Simple but pretty party

The Crafts Dept. at Martha Stewart is genius. They can turn her TV studio into a swamp and forest (so cool, see it here) and make swoon-worthy gifts at the drop of a hat (ones that would take me four days, mucho dinero, a bloody finger, and countless meltdowns). But let's be honest: they have an innumerable resources at their fingertips, and they're paid to do this stuff for a living.

What really got me, however, was a going-away party they recently shared, which they threw together for a colleague. It was very simple, really - some drinks in cans; a store-bought cake; disposable utensils, plates, napkins and cups; and a card signed by the staff; all held in a conference room at the office. Nothing so out of the ordinary, right? As always, though, it was the little details that made the party.

First of all, this banner is awesome:


And the coordinating card:

Isn't it perfect that it's a small-scale replica of the real-life banner? Love.

Supposedly the text on the card was simply made by punching out the letters using the new MS alphabet punch set. Umm yeah, I'm going to need that punch set immediately. :)

Here's evidence the canned drinks and easy-to-buy cups/forks can be pretty, if done well:


I also love the confetti strewn around the table. It's just paper punched out in coordinated colors and dropped on the table - doesn't it make the scene that much more fun?


Here's the aforementioned store-bought cake:

See? Cut yourself some slack; you don't have to make everything by hand. p.s. The cake is the famous icebox cake from Billy's Bakery in NYC. Yum!

One last close-up of the conference room set-up:


Crafts Dept., thank you for sharing this party. You are my casual-party-throwing-and-crafting idols. (And if you want to send me that new alphabet punch set you mentioned, I won't be mad atcha.) ;)

Editor's Note: this post was not sponsored by Martha Stewart or her Crafts Dept. in any way. I will, however, take any and all stuff they want to send my way...for testing purposes of course. ;)