Whew! It’s been a real whirlwind over the last week or so! Between work, renovating our mudroom, putting together the Husband’s birthday and Father’s Day party and hosting my brother-in-law and his wife; I’ve been a busy bee! At least I’m able to share with you some pretty pictures from the crab feast this weekend!
Father’s Day is special at our house. It always falls within a few days of the Husband’s birthday…and his brother’s birthday. You see, they are exactly three years apart in age. Without any scheduling at all, my MIL was somehow able to have her sons born on the same date. So my Father-in-law always says that his Father’s Day is actually on their birthday. When I asked the Husband what he wanted to celebrate this special day, he said he wanted to crack crabs. While that is definitely a fun and delicious activity, it’s also super messy. It was quite a challenge to figure out how to make such a messy activity look pretty.
Crab Feast Menu:
- Crudites with Hummus & Old Bay
- Crab Chips
- Steamed Crabs (of course!)
- Steamed Shrimp
- Grilled Corn on the Cob
- Watermelon
- Summer Slaw
- Cake: Death by Chocolate
Crab Feast Decor:
As far as decor goes, I wanted to give a nod to the nautical aspects of crabbing, without going overboard. The Husband’s design style is ultra-modern/contemporary so I knew that using a lot of vintage nautical touches would not represent him well. To do this I bought two different sizes of rope and twine from the hardware store. I made three different garlands with the twine by braiding and making nautical knots.
The next challenge I had to figure out was with the plates. Cracking crabs requires lots of pounding with a mallet. It’s not something you want to do on porcelain or ceramic. I ended up finding some fun green and white melamine plates at Target, and they were perfect; even if they were a little noisy.
To make the party feel even more special, I combined battery operated lanterns with the rope and twine to make a chandelier. The different sizes and colors were a lot of fun, and since they were battery operated I didn’t have to worry about a fire hazard when we turned them on.
A simple low-lying centerpiece of succulents in black containers finished off the look without being too fussy or feminine.
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Stopping by from Craftomaniac Hop. New follower! Blessings… Saved By Love Creations
You did it again! Made another party beautiful and tasty. It looks like so much fun too.
oooh I love crabs!!!
I am just reminding everyone about tonights link party that runs Friday evening through Mondays!
I also have an ongoing give away link party now too.
Hope to see you soon.
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
come strut your stuff
How fun is that! And the menu sounds delicious! I found you at TT&J.. I am your newest follower, I can't wait for the Death by Chocolate!
Carlee
http://www.ladybirdln.com
I like your color scheme and the jute/rope rustic ties. Maybe someday I'll get with it and throw a party where the decor actually looks intentional. 🙂
What a cute party! Your tablescape looks great and I love the newspaper and placemats. You really pulled everything off nicely!!
Paula
That looks like an awesome party! I love the little baskets that the crabs are in on the table!
What a great looking party … love the colors and I love the little baskets. Very nice!
Awesome theme decor! Making me hungry just looking at your spread!
Very pretty! Happy SITS day
That's so cool!!! I can't believe you did that all!! Very professional and creative!
Beautiful party. I am not really a decorator and can't imagine having such detail in a party and working full time and blogging. Amazing. And I want to come to a crab party. I didn't check, but I bet you don't live in Michigan!
Just stopped by on your SITS Day…
Great Party and you have a lovely outdoor living space.
Real curious about the summer stew.
Wow! What a fun party! I love the book page table cloth … a fun party idea!
Visiting from SITS 🙂
I'm totally calling you on my next birthday.
Happy SITS day!
I love crab! I haven't had it in forever. Miss it. Looks great!
This is impressive, I'm sure yout husband loved his birthday!
Wow…everything looks so great! I love it!
I would love for you to share this with my Recipes, Crafts, Tips and Tricks Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Thanks so much for your kind words!
Wow, I bet the party was a big success! Love this! Pinning to share. Thank you for sharing your post with us this week for Snickerdoodle Sunday! We love having you 🙂
It was definitely a lot of fun. I think we’re going to have to have another crab feast soon! Thanks again for hosting…I love Snickerdoodle Sunday! 🙂