Hostess Jo

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Food from the Heart

Show Mom how much you love her Sunday with these heart shaped foods!  These would also be great for Valentine's Day, wedding showers or any occasion you want to show your love.

Heart Pancakes

 

Heart Shaped Egg Toast

 

A Heartfelt Message

 

Cucumber-Turkey Mini Sandwiches

 

Raspberry Almond Financiers

Pretty in Pink

This photo caught my eye for its pretty pink color.  Then the recipe sounded just as good as it looked.  What a great punch to serve at Easter!  The recipe includes instructions for both non-alcoholic and alcoholic versions so you can please everyone.  This would also be great for Mother's Day and wedding and baby showers (especially if mom is having a girl!)

 

Sparkling Punch 

Yield

Makes about 9 cups

Ingredients

• 1  (12-oz.) can frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
• 4  cups  white cranberry juice cocktail
• 1  qt. club soda, chilled
• Garnish: fresh mint sprigs

Preparation

1. Stir together lemonade concentrate and cranberry juice cocktail in a large pitcher. Cover and chill at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. Stir in club soda just before serving. Garnish, if desired.

Champagne Punch: Substitute 1 (750-milliliter) bottle extra-dry Champagne or sparkling wine and 1/4 cup orange liqueur for club soda; proceed with recipe as directed

(photo from southernliving.com)

Twisted Nests

Change is Good

 

Large peonies sit in nests instead of eggs!  I love the simplicity of the white flowers in the nests.  What a pretty table setting for Easter, Mother's Day, weddings or "Nesting" baby showers.  These open peonies are sitting in a shallow plastic bowl of water then in a basket of twisted fern vines.  If you can't find fern vines, I think you could buy two medium nests at your local craft store and set one on top of the other and blend the sides to get the same depth shown here. 

Continue the theme with miniature peony nest place card holders.  You could use a bud of the centerpiece flower or one that is more closed.  These stems sit in a water tube within each nest.  Finish the setting with large round glasses that mimic the roundness of the nests. 

Of course you can use any flower you prefer and hopefully one you have in your own backyard!

(photo from marthastewart.com)

30th Birthday Celebration

Well the birthday party was a blast!  We celebrated three of my friends 30th birthdays at a cantina style restaurant.  My manzanita centerpieces were a big hit.  I would have done a couple of things different but I thought they turned out well for a first attempt.  I will definitely be using them again.  They are so versatile. 

Thank you to everyone for your interest and creative ideas for the centerpieces.  You all were a big help and I love hearing your ideas.  Hope you enjoy the pics. 

My First Manzanita Centerpieces

I had to work around orange tablecloths!  I thought they looked ok with the bright green moss. 

 

My sweet brother-in-laws cut the 30s out of metal and we spray painted them black.

 

I ordered the branches and containers from Blooms and Branches.  I ordered 24" natural and spray painted them white.  I was going to go with sandblasted but I read that the blasting causes a lot of the little branches to break off so it's better to order natural and paint them. The trick to spray painting them is primer!  I used one branch per pot.

I thought they were a good height.  The crystals were from Save on Crafts.

 

I bought the green moss at Pottery Barn.  I also scattered some "crystals" I purchased at Michael's through the moss.

This next photo is a little blurry but I love how the crystals are glowing.

 

Luckily the room was already fabulously decorated with natural branches with white twinkle lights and white lanterns hung sporadically.

 

Check out these little beauties my friend Nicole made. 

 

More on these later...

Big thank you to my husband for all of his help!  Mixing plaster=no fun.  Here is a tutorial on how to set your branches in a container.

If you'd like to see more pics please check out my Facebook page.  If you have any photos of manzanita centerpieces you've made I'd love to see them!  Just upload them to the album or shoot me an email.

I hope these give you some ideas for the next time you need a one of a kind centerpiece!  They were fun to make and you can really express yourself with them.  All in all they were not that expensive to make either. 

Sweets Overload

I've been posting about all things sweet for a few days now but there are just so many cute ideas for Spring out there!  I'm not even a big fan of sweets (or baking, but I love when other people do!) but you can really express your creative side with them.  Here is another one I am obsessed with for my Green Apple Themed Shower.  I'm hoping my friend Nicole is going to make them!

 

At first they intimidated me but then I read how Kara decorated them and I was surprised how easy they are.  She made her cupcakes then rolled them in green sprinkles, stuck in a pretzel with mint leaves for the stem and then took the "bite" out with a fork and added a few chocolate sprinkles.  Voila!

(photo from karascupcakes.blogspot.com)

Fresh Idea

We are getting closer to our "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree..." wedding shower.  I've shown you our ideas for the centerpieces.  Since then, I've found so many great ideas for using green apples in your wedding or shower decor on the web.  Below is another beautiful way to show off your apples.  We are serving Green Apple Martinis and this is perfect!

   

Isn't this lovely?  You could even use this as the centerpiece.  This would be great for a Spring or Summer party too, it doesn't have to be just for showers.  Get creative, try serving lemonade or limeade this way!  How refreshing...

(photo from countryliving.com)

More Green Apple Inspiration

Be sure to check back tomorrow for all the details from the wine tasting.  It was so much fun and I'm already thinking of planning another one with white wines for Spring and Summer.

For now take a look at this fresh green inspiration board from Snippet and Ink.  I love the bright green and white used here.  I might actually make these apple centerpieces for the wedding shower instead of the others I found.  I really like how they used white instead of pink with the green apples.  My friend whose house we are having it at has an outside living area that these pillows would look fabulous in for the shower.

You could incorporate these colors and ideas for any wedding shower, baby shower or general party.  So crisp and fresh!

Butterfly Craze

I love butterflies!  Probably more than most people and I've noticed they are being used everywhere!  To decorate adult rooms, kids rooms, cakes, parties, etc. They are so pretty and delicate, why not use them everywhere?  They would also be lovely at bridal and baby showers.  Here are some great examples of how you can decorate with butterflies this Spring:

Floral Arrangements

 

Cake Decorations

 

Pillows

 

Bedding

And Parties (from HostessBlog)

 

Please click on the links for the where and how to.  These are just a few ideas, I hope they inspire you!

"Apple" Shower Centerpiece Inspiration

I'm searching and searching for a unique centerpiece idea for the Apple Shower I am planning.  I would love to incorporate Apple Blossoms, I'm afraid they will bloom before May though.  Does anyone know anything about Apple Trees and when they bloom?  Or if I can purchase Apple Blossoms from a florist?

Here are a couple of cute centerpiece ideas from ehow.com:

I like how this one is smaller. For the area we are working with it would fit great.

 

This one is a bit more formal but still beautiful.

 

Ok, I'm back on the hunt...