return address label

last year i did reindeer fingerprints

so this year we did a fingerprint christmas tree

 "we believe"

"count your blessings"

subway art

I just love pinterest for finding great inspiration.

this christmas i have updated

my decorations with a few of these ideas.

i had pinned this wreath in the fall, 

 but it was too late to be making a fall wreath

so i added pinecones dusted with glitter.

i followed the tutorial and it took about an hour.

the most time consuming part is cutting the burlap.

i had lots left over from my sister's shower,

but it does take a lot of 4 inch squares.  she said about 100.

i didn't count... and you'll need a lot of pins!

 i searched advent calendars on pinterest

and found so many wonderful ideas.

i decided to do a mix of winter/holiday fun as well as

acts of kindness & thinking of others.

 here is my list of activities:
color a winter picture ~ make a card to put
with gift card for the mail carrier~write a note to your
sister telling 3 nice things about her~read a christmas
storybook~make a card for your busdrivers~
make cookies~have a snowball fight~go to starbucks
for a treat~make a sign for the garbage man and
attach a gift card~make a snowman~look at
photo albums~make a card for your REP teachers~
watch a christmas movie & have popcorn~go see
christmas lights~make a winter craft~draw a picture
of baby jesus~make cards to send to
great-grandparents~buy a gift for toys for tots~
help wrap christmas presents
{i put a few of these in more than once}

 i used burlap and muslin because i love a natural look.

i had seen this tutorial last year

 their skirt was sewn,

and i was all ready to follow their instructions.

i had planned on pulling the sewing machine out....

and THEN i saw this tutorial!

wait, what?  i can do this with a glue gun?!

done!

happy holidays!

i have once again been searching for

fun. easy, cute ideas for classroom parties.

our party has to be winter themed so that really narrows

down what we can do.

these are the treats i made last year

 i just stacked 2 doughnut holes and made a cupcake topper to

be the snowman head.

my daughter liked helping decorate and attaching the hats.

this year i have found some cute ideas on pinterest

to see all my pins go here.

{there are some christmas ideas too}

i really like these food ideas:

 snowman snack mix

i plan on making a large bowl with

mini marshmallows {snow balls}, pretzel sticks {arms},

chocolate chips {eyes/mouth/buttons},

and orange sprinkles {nose}

 i made these for the halloween party and they were a huge hit!

just cut the seeds out with a mini cookie cutter.

i need to find a winter shape now!

this is puppychow,

but since our school parties are peanut free

i thought it would be cute to use a frosted cereal like

frosted mini wheats since they look like they are covered in snow!

i'll share some activities next time!

i had a client contact me to make

an invite for their grinch themed christmas party.

i think this sounds like such a fun idea for a kid's

holiday gathering!

i'll be making some party decorations as well,

so stay tuned!

as the marathon of baby showers continues,

i bring you the invite for my sister's shower.

my sister is obsessed with her vegetable garden.

like needs a 12 step program obsessed.

like spends most of her free time in the spring

planning, researching & planting obsessed.

like grows seedlings in her guest room obsessed!

i think you all get the picture!

so a garden themed baby shower it will be!

{owen is her last name}

it was my husband's idea to use garden puns in the wording

"lettuce" celebrate, the little "pumpkin" 

and we'll "pepper" her with gifts.

 she likes simple, so i used brown kraft paper.

you can see down by the picture of the address labels

that the back of the invite was the polka dot paper

i used as a backdrop for these pictures.

 the baby's name will be amelia, so that is one of the garden signs.

i added a strip of "grass" that i designed and cut with the cricut.

the finishing touch was teal twine and a hot pink button.

 i created green dot wrap around address labels to brighten up

the brown kraft paper envelopes.

check out all the party inspiration on my pinterest board!

shower pictures will be up next week.

i'm still not exactly sure what to call this shower.

the original thought was for it to be a vintage toy theme,

but when we found out the baby was a girl, we put more of

a vintage book/schoolhouse vibe in there.

whatever you want to call the theme, it turned out great!

unfortunately, my photography skills are not so great...

  once i created the chalkboard for the invite,

i knew that i wanted to incorporate it into all the paper goods.
{especially because the mama is a teacher!}

 

since the shower was a group effort
{thrown by both aunts and grandmas}

i was just in charge of all paper decor.

it was so nice to have just one job to do!!

the beautiful room

as guests walked in, they saw this table decorated with various vintage toys.

 we asked everyone to sign the mommy-to-be's favorite children's book.

i had seen this idea on pinterest, 

and decided to make one for baby caroline

flowers were made following this pinterest tutorial

in the center of the room we had a table full of toys/mementos from

the mom and dad's childhood

 we got the cutest vintage flashcards from pretty little studio on etsy

i bought the mini cards for this banner

in between the letters, i made pennants with these adorable silhouettes.

the silhouettes are cut from chalkboard scrapbook paper

using the "a child's year" cricut cartridge.

 for the gift table i made a banner using pdfs

that i also bought from pretty little studio.

once again, i used the silhouettes from the cricut.
{tip:having a party at a restaurant may mean you cannot
hang a banner on the wall. what i did was attach my banner
to dowel rods and stuck them into vases.
in the vases, i had styrofoam hidden in sugar.}

i saw this idea as part of a really cute "abc baby shower"
and loved it!

 the baby's grandma did the cute centerpieces.  they were terra cotta vases that she painted white and filled with baby's breath.  they also had really cute blue and pink ric rac which you can't really see because of the menu.  she also cut wooden blocks, painted them and stamped them.

{menu}

i used the chalkboard background from the invite

and cut out the bracket shape.

all the coordinating paper backing is from hobby lobby.

{drink label}

i'm so happy for my sister-in-law and can not wait for my new niece to come!

shannon has spoiled my kids so much over the years,

i have a lot of catching up to do!

to see all my pinterest inspiration go here!
for all your party needs contact me through my etsy shop!

i am so excited!

my sister and my sister-in-law are both

pregnant with their first babies...

and they are due only a week apart!

we are very busy planning showers, but here

is a sneak peak of the first one.

my sister-in-law loves anthropology and anything vintage,

so we wanted to create a shower that had that feeling.

at first it started as a vintage toy theme, but has morphed into

a vintage toy/book/schoolhouse theme :)

i am so proud of the invite.

it's probably my favorite of anything

i've ever done.

i found a tutorial for how to create a

chalkboard background in illustrator.

{and i did 90% of it without my sister's help}

my mother-in-law helped sew the invite to fabric.

i think it makes it looks so delicate and pretty!

the mommy-to-be is a teacher,

so we loved the "G is for Girl"!

the chalkboard is incorporated throughout the shower

including these cute onesie stickers i made

for baby's monthly pictures.

check back next week to see all the shower details!

this summer, my sister's best friend got married.

they have been friends since high school

so it was really special to be a part of this day.

my sister and i created almost everything "paper" for the wedding.

i don't do many weddings because there is so much involved

and it's so much work to create 200-300 of everything!

but this bride and her mom were so appreciative

that it made everything worth it!

we were all so happy about how the vision came together.

i think it was the most beautiful wedding i have been to.

every detail was perfect!

..............

it all started with the invitation

 we created a bracket shaped enclosure which

were individually cut using the cricut.

 and wrapped it with wide navy grosgrain ribbon.

a custom made wax seal was the finishing touch.

the inside was a beautiful antique damask

print that my sister created.

isn't she amazing?!?!?

each piece was unique, but all coordinated.

beautiful fonts and details

...........

wedding details

 we created pocket programs for the reception.

they were so cute.  small, but still easy to read.

 each plate had a little succulent.  simple but so pretty!

the only snag we had was that the menus were misplaced...

they were supposed to be placed inside the napkin.

...........

"love is sweet"

candy bar!

candy labels

..........

other details

 we did not make this- it was ordered on etsy- but what a great keepsake!
***tree guestbook was purchased here***

these pictures cannot even begin to show

how beautiful this wedding was,  i was so proud to be involved

in such a well planned event!

**some of the pictures shown are courtesy

of the wedding photographer:

life on prints