PURPLE BLING 1st COMMUNION PARTY

Yesterday, I shared with you the candy bar at Trinity's 1st communion party.  Today I'm going to show you the decorations.

It's all about the bling, the bling the bling!  Well and purple.  Everywhere I could, I added purple and bling to this party.

Guest were met at the door with a large T that I made.  The T of course stands for Trinity.  I got a wooden letter at Hobby Lobby and painted it purple. Then I got a few silk hydrangea plants and cut them up so I could glue the flowers on the letter.  Then added some ribbon to the back and it was finished.  Very easy to do.

For the fireplace, I made a banner that said GOD BLESS TRINITY.  It was done like the banner I did for the candy bar.  Tons of rhinestones,  in both clear and two shades of purple, were used.   For the garland, I just punched out circles of glitter paper in several shades of purple and silver.  Then I glued them onto a long piece of twine.  Again, super easy. 

On the mantel, I got a few picture frames.  One was purple and had some rhinestones on it and the other ones was completely covered in clear rhinestone crystals.  It was very shinny!  I put pictures of Trinity in them. 

I also had a some candle holders that were brown so I spray painted them silver and topped them with a clear plate that had a circle of crystals around the outside.  I was so happy when I found the purple crosses that were actually made to go into candles.  They were made out of purple rhinestones and were perfect for the 1st communion party.

I just added the crosses to some simple white candles.

We were going to be eating outside so I wanted to use throw away plates, but, I still wanted them to be pretty and different.

I got purple plastic plates and added some bling to them.  I found some purple flowers made out of purple rhinestones and so I put them on the plates.  They were pretty but still needed a little something to make them pop more.  I then, glued on a clear rhinestone in the center.  Much better.

I also got plastic cups and I punched out flowers out of glitter paper.  To the flower I added a light purple (the color on the photo is off) rhinestone to the center.  Both made the cups have just a little sparkle to them.

I also added rhinestones to the plastic utensils but I forgot to take a picture of them before I wrapped them up in the napkins. 

For a napkin ring I used some of the sparkle mesh.  Bling!

I put the napkins and utensils in a basket for the guest to grab with their food.

I love love love the salt and pepper shakers I found on eBay.  Talk about bling bling!

I even put rhinestones on little picks.  Yes, I hit everything I could up with a little sparkle.

Yet another banner was made that sparkled.  This one not only had rhinestones on it but I also made it out of glitter paper so both the background in purple and the silver letters were shinny.

This was hung over the area where the buffet was.

I put up pictures of family members who had made their 1st communion in the past.  These pictures were held up with photo holders that looked a bit like diamonds and next to them, were some purple "diamonds".

I even added a little purple and sparkle to the bathroom.  I used some left over purple hydrangeas I had from making the sign.  I purchased some purple paper hand towels and made a simple curtain out of the glitter paper circles used in the garland on the fireplace.

This sign was in the front yard with purple balloons attached to it so everyone knew which house was were the party was.

We had the tables set up outside.  It was a perfect day weather wise.  Couldn't have been nicer.

The tables were covered with the same purple tablecloths as the candy bar was.  For the center piece I went to Rogers Gardens and got white hydrangea plants.  Around the centerpiece were more "diamonds" and glitter paper circles.  They looked pretty when the sun hit them.

Hanging up the tissue paper flowers or puff balls added a lot of color and made the space more fun.  These are very easy to make but do take time. 

You can't really tell in the photo but when I purchased the plants, they had a lovely olive green ribbon on them.  Even though it was pretty ribbon, it didn't go with the color theme we had.  So, I asked if I could get them to put purple ribbon on there and they were more then happy to help out.

I went back with the lady that works there and we picked out a pretty purple ribbon that changed colors depending on how the light hit it.  It went perfect with the tablecloths.

Plus, by getting plants rather then cut flowers, I now have pretty plants I can keep rather then throwing away flowers when they died.

I've had this crystal cut beverage container for years.  I love when I get to use it.  We put tea in it.  That way, everyone could help themselves.

We also set up a little popcorn station.  In the basket were purple and white boxes that the pop corn went in.  There were also different flavors of popcorn salts to use.

I saw this darling silver cooler on a stand at Home Depot and knew I had to have it.  We put different cokes and beer inside as well water bottles.

The water bottles had water proof labels that matched the candy bars and Hershey kiss labels.  With the same touch of bling I added with the rhinestones.

No, I did not serve all purple bling food.  But, the sweets were!  I made all of them. 
It was my first time making cake pops.  Let me tell you, they are not as easy as they sound to make.  Mine didn't come out like I wanted them to but no one even noticed.  I was the only one who knew they were not perfect. 

I was happy with how the chocolate covered Oreo cookies came out.  Everyone thought I bought them, so I guess they thought they came out nice too.

Notice the tray they were served in had bling on it. 

The chocolate covered pretzels were a big hit.  I made them two ways, one like the one above with purple white chocolate and white sprinkles and also purple chocolate with sugar crystals.  It actually did sparkle nicely.

As everyone left, they got to take home a favor of a chocolate cross, either white chocolate or milk chocolate.  I wrapped them in cello bags, tied with a purple ribbon and then felt they needed something to make them bling.

So I purchased some silver cross charms, added a little purple rhinestone and they gave the bags the little bit of sparkle I wanted.  Plus, the guests got a 2nd little favor in the crosses.  They could put it on a chain to wear as a necklace if they wanted. 

I was happy with how everything came out.  My biggest compliments came from the men at the party.  Most women notice all the little things but men don't.  So when all the men said how nice they thought the touches were, I felt like I did a good job and it was worth every minute I put into this party.

Trinity loved it and that was the whole reason for the party.

Next post I'll share some photos I took of her and a few of the things we did to make the party more special for Trinity.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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PURPLE BLING CANDY BAR

This weekend was my great niece, Trinity's, 1st Communion.  After the church service we were having people back over to our house and she picked a Purple Bling theme for the party.

For months I was shopping for purple and bling items.  I never knew purple was such a hard color to shop for. 

I knew I wanted to have a candy bar set up.  Turned out to be a big hit with everyone.  Not just the kids.

This post I will only be showing the candy bar.  The next post will be the decorations.

The photos don't really show the "bling" to well but it showed up much better in person.

I made a banner that said Candy Bar and the letters were silver glitter.  Each flag had rhinestones decorating it so it really sparkled.  Behind the banner I hung up curtains made from metallic silver.

I knew I wanted to have some personalized items and so I got some candy bar wrappers.  Then of course, I had to add rhinestones to give them the bling!  Also, I got silver foil to wrap the candy bar in since now Hershey bars only have the brown wrappers.

I also added rhinestones to the candy jars and bowls as well as the scoops. 

You can see the Hershey kisses also got personalized with stickers that matched the candy bars. 

All the candy was also different shades of purple.  But I didn't want only grape flavor candy so of course I had lots of chocolate in there too!

Did you know you could order M&M's in any color and get them to say whatever you wanted on them? 

I got two shades of purple and had them say Trinity on some and 1st Communion on others.  They were very cute!

However, be aware, if you have not ordered them.  They cost a lot of money to get printed.  So I would recommend just getting a few to give a personal touch to your party and then fill in with other candy.

On the table was a purple tablecloth.  I knew I would not have any use for purple tablecloths again, plus, I needed several for all the other tables.  So, I just rented them.  Renting is wonderful.  You end up paying less money and you don't even have to wash them when you return them! 

For added bling, I got some super large "diamonds" that are actually used as paper weights.  I also got containers of smaller "diamonds" and put them all over all the tables.

I was lucky I didn't have to buy jars or bowls to put the candy in.  I either had them or I borrowed them from a friend.  If you are going to do a candy bar for your party, I would start checking out thrift stores for them.  I've seen them there several times. 

If you can't find them in thrift stores, places like TJ Maxx has them for a pretty good price.  Or Michael's costs are good, if you use the 40% off coupon.

I always plan my parties very early so I can start collecting things early and getting sales or using coupons when I can.

To add bling to the jars and bowls I used rhinestones, ribbon with rhinestones attached and while I was at Michaels I found this mesh that looked like it had rhinestones on it but it really doesn't.  It's all in the cut.  But it worked great.  You can cut it up into different sizes to fit what you are using it on.  So much faster and easier then putting on the rhinestones one at a time.

Here is a hint for you, if you are going to get the mesh, you can find some over where they sell David Tutera's wedding stuff.  It's pretty and works well.  However, you can go over to the other "no name" wedding items and find bigger rolls for much less money.  Don't forget the coupon!

You can purchase costly scoops if you like.  However, my advice would be to go to Party City.  They have a candy bar section and you can get color scoops to match your colors.  They are less then a dollar. 

Some people like metal scoops but I prefer plastic so they don't end up chipping the jars/bowls or worse, breaking them.

Also, have fun with the candy you get.  Get different shades of your color, it's to hard to try to match just one shade anyway. 

Rock candy suckers are very pretty but be careful.  Some taste really bad.  These were actually good flavor ones.  I lucked out when I found these.

When you get your candy, you can drive around town and spend a lot of time and gas money or you can do like I did and just order on line.  I always read the reviews before I ordered anything.  Not all candy is good even though they look the same. 

Make sure you have bags so everyone has something to put their stash in and take home with them. 

With some time and a little effort you can put together a pretty and impressive candy bar.  But, no matter what it looks like, it will be a hit.  After all, who doesn't love candy!