reader question of the week #2

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"My husband's birthday is the 26th of December. He never has had birthday parties because it was always the day after christmas (save for when he was a wee child). I want to throw him a surprise / early birthday party. It will probably only be a total of 10 possibly 12 people. I am thinking of doing a dinner - or maybe just a spread of apps and small finger foods? I don't really have a theme either. I don't want it to be too christmas-y? I could do a winter theme, with silver, just no red/green combo. Any ideas? Thanks! -Lindsay"

gram's party: the wrap-up

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Oftentimes while planning a party, I will ask myself...why am I doing this?...putting the time, effort and expense into a party sometimes doesn't seem like the best use of resources. But just about every time I am so happy with the end result, that I forget about the hassles of party planning.

Gram's birthday was no exception. We were so thrilled with how the party went. Gram and his friends had a wonderful time ...we figured out he is one of those children that enjoys being the center of attention! I am slowly being won over to the 'rented-out' parties...we loved walking away from the messy clean-up after all was said and done. But I loved that I was still able to inject some personalized touches to the party to make it feel special. It was a perfect day and we made some fabulous memories that we will always look back at fondly!

for sources, look at the bottom of this post

gram's party: food

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Since the party only lasted an hour and a half, and was loaded with activity, it seemed silly to spend much time contemplating food choices beyond the cupcakes. We just made sure to have several drink choices- which of course included water with customized water labels- as well as juice and soft drinks. We also bought some snacks (ginger snaps, pretzels, etcetera) and made some pimento cheese sandwiches, putting them in pretty vintage bowls and white servingware.

I included a tutorial photo for the cupcake flags (second photo, above). Four different versions of flags were created in two colors. I wrapped the flat 'flag' around a toothpick with a paper top (this helped the rubber cement adhere to the toothpick), using a bone folder for a crisp edge, and voila!, flags were done. For those who aren't computer savvy, this could easily be done with pretty patterned scrapbook paper for the same effect.