Baby Shower 4 - The Whole Shebang, Vendor List and THE END!

Ok, you're probably getting sick of hearing about this darn shower aren't you? I realized tonight that I'm getting pretty sick of talking about it. It was so much fun, but it's time to move on. There will be other parties, but I promise not to wear you out with the next one!

There were a few things to improve on for next time - like my backdrop fabric FIASCO (hence the ugly seam down the middle); I printed the bunting circles a little too small and hung them a little high for the scale of the table; and the pictures...oh the pictures. They didn't come out great...again! I've decided to sacrifice my photos for a while longer though since hubby and I are now going through IVF. (For now I have come to terms with the fact that she is much happier in natural light and gets a little dark inside without the sunshine...much like her owner:)

All in all everything turned out great. Most importantly it was a wonderful time, spent with awesome friends to celebrate a special time...and we had so much fun! As much as I'd love for every party to be perfect, at the end of the day sometimes we just have to roll with the punches, let go a little and relax!

I hope you enjoy a glimpse into R & L's shower!

Invites and coordinating party supplies by good frau. I could go on and on about her. She was great to work with and had no problem bringing my creative (or crazy) ideas to fruition.

A few new serving dishes were surprising finds at Kohls (and some are just a part of my collection). I don't shop there much, but when I found out that they had a whole line of Food Network items, let's just say I went a little crazy. I'm such a sucker for Food Network and I was so excited to find some durable, timeless pieces for affordable prices.

Cupcakes...oh cupcakes! If ever downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, you must check out Abby Girl Sweets. I was going to make cupcakes myself, but decided it was just too much work. All of the cupcakes I tried were de-licious (yea, I tried a few). My surprising favorite was a banana cupcake (think a-hmmm-what-is-that? hint of REAL banana) with Madagascar vanilla bean butter cream frosting. Crave-worthy! Cookies by Better bit of Butter. Read more here and here. White cake pedestals by Martha Stewart and from Macys. I was shocked to see that they are still available online. Get them while they're hot...and on super sale! Great look that goes well with modern or traditional decor. I can't believe how hard it is to find cake stands. Just have to keep your eye out here and there. I got the paper from Michaels for cupcake wrappers above. The orange wrappers were made by Paper Circus. She was really easy to work with and I got my package very quickly. She even did a custom edging for me. I made custom labels for some of my favorite, citrus, cream lotion to give as favors.

TV image by good frau. Wanted to hide the dark black box a little...or at least put it to work for me:) Drink station.

I lucked upon these cute little owl wine bottle toppers at Pier One. "Girlfriends Favorite" (and super affordable) white wines from Cupcake Vineyards.

Classic baby shower punch - Orange Dream Punch.

I shared my easy Strawberry Lemonade recipe here.

These frozen baby cubes were hilarious. I got the babies at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. I love the cubes produced by Perfect Cube Ice Trays from Sur La Table.

Match the Celebrity baby to the Celebrity game.

Custom onesies and burp cloths from Mac and Me. Read more about her here.

Have I ever told you that I LOVE to wrap gifts!? Runner fabric underneath gift by Kalla. Read about her here and here.

Love this cute little bowl from Crate & Barrel. Complete random, but lucky find! Orange, Amy Butler fabric, coasters from Love My Coasters. Fun!

I had so much fun putting this party together for my pals, but again, the best part of all was sharing this special time together. Hope you enjoyed the party!

PS - Party held in our walkout basement...i.e. hubby's mancave:)

Baby Shower Part 3 - Custom Fabric, Cups and It's a Boy Straws

Check out the amazing, custom dyed fabric on the runner above. I'm so excited at how this turned out. The fabric was hand dyed by Hitomi Kimura of KALLA textile designs. I told you all about her here back in August.

The cup below served as a color and design inspiration for the shower. I told you all about these here. I sent Hitomi a picture of the cup and she matched the color to a "T". I am in love with this graphic design and was in awe of how she brought it to life on fabric. She is a true artist, such a pleasure to work with...and fast. I received the fabric in no time and she is in Japan!!!

Check out my fun little "It's a Boy!" straw flags. I found the orange straws at Michaels. So fun!

Stay tuned for more fun pics from the shower...and a FULL vendor list coming soon.

Enjoy!

Baby Shower Part 2 - Mac and Me Custom Onesies & Burp Cloths

How adorable are these custom owl onesies and burp cloths from Mac and Me? I found her by chance from an adorable giraffe baby shower I saw on the Dimple Prints blog. I loved this shower and was thinking about the giraffe theme for R & L's shower as well. I contacted Mac and Me right away and she was so great. She helped me while I was working through my color scheme and theme and mentioned this adorable owl fabric she had. Since I was really leaning toward turquoise and orange as the colors, the owl became the obvious choice - and, of course, the theme for the big day. She used her own Amy Butler orange polka dot fabric for one burp cloth and I sent her a few turquoise/teal fabrics for the second cloth. I can't tell you how awesome Mac and Me is. She is a doll to work with, does amazing work, uses high quality materials and is willing to customize your order. I received the order so quickly and we are on opposite sides of the country. I highly recommend her if you want to create a special, one-of-a-kind shower gift or if you want to go with one of her adorable, pre-made sets. The girls were blown away by this special gift.

Enjoy!

Baby Shower Pics Part 1 - Edible Artwork

I know, I know...it's crazy that I haven't posted pics from the shower. It's not that I haven't wanted to...I'm dieing!

I sent pics to a favorite site for possible placement/review on her blog and the pics had to be exclusive...couldn't even be on my own blog. It's been a few weeks since my submission, so I don't think I'll be picked. I'm going to wait until mid week next week to make a big, full post (just in case I do get picked), but wanted to show a sneak peak of the amazing Better Bit of Butter cookies that were custom designed for the shower.

I introduced you to Christine Mehling of Better Bit of Butter in an old blog post here. I can't say enough good things about her service, her work or the taste of her cookies. They were such a huge hit at the party and one of the crowning design elements on the table.

Check these cookies out...artwork!

They are like little stained glass pieces of sweet goodness.

Please give Better Bit of Butter a thought for your next party. Your guests will be so impressed by the look and the taste. They make a super special treat to a party table!

Stay tuned. Full party details throughout the week next week, including a list of all of my vendors and resources.

Have a great weekend!

Shower Pics to Come & Halloween Fun!

Hey there. Sorry it's been a while. The big shower was last weekend and I can't wait to share the special day with you. Pics coming soon...

In the meantime, I wanted to send you over to one of my favorite, check-every-day blogs, love the day (hope this is OK, Lindi). She has some wonderful Halloween ideas, as well as some of her darling printable designs available for FREE download. Check out the sign below...this is one of her FREE downloads and goes with the cutest Halloween package. I love the modern twist and creative coloring.

Check out her entire Halloween package here! You can see some of love the day's other work from viewing my Tiki Party post from July.

Have a great weekend!

More Baby Shower Sneak Peeks

The shower is just around the corner...next weekend! I can't wait to see my girlfriends and celebrate this special time in Rachel & Lauren's lives.

Check out these adorable invitations, labels and stickers by Emily of Good Frau.

Invites, Labels, & Stickers I sent her some design samples, color ideas and a list of all of the things I wanted her to design and she whipped all sorts of wonderful goodies up for me. Food signs, banner circles, toppers/stickers, invites, welcome signs, water bottle labels, blank labels, an image to play on the big screen... Emily was so wonderful to work with. She sent over an awesome first design and then made all of the small tweaks I asked with no problem. She does amazing work, but is also just plain nice. I love to work with great people who do great work!

Just wait until you see it all come together...so much fun! For the address labels, I used blank labels she sent me and inserted text. I even made special packaging for my favors (some of my favorite lotion).

Lotion Labels

TV Image (Just a little something to liven up my husbands super sized tv in the room:)

Water Bottle Labels

I'll show you all of Emily's fun work, mixed with my styling after the shower.

***Please continue to bear with my photos. I started having camera issues this summer and they just keep getting worse. She's getting tired and ready to be put to rest. We've been talking about getting a new camera forever and just haven't taken the time to do it. That's why I haven't been posting a lot of my own pics. My camera makes me look like a horrible photographer. While I'm not a pro, I'm better than she makes me out to be:)

Return from Paradise

Well, I'm sure you could guess that I was on vacation. I used my new iPhone to do a mini post, but I'm still learning how to use the darn thing, so I couldn't do a lot. I'm also still so new at blogging that I'm not completely sure of all the features of blogspot. Bare with me as I continue to learn:)

We went to our family's place on the beach in the south Florida Keys. One day I will do a little "Insiders Guide" to the middle/southern Keys in case anyone should take a trip there. We have become quite the experts over the years, especially in the restaurant department:) Can't say enough great things about the Keys. Truly our island paradise...home away from home!

How cute are these?

Colored M & M's

Orange

White

Aqua

I'm going to mix these up and put them in little white bowls for people to snack on throughout the night at the baby shower. So fun...can't wait! I bought mine at Party City, but you can also go directly to the source and buy from M&M. You can even make custom M & M's with sayings and pictures on them. So cute!

Art Deco Party Food Picks - Talisman Designs

Take a look at these super stylish, disposable food picks by Talisman Designs. I've been eyeing these for months and finally ordered them this week. Got them yesterday and they are darling! I was excited to see that the orange/rust colored picks are really more orange in person. I'm going to use the orange and blue skewers to make caprese salad skewers (similar to this), although there are a ton of things you could do with them...load them with cheese, let guests use them to pick up food (like below), string with fruit or olives to float in drinks...

These are going to look so special on this white, Food Network serving plate on top of aqua linens. I purchased them on Amazon - but I think I bought the last one. I also found them here.

Check out some of the other colors they offer below.

Better Bit Of Butter Cookies - Custom Cookies for Baby Shower

While browsing the Amy Atlas Events website one day, I read about Better Bit of Butter cookies. To say I fell in love is an understatement. Take a look at the divine cookie masterpieces below (and admit it, you're in love too!) They are cookies and art pieces wrapped into one. Just have to have them for the upcoming shower.

I immediately contacted BBB and within a day or less, Christine Mehling herself contacted me back. I asked if she did custom work...and of course, she does! We've been in touch several times to talk about what I'm looking for and she even asked me to send over samples for design inspiration.

I thought this would be a perfect addition to my food/dessert/special goodie table - something sweet (who doesn't love cookies?), something easy to pick up and something that will make the table look high designed. While I haven't tasted them yet, I've read so many great things about the taste. And, Amy wouldn't recommend them if they weren't the cream of the crop!

Christine is working on two custom designs for me now - can't wait to see! I probably won't unveil these one of a kind delights until after the shower - want them to be a super special surprise. I'm getting the Mini BBB's like below, but she also does full size cookies.

Thanks for the tip Amy Atlas!

Mini Sneak Peak - Baby Shower Theme

Just another mini sneak peak of shower goodies and colors. Everything is coming together nicely. Can't wait for time with girlfriends and a celebration of two new wonders coming into the world!

One of the many adorable designs by goodfrau who has been absolutely amazing to work with. Check her out!

kalla Design - Custom Fabric for Baby Shower

I wish I could tell you exactly how I found kalla Design, so I could thank whoever directed me to her. I'm thinking it might have been on Etsy, because I know she sells there, but just not sure. Anyway, Hitomi Kimura, the master behind kalla Design, is a talented textile artist and surfaces designer in Japan. She does custom designed, hand dyed, screen-printing on fabric, other textiles, fashion pieces, wallpaper, stationery and packaging.

I couldn't believe it when I found the fabric on the purse above. I immediately contacted her to see if she could whip me up some of this awesome fabric to go right in line with my theme for the baby shower in October (remember the cups from my last blog entry?). I didn't know if she would sell in smaller quantities, but she does.

She is so awesome to deal with and even tweaked the color of the fabric to match my colors exactly. I was surprised at how quickly she communicated with me - considering she's in Japan and there's quite a time difference. I got the fabric in hand in about a week - maybe less. It's gorgeous and super durable. It's a sturdy linen type fabric and is so special. Wait and see how I use it in the shower in a couple of months! Thank you for a great buying experience, Hitomi - and for beautiful work!

Here are some more samples of her work:

Check her out at www.kalladesign.com or follow her on her blog at www.kalladesign.blogspot.com.

Oooh Baby Baby...Baby Shower for Girlfriends

I'm throwing a double baby shower for two of my college girlfriends in October and I'm so excited about it. I want to make it really special for two very special people. I'm going to start showing "sneak peaks" of items I've picked up for the shower and then once it's over I'll post pics from the entire event, as well as a resource list of the things you see. I've found so many great vendors/designers during this process and can't wait to share them with you.I'm in love with these cups from Pier One . I found them in late Spring and bought a bunch. Everytime I go back in, I have to buy more (Beware though, if you want some you better act fast. They are on sale and I know won't last much longer). This turquoise color makes me happy...and this design is right up my alley - sort of modern/geometric.

I decided I was going to do the shower in aqua/turquoise and orange. These colors are really hot right now and will bring a modern twist to the shower...something fresh and different than simple pink and blue (although those colors can be so darling too!)

When I started thinking about the decorations and invitations I thought - oooh, this design would be great. So, my designer ran with it and used it all over the decorations. Stay tuned for more sneak peaks!