Ambrosia Creative

We had a very lovely evening socializing and enjoying pumpkin-based dishes at our annual pumpkin party for all the ladies from church.

Despite some major glitches along the way (an entire string of lights shattering, missing tablecloths, missing committee members, and so on), everything came together perfectly at the end. We had to work within a ridiculously tight budget, so decorations were handmade or bought on the cheap, and I took full advantage of the outdoor patio/courtyard area our relief society room opens up to. To elevate the “budget” decor, I relied heavily on lighting, hence all the tea lights, luminaries, and string bulb lights.

This undertaking would not have been possible without an awesome planning committee (those that didn’t go AWOL on me) and amazing, amazing friends that came early and stayed late to help, just because. And husbands, I did not forget about you. Your prowess in hanging lights and managing extension cords is worthy of a gift certificate to any electronic store of your choice.

Resources and design notes:
Pumpkins – Martha Stewart tutorial here.

Luminaries – Vellum paper rolled and held together with double-sided tape. Paper trees cut out of black paper, taped onto battery-operated tea lights, then inserted into vellum luminary to create a spooky tree silhouette.

Battery-operated Tea lights – Best price at Costco; 24 lights for $12. Otherwise, order from Oriental Trading.

String bulb lights – Borrowed from dear friends Kaleene and Shawn. But can be found at Target, $8.99 for 25 feet. I know this because we had to buy them a new string to replace the one we broke!

Fall leaves – $1 for pack of 50, dollar section at Target.

Our next big Relief Society activity is only a week away and my mind has been pretty preoccupied with all the party details, so I wanted to design an invitation that had no post-printing work involved: no folding, ribbon tying, stuffing into envelopes, etc. The result is a full-color, double-sided, 5″ square invitation.

And big props to my darling friend Angela who happily obliged to get dressed up and nails painted red (and hands dirtied with pumpkin guts!) for our little photo shoot.

A roundup of things that stood out to me this week:

Pretty plates – I know exactly where I’d hang these in my kitchen.

Typographic calendar – Love the design, love the concept.

School and office supplies – This store makes me wish I can rummage through my grandma’s old house and take home with me items I took for granted growing up.

Vintage circus posters – Isn’t the typography rad?

This dress – I’m a sucker for clothing with animals printed on it. P.S.: The price tag is ridiculous.

And last, but not least, my ultimate favorite thing this week:

Testimony about the Book of Mormon (QuickTime video) – This year marks the 10th year I’ve been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This talk by Jeffrey R. Holland touched me to the core and was especially poignant because the Book of Mormon is very dear to me, and was instrumental in my decision to join the church. Hearing his testimony made me recall all the feelings I had when investigating the church, and rekindled that same fire I felt reading the Book of Mormon for the first time. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

{Pic of Kai above trying to hop into some beached kayaks at Harbor Cove}

My latest design for an upcoming Enrichment activity; a Saturday morning committed to making quilts, quilts, and blankets. Hence the loads of fabric I bought yesterday.

I like it when our church activities – including clean-up — end before 9. Having the ladies decorate their own tables (and even bring a cake) showcased their creativity and made for a very eclectic, but snappy party. Again, home by 9. And I’m on the committee. Some of you know what I’m saying.

I teamed up with my friends Lynette and Angela to put together an Asian-themed table. We were originally going to implement some sort of Paris look. Think black and white. Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face with her glorious balloons. But at 6pm last night, we threw that idea out in favor of an Asian theme (uhhh, two of us are Asian after all…) We gathered inspiration from this Martha Stewart Kids party and literally spent the whole day putting it together.

So I think I got off easy by making just the cake. Angela procured candies, paper, and made the beautiful origami flowers while Lynette spent the entire day going from store, to store, to store, shopping for all the little details. By the time I came with the cake, the two were nearly finished with the table. Again, this was all pulled off today. And both ladies have two little children. My friends are amazing.

One last thing. I was very happy at how this frosting turned out. And also this whipped cream frosting. Both from Cafe Johnsonia.