Sunday, May 5, 2013

Cheers!

Quick & delish recipe from AllRecipes.com, if you're looking to host a celebration today:

INGREDIENTS:
1 (6 ounce) can frozen limeade
concentrate
6 fluid ounces tequila
2 fluid ounces triple sec
DIRECTIONS:
1.Fill blender with crushed ice. Pour in limeade concentrate, tequila and triple sec. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve = 4 servings.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

If you're raising boys...

...and they love Star Wars as much as mine, you know this is a national holiday:
thankful to Hollywood Studios who made this kid's
Disney dream come true - he took down Darth

Friday, May 3, 2013

Lego Party Extravaganza

Last week was a big one - my baby turned 6! He is all about Legos, so naturally, he'd been dreaming up his party for months! He's very detail oriented, so he did a lot of the set up himself. He checked out a few things on Pinterest & got to work.
Will set up the photo of his favorite guy & 2 dogs. We took a photo & 
then used a Lego font + copperplate font for the text. 
I'm happy to share the background image...but you can snap one easily.

We haven't found a Lego Store this kid didn't like. However, the staff at the Oak Park 
location went above & beyond to help Will sort out supplies for 10 cars. 

 We also picked up a Lego figure mold at the Lego Store - 
we used it to melt down all of our old crayons.


 The boys used these crayons to color during the party,
 then we tossed a few in each "goodie bucket" to take home.

 We always line our dining room table with craft paper for kid parties. 
It makes it fun for the kids to draw, plus clean up is a breeze!

 Will had a specific idea of how he wanted the table set up.

We used Shatto milk bottles to hold Lego extras...they were great table decor, 
but helped the kiddos when they were looking for extra blocks to build their cars.

 We bought 2 pounds of Lego Block Candy - you can get it at most bulk candy stores. 
However, I just called Chip's Candy Store and they shipped it asap!

We used the Block Candy for the cupcakes & in the "goodie buckets".

 Our Lego figure mold was used in round 2 for our cupcakes. 
The kids LOVED being able to eat these guys!

 Goodie bags are a favorite of my boys. Target had buckets in the $1 section & 
I added vinyl names to each. We filled the buckets with a Lego magazine, 
play dough, block candy, Lego crayons + the Lego car built at the party.

 Since the party was right after school, I knew we'd have hungry boys! Bowls of Chex mix, 
Pirate's Booty & Bugles were all over the table...Lego head guy kept an eye on it all!

 Once we started the Lego building, the room was so quiet!

 Each boy really did a great job making their car unique & 
had great stories for why they built it like they did.

 I "hired" my older son & his buddy to help the kids with building - this was so helpful, 
as pieces were dropped, little fingers needed help with tire assembly, etc. 

We bought a white board at Lowe's to race the cars.

 Our original plan was to do the races outside, but due to crazy pollen, we moved it inside. 
A little cramped, but less sneezing!

 A few pit stops were require when the cars ran into the wall.

After the races, it was time for cupcakes! The boys enjoyed coloring with 
Lego crayons until cupcakes were served...

 
 Part of Will's party vision included a Lego structure to hold all of the birthday cupcakes. 
It was a pretty cool idea - not one that I can claim!

 I love his smile in this picture, like his tower turned out as cool as he'd planned!

Our only mishap was due to me not watching the placement of candles. 
I smelled the plastic burning as I walked the cupcakes into the party. 
The boys thought it was SO cool that Will's cupcakes had huge flames! 
Quick recovery & cupcake tower salvaged!

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Tabletop Tuesday - More Pattern Please!

We're big fans of GRAY + YELLOW around here, but this tabletop features our favorite of all favorites - PATTERN! When you keep it all in the same color family, we don't think there's ever too much:
From top to bottom:
La Plates Salad Plates - MOSAIC in gray, yellow script monogram
La Plates Dinner Plate - SAYA in gray
{black chargers rescued from father-in-law's basement}
Tablecloth - Monogrammed Fringed Throw - HERRINGBONE GRAY

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

La Plates is turning 5!


I can't believe it's been almost 5 years since La Plates was born! If you could have seen the chaos when it all began...we've come so far! Next Wednesday, May 1st, 2013 will be the "official" birthday party for La Plates & we want to celebrate with you - our friends and family. We're going to be giving away all kinds of treats!

To begin, we are handing out 5 gift certificates {valued at $50 each} to friends that follow us on Facebook & 'LIKE', 'SHARE' & 'COMMENT' on our Turning 5 post. Want to see where else we'll be sharing some treats? Follow us on Pinterest, Instagram & Twitter.

We can't wait to gift all the winners - entries will be taken until 5.1.13 @ midnight CST. Don't be tardy to the party!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Tabletop Tuesday

You know you've fallen off the blogging wagon when your husband asks, "Are you still blogging?" The answer is YES! We love social media, but sometimes it's overwhelming whether to spend our time on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram or Twitter...now we just heard we're suppose to be on LinkedIn too! In the interest of time, we have neglected our blog...promise to be better!

We've loved sharing some fabulous tabletop settings recently - Tabletop Tuesday. Be sure to share photos of your upcoming soirees featuring La Plates - you can email us at: info@laplates.com. Here are some of the favorites:
featuring La Plates - Mosaic salad plates & Helen Jon - Olivia dinner plate
charger & napkin from Sharyn Blond Linens, fabric tablecloth from Quadrille Fabrics

featuring Ampersand Design Studios - Color Block salad plate & Diamond Ikat dinner plate
fabric tablecloth from Quadrille Fabrics

Monday, February 25, 2013

New duffel - will travel!

Here in the midwest, we've been blasted by snow...and apparently there's more coming! Happily, we  have a FABULOUS new La Plates Monogrammed Charlie Duffel & it's just the size to pack up and get out of town for a few days. Now to sneak away...