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Party How-To

I’ve been getting requests for instructions on how I did stuff at the church party. Here goes:

1. Grass Pots- Buy miniature clay pots from Home Depot (about 30 cents each). Turn them upside down on newspaper and spray paint them. Turn them right side up and spray paint the rim. Buy wheat grass seed from a health food store. (I bought mine in the bulk foods section at Whole Foods. They are called “red wheat berries” or something like that. The wheat costs about 40 cents a pound. Fill the clay pot almost full of soil but leave a quarter inch empty. Line the top of the soil with lots of wheat grass seeds (pack them tightly.) Then cover the seeds with a thin layer of topsoil. Don’t pack it down tight. Water them every morning and give them sun. You’ll have full pots of grass in a week. (One more thing, if you are doing a lot, get a couple nursery trays for transport. It makes things so much easier.)

2. Pom Poms- I buy tissue paper from Paper Mart. (I love these guys. I ordered it Wednesday night and it arrived Friday morning.) You need 8 pieces of tissue paper for each ball. The Martha Stewart directions ask for floral wire but plain old string works just fine. The secret to making them look good is to pull out each layer of tissue one-by-one in order. Don’t “poof” them up until you are ready to hang them or they will look smooshed. All the directions are right here.

3. Flags- This idea I sort of came up with on my own. I love label paper and I’m always messing around with it on projects. I designed the little flags on Adobe Illustrator printed them out on label paper then peeled off the back, wrapped it around a toothpick and cut it into the shape of a flag. You can get label paper from any office supply store.

4. Tablecloths- We are lucky that last year there was a bit of a surplus in the budget so we invested in some table cloths. This makes a huge difference when working with a very tiny budget because as soon as you put the nice colored thick table cloths on…voila, the room is transformed. Whether you rent or buy, get table cloths that hit the ground! There was a question whether to buy neutral table cloths or colored. I think it is important to commit to color. It makes more of an impact which is important when you have a small budget. I chose red because It would go well with Christmas, Valentines, and Fourth of July. The only time of the year I was worried about was spring but we tied everything in with some bright colors and a few pastels.

5. Drink Dispenser- I got this at Costco a few years ago. It is big and heavy and the nozzle doesn’t work that well….BUT it is pretty. Mine was $30. I haven’t seen them for that cheap but I blogged about a source here and Katie, a reader, told me they have them at Target right now.

  1. veeda

    March 30, 2007

    you are too good at activities; your ward is never going to release you.

  2. Design Mom

    March 30, 2007

    Thanks for all of the instructions. Just one last question for clarification: Do I understand correctly that if I was to touch the reverse of the finished flags, they would be sticky? Or am I supposed to leave the backing partially on?

  3. jordan

    March 30, 2007

    I wrap the strip around the toothpick so the two sticky backs touch each other. You could glue them if you wanted.

  4. Erin

    March 30, 2007

    I love all of it. The tissue poofs look so great and really fill the space beautifully. Seriously, good luck on getting released! But, it is for sure way more fun than other callings…..

  5. The ParTea Planner

    March 31, 2007

    Most impressive. And it takes a lot to WoW me. I bet the guests were amazed with all the detail and just loved everything. Way to go!

    May I ask what fonts you used on your flags? I especially adore the curly one! Thanks, *Risa

  6. Bonny Brae

    March 31, 2007

    so fabulous! both in how it looks and that you made the extraordinary effort to make it that way.

  7. deidra zoe

    March 31, 2007

    The curly font is calle “fling.” It’s the one used in Blueprint magazine.

  8. k8

    March 31, 2007

    making these little pots has been my project while i listen to General Conference. they are so fun!

  9. lsaspacey

    April 1, 2007

    Crate and Barrel is also selling a version of that drinks dispenser for $40 at http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=180&f=23882

  10. Bek

    April 2, 2007

    Thank you!! I don’t know if you saw my comment on another blog but DON”T get the Target ones. I have four (I cater a lot) and they have little nobs that you have to turn to get the drink to come out. Invariable, someone twists the knob all the way off and you get drink all over the floor. No kidding. This has happened EVERY time I have used them. In fact, you can HAVE mine if you want them (maybe your friends are smarter than my clients?:-)). I live 20 miles away.

    Thanks for the info. I especially loved the colors. That is my new pallate for my house and I just LOVED seeing what you did with it…

    P.S. Our ward has quite a collection of tableclothes that were purchased and donated through the years. It makes a big difference…. I think that you are in my friends ward…she was raving about a party…..

  11. ~cari~

    April 4, 2007

    Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful activity! I was activities chairman in our ward for 4 years and just recently was called again to the same calling after only a year break. I’m desperate for fresh ideas and this was a great inspiration! Thanks!

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