{Entertaining Ideas} Island Resort Summer Soiree with Oriental Trading

Before summer's end, why not host an island resort inspired summer soiree?  I got some really nice pieces from Oriental Trading this season and decided to create a relaxing retreat right on my patio inspired by the tropic settings of the Caribbean!

My inspiration for this theme was pulled from these Island Breeze plates that I received from Oriental Trading.  Once I saw the palm leaf design on the paper goods, I knew I didn't want to do a standard luau theme.....but instead create a setting that made me feel like I was luxuriating on an island resort.

Elements that inspire:

- Beach in a jar - sand and colorful shells displayed in a glass apothecary jar
- Island Colas chilled in a galvanized bucket
- Natural elements and fruit create an island feel
- A buffet of favorite Caribbean dishes

 More details and a list of supplies follow, at the end of this post.

Theme
This island theme was inspired by these plates from the Island Breeze collection that I found here.  I love this whole Island Breeze collection....it can work for a Luau theme or any tropical themed party!  I wanted to create an outdoor space that was relaxing and chill...just like one would do while vay-caying on a beach.  So, I just played off of the island feel and went with it.

Decor
The decorative elements that I added were a few that I received from Oriental Trading, like these Palm Leaf Wall Prints as a backdrop for my buffet table.  I originally wanted to create a banner from these decorative artificial tropical leaves, but in the end decided they worked better as underlays for my platters and dishes on the food buffet.  The Palm & Turtle Natural table runner is another piece from Oriental Trading that I just loved!  I also added the cutest miniature Orchids and a beautiful new glass scalloped cake plate from my own stash to showcase a delicious coconut cake!  A few baskets and platters displaying tropical fruit were another nice addition to my party space!  It's also a great idea, cause guests can take the fruit home or you can cut it up into a bowl for fruit salad and enjoy the next day!

Table Setting
These grass place mats were too cute to pass up when I saw them.  I used them along with woven stained grass placemats from my home to create each space for a guest to enjoy their meal.  Each setting was a bit different from the other and made for a very interesting tablescape.  I made printables that were inspired by the plates and put a menu at each place setting.  The hibiscus flowers decorated the table are actually hair clips that serve double duty as decoration and a pretty, festive favor that guests can wear.  I also used them as a 'napkin' ring for some of the place settings.  The palm leaves also served as a coaster for the Island Breeze Party Cups.  For my centerpiece....I created a vertical focal point with the Luau Leaf Light Up paper lanterns and drew the eye down to the table and placed tropical fruit, plants, and shells in the center of the table.  At night the lanterns cast a nice soft glow onto the table.
 
Food
I LOVE Caribbean food....so, when I found a local eatery near my home that just opened up....I was so excited.  I ordered some of my favorite dishes, like Jerk Chicken, rice and peas, cabbage, coco bread, beef patties and fried plantain for the buffet.  I also made my own appetizer, Caribbean Shrimp Cocktail!  I just mixed in a Caribbean seasoning to cooked shrimp and made my own Caribbean cocktail sauce by mixing together a mango, strawberries, spicy scotch bonnet peppers, scallions and honey!  I placed the sauce into small party cups and topped each with a few shrimp!

Drinks
I filled one of my fave galvanized tubs full of ice and Island colas that I got from the International Food aisle at my grocery store.  When you can't come up with something on your own, head over to Oriental Trading for ideas.  Type in your theme and you can be sure to find a list of ideas at the way bottom of the results screen.  I wanted a signature drink for my drink station and saw this  Summer Pineapple Strawberry Cooler in the Luau page of the site and made my own island cocktail simply by adding rum!

Favors
If you have a good rub for jerk chicken, these spice jars from Oriental Trading would be a perfect way to send guests home with a taste of the islands.  I packaged my own brand of jerk rub into these small jars and added a tag to it with some natural twine.  I won't divulge the recipe I use (sorry), it was passed onto me by a sweet old Jamaican lady, but this one comes close to the ingredients I use.

I hope you were inspired by all the easy breezy party ideas I shared.  I really loved all the items I received from Oriental Trading.....they were colorful, the plates were sturdy, the wall pieces and runners are very nice and can be used again, along with the lanterns and grass mats.  I have yet to be disappointed by the quality of their products!  Don't forget, it's not too late to enjoy the close of your summer with a laid back island resort themed soiree!

Vendors & Where to Buy:

Styling & Design  - Cupcake Wishes & Birthday Dreams
Printables - Cupcake Wishes & Birthday Dreams
Paper Plates/napkins, grass mats, lanterns, wooden palm leaf prints, table runner, decorative palm leaves, plastic cups, flower hair clips, spice jars  - Oriental Trading

(“This post is based strictly on my opinion. Others may have a different opinion or experience with the product(S) listed above. I was provided items free of charge by Oriental Trading and I provided my honest opinion. No other type of compensation was received for this review.”)

{13 Days of Handmade Halloween} Fall Jar Wrap

Hi, Kenna here from Miss Party Mom! When Keisha asked me to join in on the 13 Days of Handmade Halloween I was excited for a chance to team up with her and a bunch of other talented ladies! I was even more excited when I learned that my project was a perfect fit for me to do along side my son, who is always dying to help me out with crafts for my parties.

My project was Oriental Trading's Fall Jar Wrap Kit... a perfectly simple project for me and my crafty 4 year old!

We opened up our jar-wrap kits, read through the simple directions and got to work. I choose to use the Mason jar as my base because everyone has them and it feels very homemade and fitting to me. Immediately I knew I wanted to add in a few of my favorite crafting materials: 1) Gold Glitter for the jar's rim 2) Ric-Rac to tie my sunflowers with 3) Bakers Twine to sew the acorn buttons on with

One thing I loved about this project was that it came with 6 jar kits- I can literally make one for each of my son's preschool teachers!

Project Needs:

Hot Glue Gun

Needle & Thread

Glue

Glitter

Paintbrush

Unlike when I'm planning a party and need thing to look a certain way- I literally let him lay out this project exactly how he wanted to without nit picking it at all! GO me!

For my own jar (we each did one) I chose to add fine grain gold glitter to the rim just to add a little sparkle! I simple took a paintbrush and brushed glue around the rim and then sprinkled on the glitter... 

My son and his finished jar- he was a proud crafting boy! He is dead set on filling his jar with candy corn- of course!

I was pretty proud of my jar too- so much so that we ran out and got some sunflowers to go inside- felt like the perfect addition!

xo Party or Die xo,

Kenna

(and Cormac)

Bloggers using items from Oriental Trading were provided the products free of charge by the company provided their own honest opinion.  Others may have a different opinion or experience with the product(s) listed above.  No other type of compensation was received.

{13 Days of Handmade Halloween} Halloween Skull Cup Favors

 I am so excited to be a part of the 13 days of Handmade Halloween!! I have created a small treat that is sure to delight your neighbors!! You've been Boo’d treats using adorable skull and crossbones cups from Oriental Trading!!

I started my project by assembling the skull and crossbones cups!! This was fairly simple as Oriental Trading made sure to use sticky backed foam!! It was fun to create two different looks with these cups!!

Next I whipped up a few Halloween themed cake pops!! The skull is my favorite…but Frankenstein comes in a close second!!

I added candy corn to the cup…who wants shredded paper when you can have candy corn (I secretly love candy corn)!! The candy corn was perfect because it allowed me to stabilize the cake pops!! Finally I placed the cup in a cello baggie and tied it up with ribbon!! Add my adorable You've been Boo’d tag and tada….spooky treats your neighbors will be happy to receive!!  Sunny from Sunny by Design created these adorable You've been Boo’d printables…click here to download your free printables!! Now all my boys have to do is deliver these yummy treats to the neighbors!! Thank you Keisha for allowing me to participate and post on your blog..it’s a pleasure to work among such talented ladies!!

DOWNLOAD THE FREE PRINTABLE TAGS HERE:

More from Autumn:

Autumn Gadbois: Owner

Email:  Agadbois1977@yahoo.com

Shop: Autumn Lynn's Chocolate Sins

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"This post is sponsored by Oriental Trading. All Oriental Trading products were received free of charge by the company or PR agency and honest opinions and reviews of the products have been noted.  Others may have a different opinion or experience with the product(s) listed above.  No other type of compensation was received."

{Recap} Spectacular July 4th with Oriental Trading

I hope you all had a GREAT 4th of July holiday with your family & friends.  I celebrated this year with a festive backyard bbq that was outfitted with a little modern chevron swag from Oriental Trading.  I am happy to be a part of the Oriental Trading Blogger Community.  I was allowed to select a few products of my choice from one of my favorite party goods suppliers.  Last year I designed this Chevron and Ombre Stars inspired July 4th printable collection.  So, when I saw all the new Chevron products that now are available from Oriental Trading, I jumped right on it.


I set up an outdoor dining area for our small group of guests using the chevron plates and bouquet boxes.  I placed a length of striped fabric that I had on hand as a runner and created a patriotic focal point with my centerpieces.  A menu from my printable collection was placed at each place setting along with two sparklers for evening festivities.  Bottles of root beer were customized with printable bottle labels and I placed paper straws into blue rocks glasses that I found at Dollar Tree.

(btw - I never ordered paper plates from Oriental trading before, but let me say that these were very sturdy and held up well!!!)

I loved the chevron bouquet boxes.  I created height by placing these on the tables and filling them with shredded paper to anchor a small flag and yarn pom poms (you know I can't do a party without them), my Mini Diva made corkscrews out of pipe cleaner to give the effect of fireworks shooting out of the box.  I embellished each box with a strip of washi tape and a rosette finished with a party dot from the printable collection.

I wanted to add a lighting element to the table for later in the evening. So, using pillar vases I created hurricanes for candles that I embellished with patriotic stickers.I also used glass rocks and floral wire to accent these floating orchid flowers (they're fake! tee-hee!)

I have a tree in our yard that is half dead because the tree in our neighbors yard is a monster and sucks up all the sunlight.....so our poor Oak tree only gets half loved by the sun.  To take some attention away from those dead branches, I thought it would look nice to add these hanging globe lanterns from the tree.  I added tissue paper tassels onto them because I felt like there was a LOT of red going on with the barn/shed in the background.  I also added a few patriotic hanging fans to the doors of the barn/shed

I set out popcorn for the evening activities and used these chevron treat bags to serve them in.

Here are some more images from the holiday!

I must say that, I was totally pleased with all the products that I used. I've ordered from Oriental Trading in the past as have always been pleased with my products.  Since these products were fairly new in the catalog, I didn't know what to expect, but I was completely happy with everything and my expectations were exceeded.  Thank you to Oriental Trading for providing the chevron party items and helping to make a fabulous July 4th celebration!


"I was provided with either monetary compensation or free products by Oriental Trading for this post .  The reviews of the products are solely my own honest opinion and may not reflect the views of others."