30th Casino Birthday Bash

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The Blogging World is such a wonderful place to go when looking for party ideas! My sweet husband turned 30 this month and I wanted to make his party spectacular! ... And spectacular it was! I didn't know really which route I wanted to take... but finally decided on a Casino Bash. I may not have been as frugal as we normally like to be with this one... but everyone that came had a great time. There are so really amazing blogs out there with really, really amazing ideas for this type of party! Today I am going to share with you what I did!

First of all I researched and researched and researched... and I talked to people until I was blue in the face. I through many ideas off of Lil' Sis and a friend... until finally I had the perfect plan. I decided to bring in a professional black jack dealer with a table and a bartender to help the party out. It was actually very nice... because once the set up was complete and the party started... I didn't have to do much.. the party took off and everyone enjoyed themselves.

I had no clue how many people would be attending... I did a facebook invite, but for the first time in over 9 years I do not know all of the guys in the Fire Department my husband works at... so I was depending on a few to share the news with the others. Share the word they did... I am sure an open, FREE bar helped. Though I am not really a drinker or a gambler, I knew that my husband and the guys would enjoy this party ... and that is exactly what I wanted to happen!

After I had everything set up, I remembered I had these huge decorative playing cards to get put up... Thank you Oriental Trading. They are randomly placed around my house for the party.. and look great. Before the party started I walked back into my kitchen and was instantly thrown off by how my King was over further to the left than my Ace was to the right- so i did fix it... but did not think to take another picture, lol.. So, please excuse the way that looks. We had lots of finger foods and Sloppy Joes! They were a huge hit. 

This little snack bar was in the same room with the bar, which you can see below. The bartender hung out in here and fixed the drinks that people asked for. It really was pretty neat and I am so glad I went this route.. and strangely enough, it sure helped to keep my house cleaner... One person making all the drinks, yes please. 

I just loved these shot glasses I ordered from Oriental Trading. The whole theme was casino, so it said "Nate's 30? He demands a RECOUNT!" Very cute... I would be lying if I said I didn't try one out with some water! They were so cute and fun... not sure how many of the guys actually noticed it .. but isn't this type of thing more for the girls.. haha! Meaning, all of the personalized items and decorations are clearly something my husband probably cared less about.. but I liked it. 

Probably my FAVORITE item for this party was the cake... I wish I could say I made it and take credit.. but I did not. I looked at many cakes online and found two that I loved. I sent it to the guy that was making it and told him that I liked the bottom of one, but the dice and cards from the other.. and if could just make it a cake.... I didn't want a large one ... and this was PERFECT! It looked amazing. It exceeded my expectations by far. Isn't it perfect?

Of course a party would not be a party if you remembered everything, right? I forgot candles... So he blew out a lighter as we sang to him... This is my 30 year old man cutting his cake... He really thought the cake looked awesome too! I am so happy I went with who I went with to order it. Local people-- ask and I will send you to him, he was great! 

As the party neared, I really started to worry that the Blackjack table was a little extreme and may have been a waste of money. However, they showed me. This table was full the whole night. The guys  and girls had so much fun.... playing for nothing! It was great. I played for a bit but then was pulled for something, which was fine! I was just so glad to see everyone really enjoying themselves and taking advantage of the blackjack table and bartender... money well spent. 

And of course, no party would be a party without homemade games that guys get so much joy from... This game involves a drink, two poles, and a frisbee.... I have never played but they always have fun. 

In the end, the party was awesome and I know my guy had a great time. I had so much fun planning it... I wish i could be a party planner WITH NO BUDGET! I hope if you are looking for ideas for a party this helps ya! 

-Big Sis

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Vintage Wedding Shower Decor

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This past weekend I got the wonderful privilege of being a host at one of my great friend's wedding showers.  As one of the hostesses my job was to decorate for the shower along with my friend Kelsey.  It was so much fun to get to decorate this room the way we wanted, while also thinking about the Bride's sense of style and what she was wanting in her wedding.  Basically we used a lot of lace doily's, several suitcases, mason jars & wine glasses, an old quilt, and lot's of their engagement pictures! It all turned out great and really we spent hardly any money because most of the decorations came out of either mine or Kelsey's home. 

I had a blast decorating for this since this vintage style is not my natural style.  If you walked in my house, it would look nothing like this shower. Unlike Kelsey's home who has a lot more remnants of the vintage look throughout her home, mine would just consist of a few of the fun suitcases and bird cages.  So I had a blast decorating in a way that is different than my usual style! 

Let me show you some of the fun we had! 

This was at the door entrance propping the doors open for people to walk through. The two suitcases on top are mine.  At my house I pile three of those on top of one another and make a side table in my living room.  They are great! 

 This was the main entrance/greeting table when people walked through.  We had a suitcase open for cards to be placed in, pens in a mason jar to sign the guest book, a photo of the beautiful bride & groom, and also an ipad sitting on a stand playing a slideshow the whole time for guests to watch as they come in.  

We used lots of lace table clothes together on the tables...it turned out great, and we also had several burlap banners hung around the room.  

A closer look at the cute cards suitcase! 

One of the burlap banners I made.  This one was done very quickly and very easy.  I just cute triangles from burlap and used a sharpie to free hand letters on each piece to display the future last name that the couple will share. Then I just hot glued the triangles to a long piece of white yarn. SIMPLE!  This was used at their engagement party! 

This was really fun to do! I kind of put a twist on some banners I have seen on Pinterest made from yarn and doilies.  Here I used several types of doilies and hung them between the engagement photos.  We had three different lines like this hung throughout the room.  It was a fun way to display photos of the couple! 

Here's one view of the room

Here is the front gift table! We had a lot of fun decorating it too.  We hung this old quilt over the top of the projector as a back drop behind the table.  Then we set up more photos of the couple on this awesome birdcage thing of my friends! I would love one of them in my home.  Then to the right we put some painted white branches in a giant jar, with another photo of the couple! Eventually this table was covered in gifts :-)

For the food tables, we used a lace table cloth and then some random pieces of fabric.  At first as my friend Kelsey was putting the fabric on the tables I didn't think it would look good, but I went with it and actually loved it.  This is why it was so fun for me to decorate like this because I tried new things and really enjoyed it. 

Kelsey and I talked about how we worked well together because we could be honest and say no to things we didn't think was a good idea. 

We used cute chalkboard platters to display what drinks were being served. 

These trays were bought for $1 each at the Dollar Tree then painted with chalkboard paint! 

The food was great for the shower! Since it was from 10am-12pm, we did a variety of breakfast foods.  From fruits, to muffins and scones, donut holes, and some breakfast casseroles! It was great, and each hostess brought something so it was easy to do. 

Here's Some fun detailed shots of the decor! 

The fun birdcage with pictures clipped to it. 

Fun way to display photo and last name letter.

One of the center pieces--we used lace doilies of different shapes and sizes with random fun things on top.

This one is two wine bottles and a mason jar inside of an empty frame as a center piece. 

Then there is the fun birdhouse and mason jar on top of two circle doilies.  

(a lot of these center piece doilies I bought for her wedding at a JCPenney's outlet store for $1.99 for two--it was such a great deal)

This was a fun burlap banner the Bride made for their engagement pictures! We hung it up in an empty space of the room.

And here is a great picture of some of our friends! The Bride is the blonde in the middle! I am so excited for our sweet friends to get married! It is going to be such a sweet and beautiful day! and I am so thankful to be a part of it in this way! 

I just love planning parties and decorating.  I do some of this in my job as the Student Activities Coordinator of a University, but I would love to be a party planner or wedding planner one day! That is so much fun to me! I love decorating! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the shower as much as I did ha ha!

REMEMBER: 

Our Naturally-Nifty Linky Party #3 is going right now! So stop by and link up all your great projects! We will link our favorites and one fan favorite next week! We can't wait to see what all you link up! 

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