In an Octopus' Garden

My co-worker Andrea is about to head off for maternity leave, and we threw her a little going-away / congrats / happy baby coming soon party at Zare Restaurant at Fly Trap. I got the distinct impression from my boss that he preferred this to be a grown-up gathering versus blue bottles and baby things. Turns out the mother-to-be is quite fond of Octopuses, so this theme was born.

I found a very cool Octopus Garden image on the web by Phil Lewis and used it as the inspiration for my table decorations.

I used the print to wrap a few simple glass vases I foraged out of the cupboards at work. I bought some mardi gras beads at the party supply store, de-strung them and floated them in three square glass vases (also raided from work) with white candles to add a grown-up shimmer and sparkle to the evening.

I bought some metallic craft paper at Michaels and three sets of glitter embellishment stickers and cut out three octopuses from a coloring book template and "bedazzled" them as my co-worker Adam put it. This added a bit of fun and child-like whimsy to the event.

I also found some super cool fabric at Jo-Ann's that had the same color palette as my inspiration image with a cool water effect. I used that as a table runner to create an ocean feel.

I also made a quick run to the underground florist on Market Street to purchase some fresh flowers in the colors palette to complete the table-scape.