Category

Holidays

Category

12 Days of Christmas DIYs // A Well Crafted Party

This post is the first in my series of the 12 Days of Christmas DIYs for A Well Crafted Party. Check in each day for the next 12 Days for new DIY posts. There will be LOTS of free printables to boot! 


Natural Holiday Party with DIY Elements // A Well Crafted Party

Natural Green & White Holiday Party Styled Photoshoot

Each holiday I like to mix it up when it comes to decorations. I don’t know if I’ll ever be the type of person that has a set of decorations that I’ll use year after year. Don’t get me wrong… I keep all my decorations and I try to utilize many of them each year. I do however like to change color schemes, decor placement and gift wrap ideas throughout the year.

My good friend Suzannah from Create/Enjoy came to me with the idea of creating a very simple and natural holiday scene for a collaboration between our two blogs and the hardware and gardening store Orchard Supply Hardware. I was beyond thrilled to work on a new-to-me holiday style. Macey from Motormouth Studio was kind enough to photograph our styled shoot and her photos show how beautiful this simple dinner party showcases natural holiday elements.

Natural Holiday Party with DIY Elements // A Well Crafted Party Natural Holiday Party with DIY Elements // A Well Crafted Party Natural Holiday Party with DIY Elements // A Well Crafted Party

We stuck to a general colorscheme of black and white with the natural elements of green, red and brown woods to create this look. One of the best parts of using natural elments in your holiday decor is that you can incorporate a variety of colors and textures into your event. Orchard Supply in Tigard, Oregon helped us find just the right natural elements to create this look including gorgeous 15 foot natural garlands, small potted trees and a beautiful rosemary bush shaped into a christmas tree and in a clay pot. They also helped us create many of the DIYs that I’ll be featuring this with some painting & hardware supplies!

Suzannah even created a festive array of party appetizers just for this event! She’ll be sharing the paleo-approved, dairy & grain free appetizers on her blog soon. I’ll be sure to link to her recipes on this post as they go live!

Check out Suzannah’s post about this party here:

Free Printable Holiday Appetizer Menu // A Well Crafted Party Free Printable Holiday Menus // A Well Crafted Party

Natural Hand-Drawn Holiday Party Printables + DIY

I’ve really been into hand drawn elements in many of my parties lately. So, when we decided to go with a very natural look, I kept imagining hand-drawn pinecones on the menus. I created a printable set for this party and am offering it free to readers!

Free Printable Holiday Party // A Well Crafted Party

Directions: To use the printables click on the downloadable item and save to your computer. Print on white cardstock and cut out for use! I’ve uploaded both a PDF version with two items per page for you to print and hand write your menus/invitation information. I’ve also uploaded JPG version that you can open up in a photo editing program (such as Photoshop or PicMonkey.Com) and add your text in digitally.

Bookmark or Pin this post because I’ll be coming back to add in all of the fun DIY posts that came out of this photoshoot!

(Cool arrows on photos via Freepik)

Free Vampire Portraits from A Well Crafted Party

It is almost Halloween… can you believe it? I’ve been prepping for our annual Halloween party and have been so swamped with preparations that I haven’t really had the opportunity to sit down in front of my computer for any extended period of time. If you are feeling just as swamped as I am then you might need a few last minute Halloween decoration ideas! Hey, you may even appreciate getting some for free.

Using vintage images, I created a few Vampire Portraits that you can print off and put in frames around your home. How do I know what a vampire looks like in a portrait? Well that is easy! Vampires don’t show up in mirrors or film of course. These vampires sit in front of the camera to produce eery images of people without descernable bodies.

Free Vampire Portraits from A Well Crafted Party Free Vampire Portraits from A Well Crafted Party

Vampire Portrait Free Printables

Directions:

  1. Download the image of your choice (see below)
  2. Print – You can print these off on your home computer and cut out or you can print at any photo processing source.
  3. Frame!

Downloads:

  1. Male Vampire 1
  2. Male Vampire 2
  3. Woman Vampire 1
  4. Woman Vampire 2

Vintage Portrait of a Lady via Tony Alter’s Flickr the rest are Public Domain images via Wikipedia

Looking back at Halloween Parties of the Past // A Well Crafted Party

My favorite time of year is quickly approaching. Besides obsessively checking Brooklyn Limestone to see what Stephanie’s Halloween theme will be this year, I’m busy planning my own annual Halloween party. I’ve even got some Halloween posts up my sleeve for BEFORE the big day this year! I might have already thrown a small Halloween get-together over Labor Day weekend just so I could have some fun goodies for you.

Before I get to the new Halloween goodness (which will begin in October) I wanted to share a few of my favorites from the past few years. I’ve thrown a Halloween party each year since 2008. It has been the highlight of my year nearly every year. (The birth of my son pushed Halloween 2011 to second place, but it sure was close since I had a cute little baby to dress up as well as a fun party!)

2008— Haunted Halloween Dinner Party

Halloween Parties of the Past // A Well Crafted Party

2009— Bewitching Ball

Halloween Parties of the Past // A Well Crafted Party

2010— Mad Tea Party

Halloween Parties of the Past // A Well Crafted Party

2011— Costumes & Cocktails

Halloween Parties of the Past // A Well Crafted Party

2012— Traditional Black & Orange

Halloween Parties of the Past // A Well Crafted Party

2013— Fairytale Dinner Party

Halloween Parties of the Past // A Well Crafted Party

This year we are going a little bit more pop-culture with our theme. I’m actually having a bit of a hard time trying to figure out all in the little details for the party. But, I’ll be sure to give some hints closer to the big day. Look forward to lots of fresh Halloween posts this upcoming October. I’ve got a Fang-tastic party with great DIY details and free printables that I can’t wait to share! And, as October approaches, I’m going to be going back through some of my old parties to share some DIY details that never made it into the posts above!