It's the Little Things that Count: Embellishing Straws

When I see a party that completely blows me away, it's all about the small details.  "That person thought of everything!" I gasp in wonder.  And that's what I try to achieve when I design an event.   Lots of little details, when added together, equal more than the sum of their parts.  Synergy at its best.

A perfect example of what I mean can be seen in the straws I used at the Neapolitan Ice Cream April Fool's Day party.  I threw the party together in just a few days, and didn't have any time to order any of the adorable straws that are available on the internet.  I would have loved something with pink polka-dots or barber shop stripes, but that just wasn't going to happen.  I did, however, have some hot pink straws in the house.  Those will just have to do, I thought to myself.  Mopishly.

And then I was at my local ribbon and lace store, buying some pink lace for the aprons I was making.

I looked at the price.  $.35 a yard!  Awesome!  I thought.  And then I looked again.

I was going to be buying 20 yards of lace.  $7.00.  Not bad.  But wait....I could buy the whole bolt for just $10?  Three hundred and seventy yards for just three dollars more?  SOLD!  Not that I had any clue what I'd do with the extra lace.

As planned, I used it on the aprons.  I used it on disposable paper place-mats I made for the table.  I used it on the rosettes on the dessert table.

I used the lace on the cake plates on the dessert table.

And my most favorite use, I used it on the straws.  The hot pink, not quite matching, weren't making me happy straws.

Just a little bit of tape and a little bit of lace (essentially the same technique as the lace-covered votives DIY), and the straws became so much more than they were.  They were intentional.  They were thematic.  They were pretty.

Never underestimate the power a very small touch can have at an event.  It's worth the thought and effort.