Real Party: Elephant Sip & See

This past weekend I hosted a Sip & See for my friend Shannon.  This party was sandwiched in between two other parties that were much more complicated, so I kept it very simple.  I still wanted it to feel special for Shannon, so I sent invitations and had a few other touches on hand to make it feel like more than just a lunch.  

 I found these cute little wooden elephants at Michael's and just taped them to sticks and had them added to the floral arrangement.  They looked adorable!

We had the flowers done here, since I am flower-challenged.  The floral department is amazing! I am definitely going back there for flowers in the future. 

 I bought Horton Hears a Who! to use as a guest book. 

I put a label on the inside cover and had everyone write a little message to the the new baby. 

 I made little place cards for each guest.

And labels for the party favors: Animal Crackers!

(I used Martha Stewart's downloadable red round gift tags for both of these things.)

And last but not least, I sprinkled some elephant confetti on the table. 

Made with my Martha Stewart elephant punch. 

What a fun little lunch celebration! 

Congratulations Shannon, and it was so nice to meet you Baby Ethan!

Invitation: Elephant Sip & See

Yesterday I shared the inspiration board I was working from when designing this get-together to honor my friend Shannon and her new baby. 

Here's the invitations I made: 

I used my Martha Stewart elephant punch.

Come back tomorrow for all the details of this little party...

Inspiration: Elephant Sip & See

This past weekend was the one I've been talking about recently where I helped to throw 3 parties in 3 days.  What a crazy whirlwind it was! {But I loved every minute of it!} 

The most crazy part of the whole thing is that I had to fly.  I had one suitcase of clothes and another huge bag with just party supplies.  My friends all think I'm crazy.  {But my fellow party girls understand, right?!}

First up:

I threw a very small Sip & See for my friend Shannon, who recently had her second baby Ethan.  

When I heard his name was Ethan, I knew I wanted to do an elephant theme, to play off the E in his name. 

Here is the inspiration board I put together when I started my planning:  

Photo credits: 

I love the simple patterns and bright colors of this birthday invitation from Tiny Prints. 

Cute little elephant tags on lemonade at an elephant baby shower by Head of the Table. 

Sweet vintage elephant print from Land of Nod. 

Elephants love peanuts! 

Mod elephant onsies from Tad Pole Creations. 

I was picturing bright colors and simple patterns when I planned this shower.  

The party was held at a restaurant on a busy day between two bigger parties, so I really had to narrow down what I wanted to incorporate.  

Check back tomorrow to see the simple little invites I made. 

Our Arizona Trip!

This past weekend my husband and I headed to Arizona. 

The main purpose of the trip was to go to few spring training games for my husband's favorite team. (And some much needed sunshine.)

We had a great time exploring parts of Scottsdale and Phoenix.  

We went on a great hike.

And a few fun nights out (Scottsdale has some great restaurants!)

Each time I go to a new city, I like to visit a local cupcake shop. Am I the only one who does this? 

In Scottsdale, I drug my husband to Cupcakes. 

What a cute little shop we found! Their website is here.

I loved all the creative names of their cupcakes! 

A few examples: 

Tuxedo: chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and chocolate sprinkles

Rich and Famous: chocolate cake with chocolate frosting

Blondie: vanilla cake with Magagascar vanilla frosting

Party Animal: vanilla cake with vanilla frosting and lots of sprinkles

I had a Brunette: vanilla cake with chocolate frosting

My husband had a Momo: vanilla cake with cinnamon and sugar crunch topping

We both thought they were delicious!

The other fun spot I found was called Sugar Bowl.  

 I didn't sample anything here (I mean how many desserts can a girl possibly eat?)...but I didn't have to. It was adorable!  (The cartoon strip The Family Circus featured this shop multiple times. Some examples are here.)

 Pink bar stools...

...pink chairs, and pink booths! 

There was even a party room, all decked out in vintage pink-cuteness.  It was crying out for a baby shower or kid's ice cream birthday party! I wish I lived closer!

Thanks for the fun time, Arizona! We can't wait to come back. 

Gift Idea: Go Green For St. Patty's Day!

In honor of St Patrick's Day, I am going green! 

I love this idea for a creative baby shower gift...

These plants from Green Your Air are said to help eliminate harmful pollutants from the air.  What mom wouldn't want one in her baby's nursery?! 

Bonus: the cute pots are all natural, non-toxic, and biodegradable!  

(originally spotted at Pepper Design Blog)

Right now they are only available in San Diego...but the website says they are working on figuring out the best environmentally-friendly way to ship their plants other places.  Crossing my fingers that they figure it out quickly! I've got some shower presents to purchase! 

You can sign up for the mailing list here for updates. 

Real Party: Eat, Play, Love Baby Shower

Today's post doesn't have anything to do with green or shamrocks or leprechauns.  I know you'll forgive me when you see this beautiful baby shower I have to share!

This lovely shower was hosted by my friend Drea and another friend of the mom-to-be.  They created the perfect day for guests to Eat, Play, & Love on this adorable mom-to-be. 

This is how Drea described the inspiration for the shower:
"Aria, the mom-to-be, is a graphic designer by career, but a lover of everything pretty by nature. She loves gold, Asian inspired decor, papercrafts, food, drink, and anything intricate in detail. Putting
together a shower for her was at first intimidating because lets face it; how do you put something together for someone who is a lover of all the elements needed for a shower? Food, paper, drink!
I started with the color scheme - pinks, reds, orange, yellow. Nice bright colors that were all warm and totally positive. This was the base for the shower in terms of decor and it just spiraled from there."

 Drea purchased some lanterns and made party poms to hang above the table. She used this tutorial to make the poms and reported that they were incredibly easy.  I love how she mixed the different tissue colors within each pom.  Pretty, pretty! 

This was a brunch shower.  Green chile frittata, corn and cheese muffins, chocolate croissants, fruit salad, and sausage were served.  Mimosas with mango nectar were poured. 

And desserts were pies from a popular local place called Lois the Pie Queen, a childhood favorite of the mom-to-be. 

You may remember the game that we played at Drea's bachelorette party last summer (if not, see this post).  They had a similar game for the mom-to-be: guests brought onsies where the design was reminiscent of a memory they have with the mom-to-be, their personality, or something they think
she would appreciate.  The mom-to-be had to guess whom each was from.  Any wrong guesses equaled another piece of gum for her to chew! (Drea reports she had a lot of gum by the end!)

What an awesome, playful collection of onsies! I love this idea for a baby shower game.  Aria obviously has some very creative friends. 

Another beautifully creative idea: Drea made these paper fortune cookies.  Guests wrote well-wishes for the baby on strips of paper and placed them in the fortune cookies.  What a fun keepsake for the mom-to-be, who told Drea she is planning to make mobile out of them after that baby arrives.  

Drea's inspiration and DIY instructions for these paper cookies were from here.  

Last, but certainly not least: party favors! Drea was inspired by a baby shower I threw a couple years ago to give CFL light bulbs!  Love it!

Beautiful shower Connie & Drea! 

Thank you so much for sharing it with us Drea! 

and Congratulations Aria!

All photos by Andrea Garabedian

Real Party: Hungry Caterpillar 1st Birthday

I have a very cute birthday party to share with you! 

The party was based on the adorable chidren's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  The birthday girl's crafty mom, my friend Joanne,  did a great job tying in the brightly colored book with all the decor.  

The sweet invitations set the stage for the party.

Welcome sign at the entrance to the party. 

Joanne had cute tented cards throughout the food table with lines from the book on them. 

The cake was made by a local bakery: Cake Creations.  Adorable & yummy.  

Joanne had a little activity to keep guests occupied.  There was a caterpillar banner with a picture of Kyla from each month of her life.  

Guests were asked to put the pictures in order of her age.  It was surprisingly tough! 

There were also coloring sheets on the tables for little ones. 

Each child at the party took home the most creative party favor...They each got their own caterpillar!  The caterpillars were ordered from here.  They came with instructions and everything needed for the parent and child to see their little critters all the way through to becoming a butterfly. Isn't that fun? 

The best part of this party? The sweetest little birthday girl ever, in her strawberry dress!

Happy Birthday Kyla! 

And thanks for the fun party Brian and Joanne!

I am Loving: Chalkboard Speech Bubbles

How fun is this?!

I was so excited to learn about these adorable chalkboards speech bubbles.  They even have a handle on the back, making it the perfect photo booth accessory! 

One of my fellow bridesmaids for an upcoming wedding has a few of these and I can't wait to use them in the photo booth at the bridal shower we are planning! 

You can buy them here. (And all photos from their site also!)

Aren't they fun?
So much better than the lame white board I used here and here. Oh well! :)

Speaking of this upcoming bridal shower...I have to apologize.  I have been MIA lately.  My excuse is that I am in the midst of planning for 4 different events in a 2 week period and have been coordinating and crafting every spare minute! Thank you for your patience.  And I'll just tell you now that between these 4 events I will have lots of fun stuff to share over the next month or so, so please stay with me!

Real Party: Modern Boy Baby Shower

I attended a sweet little baby shower this past weekend. 

Our friends Sam and Morgan are expecting a baby boy and some her friends put together a little celebration. 

I loved the modern and stylish food table.  Risers and trays were made out of wrapping paper covered boxes. And the little napkins folded as diapers were pretty darn cute. 

A few adorable onesie banners were hung throughout. 

Guests decorated bibs, a fun take on this trend.  

This little cutie was killing me! He helped unwrap all his parents' gifts --  it was hilarious! 

Congratulations Sam & Morgan! 

Can't wait to meet the little guy!