We kicked off our new tradition on September 21st: the first day of fall. My job is decor, favors & other fun touches; his job is the food, drinks and music. There are specific things that we connect to fall: foods, colors & songs.
Here is a look into how it all went, with photos by my good friend, Jenetta .
A simple mantle decoration.
My cricut was my best friend for this party. Not only did I use it to cut out these letters, it got more use than it ever has when it cut out hundreds of leaves (you'll see more of that in a bit).
The cute little container of sticks you see above was made by re-using an empty baby formula can. I have been storing these up to use as vases. I just taped some fun paper to it using double stick tape, and there we go! My feeble attempt to make this party a little more green :) I also hand glittered those votives. More on that later.
The table setting:
The tree was my favorite decoration of all. I used one of my recycled formula cans, wrapped in green mod paper and then filled the can with rocks. I happened to be up in the mountains the day before the party, so I grabbed some great sticks & branches for decor. This one was perfect for what I was envisioning.
I used leaves cut out with my Cricut and hot glued them on. Super simple & super cute! This was by far the hit of the night! I plan on keeping it on my table all the way through thanksgiving.
The tree was placed on two really cool chargers from Target (on clearance too!). I then made the votive candles by painting on modge podge (actually PVA from Paper Source) and then rolling the candles in brown glitter. The polka dot candles were made by sticking glue dots on the candles and then rolling them in the glitter (a tip I got from my wonderfully creative sister-in-law, Lindsey , who did this on Christmas ornaments a few years back).
The cute plates were from Target and I placed them on a piece of scrapbook paper as a place mat.
My second favorite element of the party was an early trick or treating station:
The sign was made using letters cut out on the Cricut , hot glued to ribbon. Tip: To hide ugly push pins, simply glue a piece of matching paper onto the push pin:
(picture by me, not Jenetta)
We had several different types of candy: caramels, reese's, mellowcreme pumpkins and pumpkin spice kisses.
I used a large piece of paper from Paper Source as a runner on my vintage buffet.
I made these simple little bags for the candy:
Again, photo by me.
Since we had about 20 guests, we set up the food buffet style on our island:
You'll notice there is no food in the photos. Yep, we did not take a single picture of the food. Here is what was on the menu: My yummy cream cheese/brown sugar/vanilla apple dip and french ham, cheese and onion tarts as appetizers. A fall salad with cranberries and apples with red wine vinegarette. Main course: David's delicious risotto with chicken, porchini mushrooms and asparagus. We had lots of delicious desserts, including pecan pie and dutch apple pie with vanilla ice cream.
Since I don't have any food pictures, I thought I would at least give you a picture of David cooking away:
My go-to cups for drinks at parties are always mason jars. Throw some festive ribbon on them and they are instantly cute and perfect for the theme. These were for hot apple cider (never mind that we ended up not making it and they were not used at all. They were still cute!).
Plates, glitter paper wrapped napkins, & utensils in mason jar were all held in a cute vintage shopping basket. I threw in a mason jar full of leaves and another paper wrapped formula can holding eucalyptus & other greens. Here is a terrible close up I took of those last two:
More details:
Baby-friendly coffee table decor.
Isaiah loved playing with it all!
A few details in the bathroom:
I found that branch in the mountains. Isn't it perfect?
I love these candles from cultural intrigue . We sell them- let me know if you are interested.
I came up with the idea to start a guest book, since this will be an annual event. Target, yet again, came to the rescue. I got this cute little book in the $1 section and added a leaf to the opening. For $1, I thought it turned out well :)
I asked guests to write us a little message about fall or the party.
The above two images were taken by me.
Isaiah had a great time at his first fall party!
He got to flirt with his future wife:
And play with his buddies:
I cannot wait for winter! Well, I can. But I am excited to plan the party!
Happy fall everyone!
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