“Ella, are you having fun at your party?”

“Mama, it’s not my party!”

“Oh yeah, you’re right, I guess it’s more my party.”

“No, it’s Valentine’s party you silly goose!”

I thought this was a funny conversation and it perfectly captures why my Valentine’s Day party was so emotionally exhausting. I’ve only ever done birthday parties before. They’re emotional too, but that’s because I’m celebrating my precious kids and my time as their mother. I put my whole heart and soul into their parties because I put my whole heart and soul into raising them. For this Valentine’s Day party, it got my best effort too and I honestly felt a little self conscious! I didn’t realize it (until it was too late to cancel) but I was really putting myself out there and that makes me sooo uncomfortable. And a little proud of myself? I don’t know, my brain has been having a heart attack about it ever since the party ended and Ella and Jack were eating sprinkles off the floor. I have so many favorite moments from the day and all the days leading up to it but for now, I give you TCK’s Vintage Valentine’s Party.

To review, here’s how I plan a party:

Decor

Activities

Valentine’s Station

Love Letter Station

I had this idea a while ago but at some point in the planning, I decided not to do it. I thought it would be too much work and there wouldn’t be any room for it. Then the night before the party (of course), the idea came back and was just so tempting. I could picture the little display I could make and once I have a picture in my head, it’s pretty much a done deal. So I went searching around the house for stuff I could use or make to dress it up.

Cookie Decorating Station

This was so easy to put together and it’s probably one of my favorite party features I’ve ever done. The colors make me so happy!

Jack found his own way to have fun with it:

Food

Since the main activity was food, I knew we could just do light snacks. And I’m glad that was already the plan because Matthew is normally in charge of party food but he’s been sick all week so I had to put it all together. And even cutting the fruit was more involved than I wanted to be.

I thought adding raspberries to the pink lemonade would be a nice pretty touch because the red and pink would fit the theme and they would add a tart taste. I thought they would float prettily at the top but nope! They all sunk to the bottom, even blocking the lemonade from coming out a few times. So it wasn’t as pretty as I imagined but it tasted pretty good- once you could get some out, that is.

Showstopper

One of my favorite blogs is At Home with Ashley. A while ago, she dip dyed sheet music to create a music wall and I loved that idea. There’s nowhere to do that in our house now so I tucked that thought away for another time. I was trying to come up with a showstopper and that project jumped back into my head. First, I thought about doing sheet music of my favorite love songs or just do love sonnets and poems and then I had the idea to do famous love letters. I love reading old love letters and my favorite designs or decor always have something that draw you in, make you want to look closer.

Nothing thrills and terrifies me quite like throwing a party. It goes against my nature in a lot of ways, so does blogging to be honest. But I have so much fun with them, the planning and making and implementing and curating– all of it. Hard work is, well, hard but it’s also the best kind. And when the work is done, you have memories and moments that stay with you long after the decorations are taken down. You never have to look too hard or too long for magic; you just create it yourself.

xo

eb