Our inspiration for the first of our two 2012 Christmas Holiday Party ideas comes from the photogenic Phoenicopterus, or more commonly referred to as the Flamingo.
Forever immortalized in the lawns of Americans the country over; indeed even the flamingo sitting proud atop our white tree is of the tacky yard art variety. Our second piece of inspiration came from a lovely roll of wrapping paper that we found at Hobby Lobby for $5.00, or some ridiculously low price for the amount of paper that was on the tube. Its paisley and flowering pattern was the perfect pairing with our two toned pink colored plastic bird. From those two pieces I was able to (almost) perfectly match the two shades of pink and the green color, which I then used to paint the very bland glass ornaments and the custom made cupcake mini-stands.
Design Details & Decorations
While at our nearest Hobby Lobby we happened to stumble upon the aforementioned wrapping paper and two other super finds.
The first was a ceramic mirror stand that was hidden among other items in the clearance section. While not really fitting the bill for what I needed at first glance, I was able to look past it’s initial flaws…namely being totally black in color and having a mirror in the center. But for the miniscule amount of $2.00 (clearance priced down from $14.99!) I knew I couldn’t pass it up!
The other, a bright pink metal serving tray, was found at some random floor display. At first glance I was tempted to put it back as it was a tad brighter than I had wanted to go for the table, but upon turning it over and seeing the discounted price I was hooked.
We then found the wrapping paper and everything clicked into place. The paper actually had two shades of pink that matched perfectly with all of my items.
Decorative Elements: We used a bright pink metal serving tray, along with custom made cupcake mini-stands painted to color match the wrapping paper that served as the backdrop. The components for the stands were purchased at Hobby Lobby in bulk amounts and painted a pink/green combination, and adorned with off-white pearl strands and a light pink accent ribbon. We also purchased several boxes of white glass ornaments from Dollar Tree, which we then spray painted (with the same paint as the stands) using Rust-Oleum’s satin Sweet Pea and Eden shades. We also left one entire box unpainted to help break up the bright colors of the other tree decor. We finished trimming the tree with a pink feather boa and plastic flamingo drink stirrers, also from Dollar Tree.
Glassware: We utilized empty Frappuccino bottles for our strawberry flavored milk, as they make a cheap alternative to the French mini milk bottles that can be found at sites like www.save-on-crafts.com. We then topped off the look with rigid plastic straws that looked similar to white and pink striped candy canes.
Serveware: We previously mentioned a pink metal serving tray that was purchased from Hobby Lobby. We also used white plastic bowls that were found on clearance at Target.
Other Miscellaneous Decor: An all black ceramic mirror stand was transformed into a matching decorative piece by removing the mirror in the center and leaving it open for a printed silhouette of a flamingo. The black color was also covered up by a coat of white primer spray paint, then a top coat of Rust-Oleum’s satin Eden shade of green. Several empty boxes were wrapped in light pink wrapping paper and finished with various ribbons in multiple shades of pink and white to complete the look of our Christmas tree decor.
The Flamingo: Found on clearance at one of our local Kroger grocery stores for 50% off of it’s regular price. Came with a set of metal legs for mounting into the ground. Replaced the legs with thin wooden dowels that were painted white and wrapped in a thin pink ribbon to emulate the look of the straws and/or candy canes.
Printable Party Decor: The printable items you see can be found in our shop. All our printables include custom text specific to your special event!
Sweets & Treats
So now that you know how to create a perfect pink and Festive Flamingo Holiday theme, it’s time to add the goodies! For this theme we decided upon one baked item and one beverage and then filled in with a couple of candy items that looked nice with the color scheme. The pink Whoppers were a nice find, along with the traditional Snowball cake that you can find just about anywhere. We believe not only in easy tablescapes that pinch pennies but also simple recipes you can DIY too! This dessert table is oriented to fit any type of event be it baby shower, Christmas or birthday. It isn’t necessarily restricted to the winter holidays and could easily transform to suit a baby shower or little girl’s birthday, or even a tropical themed wedding or bridal shower.
Here is a full list of the treats pictured:
- Pink and White Candy Canes
- Strawberry Whoppers
- Strawberry Flavored Milk
- Snowball Cakes
- Pink Flamingo Sugar Cookies
You can of course serve whatever your heart (or your party honoree) desires, we just chose some pink and seasonal items to match the Christmas time of year! Merry Christmas everyone!
