n the works for over two months, the party came together beautifully. Over fifty people came to celebrate my beautiful sister on her 30th birthday. And guess what?
She was actually surprised!
Every time we host a big event at our place it nudges us into some form of home improvement. This time, it was a fairly radical change. Most of our guests had been here when the house was white and tired looking. This time they pulled up to a
bright red house. We're a long way from being done, but it thrills me every time I see it.
The party was really an indoor/outdoor one, because there were so many people. We built a fire pit out front that became the literal hotspot of the evening-- apart from the food table, that is. We also made good use of our
screened-in porch. We have a covered fire going in there as well as a slideshow projected onto a screen out there.
People had to walk up a dark lane way so I had to be creative. I strung dozens of
small mason jars along the edge of the trees, and popped LED tea lights inside. It had such a pretty effect without any risk of fire, or the need to relight burn-outs.
To anyone who has a birthday near some kind of national celebration, you may relate to having your parties fall predictably into patterns of decor. This was no exception. I used
pumpkins everywhere. Hope you didn't mind Kate! The kids and I had fun isolating patterns and designs with tape and gold spray paint.
But my very favourite project was
Kate's scrapbook. I had asked everyone I could think of from her past and present to send notes, cards or photos. They came in over the course of a month and I gathered them all into one book. So many kind words about my sister. She stayed up until early morning reading through the book with a full heart.
I had the book on display at the top of the front steps and guests signed in. The
pretty banner strung above it was a handmade gift from one of Kate's closest friends. So pretty.
Happy birthday my darling sister.
