What a great way to make a statement at a party.  And the best part is, they’re something new.  You might have seen pomanders made with real flowers, but I bet not like this!

So I asked Brittany if she would do a tutorial on how she made them, and she so graciously said yes.  Our lucky day!

Here are all the details, as told by Brittany…

Recently, I was looking for an alternative to your run-of-the-mill tissue paper flowers for an engagement party that I was designing. I ran across some beautiful crepe paper rose pomanders from Danielle at Homespun with Heart .

So, I decided that I would try these instead, but I wanted to put my own twist on them by using party crepe paper and tying them with wide ribbon.

So today, I am sharing them with you! Beware, these are totally time-consuming, but also totally worth it!

Supplies:

• Styrofoam balls of assorted sizes.  In this case, I used two 5” and one 6”.
• Crepe paper in the colors of your choice, roughly 4 large rolls for this project
• Hot glue gun and sticks
• Wide wired ribbon (2 rolls)
• Floral pins

1. Take crepe paper and measure out lengths around 20” each

2. Fold strips of crepe paper in half lengthwise.  This will make the crepe paper longer as you do it.

3. Hold the end of the folded crepe paper around your pinkie finger.

4. Wrap crepe paper around your pinkie a few times to secure. 5. Continue to wrap around your pinkie, folding over as you do.  This creates the “petal” look.  PS, I really need a manicure.

6. Be sure to wrap pretty tightly, otherwise, the “rose” will unwrap. 7. Secure the end of the rose with hot glue.  It only takes a touch.  And be careful with the hot glue, I burned myself, oh, roughly 500 times while doing these.

8. Once the rose is finished, glue the rose to the Styrofoam ball.

9. Repeat this 1 billion times, until you fully cover the ball in roses.

10. I recommend cutting or tearing the crepe paper as you go, since you don’t know how many strips you will need upfront.  Plus, once you start on this project, you can pretty much eyeball the lengths that you need. 11. Dry overnight preferably. 12. Wrap the completed ball in the ribbon and tie off at the top. Cut to the length desired to hang.

13. Secure the top and bottom of the ribbon by inserting floral pins directly into the balls. This will secure that the ribbon does not slide off the pomander.

14. Hang with ribbon! And voila, you have created a rose pomander that will never wilt, and saved you hundreds! I spent $24 on this entire project, so this is completely cost-effective and a great addition to your next party, or even a little girl’s room!

These pomanders are beautiful!  Thank you, Brittany, for the wonderful tutorial.

To learn about Brittany and read more of her party tips and ideas, check out her event company, Grey Grey Designs.  Plus, you can see more of her parties here at Catch My Party.  Also, if you’d like some pomanders for your next party, but don’t want to make them yourself, you can buy them at Brittany’s Etsy shop.

Do you have a DIY project from one of your parties that you’d like to share?  Please email me at jillian@catchmyparty.com.  I’d love to show it off!

Here are some other cute ones.  (These, however, I don’t want to eat.)

Here’s how it works.  The Fry Girl sets up a mini donut machine at your event.  Your guests watch as they make their “healthy” donuts. (Each donut made with 100% canola oil, has 26 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 3.5 carbs.)  Then your guests get to top them with cinnamon sugar, vanilla, chocolate, raspberry, powdered sugar, Vermont maple sugar, or Oreo cookie crumbs.  Sounds like a big yum to me, don’t you think?

The Fry Girl is based in LA and already has a huge celebrity clientele that includes Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Denzel Washington, Adam Sandler, Ellen Degeneres, and Tori Spelling to name a few.   But don’t be surprised to see my name on that list soon.

The reason I love Lisa’s work is because she thinks in terms of unifying a party through a common theme or “brand.”

This usually involves a logo she designs and a complementary color palette that is use throughout the party on place cards, favors, napkins, centerpieces, etc.  Here are some logos she designed for some Bar and Bat Mitzvahs.

Her goal is always twofold — to add a personal touch to the event and to give it that “wow” factor.  Some of her logos and favors…

Lisa said that what makes a party special is the thoughtfulness that goes into it, and you don’t need a big budget to do this.

For example, when she threw her son a big Bar Mitzvah, one of the things her guests talked about most was the Photofetti, confetti made from personal photos, she used to decorate the tables.   This little touch cost her as little as $100 but it was personal because she used pictures of her son, and left a lasting impact.

Lisa writes a fabulous blog called Favorite Things about “all things parties.”

She even has a list of vendors on her site in the Washington, D.C. area that she personally recommends.  If you like parties, I recommend you give her blog a read, and if you want cool one-of-a kind party favors, trust me, use her.

Gifts, clothes, shoes, and makeup are all donated by local merchants.  This year, the party, which is being held on April 17th, aims to get into the Guiness Book of World Records for the world’s largest quinceañera.

Check out these excited girls getting to view some of the dresses that have been donated for the big day.   Seriously, the models look like real-life princesses!

It’s written by Becca, who says she’s been a lover of birthdays since she was a kid: “I blame my parents for spoiling me with a different creative theme party every year.  So naturally I grew up believing that it’s important to have your own day.  A day you might get a little extra attention and feel valued for being you.”

Becca blogs about parties, recipes, cool finds, plus she creates beautiful inspiration boards to give her readers awesome ideas for throwing their own parties.

Here are a few of her favorite inspiration boards…

Inspiration board for a "Spring Fling" party

Inspiration board for a "New York" themed party

Inspiration board for a "Very Sweet 16" party

I asked Becca what makes for a great birthday party.  She said, “It’s all in the details.  And consistency!  Pick a few colors as part of a theme and run with it… all the way through the decorations, invitations, cake, favors etc.  It’s not so hard to create special touches when you have a focal point to rally around.”

And how to cut corners without showing it:  “You just have to be willing to put in some extra work and ingenuity.  Design and print your own invitations, labels and party supplies (if you’re not a designer, there are plenty of free and affordable downloadable templates out there). Re-purpose items you already have around the house (candles, fabric, wrapping paper etc).  Cut down on your food budget by hosting a party between mealtimes and serve desserts or small plates only.  And limit the number of people you invite so you can make the most out of what you have.”

Inspiration board for a kid's birthday "Classic Carnival" theme

Inspiration board for a "Jamaica Me Crazy" party

And if you’re not that creative or “crafty” but want to throw a gorgeous party, Becca says:  “Know when to ask for help.  I started creating my custom inspiration boards because I discovered that plenty of people don’t have time or interest in hunting up ideas on their own. If you have a theme but don’t know how to create the details, there are certainly full service event planners out there who can do most of the work for you.  Or better yet, get your friends involved.  You know their talents as well as anyone and chances are you already have a designer, a crafter, a baker and a photographer in your midst.”

So if you’re planning a party, and want ideas, or if you just love looking at beautiful things, check out the Birthday Girl Blog.  You will be inspired.

I just saw party flip books for the first time, and thought this might be just that thing.

So what is a party flip book?

Well, it’s just what it says, flip books (those little books you flip through that look like little movies) made at your party of your guests doing silly things.

A company like Pic Flips sets up a little 10′x10′ studio at your event.  Your guests, using props, signs, and anything else they can think of, make 6 second videos that in about a minute and a half are turned into tiny flip books.

A couple great things about the concept… it creates something fun for your guests to watch as people make their videos, plus guests have something to show off (their little flip books) and take home.   You can even customize the cover with your party logo.

I don’t know how expensive this whole shebang will run you, but I think this could rock at a wedding, Sweet 16, Bar or Bat Mitzvah or any other big function where you want to get your guests to loosen up and have some fun.

Via  Pic Flips

Here are some of my favorite cake disasters:

This blog is right up there with another one of my favorites.

Hugo is one of the main photographers for both Quinceaneras Magazine and My Quince Magazine, so he says 99% of the Quinceaneras he shoots end up in print.

His photographs are both gorgeous and one-of -a-kind.   He uses eye-catching backdrops and interesting props to show off his clients, and he designs his pictures so they look like professional modeling shots.

And to top it off, he’s a really nice guy who takes pride in his work and understands that to be a great Quinceanera photographer his job is to make his clients look and feel like princesses.

Here are some “modeling shots” from his Quinceaneras’ Signature Photo sessions…

And his breathtaking Quinceaneras in their gowns…

So if you live in Southern California, are having a Quinceanera in the near future, and have the goal of being famous someday, start by hiring Hugo.  He’ll give you your first taste of stardom.

Because we’re so excited about our site, Catch My Party, we wanted to share some of that excitement with you.  So to 1 of the next 100 new users who add their party photos to our site, we’re giving away a new iPod Nano.   Yup, it’s the one with the built-in video camera, the cool aluminum finish, and the larger screen.

The New iPod Nano

We will randomly draw a name out of a hat and put the video up on our blog so you can all watch the suspense.

So go on, add your photos, write about your party, send the whole thing to your friends and family, and most importantly… have fun!