Galentine's Party + Happy 1st Birthday LOC!

Happy Valentine Week! For starters, I need to thank my amazing family and friends that were able to stop by and make last night beyond special and oh so fun! I have met incredible women in my life and I was so excited to share Love of Character's birthday with all of them (those who couldn't come or who live far away, you were missed!). For the past few years, I have been throwing a Valentine Party for ladies to come over, drink, eat and make valentines. It is always a great time and let's be honest, who doesn't love throwing a party with pink as the main color?

XOXO Tic Tac Toe, why not!

These new sparkle party banners are coming to the shop soon!

For the party setup, I did a photo booth, some food and drink and open area in the living room. In the dining room, I turned the table into a valentine making station. The kitchen, everyone's favorite spot to mingle, we had food and drink. Always good to have things in a couple of rooms, so the party can spread out. For the valentine making, I always hit up Target's dollar spot and load up on cute cards, stickers and more. I love to see what everyone creates! In the center of the table, I decided to put a vase of flowers inside my favorite pink boxes and it added a fun touch of LOC!

Food wise, I had a mix of cheeses, crackers and LOTS of desserts. I impulse bought a cake day of! I walked by the cake case at none other than our local Dillons and couldn't resist it:

They are stepping up their cake game! Plus, I rationalized that it was a "birthday" party, so I needed a cake. For the cookies, I was inspired by Leni's heart birthday party last year and purchased cookies from Cheri's Bakery:

Rose cupcake also from Dillons...yes another impulse!

Love the plates and napkins? They are from a new line LOC is carrying, Meri Meri! They will be posted soon with the new website. Plus our gold flatware and floral paper straws always make for a pretty buffet!

Cherry Heart Tarts made by my adorable Grandma!

Conversation Heart White Chocolate Popcorn - so easy, recipe found here.

Another fun decoration made for the party were the wine labels! A cute stationary account started following me on Instagram, so I checked them out and the Kansas Day post caught my attention. I commented on a cute rosé bottle picture and then we became instant friends, literally! She is actually from here and just moved back after school. She made the adorable labels for the party and I was so happy she could attend! Check out her Etsy shop: Lindeman Carte.

Plug - if you want to make fancy labels like this, make sure you sign up for our Calligraphy Class!

Overall, the party was great and I had so much fun celebrating with everyone. A lot of rosé was enjoyed and a lot of fancy cookies and tarts munched on. I hope these pictures have inspired you to throw your own little Galentine Party!

Lastly, thanks for all of your orders, encouraging words and support during the first year of LOC! New things are coming and I cannot wait to share them with all of you. Have a very happy and pink filled Valentine's Day!

Made a small group of party guests use my photo booth with me! XOXO (photos via me)

Lots of Love,

Desert Bachelorette Party Invites

Over the past couple months I have been working with a fabulously fun Maid of Honor who wants to make her sister's bachelorette party the best last fling before the ring. To kick off the event, she wanted to invite the small group of girls in a special way. That's where Love of Character got pulled in! Why not get everyone excited for a weekend in the desert by sending pink boxes full of goodies?

We messaged each other back and forth brainstorming ideas and I had so much fun interpreting the ideas! It boiled down to finding the perfect blend of Scottsdale, desert and bachelorette components. First item on the agenda that the MOH and I both immediately thought of: mini cactus! These actually ended up being tricky to track down, but when I stumbled upon them I hit the jackpot:

To match our gorgeous cacti, I remember seeing some perfect cactus elastic to make hair ties that meshed perfectly with our look.

From there, the other items started coming into place. Party in the desert? Calls for margaritas! Need some humor? Add some fun nail polishes with a hilarious saying. Girls need a good munchie, popcorn it is! The invitations were coming together. The most important piece was next, the invitation itself! I loved the idea of lining the top of the box with a gorgeous paper I found. The minute I saw it, I got the party in the desert vibe. Since the box had a lot of character included, I decided to keep the invitation simple. The MOH wanted to give a glimpse of the details and I added a touch of gold to make it pop. For the lingerie sizes, I decided it would be fun to add a little pair of paper undies to the box and included the details on the back:

End result, a fiesta filled bachelorette invite with pops of pink!

Such a fun project and was so excited for the group of girls to receive their little pink boxes! The party is coming up next month and I will make sure to follow up with our festive details. The MOH has planned some amazing activities and we have some more up our sleeve for decoration details.

Photos via me

Needing some fun boxes for party favors or invitations to an upcoming event? Reach out! I would love to work with you to put together something fabulous that works with your budget and theme.

Lots of Love,

Happy 2 Year Anniversary to the Blog!

I cannot believe it's been two years since starting For the Love of Character. Part of me feels like it was just yesterday and part of me feels like it's been around for ever and is a part of who I am. I have absolutely loved sharing these home improvement, party planning and life experiences with all of you. My readers are what drive me to keep going when I've hit a road block. I think "I have to get this done! I don't want to disappoint those who follow me and myself!" I do have to apologize that this year I have been some what lacking on the number of blog posts, but with growing the shop, Love of Character, I have had to choose quality over quantity with the chosen posts. I promise year 3 I will make more of an effort and share the exciting details of everything going on!

This year has been a challenging, stressful, yet rewarding year in my life. My day job has had a lot going on causing me to work lots on interesting and challenging projects. I started an online shop and tried to help it grow while maintaining it to fit into my schedule. My husband and I of course have also been trying to continue with our home projects. It's been a busy year! Let just say, I've been busy building lots of character! You all keep me going. My family, friends and supporters drive me to push myself, get things done and try my best at all that I do. Obviously, at times I struggle (yes, the staying up way too late catches up to me. I'm not a freak of nature who doesn't need sleep like some of you think) and I have to push myself to wake up and go. This blog and my little shop give me so much joy though, I truly enjoy my late nights of crazy updating you and filling your orders!

To celebrate the fabulous anniversary of keeping up this little blog I love having in my life, I want to share some of my favorite posts to recap!

I of course have to start with the room that inspired me to even make this fun little blog, our sunroom!

It is still one of my favorites and I love spending time in there. It was the very first room we redid in this casa and I adore it!

Second up is the Fancy Nancy Party I threw as a surprise 50th birthday party for my fabulous mother! I got back from our honeymoon and pulled this thing off in a couple weeks and loved LOVED putting it together:

Moving forward a few months, we redid our at the time office and that room took our home improvement skills to the next level (from so-so to ok we are figuring out some things). We ripped out and replaced the carpet ourselves, painted the chalkboard wall and configured a small space:

I loved that makeover and at times miss our little space, but I truly love the studio space we have now because it has more space to handle the growing business:

Next up to throw back in some parties, I have to say my favorite are the Valentine's Parties! I absolutely love hosting a party that includes good treats and a craft:

2014 -

2015 -

Definitely similar styles with the crafty filled tables!

For the next space recollection, I have to share the living room reveal because that was probably one of our most popular redos:

One of the most popular all time posts that I have on this blog is my good friend's bachelorette party! Best part about this party, is that it inspired a whole business thanks to those little pink boxes!

To finish off the trip down memory lane, I want to show the booths I've had over the past year and how the little box business has grown:

Holiday Galleria 2014 - Had a selection of hair ties offered at a friends booth and it was a great first learning experience:

Up next was my very first full craft show Craftacular:

Then a small school craft fair:

And this past month I went back to Holiday Galleria, except on my own!

Each show has had its own learning experience and I have enjoyed the road along the way. If they have taught me anything, it's that I have amazing supporters who make me feel like I can tackle it all!

It's been a great two years and I have learned so much about myself, my limits, home how tos and hostessing. I have loved sharing the journey with you and I hope you continue to follow along. I really do have some exciting things to share with you all coming up and I promise to make time to do so! Check back in for pictures on our finish (yes finished!!) kitchen island, the progress on hope to be finished soon powder room (longest project ever), another fun pop up opportunity for LOC coming very soon and more! Big things are happening over in this casa and I want you all to be apart of them. Thanks again times a million for supporting me on this crazy adventure. Hopefully you have built some character along the way!

Lots of Love,

Kids' Parties Require a Mom's Table!

At the fun little tea party we had for the Wichita Mom's Blog contributors, a mom's table was a must! It was a great place to show off some of the other fun party supplies we offer. It was also a great place for a mom to sneak off and grab a sip of mimosa (literally a sip because most glasses were still full at the end). That seemed to be enough to keep these fabulous mama's going!

Photo by Erin Bartel Photography

To add a fun pop of color to the moms' champagne glasses, I added cute paper straws and the festive pom pom picks we sell. Those also worked great for fruit skewers and to stick in food that people can grab. I will give a pointer, do thicker food for sticking the picks in. I did cheese and I cut it too thin, so the picks started falling over. Cheese cubes, sliders, dumplings and other fun appetizers would work great.

Photo via me

The favorite part of the table (ok, besides the champagne), was the adorable Food Truck Street Stall. It works great for displaying food and as a centerpiece. Food trucks are so fun right now on the streets, so why not bring a mini one to your table? The Floral Fiesta Mini Canape Plates work great with it! The truck is reusable for many events and the white board stand is perfect for the menu or hashtag of the event.

Photos by Erin Bartel Photography

While shopping for the event, I found pineapples for 99 cents at the grocery store. Pineapples are obviously a hot decoration this summer and now I know why! So cheap. To add some easy pzazz to the pineapples, I used a gold food spray to shine them up. You can see them in the back corners of the table and the settle shimmer was perfect for the event. Plus, with a food safe spray, you can eat them afterwards.

Overall it was such a fun party and I definitely recommend having a mom table at any kid party. Mine was small and full of fun, all they need! It is also a great place to put things like berries, so the moms can try to control how much their children dribble on their pretty clothes. I think we actually did pretty well with our little tea partiers!

Photo via me

Make sure to stroll over to the shop to check out more supplies! We have fun cups, party hats and more!

Sometimes kids try to crash the mom table...at least he is still a little guy!
Photo by Erin Bartel Photography

Lots of Love,