Patrick, a dear friend of mine celebrated his 50th birthday on February 2nd. A dinner party for 15 people was organized and hosted in the home of the sweetest, most gracious and generous couple, Frances and Bob. When we asked what could we contribute, decorations was the answer. Knowing very well that our friend puts his heart and soul in decorating his house when he's the host, we thought "no monkeying around".
The birthday boy is Chinese-Canadian, and the Chinese New Year was around the corner so we went 'Chinoiserie' all the way.
Reusing some of my older lanterns, I refreshed them with some cherry blossom designs.
A garland of origami cranes was made by my daughter.
Different types of fabrics cut in circles to represent the new moon were sewn together to create more garlands.
The same organza fabric was used to dress up tea lights.
And for the table, I made this arrangement using a long rectangular bread basket, bamboo canes and a black teapot.
The little lanterns hanging from the bamboo cane were also handmade using glossy paper from old magazines.
My black teapot came in very handy nestled in the middle. The flowers were added later on the day before the dinner party.
I designed some wind catchers, one of a monkey and one of a horse. My friend is a horse in the Chinese horoscope.
We set up everything the day before.
The final touches were 50 little origami horses made by Astrid and placed all over the tables and around the dining room.
We had the most delicious meal with perfect wine and shared the loveliest time amongst friends.