Pre-Housewarming Cocktail Party Centerpiece

One of the best things we did to make our new condo feel like a home was having a small cocktail party for our friends before a night out at the theater. I am currently on the board of an amazing non-profit in San Diego called Playwrights Project. It's an organization dedicated to arts education and providing a voice to young people through playwrighting. Each year they hold their annual Plays by Young Writers Contest and the winners receive a production of their play at a professional theater here in San Diego. Every year the plays blow me away and every year I try to get friends to go and be inspired by the work that these young people have written. This year I thought that a good way to help fill the seats would be to invite people over for cocktails before the show for a pre-housewarming party. Steve and I were able to show off our new place and help support young playwrights at the same time. It was a wonderful evening and I introduced a great group of people to Playwrights Project.

Since we had just moved and I didn't have my arsenal of entertaining accoutrements out of boxes yet, I used what I had on hand to decorate the appetizer buffet. Throughout the years I have collected a variety of wine glasses for this purpose.

HOW TO...
If you don't have a selection of different glasses, I would suggest putting a number of same glasses in a more deliberate uniform pattern or position, perhaps spread out in a straight line across the length of the table. However, the variety creates more interest and even makes people think that you went to more trouble than you really did for this very easy centerpiece.

Just fill the wine glasses half way with water. I like to use an odd number of glasses and cluster them in groups combining different heights, shapes and sizes . Then, carefully drop in a floating candle, making sure that the wick does not get wet and is standing up ready to be lit. Once the party is ready to begin, light the candles and watch them create a romantic and enticing serving table for your next get together.

Tip...
Ikea sells boxes of white floating candles that are inexpensive and easy to keep on hand.

The Moving Announcement

I am so excited because my husband and I will soon reach one of our biggest milestones together...the purchase of our first home. Our closing date is drawing near and the anticipation of moving is growing. Despite all the excitement, our first home will come with a lot of responsibilities. I am choosing to only think of my favorite responsibilities, like painting, decorating and party planning- a house warming party that is.

But before all that, comes the packing, the moving, and the changing of address.

Wait, hold on! I figured out a way that I could make changing my address fun! Here is what I came up with for our moving announcement. After coming up with the initial idea, the execution was pretty simple. Here are the directions for creating a similar announcement. You might find an easier way to do it but here are the steps that I took.

How to create a Google map moving announcement…

Go to Google maps

-Get directions from your old place to your new place
-Print screen
-Paste it into a word document and crop unneeded info (it will look small)
-Enlarge to a legible size; writing may look a little fuzzy
-Copy picture

Open a Photoshop program

-Paste the map into a new document (the map should look clearer in photoshop)
-Use the text tool to add text to the map
-Save as a jpeg

Go to shutterfly.com

-Upload photo to a photocard template, add new address info and phone number
-Order prints and send out to all your friends and family!