Valentine Luau

Last year's Valentine banquet post has been getting quite a few visits and pins, and I thought I'd take a little time to share what we are planning for this year's banquet.

Since I didn't want to get stuck doing the same theme for our church's Valentine banquet each year (red, white, pink, hearts, lace, etc.), I'm going in a totally different direction and planning a luau theme. After this bitterly cold winter, we could all use a tropical distraction, and most of us can't afford the real deal. My hope is that this will be a fun filled evening that will take us away from reality, even if it's only a few hours.

Once again, I'll be preparing all of the food myself, making as much as possible ahead of time. The teens will be helping serve the meal, and we'll have some fun minute-to-win-it style games.

The menu:

{sand dollar cookies, aloha punch, Hawaiian rolls, coconut cream cupcakes, honey glazed ham, key lime cupcakes, Hawaiian pasta salad, fruit kabobs}

And here is my decor inspiration:

{pineapple vase, tropical tissue flowers, tablescape, umbrellas, luau dessert bar, leis}

I'd love to hear about your Valentine parties or banquets!

Goodbye V-Day, Hello Spring!

I promise, these will be my last words regarding this year's Valentine Banquet. It will be starting at about this time tomorrow evening, and I'm so excited about how everything has come together.

Remember when I said that we just needed fresh flowers to finish the decorating?

Well, I was struck with a brilliant idea.

Why not just stick the krispie pops in the vases and save $20 worth of flowers?!

And that is just what I did. Aren't they cute?!

Those were just to make you drool.

Now, on to Spring! I always love the season we are in, and I'm always eager to welcome the next one in when it's time. It's a little bit early to be thinking about spring, but I wanted to switch out my Valentine wreath, and we don't really celebrate St. Patrick's Day. So, spring wreath it is!

I found a wreath in really great shape at a thrift store last week.

I cut our monogram out of a piece of cardboard box...

... and then I wrapped it with leftover yarn so the back and sides of the finished product wouldn't be exposed.

I hot glued moss to the front of the monogram and then glued it to the wreath. I added a little bird's nest I picked up somewhere last year and some gorgeous flowers I found here (more on that soon).

This may be the easiest and quickest wreath I've made yet!

Sharing at:
Savvy Southern Style
House of Hepworths
Tatertots & Jello
I Should be Mopping the Floor

More V-Day Inspiration

Can you tell I'm a little bit excited about Valentine's Day? I don't normally go this crazy over it, but I often have our church banquet on my mind. It's kind of like planning a wedding reception, only more fun. It's way less pressure and a much smaller scale. There are so many decorative ideas floating around pinterest that would not be practical for a crowd of 250 people, but for 20... I can handle that!

That's how I felt when I made these tissue paper pom poms.

I thought I would test out our banquet decor at home to see if I need to change anything.

So far, so good! I found an excellent tutorial for the tissue paper pom poms here. I hung them at various heights and depths, and I love the look it created.

These are Martha Stewart's napkin heart doilies. I found her tutorial a little hard to follow, so I made a diagram of the how-to.

Finally, I have collected quite a bit of milk glass and milk glass look-alikes over the years, and I am planning to place them on the tables with candles inside.

I found the idea in a magazine way back when I was in high school and have loved milk glass ever since. It gives off such a pretty glow!

I think it would be really fun for a girl's birthday party, too!

Savvy Southern Style

Tatertots & Jello

Valentine's Banquet

*Update: Click here to get details on our Valentine Luau!

We're putting on a Valentine's banquet for our church this year. This is our first event that we are organizing completely on our own. And neither one of us have ever been to a Valentine's banquet before...

The good news is that our church, to our knowledge, hasn't ever had one.

There is a lot of planning involved, but we've been having a lot of fun with it. We probably aren't the only people planning a Valentine's banquet, so I thought I'd share some of our ideas here.

We have quite a few people who are widowed, so we want our banquet to be both couple and single friendly. We made sure to announce that in church and also to print it on the flier.

We are charging $5 per ticket, which will cover the cost of the dinner. I've been tossing around several different ideas of what that dinner will consist of, but here's what I have so far:

{Image credit: cheesecake, salad, green beans, chicken, rice krispie pops, strawberries, breadsticks}

How am I keeping it at $5 per plate?  Aldi.

I'm either making the decorations myself or using things I already have on hand.  This is what I have in mind:

{Image credit: pom poms, heart doilies, rosette ball, vases, milk glass}

Marshall will give a short message at some point during the evening. And, of course, no banquet would be complete without games. We are going to do guess-how-many-are-in-the-jar, a Bible verse and reference matching game, and The Newlywed Game. Gift baskets will be awarded for the latter two games, and then we'll do a drawing for a third gift basket. Everyone will have a chance at winning something. We'll also give away some small favors; nobody will leave empty-handed.

I'm really looking forward to it! I think it will be a fun evening for everyone. Have you ever thrown a Valentine's Banquet?  If so, I'd love to hear some of your ideas! Leave a comment below!

Valentine Wreath

In my last post, I showed you the first thing people will see when they come in the door.  Today, I thought I'd share with you what people will see when they walk up to the front door.

It makes me smile every time I see it!  It's not quite as easy as the the other Valentine wreath I shared with you, so pop in a movie, grab your glue gun, and get comfy.

You will need:

1 heart-shaped wreath form (mine was stiff styrofoam)

yarn in whatever color you prefer

white felt or fabric

1/4 inch dowel rod

craft wooden heart

red or pink acrylic paint

ribbon for hanging

glue gun and glue sticks

Begin by tying the end of the yarn to the wreath.  I just used a simple knot.

Wrap the yarn tightly all the way around the wreath form.  It does get tricky at the top and bottom of the heart.  Just keep overlapping the yarn until everything is covered.  When finished, run some glue over the back of the wreath to keep the yarn from shifting.

Paint the wooden heart red or pink.  It will be the tip of the arrow.  When dry, glue the heart to the end of the dowel rod.

Decided how long you'd like your arrow to be, and cut it to size.  Glue the arrow to the back of the wreath so it looks as though it is piercing the heart.

There are a few different ways to make the banner.  If you are using felt, you can simply cut the banner to size.  Print the word "love" out, center the felt over the letters, and trace them with a permanent marker.

I decided to use some muslin scraps I already had, so I cut the fabric and allowed enough room to fold over and sew the edges.  I traced the letters onto the banner as described above.  I had to use some cardstock to stiffen the pointed ends of the banner, but it worked out in the end.  Felt probably would've been easier.

Once you've finished the banner, glue it to the wreath.  Add a ribbon for hanging.

I cannot take any credit for the design of the wreath.  It's one I found on pinterest, and the blog has been removed from the internet.  You can still find the original directions from a guest post at Tatertots and Jello.

Valentine Vignette

I've had so much fun sharing my Valentine's Day projects with you over the past week!  I hope you've been inspired to get crafty and make some for your own home.

Today, I have one last printable for you.  It's a very simple phrase but one that means so, so much.

{click to download}

This completes my Valentine vignette for the dresser in the entryway.  The paper hearts were some that I had  leftover from last year.  I cut hearts out of old book pages and then glued smaller scrapbook paper hearts on top.

You can find the how-to for the pitcher of love {here}.

The heart-shaped printable from 1 Corinthians 13 is {here}, and you'll find the burlap and button heart tutorial {here}.

I absolutely love that this is the first thing that people will see when they walk in the door!

And if you want to know what the first thing is that people will see when they come to the front door.... come back Thursday!

As always, if you like what you see, we'd love for you to subscribe.  It's easy and free!

Filled With Love

Just before we moved, I bought an ironstone pitcher at one of my favorite little antique shops.  I had big plans for using it to make a "thankful tree" or for displaying Christmas cards, but I never got around to it.

As I was putting away all of the Christmas decorations, I spotted the pitcher and knew exactly how I wanted to use it.

I filled the pitcher with some branches and then made some heart-shaped ornaments to hang on them.

I just used some leftover felt and fabric scraps to make the hearts, and then I strung them with red thread for hanging.  How easy is that?!

Happy Monday!

"Love is..." Printable

I have another Valentine printable to share with you today!  These verses are read and repeated often, and I know that for myself, it's easy for them to just roll right off my tongue without really thinking about their meaning.  But love is big deal.

Love is...

{click to download}