Hunger Games Themed Tween Party

In our family, it is tradition to have themed parties - ok, maybe not "tradition" but more of "my obsession".  This obsession is clearly genetic and the lucky offspring winner of this trait - Sam!  At first he would just agree or disagree with the themes, but lately, he's dictated (demanded even) what he wants.  He designs the cakes that I then have to make.  He wants approval on location and decor.  He's bossy... and deep down - I LOVE it.  I love the challenge - even when I want to chuck the cakes out the window.

For 12, he wanted Hunger Games.  Perfect, I thought.  He's 12, Katniss/Peeta are from District 12 - awesome!  While I didn't do a big theme cake for our family party, I did do a themed buffet and cupcakes.  And before you think I got let off the hook on cake, there's a kid party coming up and, as Sam puts it, there will be cake (see, bossy).

Using flea market finds for serving ware, leftover holiday party decor for the mockingjays and my mom's Valentine's roses from dad, the buffet table looked fit for even Effie!

Menu:
Make your own sandwiches and salad
Pita bread and hummus
Tracker Jacker Cupcakes:  Lemon cupcakes with a honey buttercream frosting, drizzled with honey and chocolate
Girl on Fire Cupcakes:  Chocolate cupcakes with raspberry buttercream frosting, sprayed with gold edible paint and gold edible glitter
Apple Cider (for kids) and Hard Apple Cider (for kids over 21)

Modern Vintage Industrial Kitchen

I think I've held you in suspense long enough.  I wasn't trying to be mean, I was just tweaking the decor.  I still am, to be honest, so I'll be posting our "accent wall" soon... or, once I am happy with it, which could take a while.

Our kitchen went from ok to awesome (in our opinion)!  New wall and cabinet paint, new hardware, new floor rugs (and coming soon: new table and chairs) was what it took for us to achieve the look we wanted:  Modern Vintage Industrial.  Is that a style?  If not, I'm making it one now!

If you want to recall the process with me, look here

And no room re-do is complete in our house without a panoramic shot (courtesy of hubbie)

Put a cork in it

We just completed a kitchen re-do at our house which began with the need for more storage - makes sense right?  In the process of painting, adding new hardware and several trips to the donation pile, we managed to free up some storage space and make the cabinet interiors look neat and clean.  Today, I am showing you how we freshened up our kitchen drawers!

Project time:  1/2 hour (longer for me since I have project ADD) for 5 drawers.

While you can't fully grasp the insides of the drawers from below, believe me when I say they were tired, sad slabs of particle board.  Sure we could have just painted them but between utensils and "junk", they were bound to get scratched (and, helloooo, we needed to cover up paint drips).

Solution?  Cork... self-adhesive cork (heaven!!)  Purchased at our local Home Depot - 2 rolls were more than enough to do our 5 drawers.

Supplies:
Self-adhesive cork (around $15/roll)
Measuring tape
Ruler/level
Scissors


1. Measure depth and width of your drawer and cut cork to size - scissors are all that you need for this stuff (super easy)
2. Peel back a bit of the contact backing and set into corners.  Continue to peel it back slowly as you press the cork into the drawer.
3. DONE!

The cork gives it an updated, clean look while also giving contact paper a good name!  Now, where else can I stick this stuff??