
- Round-Trip Airfare for 2 to Cleveland, OH
- Hotel Room for 2 Nights in Cleveland, OH
- All Transportation Fees
- Meet Celebrity Chef Michael Symon
- Brunch Cooking Demonstration by Michael Symon
- Dinner for 2 at Michael Symon’s Acclaimed Lola Restaurant
- 1 10-piece Calphalon Unison Nonstick cookware set
- 1 Calphalon Unison Kabob Set
- 1 Calphalon Unison Frittata Pan Set
- 1 Calphalon Unison Double-Burner Griddle Set
- $500 Williams-Sonoma Shopping Spree
Tags: calphalon, contest, williams-sonoma
Wordless Wednesday: Williams-Sonoma and Calphalon Dinner Party
Picture by R. Lasquite
Picture by R. Lasquite
Picture by R. Lasquite
Picture by G. Feiereisel
More photos at Greg’s Photo Album. Thank you everyone for such a fun evening! Let’s do this again soon.
Tags: calphalon, cooking, dinner, Friends and Family, party, williams-sonoma
Celebrating a Friend’s Engagement
How could you not have fun with a bunch of girlfriends at a cooking class and then karaoke in a private room belting out hits from the 1980′s? There were plenty of treats for us at dinner, and unfortunately, I didn’t make time to bake up a batch of cookies to share. (I really wanted to.)
I did make this card for my friend.
Borrowing a line from a Las Vegas commercial, I wrote this in the card, “What happens at the bachelorette party, stays with the bachelorette party.” So with that, I won’t go much into the weekend details (no big debauchery, really), but I’ll say it was so much fun spending time with the ladies. I will share how to make the card!
What you need:
- The Bad Girl’s stamp kit by Chronicle Books
- 6″ x 6″ card – white cardstock
- Two or three coordinating colors in acrylic paint – I used Lumiere paint to coordinate with the bride’s invitation. Feel free to experiment with other colors!
- Black embossing powder
- Miscellaneous supplies: paint brush, ink pad, and heat gun
- I’m assuming there is general knowledge about embossing and rubber stamping… basic techniques can be found by searching for “rubber stamping basic embossing technique“.
- If you need guidelines, then use your ruler and lightly pencil out a grid, evenly dividing the card into 16 spaces. I did not do this… just eyeballed the spacing to give it a handcrafted feel.
- I then took drops of each color and placed on a foam plate (palette) to mix the colors a bit. This is all very free-range art; mix as much or as little as you want. I like it lightly mixed so you can still see different colors.
- Paint 16 squares on your card front, preferably free hand. The squares don’t have to be perfect. Let dry.
- When paint is dry, stamp your images within the square. Again, I went for a freehand look and did not align the images in a certain orientation. Off-center is fun and quirky!
- NOTE: I stamped four images and then dusted with embossing powder.
- Once your card is all dusted with embossing powder and you’ve tapped off the excess, turn up your heat gun and make some embossing magic!
Voila! It’s done and ready for your personal note for your bride-to-be pal.
Tags: bachelorette party, cards, girls night out, tutorials
