2011 ISES Capital Awards Nomination!

I'm excited to announce that I've been nominated for a 2011 Capital Award in the category of Event Decor!  I submitted my Edgar Allan Poe party, "Once Upon A Midnight Dreary" from last October (you may remember my Poe tomb tutorials). 

Last night they threw the nominees a lovely reception at the Bolger Center in Potomac, MD.
Awards will be announced this Sunday at the annual Gala.

New find: your cupcakes can be the most original on earth!

I know how popular cupcakes are these days, but how many of us actually have the time to customize them for every party?  I like the printables that stick in the top, but after a couple of those it's time to change things up.  So look at these!

Cupcake wrappers and design ideas from Roundabouts!

Here's how they work:
1. Make the cupcake

2. Put on the wrapper

3. Decorate the top!

Easy as, well, cupcakes!

TSE Update

The Special Event is over halfway through and I've seen some great speakers and events.  Here's a peek:

Simon T. Bailey and Marley Majcher

Wedding Luncheon

I'm off to another day now starting off with Michael Cerbelli's Hot Event Ideas 2011!

Tombstone tutorial: Part 1

So here's your how-to on tombstones!  Of course yours doesn't need to be this complex.  Usually people start with something well, smaller and less complicated.  But not here, I'm very goal oriented and just HAD to make the real thing.  If you're not as crazy, you can use these steps to create any size and style of tombstone you'd like.  We have many old cemeteries in the area so I often go and take inspiration from those.  If you don't have one handy, there are many great photos on Google images.

So, I started off with several good quality photos of the real thing I found online. 

I made a quick sketch of the tombstone right on my pieces of 2" pink insulation foam.  This type of foam is sold at home improvement stores and comes in long sheets.  It doesn't break apart into pellets like white styrofoam does and is much more dense.  Pink foam comes in 2 foot widths, so I made the main structure 2' wide and then just eyeballed the proportions of everything else.

Once I had the dimensions pencilled in, I started on the small items.  Mostly because it was raining outside so I couldn't cut my big pieces of foam and I needed projectss I could do indoors.  My first task was the harp.  I sketched out the design on 1/2" pink foam and cut it out with my hot wire saw.  Of course I did this in front of the open door so that the fumes didn't kill me.

Then I sanded.  A LOT.  And some more after that.  Finally I ended up with nice round edges and a pleasing shape.

For the leaves I used model magic from the craft store.  It is very light and stays plyable when dry.  I rolled it out with a rolling pin and used leaf shaped cookie cutters to cut out the leaf shapes.  I rounded all of the edges with my fingers and let them dry in different positions.  I also made the stems by rolling little snakes. 

These took several days to dry completely.

I put those aside and went to work on the acanthus leaves on the upper corners of the tombstone.  I did these exactly like the harps. 

First I sketched them on the foam, then cut them with the hot wire, and finally kept sanding until I thought my hands would fall off.  I used several types of block sanders and half round metal files.  Remember, I did the full, 3-d tombstone, so there are FOUR sides, thus 8 are needed.

And here they are all nice and polished.

Finally the leaves were dry, so I added those to the harps with liquid nails.

Phew, that was a lot of work. 

Next time we'll work with some more model magic and sculpt the Poe bas-relief.
I'm also looking forward to part 3, actual construction and power tools!!  See you next time.

Once Upon A Midnight Dreary

Edgar Allan Poe is a great theme for a party.  He wrote so many poems and short stories that you can make it very literary, very creepy or somewhere in between depending on your audience.  For this corporate reception I aimed to capture a spooky feeling in the middle.

The centerpiece was a re-creation of the Poe tombstone and cemetery in Baltimore, MD.

Several vignettes brought scenes from his works to life, like this one from "Murder at the Rue Morgue."

Life size text from "The Raven" along with a mysteriously floating quill.

Aged books and candles decorated the cocktail tables.

The butler greeted guests along with his pet raven.

I always like to provide informational props for guests who may not be well versed in a particular theme.  This road sign reproduction gave a lot of information about Poe in a party friendly way.

Framed graphics with illustrated titles of his works also illuminated the connection between the props and theme.

The purpose of the themes and props are to provide conversation starters for attendee networking and recognition for the sponsor. 

I think these goals are important for all events, whether corporate or personal.  Facilitating guest interaction keeps the party going and encourages attendees to stay longer and feel connected, even if they are attending solo.

Even though it was a "dreary" event the attendees had a great evening with Poe.

Happy find

Sometimes things just already exist that are perfect for an event or theme.  I found the perfect butler for my Poe party and am thrilled.  He has a raven on his shoulder and says things about "nevermore".

Even though he wasn't in my original plan, I think he'll add a lot!  So when you see them, grab them.  A little extra spend, but absolutely NO DIY!   Sometimes that in itself makes me happy.

So relieved

Ahhh, so relieved this weekend.  I finally completed the major props for my Poe party.  I'm apparently not very patient with myself when it comes to my projects that last more than a week or two.  I did have a deadline though, so I guess it wasn't just my own pressure!

It feels great to finally get the kitchen table back.  It has been covered in craft supplies and tools for the last month.

So here's the big reveal (although not in its "natural setting" yet)... The Poe Tombstone!

This is a replica of the real one in Baltimore, MD.  It stands about 4.5' tall and is mostly made from pink insulation foam.  The 'bronze' face is model magic.

So there it is!  Stay tuned for the tutorial and the rest of the setup in future posts.

And the preparations continue

The theme for my 2010 display is Edgar Allan Poe.   I wanted to include vintage books in my display, however didn't have the budget or the resources for actual old, leather books.  So I went to the used book store and as luck would have it, they were thinning their stock.  So for the price of just one nice used Poe compendium, I got two big boxes of hardbound books they were going to toss!

However they were bright and shiny all taken care of in their dust jackets.  So I ripped off the jackets and set about aging them in tea.  I brewed a very large and strong batch of tea and let it cool.  Then I immersed them each for a minute or two. 

Then I took a scrub sponge and went up and down the spines to dull or remove the lettering. 

Finally I put them out to dry.

2nd project done for my vignette!  Stay tuned for more Dark Autumn ideas...

Dark Autumn preparations

I love decorating for Halloween!!  It's my favorite holiday of the year.  So many themes to choose from and lots of imagination!

One thing I like to use in my decor are leaves.  However black faux leaves are really expensive and they're fairly poor quality in terms of density/# of leaves on the garland. 

This year I wanted to use them at the base of my decorations.  I had this one from last year but needed several more.

So I went to my M's craft store and bought four of these all on sale at $9.99 ea.  They're full and thick, however they're much too pretty and bright.  I need moody and a little decayed.



Spray paint to the rescue, one can of black and voila!  Dark and mysterious, just like I wanted. 

The fabric leaves really soak up the paint, I used one can per two garlands.  If you wanted a solid black they would need another coat.  I liked the varigation showing through so left them as shown.

Before/After

These will show up soon in one of my vignettes.  Only 31 days to Halloween!!

Color themes

Planning a party with a color theme makes selecting items much easier and really makes the decor and food "pop".  While browsing through the new Lindt chocolate brochure I discovered that their beautiful truffles come in a variety of opulent colors.  These higher-end treats would be a great item for a dessert table or favors by each plate if dessert isn't served. http://www.lindtusa.com/

Swamp shack tutorial

 

A swamp shack is a great backdrop and focal point for multiple event areas including bar and game areas.  My shack had to be shipped to the event site, so was created with transportation ease in mind. Here's the tutorial on how I made it.

The framework base was made from 1/2" PVC pipe I spray painted black.  Painting was an extra step that is not 100% needed, but for this application I wanted to make sure that if they were visible through the cover materials they wouldn't stand out.  PVC pipe is available from any home center, however I had to order several of the specialty fittings with 4 and 5 openings online.  To increase stability, after this photo was taken I cut the verticals supporting the "building" in two and added horizontal cross pieces to the middle.  I left the two verticals "as is" for the open porch area.

 

The roof was vacuformed plastic shingles from Sketch-Lite, a theater prop supplier.  It comes white so I first painted it a dark brown and then went in with lighter brown, grey, yellow and green to highlight areas where natural weathering and growth would occur.  The faux painting and aging should not be subtle, it needs to be heavy in order to show up under the darker specialty lighting of the event.  The plastic can then be trimmed and cut to size with heavy scissors or a utility knife.

 

I attached the roof with wide hook and loop tape. This allowed for easy assembly onsite.  The shack sign was carved from foam and also mounted with tape (look for my tutorial on foam signs).  The sponsor, guest of honor's name, or other fun store name would all be appropriate to highlight here.

 

The same paint technique was also used on the shack door which was carved from pink foam and white styrofoam. 

 

The door was created in two pieces for easier transport.  Skewers were used to attach the top and bottom on site.

The porch posts were actually giant size pool noodles, painted and aged in the same color as the roof and door.  They just slipped over the pvc (they come with a hole that runs up the middle).

 

The porch flooring was a simple roll up garden walkway that I stained and aged.  I designed the pvc structure to fit the width of these planks.

The window was a carved piece of foam painted to match and then backed with metallic paper for the "glass".

 

Once on-site I assembled the pvc framework and then wrapped it in corrugated paper with a weathered wood print from Stumps prom & party supplier.  I then attached the roof with hook and loop tape and attached the window and door with tape and fishing wire.

Palms, ferns and amaranthus sprouted from around the shack providing great texture and color to set off the structure.  Finishing touches included a flickering lantern, wood buckets, plastic spiders, frogs, and geckos.  Fishing poles with carved fish dangling from them leaned against the porch posts. 

In front I added black wood rocking chairs where guests could sit,  chalk boards which listed the prizes and how to play the treasure chest game, and finally shipping crates (made from foam) and real whiskey barrels for drinks and food.