Etsy: Great source for invitations and ideas

Etsy is the coolest website for individuals who sell home crafted items. You can find stationary, soaps, clothing, bedding, jewlery, and most everything that can be created.
I have enjoyed looking at their differently designed party invites. Here are some nice ones with the name of the seller and a link to their page on Etsy. The descriptions were written by the creators:
This invite is my favorite design. Look at all the little details!!! This would make a great vacation or tropical themed party. If you change the paper and the dangling charm it could be any other theme.


Florida, Mexico, Jamaica, the Caymans...a local seaside??? This shimmered signature pocketfold (4x5) invitation is petite sophistication that will make a lasting impression to your invited guests.
The above pocketfold is shown landscape style but could also be customed to a portrait style invitation. This invitation is perfect for any destination wedding or seaside/beach event in sage green and creame shimmered cardstock with bunches of large printed leaves.
Your invitation wording is printed on diamond white cardstock with a brown matte underlay and a elegant palm motif adds charm. As an embellishment a hemp cord is wrapped twice and tied into a bow with a dangling silver starfish. Just SWEET!!!

Wouldn't this make a lovely invite for a Ladies luncheon or a dinner in the Spring?
A round edge crisp white cardstock is mounted on a round edge shimmer pink cardstock (5 x 7). A soft pink and floral band of paper wraps securely around the invitation while a crystal flutter bug rests. (Please note, the flutter bug is adhered to the invitation). If your interested in the matching matchbox favor please convo me through my other shop Sweetrayne{dot}etsy{dot}com



This invitation design would work for ANY event. I especially love the belly band closure.
This (5x7) booklet invitation was inspired by precious poppies. Papers used have a gold shimmered tone to provide lusciousness. With this booklet invitation you can customize to include additional pages if needed.
Your RSVP and RECEPTION enclosure cards are held in place under the front cover with a matching belly band as the whole ensemble is held together with a belly band that's address to your guest. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=27139939


This invite would be great for a Chinese New Year party or any Asian inspired gathering.

Terra Cotta and Cream are the hues that inspired this invitation style. This is a three layered 5 x 7 invitation, a textured terra cotta, circular print, and smooth creme cardstock. To set the theme a Chinese character "Happiness" motif is printed flat while a natural hemp cord is double wrapped around the invitation and tied into a knot.

Matching elements such as programs, menu's and escort cards are also available.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23547930


Inspired by all that is victorian or vintage elegance, I designed a romantic ceremony program that would compliment any garden or exquisite event.
Your ceremony and/or wedding participants are printed in flat ink on diamond white cardstock in the shape of a fan. Short lace adorns the top edge for extra softness and a double faced satin ribbon flows from the bottom.
This program can be customized in any way you choose: include your monogram, change the print color or even the ribbon color or add a special motif to add to your events theme!
All programs are hand cut and laced by me...This would also make a nice compliment to your tablescape as a menu card.Inspired by all that is victorian or vintage elegance, I designed a romantic ceremony program that would compliment any garden or exquisite event.
Your ceremony and/or wedding participants are printed in flat ink on diamond white cardstock in the shape of a fan. Short lace adorns the top edge for extra softness and a double faced satin ribbon flows from the bottom.
This program can be customized in any way you choose: include your monogram, change the print color or even the ribbon color or add a special motif to add to your events theme!
All programs are hand cut and laced by me...This would also make a nice compliment to your tablescape as a menu card.Inspired by all that is victorian or vintage elegance, I designed a romantic ceremony program that would compliment any garden or exquisite event.
Your ceremony and/or wedding participants are printed in flat ink on diamond white cardstock in the shape of a fan. Short lace adorns the top edge for extra softness and a double faced satin ribbon flows from the bottom.
This program can be customized in any way you choose: include your monogram, change the print color or even the ribbon color or add a special motif to add to your events theme!
All programs are hand cut and laced by me...This would also make a nice compliment to your tablescape as a menu card.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25817571

A fun invitation for any real celebration... do it in reds and black to celebrate New Years or red and green for Christmas

How fun and playful is this save the date announcement. The colors just scream out vibrant sensations, and with the confetti your letting your guest know that they are going to have a good time.White linen cardstock is layered atop a shimmer tangerine cardstock. A vellum envelope is attached to the announcement holding circle and vellum flower confetti giving your guest the instructions to "Don't Celebrate Yet"!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26481922

Wouldn't these be cute Luggage tag invites for a Dream Destination dinner party... I'm doing this theme for August.
I really love this invite and could totally picture it for a retro 60's or 70's themed party. If the color's were more flourescent it would be great for an 80's party!

This handmade triple layer invitation is made from shimmer cardstock... lime and fuchsia. The top is lined with a fuchsia satin ribbon with dangling beads and shiny circles.
This invitation measures 5x7 and a white envelope is included.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21100172

Asian Dinner Party- A huge success!!!

Last night, Jeff and I hosted a dinner party for a few friends in our ward. It was (I thought) a totally nice evening! I spent quite a bit of time in the last few weeks collecting some Chinese/Japanese items to display and use for dinnerware. I was able to use the chargers that I got for our Italian Dinner Party last summer. And some bamboo placemats we already had. It was a mixture of cliche Asian and authentic. I made invites, got RSVP's a week in advance and assigned out a part of the meal to each guest. I also had them email me the recipes they would use to make their dish so that I was able to make a small recipe book as a party favor for all guests. They turned out really nice. Those who came and what they brought were:
Marty and Allyson Mickelson- Adobo chicken (Phillipines) with brown and white rice
Nate and Kim Shaffer- Yakisoba (Japan)
Jeff and Maggie Goebel- Vegetable stirfry (chinese)and Brocolli Almond Salad
Dusty and Kris Hughes- Honey Pepper Pork with rice
Rod and Carrie Lambourne- Chicken and Pork Eggrolls
Kyle and Shauna Lainhart- War Wonton Soup
Josh and Tasha Sylvestor- Vanilla Icecream (to go with the pie crust fortune cookies I made)

We got started a little after 6:30- Mormon standard time (which worked for me 'cause Jeff and I were running a little late getting the last soup bowls washed). And the guests left just after 8:30. For our 'game' (I hate games) we opened a fortune cookie to find the question that we each would answer. That was a great way to get to know each other better and to laugh... laugh.... laugh. Here are some things that I learned:

The Hughes are totally adorable together... Dusty is super naive... Kris is a great match for him!!!

The Lambournes really are adventurous eaters and love to eat Sushi!!! We already knew that they were a nice pair.

The Sylvesters- two great people- cracked us up big time with their honeymoon story! I think we all should go try out the treehouse.

The Mickelsens kept me laughing so hard all night... I haven't laughed that hard in ages!!! You two rock!!

The Shaffers are awesome... but different than I had thought they were (this is a great reason to have these dinner parties because we get to know people on a different level) anyway... Nate I thought would be a shy reserved guy.....OH MY GOSH.. HE'S NOT!!!! And I thought Kim would be serious and very calm ... but she is a fun, NOT serious, and high energy gal!! They also had us rolling!

The Lainharts are the nicest couple, she is a sweetheart and he is funny but in a more subtle way. They are a perfect match too. We are glad to been able to get to know you better.

Anyway.... thanks to all of you who came! We would like to get the whole ward over to our home for a dinner party eventually... it will take about a year if we do these monthly. I hope you all had as good of a time as Jeff and I did. By the way... I know I will be using my Asian cookbook to make some of those dishes again!

Asian Dinner Party- How we prepared for it

Getting Started
My first party needed to have a fun theme to kick off our goal to party every month for a year! I wanted a theme that would ensure some great food, unique decorations, and the capability to really do something different! Jeff and I knew that we needed to invite about 7 couples who would do well together. Which means- personalities couldn't clash, new friends and old friends should both be invited,- a variety in ages- but no kids! We had a hard time narrowing the list down which is a lot of the reason we decided to host these until we had had every couple in the ward over to our home. We just started coming up with a list of ward members that we thought might work. And so far we've done a good job. We chose 7 couples, picked the Asian theme and decided it would be a potluck. We spent too much on food last time with the Italian dinner party. As a family for family home evening we went to China Town down off the I-15 and Spring Mountain to get some Chinese lanterns and visit an Asian Market. The girls really loved the market with all the live lobsters and crabs and funny looking veggies and fruits. I made the invitations myself with some gorgeous Asian scrapbook paper, vellum and ribbon.
The invites
I contacted them personally to get a commitment first, then gave them the invite with an email reminder to RSVP. This system seems to work well. So far we have not had a guest flake or forget. In the invite I asked them to bring either an Asian main dish, side dish, appetizer or dessert.
Party Favor
I wanted to have something for couples to take home to help remember the night. So I asked everyone to email me a copy of their recipes so that I could compile a recipe book. I printed them, bound the books with metal coils, and had them on the table to take home.
Games and Dessert
I hate games. I really dislike them. But I have found that some kind of get-to-know- you game is really important when mixing a group of different couples who aren't well acquainted. I found a fun recipe for homemade sweet fortune cookies in a Family Fun Magazine. I knew that I would have to put some kind of fortune in those cookies and I couldn't come up with anything clever to say. I had an idea to print questions onto cardstock, cut them into strips, fold them and put them into the cookies. The couples got a cookie with a scoop of icecream for dessert. They broke open their cookies and when their turn came they would read their question and answer it. Some of the questions were:
Share your engagement story.
What quality most attracted you to your spouse when you first met?
Where did you go on your honeymoon and why did you pick that place?
What is your favorite restaurant to eat at and what do you usually order when you eat there?
When did you know that you wanted to marry your spouse?
If you could spend a month on desert island with your spouse and one other person who would it be and why?

Chinese New Year Cupcakes

Good Day pattern above to copy onto frosted cupcakes

This would be a great dessert for my next Chinese New Year or Asian Dinner Party.
Whip up these Good Fortune cupcakes (familycrafts.about.com) to share your wishes of good fortune for the coming year. According to Chinese tradition, red is the symbol for fire that scares away evil spirits. The markings on the cupcakes represent good luck.

1 box of yellow or white cake mix

1 can of vanilla icing

red & yellow paste food coloring

cupcake liners

good luck pattern

Prepare cake mix as directed. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners and fill 3/4 full. Bake as directed and allow to cool thoroughly before icing. You will need 2 bowls: one for red icing, the other for yellow icing. Use the paste food coloring to color the icing. You will need quite a bit of red food coloring to achieve a deep red color. Make sure that you tint enough red icing to decorate all of the cupcakes because it is nearly impossible to match the same color red for a second batch.Frost the cupcakes red. Add the yellow icing to a baggie, creating an icing bag. Snip the very end of the bag creating a tiny whole. Draw the Chinese Symbol for "Good Fortune" (see pattern) on top of the cupcakes.

2 Panel Pocketfold invitations

click on picture to get to website that includes directions for making this exquisite invite

This gorgeous invitation I found on projectwedding.com. This happened to be for an Asian wedding, but the invite could be made to fit ANY theme. Imagine the red patterned Asian print being replaced with a dark blue solid and made to look like mock airline tickets. Then it could be a theme to do with travel, vacation, getaway, Happy Retirement or a Bon Voyage party. You could have fun colors and have it be a handout at the party for a scavenger hunt or progressive dinner with a map to other eating locales.

How to start your own Supper club a.k.a. Dinner Group

I had heard about supper clubs, but I wasn't sure what it was. To read more on this subject see my other posts (http://maggiesdinnerdates.blogspot.com/search/label/Dinner%20Groups) Cooking Light Central.com had a great article explaining how to start one, tips for hostesses, and for the themes listed below you can get printable invitations, menu, recipe cards, and place cards. Check it out!!!
A supper club is, in many ways, a glorified potluck dinner. The food is often excellent, the company is entertaining and the work is split evenly between the friends in the club. Although we often consider quickness of food service to be more important than taste or quality, a supper club turns this concept on its head. Time is the least important consideration, while the quality of the food and the friendship is paramount.

Tip Sheet (this is a great resource open it up and check it out!) - Plan an organizational meeting to plan: How many and Who will be in the group? How often will you meet? What day of the week will you meet? Will the club cook together on site? Will it be potluck by couple? Who will host party? Will menus be themed? and many other questions you will need to answer.

Here are basic guidelines to think about....
Step 1 Invite your friends. You may want to include old friends or new friends in your entertaining. It doesn't matter, as long as they enjoy cooking and are passionate about their food. You can select a small group or a big group, depending on the space you have available.
Step 2 Choose a menu. Your supper club may want to concentrate on a specific type of food: Thai food, Italian food, vegetarian food or comfort food. You may choose to vary the menu from time to time.
Step 3 Divide up the cooking. The host of the supper club will usually prepare the main course with the guests bringing side dishes, salads and desserts. More accomplished cooks may choose more complicated dishes, while beginning chefs may choose simpler fare.
Step 4 Set a schedule. Some supper clubs meet every other month, some meet quarterly. You can do whatever works for the members of your group.
Step 5 Take turns visiting each other's homes. Supper clubs usually rotate between the homes of the various members. This way no one is committed to always making the main dish or preparing their home for entertaining guests.
Step 6 Cook, eat and enjoy. The entire purpose of a supper club is to eat good food while spending time with people you like. Take the time to enjoy this delightful style of entertaining.

Themed Parties (you have to check these out!!!)

The Other Side of the Mediterranean (gorgeous invites and placecards)
Southern BBQ (leather looking invites and placecards)
Pan Asian (fun! the menu sheet will be fun to fill)
Homestyle Italian (not my style, but still cute)
The Exotic Flavors of India (beautiful invite and recipe cards)
The World of Japanese Cuisine