Sunflower Soiree
I get inspiration from lots of places but usually it is from finding that one special item, in a random place, that turns out to be the most unexpected and best kind! Recently, a Hobby Lobby sale rack was the inspiration for one of the best parties that I have thrown in a while. An afternoon of beautiful sunflowers was orchestrated over a few months and I couldn’t have been happier and it all started with $.99 cent sunflower plates. Add silk flowers, yellow napkins, the right outfit and you have a gorgeous afternoon.
Don’t you love Hobby Lobby? Especially when they put things on clearance. Who knew I needed sunflower plates? They were too pretty to leave at the store. I know you have been there before. Haven’t you? They were gorgeous and such a great price at only $.99 cents. I was saving my husband so much money! I was not spending the $9.99 that they were originally, I thought frugally to myself. He was going to be so proud of me for saving money – $72.00 savings – wow! Now to get out of the store without filling up the basket (ha).
A few months go by, the plates get put away but were not forgotten. One day I get a random thought that I am going to have a Sunflower Soiree with the girls in my family. It was that easy to plant the “sunflower seed” so to speak. I had the plates, the audience and now I had a theme. It was game time.
I am creative but I often need a little help with the details, so I spent a few hours on Pinterest (probably more than I should admit). I was able to find table décor that I wanted to try to mimic so I needed supplies. One thing you should know, I live in the country. Regretfully, the only store that I have close by is Wal Mart. So off to Wal Mart I went to find sunflowers. I was pleasantly surprised by the silk flower selection (even sunflowers).
I had a little help when I got home…Duke is a great helper!
I found several ideas I wanted to try but I also felt that now that it was Spring, I would start seeing sunflowers in the stores and ideas would just come to me. I like to decorate my table, mantle, my tiered tray, throw in a few wall pictures, obviously an outfit and voila you have a soiree! Ideas should be all around me now that I am looking for them. How right I was.
Having a 3-tiered tray is a great way to decorate for parties and holidays. You can use this space to place smaller decorative items that match your theme. I switch out most of the items seasonally.
I always have a bead garland and some kind of greenery on my tray. Beyond that, let your imagination run wild. Here I used a small jar with sunflower seeds, a bird house, miniature Adirondack chair https://amzn.to/2WpeYXC and other miscellaneous summer items.
My favorite part of decorating for a party is the table setting. I usually start on Amazon. I have been very happy with purchasing napkins over the years from Amazon https://amzn.to/3gyMhhQ. They are reasonable and come in every color you could want. I used black charger plates as a base for the place setting and it really made everything pop. My suggestion to you is to work with what you already have. I had the black plates in my Halloween stuff (from a clearance rack – At Home) and it went well with my sunflower plates.
Next, I checked out Etsy. I ordered monogrammed sunflower wine glasses for my guests as a gift. I spent a little more on this part of the party but my family was worth it. A memento from the soiree was worth the expense. I saved in so many other areas. https://www.etsy.com/shop/SimplyCustomLife
Finally, I created the centerpiece from something I saw on Pinterest. The yellow was vibrant and so cheery. I had the mason jars, the crate, and the Easter grass in my craft stuff.
Personally, I go all in when I plan a party. I look everywhere for inspiration and get everyone involved. So, it was no surprise when I was on a girl’s trip with my childhood friends and I enlisted them in my hunt for sun-flowers. We were shopping in a darling boutique (Red on the Square in Granbury, TX – https://www.redonthesq.com/ ) when my friend spotted the biggest, beaded sunflower earrings that I have ever seen. I had to have them. They became the inspiration for my outfit for the party. Back to Amazon I went. I found the perfect dress https://amzn.to/3msXMv0, in the perfect teal, for the perfect price, for the perfect earrings. As I have said before, inspiration comes when you least expect it.
On to the menu. I decided that this party would be 2pm to 5 pm so finger foods would be appropriate. The appetizers were: shrimp cocktail, ensalada caprese on a pick, charcuterie tray, Trader Joe’s salmon dip (you need to try this), homemade chicken salad sandwiches on crescents and deviled eggs (shaped like a sunflower of course). For dessert, let there be cake! As Julia Child famously said, a party without cake is just a meeting! Now, I am pretty good with cake decorating so I do save money with my parties by doing my own cakes. I use Pinterest as it is a great place to find recipes and inspiration for my cakes. For this party, I chose sunflower cupcakes with Oreo centers. They are such crowd pleasers and very easy to do.
The Sunflower Soiree was a total success. Fun was had by all. So, you see, you can create a party out of the smallest ideas or bits of inspiration. Once you decide on a theme, you will be surprised where you will find ideas for your soiree.
Please reach out if you have any questions or comments.
Be the reason someone smiles today.
XOX♥