Perfect HARMONy: August 2010

My little sister in law is getting married next weekend!!!! I have been waiting for that day for her for a long while! But, this weekend, we threw her a "Bachelorette Soiree". Taffy is not your ordinary girl, so this was no ordinary bachelorette party. I chose to do the decor for the party, but was stumped on what I would do. After talking with my other sister in law, we decided on pink and leopard and down right girly (even if we were going to a baseball game as part of our evening outing). I'll admit, I was skeptical about attending a baseball game, especially in this 100+ degree heat, but I had a really fun night!

Here are some pics from our fun-filled evening!

I found this heart-shaped chalk board a few weekends ago at First Monday in Canton. I love anything heart-shaped since my b'day is on V-day. I actually forgot I had it, but when I opened my closet, I knew adding a little pink boa to it would make it the perfect entry to the party.

The table

My centerpiece was inspired by this post. I saw it just 2 days before this party and knew that I would never have enough time to find a small nightstand and re-paint it in time. I did however drive around to some garage sales and stores looking for a cheap one! I eventually decided that a laundry basket would work, too. Plus, as an added bonus, the guest of honor could take the basket home and re-use it again and again. This was also much easier to transport than a bulky nightstand. I found lots of cute, cheap panties and bras at Ross to fill the sides of the basket, and secured them in place using safety pins. I also added some piece of feather boas that I had lying around from previous projects. I always save my scraps, never knowing what I might use them for. I am really glad I had so much saved to use for this!

I did have to make the basket match the party, so I died the liner pink, removed the original hardware, and added a leopard knob.

I made these bra cookies using a car-shaped cookie cutter. I couldn't find the exact cutter I was looking for on such short notice, but I did find a car shaped one in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby for $.35! I knew I could bend it and make it work. I think it did... only one person noticed that they slightly resembled cars! lol! I also found this clear platter at Ross and attached the leopard paper to the back using Mod Podge. I was inspired by this blog for that idea, but I can't find her exact directions. The platter had some funky edges, so I covered it up by adding yet another pink boa!

Ooh La La banner made using my Cricut

In keeping with the "lingerie" theme, I tied each heart of the banner together like a corset.

At my bachelorette party, the hostesses had everyone write a note of advice on a card and they presented them to me in the form of a bouquet. It was such a cute idea, and I really did keep those advice cards for those first few years of marriage. I found this cute bulletin board at Hobby Lobby for 1/2 off, and I knew it would be a great way to collect advice cards for the new bride. I loved the bulletin board even more because the tops of the pins looked like diamonds!

I got the little frame for 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby also. I wanted the writing pen to match, so I wrapped it in leopard paper as well and used more of my left over boas for a topper.

I have a pink and black girly guest bedroom that I kept going back to to find more things I could use for the party. This dress form was one of them. I cut out "lingerie" from my leopard paper and hot glued it to the form.

To make it more realistic, I added the pink ties to the side and back. Just in case anyone could see it from the back side!

I found this sign at Hobby Lobby and it was 1/2 off. But, the edges were curling up very badly, so I asked them how much more they would take off of it. I ended up getting it for $2.00, and I added more scrap boas to the back, re-glued the edges, and voila-- cute party decor fitting for a bride-to-be!

I found these frames in the clearance section of Hobby Lobby. This one was marked $.70. It was a graduation frame, so I took all of the little wooden decals off of it, covered it in leopard paper, re-painted one of the decals and attached some more scrap boa pieces to the top!

This frame was pink and green and had a butterfly decal on it. I removed the decal, painted the green side black, added more leopard paper and a flower that I already had, and for $1.40, another cute party decoration.

I love this chalkboard sign and use it ALOT! I hot glued more scrap boa to the back to make it stand out a little more! The iron "B" is mine, but since the brides last name will soon start with "B" I brought it along.

(Please excuse the poor picture quality below)

We had pink straws to match the party!

I found this cute idea somewhere but can't remember where. They did it on wine bottles. I decided to wrap our drink dispensers and pitchers instead. I think it really turned out cute!

We had some alcoholic drinks that I gave cute names to.

We also had non-alcoholic drinks that I gave cute names to.

Here's a pic of the whole bar set-up, complete with my MIL in the back ground!

Here are some pics of the bachelorette and friends at the Ranger game.

The veil she wore all night! What a good sport even if she was molting!

After the game, we stopped at a nice restaurant (in our sweaty shorts and t-shirts!) My MIL used to work down the hall from this restaurant (which is also where my wedding reception was held). She wanted to stop by and say hi to a few old friends since we were in the area. Turns out, they were just as excited to see her and we were treated to a complimentary souffle buffet, wine, cappuccino, whatever our little hearts desired!

One of the owners coming out to congratulate the bride-to-be. He also gave her a nice bottle of champagne for her wedding night!

These aren't her drinks, they're candles. Gotta love silly girls!

Every princess bows before sitting!

The whole gang (minus 2 that already left). After this, we headed home and watched a chick flick before going to bed! I didn't get to sleep until after 3 am, which is VERY UNHEARD of for me! It was such a fun night being silly girls and I am glad I got to help my SIL celebrate! I missed my boys terribly, but we all survived!

5 days until her wedding!