charlys-room: party

Showing posts with label party. Show all posts

Wednesday, 11 June 2014

A Beautiful Outdoor Oasis Party & Pier 1 Giveaway! #Pier1OutdoorParty #MC #Sponsored

Disclosure: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Pier 1 Imports. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and to thank me for participating.

Anyone who knows me knows how I love entertaining with pretty fresh flowers, easy food and yummy drinks. And with summer vacation for the kids arriving soon, I thought it would be so fun to gather together a group of 6 girlfriends for food, fun and laughter before we all scatter for the summer with various vacation plans with our families. Although the late afternoon sky threatened rain, {and it was actually lightly sprinkling when I took these pictures}, it did miraculously clear off and reveal some bright sunshine so that our Friday evening party could go ahead as planned...which made me super happy. And with help from Pier 1 Imports, I was able to create a beautiful, bright & comfortable outdoor oasis for entertaining friends.

Come and have a look at this lovely evening!

Our outdoor oasis included lots of cozy seating with pretty blue floral cushions.

And no party is complete without fresh flowers. I love big & bold vases and this large seagrass netting vase is gorgeous for showcasing flowers.

I served one of my favorite summer time drinks....basil watermelon lemonade in these great acrylic stemless goblets with turquoise straws. This lemonade is such a refreshing change from the usual.

And I served lots of finger foods: veggie crudites and dip on platters, with some gorgeous paper napkins and paper plates, which make for fast & easy cleanup for a busy hostess.

And I love serving some of my favorite crispy crackers in a basket bowl with cheesy dips.

And to finish off, I offered lots of colourful fresh fruit with a cream cheese & yogurt dip in a pretty yellow bowl.

And no party is over without some yummy cream puffs!

It turned out to be a perfectly beautiful evening with lots of hilarious stories and uproarious laughing.

I love hanging with friends. And outdoor parties are the perfect way to celebrate the arrival of summer after a long winter.

As a busy mom, it is sometimes hard to find time for a little fun. But with summer here, I really have to look no further than the pretty outdoor oasis that is my back deck. And with friends, easy food and drink, there is no place I would rather be on a warm summer evening!

To help you celebrate summer, Pier 1 is giving 1 lucky reader a $25 gift card {across multiple blogs}so you may enjoy your own outdoor oasis!
To Enter To Win A $25 Pier 1 Gift Card, you must be 18, live in Canada and leave a comment below telling me you would like to buy for your outdoor oasis. Please make sure that there is a valid email attached to your email. Giveaway ends June 16, 2014 at midnight EST.
Good Luck!

Would you like to see more ideas for creating a beautiful outdoor oasis?

Check out my friends' lovely parties:

Satori Design For Living, AKA Designs, A Pretty Life in the Suburbs, Fynes Designs,
Brooklyn Berry Designs, Inspire Me Heather, Suburble.

This post is linked to:
Work It Wednesday, I Gotta Create,, I`m Lovin` It, Inspiration Gallery, Weekend Retreat, The Party Bunch, Tatertots & Jello, Link Party Palooza, Monday Funday, Under The Table & Dreaming, Time To Sparkle,

Friday, 29 November 2013

How To Host A Super Easy Cake Pop Party!

I love doing things with kids for Christmas! And even though my kids are older now, they will tell you how I still want them to do fun things with me because I am still really the kid at heart! And I have designed this 'Cake Pop Party' with the busy Mom in mind! I have a few things to share with you to let you know that you can pull this off in an hour! I know we all see really gorgeously styled parties around the inter webs, but we can still make the simple things gorgeous!

And remember I said that this was designed for working moms? It all starts with these...plain, old-fashioned timbits...or donut holes from the grocery store if you don't live near one of these!

{And if you require gluten-free, a good alternative is gluten-free rice krispie treats on stick.}

And then you just pile them into a bowl for kids to use for their cake pops.

{I found this Santa bowl at Goodwill for $1.00. Super cute!}

And then you will need to gather a few other things...like different coloured sprinkles:

And different coloured candy melts like red, green and white, and paper straws or lollipop sticks.

If you have never done this before, place candy melts in small glass bowl and melt in the microwave for 40 seconds, taking out for a stir with a spoon, and then back into the microwave for a few more seconds if necessary. The texture should be really smooth for dipping the 'cake pops'. And the cake pops don't need to be fully covered in candy melt either...just the bottoms of the donuts will do!

If using paper straws, use scissors and cut into shorter lengths to use as lollipop sticks.

And here's a trick you will need to know: Poke an end of the lollipop stick into melted wafers before placing into the donut and then let it harden. This will keep the donut on the stick for dipping into the melting wafers.

And with lolllipop sticks inserted and wafers melted, let the kids dip away!

They can totally get their 'cake pops' on and create any kind of treat they like by dipping the pops into melted wafers and then into sprinkles.

And things might get a bit messy, but it will be super fun!

Place cake pops on waxed paper or paper plates to let dry.

Then eat! Or wrap each pop in plastic wrap to take home.

And to finish off the 'Cake Pop Party', serve a snack of crackers, cheese and grapes and play Christmas music.

The kids will have the most outstanding time!

And you will be known as one cake popin'-rockin' mama!

And if you are looking for more ideas for kids, check out these other fun ideas:

Christmas Tree Cookie

Cookie Decorating Kit

Paper Straw Snowflakes

And more ideas on Pinterest:

Christmas Fun for Kids

Handmade Christmas Ornaments

Thank you so much for visiting!

Linked up with:
Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons, The Party Bunch, Link Party Palooza, Party Junk, Christmas Wonderful Link Party, Super Satuday Show & Tell, The DIY Showoff, Monday Funday Link Party, Block Party, Our Sunday Best, Inspiration Monday, The Sunday Showcase, Craft-O-Maniac, Time To Sparkle, Homestories A to Z, Chef-In-Training, One Project At A Time, Take A Look Tuesday, Show Me What You Got, The DIY Dreamer, Gingersnap Crafts, I Gotta Create, Inspiration Gallery, I'm Lovin' It, Inspire Me Please, Liz Marie Blog, All Things Christmas Link Party,

Wednesday, 26 June 2013

Canada Day Party Guide- Ideas & Recipes

We love Canada Day at our house. We usually have a BBQ with friends and then enjoy the fireworks display put on by our city. When I was in my early twenties, I lived in Ottawa for a summer and had such a fun time celebrating Canada Day...the streets were filled with revelers and happy smiles, and I have always remembered that feeling of how lucky we are to live in this amazing country.

I have rounded up a whole lot of ideas from the Echoes of Laughter archives and a few other places to share and I hope that you find something here that inspires you! CLICK on the links to take you to the recipes!