Category

Party Activities

Category

Photo booths are all the rage right now for a very good reason… they get people up and interacting, they provide great memories from the event, and well, they are just plain fun. I wanted to incorporate a photo booth in our 10th Anniversary Party and I also wanted to somehow include photos of our friends and family from over the past ten years. I contemplated a variety of different ways to do those items seperately before realizing that I should just combine the two which is how this photo memory black and white photo booth backdrop was born. Getting it put together was quite a feat and there are things that I didn’t like about the finished project which I’ll add in my tips below to avoid those issues. Overall, the photo memory backdrop and photo booth ended up being one of my favorite projects from the day. A big shoutout to Mary Boyden Photography for all of the event images.

DIY Photo Memory Black and White Photo Booth Backdrop

When designing this backdrop I knew that I would want to have a few things right off the bat:

  1. An impressive sized backdrop featuring images from over the past 10 years.
  2. Black and white images that would end up being a fun photo backdrop.

I debated a couple of different ways to create this backdrop.  My first thought was to use a few photos blown up and printed as engineering prints for a big bold backdrop. I decided against this option because I wanted to use photos of our guests and us and there were just too many to narrow it down to just a few larger images. My second thought was to use a ton of images printed as 4X6 images in black and white. Because it was going to be photographed I wanted it to not have a big shine factor so I knew I wanted matte prints. I guess I could have gotten 5X7 images or 8X10 images but the cost of that seemed to be a lot more than the 4X6 prints. Finally, I decided to put a white border around each of the prints so that there was some uniformity and white space in the backdrop.

DIY Black and White Photo Backdrop

DIY Black and White Photo Backdrop

 

Putting the backdrop together took some time, patience, and a big open space on the floor. The backdrop was approximately 10 feet across and 7 feet tall. I did the math and found that I needed approximately 420 4X6 images to create my backdrop. I purchased the images using Shutterfly. I saved a ton of money using coupons and ended up spending approximately $35 on the whole thing. If you paid full prize at Shutterfly it would only cost around $63 (before shipping) which is amazing for a project this large. (Note: This post is not sponsored in any way… just sharing the company I used for this project.)

When planning my 10 Year Anniversary party at a local Peruvian restaurant I knew I wanted to decor to nod to the amazing food that Andina serves. I wanted it to be bright, bold, and a lot of fun. After selecting the color scheme I got completely stuck on what to do for the escort table. In the end, I let my spirit party animal lead the way and I created this fun Party Animal Escort Table as well as some great event table decor.

Read on to see just how I created these elements…

 

Party Animal Escort Table from A Well Crafted Party with photos by Mary Boyden

Party Animal Escort Table from A Well Crafted Party with photos by Mary Boyden

DIY Party Animal Escort Table

Affiliate links marked with *.

You’ll need:

  • Plain or decorative cards to write the names of your guests
  • Hot glue
  • Plastic animal figurines* – Purchased the set of 60 from the set by Jungle Resources on Amazon.
  • Large animal figurines* – Purchsed the set of Jumbo animals from Jungle Resources on Amazon.
  • Spray Paint in chosen color(s) and a clear coat of polyetherlene
  • Paper, ribbon, glue for making tiny party hats and the like

 

Party Animal Escort Table from A Well Crafted Party with photos by Mary Boyden

 

Party Animal Escort Table from A Well Crafted Party with photos by Mary Boyden

 

Note: I chose to do multi-colored animals matching type of animal and the color. But, you could also do these all the same color. Just make sure your small animals match the animals that you use as your table markers. For instance, everyone at the table with the gorilla got an escort card with a gorilla on it as well.

Directions: 

  1. Spray paint the figurines. I chose have the animals and colors match for each individual table. For instance, all the elephants were painted yellow. This may take several coats and should be done over the course of a few days.
  2. Spray dry figurines with the clear coat spray.
  3. While you are waiting for those to dry, write or type and print your escort cards on decorative card stock.
  4. Hot glue the little figurines to the appropriate escort card. You will need to hold the animal to the card until the glue is dry.
  5. Add hats, bows, and decorations to the larger animals as you see fit. Attached with hot glue. We chose a variety of cut out decorations for our animals. My sister in law created them all on her own with some paper, glue, scissors, and ribbon!

 

Party Animal Escort Table from A Well Crafted Party with photos by Mary Boyden


 

Seriously Awesome Vendors and Resources

affiliate links marked *

More Posts from this party

  • My Favorite Cocktails from Andina
    My Favorite Cocktails from Andina
  • 10 year anniversary party
    10 year anniversary party
  • Special Occasion Makeup Ideas from A Well Crafted Party
    Special Occasion Makeup Ideas from A Well Crafted Party
  • 10th Anniversary Party Invitations
    10th Anniversary Party Invitations
  • Party Animal Escort Table from A Well Crafted Party, photo by Mary Boyden
    Party Animal Escort Table

Bottle and Bottega invited myself and another local blogger out to try a complimentary painting and wine experience to see how it would fit for our readership. As always, all opinions are my own. To see my review posting policies please visit my policies page

Over the course of my pregnancy and the past few months I really haven’t had the energy or availability to explore the Portland area as much as I typically enjoy. I am thrilled to start writing about the local area again! I can’t be more excited to share about this Mom’s Night Out experience I had with my friend, Lindsey of Running with Tongs.

 

The Bottle and Bottega Space in NW Portland

Walking into the Bottle and Bottega space I knew that I was in for a fun evening. I loved the bright colors in the workspace and instantly imagined throwing about 10 different parties in that space. My friend Lindsey and I both thought about possibly bringing our kids out for the Bottle and Bottega All Ages events, but in the end decided we both needed a mom’s night out pretty badly. When the sparkling wine hit my hand my decision felt better than ever.

Bottle and Bottega is an art class and night out at the bar rolled into one - review featured on A Well Crafted Party

 

The night that we visited was the mixed media evening where we got to select a couple of different images to work off of or create our own mixed media painting. We still had an artist walking us through the steps, but many of us created different paintings. This is something I LOVE. While I always have fun at paint and sip events, sometimes, I just really don’t care for the image we are painting or want an image like everyone else in my home. This let me truly personalize an image.

Bottle and Bottega is an art class and night out at the wine  bar rolled into one - review featured on A Well Crafted Party

 

I chose to do the “love” image and use a color scheme that coordinated with my upcoming anniversary party. The painting basically started out as a series of strips and scraps of paper. Lindsey chose to do the same painting and picked just a slightly different color scheme. When it was all said in done we were supposed to write the word “love” across the painting. Instead I chose to do the word “cheers” so that I can hang it up over my bar area in the future.

 

Bottle and Bottega made for a fun Momma's Night Out - review featured on A Well Crafted Party

 

What to plan for when going to Bottle & Bottega:

Parking: Bottle and Bottega is located in NW Portland. There is both street parking and a convenient little paid parking lot near the workshop. It is also quite accessible to the MAX as it isn’t a far walk to the nearest stop. I chose to pay the $5 for parking so that my car was nearby because I knew it was going to be a semi-late night for this momma.

Timing: The event started around 6 PM and lasted until 9 PM. Due to the painting and drying time it is a longer event… which only means more WINE!

Beverages: The shop had a pretty good selection of red, white, and sparkling wine as well as some beer options. Beverage costs were above the $40 painting fee, but the prices were reasonable. The $40 painting fee gets you all the painting supplies, instruction, and your canvas to take home. I opted to purchase a frame for my canvas for just $20 more. Now my painting looks really finished.

What to Wear: Anything! No, but seriously, there were aprons to help protect clothing and the paint is water soluble. If you are really worried about something then probably opt to not wear it, but I wore my work clothes and came through unscathed!

Bottle and Bottega proved to be a fun Portland experience - review by A Well Crafted Party

 

Besides a Mom’s Night Out… what type of events work at Bottle and Bottega?

The cool thing—to me, a bonafide party junkie—about Bottle and Bottega’s business is that there are a variety of ways to make the sip and paint event work for parties or outings.

Check out the paintings from the evening I attended on the Bottle and Bottega Facebook page.

Public Events: Bottle and Bottega has public events that you (by yourself) or with a couple of friends can sign up for and attend. The public events are all listed on a calendar with a picture of the painting that they are going to be doing during the event.

Bottle and Bottega have a variety of event options from public events  and private parties to public events - review on A Well Crafted Party

Private Events: As for private events there are so many cool options! This would make for a fun bridal shower, bachelorette party, graduation party, baby shower… list goes on and on. The private parties have an option to create paintings (as seen above) or do collages of paintings that might don the house of a newly-wed or the nursery of a newborn.

Corporate Parties & FundraisingWouldn’t a paint and sip event be a great team builder? One of the HUGE art pieces in the workshop was a collage piece as an example of what a corporate party could create. I would love to do something like this with coworkers and then go to work to see the painting we created together each day. The team at Bottle and Bottega can travel to a site for an event as an option too.

Have you ever been to a paint and sip event? If so, what did you like about it?

Thank you to Bottle and Bottega for the fun Mom’s Night Out and painting experience!