party Archives - Real Life Notes

Jaye’s First Birthday: Monthly Banner and More

August 24, 2012 by Jill Leave a Comment

I love the idea of making a banner out of all the monthly photos I've taken of Jaye. It's fun to see them all together and fun for party guests to see how much Jaye has grown and celebrate that! To fit in with the Mississippi River theme, I used burlap. I just hot glued each picture onto a square of burlap along with a paper with the month printed onto it. Then a few loose stitches through the top to put them all on a string. We hung the banner across the living room wall behind the t.v. and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: crafts, jaye Tagged With: baby month-by-month, first birthday, jaye's first birthday, mississippi river party theme, party

Jaye’s First Birthday: Steamboat Centerpiece

August 20, 2012 by Jill 2 Comments

Sticking with the theme of the food table (see the Jute Wrapped Cake Stand here), the centerpiece is an important (you could even say central) part of a party food table. From the beginning, I'd really had this vision of an awesome steamboat as the centerpiece. When I first created the party mood board, I had no clue how I'd accomplish this. Phil and Laura admitted later, that they couldn't see my vision and were impressed by how awesome it turned out! So prepare to be impressed. I started … [Read more...]

Filed Under: crafts, life Tagged With: centerpiece, first birthday, jaye's first birthday, mississippi river party theme, party, steamboat, table setting

Jaye’s First Birthday: Jute Wrapped Cake Stand

August 17, 2012 by Jill Leave a Comment

After making the Burlap Banner Wreath, I started thinking about food. And how to display it. I think a food table looks much better and more interesting with food at different heights. So I decided to make two cake stands. I'd pinned a couple of different ideas, but the one I ended up following most closely was a random link from some Linky Party somewhere that stuck in my head even though I never pinned it. Sorry not to be able to give credit! Anyway, here's what I did: Your … [Read more...]

Filed Under: life Tagged With: cake stand, diy, first birthday, jute, mississippi river party theme, party, projects

Jaye’s First Birthday: Burlap Banner Wreath

August 10, 2012 by Jill 9 Comments

When I last talked about Jaye's first birthday party, I'd created a Mississippi River party mood board, and designed and mailed some awesome river steamboat invitations. Now, as I write this, the party is over! It happened last weekend, and it was a raging success. Full details and pictures forthcoming, but first you have to endure the rest of my crafting and preparations for the party. The first thing the guests saw as they arrived was the easy burlap banner wreath I made for the front … [Read more...]