Valentine's Day Themed Party

This year I was on the committee for the PTA Board Luncheon. We decided to have it on February 13th so that we could have a Valentine's Day theme for the party. I was so excited to send out the invitations and create all of the decorations. I truly love party planning and DIY decorations. I have had much success with Paperless Post for online invitations. They are just beautiful. You can select your invitation from a number of options. The one that I chose happened to be free, but they all are not. Once you have chosen an invitation, you can chose an envelope, liner, and stamp. You can track who has been sent an invitation, if they opened it or not, and who is coming to your party, on a very simple to use tracking page.

I really wanted the invitation to reflect the Valentine's Day theme, but be sophisticated enough for an adult luncheon. I think that it turned out very well, and I received many thank you response from the PTA board members.

As the board members opened the link to the card, they were taken to an image of the envelope with the heart stamp. Special stamps cost money, but they are worth the small price to start the invitation off right. The envelope then flips over and opens to reveal the heart liner. The liner and stamp are the only two real Valentine's Day themed items. I did chose the festive Carnaby in pink invitation to keep the theme going, but it did not scream Valentine's Day. If you are planning a party and want to be environmentally friendly without sacrificing style Paperless Post is the way to go. I hope you enjoy exploring Paperless Post! They also have a wonderful option for print invitations. I sent out an invitation for my son's Baptism. I wanted a copy of the invitation, so I just hit the "order this card design in paper" button, and one was sent to my house for his baby book. 

I also love making decorations. I discovered this love last year in September when I had to decorate for my son's birthday party with a $200 dollar budget. For this luncheon, I immediately went on Pinterest and started to pin fun ideas. My board is a small, but I still had fun pinning! If you would like to view it, I have set up a link here. I went with the hot air balloon theme.

I started by weaving the baskets. To do this, you need two different colors of brown paper. One of the papers, you will fold in half and cut slits about one inch apart by starting at the fold and cutting up. You then need to cut the other paper into one inch strips. Unfold the first paper and weave the strips in an under-over pattern until you have moved from one end to the other. Next, very carefully fold and cut a half-basket looking shape. When you unfold the basket will be symmetrical. Then, glue the edges down so that the basket does not unravel. For the hearts, a die cut machine is desirable, but not necessary. I did use a die cut, so my hearts are all symmetrical and equal. Once I had all of my pieces, I just started placing hearts to looks like a large balloon. I did two boards this way. Beautiful!

I forgot to take pictures of the room. I know many board member have shots, so I am going to try to chase them down. I hope that this inspires you to think creatively and have fun with any party that you might be throwing!