Beautiful 32

(l-r) Me and Margie

Well, I'm just starting to come off the high of celebrating my 32nd birthday. It was everything we prayed and believed God for! My birthday is actually January 30th, and on that day we celebrated the birthdays of my aunt Margie and me. Her birthday is January 12th. We invited our friends to join us at the fabulous Charming Charlie boutique. Our guests were able to shop with a 20% discount while they played games, won doorpizes, and more. I've been told stories of how people were a blessing to others by purchasing items for each other. Obviously, I wasn't the only one receiving gifts. That just goes to show how wonderful the people whom God has blessed my life with really are. They are the most loving, generous, supportive and BEAUTIFUL friends a gal could have :)  So, I have a lot I want to share about my birthday and our party, but I'm still processing it all. Maybe I'll re-live the day in several different posts. *smile* Well, now I want to share with you some of the love in all the details of the party.

It all started with the invitation as the inspiration for design. My friend Amy at Living Locurto designed this invitation. I had them printed by my friend Brandon at Downtown Duplicating. Then I cut, matted on black cardstock, embellished with red and clear bling, and wrapped with red ribbon. I didn't send out many invitations; instead, I chose to utilize technology and send invites through Facebook and Evite. That saved me a lot of money! I framed the invitation in the shabby, chic frame I purchased 50% off at Hobby Lobby. Cha Ching!

I also purchased these smaller frames where I put a individualized card from Amy's set. I set the frames in front of these cute journals that coordinated perfectly with the party especially after I embellished them with red, black and white ribbon. Did you notice the damask on the pages? Love it! Our guests were able to write birthday messages to us as a treasured keepsake. I've been carrying around my journal all week :)

We even made cute water bottles. Notice the red, white and black box in the background. Mom embellished my red and white gift box with different strands of black ribbon. This box was used for guests to enter for the prize drawings. Margie and I purchased items from Charming Charlie and Keshala of Virtuous Creations to give as doorprizes at every half hour and for each game. For one of the games, I cut out 3 inch red letters that spelled beautiful. I cut several of each letter and scattered them throughout the store. The first person to find the letters and was able to spell the word BEAUTIFUL won a fabulous prize. That was mom's brilliant idea! Another game

was Charming Charlie bingo. I made up a bingo card, printed it out onto red paper and adhered it to a coaster. This game was a whole lot of fun and a great icebreaker! Of course the winner got a fabulous prize. See the bingo card to the right. Above is a picture of Yvette after winning a prize. You see they were packaged in these cute black bags. I made a sticker out of a mini cupcake cup and cut out 1 3/4 thank you circles to embellish the bag. We didn't use just any white tissue paper *smile* Margie purchased nice, glossy paper *smile* There's love in the details! Speaking of love, we also had favors!

I hope that everyone was able to receive one. It was a special message in a jar that captured the heart of our party. I typed the message, cut out in slips, rolled up into the glass jar, made stickers of one inch thank you circles, placed on top and tied a black ribbon around the top. The message from me and Margie read, "You are BEAUTIFUL! Your Father God created you, is enthralled by your beauty and sings over you with delight. Though true beauty and self-worth do not come from outward adornment, God sees you inside and out. He makes us beautiful with His love and we reflect His Glory. So wear your jewelry knowing that the King of Kings is enthralled by your beauty inside and out! Thanks for celebrating with us! Love, Tiffany and Margie"

Do you remember in an earlier post how I told you that my mom is my right hand and does whatever it takes to make everything I do a success? Well, she did it AGAIN! Do you see those tablecloths and the cupcake stand! (the picture was taken before the table was completely set up) Mom made that cupcake stand from boxes purchased from our moving company. She drew, scored, cut and built me a three-tier cupcake display! I wish I had taken before and after shots because it was amazing how she took huge flat boxes and transformed them into the perfect dimensions and size for the display. (Get ready Food Network! Mom, Mya and Tiffany are coming!) She wrapped it with my leftover Christmas wrapping paper. We decided to trim it with red ribbon then run black and white ribbon through the center of the red. Mom put white ribbon around her metal gift box and added black feathers and a blinged out metal flower in the center. The metal gift box topped the cupcake display.

Yes, my niece and I baked over 100 cupcakes! We had four different flavors: red velvet & buttercream, chocolate, pineapple creamcheese, white vanilla walnut & chocolate buttercream. Margie, with the help of her dear husband, make over 200 finger sandwiches, a fruit tray, mixed nuts and red sparkling cider.

(l-r) Chanel and Taiylor

There was another game that we came up with to play where we could includ the charming staff of Charming Charlie. We called it Best Dressed Mannequin. Two of my friends happen to be fashion designers so this was perfect for them. We gave them a teammate and they went to work! My sister, Candace, worked with one of her besties, Sheca (find out more about her here). Taiylor worked with Chanel (find out more about her by clicking here). They had 5 minutes to find fashionable merchandise. I don't think anybody actually kept time *chuckles*. Charming Meagan was the judge. I'm so glad she agreed to judge because that was really tough. And the winner is...

SHECA!!!

We told them that the winning mannequin would remain in the store until the next floor change. We had to give them something to work for *wink* Actually, BOTH mannequins are on display in the store. YAY! There are no losers at our party!

One of my favorite parts of the party details was the frame! I got the idea from Tiffany. After searching everywhere, I finally found an inexpensive cork board frame at Hobby Lobby. I took the cork board out, and there you have it, a shabby chic frame! There were many other details that went into planning the party, decorations, and so forth that are well worth mentioning, but I've kept you long enough. *smile* There are 3 more things I want to share...

My sister! Candace was the BEST hostess ever! She had been sick all weekend, but showed up to the party and made sure EVERYbody knew that they were a important part of what made our party special. I don't know what I'm going to do without her or even my Mom as my hostess whenever I get married. They are the BEST! My aunt, Stephanie, came all the way from New Orleans in the rain to celebrate with me. Not only did she celebrate, but she helped us get all set up. Finally, the Baton Rouge Charming Charlie team...

They are AMAZING! From start to finish they were very accommodating and paid special attention to the details. They made signs, chips & dip in RED trays, provided me with a birthday sash, loved on our 60+ guests and even adorned me with jewelry (I purchased the jewelry of course). They went above and beyond! They were fun and "charming"!

         We couldn't have asked for a better team! Especially when they say things like, " Thanks for all the fun!! Your party was the best!! Your party was thebomb.com!!" or "The BEST social I have ever worked! Beautiful decorations and awesome people!" *blushing*

Click HERE to view hundreds of more pics from the party!