Baby Shower Themes - Sweet Pea

As you all probably know by now, I love a good party.  I especially love a party when the effort of organizing, decorating, and hosting is shared with other amazingly talented and creative people.  

I have been blessed to meet and befriend some brilliant and beautiful women during our sabbatical here in Newport, Rhode Island.  They are Navy wives, nurses, teachers, moms, crafters, shoppers, entrepreneurs.  Many have put their careers on hold to follow and support their Naval officer husbands.  In short, they are just like me.  And I adore them to no end.

With two pregnant wives in our little group, it provided the perfect excuse to join forces and throw a Sweet Pea themed baby shower.  Here are the details...

Invitation.  Since one of the expecting moms is holding out to find out the baby's gender, we decided to go with a gender neutral theme.  Yellows and greens provided the perfect color scheme and this invitation I designed set the tone nicely.

Decorations.  I designed this "Two Peas, Two Pods" banner to mimic the same patterns and colors in the invitation.  It hung across the fireplace alongside some adorable ruffled streamers made by my super crafty friend, Autumn (owner of Beauty by the Sea).

Another crafty friend, Jessica (owner of Addie B Designs), made these super cut tissue paper pom poms that hung over the dining room and a ridiculously delicious spread of food...

Food.  Looking through these photos just make me hungry.  There were turkey sliders, cucumber sandwiches, dips, salads, palmiers, cake, cake pops...nom nom nom...

 

And here are the food labels I made to match the theme...hand stamped and hand colored.

And here are some photos of all the ladies filling our plates before sitting down for some wholesome gabbing, eating and drinking.  :)

Photography Note.  Please note that all the photos were taken by the amazingly talented Teresa Gunderson.  You can visit her blog here.  She is also a freelance photographer so if you're located in either Rhode Island or Norfolk, Virginia and want some awesome family, maternity, baby, or whatever photos, Teresa is definitely your person!

Project 100 Update:  95 down , 5 to go.

As always, thanks for stopping by!   

{Hoppy} Birthday Party Themes - Easter/ Bunny

I am constantly amazed by the creativity and hard work that parents (moms, especially) are able and willing to put into throwing their kids the most amazing, fun, and beautiful birthday party celebrations.  It's even better when I get asked to help make some of the amazing paper products that tie the party together. 

Yesterday, my dear friend Laura hosted this super cute Hoppy Birthday Party for her two kids.  I don't think I've ever seen Charlotte so excited at a birthday party before!  There were bunny tails, bubbles, Easter eggs...everything was beyond adorable and kid friendly.  Here are all the details...

Banner.  Laura hung this bright and spring-y "Hoppy Birthday" banner right at the entrance of the community center to welcome the guests.  I cut the banner pennants to look like eggs to echo the Easter theme. 

Supplies:  Patterned Paper (We R Memory Keepers - Hippity Hop); Ribbon (American Crafts); Cricut (Create a Critter); Font (Elephants in Cherry Trees).

Laura also made this adorable photo banner that strung across the counter with the "adult" favors. 

Table Decorations.  Laura put together these vases filled with jelly beans, peeps and marshmallows to decorate the tables throughout the community center. 

She also printed and framed this Easter subway art print from eighteen25.

Food.  Sugar galore!  There was bunny themed food everywhere and it was delicious!  Charlotte especially loved the bunny bait (which kept her so quiet I got a bit worried for just a second).  I also made the food labels by hand stamping and coloring these adorable bunny stamps on white cardstock and mounting them on patterned paper.

Supplies for Food Labels:  Patterned Paper (We R Memory Keepers - Hippity Hop); Cardstock (American Crafts); Stamps (a muse, Lawn Fawn); Other (We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Copic Markers).

This cake was delicious - a classic chocolate and vanilla cake from Katrina's Bakery in downtown Newport, RI.

Laura made these cute utensil rolls.  Just brilliant!!

Favors.  There were favors for both the adults and children.  Adults got bottles of local Delaware beer adorned with some favor tags I made using Photoshop and my trusty Silhouette Cameo.  The kids got bags filled with pinwheels, sunglasses and other goodies that they also used to fill with Easter eggs later during the party.  

Supplies for Favor Tags:  Patterned Paper (We R Memory Keepers - Hippity Hop); Digital Files (Bunny Silhouette - Lettering Delights, Font - Bosshole).

I also made these bunny ear props that the kids played with while running around outside.  SO CUTE!!!

 

 

Supplies for Bunny Ears:  Cardstock (American Crafts, Core'd'nations, Martha Stewart); Digital Files (Lettering Delights).

Laura also created these adorable carrot party hats and bunny tails.  I nearly died watching all the kids run around while wagging those cotton tails!

Activities.  The kids were busy the entire party blowing bubbles, searching for Easter eggs, beating up all the dads...

Birthday Boy and Girl.  And to end this post, here's a photo of the perfect birthday girl and boy. 

Laura, thank you so much for letting me be a part of this special celebration!!!  And to everyone else, as always, thanks for stopping by!

Project 100 Update:  92 down (I'm counting all the projects I made for the party as 12), 8 to go.

Birthday Party Themes - Blueberries for Sal

I love parties.  I love birthday parties.  And I especially love birthday parties that are centered around a book.  I've shared these creations on the blog before but wanted to show you how my super creative and talented friend, Jenni, put it all together for her daughter's "Blueberries for Sal" themed birthday party.

Invitations.  I created this invite that Jenni was able to just print at any online photo store (i.e. shutterfly, snapfish, costco) on matte photo paper.  There are also online companies that can print these digital files on cardstock for a pretty reasonable price (i.e. overnight prints, shutterfly). 

Banner.  Blue gingham, tin pails and yellow "2"s became recurring themes throughout the party and this banner set the tone nicely.

 

Food.  I think that everything and anything with blueberries was served at this adorable birthday party.  I'm talking homemade blueberry pie, muffins, scones, cake, blueberry lemonade spiked with vodka...YUM!!  Jenni made the food labels using blue gingham patterned paper, white cardstock, and little bucket images that I made to match the other party decor.

The bakery was able to match the bucket image.  How adorable is this?!  And may I say that the cake was also delicious!

Jenni's created this sweet food labels.  And the table spread was so gorgeous - especially with accents like this galvanized metal tiered stand.

Blueberries galore!

Charlotte certainly had her fill of blueberries.  :)

Games.  There were games and activities planned throughout the party just perfect for all the little toddlers - a stamping/ art station, story time, a present unwrapping game, and this super cute activity where each child got to "pick" their own special blueberry.  Cuteness overload.

Birthday Favors.  Each guest left with a jar of local Maine blueberry jam (!!!) and the kids got a tin pail filled with some of the birthday girl's favorite goodies - stamps, bubbles, stickers.  I just love how the favors looked with the tags I made.

Birthday Girl.  Jenni ordered the birthday girl this adorable shirt.  Makes me wish I had an embroidering machine and could actually sew.  Charlotte was clearly envious.  :)

If you want to read more about this Blueberry Birthday Party, please visit Jenni's blog.  

As always, thanks for stopping by!