Tag: party

Mighty Thirst: Shots in ‘Cots

BAM! I made shot glasses out of apricots! Because I am a Lady MacGyver. These contain tequila, so I regret not salting the rims to make Margarita Bites. Be ye not so thoughtless.

They’re easy to make. Three steps:

1. Test your apricots to make sure they’ll stand up on their bums.
2. While your apricot is standing on a flat surface, take a metal cap (I used one from a booze bottle), and press it into the stem end.
3. Use a knife or small spoon to pull out the top and the pit beneath.

Voila, drunkards! Tiny little booze bombs.

Happy Fourth of July tomorrow! Please do not do shots and light things on fire. Love, Maggie

Make 1,000 Lovely Things: Flower Party Hats How To

 

For those of you who requested a how to on the fiesta party hats, here you go:

You’ll need:
Crepe paper flowers (we got ours at Fantastico!)
Wire cutters
A hot glue gun and glue sticks
Lingerie elastic for the headbands

This is how the flowers come, pre-muss.

First, I turned them inside out for maximum fullness. You have to do this gently, stretching each layer as much as possible without tearing it. Then I clipped out the center stamens with a pair of wire cutters and turned the flower right side out again.

Now it’s time to glue one side of the petals down to create a larger flower that looks more like a rose than a trumpet flower.You’re about to glue the first layer of tissue down, but avoid gluing down the raw edge of outermost tissue shown in the photo above. You’ll want to hide that edge, and if you glue it to the stem, it will be visible in the end result. Instead glue at least three fingers width away from that edge.

(Bam! Color change. I am blowing your mind right now with the magic of the Internet.)
Anyway, once you have your spot, put a little hotglue on the stem about two inches away from the base of the flower,

and pat the first layer of tissue into place.

Repeat with the next two or three layers of tissue, gluing each to the “stem” through the layers of tissue that are already tacked down. Your dots of glue will get a little closer to the center with each layer.

Your end result will look like a lopsided flower before you put it on, but this shape follows the curve of the head in an attractive way.

Now for the headband. I just measured by pulling it around my head and making sure there was some tension to the elastic so it would have to stretch a bit for the girls to put their hats on. That worked fine, and the photo above shows you about how long it is.

Once you’ve cut a piece of elastic to size, glue the ends together with a half-inch stripe of hot glue.Now glue the flower base onto the point where the elastic is joined, so you can hide that ridge. Use your wire cutters to snip off the excess wire on the flower stem, and voila!

The hat can be worn four different ways, so it’s perfect for folks who are irritated by party hats or don’t like to muss their hair. My favorite way to wear it is as a headband:

Then you can use it as a proper hat:

Wear it around your neck or wear it as a wrist corsage:

Hooray! You are so extra- fancy right now.

Host a Jazz Era Gatsby Party

After some diligent searching I found the rest of the Gatsby photos! Here are some details on throwing your own party.

To help our friends figure out what to wear, I included a link to a costumer site in the invitation.

My dress is a 70s reproduction worn with a silk robe as a coat and a cloche I picked up at Ambiance in town. I also had a bunch of cloches in my closet because I like hats, so I brought those along for hatless friends. I got Margaret’s black cloche at HandM.

We’d decided on a high-tea menu, so we set up a little table with a table cloth for the food. We served champagne in teacups, Prohibition style. We were in a public park, so the teacups also helped us dodge open container laws. Take that, coppers!

We also served Pimm’s Cup, which is sort of like a British mojito. They’re refreshing, and sweet, and you can make them ahead in pitchers so you don’t have to tend bar when you could be enjoying your party. Don’t put ice in the pitcher or you’ll wind up with diluted drinks and a lackluster lawn party.

Here’s the full menu:
A baked ham (which we ordered)
Rolls and condiments for simple sandwiches
Cheese tray with nuts and dried fruits
Three homemade cakes:
Chocolate
Carrot
Lemon Bundt
Champagne or sparkling wine
Pimm’s Cups
Bottled soda and water

We brought a croquet set to the park, and my friend Margaret printed up rules.

We got giant balloons for the kids. Ours were from a local party store, but you can order them online here. I’m not positive, but I think they’re the 60″.

I’m so thrilled to have the photos back, it was such a fun day. I was really touched by how many of our friends were willing to dress up.

By the way, if you like this theme, you’ll swoon over Mena Trott’s Gatsby Summer Afternoon. She sewed her dress, found vintage soda labels and made bottled drinks to go with them, and acquired a vintage phonograph to complete the look. Mena is dreamy.