boat party

I am working on several inspiration boards right now - a few of them are new and exciting!  One that I'm working on is for a surprise 30th party and another one is for a beach themed shower. The two of them together got me reminiscing about my own hubby's surprise 30th, so I thought I'd share a few photos.

I rented a boat for a sunset cruise around the Thimble Islands here on the coast of Connecticut.  It was a lot of fun!!!  Since you have to bring everything on the boat and set-up in 30 minutes, I kept it all very simple.

A couple of details worth pointing out...

I wrapped all the utensils in blue napkins and tied with white nautical rope (which I found at a local boat shop, but you can find it at any hardware store).  I burned the ends so they wouldn't fray - just like the sailors do!

Again, for simplicity sake, I just made cupcakes with blue "waves" on top.  Then I detailed them with a little life preserver and a Swedish Fish candy.  To make the them personalized, I wrote my husband's initials (JHP) on the top and the roman numeral for 30 (XXX) on the bottom.  I made the preservers out of fondant and cut thin strips of Foot Roll-ups for the red strip detail.

An east coast boat ride wouldn't be complete without a lobster roll, right!?

And finally, I just had to include a couple pictures of the houses out on the Thimble Islands.... WOW!