It looked like a million bucks though!!!!  Just saying!!!!  

Here are some pictures of what we did to give this party a little sparkle! 

I stumbled upon Heath Ceramics in Los Angeles while shopping with a friend a few years back.  Since then, I occasionally take a peak at the website to see what is new, drool over the shapes and colors and promise myself that someday, I will own an incredible collection of mix and match Heath peices.  It wasn't until today that I really read about their history and  philosophy and it just made me that more excited to invest and hold sacred the handywork or our fellow Americans. Heath is a company that has been around since the 40's and they have managed to stay true to the original owner Edith Heath's ways of being frugal and resourceful in 1946 - qualities she learned from growing up in the Great Depression.  She believed in quality and the idea to do things right the first time. 

Go read Heath Ceramics story! 

One of my favorite parts of planning a party is coming up with a favor that will be a little present to your guests and not something they’ll just trash. For a backyard harvest party that I recently threw, I sewed up some tote bags created from dish towels (I told guests not to look too closely at the stitching) and then filled the table with some fresh takeaways: monster cookies, baguettes, strawberries and flowers. Overall a simple concept but appreciated and not ignored. At least that’s what my guests made me believe!

I hate to admit it but when inspiration is down, you can always turn to the classics from our one & only frienemy...Martha Stewart! Oh Martha...how you come up with these things!

Tools and Materials

• Dried corn, from Dry Nature Designs, 212-695-8911
• Craft glue
• Fine glitter in Florentine Gold, by Martha Stewart Crafts, at Michaels
• Foam brush
• Kettle of boiling water

Corn How-To

Pick some ears of dried corn to glitter fully and other ears to do more sparingly, so your arrangement doesn't go overboard. For the former, coat fully with craft glue and glitter. For the latter, use a foam brush to lightly dab some kernels with craft glue, then apply glitter. 

To soften husks so you can shape the ears when you arrange them, steam over a kettle of boiling water once the glitter has set. Gourds need nothing more than a glittered stem to shine. 

This is such a fun post for me to be writing about because it is so dear to my heart! My 'Oh So Talented' Mom & Sister threw me a little family baby shower for our soon-to-be arriving baby boy, Bennett! It was so beautifully done and reminded me of why I went into business with my Sister & also made me wonder why we haven't recruited my Mom into to the Society Picnic family yet {although she is one of our unpaid consultants that we bounce idea's off of & also get such great concepts from!} 

I had told Sarah that the nursery was tones of Grey & Yellow and they ran with it! From the yellow & grey striped paper straws, the handmade building blocks painted in yellow & grey tones, to the Welcome wreath made out of yarn pompoms & ribbons, the entire aesthetic was so simple, elegant and just so charming!

Take a look at all they did on our Real Parties link! Thank you Mom & Sarah for all that you did! I was just stunned and it was such a nice party! 

The whole tutorial and template comes from Jones Design Company. What we love the most was when, she simply puts that it doesn't have to be perfect. No one will notice. Every Mother needs to hear that sometimes! Isn't that why when people come over, they are never allowed to open the hall closet?

What a clever hostess gift this would be. Find the tutorial on how to make these brilliant bulbs at http://blog.freepeople.com

The girls at Society Picnic just wrapped up a Reggae Fest Party for one of our favorite clients! It was set on a hill, overlooking the ocean, with a cool breeze, a cold glass of Rum Punch & all the fun reggae music you could handle! Pictures to follow...film is being developed {ha ha ha}! You can feast on these inspiration photos we used to get our Reggae juices flowing. Not your typical "Red, Yellow, Green" motif but nothing we do is usually that typical or expected! We went for a more earthy, boho-vibe...but still used a lot of the Roots, Rasta, Reggae guidelines. 

I love the imperfections in discarded art, and I believe it is those perfect imperfections that really tell the story.  I suppose, I have started a discarded art rescue!