To celebrate my freshly cleaned and organized townhouse (a result of following along with Apartment Therapy's January Cure), I hosted a little get together with some of my favorite girlfriends last weekend . I figured it was close enough to Valentine's Day to make that my theme. It was a fairly low maintenance gathering, so I wanted to share some of the simple ways I decorated and the recipes I used (all from amazing blogs)!
This "Believe in Love" print from Target was a gift at my bridal shower and I've always loved its color scheme. The metal easel was part of our wedding decor.
I kept decor really stress-free by picking up cute plates, napkins and cups at a big box store. I'm sure I could have spent time rubber-stamping kraft paper cutlery or something, but honestly? It's a paper plate. It's going to end up in the trash can.
I have decided that striped straws are an entertaining essential from here on out. They put a smile on everyone's face, especially when paired with my other favorite party trick, the old faithful Mason jar. I found these straws in the $1 bin at Michael's.
Here's a peek at the spread - I went for kind of a sweet shop theme since the best part of Valentine's Day is the CHOCOLATE! Not pictured: veggies and fruit (they were there, I promise!).
True lazy party planning confessions: I had a Rubbermaid container full of the frozen base for the punch I made for Breeze's bridal shower. All I had to add was a bottle of Sprite and the pink punch looked pretty adorable and Valentine's-appropriate.
Oh, these cookies. I made these using a recipe from Averie Cooks. The secret is using pudding instead of cornstarch - soft, chewy, soft-baked goodness. I doubled the M&M's instead of adding chocolate chips.
The other dessert I made were these marshmallow-topped brownie bites from A Pumpkin and a Princess. I had a little bit of trouble getting the brownies out of the mini muffin pan, so if I make these again I will use cupcake liners. Because it took me so long to get the dang things out of the pan, my marshmallows did not magically melt onto the brownies.
But guess what? Melted white chocolate chips make EXCELLENT glue for marshmallows.
The heart shaped marshmallows also look pretty adorable in your
hot chocolate when the party's over. Just FYI.
What are you up to this week? How will you celebrate
Valentine's Day this year?
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