Remember when I was out in LA last month? Well, we had a super fun design challenge: Evite asked me to create a tiny Friendsgiving dinner party in a 10×10 room on a $500 budget for their first-ever Tiny Party Challenge. Fun, right?! This was right up my ally, considering most my 20’s were spent stuffing all my friends into the smallest NYC apartments for the holidays! We always had to create makeshift dining tables, so I knew immediately that I wanted to gather around a coffee table, with a ton of pillows for seating, to create a super cozy setup. Next up, I wanted to bring a bunch of greenery into the space, so we created this backdrop by cloth-pinning ferns and palm leaves to thin rope (we used push pins to hold the rope, but if you don’t want holes in the wall try Command hooks.) You can get bundles of greens for cheap, so you don’t have to blow the budget on flowers!

Sidenote: I experienced the LA flower market for the first time ever and almost lost my mind with happiness. We “splurged” on some flowers because everything was wholesale price and that huge bushel of silver dollar eucalyptus…only $10! I have not found a place like this in Wisconsin yet, but if you ask your local florist ahead of time, they can order greenery in bulk for you.

Since space was tight, the tablescape was compact. I love using clear plates and letting the greenery peek through. The combination of these beautifully dyed napkins and gorgeous silverware make my heart so happy. And I’ll be honest, I brought more budget friendly silverware, but switched it out for these white and gold showstoppers from my kitchen…because I knew you all would love them #worthit

Now it was time to figure out how to fit all the table settings and food since we were short on space on the coffee table. A good tip is to use ottomans, poufs, and a bar cart to set extra dishes on…a small table is no reason to skimp on food! To squeeze everyone around the coffee table and make the dinner super comfy, we pulled all the pillows from around my house (also doubles as a great way to nap while still hanging out post-turkey.)

The hanging Thank You cards were a sweet touch. I love the idea of giving each of your guests a card so they can write thankful notes and pin them to the wall. Then everyone can pick one to read during dessert! And to tie the dinner together, Evite custom created this invite based on my room design!

What do you all think?! Who wants to join me for Friendsgiving?! Hope we gave you all some good tips to create your own dinner party, and to help you out, Evite is giving you the chance to win $500 to make the most of your space and create your own dinner party! Just head this way to vote for my Tiny Party, and you will be entered to win!