I’ve attended several of these over the last several years, and I’ve even hosted a few myself.  You just get a dozen or so women together to bring their fashion cast-offs – clothes, shoes, jewelry, purses, accessories.   And don’t think you all have to be the same size – I got several items from a girl who is 6 inches shorter than me.  You never know how things might fit you until you try them on!

We never set a minimum or maximum limit on what you have to bring.  Believe me, there is always enough to go around!

The host of this Fashion Swap is a client and a friend, and she was kind enough to provide delicious goodies for us to snack on throughout the afternoon as we “shopped.”

This is how it works:  divide things into different rooms.  One room for tops/coats, one for dresses/pants/skirts, and one for shoes/ purses/jewelry/scarves. 

Divide participants up into 3 groups and allow them to shop in one room for 20 minutes.  We were allowed 3 things from each room on the first go around.

After everyone has shopped each room once, they can choose 5 things in next go around.  Then it’s just a free-for-all.  So here was my haul:

Some of my fave finds included a black leather coat, ankle boots, a bohemian skirt, and a couple of funky dinner rings.  When it’s over, there are always lots of clothes left.  No worries – we always donate these to a worthy cause or a non-profit.  It’s a win-win!  Now if I can only come up with a way to do one of these swaps with decor items . . .

My color scheme:   white, black, and red accents.  I started gathering things that went along with the theme.  I found vampire teeth in packs of 12 at Kroger’s and decided to use those for napkin rings.  I found a copy of Eclipse at a yard sale for $2.  I decided to tear out pages and scatter them across the dinner table.  I knew I needed lots of red apples.

I used small apples as placecard holders.  I typed up the names of the major characters in a font that looked like Edward’s handwriting called “be safe.”  Click here to get them.  After printing them out, I ran them through a small laminating machine I have (from Michael’s) and cut them out.  Laminating them keeps them from wicking up the moisture from the apples, which I cut slits in to hold the names.

I made sure to warn any unexpected victims, I mean guests, before they entered my home. 

This is how I set up my dining room.  Lots and lots of candles – both candlesticks and votive candles.  Lots of fake cobwebs and general halloween decor.  I didn’t have black cloth napkins, so I bought cheap black bandanas at Michaels and cut them in half.  I simply layered three off-white tablecloths – one plain, one damask, one antique crochet. 

I used silver goblets, which I left tarnished on the outside because I thought it looked spookier (I did polish the insides and the rims), and vintage dark blue water glasses.  I used simple white hobnail dinner plates.

I wanted to have each of the 4 book covers represented in some way.  I made a centerpiece by stacking cake stands and topping that with large red apples, tying in with the cover of Twilight.   The red cheesecloth runner on the table represents the red ribbon from the cover of Eclipse.

I always try to use whatever I already have, so this porcelain hand worked for representing the Twilight book cover holding the apple.  It is normally used to hold my rings and necklaces! 

I couldn’t find a parrot tulip like the one on the cover of New Moon, but I found a fake white peony at Michaels.  I handpainted the flower with red craft paint, using the book cover as a guide.  You can see it peeking out from behind some candles in this picture.

My daughter had a glass chess set, so I used it on the table to represent the cover of Breaking Dawn.

I wouldn’t want to leave out the wolves, so I made sure Jacob and friends were represented with this antique motorcycle and a few American Indian artifacts on the table.

 A lot of interesting characters showed up to my dinner party.   You might recognize a few of them.  Here’s the evil pairing of James and Victoria:

We had 2 Alices in attendance.  Both were truly darling pixy vampires.

Here are all the vampires chowing down – yes, I know real vampires don’t eat food! 

The food was to die for.  Below:  Lamb and Veggie Kebobs, Bella’s Mushroom Ravioli, and Artichoke Hearts and Fennel Salad.

 Dessert was a bloody mess!

White chocolate died with lots of red food die pumped through a chocolate fountain for dipping Lady Fingers and Shortbread Doggie Bones (for the wolves, of course).  Now that’s scary.

 
I am including the complete menu for Dinner with the Cullens for you.

I typed up some good quotes from the Twilight book series, laminated them, then scattered them on the dinner tablescape.

During dinner, we played a game where everyone guessed which character said what.  Click here for quotes to use at your Twilight party.

Things got a little dicey as the night progressed.  James went after a unsuspecting human that wandered into the party.

Background music is important in setting the tone for a Twilight Dinner Party.  I made a mix CD of Twilight and Twilight-inspired songs which played throughout the evening.  I made copies and gave all the girls one of their own.  Great make-out music!

Now, tell me the truth:  Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob? 

Her costume came from a large authentic-looking Native American shirt I bought at an estate sale for $3.  The shirt hung down to the ground on her like a dress, and I simply had to cut the sleeves down.  I bought mocassins on ebay for $8.  The headdress came from a yard sale for $1 that I found 2 weeks before the party.  I love those racoon tails hanging down around her ears!

My husband constructed a teepee from things he had in his workshop:  scrap wood, an old paint dropcloth, and rope.  That’s it.  Simple, but it made for the coolest centerpoint for the party.  My husband has had these fake fireplace logs since he was a bachelor, and they made for a perfect American Indian cookfire.  This other little squaw is my older daughter.

Here’s the retro-cool invitation.  I used a free font that looked like wood logs.  Then I individually burned the edges with a lighter.  Aren’t they darling???

The kids “roasted” marshmellows over the fake fire.  It was so hilarious – they couldn’t understand why their marshmellows weren’t turning brown!  Anyway, they “roasted” while I read them a Native American story about a little brave who ran away from home.

I served up a teepee cake made from a Pampered Chef Batter Bowl.  I used regular homemade buttercream icing, but fondant would work great, too.  This cake was such a hit! 

The tablescape started with a couple of Indian-look blankets draped across the dining room table.  Vintage American Indian books were set upright toward the back of the table, along with a few metal collectable tins with Indian motifs filled with turkey feathers from Michael’s.  I had a small collection of Cherokee Indian artifacts that my father had gathered as a boy, which I scattered about the tabletop.   The Indian dolls came from a yard sale and a gas station in Alabama (I found that on the way back from the beach!)

Besides the cake, I served brown horse cookies, popcorn, jiffy cornbread, chocolate sugarcone teepees, and edible Indian corn.

Click here for Jane’s Shortbread Cookie recipe.

For the Chocolate Teepees, simply ice inverted sugar cones with pre-made chocolate icing.  Insert 3 half-toothpicks in top and add candies for decoration.

Edible Indian Corn Recipe

4 tbsp butter

4 cups mini marshmellows

5 cups puffed corn cereal (corn puffs)

1 1/3 cups diced dried fruit (raisins, papayas, cranberries, apricots)

popsicle sticks

tye-dye fruit roll-ups

Melt butter and marshmellows over low heat in a large pot for about 5 minutes.  Remove mixture from stove and use wooden spoon to stir in puffed corn cereal and diced dried fruit.  Allow mixture to cool for about 15 minutes.  Using buttered hands, shape each treat by pressing 1/3 cup of mixture around a popsicle stick.  Add piece of fruit roll-up to make a husk for the bottom of the ear, slightly moistening them to help them stick if needed.  Makes 15 treats.

We made  Native American vests with left-overs from the paint dropcloth.  We gave the kids ideas for Indian symbols to write on their vests.  I pre-cut headbands and let the kids choose the color feather they wanted from Michaels.  We also made beaded necklaces by threading beads on leather laces, again from Michael’s.

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Everyone got American Indian names from  http://www.apples4theteacher.com/native-american/names/for-girls.html.  All the kids had their own special Indian names like “Princess Ottertail,” “Princess White Feather,” “Princess Sunflower,” “Princess Wind Maiden,” etc.  The moms wrote their Indian names on the backs of their vests.

We also played an Indian Trading Game.  I took scraps of the leftover teepee dropcloth fabric and cut it into  5 inch squares.  I gathered all kinds of “treasures” like pretty rocks, seashells, jewels (pulled out of old costume jewelry), bit-o-honey candy, feathers, etc. and tied them up in the squares with cord.  Each child got a “pouch of treasures” and took turns trading their things with the other squaws (and one brave).

Our trusty tinman got to dress up, too.  Kinda like my version of a cigarette store Indian.  He held the goody bags – small brown bags with an embossed bird I found last year in Target’s dollar aisle.  Goody bags were filled with plastic Indians, a dreamcatcher, and a 6″ horse, all from Dollar Tree.  The vest is vintage boy scout borrowed from my sweet neighbor.

Photo Credits:  The Decorologist.

Don’t be afraid to move your dining table somewhere different in the room to open up the space.  I often push mine back 2/3 of the way towards the back of the dining room or, like in this case, I push it completely against the wall so that I can have room for mingling and extra seating.

I usually start with a full-size cream or white tablecloth as a base, and then layer a few smaller vintage ones over it – but this time I left the table somewhat bare.   For this party, I used a vintage square yellow and blue tablecloth and layed it on the diagonal in the middle of the rectangular table.  Then I took 3 larger decorative pieces to form the backdrop for my tableau – a blue birdcage, a couple of stacked crystal cakestands topped with a decorative wire bird crown, and a large landscape portrait.  The mirror here also works into that backdrop.  Although this is an assymetrical grouping, I balanced the visual weight across the back of the table (see my post on Feathering Your Nest:  Dressing Your Mantel).

Next, I added in mercury glass (silvered glass) objects.  I used 6, scattering 3 on each side of the central bird crown.  Again, I tried to balance the visual weight as I added new objects.  In this tablescape, I used mainly crystal, mercury glass/silver, and white ceramic pieces.  It’s good to stick to 2 or 3 materials to keep it from seeming too random.  Then I added the blue objects for punches of color.

Oh, let me show you something cool!  I have lots of different-sized cake plates on pedestals and glass domes.   These can be very versatile – flip over a mismatched dome and a cake stand and you’ll see that they can fit together to make a small punch bowl or trifle bowl for fruit or chips.

I made a list of the food I was serving, then decided what shape and size of serving pieces I would need for each type of food.   I went ahead and staged out the table with my serving pieces so I would know how everything would fit.  You’ll see the larger decorative items sit in the back of this tableau, while the serving pieces are scattered across the table within reach.  That way there’s no awkward leaning across the table to reach the food.   I then added in some clear glass votives from Hobby Lobby, a small glass pitcher to hold blue plastic forks, and a few other decorative accessories.

Before the party, I went ahead and laid out the foods that didn’t require refrigeration so that party prep would be quick and easy.

Here’s the finished product.  A simple tablescape, really – all things I already had.  No real theme here, just a common palette of blue, white, and silver.  An elegant table, despite the fact that the food is simple and served on paper plates!

Notice how I used the flipped domes and cake pedestals to hold the chips, dip, and fruit.     It always looks good to elevate selected items on pedestals across a tablescape.  A faux bird and a battery-operated candle sit in the birdcage.

Here’s a couple of yummy recipes to help you throw your next party:

Puffy Muffin’s Cheese Crispies

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups butter, softened to room temperature

3 cups grated sharp cheddar

1 1/2 cups rice crispies

Sift flour, add cayenne and salt.  Cut butter in.  Work mixture with fingers until corn-mealish.  Add cheese and rice crispies.  Continue to mix with fingers.  Roll into 1-inch balls, flatten on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.  350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Cool completely.

Jane’s Shortbread Cookies

1 cup softened butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

Beat butter and sugar for 5 minutes.  Add egg yolks/vanilla.  Combine flour and salt, gradually adding to the mixture.  If you want color, add food coloring (I used blue for this party) to the dough – no icing is needed.   Cover and freeze for 30+ minutes.  Roll out dough on parchment paper, flouring your rolling pin and cookie cutters well.  Bake the cut-out cookies at 350 degrees on parchment for 10 1/2 minutes.

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Baby showers are joyous occasions and don’t have to be generic or boring.   I always like to think about the honoree’s taste and style, as well as the baby’s room decor.    The honoree of this shower had an older son who was just moving out of the vintage western-themed nursery to make way for baby sister.  So I went with a vintage shower theme that heaped on some old-fashioned girliness.

Of course, I love all things vintage.  So hosting a vintage baby shower is the most natural thing in the world for me to do.  I already have so many of the props, it’s simply about styling it imaginatively and adding some flowers and food.

Who says you need a tablecloth?  I started with a white chenille bedspread as a tablecloth.  I used my white hobnail dinner plates (I have about 50 of them) and stacked them at the end of the table.  I have lots of pretty ceramic serving platters that I keep on display in my kitchen on a plate rail above my cabinets, so I pulled out the pastel ones (pinks, greens, yellows) to display the food.

I also used my collection of vintage baby planters out of the nursery to set the vintage theme.  These can be found at yard sales in older neighborhoods, estate sales, and antique malls.  They can range in cost from $1 to $15, depending on the age and character of the pieces.

They can hold small floral arrangements (that was their original use, afterall!), or they can hold utensils or napkins for the party.   I always like to elevate a few items in a tablescape – in this case, I placed a vintage planter and a vintage baby card on top of a crystal cakestand.  You could also use a small stack of vintage children’s books in the appropriate colors.

A few other vintage baby cards and some pink fabric flower petals sprinkled the tabletop.  Again, I used a glass cakestand to elevate a ceramic plate of baby animal cookies (ducks, bunnies, horsies) and another vintage card.  See how I used little wooden plate stands to support the cards?

Since this was a 10:00 a.m. party, the food was brunch-themed.  The mom-to-be was diabetic, so we skipped the typical cake or petit fours.  I’ve never like petit fours, anyway.  So the only sweet was the shortbread cookies.   A dear friend shared this cookie recipe with me.  It is one of my absolute favorites (and everyone else’s, too!).

Jane’s Shortbread Cookies

1 cup softened butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

Beat butter and sugar for 5 minutes.  Add egg yolks/vanilla.  Combine flour and salt, gradually adding to the mixture.  If you want color, add food coloring to the dough – no icing is needed.   Cover and freeze for 30+ minutes.  Roll out dough on parchment paper, flouring your rolling pin and cookie cutters well.  Bake the cut-out cookies at 350 degrees on parchment for 10 1/2 minutes.

The other foods were sausage balls, hashbrown casserole, fruit salad served in a glass footed trifle bowl from Southern Living at Home, and a spinach egg casserole.

This is the drink table, where we served strawberry lemonade.  I used a pink and white striped laminated tablecloth to avoid staining a white tablecloth.  I had a vintage Mother’s Day framed card that I propped in another wooden plate stand.

Happy Mom-to-Be of sweet Josie!

Using what you love, or what someone else loves,  is the best way to style a party.  The preparation is as fun as the actual party.  And if you’re going to host a party, you might as well have fun doing it!

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I found these never-opened paper plates and napkins in an attic of a friend of my mother’s.  I kept them for 8 years until I was inspired to use them for my younger daughter’s third birthday.  I also had a few small books of JWA art and poetry that I had picked up over the years.  Her illustrations of little children have always touched me and aroused that nostalgia within me for anything from my own childhood.  

So, what was I going to call this party?  A Joan Walsh Anglund party?  My daughter would never understand.  So I looked for a common theme in JWA artwork and decided upon Rainbows.  That way I could use primary colors that would work with the plates and napkins.  I decided to hop on ebay and see what I could find of Joan Walsch Anglund’s.  I found 2 unopened Hallmark cardstock centerpieces put out in the late 70′s that featured little children sliding on rainbows.   It came with little cardstock clouds and stars that I could scatter all over the table. 

I found a beautiful unused JWA coloring book that I snatched up for a few dollars.  Oh, and a DARLING  cookie cutter of one of her classic little girls!  Amazon has many of her books, new and used.  And finally, I found a JWA decorative birthday plate and coffee mug .  All my JWA “props” cost a total of $40.  The other props I used were just things that color-coordinated (yellow, orange, red, green, blue, purple) or looked rainbow-ish.  I color-copied artwork onto label paper and made stickers that I adhered to multi-colored party hats from Dollar Tree.

These are the only invitations I’ve ever had for my childrens’ parties that I did not make myself.  But I found these Joan Walsh Anglund invitations on her website and felt like I owed it to her to order them from her! 

The food for this party was fun!  The rainbow cake was easy – just a round cake, skittles to create the rainbow, and mini-marshmellows for the clouds. 

Here are the sweet cookies I made from the JWA cookie cutter I found on ebay!

My Fabulous Butter Cookie Recipe 

1 cup melted/softenedbutter, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 4 eggs, 3 tbsp vanilla +1 tsp water (or food coloring), 6 cups self-rising flour

Cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time.  Alternately add 2 cups flour, 1 tbsp vanilla, mix, repeat.  Add 1 tsp water.  Chill in refrigerator 3+ hours.  Rollout 1/4 inch.  Cut and bake 335 degrees for 10 minutes on parchment paper.  Use royal icing mix – add more water for glaze.

I used red plastic forks from Dollar Tree, and found colored plastic mugs with built-in straws on clearance at Kroger’s for $1 each.   I made a jello rainbow in a glass trifle bowl – that took awhile to let each color gel before adding the next.  Cubed cheddar cheese looked special on a raised cake plate and rainbow-colored toothpicks.

I made a fruit tray using a rainbow of fruits set in a cream cheese, sour cream, sugar mixture - blueberries, peaches, oranges, green grapes, and strawberries.  I layed the cream and fruit in a rectangular tray with a lip so that it wouldn’t ooze out.

I ordered huge multi-colored swirly suckers from Oriental Trading and grouped them for a colorful centerpiece on the table.  Multi-colored balloons completed the rainbow tablescape. 

As the party was for a 3-year-old, the activities were kept simple.  I made lots of copies of coloring pages from the JWA coloring book for the children to color.  We did a simple rainbow craft that you may download.  Print a page for each child and have them attach colored pompoms with glue. 

Below is thumbnail of the rainbow craft.  Rainbow Download

We also made froot loop necklaces – what could be simpler?  Notice how Kelta wore a Gymboree shirt with embroidery in rainbow colors.

All our guests took home a goody basket.  I found these plastic multi-colored baskets at Dollar Tree and filled them with shredded colored paper from Michaels, striped hot air balloon bookmarks,  beaded jewelry kits, and colorful sticker letters (the last two were from Dollar Tree).  I attached cardstock gift tags of JWA artwork with red ribbon.  

The children also got to take home a large swirly sucker (from Oriental Trading Company) and one of the plastic mugs they drank from earlier.

Now, this is absolutely the coolest thing about this party – when I ordered the party invitations off the JWA website, I left a message about the party I was planning for the site manager.  Soon after, we received a special package in the mail.  Mrs. Anglund sent us a precious pencil drawing personalized for Kelta’s birthday with a sweet note wishing her well.  We framed the artwork and treasure it!!!

Below are the gift tags, 2 sticker sheet images, and several coloring pages that you are welcome to download!  Click on the link below for all.  Enjoy!

Joan Walsh Anglund – Download

Do you guys shop at Dollar Tree?  What a great place for finding mini-gifts, party favors, paper party products, stocking stuffers, holiday trinkets, and sometimes even good decor!   So I’m at my local Dollar Tree to stock up on Old London’s Melba Toast – but they don’t have it anymore!  Sad, but I did find these beautiful blue-tinted, delicately etched bud vases.  I scooped up 5 for a mere $5 and brought them home to do some styling.   Have you ever put a large centerpiece on your dining room table only to have to remove it to be able to see your guests?  Well, here’s a simple but elegant idea for a table “centerpiece” that doesn’t interfere with conversation.  I simply grabbed my new bargain bud vases, clipped some hydrangeas from my yard, and lined them down the middle of my table.  If you do this, it’s important to use items in odd numbers – 3, 5, or 7.

These bud vases would be lovely with a single rose in each, or a daffodil, or even just a twig of greenery.  I think they’d look lovely across a fireplace mantel, as well.  Can you imagine how much money you could save by buying these in bulk and using them for a wedding reception or other event - on tables, in window sills, etc? 

You can also keep your used alfredo and spaghetti sauce glass jars (after removing labels and running them through the dishwasher, of course) and use them the same way.  I really like the shape of the Bertolli ones, but just pick the prettiest shape you can find when you are grocery shopping.

Keep thinking outside the box, and let me know if you have a great find to throw into my Bargain Bin!

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I went through my seasonal ornaments and pulled out doves, owls, bird’s nests, bird’s eggs.  I chose a blue and white color palette, found recipes with bird-related names and ingredients, and had each guest draw a paper fortune with surprising results (everyone truly felt that the quotation they chose suited them perfectly!).  The pink paper balls hanging from the ceiling are Martha Stewart from Michaels.   I really love those and her tissue paper ones – more interesting than balloons and infinitely reusable!  I have also included the menu, recipes, and bird quotations/fortunes at the end of the post.

Birds of a Feather recipes  – Use these delicious recipes for your own bird-themed dinner party.

Bird Quotations  -  Print out these bird-related fortunes, cut them into strips, curl with scissor-blade, and place in small bowl for your guests to choose.

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