tablescaping :: halloween ::

Halloween is a big darn deal around here!  We’re in our third year of hosting Halloween, so I think we can call it a tradition in the Junio family.  This year we had 7 kids and their parents join us for trick or treating in the Rose Garden.  Pre trick or treating festivities included powering up with treats to hoard energy for the evenings’s festivities.

:: Spooky Treats and Good Eats ::

Food was a simple faire, pizza and macaroni for the kids.  But liberties were taken to ensure that the Halloween theme carried through for the tablescaping.

Table was draped with a black tablecloth (black and white cloths are part of my regular stash for entertaining).  A fall harvest center piece filled with mini pumpkins and strawberry corn served as the focal piece.  A spooky tree with Halloween ornaments was used to add height to table decor.

:: Spider Attack ::

Orange and white serving dishes were used to hold a variety of treats.  To add a touch of spook, plastic jelly spiders were thoughtfully placed around the food.

tablescaping :: sushi and saki white party ::

For my husband’s 35th birthday, my family and best friends helped me to organize a small gathering to celebrate. Here are some shots of of the tablescaping for the Sushi and Saki White Party.

:: Center Pieces ::

The center pieces consisted of three graduated vases. 
-Largest vase held golf balls, which Jacqui and Taylor spent the morning filling with balls they found around the house! (hubby’s sport of choice right now)
-Medium vase held clear filler stones and one Gerbera Daisy (A&K Flowers)
-Small vase held two dozen daisies cut to fit vase height

Additional table highlights include:
– 12 inch cylinder vases (Target) with single daisies
– Tealight holders
– Stemless champagne flutes (World Market) filled with bamboo chopsticks (GREAT DEAL at Ranch 99 Market)

:: Snack Bar ::

The snack bar consisted of various size serving bowls with japanese snacks (nori mix, nuts, green pea chips, edamame,etc.).  Small frosted square candle holders held LED tea lights (room had carpet and kids running around so we didn’t want any fire hazards!).  To add depth/elevation to your tablescaping, use boxes of various sizes draped with cloth as bases for your serving bowls.  Finishing touches include cylinder vases with daisies.

:: Sake Bar ::

The all important Sake Bar was set up on my dinner buffet draped with a white table cloth. A white metal breadbox was used as a container holding ice and sake bottles.  Four types of sake were served, two traditional full bodied sakes and two sparkling sakes, along with a selection of Plum wine.  The bamboo top for the breadbox came in handy as the serving platter for the white sake serving bottles.  Sake cups (Dong Vinh Restaurant Supplies) were placed to fill space at the sake bar. A white drink container on the right of the bar held cold sodas and japanese beers.  This helped to keep the bar monochromatic with the white theme.

 

:: Main Serving Table ::

A selection of white serving dishes were used to keep to the theme of the white party. The dessert table, courtesy of Robert and Christine, consisted of a milk chocolate fountain (hubby’s preference – although white chocolate would look better).  The dessert table consisted of cake stands to hold desserts to be dipped into the chocolate fountain.  My sister dressed up bamboo skewers with white grossgain flags, we picked up additional designer skewers with knots at World Market.

My collection of various serving platters were used to plate the wonderful sushi catered by Greenfish Catering. 

So there you have it, my first tablescaping blog entry! Enjoy! 

Credits:: thank you to all our family and friends that helped to set up – Rachel, Paula, Ruby, Daniel, Christine, Robert, Ron, Adriana and Aunt Trang! (Please forgive if I left anyone off)

I’ve been up to…

Lahala fan program

Been busy with my day life and invitation business..but I am trying to set some goals on posting to my blog regularly.

Starting off easy for the week, so here is a picture of my most recent wedding invitation job for a very sweet couple that I met years ago through my friend Michele (thanks for the picture Meesh!).

Cathy and Steve gave me their vision for their wedding and let me run with it! I call this simple sophistication. They hosted a beautiful wedding on the beach in Cabo. I tried to capture their day in my design with crisp textiles and unique accesories. Here’s a peak at their program. Will post more pics after I get my formal shots taken! (Very excited to share the actual invite which includes a real starfish!)

Starting this weekend, I am venturing on a new hobby…my sister who is an event extraordinaire turned me on to a new term “tablescaping”. Come back and take a look at some of my most recent parties and table prepping for these events, as presentation is everything!

blogging reentry

My my it’s been a while. Actually close to 6 months since I fell off the face of the earth.

Life has been quite hectic, but not without many wonderful things happening. Still working on invites and actually have 4 jobs in progress right now getting ready for the summer weddings.  One of which is my dear friend Karen’s wedding. 

I only have a few minutes today, but wanted to get some momentum going so I am going to share my favorite things to do with paper scraps! My daughter recently started preschool and so I now have the opportunity to donate my scraps to the school for art projects.  I also have been helping my pal Karen with scraps for her students to make Mother’s Day bookmarks for gifts!  Another favorite scrap use is to cut a pile and leave it by our phone on the hallway, when we have messages from phone calls, there is always a stack of pretty scrap paper to jot notes down on!

Happy crafting and recycling!

nothing like a good read

When life is going to fast and nothing seems to be quite enjoyable, there is nothing more wonderful for me then locking myself in a room for a good read.  And it’s been a long time since I picked up a page turner…until tihs weekend.  After weeks of listening to Ryan Seacrest talk about Twilight (during my Thursday commute to LA) I finally got a copy courtesy of my darling little sister. 

Best read I’ve had in a long time.  I couldn’t put the book down from the minute I picked it up till 1am this morning…at which time I finished the book. A great book/story/excerpt is almost as good as therapy for me.  It allows for me to go to a place in my mind and create pictures out of the words I pick up from the pages.  It’s a different kind of creativity for me sans taking out tools, paper, packages etc (such as when I am scrapbooking or cardmaking). 

I am waiting for my sister to drop of books 2, 3 and 4.  More enjoyment for the weekend and one more wondeful thing to look forward to!  Drop a comment if you have any other good reads you want to suggest!

Happy reading!

Life is indeed wonderful

Tonight, our family sat glued to the television waiting for a historic moment to come to fruition that will change life as we know it moving forward.  An indication that our world is ready to change for the better to a world that is more accepting and a world that is full of hope and renewal.  

boo hoo, woo-woo!

We got Boo’d today!  I can’t contain my excitement, looks like our newly found tradition might be catching on the block!

Halloween is just superb, we are starting on our holiday decor.  After much planning, nothing has come to fruition yet…but not to worry nothing we can’t fix in an evening.  Also starting to prepare for tomorrow’s festivities.  We will be hosting a little soire for a few kiddies and parents.  I have even gone as far as taking the day off from work…yes really. 

Looking forward to kicking off the start of a great holiday season.  From here, we go right into Thanksgiving decorations and then the BIG one, Christmas.  This year I am hoping to finish our advent calendar from last year.  Do a little pre decorating and perhaps even Christmas cards.  So many ideas…we’ll see what comes of it.

too good to pass up

Conversation captured as Jacqui enters the bathroom while Norm is getting ready for work this morning.  Mind you our eldest is turning 4 years old in a month and half, so where does she get this from???

Norm: HOLA
Jacqui: Bonjiour
Norm: haha
Jacqui: what does bonjiour mean?
Norm: who taught you that?
Jacqui: i think it means chinese

Need I say more?

boo to the neighbors!

Ok, so I do admit the title sounds much more scandalous that the concept really is, but nonetheless something fun to share. 

Norm and I have wondered for two years now what the heck the Boo signs were in our neighbors’ windows (all on the inside streets of our neighborhood).  We had our theories throughout the two years, maybe it’s a safety thing where families can identify Halloween friendly homes, or maybe a secret neighborhood society that we were never invited to be part of.  Well heck, I decided to Google this thinking I probably would never find the answer.  I LOVE Google…

So upon my research, I found that the Boo signs were representative of an old tradition neighbors used to spread Halloween spirit.  It works like this:

·         Make two small care packages (more if you want!) that includes little treats and a sign that says “Boo!”

·        In your package tell your recipients of the tradition and ask them to make two more packages of their own, make sure to ask them to hang their “Boo!” sign in the window or on their door so others know that they have been “Boo’d”

·         Be careful not to give away your identity since that is part of the fun!

·         Place the packages on their doorstep and basically door bell ditch them (Norm’s favorite part)

·         If all goes well, before you know it your neighborhood should be filled with Boo! signs in windows/or doors (or your neighbood lacks spirit!)

For all us email tech savvy folks, it’s the equivalent of email chain letter.  The fun part is to see how far this will catch on.

As “Boo!” virgins, there were quite a few funny logistics we had to take into account:

·         Make sure you have your running shoes on, it’s not as easy doorbell ditching as an adult as it is when you’re a kid…basically, you may be slower at running! My sister Christine, showed her youth by running and ditching for me!

·         Don’t worry too much about what the package includes (my friend Pam from StudioPK.wordpress.com can attest to how this one had me preoccupied for half a day…picking the perfect package!)

·         Try to start early so that you have time for the chain reaction to spread

·         Don’t think about whether or not you will get personally Boo’d…it will turn into an obsession (hint hint if you live in my neighborhood, please make sure you Boo us cause we’re waiting!  Haa haa).

·         Take a few minutes and have some old fashion fun.  The kids had a blast with the concept and helping with the door bell ditching and we had a blast reminiscing about childhood.

·         Traditions all have to be started before they become…

 

Three more days till Halloween!  Love it!

birthday fun

Yesterday was my husband’s birthday.  I was completely stressed from the past two weeks of whirldwind weddings, invitation jobs and lots of work.  Needless to say, party preparations were at an all time low coming from the all time entertainment capital of Naglee Ave.  But once again Target reins as the greatest place on earth. 

Once the strategy was set, the action commenced to throw the best little pirate party ever.  With sisters, daughters and Nanny in tow, we set off to be surprise our matey.  The house was decked in little red strips of streamer, which I assume is the Martha Stewart work of Captain Jacqui and Tator Tots.  Dad was pleasantly surprised and our birthday surprise was a success.  Sometimes the biggest plans aren’t necessary the best, it’s the little things that can make life wonderful.