LEMONADE PARTY

I know so many of you have heard me talk for two months about having a lemonade party for some moms at my home. Well we had the party and enjoyed it so much. Here is the post about the invitations I made:

http://creationsbycindyphotography.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-cute-little-invitations.html

I've had such a good time preparing and planning for this party. It was a lovely Saturday morning event beginning at 11:30 a.m. Our party was to end at 1:00 p.m. but several stayed till 3:00 p.m. and we had the best fellowship. I had so many pictures that I decided to do collages for you to see.
First for those that might have missed this post I'd like to share with you why I had the lemonade party. I felt so led to do a little something for some of the younger moms that go to my church by giving them a few hours to themselves. A chance to eat  (IN PEACE) ha!, a chance to visit the other ladies without INTERRUPTIONS, and mainly, just a little DOWN TIME! I decided instead of doing finger foods for these precious gals I would cook them a home-cooked meal along with a few doorprizes and a guest speaker.  Our theme was "When Life Hands You Lemons, Make Lemonade". I based the theme off of Phillipians 4:11. Which talks about being content. Basically to me, the scripture tells us how to take the obstacles in life and turn them into opportunites. So that is how this Lemonade Journey began. I sent out postcard invitations in March. I wanted the ladies to have a heads-up on the date and time just so they could plan for this special day. We're all busy women so that worked out wonderful. Gave these moms time to get a baby sitter. Then in April I officially gave them their invitations I made. Which that post is at the top of this page. Now onto a few pictures....Click on photo and they will be larger.
You see in this picture some of the items on the table. As you see the gift baskets I loaded it with girly stuff! The dishes consisted of: Blue Camping plates I found at GW for 50 cents each. White salad plates I found at GW for 29 cents each. Mixed-match silverware from here and there. Cloth napkins from a Thrift Store. Napkin rings are actually shower curtain rings with a piece of ribbon tied on them. The cute little block there at the top with flowers on it came from Lowe's. I just made a floral arrangment and tied some ribbon on it and it worked just great for a table arrangement.

 Another block I used as well with the pretty arrangment. I had two sitting in my shed so why not put them to use! Funny thing is, I was shooting pics at a wedding last night and the reception was covered with these blocks decorated. They really do make cute decor pieces. My stemware was all mixed-matched. Already had those. Blue Camper Tea Pot I found at an yard sale. Had the flowers that are in and it really made a pretty centerpiece. The coasters you see are some I made. Bought 4x4 tile pieces. Made the little lemon picture (which is what I used on my invitations) on the computer. Cut them out a tad smaller than the tile and modgepodged away! Turned out adorable and was so easy! I used acrylic sealer to seal them and used some of those little round things to go on the back to keep the coasters from scratching up your table. (Forget what they are called, but you can buy 8 in a pack at dollar tree for $1.) I had quite a few silk yellow roses in my shed so added those to a green plant I had for color.

For the place mats I used mixed match once again. Different ones I had found at places like Walmart, GW and Dollar Tree. The Picture of the teapot there with the lemons on the wall is actually a placemat I got from Walmart. The photo in the white frame I made on the computer. It didn's show up real good here but it actually turned out pretty. I had the frame already and just sprayed painted it white. Cushions you see on the bench (which I bought some for my rockers as well) came from a Thrift store. The color was perfect. And they were only $2 each. All the little candy dishes you see on the table are candle sticks with candy dishes or ivy bowls that I used my best friend Liquid nails and glued them together.

Of course I have fell in love with apothocarey jars now. So was delighted to find this small one for 99 cents @ GW. Oh my lemons looked so cute in the jar. The small tea jar you see with the lemons in it is just the cutest thing. My daughter Melissa bought this for me and it actually holds about 2 gal. of drink. More blue, yellow and white flowers on the front door. Was hunting for something to put the flowers in and found these flush style planters in my shed....love my shed btw....had them from my middle daughter's wedding and forgot I had them. Worked perfectly on my front door. And how can you go wrong when you have a green fern???? And BTW I have two of those white wickers planters that I have had for years and found those at a yard sale years ago and paid $3 each.

The curtains you see I found at a Thrift store and decided to put them over each window on my front porch. The curtains really gave it the feeling of home. My husband called it "The Lemonade Bistro". I had water/tea glass goblits on the table but found these adorable plastic punch cups at a yard sale for 25 cents for a whole pack. Thought they would be nice to use for the lemonade. Sliced a few lemons and placed them on the side and chilled them in the freezer till right before my first guests arrived. The Thankyou gift basket you see was filled to the brim. I had each guest bring one lemon. So, not only did our guest speaker have a basket of goodies she had her very own lemons to make lemonade with!

Once again, an Ivy dish glued to a candle stick just winds up being so cute. Found the lemon candle at GW for 50 cents!For one of the doorprizes I even found lemon scented hand soup in a lemon dispencer...Dollar Tree....yep, you guessed it. FOR $1. I used several patterns of glass goblits but the one you see in photo is one of my favorites. Always so elegant looking. And yes, my lemonade icecream dessert......More about that in the next picture.

Now for the lemonade dessert: I got the recipe for Heather at Life In A Click http://ourlifeinaclick.blogspot.com/2010/05/recipe-lemonade-icecream-dessert.html Be sure to visit her lovely blog. The recipe is on this link for you. She made in a casserole dish. I decided to do indiv. servings. Had punch cups left over from a party in Dec. Then I found the cutest little picks shaped just like a fork. And I found them at a Thrift Store. There they sat....in a sealed box for 50 cents. Made the cute little tags on the computer to go along with my theme and hot glued the tags to the fork picks and stuck them in the dessert after they were partially frozen. The tray they were in, which you can't see really well was this cute little wooden tray I found at GW for $1.99.

The litle blue and yellow coaster what looks like a mini picture is actually what I used for the coasters. I made those as well on the computer and laminated them. The container that holds the lemonade I found at Ross for $8. I couldn't beleive it...only $8 and I love it! The yellow bucket held the lemonade icecream recipe so each lady would have one to take home. On the recipe I put Heather's blog and also a picture she had made of her dessert. I glued a little daisy to each one. Used my good ole tea cart I have had for years to put our tea on and of course several other things I thought would be cute. I framed our menu for the day so the ladies would know what they were eating!

And though I failed to get a picture of this by itself  I wanted to share it with you. I got the idea from Michelle at Maddycakes Muse http://maddycakesmuse.blogspot.com/2010/04/cool-centerpieces.html You got to check her blog out.This was the cutest idea ever using jello and flowers and pretty containers! I just so happen to have all three. Turned out really adorable for my party.

My guest speaker just so happened to be my friend from many moons ago! Yep, been friends since early elementary days. She said she was not a Speaker just a Talker, Ha!  Her message was wonderful and encouraging. Her message was basically that we are to take the things in life that are bad, sad, trying, trials and etc. and look for ways to turn them into opportunities. And that sometimes it may take a while to see how lemonade was made out of the lemons in our life. She ended her message with, "God is a God of second chances".

Of course I can't have a party without having my Motherinlove join us. She enjoys parties so much and I couldn't have imagined not having her to share our special day. All the younger women just love her. They call her Nanny! Here is a picture of me, my motherinlove and my best friend that spoke for me.

Here is my motherinlove and friend. 

Oh I almost forgot: Our menu was simple, yet just plain good! For our appetizer which we had first I made a lemon cream cheese spread with crackers. They loved it! They think I worked in the kitchen for hours on that "spread" and I think I will just let them think that! Don't think I will tell them it was Apple Jelly, grated lemon rind and lemon juice mixed together and pour over a bar of cream cheese!!!!! Then for our salad I made a 7 layer salad. Then two of my daughters helped me to serve my guests the main meal....Chicken Casserole, Seasoned Green Beans and rolls. Of course Tea, Water and good old Lemonade was our drink. We ended our meal with the wonderful lemonade icecream dessert that Heather shared with me. I had 3 door prizes which consisted of all things needed to pamper a woman. We played a game, talked, laughed and just had fun! I truly felt blessed being able to share a part of my life with these ladies and giving them an opportunity to share their lives with me. 

 I hope that you have enjoyed your visit to my lemonade party. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if you could of been here too! Remember, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade!