14 June 2013

summer garden party: easy centrepieces & diy heart garlands

A few weeks ago we threw a little surprise shindig for my parents anniversary - they rarely celebrate in a big way so I really wanted to make it special. But after spending weeks getting our backyard party-ready (laying sod and a new deck - more on that soon!), I didn't have a lot of time (or money!) left for other details. So when it came to decorating, easy and inexpensive ideas were key.  


I picked up some fresh flowers from the grocery the day of the party and threw together these pretty floral arrangements in my fave Dollarama vases. They didn't have a lot of stock that morning so I chose an assortment of whatever was on hand, but I was happy with how they turned out :)


The frayed-edge burlap runners were another quick and easy diy, cut from some jute fabric I found on sale at Fabricland. I thought it was befitting for a garden party :) No sewing necessary (I used this tutorial as a guide) - it took literally less than an hour to make 5.

To top it off, I added a little shimmer to the tables with some candle holders saved from my engagement (which were super cheap from Jordan).

We set up the buffet inside so I wanted to dress up the huge blank wall behind the table. These super sweet heart garlands (inspired via pinterest of course :) did the trick, and they were so simple to make. 

I already had a little heart puncher (bought years ago from walmart for $5), so I just used some red paper and punched out tons of hearts, then strung them together with a needle and thread. It was so mindlessly easy - just watch out for tangles!


I missed out on pics of my 40+ tissue poms, but I did get plenty of the pièce de résistance (which admittedly doesn't look simple or easy) - the amazing cake, handmade by our fabulous and super talented friend Farheen :)


Complete with a recipe for halal fondant - and trust me, it tastes as good as it looks!

We also diy-ed our own canopy to shade our guests rain or shine, at a fraction of the cost of renting a tent.

That tutorial will have to be saved for another post though - partly because I didn't have time to take pics of the process, but mostly because I almost ruined the entire thing by cutting the tarp way too short (so much for remembering the pythagorean theorem!). We'll be redoing this for another party in August so hopefully I can share the deets next time around :)

9 comments:

  1. Love this! I especially love the colour theme; very vibrant and summery. Thanks for sharing these beautiful ideas and photos!

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    1. Aww thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked it :) thanks for stopping by!

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  2. this looked wonderful Samaa - simple yes but definitely oh-so pretty!! Love the heart garland! I'm sure it was a huge success!!

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    1. thanks Vel :) I think we were leaving each other comments at the exact same time!

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  3. Samaa! I'm SOOO impressed! Wow, I've been away so long and there are so many updates to your blog and you've been featured in so many spots! Amazing :)

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    1. Thanks so much Kirsten!

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    2. Have you gotten a chance to do the write up on the canopy? I'd love to put one up for our next gathering!

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    3. Hi Pattie! Unfortunately I haven't put together that post as I had planned - I took a bunch more pictures the second time we put up the canopy but I forgot to take any of how we attached it to the house! I'll have to ask my husband if he remembered to take any, but in the meantime I hope I can describe it a bit for you. It wasn't too difficult, but it depends on the set up of your yard and if you have places to attach the tarp. In our case, we have two upper windows at the back of the house, so we popped out the screens and secured the tarps just inside the windows using this product:
      http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524443291236&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396672512&bmUID=1381445300645
      Then we attached the other side of the tarp to the back fence using bungee cords with balls on them, similar to these:
      http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Bungee-cord-Heavy-Tarps/dp/B000ILOAPC
      Because our back fence is pretty short, we added a scrap piece of wood in the middle of the canopy (like you see in the picture above) to hoist it up just a bit. Because of how tight the tarp was pulled there was enough tension to keep the wood standing on it's own, without having to push it into the ground or secure it to the tarp in any way.
      Sorry for that very brief description which probably doesn't make much sense without any photos accompanying it - I'll do my best to put a post together if I can find the right pics!

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  4. Thanks for the tarp info. I'm gonna try it today

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