It was an honor and a privilege to decorate a French Bistro themed 25th birthday party for my lovely roommate, Jill. She studied abroad in France and misses it terribly, so we decided that this year we’d bring a little bit of Paris to our apartment in Boston. Allons-y!

First and foremost, we needed to invite people to the soirée. I decided to take the traditional chalkboard signs that are iconic to French bistros and use them throughout the party, starting with the invitations.

(Address and email have been removed)

I’ll try to let the pictures do most of the talking, since there are a bunch!

I didn’t have any actual chalkboards, so I made my own lookalikes by painting canvases black and using a chalkboard paint pen to decorate them.

I propped up my homemade wine charm favors and picture frame guest book on a wine crate.

I made a Happy Birthday banner (in French!) using card stock and the chalkboard paint pen.

If you haven’t had a kir, you really should! We had trouble finding crème de cassis, but we made do.

Oh, and did I mention I made some custom wine labels? This is a great way to make inexpensive wine look special!

The last thing I want to do the day after a party is wash 30 wine glasses, so I got these plastic party glasses and put labels on them.

Wine, bread, cheese, dessert. All you need for a great French themed party.

Empty wine bottles make excellent vases/candle holders!

Close-up of Jill’s favorite French cookies, Le Petit Ecolier!

It was a great party for a great girl. Here’s to many more!