LotusHaus

Thankful for What I Have - Table Setting

This Thanksgiving in Seattle it snowed! Needless to say we got stuck indoors and as the snowed cleared I had to use what I had at home to create the table setting. I brought out my collection of gourd shaped vases and small bud vases and luckily a color theme occured - brown, plum, rust orange and teal. I used some dried branches I had laying around along with some awesome natural cotton boll sprigs I bought at a display sale. I was inspired to use the cotton sprigs because they reminded me of snow. I also had these tiny metallic ornaments in teal that I hung from the branches and ribbon from my Thanksgiving 2008 table.

 

My Asian Inspired Baby Shower!

These little baby monk figurines and Chinese display stands were the inspiration for my Asian themed baby shower! You can see my evite design here. Thanks to my mom, my hubby and two of my dearest friends, I had a colorful, meaningful and fun filled party!

In Chinese culture (as with many other cultures), food is so important during special celebrations, so I wanted to celebrate the concept of Dim Sum with my guests at this lunch time party, (Dim Sum literally means "to touch your heart," and consists of a variety of dumplings, steamed dishes and other goodies). Check out this colorful spread! I just have to share with you some of the dishes we served and what they mean to me.

Dim Sum is all about small delicacies with big flavor! We had shrimp and chicken dumplings along with eggrolls, pot stickers and edamame from Uwajimaya. My girlfriend steamed them all herself! As a mommy to be, I love these dishes and enjoy thinking of myself as a little dumpling with a special treat inside, like a pea in a pod!

I found an appetizer recipe for Asian Chicken Salad on Endive Spears and wanted this dish to represent a baby in a cradle. Super easy and so cute! The trick is to use the cooked rotisserie chicken readily available at the grocery store.

I'm Filipino and my mom makes two dishes that I absolutely love! Fresh Lumpia and Pancit. Fresh Lumpia is basically a crepe roll with an assortment of cooked meat and vegetables. My mom made these ones vegetarian with sweet potatoes, potatoes, jicama, cilantro, seasoning and lettuce. She wrapped them in wax paper and tied it with raffia. They are served with a sweet dipping sauce. The other dish I love is Pancit, which is a Filipino noodle dish. There are different kinds of Pancit but my favorite is Pancit Canton, which is a Chinese style version using egg noodles. We had to have noodles because they symbolize long life and prosperity!

I think the Chinese translation for lotus root is " lin ngau,"  which sounds like "lin yau", and means "every year you have plenty." I found fresh sliced lotus roots at Uwajimaya and made a quick lotus root stir-fry with sesame, green onions, cilantro and bean sprouts. Guests were surprised and delighted with the texture and flavor of the lotus root.

For dessert my hubby made these tasty Chinese Moon Cookies using wooden Chinese molds in the shape of koi fish and fu dogs (they turned out so cute!!!). As a surprise, one of my friends baked and decorated this gorgeous French Vanilla cake with blue fondant and cherry blossoms!!! It was amazing! The cake was so beautiful and delicious! Another surprise dessert was a batch of Nutella Chocolate Chip cookies made by one of my dearest girlfriends who helped to host the party.

For the buffet table decor, I used blue and orange cotton fabrics for runners. The blue fabric is called Koto by Alexander Henry (above left) and it also inspired my invitation design (above right) and color theme.

Since goldfish are also good luck, I thought it would be fun to have them floating around! I put them in glass cubes with a glass shelf that raised up the display stand. I love how it turned out!

I just love brocade fabrics and Chinese handicrafts with their bright colors, pretty patterns and intricate knotting and tassels... I also love tiny shoes and booties. So when I found these Baby shoes and lucky charm amulets in various stores in Chinatown I thought what a cute display these would be together. What great luck to find them in matching colors! Plus I can use all of these display goods for the baby later!

Here's how the living room was arranged. For munchies, we filled a fish bowl with rice crackers, sesame sticks and good ol' goldfish crackers.

Here's my Asian inspired diaper cake! I discovered an easier way to arrange the diapers than the last diaper cake I made. This cake uses about 90pcs of organic cotton newborn diapers, 60pcs on the bottom layer and 30pcs on the top. To do this, take a drinking glass and arrange a handful of diapers on their side in a circular pattern around the glass and wrap a really big rubber band around it. Add more diapers until the rubber band is tight. Remove the glass and rearrange diapers to fill in the hole. Make another layer and decorate. A Hostess Blog post about an Asian Inspired Bridal Shower gave me the idea to use a 3 tiered bamboo plant for the cake topper.

For the alcove decor, I took extra fabric and made simple fabric scroll hangings and anchored them with wooden double happiness accent pieces that I found a long time ago but haven't had a chance to use until now. To change up my existing metal wall art piece, I printed out various Asian patterns and just taped them up.

For our baby shower game, the ladies had 5 minutes to use play dough and design little tiny booties. They were all so cute! I picked a winner and she received a prize. 

Instead of a wishing tree or guest book, I made rice paper fortune cookies and we asked guests to write their parenting advise or sentiments for the fortune saying. We will read through these after the baby is born!

For favors I wanted to create something meaningful and I had read about the tradition of a Blessingway, which is a mother-focused shower that honors and nurtures the pregnant women. Since most of my guests were already mothers, I wanted to tap into their courage and strength when my time comes to deliver Rafael. After searching without success for a blessing or prayer for a healthy delivery, I eventually wrote my own. So, for the favor I included a candle and a copy of the prayer. When I go into labor, my friends will get a text or email to light the candle and read the prayer. This way, all of these strong women will be thinking of me at the same time and I can look forward to receiving their encouragement! For the actual favor box, I used a DIY template from Twig & Thistle and altered it to fit my theme. 

Here's me (in the middle) and my dearest girlfriends looking lovely with these pretty Asian fans. I had all of my guests sit on the couch and take a picture with me. You can see more of these "fan shots" here. Thanks to all my friends and family that came to celebrate with me!!! I am grateful to have you all in my life!

A Cookout with the Cousins

Our family was in town from Virginia and we had a wonderful Tuesday cookout on the patio! Grilled burgers, corn on the cob, salmon, fruit salad, pina coladas and all the fixings! I went to the Renton Farmer's Market and purchased two beautiful bouquets (only $5 each) and decorated the patio with items from my first Thanksgiving party... silk banners and runners plus throw pillows in cranberry, persimmon and grape colors.

Father's Day Fiesta

For Father's Day, my husband decided that instead of our usual BBQ and Hamburgers we would make Carne Asada and virgin pina coladas! So of course we had to make it a fiesta! Plus the weather was so dreary I definitely needed some color therapy! We learned how to make Carne Asada (thin marinated skirt steak) from our Mexican friends who also showed us how to eat it with "agua-mole" which is a more liquid version of guacamole (lots of limes, avocados, water, liquified in the blender). We bought corn tortillas and Spanish Rice from our local restaurant and filled up our bellies! Here are some recipes you can try for the Carne Asada and virgin pina coladas. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the food and drinks! But it was sure tasty!!! (I made the arrangements from grocery store flowers and found red linens and an orange rattan runner at Ross all for under $45.)

A Bird-i-ful Easter on a Budget!

I knew there was a reason why I was holding out from doing a bird theme for previous parties... The first weekend in April, my hubby and I had a wonderful mini-vacation on the Oregon Coast. We enjoyed so much untouched nature while walking barefoot on sandy beaches, soaking up the sunshine, drawing in the sand, beach-combing, relaxing with dear friends and eating very well! We spotted a wild herd of elk, many pairs of bald eagles, an osprey nest, a wild bobcat, seals and many other aquatic animals. We even got to kayak a bit. As a souvenir we took home these gorgeous branches from our host's property... they had the most lovely sponge-like moss. These branches became a very economical and sentimental centerpiece for our Easter Dinner...

I placed the branches in various glass cubes with white gravel to support them, and added some lovely feather birds that I picked up at the Dollar Tree store ($8 for 16 pcs!). The aqua blue table runner is just some lightweight dress fabric that I had previously found at a thrift store. Luckily it was long enough to cover the entire set of tables that sat all 15 of us!
I loved how easy and effortless these centerpieces turned out to be! It doesn't take much to make a statement when these little bird friends are smiling at you and your guests!
Chirp, chirp... A little birdy told me to pull out my white vases for the display shelves! (The pink and purple blooms are Hyacinth from our garden.) 
Here's the view from the other side of the table... 
Say hello to my little friends...

For party favors I found these yummy jelly beans (the size of small grapes), that looked like speckled bird eggs. I looked everywhere for small birdnests that would fit my budget but to no avail. Finally, I broke down and made my own. Using wrapped brown wire (found in the floral section at the craft store), I wound it around my hand 4 times, cut a square of brown wax paper, placed the jelly beans in the center, tucked brown tulle around them and scrunched the package into the nest. The brown ribbon held it all together.

We had a lovely dinner and lively conversation... After dinner we were greeted with a full rainbow! It was so big and so close that I couldn't get it all in the photo! Now if only I could find that pot of gold!

Lil' Lion 1st Birthday Party

For my godson's 1st Birthday we were set on a lion theme. We went to Ikea and scored on some really fun and colorful decor ideas like these inexpensive circle bath rugs, kids furniture and fun toys. The color theme was orange, blue, green and brown...

I thought it would be cool to have a jungle/rainforest kind of feeling in the buffet area but didn't want to over do it so I mounted some display shelves that I had lion around (hee hee), added some faux vines and some furry friends that would go home with the birthday boy. I love the monkey business! (tip: velcro works for hanging everything!)

Ikea had really cute and affordable table sets, fun stools and rugs...

The biggest score was this cardboard puppet show frame! It was the hit of the party because I took photos of all the guests using this frame. See some of these fun jungle pics here. The design even matched what I had done for the invitation!

I always make sure there is plenty of colorful food! We had baked mac n' cheese, wings, dino chicken nuggets, fruits, veggies, pita chips, salad, and of course my favorite, chocolate covered strawberries! (Thanks hubby for always making these for me!). For the buffet arrangements, again Ikea hooked me up with colorful bamboo canes and faux tropicals. Super easy... just place them casually in a container.

The local grocery bakery transposed the invitation artwork onto a regular vanilla sheet cake with raspberry filling, yum-o! Next time I will give them a better image... they kinda didn't follow my instructions (note the big area that is cut out), but it still looked cute!

For a 1st birthday ritual, I created a "Wishing Tree" inspired by the Tea Collection blog. This activity was great because it served as a guestbook and a keepsake! I asked guests to write well wishes and sentiments for Isaiah on these wood veneer tags that I found at the craft store. The tree consisted of some curly willow in my umbrella vase that was draped in green fabric.

This is another keepsake! "A Year in the Life of Isaiah" was made of a black magnet dry erase board and 12 clear top metal tins. I simply cut out a photo from each month of Isaiah's first year and affixed magnet strips on the back side. The tins and board can both be used again.

Our birthday party game was called "Isaiah Can Do" and party goers had to guess from a list which things Isaiah could do Now or would do Later. The most correct answers won a prize but there was a tie and a healthy debate between two aunties ensued as to the details of one of the items... it was hilarious! There were some older kids at the party too, so for them I had temporary animal tattoos, finger puppets and markers for them to draw portraits of Isaiah.

The take home gift was my favorite part of the party! My friend took this awesome photo of Isaiah on her shoulders, which was inspired by a photo I gave her along time ago before she was even pregnant. I designed a Thank You card and had it developed as a photo so it would serve as a card and a keepsake photograph. Using clear acrylic boxes, I inserted the photo and filled the boxes with inexpensive animal crackers and tied a raphia bow. They looked so cute!!! We really did have some wild fun!

Sneak Peek } Lil' Lion 1st Birthday Party

Here's the invitation I designed for my godson Isaiah's 1st Birthday Party that I coordinated this past weekend! Time flies! Seems like just yesterday when I hosted my dear friend's Tropical Baby Shower! I have to sing my praises for pingg.com because it is the most modern looking evite service, the cheapest (free), the most eco-friendly (saves trees), and the most efficient (you can email, text, facebook, twitter the invite), that I've seen out there! You even get your own event web page. Oh, and when I get all the photos I will send another thank you pingg to our guests along with photos and video clips from the party! Below are a couple of fun photos... more party pics coming soon!

 

My Global Lounge Thanksgiving } Featured on Hostess with the Mostess!

My Global Lounge Thanksgiving Party was featured on Hostess with the Mostess, yay! Thanks Jennifer!

Dreaming of a Pink Lotus Christmas!

Having recently put together a Lebanese inspired baby shower I decided to keep the same color theme of coral pink for my holiday decor and add a lotus theme. Above is lotus flower wreath that I put together using items found at a dollar store! This was hung in our entry hallway along with a simple display of Christmas cards.

Here's the overview with touches of coral pink, copper and gold.

I love my pink poinsettia and branches tablescape! After laying down silky sari fabric in dusty rose and champagne colors, I made this arrangement using branches, faux pink garlands, fresh poinsettias, cranberry potpourri and gold ball ornaments. (alternate photo here)

Here's a closeup of how I displayed the glass vases filled with potpourri. One vase stood upright and the other was casually laid on its side so that the branches spilled out to create more of a tablescape. (This inspiration came at 3am the night before)

The fresh poinsettias were kept alive by using floral water tubes.

For favors, I made Christmas crackers using the bath tissue paper rolls that I keep for craft projects. Click here to see what's inside.

I found these 10" faux evergreen wreaths at a craft store. They originally had pine cones on them so I took them off and added a single glittery copper ball ornament and jeweled ribbon from an Indian fabric store.

I used one of my alcoves to create a wintery dessert bar that housed my husband's homemade "Ikerdoodles" and store bought brownies, spice cake and cinnamon buns.

Candle wreath and mirror garland with lotus blossoms and gold trim.

This is my favorite arrangement of the day. We have been snowed in for about 2 weeks now are are seriously getting sick of it...so this arrangement manifests as a lotus blossom rising out of the winter snow and captivity. (soon I hope!)

Dinner was delicious and the company was fabulous! You can see a few more photos here...

Around the World Baby } Lebanese Inspired Baby Shower

Here's a baby shower with some international flavor that I recently designed for my mom's friend. The Mother-To-Be was a young Lebanese woman who taught French and Arabic in Lebanon before moving to Seattle. In Lebanese culture, baby showers are not common because family celebrations take place after the baby is born rather than before. The MTB's family is in Lebanon so her friends wanted to make her feel comforted and safe during her pregnancy so we threw her this wonderful shower! The colors were coral pink and peach with copper and bronze accents. The look was classic and elegant with a modern ethnic twist. On the invitation, I used the Alhambra font to inspire the arabesque feeling of the party.

This is the desert table wonderfully set with a draped linen of middle eastern flair. I used a screen printed cotton window panel from World Market that had an Arabic style geometric print and a gorgeous bronze border.

Here you can really see the draped linen along with yummy raspberry tea cookies and butter cookies from Whole Foods.

Lovely lemon meringue drops and pretty flower sugar cookies also from Whole Foods.

Inspired by Hostess with the Mostess and DIY diaper cakes, I decided to make my own modern diaper cake. It turned out to be super easy and I just love how it turned out! It was a fantastic centerpiece and conversation piece! I used two kinds of satin ribbon to go with the look of the table linens and silk flowers for decoration. For the cake stand I used two white ceramic serving platters with the bottom platter overturned.

For wall art, I found these beautiful Indian wooden letters with a hand stamped metal foil design and paired them with gold Christmas ornaments on a backdrop of two coral pink scrapbook pages. The look was both academic, ethnic and baby-inspired. (Letters from World Market)

Details of the wooden letters and ornaments...

To further the global theme, I pulled out one of my vintage finds that I hadn't used yet! This beautiful hand hammered copper table consists of a large tray and collapsible teak legs. It worked perfectly with the whole look.

For the party favors, I put together these cute booties with tulle, pink ribbon and Jordan almonds!

The booties looked so cute together in pairs!

Finally, for the main baby shower game, I altered an Around the World Baby game I found online. The MTB was a language teacher and our shower guests spoke different languages so this game was perfect. Simply list the word "baby" in different languages and ask guests to match up the language to the word. The guest with the most correct answers won a prize.

Thanksgiving 2008 } Global Lounge Style

Sustainability is about using what you already have, so this Thanksgiving, my color theme was inspired by a swanky bolt of blue and brown satin ribbon I had lounging about...I also wanted to give our dinner a hip hotel lounge vibe which would definitely have everyone talking about it afterwards. Global accents like origami, rattan, Chinese knots and classic patterns, like woven cane and circle medallions provided the global modern touches I adore. We also used our DJ uplights to jazz up the ambiance...everyone loved the mood lighting!

I've always wanted to use paper cranes for decor and thought the subtle resemblance to a turkey would be a nice touch. They were made with gift wrap paper, strung with crimped silver wire and hung from kiwi vines. The vines were held up by floral foam in a drinking glass and wrapped with turquoise tissue paper. The magical blue glow is created by super cool LED tea lights placed at the base of the vines, hidden by the tissue.

I sewed simple square napkins using a great cane patterned fabric that I found at the fabric store...the colors matched my theme perfectly!!! I only needed 2 yards.

Instead of Thanksgiving cards, I thought I would save paper and ink by making bookmarks with inspiring quotes on both sides and a nice satin ribbon at the end.

For the cocktail vibe, my hubby created a signature blue mocktail (blue raspberry lemonade blended with ice and sprite) and instead of the usual placecards, I created custom monogram drink tags using scrapbook supplies.

I found these rattan placemats with blue trim at a discount retailer for a buck a piece! I call this "intuitive sourcing" also known as, I was so lucky to find these!

And lastly, for the favors, I wrapped up some delicious iced gingerbread cookies in a kraft pillow box with the swanky satin ombre ribbon, a custom gift tag and a lovely Chinese knot. I'd have to say that this is my favorite dinner party so far! I really loved the lighting and magical LEDs!

My Interview at BabyLifestyles.com

Check out Baby Lifestyles, the newest online resource for lots of tips and inspiration about baby showers, gifts, party planning and going green! You will also find examples of real parties along with the scoop on today's celebrity babies. I was fortunate enough to have been interviewed for the fun work I've done with baby showers and my special focus on Co-Ed baby showers. Read both articles here and here! Also check out this interview with my buddy Amy of Stem Parties.

Once In A Blue Moon Birthday } Surprise Cocktail Party

Our friend Valentine the owner of the well respected Valentine's Salon for Men, rarely celebrates his birthday...so the theme of this surprise cocktail party was called, "Once In A Blue Moon," and it was held at the salon.  For the cocktail table decor, I took large martini glasses, placed a candle in the center and filled in the space with water and cobalt blue sea glass. Then I added a grass blade to simulate a stir stick and floated two orchids to add some flair. Crinkled blue tissue paper helped to ground the blue theme along with two more votives with sea glass. The bar also created a signature blue drink for the party!

For one of the two buffet tables, I created a quad arrangement with beautiful blue hydrangea from my neighbor's yard. Using 4 galvanized metal rectangle vases, I put a couple of hydrangea blooms together, letting them rest on the rim. Then I inserted steel grass blades in a swooping arc formation as accents.  To elevate the arrangement, I simply put a box underneath the white linen. Lastly,  I used some sheer blue accent fabric to continue the blue color theme.

Above left is a simple double arrangement with water, floating candles and blue rocks that greeted guests as they chowed down at the second buffet table. Again, I used sheer blue fabric to tie in the blue decor theme. Above right is a night-light shot of the the cocktail table, buffet table and lounge areas that I lit up with our blue spotlights from our DJ setup. I also designed the banner above the buffet table. The party was a hit and everyone had a great time laughing and dancing to the sounds of my hubby DJing.

A Green 4th of July!

For this year's 4th of July party I was inspired by the cool green, white and brown colors of Carlene & Sonny's wedding theme and the Its Heavenly Blog. I wanted to keep my party as green & reusable as possible and really didn't want to buy anything novelty that I knew would never see another day. I used green colored reed placements to dress up my wooden screen and covered my cushions with green fabric remnants. For table decor I used exising glass vases, wrapped them with bamboo placemats and filled them with colored curly willow that I already owned.

Other green decor included bamboo shoots from our bedroom and my masterpiece of the day...a bamboo water fountain! I took my bamboo floor lamp and secured a wood tray on top with raffia wire. Then I made an arrangement with bamboo shoots, river rocks, succulents from the backyard and an old fountain pump. Voila!  A relaxing and free flowing soundscape to melt away the heat. We love it! It's still in the patio and greets us whenever we enter our home!

Modern Baby Showers } Featured on Hostess with the Mostess!

I just adore Hostess with the Mostess and the Hostess Blog! So many stylish and hip entertaining resources and ideas to be found on both sites! I am so honored and thankful that two of my events have been featured in the Real Life Parties section of the Hostess Blog! Isn't that fun and exciting! Check them out here: Tropical Co-Ed Baby Shower and Modern Co-Ed Baby Shower.

Sex and the City } A Stylish Ladies Night in Seattle!

(Photos by Barbie Hull Photography, graphics and styling by LotusHaus Creative Services)

Check out this stylish event for the Ladies that I helped design, inspired by, you guessed it, Sex and the City! Hosted at the beautiful Ibiza Dinner Club, we pulled out all the stops to create a lovely ambiance for the ladies (and gents) to lounge, lavish and dance the night away.

Mother's Day Celebration

Mother's Day was a wonderful day! I had all the mothers in the house (mom, grandma and mom-in-law) and we had a fat old brunch at our big tables decorated with fresh lilac from local yards and pretty pastel blumeboxes. This was the first time I had the chance to use these recyclable cardboard vases and they provided a great boost of color (great idea for simple and affordable wedding centerpieces). They were also great as portable gifts - each mother got to take one home. Upon entering my home, guests were greated by a vintage Thai painting of women in the floating markets. This painting and my mom's love of lilac and yellow were my color inspiration. I decorated some white lidded boxes with 100% recycled cotton Midori paper in three different colors (purple, pink and blue) and filled each box with color coordinated goodies, like candles, candies, stationary and a sweet capiz photo frame of my husband and I. They were fun to open and can be reused infinitely! Afterwards we enjoyed a stroll through the Bonsai Collection and Rhododendron Garden at the Weyerhauser campus in Federal Way (south of Seattle).

Easter 2008 } Life is An Occasion, Rise to It!

This Easter Dinner Party was inspired by what I saw at a recent movie marathon with my hubby. Inspired by the surreal colors and shapes from the Dr. Seuss movie, Horton Hears a Who (I just loved the precious pink clover!), the floral arrangements are made from plants from around my hoodville. Yellow forsythia branches and pink flowers from some rock climbing ground cover (anyone know the name of these flowers?) along with their green leaves were all the elements that I used. Clumping the flowers in masses gave me the color power I needed to make a strong statement. I lined the inside of the rectangle glass vases with leaves for a nice splash of green and an intriguing underwater look.

For the table runner I used a colorful outdoor table cloth (the kind with the flannel backing) that I had previously picked up at a discount store. I cut the table cloth into 3 table runners - oh so easy! For place settings I made tiny bouquets using the same flowers and foliage. For my party favors, I made tiny accordion books with a quote from the magical movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, "Life is an Occasion, Rise to it!"

Making an accordion book is really very simple. Cut up some cardboard (the back part of a notepad) into whatever size you want (mine was about 1.5"x 4"). Take some pretty paper (like origami paper, scrapbook paper or in my case, Amy Butler paper from Jo-Ann's), cut it to a size that's 3/8" wider than the board and then glue it down and wrap the edges to the back and secure. Cut up some paper slightly smaller than the cover and accordion fold it. Glue the top and bottom pages to the inside of the cover and wrap with a ribbon.

For my party I asked my family not to open the books until after dinner. When they opened the books we played a little game of favorite things. I asked them questions and they had to write down their answer on each of the 6 panels. The questions were about their favorite color, favorite pet/animal, favorite day, favorite flower, favorite food and favorite hobby.  We learned a lot about each other with this game! Apparently, my husband's favorite flower is me! How sweet!

This table centerpiece was my version of an Easter Egg hunt! Using colorful mini chocolate easter eggs and an acrylic office supply cube, my family had to use chopsticks to nab a treat. It was fun!

To see more of my parties click here! Enjoy!

Tropical Co-Ed Baby Party } Turquoise, Tangerine and Green

Oh Boy! Here's a tropical themed co-ed baby shower that I recently put together for my dearest girlfriend. It was held at one of our favorite Latin restaurants, La Casa Del Mojito in the University District. The theme colors were inspired by the sunny, tropical colors of the restaurant...turquoise, yellow, tangerine and green and the motifs were inspired by tropical flowers like the Bird of Paradise. Above are the invitations that I designed. I used Sendomatic's blank evite to send custom digital invitations using my artwork. I printed and assembled just a few invitations to mail to her close friends and family.

I arranged the cafe tables in a U-shape so that my friend could mingle with the guests and easily walk down the aisle with her big belly. Color is very important to every party that I have designed and it was a fun challenge to find flowers and accents that conveyed my theme. The unique table decor that I created involved fresh orchids (from Whole Foods), mums and horsetail (from floral wholesaler). I cut bunches of horsetail and slid silver metal napkin rings (from World Market) onto the ends and inserted orchid and mum blooms. The turquoise mat is a simple foam felt square from a craft store. I wanted the table decor to be long and low to encourage conversation and avoid collisions with the belly (lol!).

Other flowers that I used were Bird of Paradise, Oncidium orchids and tropical foliage from the floral wholesaler. I made one centerpiece for the buffet table and arranged tropical leaves like a table runner.

The menu consisted of tasty treats like Tostones (crispy fried green plantaines topped with garlic cilantro sauce),  Pastelitos (Pastries stuffed with savory fillings) and Shrimp Skewers (grilled shrimp with a spicy Jalapeno glaze and pineapple display). For dessert there were fruit and custard tarts from Whole Foods and to wet the whistle there were plenty of mango juice drinks and freshly made Mojitos!

The party favors were delicious lemon poppyseed scones wrapped in tissue, bagged and tied with striped ribbon. They remind me of the stork and baby image!
 
Since this was a co-ed party, the party games were very guy friendly! The first game was called "Diaper Free Throw."  Each fella had 30 seconds to fill a diaper with a handful of candy, wrap it and shoot it into the basket. The guy with the most baskets won a mini champagne bottle and a brick of chocolate.

Another game was called "Celebrity Mini Me." I showed baby photos of celebrities like Usher, Chris Brown and Bow Wow and everyone had to guess who they were. We also played the game of guessing how big around my friend's belly was. However, instead of the usual rope, I showed the guests some cute little baby shoes and they had to guess how many "feet" around she was using the shoes as the measurement.

Lastly, my favorite game was the "Designer Baby Game." My friend is an independent fashion designer so she loved this one - so did all the guests! Each guest was given some play doh and they had to "Design" their own baby. My friend picked the cutest play doh baby and awarded the prize! Everyone was really into it! All in all, it was a fun and sunny day at this Tropical Baby Party!

Celebrate With Style } LotusHaus™ featured as their "First Celebration Blog"

Celebrate with Style^® is a new Web site and soon-to-be magazine. They are dedicated to becoming your go-to resource for great ideas on how to plan and enjoy all the celebrations that make life so much richer! Hooray! They recently decided to begin showcasing examples of celebration style and low and behold, LotusHaus™ was honored to be their first "Celebration Blog!" I feel so grateful, joyful & thankful! Please check out the many interesting and informative articles they have on party planning and ideas to help you with your next event! For the original post click here and also see my party featured on Hostess With The Mostess!

Thanksgiving 2007 } Modern Gratitude

Hi there! After a grateful Thanksgiving I am please to have cleared enough mental and spiritual space to continue sharing and celebrating! We have finally sold our condo and in honor of Thanksgiving, I reclaimed two mod-square shower curtains intended for the condo (they were the perfect autumn colors of Ivory, Persimmon, Wheat, Black & Dark Brown), and used them as table runners & pillow covers. The shower curtains were on sale from Target and I was able to make 3 table runners and cover 3 small throw pillows. Good tip: You can make inexpensive table runners out of any available fabric, like sheets, shower curtains, old drapes, thrift store finds and more! Just cut and sew or use iron-on hem tape.

We had 15 people over for dinner! It was fun having everyone at the same table. My hubby roasted an organic turkey and made candied yams and our extended family brought the rest! All I had to do was decorate! Yay!
 

The table centerpieces consisted of rectangle glass containers wrapped with velvet and organza ribbon and filled with organic buckwheat hulls (that I will re-use to make eye and neck pillows later for holiday gifts) and dried grasses/curled bamboo stems from Jo-Ann's.

To decorate the dining room wall and add some pop color, I found inexpensive black wood frames (that luckily had coordinating matt frame colors) at Jo-Ann's and added an orange graphic that said Thanks / Giving / To You in various languages (Filipino, Native American, German, Spanish, French). Along with the party favors below, these were all printed on my Energy Star rated laser printer.

In keeping with the mod geometric square theme, I also created simple Thanksgiving favors with an inspiring quote and ribbon on the outside of a tuck top box and a heartfelt message on the inside lid. The gift was a single Ferrero Rocher truffle nestled in some recycled paper shredding. I also printed address labels with the guest's name and used it as the gift tag as well as a place card. My family had a kick out of finding their place at the table.

Lastly, above you will see some no-sew pillows and the coffee table arrangement with buckwheat hulls, persimmons and curly willow. Everyone had a lovely dinner and we were all grateful to be sharing good times with one another!

A Fashionable Birthday For My Sweet Friend

I love parties, yay! I had another party at the house last weekend but this time it was a 37th birthday party for my fashionista friend! The color theme was her favorite color, red! I used lot of red accents and red roses to create a lounge worthy atmosphere. Oh, and everyone wore something red!

Here's the patio with ribbons around my white paper lanterns and red throw pillows.

This is a unique rose arrangement I made with grass blades and eucalyptus.

My neutral decor works well with red and chocolate accent colors! I used the dress form mannequins from my friend's boutique to add a little of her fashion flair.

I also borrowed her red circle rugs (Ikea) and lined the hallway with votive candles. The screen is a vintage Philippine capiz shell door with a red spot light behind it and a white ceramic Kuan Yin statue in front. The tabletop candles were $0.99 vases from Michael's with a rose bud submerged in water and a tea light floating atop.

My favorite arrangement was this one that I made for the buffet table. I had a white ceramic thrift store footed base and topped it with a large glass cube.  I filled it with polished river stones and built a grid surrounding it with curly willow and branches. I made a short bouquet of red roses and inserted the stems into a kenzan (pin frog) and placed it inside the cube. I added a Ti leaf in the corner and some beaded stems from last year's Christmas decorations. I love how it turned out! Kinda like a heart beating inside a glass with wings reaching upwards. Oh and the patchwork silk ikat table runner is from last year's Thanksgiving dinner decor.

This is the entryway floral arrangement with Asian wood stands and an Aveda candle.

I had a few fun games for this party! My girlfriend and I both love CSI and so instead of a guestbook I decided to have the guests "Caught Red-Handed." We took Polaroid "mugshots" and a message instead of a police number and fingerprinted everyone with red ink. It was hilarious! My mugshot read, "You're Never Too Old To Wear Red!" We also passed around a sheet for folks to write 37 Things they liked about my friend while asking each other 37 questions from a card set that I created. Lastly, since we're both designers, I had the guests become designers too. I printed out fashion illustration pages with my friend's face and provided InStyle magazine tear sheets for them to cut out outfits from and glue onto the fashion illustration. The guests loved it! Even the guys!!! Some of the outfits were fully accessorized with jewelry, hats, bags, shoes and even champagne! It was fun! Oh and there was plenty of food, from burgers to chicken fajitas and chocolate covered strawberries!

A Modern Co-Ed Baby Shower } Chocolate, Raspberry & Lime

I recently hosted a fun co-ed baby shower. It was a baby girl shower with a very modern theme. I designed & created the shower invitations, party favors, floral arrangements and party decor. The shower and all of the design details really turned out great! The colors were chocolate, raspberry and lime green with touches of silver.

The invitation consisted of a printed vellum overlay which opened to a irridescent invite backed with chocolate colored cardstock and wrapped in wavy wire. Vellum, paper and cardstock from Paper Zone.

The party favors were made with chocolate colored pillow boxes from Packaging Specialties and were wrapped with pink tulle, lime green grosgrain ribbon, dark pink raffia and sealed with a coordinating diecut paper medallion. Inside each favor were 2 white peony tea bags, 1 homemade green tea scented soy wax candle and 1 Choxie chocolate square.

I made a funky corsage out of aluminum wire and wrapped it with a crimped wire. Then I inserted grass blades and an orchid.

This is my dining room that opens up to the living room. I have two tables and four benches that make up a long buffet and very versatile seating. We had lots of great finger food. Trader Joe's is the perfect place to pick up easy to prepare appetizers like dumplings, quiche, coconut breaded shrimp and spanakopita. My girlfriend saved the day by helping me prepare these bites while I worked on the floral arrangements. The two table arrangements featured curled up wire, floating flowers, orchids and wire wrapped grasses. I also used spotlights to add shots of pink color to the dark corners.

Here's the living room with two chairs of honor decorated with tulle (I love using tulle! It's affordable, colorful, reusable and can work as ribbon or sheer fabric.) The white paper lanterns are from Shoji Decor and are dressed up with pink tassels from Jo-Ann fabrics. I bought a nice chocolate colored slipcover from Bed, Bath and Beyond, and wrapped (knotted at the back) my existing pillows with pink and green satin material for some quick no-sew accent pillows (fabric also from Jo-Ann fabrics).

Here's my coffee table arrangement and below are some sweet pink and brown treats - ladybug cookies, vegan cupcakes and chocolate covered strawberries.

Finally, below are images of my patio and the floral designs I created to go along with the pink and green theme.

4th of July } Food, Folks & Fireworks

Hands down, this was the best 4th of July celebration ever! We had our very first patio party with our families in our new home (we moved in last August), enjoyed a beautiful sunset and a 180 degree view of the fireworks all across town. My hubby and I had fun setting up our outdoor patio for entertaining. We have a big covered patio that has a nice view and a great breeze. I just used decorations that I had around the house. The red, orange and purple lanterns were thrift store finds, the arabesque wood screen was a Craigslist buy, the patio set is from an off-price retailer and the lovely flowers are from our garden. The tables are our collapsible dj tables and the benches are from our dining table set up. Oh, it was a lovely day!

I love our new grill! My father-in-law, the grill master, was in full effect and we ate until we were stuffed! Then we ate some more!