Last Minute Theme

What was life thinking?  Getting in the way of blogging....

In the words of Stephanie Tanner from Full House, "how rude!"  :)

And if you thought I was gone forever, no worries! When life gets too busy, unfortunately it's things like blogging that go first... sad, but true! And the last week has been so crazy with parties, get togethers, and a sick hubby. By the way, thank you to everyone who had such sweet get well words for the hubby last week. He is feeling much better, but we are still watching out to make sure this is not an ongoing thing. And I really hope that this will be the LAST of the goobers to visit us for a while! We are sick and tired of being sick and tired!

 

Anyhow, between all the craziness we did manage to squeeze in some time for fun with family celebrating my dad's birthday. My parents just wanted to celebrate with family on the weekend of his birthday, so they came up on a Friday and spent the night at our home. It was a wonderful time - just the four of us talking, great food, crafting {for my mom and I} and talk of finding the perfect fishing spot the next day.

 

As you have probably noticed by now, I love hosting parties. It is a real thrill for me to put together a theme and all the fun goodies that go along with a party.

So you can imagine my excitement when I found this red "You Are Special Today" plate for 50% off at a thrift store. It was in excellent shape, and after two years of hunting for one {no joke, I wasn't going to pay full price!} I finally had one in my little paws...just in time for my dad's birthday weekend!

The original thought was to go with all red and white so that the plate would match the dinner table. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the table was looking like an Italian restaurant. Nothing wrong with that... it just looked out of place with no pasta and breadsticks.

And it was at that moment, with only two hours left before my family arrived, that I changed my theme. Thank goodness that the table was not really set, just decorations sitting on it, because everything was put away except the red plate. Nothing like a last minute switch to keep you on your toes!

 

Since our menu was all food based from the region of Colombia SA that my dad is from, I ran to my linen closet and pulled out a plain white table cloth {from the Fancy Store}, and three glass candle holders {Goodwill}. With those on the table, all I needed were a few touches of yellow, blue and red - the colors of the flag. So I opted for some blue checked napkins {Fancy Store} a yellow napkin ring {gifted} and blue plates for the rest of us.

A little silver plate {Goodwill} in the center of each dinner plate was the perfect holder for our name tags. On the tags, there were typical hats for the guys and a red hibiscus for the girls.

Then I printed off a band of paper with the three colors that said "Feliz Cumpleaños" - Happy Birthday in Spanish. For the other two candle holders I printed off another sombrero and the Colombian coffee logo we all know and love, Juan Valdez with the little donkey :) After punching a hole in the top to make it into a tag, all it needed was some ribbon {Fancy Store} to tie it on. Simple, but within the theme.

The finishing touches were some coffee candies sprinkled around the table, a bracelet in the three colors, some tissue paper flowers and a little figurine of a typical bus.

Voila! Instant party!

Simple? Yes!

Cost? None! I already had everything.

Memories made? You bet!

So the next time a themed dinner party seems too daunting, just remember: use what you have on hand. Be creative! Keep it sipmple. There are no rules ... just make it fun!

Have you ever switched up a theme last minute?

Or perhaps the menu?

All photos taken by yours truly.