Corisha's 30th Cirque De Fete

Inspired by the Cirque de Bebe baby shower on Hostess with the Mostess; I decided to do a Cirque De Fete themed party for Corisha's 30th Birthday Celebration. I had a blast! I think that Mr. Falsetto was absolutely right when he stated that I had as much fun planning the party than the guest had at the party :)! Planning is a party that I can have all by.my.self {that's me posing for the photographer as she worked on her lighting; I grew tired after 4 shots}!

Let's take it from the top shall we? For the invites we decided to do a large poster. A huge shout out to my girl Printable Bride for setting the stage for the party with the smashing poster invite seen below.

Corisha has a huge clientele base and we wanted to ensure that everybody was invited. We hung the poster in the fourier of her business and provided a feathery pen and a flashy guestbook for her guest to RSVP. {I had the pen on hand and purchased the guestbook from Hallmark; I embellished them both with bling, ribbon and feathers; can you say a Fete with a little Feathery Flair}?
The walls of the room in which the party would take place were painted lime green and purple! Ideas begin to instantly race through my mind about how I could incorporate those colors and still create a fabulous party for an emerging business leader turning 30!

So I did what I do best and took a field trip to Hobby Lobby. With the photos from the Cirque Bebe in mind; I suddenly found myself traveling down the feather aisle. And then it happened... I laid eyes on package of lime green and magenta pink speckled feathers. The light bulb went off, the sirens sounded and the bells rang! Magenta pink, lime green, purple, black and zebra print. I know it sounds like a lot, but I assure you that there was an instant love affair between the theme for party, the colors and me! I can't wait to show you how it all came together!

First off the cake! I surfed the web and found about five inspiration photogs to carry to the cake designer. The first photo is of my original inspiration and the second one is of the actual cake. I must admit that I liked ours much, much more :)!

Secondly, the cake stand! I wanted the cake presentation to WOW the guest! So, I solicited the help of a great friend {thanks Jana} to help me cover two large square boxes... I was sooooo happy with the outcome of the stand! Did I mention that I had bling EVERYWHERE?

I love all of the new connected birthday banners that are being created using scrapbook paper, ribbon and the Cricut! I decided to try my hand at creating one for this birthday bash. I was really pleased with the outcome! I think I found another hidden talent!

I hung this banner over the magenta photo backdrop that I ordered online for $4.99! It showed up really well.

For the centerpieces I alternated between ballons and feathered glass centerpieces seen below... I used a little bling and floating candles in the glass centerpieces. They were absolutely adorable with the lights out!!!!

I was very pleased with the overall outcome of this event and the guest were double-ly impressed! I just thank God for the gift of creativity and the ability to make it all come together... Give me your vison and I will make it your reality at Visuality Planning and Events!

I will leave you with some bonus pics.... enjoy!

The gift that keeps on giving...

The welcome table...

And that all folks!

Until next time,

M'Shonta

I am taking a Little Blogging Hiatus...

The next two weeks will be extremely busy for me... I have family coming in town and most importantly we will be celebrating our 23rd Pastoral & Church Anniversary... So over the next few days I will be cranking our administrative documents, festive tablescapes, centerpieces, delectable desserts, team building training and creative spiritual dance movements... There you have it! My cup overfloweth... so I am cutting back a few other hobbies/tasks so that I will not have a major spill :)!

Not to worry, I will be back soon and when I return I will shower you with photos from my time with the family, a Cirque de Fete themed birthday bash and our church anniversary. If I get really fancy I will post a video (yes, I am being extremely optimistic).

See you on the flip side!

A Time for Witty Inventions

Today I am going to share with you an article that was written by Jeff Doles on this Faith Blog. It was posted on Wednesday, March 11, 2009, but I think that it it just as relevant today as it was yesterday.

I hope that you will enjoy! After reading this article I had a light bulb moment that if it is carefully carried out; it will shape the rest of my life! This entry truly blessed me and I hope that it will do the same for you!

I wisdom dwell with prudence and find out knowledge of witty inventions. (Proverbs 8:12)

Prudence is the practical application of wisdom. It leads to “witty inventions.” Young’s Literal Translation renders this as “knowledge of devices.” The English Standard Bible has “discretion.” John Wesley calls it “ingenious contrivances for the glory of God, and for the good of men.” In his Commentary on the Bible, Adam Clarke has this: “The farther wisdom proceeds in man, the more practical knowledge it gains; and finding out the nature and properties of things, and the general course of providence, it can contrive by new combinations to produce new results.” Here is Keil and Delitzsch (Commentary on the Old Testament) on this verse:

It denotes well-considered, carefully thought out designs, plans, conclusions, and da’ath [“knowledge”] is here the knowledge that is so potent. This intellectual power is nothing beyond wisdom, it is in her possession on every occasion; she strives after it not in vain, her knowledge is defined according to her wish.

God wants to give you some witty inventions, clever devices, ingenious contrivances and bright ideas. Surely, that would be very helpful for these challenging times. Crisis is really opportunity in disguise — and what a lot of opportunity has been dumped in our laps!

Witty inventions come from prudence; prudence is the practical application of wisdom; wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord — living in awe and honor of God. When we seek Him, He will give us wisdom for the asking (James 1:5), for His desire is for us to succeed and prosper in all things and every situation (Joshua 1:6-8; Psalm 1:1-3; 3 John 2).

In Genesis, Joseph experienced many adversities, but he looked to the Lord and prevailed over them all. When famine was about to come upon the land, Joseph recognized it by Pharaoh’s dream and the wisdom God gave to interpret. Then he received divine wisdom about what to do about it. As a result, Joseph ended up as vice-regent over all of Egypt, and his “witty invention” blessed all the people in the land and brought in much wealth and prosperity for Egypt.

The prophet Daniel was another man who knew how to face adversity with divine wisdom. As a captive in Babylon, when other young men were being fed rich meats, foods and wines from the king’s table, Daniel developed a very healthy diet for him and his three friends, and then devised a clever test to convince his superior of the benefits of this diet. Not only did these four young men turn out to be the healthiest in the bunch, God also gave them great knowledge and skill in literature and wisdom, and they were ten times better than all the king’s magicians and astrologers (Daniel 2). Like Joseph before Pharaoh, God gave Daniel the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams, which brought glory to God and promotion to Daniel. He ended up as the chief of the wise men, lived in the gate of the king and became governor over Babylon.

Faithpoint: This is a time for the practical application of wisdom in crafting solutions, a time for ingenious contrivances, clever devices and bright ideas. This is a time for Josephs and Daniels to arise, a time for witty inventions. Ask God for divine wisdom, then watch for what He will show you. You might very well end up with something that brings great glory to God, great blessing to others and great promotion and prosperity for yourself.

A Pink & Zebra Print/ Top Model themed 13th Birthday Bash

Back in August, yes August, I planned a 13th birthday bash whose theme consisted of a perfect blend of zebra print, hot pink and ANTM. Oh, how I love the three...

First off the invites... Playing off of the "Tyra Mail" that is given to the on contestants on the show ANTM, we went with the "Kristin Mail" invites seen here... From what I here they were a hit among her friends and classmates! Can I say S-C-O-R-E!


Inside of the invitations were two inserts: one provided the directions and the other one instructed the girls on what to wear for the fashion show, which was scheduled to take place during the party. So on the day of the party all the giddy teenagers arrived with garment bags containing their outfits of choice.


The fashion show was a blast! Over a year ago, I found a Make Me a Fashion Model themed cd at the Dollar Tree with the expectation of using it to volunteer with a local 4-H club's fashion show. I didn't get use the cd for that event, but it sure did come in handy for this one! Thank God for good deals!
We found these adorable zebra print plates at Hobby Lobby! It took us nearly a month to purchase enough of them for the party. I think that it is safe to assume that the zebra print was very popular for events in our area. (On a side note, I judged a Jr. Miss pageant a couple of weeks ago and they used these plates as well). Assumption confirmed! Ha!


I decided to take the simplistic, yet chic route with the decor for this party because I had so many other events taking place around the same time. If I must say so myself, everything turned out A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E! Sometimes less is best especially when you are dabbling in the animal prints.

Next up were the party favors. I originally found them on Etsy as seen in the the photog below, however, I just could not bring myself to pay full price for something that I felt could be done for a fraction of the cost.

So the birthday girl's mother and I collected toilet paper rolls for over a month. I purchased the zebra scrapbook paper, filling and ribbon from Hobby Lobby and she provided the labor and lavish treats that rested on the inside of these lovelies! Another successful DIY! Check!

Lastly, the birthday cake! It seemed as though every child in our area had a birthday in the month of August. It became seemingly impossible to have a cake made with our most popular cake decorators in the area. I guess with shows such as the Cake Boss everyone wants a fabulous cake for their events and heck, I can't blame them! We went with a lady who does cakes part-time out of her home, and boy were we pleased! The cake was beautiful and quite tasty too!

In my other world, I am Kristin's pageant coach. So, I could not resist the opportunity to coordinate our outfits with the party theme!


Fierce!

Until next time,

M'Shonta

Happy Birthday to My Spiritual Mother

You let me know you love me
In so many different ways.
You make me feel important
With encouragement and praise.

You're always there when I need you
To comfort and to care.
I know I'm in your thoughts;
Your love follows me everywhere.


Thank you for all you've done
And given so generously.
I love you, my wonderful spiritual mother;
You're a heaven-sent blessing to me.


By Joanna Fuchs