Monday, November 22, 2010

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:)

Thursday, November 18, 2010

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!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

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!





Saturday, November 13, 2010

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!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Divine Living Room - Candice Olson Inspired

I'm playing today and working on a living room design. I have my mom in mind for this room. I'm so excited...she's moving close to my hubby and me soon. We'll have all kinds of fun decorating projects to do when she settles in. It's been a little over 7 1/2 years since we've lived in the same city. I miss her and am so happy that she'll be close.

Since she has simlar items to some below, we'll just have to add a little here and there to bring the look together. I was inspired by the room to the right by Candice Olson of Devine Design. I'm trying to find a better picture of her room so I can enlarge it more, but having trouble finding one.

Check out the steel steamer chests used as an entertainment center/built in storage (found at Restoration Hardware or Horchow - no longer available). I'm swooning over the look...not the price:)
Divine Living Room

I used Polyvore to put the set together. Oh, how I love Polyvore! If you're into fashion or home design you have to check it out. SO COOL!

Click on the on the Divine Living Room link below to view the interactive design page for this room. Also, below is a list of each item included in the set, the price and a link to where it can be found. Again, LOVE Polyvore!

Divine Living Room by cutelittlefinds on Polyvore.com

Metal Accordion Side Table
$60 - urbanoutfitters.com


Cox Paint - Jicama
$3.99 - coxpaint.com


Saturday, October 23, 2010

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!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

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:)