Go Team Canada!

So, I'm not sure if it's a world-wide thing or just a Canadian thing, but I (and the vast majority of my friends) have been crazy about the Olympics this year! Have you been watching?

I gotta say, even though it's way on the west coast of the country, thousands of kilometres away from where I am, there is a definite sense of unity that seems to be bringing Canada together. Every time we win a medal (especially the first time - Yay Alexandre!), every time we suffer a heartbreak (mad love to Joannie Rochette), every time we're disappointed (don't even start about Team Canada vs Team USA last Sunday...) - it seems like the entire country is feeling it, together. My facebook and twitter feeds just explode with commentary and cheering.

I gotta say - it's a pretty awesome thing.

Tonight, we cheer on Team Canada against Russia. A team that we have not beaten at the Olympics since 1960. Can we do it? If the faith of the fans is any measure, yes we can!

GO CANADA GO!

Crafty V-Day Party Part 5: The Photobooth!

The Photobooth was one of my favourite elements of the party (aside from the crafts themselves). It was a really fun, interactive way to get fabulous photos of my guests. Some of them were really into the idea, a few were a little more reluctant, but I managed to capture all my guests at their best!

I found this tutorial linked on Craft Magazine's blog one day, and knew that I had to attempt this for myself. The photobooth itself was actually quite simple to set up. We hung a curtain rod, with a white sheet draped overtop (it actually ended up being one of my mom's sheets from when she first got married that she never ended up using - it ended up with creases in it, even after washing and ironing twice!) and a white table cloth on the floor. We added a banner that said Photobooth (cut out by Amy with her Cricut), and had a basket of props set up for people to play with (we went with things that were red/pink/white to suit the theme).

The end result ended up being a super fun and creative element, that really added to the party!

I ended up doing a little bit of editing in photoshop (playing with some colours, eliminating seams and creases) but the photos looked great even straight out of the camera. It would be really easy to incorporate this idea into ANY party.

I think this is probably the last element of the party that I'll blog about, though there are still actual "party photos" to come - you can check those out at my flickr photo set in the next couple of days, along with all of the rest of the party photos. Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my Crafty Valentine's Party - feel free to leave feedback!

Crafty V-Day Party Part 4: The CRAFTS!

The Crafts were what the entire party centred around, so the pressure was on to think of ways to make this party fun and unique, and make everyone want to participate. I think it was pretty successful! It was billed as a "throwback to our elementary school days," where we all went about the day delivering our Valentine's into our classmates little bins, so I had to do something to recreate this feeling.

To begin with - there were loot bags. The loot bags were filled with various party favours, but they served a dual purpose. When guests arrived at the party, their first task was to grab a loot bag (pink for girls, red for boys), and decorate it any way they wished - but it must have their name on it somewhere. The bag itself then became the place where the handcrafted card would be delivered to.

Amy and I had already decorated our own bags the night before (so that everyone could see an example), so while the guests were hard at work decorating, I began working on these mini-cards. I didn't really have any particular idea in mind, I just kept creating. Eventually I made enough for everyone, and they ended up being thank you's, that I dropped in everyone's bag - so they got two Valentine's from the party :)

As soon as everyone was done their loot bags, we put all the guests' names on a slip of paper in a bowl, and everyone drew a slip. They were instructed to give it back if they drew their own name, otherwise the paper said "Create a card for: GUEST NAME." I thought this was a pretty cute idea, because a lot of the guests hadn't even met each other before tonight, so it was a good way to meet new people, and do something nice at the same time! I drew my friend Mat's name, and this is the card that I created for him.

I thought it was really great that everyone, even the boys, were really enjoying just taking the time to be creative (I actually have a hilarious picture of a moment when everyone disappeared from the table to get food, except for two of the guys, who were busily crafting away!) Crafting & Card-Making is something that I do often, but I think it was a bit out of many peoples' realms, so it was neat to be able to share the evening and have everyone get into it.

Plenty more pics, including what was inside the loot bags (I know you're all curious!) up here! Still a lot more to come (there were 200 pics on my camera! So many to sort through!)

Crafty V-Day Party Part 3: The Food!

Well, you can't have a party without offering food to your guests (or maybe that's just what's been instilled in me, due to my Italian upbringing). Aside from The Sweet Table, we offered up a table of apps, plus main courses for everyone to enjoy throughout the course of the evening.

I actually can't take too much credit for this portion. My wonderfully talented mother was responsible for two trays of lasagne (meat and veggie) and three pizzas (meat, veggie and potato). She also put Amy to work, rolling up the mini meatballs for the lasagne, as well as arranging various app trays. (Secretly, I think this may actually be the reason why my friends show up to my parties - because they love the food so much!)

Here's a little taste of what was offered (warning: you may not want to look at the following pictures on an empty stomach... mmmm....)

The Appetizer Table:



The main course - Oddly, for me who loves taking photos of food, I didn't take nearly enough of the main courses. Here are the couple of pics that were taken:


Stay tuned for more party posts! As always, the entire set of pics are up here.

Crafty V-Day Party Part 2: The Decor

Probably the biggest preparation for the party was working on the decor. I wanted it to be a red and pink wonderland, but without resorting to super tacky decorations that look like they should be found in a classroom. I did buy a few of the elements, but the majority of things were lovingly handmade.

Here's what the main area of the party space looked like:

Amy and I had a sleepover the night before the party, and our goal was to have a splash of pink, red, white or hearts in every place that someone's eyes may have landed. I think we were pretty successful!

Coming down the stairs to the party, this is the first element of decor that guests saw. We had a pink tissue paper puff (made by my sister-in-law), and some vinyl hearts dangling from the ceiling, and pink, yellow and white (fake) flowers in a vase on the corner cabinet. Just a subtle taste of what was around the corner.

A little further into the basement is the billiards area. Amy sewed this fantastic bunting out of super cute pink fabric, and we hung it on the wall in front of the pool table. (Unexpectedly, the pool table didn't actually get used, because everyone was enjoying their crafts so much, so I'm afraid this wasn't as prominent as it should have been).

Towards the back of the basement, I had an area set up with the wii + Beatles Rock Band. Against the wall is a large chest, and this was the decor we set out on top of it. The Valentine's Shadow Box hangs on the wall. In front of it is a small Valentine's tree (which was created using the same method as the Easter Tree Centrepiece), with felt heart cookies, made by Amy. The Topiary is made out of Twilight-themed conversation hearts, and was made following this tutorial. Amy also found those super cute conversation heart candles, so we arranged them in front.

I thought some people may find themselves wandering into the kitchen, for ice or cold drinks, or whatever... so I found a cute "love" themed magnetic poetry set at the dollar store, and put them on the fridge. I definitely found some interesting poetry the next day!

So, there were some of the main elements of the decor at my Valentine's party. For more pictures, check out this album on my Flickr.