Okay so I’m a Big Fat Liar

So…. I didn’t exactly keep my word on keeping up with the blog since my last post in March.

Whoops.

The summer is our busiest season at The Loft, and we have been channeling all our creativity into  our brides and our ideas for them. Which now that I think about it, we should just be sharing all of that on here! So I’m going to start a new category on our blog here, just for our event ideas, and the end result of that event. I’m gathering info for it today. 🙂 Yay!

If you are one of our clients and are willing to send us some great shots of our work and you and your family having a blast at your event, don’t hesitate to send them our way! We would love so much to have them.

Brooke

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A Long Awaited Post…

Wow! Things have been so hectic at The Loft lately, I haven’t touched this blog in ages.

I’m starting back up, but don’t expect daily posts anymore. Or at least until the busy season starts to slow down!

You can expect for the honeymoon destination to continue every week as usual, though.

What do you want to see? Let me know what trends or decor ideas/projects you want to see on here, and I’ll do it! I love to hear ideas from the minds of others, there is always stuff I never would have thought of doing myself.

What’s been your favorite post/posts so far?

 

Brooke

Family Reunion

Family reunions are one of the most fun parties to be a part of. With all the different activities and all the generations in one place, it really is fun. If you’re planning on doing a family reunion soon, here is a specific family reunion to get you going on the planning of yours to take place during the lovely weather Spring promises.

This is The Classic Picnic-

  

This Eagle Spings, TX Park Pavillion is a typical one you’ll find.They’re perfectly suited for family reunions as they’ve got plenty of seating, shade, electic hook ups, bathrooms nearby, and generally a playground for the kids in addition to room for activities.

Next, add in serving tables for lemonade, tea, and condiments for the food with red gingham cloths. String up a banner (try http://www.bannergrams.com/scripts/browsebanners.asp?cat_code=FAMR for some templates that you just fill in your name. This company usually ships out within 24 hours.)

Then, string up some pretty lights, put up balloons to guide the familia in, and put on some music that’s fun. The little ones may want to dance, and cuties shaking their diapers is a subject everyone loves talking about, which is a nice ice breaker to use until everyone finished filtering in!

Below are some activies to consider. Some parks have the set up for some of these, some don’t. Have some fun with the ideas, and make up some of your own!

 

Games reunions play
Capture the flag
Charades
Duck, Duck, Goose
Find the Leader
Follow the Leader
Hopscotch
Hot Potato
Jump Rope/Double Dutch
London Bridge
Mother, May I?
Pin the Tail on the Donkey
Red Light, Green Light
Red Rover
Ring around the Rosy
Ring Toss
Scavenger Hunt
Simon Says
Steal the Bacon
Tag
Treasure Hunt
Tug of War
Water Balloons
Wolf & Sheep

 

Races
Egg Carry
Sack Race
Three-legged Race

Team sports
Basketball
Bowling
Dodgeball
Football
Kickball
Soccer
Softball
Volleyball
Wiffleball

 

 

This family reunion plan was made to optimize time for planning, to have minimal prep and clean up, and to do it all on a modest budget. I hope your family reunion is fabulous and your whole family has a blast.

 

Don’t forget the extension cords and ice!

 

Brooke

 

Things to do in your life together #27

Go gem digging!

(If you live in the Arkansas/Oklahoma area, take a trip to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, AR. Only park in the world where you can keep the dimaonds you found! No other gem would be more memorable as her new ring.)

Lighting as Your Decor

There are a lot of ways to accentuate your decor fundementals, but none as original and mood-setting as they are inexpensive and easy to do as lighting effects. A few of those lighting effects we’ll look at at are: candlelight, lanterns, twinkle lights, and natural light.

Classic Candlelight

 Show above is a line of tea lights on a simple black cloth to spotlight the subtle romantic glow. They’re a surprisingly cheap way to decorate. This is a link to Amazon showing a bag of 100 unscented candles as you see here for $14.69. Can’t beat that!  http://www.amazon.com/Unscented-Tealights-Bag-of-100/dp/B000JM6VPC

Lighted Lanterns

These are twig lanterns entwined with LED string lights, hanging from a tree. It creates such a beautiful atmosphere, with the lights playing off of the natural wood of the lanterns. These are a great DIY project. Twine in a good alternative to twigs.

Twinkle Lights

 

 I love the idea of hanging twinkle lights straight down from a tree to create a weeping willow effect for a lovely backdrop. The daintier the lights the better here, as they’ll sway with the wind giving it an organic look in the spirit of a true weeping willow.

Natural Lighting

 

 A sunset is the best form of natural light to use a backdrop. Holding your event near the water during sunset is a perfect way to see the colors lighting up the sky amplified by reflecting off the water.

Want to see some other lighting effect ideas? Have some you want to share? That’s what the comment section below is for! I LOVE heaing from my readers, don’t be shy. 😉

Brooke

Things to do in your life together #24

Just go for a drive.

Grown-up Inflatables Par-tay!

We see inflatables everywhere. Every kid wants them. Every adult secretly wants to play on them. Whether a slide, bounce castle, obstacle course, or a combo inflatable strikes your fancy, there are sure a lot of fun options for them! You see these bad boys at kid parties ’round the block, rain or shine. But when do adults get to have them? When do we get to don our bathing suits and splash and waller and have water balloon fights? Here is a perfectly acceptable excuses to embrace your inner child, and for my local followers, pricing and pictures of inflatables our shop carries.

After-Hours Block Party-

This is an idea we’ve cooked up and would just love to give it a whirl! We envision an 18+ block party that starts at dark with almost a disco theme! Lots of fun lights, inflatables, cotton candy and popcorn machines, and a karaoke machine and a dance floor for the karaokers to be the music for the dancers (and it has a hook up for your iPod or laptop if you just want music)

These are the products we offer at The Loft that we would recommend for this neighborly shindig.

Karaoke Machine-$69.00 a day. Includes two cordless microphones, speakers, screen, and music.

20×20 tent- $175 a day. Perfect for setting up your dance floor and karaoke machine under! Looks beautiful with color up lights ~that change with the beat of the music!~ displayed inside with twinkle lights for a gorgeous ambiance. (Upshot shown filled with balloons inside)

Cotton Candy Machine and Popcorn Maker-Each are $35. We have the sugar, cones, popcorn bags, popcorn, and all the flavors and bells and whistles you need!

 

And now…. THE INFLATABLES!

This obstacle course would be so fun to have a battle of the sexes race in. Even though we know the girls would win! It rents for $165.00 a day.

So this one has an amazingly tall slide ( that you can race your next door neighbor for who gets custody of that hammer!) that will just wow everyone. We’ve just ordered this one in and haven’t set a price yet. (But it’s just too cool and awesome to not include in this post!)

If you want a traditional castle bounce, we’ve got those! $99.00 a day.

This one is really fun because it’s got a bit of everything to it. It has a basketball goal, wet/dry slide, and a nice big area to bounce in! It rents for $165.00 a day.

And to occupy those guys while the girls are dancing the night away, we have a 5 sided “mini” sports area. Basketball, baseball, soccer, football, and dart and frisbee! 2 players per side is standard. We just bought this and haven’t gotten it in yet, so we haven’t got a rental rate for it yet. We do know it’s going to be the cheapest inflatable that can be used by adults, though.

And what fun is a party without balloons?? You can get bags of balloons cheaper here than most anywhere else. We also have a helium tank customers are free to rent the tank for a few bucks, and you just pay for the helium used. One tank uses about 60 dollars worth of helium, and does 900 balloons. So go crazy with the colors!

Hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did coming up with it. And now I really want to have that party, so somebody better want to throw one I can plan and make fabulous for you and all your friends!

Brooke

Things to do in your life together #22

Make a snow fort.

Mirror, Mirror on the….Wall?

Sure, sure a mirror on the wall is what you think should go in the title.  Well you can definitely put a mirror on the wall, but how original is that? Mirrors are a great thing to incorporate into your decor, whether its your home, wedding, or any ol party. Here are a few ideas to get those wheels turning on how to bring this mod and sophisticated accent into your plans.

This table I think would do quite nicely for a guest book or cake table, or add a flash to your entryway. This is where you can find it:

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/737463/list/Guest-Picks–Mirrored-Console-Tables

This bowl would look amazing for a modern centerpiece, for a reception table, or dinner table. You can arrange virtually anything in it to make the design your own. Find it at:   http://www.allmodern.com/Alessi-Resonance-Fruit-Holder-by-Abi-Alice-ABI02-AAS1223.html

I can think of many lovely applications for this darling tray table! However your creative mind may choose to use it, it’ll add a lovely touch to your decor. Find it at:

http://notremonde.com/index.php/trays/round/mirror-tray-large-circle-1.html

No matter how or where you choose to use your mirror accents (like getting mirror circles and stringing them together to drape around your room!) it’s sure to be a display to turn heads.

Thanks for checking out this post! Click like and follow if you enjoyed it!

Brooke.

Things to do in your life together #20

Go garage saling for a morning.

Cotton Candy!

Cotton Candy is a delicious, airy treat that will make anyones eyes sparkle, whether they’re 8 or 88! Here are some fun ways to use cotton candy in your event that I liked. These ideas are for all sorts of events, so take them and make them your own for whatever you may be planning!

Served on rock candy sticks:

I love this idea! It’s spunky, and it’s pretty nifty for a grown up party, too. 🙂

(From Martha Stewart)

This one is fun to make, and to drink! A Pink Punk Cosmo, as made so famous by TGI Fridays. Garnish with a slice of strawberry or a few cranberries for a twist.

A recipe from cosmo-recipe.com

To make one at home you combine 2 ounces of vodka, 1 ounce of cranberry juice, and 1 ounce of pineapple juice over ice in a cocktail shaker, shake it vigorously for 10-15 seconds then pour it over the puff of cotton candy patiently waiting in a cocktail glass to be doused and dissolved.

Pretty simple!

This idea is just awesome, if you ask me. What is a wonderful accent for a delicious cupcake? Why, more deliciousness of course! These cupcakes have cotton candy mixed in the buttercream icing, and a tuft of the fluffy stuff on top!

 You can find the recipe at thefoodieskitchen.com.

Cotton candy is a whimsical touch for an event, whether it’s for 5 people or 500. I hope I’ve inspired you in the planning of your event in some way. 🙂

Brooke

Things to do in your life together #19

Have a weekly date. A real date.