[Don’t miss out on my FREE DIY Spa Party Guide! to plan your own!]
Have you ever been to a spa? Simply imagine one of the most peaceful, soothing places you’ve ever been but this one is complete with the scent of lavender and the calming sounds of natural ambient music in the background…. Ahhh. I love the spa.
As natural upbeat as I am, I’m also known to be extremely chill and focused on my self-care. Self-Care for me is beyond bubble baths and brunches but… bubble baths and brunches never hurt anybody, lol! 2020 has been WILD. With COVID19, losing my Grandfather and the world truly being seen for what it is, I figured that it was time for a Spa Day. Of course, I’m not going to a real spa at this point in time!
So I decided to create my own.
The Sunflower Spa!
August 17th marked my amazing sister, Ashley’s birthday and I wanted us to celebrate her! Ash is one who doesn’t like to be celebrated or have too much attention on her, (I know you’re wondering – is that really your sister?! LOL if you see her, you know she is!) But she does so many wonderful things in our community, [check out her mission to help girls & homeless women obtain menstrual products & toiletries!] and puts her all into helping others. So the least I could do was give her a way to relax in this pandemic!
Knowing that we couldn’t have all the guests she’d truly desire, I had to keep our Sunflower Spa client list low for the sake of everyone’s health. So our Spa was set up for 6 + me facilitating as the Spa Attendant, lol. Our Mom, Aunt, 2 Cousins/Pretty much our sisters and our Niece/Ashley’s Goddaughter, Grace, were all in attendance in their yellow and robes, ready for an afternoon of R&R!
Décor
I named the spa after Ashley’s favorite flower and stuck with that theme of Sunflowers, Yellow, Twine & Burlap. Now, the décor wasn’t as extensive as most parties I host lol but the budget was coming from my Lil crying wallet, so I had to be sure it was on a dime! All of the décor is from Amazon, with a few extra faux Sunflowers that were purchased at Walmart for $3 a bunch.
For our tabletop décor and goodies, I grabbed a few faves from my favorite place ever – The Dollar Tree! Every Spa guest received a hand mirror, a cooling eye mask, a face mask, and their own personal water bowl & facial cloths. Must-haves for a spa day at home! I used these super cute gold wire baskets to hold our facial cloths and beauty treatments for the afternoon, perfect for adding a little glam to the table!
Activities
For our treatments, we kept it simple. My family knows I’m a skincare junkie so I wanted to show them some of my favorite products and give their skin some love in a snap!
CeraVe Foaming Cleanser
CeraVe Renewing Cleanser w/ Salicylic Acid
Vitabrid C12 Vitamin C Serum
Bliss Niacinamide Serum (a gift from my amazing SIS, Ashleigh!)
Avene Thermal Spring Water
Thayer’s Toning Spray
+ Supplies!
Using these items, we enjoyed cleansing our faces, toning, lymphatic massages with our serums and then we were onto our “Elevated Foot Baths”. Now listen, if I could afford to get all of the ladies in my life a private pedicure, I would have – but I don’t have it like that, yet. LOL. But I could provide them with a relaxing foot bath! Using dishpan basins, lavender Epsom salts, bath bombs & fresh flowers and fruit, we all relaxed our tired feet and just sat around enjoying each other’s company!
After our footbaths, it was DIY time!
I love a good DIY, especially when it comes to body care so we went with DIY Sugar Scrubs! Using a bit of Brown Sugar, Coconut Oil, and our choice of Vitamin E, Peppermint, Lavender or Tea Tree Oil, everyone enjoyed mixing up their concoction to their liking in their take-home jars. So much fun! (Once I taught our little Diva how to do it, she took charge and taught the others!)
Food
And the most important part of a party? THE FOOD!! I wanted to keep our menu light but still filling because folks don’t want to leave a party hungry! Ashley is a Pescatarian so I had to be sure to prep items she could enjoy, and I also wanted to be certain to not overload myself with too much to cook knowing that I’d be in a time crunch. What a great idea because, PHEW! I needed that time! I decided to use kraft paper to cover her breakfast bar in lieu of using a table, turning it into our own little Grazing Table!
Our menu included:
Shrimp Cocktail
Salmon Croquettes
Summer Salad Cups w/ Balsamic Vinaigrette
Aldi Chicken Salad w/ Mini Croissants
Summer Charcuterie Board w/Goat Cheese & Cheddar
Mini Hummus Board w/Pretzel Chips, Pretzel Bites, Pita Chips
Chocolate Board with Ashley’s favorites, Reese’s!
Aldi Peach Bellini’s
Sparkling Cider
All in all, we had a fantastic time! When celebrating such a special birthday girl, you want to be sure that the party is a display of who they are. For my sister, something relaxing and small was absolutely perfect! An opportunity to relax, bask in the blessings of the day, and those you love can sometimes be all the party you really need! J