We’ve been really busy with parties this summer! At the beginning of the summer was my youngest daughters Minnie Mouse party, then my oldest daughters Shake It Up party. We had a neighbourhood block last weekend, and the weekend before that, we had a 50th anniversary party for my husband’s grandparents.
The party was a whole weekend affair. On the first evening, we had family photos done – the whole family! That was crazy, but fun! There were over forty of us – try posing all those people into one shot and making sure everyone has their eyes open! Thank goodness we had a great photographer, who has actually shot the girls birthday parties before. Here’s a sneak peek that she gave me of my girls:
After portraits, we went to a beautiful venue where we enjoyed the most delicious home cooked buffet. We got to relax and enjoy the company of many family members who we haven’t seen in months, some in years – for me, it was the first time meeting some of them.
The next day, we had an open house at their house. I was responsible for all of the decorating and “little touches”. It came out really nice, and I got a lot of compliments, so I thought I would share with you!
I enlarged a wedding picture of them and a picture from this year and mounted them on foam board and hung them on the garage. I decorated them with strips of gold striped paper and gold glitter thickers from American Crafts.
I decorated the back of the table with gold and white tissue poms of different sizes. We used a lot of gold in the decor, since 50 is the golden anniversary.
Here’s the glittered frame that I shared with you earlier this summer that I created with the amazing American Crafts glitter…
The banner was made with old photos of my husbands grandparents and 5th & Frolic project life journaling cards. The cards had little notes about what life was like and what was popular the year they were married – for instance, did you know a green pepper cost 5 cents? We attached it to American Crafts gold baker’s twine with binder clips.
On the guestbook table, we had several displays – a thumbprint canvas, the memory box, and a chaulkboard display of baby pictures.
We hung photos of them when they were younger on the gold bakers twine and hung it around the table to create a banner.
The thumbprint canvas was something I made myself (I’ll have more details and a tutorial about this project coming soon, I promise). Each guest left their fingerprint to create a wildflower. It ended up being the smash of the party. Seriously, everyone wanted to know where we bought it.
The frame next to the canvas was used creating some of the gold goodies that I received from American Crafts, including their glitter tape, my favorite.
The memory box also received rave reviews. Guests also loved being able to take home a card and mail it back. Won’t it be fun to read those memory cards as they receive them in the mail? (If you missed the tutorial about how I created these memory box from 5th & Frolic Project Life cards, you can check it out here.)
The chaulkboard display was created using baby pictures of all of their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. It’s actually just foamboard covered in black bristol board and hung with 3M command strips. Here’s the board that had my munchkin’s pictures on it:
It was a great time and I was so glad that we got to celebrate this big occasion with such a great couple. I am so lucky to have married into their family and be blessed to call them my family now too!
Meredith @ Wait Til Your Father Gets Home says
What an awesome party, Sarah!! I LOVE that thumbprint canvas idea…I’ll definitely remember that for the next big party we throw. Such a meaningful keepsake!!
Heidi @ Parties for Pennies says
Love this! I get asked a lot about Anniversary party ideas so I’m pinning this…so I can direct everyone to your post. Love the memory box, especially. What a sweet & special party. <3 Heidi
Sarah says
Glad you loved it! It was a great party. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Christa says
What a special way to celebrate a special occasion. Lots of great ideas. I’m pinning so I’ll remember to do this for my parents. Love it! Thanks for sharing.
Sarah says
Thanks Krista! Glad you enjoyed them 🙂
Diane Stites says
What innovative ideas! Was looking for something unique and personal and I am planning on borrowing the memory box and the Framed collection of days, hours… I am hosting a party for their 65th 🙂
Thanks so much!
Sarah says
You’re so welcome!! Glad it gave you some inspiration 🙂
Vicki says
I am wondering if you have a post with instructions for the thumbprint canvas. We are giving my parents a 50th anniversary party this summer and I love all of your ideas.
Sarah says
Hi there! I’m so sorry, we have been on holidays so I haven’t responded to comments! I don’t have a tutorial but it was really simple – I hand painted the grass. It seemed a little scary but trust me, its much simpler than it seems! Then I printed the text in a font I liked and colored over it on the back with pencil. I placed it on the canvas, and wrote over the font in pen, which transferred the pencil lines to the canvas. Then I just painted them in. Hope that helps!