I sent out an invitation for a big BBQ the night before we left for our Mexico vacation. Sandy and I wanted to celebrate with all the kind Baltimore folks that have been so wonderful to us in our first year here. Yes! It has almost been a year.
Unfortunately, I didn’t do anything to actually plan or prepare for the party, so no cute striped straws or dipped wooden utensils or polka dotted stenciled napkins to be had. The night before, I sat down with Sandy to decide what we would serve, how we would serve it and try to think of something festive to decorate the party with. Then, all I had to do was hope that we could get everything done before 5pm the next day.
Ack! I wanted things to look fun and cohesive and all I had was white grocery store paper goods. Enter some washi tape and, voila!, instant adorable party fare.
We served typical BBQ food with a seafood twist, think shrimp cocktail, hamburger sliders, hotdogs, and some yummy grilled salmon with a mint/basil tomato salsa. On these cute little sailing flag plates, it all looked perfect! Though I am a multi-tasker, I just can’t throw a party AND take photos at the same time, so no yummy food shots.
We decided to serve Root Beer Floats for dessert, which is a Weil family favorite. I taped a spoon and fun flagged straw to the outside of each cup to allow for easy scooping and dishing while the party was going on.
As you can imagine, they were a big time hit!
The best thing about this party was that I used the picnic goods I already had in the basement. Well, I had to pilfer the Target washi tape from Allie’s craft basket, but she got to help so she was all in. What did we do before washi tape, anyway? I did all the prep for the party goods that night in front of some Tivo’d So You Think You Can Dance, which left Saturday for shopping, cleaning, and cooking. Okay, I was a little tired by the time the party rolled around, but I rallied! Maybe next year, I will leave enough time to make a fun party fringe.
Have fun!
Materials:
Gingham Napkin Ring How-To:
Sailor Flag Plates How-To:
Flagged Root Beer Float Cup How-To:
Now, don’t you just want to go make yourself one of these puppies??
Betz White says
Fun and fabulous! Can you believe that I do not own ANY washi tape? That needs to change.
ClaireLA says
I’ve seen such cute washi tape but never knew of a way that I might use it until now! Thanks so much for sharing. The end results looked great. 🙂
anne says
Thanks Claire!
Ursula Rosien says
Perfect and simple! I found myself in a similar situation and had to decorate for a party with a 4th of July theme with supplies I had at home 😉 I’m a recent blogger and I see you have a create a link feature below. Would you mind telling me how this works?
Thank you! I would love to link to your blog! My blog is about paper crafting and party planning 🙂
http://kraftmint.com
anne says
Ursula, I wish I could tell you how that create a link button works. I think if you click it and are logged into a Blogger account yourself, it takes you right to your own “Draft A Post” page and you can write a post based on this post. Then, that blog post’s link will appear at the bottom of my post. Do you have a Blogger Blog?
Tina Ramchandani says
Love these ideas. It’s so much cheaper than buying “fancy” paper goods for parties, and much more personal. Thanks!
anne says
Thank you! I agree. So much fun to customize for your own party, too!
Anne
la photo studios says
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Mimi says
Brilliant! Simple, elegant and doable.
Janet says
Does the washi tape tear the napkins?
flaxandtwine says
Hi Janet, Take a look at the tutorial. you double the tape over where it will be touching the napkins so it doesn’t stick.
Anne