Friday, November 11, 2011

Fifty is Nifty

My amazing mom turned fifty this week. My sisters, Dad, and I decided to throw her a big surprise party! We plotted and planned for weeks, trying to gather emails, make decorations, and order food.

The cake was my first ruffle cake! I will post more details about the cake soon!

We decided that doing a black theme was just too dreary! So we thought of something more cheery and bright and landed on lemons and limes!
We had mini Vanilla Cupcakes from Sweet Tooth Fairy. YUMMO. Best Vanilla Cupcakes ever.
We also had Coconut and Pistachio Macaroons from the Sweet Tooth Fairy. If you haven't ever tried a french macaroon, you must! They are light and fluffy and melt in your mouth.
Several of my aunts made gooey rice crispy treats. I love sticky melted marshmallows!
We got Citrus flavored and colored candies, and had them all over the table. Adding jars of colored candy helps decorate your party and adds an extra treat for your guests, especially if you have little kids! Using real lemons and limes in vases is a great way to decorate, inexpensive and pretty!
With the help of my Grandpa we gathered old photos of my mom and scanned them so we could make them black and white and order prints online. We used clothes pins and twine to hang them along the back wall for everyone to see.
Lemon water and Lemonade to drink, with grey striped paper straws. (which I found on Amazon for a great deal!) My sister printed out the cute labels using this free printable.
We used my silhouette machine to make the Happy Birthday Sign that we hung on the front of the table and the round paper streamers that were hanging behind the table. We cut our 150 scalloped circles and I sewed them together on my sewing machine!
Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!




2 comments:

Emily said...

You guys did a great job on the party! So fun & cute! Good job on getting the Aunts and Uncles to come too - I know that meant a lot to Janelle :)

Janelle Carlson said...

It all meant so much. I felt so honored and important. Thanks to all who came and to those who helped with the secrets and planning for so long.