On Saturday morning, I held my Pink Ribbon morning tea to raise money for breast cancer research. I organized as much as I could on Friday and was so exhausted by the time evening came around that I ended up falling asleep in the middle of watching my usual favourite Friday night lifestyle shows. However, this meant I was not stressed yesterday morning and was cutting the last sandwich just as my first guests arrived.
I couldn’t really avoid using pink to decorate since it is the colour associated with this fundraiser. However seeing as the last three parties I have organized have incorporated pink somewhere in the colour scheme, I tried to create a pretty spring inspired table instead which was mainly white with the addition of a few bright colours. This year I decided to keep the numbers smaller to have a more intimate party and so while I did add a few special touches to the table, I didn’t go overboard. I managed to take some photos to share with you all using our new DSLR (which I am loving) so here are a few details…
I made the invites myself on Microsoft Publisher. I used a photo I had previously taken and manipulated it in a photo program to give it more of a ‘painted effect’.
Instead of selling Pink Ribbon merchandise, this year I decided to hold a raffle to raise money. I bought a pretty white hydrangea plant as the prize and sold tickets to enter.
The only decorations I used as such were three accordion paper flowers which I stuck to the wall in the corner for a burst of ‘pink’. They were easy to make using decorative paper (thin paper worked best) and you can make these yourself using the tutorial by Disney of Ruffles and Stuff featured at City Cradle Design.
When I woke yesterday morning, there was quite a strong breeze outside, so I made the call to hold my morning tea indoors rather than out on the patio (luckily our windows had been cleaned earlier in the week for the first time in months so we could still enjoy the view of our garden). I covered the dining table with a white linen tablecloth and placed a table runner which is embroidered with bright spring-like blooms down the middle. I used white crockery and white platters for all the food.
To brighten the table, I bought a bunch of ranunculus which I divided between two jars I had covered in textured white paper. I was initially searching for a pink bunch which I couldn’t find when I went to buy them. However, I am actually glad I came home with the bunch I ended up with as the mix of colours really added to the spring colour palette I was aiming for.
As a gift to guests to thank them for coming to my party, I made some pretty little boxes which each had a Cath Kidston soap inside. The boxes I used were ‘no-glue’ boxes which I had discovered on the Internet a while back and saved in my ‘to make’ folder. I used the pattern on the Lil Magoolie blog as a template and simply traced around them on white card (I used quite sturdy Bazzill card). I glued a decorative Cath Kidston print onto the boxes and tied them with pink embroidery thread using a very small punch to make the holes.
For the food, I made sausage rolls, finger sandwiches (chicken and chives with aioli and curried egg and lettuce), chocolate brownies, powder puffs and jelly cheesecake. I will share the recipe for these powder puffs later in the week for those who are interested.
I really enjoyed putting together this year’s fundraiser and liked having a smaller, cosier gathering. It was a great excuse to plan and put together a little party for such a worthwhile cause and I hope I may have inspired some of you out there to host something similar yourself next year.
