An Event That “Reads” Joy In My Life!

As a woman it often easy to find yourself planning, participating, and paying for various events…birthdays, showers, and weddings that are centered around bringing joy to others we love. 3P also encourages personal joy through event planning! I had always wanted to join a book club, so a few years ago when our church promoted that a women’s fiction book club was being offered…I was all over it!

How it works: A new book is given to us each month, both print and Kindle versions are available. We meet once a month on Saturdays, and each member hosts a simple breakfast once a year. Mary leads an informal yet lively discussion encouraging participation in an orderly format, where laughter and honest discussion has brought us closer.

This book club is a total joy in my life, I now always have a good book to emerge myself in when life needs to be slowed down. More importantly, this diversified group of women have become friends and supporters through life’s hurdles.

We are encouraged to “keep it simple” when hosting breakfast as it is all about the books and friendship, and less about planning a stressful home gathering. Ok, so last Saturday I broke the rules a little bit to both celebrate these women with a few extra 3P touches…and so we could show our readers a simple Irish brunch!

Scrumptious scones from Fresh and Easy, with St. Patty’s themed cookies that were $2 for a dozen! We also served them with homemade peach jam to lessen the “store bought” idea… 😉

We arranged the scones on two crystal cake plates that we tiered together to not only add dimension to the display, but also when combined with the vintage linens gives a classic look. 3P Event Basic: When using inexpensive party decor a few items will go a long way and will not cheapen your look as long as your table maintains a crystal or china theme.

We set a green-themed St. Patricks’ Day table that included a few pieces we had on-hand from our St. Patrick’s Day event box. It came together quickly and easily…but looked so fresh and festive. We served Irish breakfast tea in green and yellow  coordinating tea cups selected from my collection, as well as some easy printable bookmarks we had made up on the fly!

You can download the printables HERE, and then all you have to do is print on card stock! Once they’re printed, cut out individually, add a hole-punch to the top and tie some green ribbon through it in a bow. We had ours lamenated, but with card-stock it’s not necessary. The ladies loved these quick-to-make favors, and they would be great for kids too!

Irish breakfast tea, and some Bailey’s flavored creamer added some “green” to our hot beverages.

We anchored each simple crystal plate with a bright green placemat, and used Shamrock napkins to add color and keep clean-up easy!

We livened up a few bouquets of on-sale flowers, including a small “St. Patty’s Bouquet” from Albertsons! The height of the flowers added a dimensional “designer” element to the table.

Shamrock themed balloon weights doubled as additional centerpieces, adding some sparkle when they were paired with a simple bowl filled with color coordinated marbles. We anchored them with some glittery shamrock decor, which tied in the darker greens of the table linens.

Our menu was Irish themed, and easy-to-do…including a “Blarney Breakfast Bake”, a fresh fruit medley of pineapple and green grapes (which tied in our color scheme), scones and cookies. Also orange juice, coffee with Bailey’s flavored creamer, and yes…Irish breakfast tea. Everything was a hit! You can download the recipe for the breakfast bake HERE.

The casserole was a total keeper, and we had a wonderful morning discussing our book and preparing ourselves for our next reading adventure. For more information on how you can join this book club, email Jessi at jessi@practicallyperfectplanner.com!

Thank you ladies, for another beautiful Book Club Breakfast!