A Big 50th Birthday Party

We recently threw my mother-in-law a big 50th birthday party. My sister-in-law enlisted my help to do the party decorations.  That's part of where I have been lately, among the many other projects going on.

My mother-in-law was expecting a big over-the-hill party. Instead we decided to surprise her with a classier theme. Her favorite color is purple, so we settled on a purple and black themed party. We spent a lot of time browsing party decor online and didn't really like the stuff we were seeing in the stores. When we searched for party supplies for adults, we just couldn't find anything that fit our party plan. Most of it was for over-the-hill parties or just too tacky.

So we came up with our own party decor.

For the dessert table, I made a paper heart garland. I made a few extra too that were strung around the doors and windows. They are really simple to make. I cut about 9 hearts for each garland out of various colors of scrapbook paper. I punched two holes in the top of each heart with a hole punch. Then I cut 3 yards of black yarn. I strung the hearts on the yarn and knotted them in place.

We used a long piece of silver mesh fabric from Joann's and some purple and silver confetti to add some color to the table.

The paper medallions are popping up everywhere lately. I love them because they added so much color to the room. They are very inexpensive to make. Each one only takes 2 sheets of scrapbook paper. They are super easy too!

I made them using this great tutorial over at A Subtle Revelry. 

Everyone loved the candle centerpieces. The vases were from the dollar store and we filled the bottom of each with curling gift ribbon in a metallic purple. We then filled the vase with water and added a floating candle. Each vase was placed on a sheet of purple scrapbook paper to help make it pop. And of course more confetti!

My mother-in-law's very favorite part of the decorations was the pennant garland. The pennants are all cut out from half a sheet of 12x12 cardstock. I made one triangle and used it as a template to trace the rest and then used a paper cutter to cut them all out. I used my Silhouette to cut the white circle centers and the black lettering out of cardstock, then glued the pieces together. I strung it all together on about 25 feet of yarn. I wanted to make sure that it could be spaced out to fit across the entire room. It was sooo big that I couldn't fit the whole thing in one shot!

The party was a huge success and she was so surprised and happy that it wasn't an over-the-hill theme.