Entertaining

Moana Party, Our Way (A Little Less “Disney” And A Lot More “Luau”)

August 15, 2017

I am 100% on board with every single thing about the movie Moana - seriously, THANK YOU Disney for fiiiiiinally giving us a heroine that we can all get our daughters on board with - and was more than happy to make my daughter's third birthday party Moana-themed, per her request. I was not, however, super psyched about the idea of making my house look like the Summer Blowout aisle at Party City. I mean, surely there was a way to evoke the whole Polynesian-adventure thing without breaking napkins decorated with The Rock (or at least his animated counterpart). ...No?

Here's how we de-Disneyfied our Moana party (while still making all those three-year-old dreams come true).

Entertaining

The Great (And Much-Anticipated) Moana Cake

August 14, 2017

how to make a moana theme birthday cake out of fondant

A few months ago, I asked my daughter what was wanted for her third birthday - fully aware, of course, that she was going to change her mind approximately 1,352,534 times before the day actually arrived.

"Moana cake," she said. Like, immediately, with zero pause for contemplation. "And candy."

Very well.

Entertaining

Fresh Texture

August 11, 2017

A friend from the East Coast came to visit a couple of weeks ago, and over dinner she told me that the one thing of mine she really, really covets is my "dish situation" (by which she meant my collection of serving platters and wine glasses and plates and such).

With zero humility, I have to say: I love the collection I’ve amassed over the years. It includes everything from Noritake dinnerware classics (featured in this post; you can see the collection I curated for the brand here) to vintage finds from all over the country, and is constantly evolving as I discover new style pairings that feel fresh. That’s my favorite thing about my collection, actually: every few seasons, I step back and look at it, think about if and how I want to switch it up, and then simply mix a few new pieces to create a completely new look.

Take the tablescape pictured here, for example, which started with a bunch of pieces I already owned:

DIY Projects

Last-Minute Fourth of July DIY: Super-Simple Paper Lanterns

July 2, 2017

I have officially decreed today - Sunday - to be the Fourth of July, because the actual Fourth of July is on a Tuesday and having two days to recuperate after Fourth of July festivities sounds like a much better idea to me, especially since I'm the one throwing the party. But since I only decided this on Friday, I was left with next-to-zero time to prepare and/or decorate. Enter: these ridiculously easy (and cute) paper lanterns.

What You Need:

Construction paper in whatever colors you like (this project doesn't have to be Fourth of July-themed, obviously)
Scissors
Stapler

What You Do:

Crafts for the Uncrafty

Suggestion For Your Cinco De Mayo: Tissue-Paper Crafts & Ranch Water Cocktails

May 2, 2017

Cinco de Mayo is one of those holidays that only occurs to me when I'm in the middle of it - as in, when I'm sitting in a restaurant and notice the poster reading "CINCO DE MAYO CERVEZAS ONLY $2!!!" and think, Ooh. I should have a beer.

This year, Cinco de Mayo occurred to me several days prior to the actual event for two reasons: The first is that Mollie is throwing a party on Friday, and I just got the email reminder, and the second is that a few days ago I went over to Mollie's house and she showed me how to make the tissue-paper flowers and Ranch Water cocktails that'll be featured at this party. (Related: going to Mollie's house is always a good idea.) So, really, I suppose there's actually only one reason that Cinco de Mayo occurred to me before actual Cinco de Mayo, and that's "I have a friend named Mollie."

These tissue-paper flowers are so cute, and so versatile - you can make them bigger or smaller depending on the size of tissue paper you use, and can choose whatever color palette you want - and they're easy enough to make that you can hand over assembly duties to the kids (so you can focus on those Ranch Water cocktails).

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