There's No Place Like Home...

My sister has worked enough years and reached that point in her life where she can hang up her typewriter and retire. I knew the transition from working to not working would take some adjusting to. So to make her feel better I visited on her last day of work and decorated. My theme? "There's No Place Like Home" aka a Wizard of Oz/Dorothy inspired event. I ran to our local Target. Did you know that the movie version of The Wizard of Oz is celebrating it's 75th Anniversary this year? Target has the movie on DVD available for just $12.99. If it isn't already in your family's collection that is a great price point to acquire this wonderful classic.

For the decorations I wanted something simple yet cute to welcome her home that evening after work. So from a dollar store table cloth I created a yellow brick road. I taped a yellow table cloth down from the front door to the landing by the stairs. With a permanent black marker I drew a brick pattern. My mother couldn't get over how quickly I put that together. I think she may have enjoyed it even more than my sister did.

Did I mention that the idea for this party and the idea to have a small family party only struck me at 8pm the evening BEFORE her retirement?! So here is what I managed to put together in a few hours. I was finished decorating by 2pm the next afternoon. Perfectly ahead of her finishing work around 5pm.

So the thoughts began to swirl like the Kansas hurricane...
I own some brown and white gingham tablecloths from my country Christmas party. I had considered using them. After all the scenes at home in the Wizard of Oz are in black and white. So I post this as an idea in case someone wanted to replicate this and use that color scheme. But I decided to embrace the technicolor side and go with blue and white gingham. So the thoughts began to switch. The house to pitch and suddenly the party was pulled off without a hitch.

I had white Styrofoam cups. I went online and found a picture of Dorothy with the caption "There's No Place Like Home". I always try to give credit where credit is due: http://nolaridge.com/sites/all/files/XL1729_1.jpg?1329408757
I printed these on labels. Placed the labels on the cups to fancy them up. And I taped a strip of white paper around water bottles that I had left over from the Shoe Shindig. Then added the same graphic on top.

I flew faster than the Wicked Witch on her broom to our local Party City. In the Halloween costume area, they had Dorothy's ruby red slippers, Glinda's wand and a Toto in the basket. Snatched and added to my cart. Flew to the Christmas Tree Shops for tablecloths. Found round ones and rectangle ones. Perfect. I had also headed to the Christmas Tree Shop for I had seen a puzzle rollaway there the other day. Earlier that morning at Target I had found a Wizard of Oz puzzle. What a great gift! Snatched all and added to cart then back out to my sister's to go decorate.

The night before I had printed a copy of this adorable graphic that I found online at http://mlblogssfdiamondgirl.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/no-place-like-home.jpg. This was used on the Kitchen table as the perfect theme accent. On the way to my sister's I grabbed Munchins (of course) from Dunkin Donuts. I had Hershey Kisses (labeled Tinman Hats) and Green Rolos (labeled Emerald City Rolos). We had hot dogs (Toto Dogs). My family loves marinated artichoke hearts. I happened to have had a jar. so they received a label that read, "The tinsmith forgot to give me a heart".

Credit must go out to: http://getsboredeasily.blogspot.com/2013/01/wizard-of-oz-retirement-party-tables.html for the theme idea. At 8pm the night before her retirement I had the idea that maybe I should surprise her and decorate while she's at work. I took to the net for ideas on what theme. Surf, sailing, luggage, etc but nothing felt right. Then I saw a horse of a different color on this lovely blog. I had been teasing my sister earlier in the week that "There's No Place Like Home" as she retired so it seemed perfect.

Here are a few photos of the decorations that welcomed my sister home:

Simple Summer Tea

Summer – brings to mind warm days, family gatherings, sun, and fun. The last few weeks have been very busy. Sorry I haven't blogged. There wasn't much time or energy for entertaining. But I need to remind myself entertaining for two is just as important as doing so for a group of friends.

Fete Avec Moi

Recently at our local Christmas Tree Store, I found the greatest glasses. They look like a clear glass slipped inside a Ball Jar with a lid and straw. Perfect for summer days and nights (anti-bug design).

Last year, I remembered you don't need to waste your money on iced tea powder chemical garbage. My mom and her friend, Anita (who growing up always had a pitcher of the most delicious iced tea ready to serve) always made theirs from regular tea bags. They brewed real tea, then let it cool and poured over ice. But during the course of the summer last year, I discovered that you don't actually need to heat the tea. Many companies now make cold brew tea bags. Our local target tonight had 2 boxes of 24 cold brew tea bags on sale for $4.50. I am horrible at math but won't this come down to something like $.10 a pitcher.

Now during this year, I learned about water infusions. Adding cucumbers, lemons, oranges or other fruits and vegetables to your water can alter the flavor. So now I combine both ideas. Into my pitcher I slice a lemon or two or an orange, sweeten lightly (maybe a tablespoon of sugar to the whole thing), hang a tea bag (any flavor – cold brew or hot brew) off the side, fill with water. Refrigerate for a few hours. Remove the tea bag. Yes, I hear my mother's warnings about not letting the tea bags sit for too long or the tanic acid builds up. And for the rest of the day I have a nice pitcher of infused iced tea. You might like to try it too. My favorite blend so far has been an orange sliced with a blueberry acai tea bag. What combination works for you? I'd love to hear what you have come up with.

Having a Ball Decorating for Christmas

So every year we have a different theme for our Christmas party and Christmas decorating. This year I asked the husband what came to mind when he thought of Christmas decorations. He replied, “Christmas balls.” So I looked for party supplies with Christmas balls. As always I started the process early. It's odd searching for items for Christmas while decorating for Halloween... but it makes things less expensive. Last year's Christmas stock was available for 50% off. Yay!

So this was this year's inspiration:

Inspiration - Fête Avec Moi

Fête Avec Moi

In late September, I found some large Christmas Tree Store decorations in our theme. I purchased 4 big Christmas balls (2 gold, 2 silver). Had them rattling around in the trunk of my car for months. But it was well worth it when I pulled them out this weekend to decorate our front walkway. A few weeks ago, I also found a great garland of large (but not as big) multi-color Christmas balls.. Add to cart!

At a local Target and a dollar store I found beautiful silver and red ribbons. As I dug out our boxes of previous year holiday decorations, I discovered silver garlands that I could reuse. Free is good. I wrapped the walkway stair rail with silver garlands. Then I suspended the balls from the ribbons. The ribbons were a nice quality with a wire along the sides. They help keep the Christmas balls from blowing in the wind too much.

At a CVS at the start of the holiday season (sadly this means October), I found battery operated led Christmas tree lights. I remembered when we were first married we had a small potted faux Christmas tree. I hunted and dug it out of storage. Add a few mini red Christmas balls, the left over end of a silver garland from outside, and the battery operated lights. Tada, beautiful mini-tree in the hallway landing. Thank goodness the neighbors appreciate my decorating and don't frown upon me taking over the halls.  Also, reclaimed the light up battery operated gift package decorations that I bought at 50% plus a coupon in January of last year.

I found online at Target (some of my biggest steals) a battery operated strand of red glass ball shaped lights. Yay! Mix with another silver garland and the inside stairs look rather festive. Love that they are battery operated even though they are so large. Yes, folks this Christmas I will be piloting using a few rechargeable batteries. I found some chargers last Spring that charge via usb. Bingo! My green side cheers. Will let you know how they go.

On the first day of Christmas Target found for me... 50 red Christmas balls for $15 dollars. Also 50 silver Christmas balls for $15 dollars. Do you think, I have enough Christmas balls now? I hope so but my crafty side isn't sure lol. Plan to add a few more to the staircase inside on our floor this weekend. Plan to display in glass vases here in the apartment. And plan to offer them as favors to friends during the holiday season. I love personalized ornaments.

I'd love to hear what you think. Voulez-vous faire la fête avec moi? Joyeux Noël à tous. More to come soon as I prep for this year's annual Holiday Cookie Exchange. Are you hosting your own Cookie Exchange this year? One tip, I just have to share... evite.com  has an adorable free invitation that you can send via email or Facebook. So very cute.