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.