I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday weekend! David worked Saturday & Sunday and is off Monday through Wednesday this week, so we are *unofficially* still celebrating! As many of you know, we threw a large party on Memorial Day and I have been promising to share some snapshots with you!
---------This is the invitation that we sent out to all of our guests (you can click to enlarge if you like). We invited 18 families, so I kept them simple by designing them on the computer and printing them on a nice quality matte photo paper. As a special *paper crafty* touch I added little rhinestones to the centers of the stars.
David and I just love entertaining. There is something nostalgic and heartwarming about inviting people to your home to share food & good company. Just so the mood was set as soon as our guests arrived for our Memorial Day event, we added a little patriotic decor to the front of the house.
We had lots of fun things planned for the kids attending. One of which was firefly catching. I made each of the children their very own firefly catching jar, complete with a personalized label. Cases of canning jars were the perfect, inexpensive container. I adhered the labels onto the jars with tacky tape from Provo Craft.
The majority of our event was planned around evening activities including making s'mores over a fire & a fireworks display. This is one of my favorite shots I took during the party. You can see all of the guests back lit by the warm glow of both the fire and the strings of lights hung around the deck.
To make s'mores roasting a little easier, I decided to put together s'mores kits. They were really simple to make and it made it so much easier to divvy out the three necessary ingredients for the special fireside treat; marshmallows, chocolate & graham crackers. (I wanted to give a quick shout out to my friend Amanda who took the treat bag group photo during the party for me. She is super talented with a camera. Be sure to stop by her blog and see some of her amazing work!!!)
Each kit contained enough supplies for two s'mores. It really helped everything run smoothly since people didn't have to fumble in the dark to find separate ingredients. They just grabbed a kit and they were good to go! The kit contents fit perfectly in Papertrey's small frosted tin tie bags.
The weather didn't fully cooperate, but everyone still had a fabulous time. There is nothing better than getting to spend time with people that contribute to the daily happiness in our lives.
I have formatted a few downloads for you of the different design elements I created for our party so you can use them yourself next year. They are even appropriate for the upcoming 4th of July holiday. I have included completed versions for the s'mores kit and blank elements for the remainder of the items so you can just add a text box with your own information. If you want to recreate what I did, the fonts I used were Aviano Sans & Chopin Script.
Download memorial_day_firefly_labels.pdf
Download blank_firefly_labels.pdf
Download blank_memorial_day_party_invite.pdf
Download memorial_day_smores_labels.pdf
Oh what a fabulous party! Thanks for sharing the pics! Looks like a wonderful time was had by all!
Posted by: Charmaine Ikach | May 28, 2008 at 07:38 AM
Hey where's the pics of the people??
Thanks for sharing - these downloads would work well for 4th of July too!
Posted by: Sandy Kay | May 28, 2008 at 07:59 AM
Nichole, your party favors and invitations looks fabulous!! What a fun time! We're already making our lists for our annual July 4th party. It keeps growing and growing....and you've given me some great ideas!! Yummo, I want smores for breakfast now!
Posted by: Michelle Wooderson | May 28, 2008 at 08:00 AM
Absolutely stunning! I loved all of the details! The invitations, the s'more bags and the firefly jars! What a patriotic tradition you have begun! Know that everyone had a great time and will look forward to next year! Would be fun to use this theme for the Fourth of July. I am sure that there would be a fun firefly catching contest. I remember doing this when I was a child. Great ideas and details!!!
Posted by: Granna on the Go | May 28, 2008 at 08:11 AM
WOW!!! How fabulous, totally stunning. What a great theme. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: katrina | May 28, 2008 at 08:39 AM
What a wonderful celebration of friendship! I'm certain that your guests could feel the love you put into the entire event. Thanks so much for sharing your downloads with us!
Posted by: Lynn Mercurio | May 28, 2008 at 08:41 AM
It looks like you had a wonderful party with lots of special touches! Have a great day!
~Kelsey
Posted by: Kelsey Forester | May 28, 2008 at 08:56 AM
what a labor of love for your guests! So, question on the s'mores kits. Did your beautiful packaging all end up getting burned in the fire? Or did people give them back to you? I know that when I give a card it eventually ends up in the trash, but to have it disregarded right in front of me would be a little hard to take. How do you get rid of the emotional attachment to a project, or is that not something that is difficult for you.
Posted by: mnhyrkas | May 28, 2008 at 09:20 AM
It all looks so amazing!
Posted by: Casey | May 28, 2008 at 10:04 AM
Great pics, your home looks beautiful and the projects so wonderful!
Posted by: Sara | May 28, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Thank you so much for posting and the downloads!! Looks like a wonderful party with friends and family!
Posted by: Carla D. | May 28, 2008 at 10:23 AM
Anyone know how to save these in a format we can add text to? These are wonderful
Posted by: Donna Crum | May 28, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Looks like it was so much fun! Love the favors you created and your house! I've always wanted a two story house like that.
Posted by: Niki Estes | May 28, 2008 at 11:01 AM
I am TOTALLY stealing this for another year! We have a great back yard and LOVE to entertain---I love the smores all packaged up. And the firefly jars---talk about bringing back the memories! I have vivid memories of running around my grandparents' yard and catching fireflies in mason jars! Thanks for the reminder---and, lest I overload your comment section. Thanks for giving us all the downloads---you are so generous with your creativity!
Posted by: Kathleen | May 28, 2008 at 11:04 AM
What a picture-perfect party! Love the smores kit!
Posted by: 2stampis2b | May 28, 2008 at 11:11 AM
Thanks for sharing this, Nichole! Everything is beautiful!
Posted by: Sharon D | May 28, 2008 at 02:28 PM
WOW - who wouldn't have fun at that party!!!!
Posted by: Debbie | May 28, 2008 at 06:06 PM
Wow!! You are definitly an awesome hostess. I wish I could have been at that party. =)
I love the little smores bags! I'm definitly going to use them for our 4th of July party. Great idea!
Posted by: Maryann | May 28, 2008 at 09:47 PM
Looks like you had a great party. The personal touches were beautifully done. So kind of you to make your templates available too. You are one great gal! Enjoy the rest of your "holiday"!
Posted by: webdogs | May 28, 2008 at 11:09 PM
Those little treat bags are just adorable. Wow! All the special touches!
Posted by: Jana | May 29, 2008 at 07:13 AM
Thanks for more incredible ideas (and templates) to make a wonderful summer holiday picnic! Your home looked so pretty with the red, white, and blue, but the smore's packs just completely won me over! Looks like you had a wonderful time! Again, TFS!
Posted by: Carol | May 29, 2008 at 07:42 AM
Just LOVE those little s'more kits. I was drooling just thinking about eating one as I read about them -- been too long since I've had one :) Looks like you had a wonderful part - I agree, nothing is better than having good friends over and enjoying each others company and some good food.
Posted by: Marisa | May 29, 2008 at 03:37 PM
LOVE the simplicity of the cards and labels!!! Thanks so much for sharing the downloads!!!
Posted by: Stephanie | May 29, 2008 at 04:21 PM
I really hope those stars become a future stamp set!!!!!!! I love stars!
Posted by: Tessa | May 29, 2008 at 04:30 PM
Wow! What a wonderful party!!! Thanks so much for providing the downloads!
Posted by: erinkmckinney | May 29, 2008 at 10:04 PM