The Painted Apron

Creations, Burlap Ruffle Table Runner and Ball Jar Party Favors

Posted by the Painted Apron on July 18, 2013 · 15 Comments 

For the recent “Cook Your App Off!” party we wanted to emphasize our beach theme with lots of decorative touches.

Now, you are probably thinking, well, since the guests are bringing the food and their own drinks, these little lazy hostesses are just sitting around watching soaps and popping bon bons!

Not so! We wanted to treat the guests to a special evening since they were bringing the party to us! So we pumped up the decor

The table was adorned with 2 “place runners,” which is basically a table runner running down both sides of the table instead of place mats or a table cloth. DD’s table has a weathered wood finish which went so well with our beachy theme, so we found a graphic fabric in the theme turquoise color to make the runners.

The raw edges were turned over twice and machine stitched all the way around

A length of burlap ribbon, twice as long as the short ends of the finished runners, was gathered into ruffles

and stitched onto the fabric runners at both ends

and small sea shells were glued along the seam with clear hot glue

Now each side of the table was protected and ready to receive any shape platter or dish that the party guests brought.

The centerpiece was an arrangement of the ingredients that the guests were asked to use to make their dish

Down the table center were bowls of glass beads, sea glass and tiles that the guests used to vote for their favorite dish in each category~each dish has a clear plastic cup labeled with the recipe title.  Guests voted by putting the corresponding token into the cups by their favorite dishes.

There was plenty of fabric left over to make smaller runners for the other tables

Outside on the deck, all the tables got a little touch of the theme fabric

The lantern in the corner is full of shells

and another runner accents the beverage table

and there was even enough to put under the dessert tray.

TIP:   Under the galvanized tray, holding the Sand Dollar Desserts, are 3 frozen plastic rectangular ice packs.  This will keep the dessert cool and yummy all through the evening and the fabric hides them perfectly!

The dessert tray did double duty as not only dessert but, decor on the serving bar between the kitchen and the living room~no last minute serving fuss, it was ready anytime anyone wanted to help themselves!

We had prizes for the top five, the 4 categories mentioned above, and the overall most popular in all categories, Best Chef of 2013

Prizes were wrapped in theme colored papers and sat ready for the lucky winners.

We shopped around and found some great foodie finds at Home Goods. They have all kinds of wonderful fancy foods at discount prices.  We found a Raspberry & Black Pepper BBQ sauce, White Truffle Oil, all kinds of gourmet chips and dips, seasonings etc.

The winner of the Tastiest category received a sack full of gourmet goodies.

Captain Obvious got a sack with gourmet chips and a dip, plus a bottle of Skinny Girl Margaritas.

The Best Presentation winner got a beautiful coffee table book, called Fearless Entertaining, which is full of beautiful photos, tablescapes and party recipes.

Most Original received a “palm tree and flip flop” painted chip and dip  from  JMdesigns.

The grand prize winner, Best Chef 2013,  got 2 wine glasses painted with chefs, a bottle of red wine, and a bottle of white truffle oil, and a chef’s hat of course!

We wanted to give all the guests a little party favor, to thank them for their culinary efforts

I picked up some Ball jars when they were on 50% off sale last month at Hobby Lobby for $1 each.

They got “dressed up” with a band of chevron burlap ribbon {the same ribbon used on the party wreath}.  It was secured with glue dots and wrapped with a belt of jute.

a single shell was hot glued to the center

The bottom of the jars were filled with some white beans

and a colored votive candle was nestled into beans.

The jars sat on a tray with a sign which said Favors, please take one!

The beverage server, which is a large Ball jar,  was dressed to match the party favors with a chevron burlap band and it sat on a shell edged charger.

I don’t know who had more fun, DD & I or the guests, but I can tell you that everyone is already talking about next year!

Whew! It has been a busy 5 days, and you’ll be relieved to hear that now the Cook your App off party is officially over!  I will however, be back to post more of the winning recipes when I finish rounding them up~

Thanks so much for partying with me this week!

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