Lantern and Cherry Blossom

I bring you another party at Apt. 10! This time Nikki turned 21 and I put together a table for the gathering we hosted Saturday night. Nikki issued invites weeks ago but we really didn't begin any food, drink and decoration plans until Friday afternoon, so there was some hasty grocery shopping and whirlwind DIY-ing.
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On the Menu I made Thai chicken tortilla spring rolls (with mozzarella, white bean sprouts, carrot and cilantro) - an appetizer I finally got around to duplicating at home earlier in the week, after liking them so much at CPK. They turned out delicious and made for promising party food. To go with them: homemade sweet and spicy peanut sauce for dipping. For drinks Nikki mixed up a refreshing cranberry-pineapple rum punch, and for dessert I made four layer chocolate pudding cups.Decorations Plans for a trip to Chinatown for paper lanterns and other goods fell through, so I made do with what I had at home and I'm so glad I did. The three accordion lanterns I bought in January established the color and theme for the table. The whole thing unfolded kind of casual and colorful. I set out two stacks of left over napkins for a mix and match look, hung the lanterns with generous ribbon yardage, letting it cascade haphazardly onto the table. For height I put straws and cutlery in glasses and jars. Re-purposed baking ramekins served as sauce bowls and vintage aqua trays from my picnic basket were used as informal servingware.Photoshop, Paper, Scissors Friday night I remembered the unsightly striped cocktail umbrellas I found over a year ago in the clearance bin at Michael's. I knew I'd impulsively bought them for just such a project as refashioning them into cherry blossom parasols. I carefully cut away the old striped paper and glued on a new cherry blossom design I illustrated and printed. I also decided to adapt the parasol illustration into a sheet of patterned paper (a swatch is above) from which I made simple hanging lanterns with bright red tassels, handmade from a skein of embroidery thread. From the paper scraps I cut strips to fasten around glass tea light holders (with double stick tape) to bring a little more of the pattern to the table.
I hope our guests enjoyed the food, drink and catching up and that you all enjoyed the photos! Lesson learned: do some last minute party planning - it will really stretch your creativity. And finally, Happy Birthday Nikki!