Wrapping Up Royal Wedding Week

To wrap up a week of Royal Wedding themed posts, I’d love to share a bit of the excitement and fun we had at the FineStationery.com office today. Many of us were wide awake and glued to our television sets early this morning as coverage of the event began. We watched the arrival of the dashing Princes, the beautiful Mother of the Bride, the always elegant Queen, and then the stunning bride in lace. We arrived at the office with much excitement as we caught a glimpse of one another’s homemade fascinators -- we wanted to feel and look fancy, just like the guests! As the newlywed Prince and Princess appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, the office gathered together to watch and sip tea. One of our Pre-Press Designers even made scones from scratch! Catch a glimpse of my fascinator, complete with a feathered and sparkly bird adornment, and one of our Graphics Production Specialists’ origami fascinator!

For fun, some of my co-workers received Royal Wedding packages that I created, containing shortbread, English breakfast tea and a gorgeous (paper) replica of Kate's engagement ring!

How did you celebrate the Royal Wedding? We’d love to hear your stories!

A big thank you to Shannon in our Business Development group for documenting the FINE festivities!

Dressing for the Royal Wedding

With less than 24 hours to go until the Royal Wedding, it’s time to start thinking about what you’ll be wearing. A regal feathered hat is the perfect accessory to your fanciest pajamas and slippers! If you’re feeling crafty, check out {this video} for a tutorial on making your own gorgeous hair accessory.

Hair adornments via BHLDN

Royal Pre-Wedding Tea

The FineStationery.com office is buzzing with excitement over the Royal Wedding. We've even decorated with some bunting, and plan to sip tea on Friday morning in lieu of our regular cup o' joe. With the excitement growing each day, I was inspired to put together an inspiration board for a Bridal Pre-Wedding Tea that could be held in Miss Middleton's honor. I image her relaxing and sipping tea with her closest friends, wearing lady-like gloves and a beautiful fascinator:

A palette of soft pinks and rich gold tones would suit this event perfectly -- Table image via Martha Stewart

For a feminine touch, ladies would wear lace gloves and lovely hats or fascinators -- Both accessories via BHLDN

Serve cakes and an English dessert, like Eton Mess -- Images via The Knot and Martha Stewart

Tea will be served in antique teacups -- Image via Pinterest

A Treat for Royal Wedding Week

If you're prepping for your Royal Wedding Watching Party (styled after this post, of course!), here's a unique and fun dessert idea:

It's a royal engagement ring mini cupcake! Isn't it adorable? The blue rock candy gives a nod to Kate's stunning sapphire ring. These cupcakes would be the perfect addition to your event! Spotted over at Candy and Cake, this recipe and idea was originally posted on Betty Crocker.

Princess Party

To kick off the week of the Royal Wedding, I'd love to share a beautiful and sweet Princess Party that I spotted over at Hostess with the Mostess. The pastel colors and sparkly details are simply stunning. Any little girl who watches the Prince marry his Princess this coming Friday will surely love their own royal celebration!

All images via Hostess with the Mostess

Happy, Hoppy Easter!

Hop On Over Invitation by Stacy Claire Boyd, available at FineStationery.com

Happy Earth Day!

Image via Martha Stewart

As we kick off a holiday weekend, let's not forget that today is also Earth Day! If the weather is nice in your neighborhood, get outside to breath some fresh air, do a little gardening, or simply have a picnic outdoors. If you are looking for a few ways to put more meaning into Earth Day, I encourage you to read {this article}, which is full of great tips -- joining a community garden, for example! If you'd like to read more about Earth Day, visit the official site {here}.  Don't miss the Earth Day Network Footprint Calculator -- a quick quiz to see what your footprint on the Earth looks like!

Enjoy the outdoors and, if you're celebrating Easter, have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Big Top Wedding

With Water for Elephants due in theaters tomorrow, we've got circus-themed celebrations in mind. For the fun, young-at-heart couple -- Celebrate under the Big Top with a circus themed wedding reception, complete with ticket stubs, balloons, games and lemonade.

Serve spiked lemonade as your signature cocktail, garnishing the glasses with tiny plastic elephants or monkeys -- Martha Stewart

For decor, place coils of tickets and small circus animal figurines on tables -- Martha Stewart

Choose a gown with lots of ruffles for a fun look -- Love and Lavender

Place mason jars full of striped straws on the bar to add flair to drinks -- Bake It Pretty

Have the groom sport a dashing bow tie in a fun color or pattern -- Etsy

Oversized balloons in assorted colors look festive when tied to tents or chairs -- Glamour

Hang twinkle lights and pretty parasols inside the tent or in trees if your reception is outdoors -- 100 Layer Cake

A circus themed wedding would not be complete without a few game stations -- Martha Stewart

This wedding cake, decorated with fondant tickets, is just the right look for such an event. Serve cake with candy circus peanuts or rock candy -- Martha Stewart

Choose an invitation that is just as much fun as your theme. A ticket stub invitation is the perfect choice -- Checkerboard, available at FineStationery.com

Wedding Trend: Aviation Theme

Aviation themed weddings and engagement photo sessions are taking flight (pun intended!) I've seen several aviation themed events in the wedding blog space in which couples have selected an airplane hanger as their reception venue -- how fun! A vintage airplane makes for a wonderfully unique photo op, too! Would you consider this theme for your own nuptials?

Images via Style Me Pretty

Images via Boutwell Studio

Wishing you a Wonderful Passover

Mosaic Seder Plate by Indelible Ink

Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy Passover holiday. If you're in search of a tasty dessert to whip up during Passover, be sure to check out this list of 17 flourless dessert ideas! Enjoy!

Bunny Hop Party

This Easter Bunny Hop is just too cute! If you're looking for fun ways to inject Easter fun into your holiday weekend, try out these ideas, spotted over at Hostess with the Mostess:

Mother's Day Luncheon

I flipped my calendar to May this morning to peek at the month ahead and was reminded of how quickly Mother's Day is approaching (May 8th to be exact)! If you've been considering hosting a brunch or luncheon for the occasion, here is a bit of inspiration for a cheerful and bright Mother's Day:

Hang paper lanterns that are embellished with ribbons in the party space. If your party will be outdoors, hang them from trees or garden stakes -- Martha Stewart

Be sure to serve lots of sweet desserts like lemon squares, cupcakes topped with sherbet and raspberry lemonade -- Lemon squares and lemonade via The Knot, Cupcakes via Martha Stewart

Present Mom with a beautiful wreath made of fresh yellow and white carnations, decorated with flowing ribbons -- The Knot

Set up a craft station for the kids, where they can decorate a canvas tote bag for their Mom -- Martha Stewart

Fill pretty milk glass vases with yellow, pink and red flowers -- The Knot

This invitation is bursting with color, making it the perfect choice for a Mother's Day luncheon -- Noteworthy Collection, available at FineStationery.com

Paper Bunnies for Place Settings

There are so many creative people here at FineStationery.com -- it amazes me to see what my Fine Family is coming up with each day! Alisha (one of our talented Graphics Production Specialists) was so inspired by a post she saw on the How About Orange blog that she had to start folding paper to create her own origami bunnies! Jennie (our Senior Merchandising Specialist) is a huge fan of origami, so she joined in on the fun. Before we knew it, there was a whole row of little paper bunnies! Aren't they cute? We thought they would make a nice addition to any Easter place setting when filled with paper grass and candy! For a tutorial, check out How About Orange.

Alisha is also a very talented photographer, and offered to shoot these photos of the origami bunnies -- thank you, Alisha! They look adorable!

Spring Bridal Shower

Hello, friends! My apologies for not posting yesterday -- I was feeling a bit under the weather. I am back up and running today, so I hope this post makes up for yesterday!

Pink and green always look lovely when paired together. Choose this classic color combo for a spring bridal shower, and you're sure to delight the bride-to-be!

Create food displays using white, green and pink colored treats – Display with grapes via Martha Stewart, Cakes via Martha Stewart, Candy via Martha Stewart

Pink plates and green napkins add a great splash of color to tables – Pink plate via Caspari, Green napkin via Caspari

Serve pink soda pop with pretty green and white striped straws – Straws via Bake It Pretty, Soda via Brides

Set out two bowls of buttons, some green and some pink. As guests arrive, ask them to wear a pink button if they are from the bride’s side, or a green button if they are from the groom’s side – Style Me Pretty

Fill green or clear vases with pink tulips for centerpieces or décor – Brides

Choose an invitation that uses both pink and green in the design – Inviting Company, available at FineStationery.com

There's more to Matzo than you think!

 With Passover quickly approaching, you might be stocking up on Matzo. Here are a few dessert recipes that put a sweet and fun spin on this traditional Passover staple:

Matzo S'Mores

Chocolate, Nut and Dried Fruit Covered Matzo

Matzo Toffee

Unique Entertaining Idea

I don't know that I've seen a food station that is more fun than this one...

Photos via Southern Weddings blog

A Grilled Cheese Station! This kind of food station would be wonderful for a number of events. For instance, a birthday party, wedding rehearsal dinner, baby shower, bridal shower, backyard bash, etc. With graduation parties on the horizon, I'm thinking that this would be a great addition to any grad celebration!

Have you spotted any unique food stations for parties? Share them with us!

It's a Celebration!

Hello, readers! Today is a VERY exciting day here at The Finer Things. Why, you ask? Today we celebrate…

To start the celebration in honor of the 1,000th post on The Finer Things, let me give you a little background on the blog:

The Finer Things began in October of 2007 under the care of Kati. You can read the very first post {here}. Kati quickly made The Finer Things a place where readers could go to learn about stationery trends, style trends, entertaining, etiquette and so much more. Kati’s amazing style and appreciation for the arts was evident in her fantastic posts. Being the first author, Kati established The Finer Things in the blogging community and made many lasting relationships in the industry.

In October of 2008, Kati passed the blogging torch to Jess. You can read about Jess {here}. As a new mama with impeccable and classic style, Jess brought a new voice to The Finer Things. Her sweet posts really showed off her love for entertaining and fine living. Jess continued to develop The Finer Things in the blogging community, building even more relationships as time went on. When it was time to welcome a second snuggly baby into the world, Jess knew it was time to pass on The Finer Things to another author.

That brings us to The Finer Things' third and current author… me! I was introduced in April of 2010 and have been bringing you daily posts for just under a year now. If you’d like, get to know me {here}. I was beyond excited to begin designing inspiration boards and writing for The Finer Things, but knew I had a lot to live up to after all the wonderful posts by Kati and Jess. I quickly found my niche, and have loved blogging and communicating with all of you since!

As we celebrate this day with our 1,000th post, I’d like to take a look back in time at the most viewed posts by each of the three authors of The Finer Things:

Kati’s most viewed post is entitled “Pink and Black Party Inspiration”. This post is also the most viewed post of all time on The Finer Things! You can read the post {here}. Below is the inspiration board for the post:

Jess' most viewed post is entitled “Candy Land Party”, and it sure is sweet! You can read the post {here}, and be sure to check out the eye candy that is the inspiration board below:

My most viewed post to date is entitled “Elegance & Emeralds”, and is full of just that. You can read the post {here}. The inspiration board for “Elegance & Emeralds” is below:

It was also interesting to check out what our readers are searching for. Top keywords that you search for are "Baby shower themes for girls" and "Sweet 16 party themes". {Here} is one of my favorite girl baby shower posts, and {here} is one of my favorite sweet 16 party posts!

We could not have better readers, and we are so thankful each and every day for the inspiration you give us, the comments you post, and the support you give! We hope you've enjoyed all 1,000 of our posts and our 1,000th Post Celebration! Continue to visit The Finer Things, as we bring a little excitement to your day with each new post.

Fonts at your Feet

Here at FineStationery.com, we're crazy about fonts - script, block, ornate, simple - you name it, we love it! With that in mind, I was very excited to see this article in The New York Times Home & Garden section -- a rug dedicated to fonts! If you appreciate a nice typestyle, you'll love this Letterpress Rug:

Vintage Airplane Party

This Vintage Airplane Inspired birthday party, spotted on Hostess with the Mostess, is one of the cutest kid's parties I've seen. The party took place at a local airport inside a real historic airplane -- how neat for the children! The birthday boy's Dad dressed as the captain, the kids painted small wood airplanes, dined on boxed lunches and cake. They even took home little kits and favors inside "suitcases". Here are a few details from the party:

If you're interested in hosting your own airplane-inspired party, here are a few invitation suggestions:

Flight of Fancy by Checkerboard

Flying High by Inviting Company

Cloud Nine by Exquisite Papers

Graduation Party Inspiration

It's about that time of the year when students have their mind on graduation, and parents have their mind on throwing a party in the graduate's honor. Here's a bit of inspiration for a graduation party with a blue palette:

A pennant banner that reads "Good Luck" or has your school name on it is perfect for decor -- Martha Stewart

Add little pennant flags to straws and place them in refreshing ice cream sodas -- Martha Stewart

For favors, wrap boxes of candy in patterned ribbon or paper and top with a tassel -- Martha Stewart

Decorate a delicious cake with rolled tuiles wrapped in licorice or ribbon to represent diplomas -- Martha Stewart

This invitation is perfect for the sophisticated graduate -- Invitation by Bonnie Marcus, available at FineStationery.com

Aqua and Navy Blue Wedding Inspiration

Inspired by one of the new Brides for Checkerboard invitation suites, this inspiration board for an aqua and navy wedding is refreshing and cool.

Dress bridesmaids in aqua and navy blue cocktail dresses -- J.Crew

A light, flowing gown is perfect for the bride -- J.Crew

Create a candy buffet in a blue and aqua palette -- Green Wedding Shoes

This Newport Invitation suite is inspiring in shades of aqua and navy blue -- Checkerboard, available at FineStationery.com

Layered linens in aqua and navy stripes really give a nod to the invitation, and look crisp next to one another -- Coco + Kelley

To ensure dancing all night long, place flip-flops in a basket for guests (in navy and aqua, of course!) -- The Knot