Shower Sunday: Yellow Pinwheels & Mason Jars

I love baby showers!  There is always excitement in the air... excitement about everything!  Mommy is excited, friends are excited and family is excited.  Although I think all baby showers are fun, I especially love showers for baby number one.  There is always a bit of extra excitement (if that's even possible).  Last month, I got to help with some shower details for a friend.  Sarah is my sister's best friend and through the years, I've come to love and respect her so much!  I was able to help with her wedding and was thrilled when my sister asked if I could help with Sarah's baby shower.

We found the perfect invitations from Cate at Bella Love Letters.  We were on a time crunch and Cate worked fast and the invites were gorgeous!  We also asked her to design some thank you cards for us.

As guests arrived, they were greeted by this table.  The picture is terrible but the idea is there.  Yellow, gold, orange and light brown candies were used to create this fun candy bar for guests to enjoy during the shower and to take home as favors.  We used milk glass and clear containers to help the candy pop.

The food spread was beautiful. Emily and Amy did a great job preparing some yummy and eye catching treats.  To tie in the yellow and bring the ceiling down, we added puffs directly above the food table.  Emily's home was prefect for fabulous party flow - food in one room, mingling and gifts in another, plus a patio to expand the space.

Using the same graphics as the invites, I created some basic food tags.  I'm all about labeling food especially with all the allergies out there - plus, it's an awesome way to continue the theme with your table and make the food pack of the decor.

Emily is a gifted florist!  She has an eye for classy, simple arrangements and had small flower arrangements placed throughout the party space. 

I loved lots of little things about this shower, but my absolute favorite was the mantel.  This was a fabulous idea and I have every intention of doing it again... and again!

The pops of yellow were all pieces of one big gift basket for Sarah.  I love the use of milk glass and yellow flowers and the idea of hanging the dress, bib and socks from old painted frames.

Baby shower activities and games are always a bit tricky.  In my book, there is a fine line between tacky and classy when it comes to shower games.  We played one real game but had a couple different activities as well.

 "Finish Mommy's Sentence" is an easy way to get the guests involved, but focus on Mommy.  Because this is Sarah's first baby, it was fun to hear her answers compared to guests who have one or two kids already.

For the other activities, we collected words of advice for Sarah and Paul (Mommy and Daddy) as well as some words of advice for the baby.  We asked guests to fill them out and collected them in a jar.  We didn't read them at the shower, but gave them to Sarah to take home and enjoy reading later.  This is a fun way to involved Dad by extending the shower fun beyond the party hours.

For prizes, I wrapped fancy white chocolate bars in doilies and tied with a yellow ribbon. 

The best part of the shower was, of course, was the good company!  At the end of the day, a great party means good friends and lots of fun.  I loved watching the mommy-to-be open her presents and laugh.  Excitement was in the air!

This was one of my favorite showers to plan - I loved the location, the inspiration and the company.  Candy bars are a great way to tie in color, but the mantel decor was by far my favorite small thing about the shower.  

This was also the first time I've used a designer from Etsy and I was super impressed by the choices out there and the ease in ordering.  If you have access to a good printer, this is the way to go for invites!

Birthday: Minecraft Party

As the kids get older, cool parties are harder to come by!  The best place to be inspired is in the birthday boy or girls' hobbies and interests. My creative sister recently planned a fun party for her son that I just had to share... "Carter's 12th birthday was an easy decision.  He's totally into Minecraft this year and it was such an easy theme to work with.  Everything in the game is pixelated, very retro video game style.  So I decided to go with anything square and work from there.  I was able to find some great downloads for all the blocks and character/creatures so I spent quite a bit of time cutting and folding!  I think overall, they really pulled the theme together."

I'd have to agree! Minecraft is all the rage these days with tweens and teens and there are lots of free resources out there to help with the details.  Minecraft is a game which allows players to build anything and everything out of 3D textured cubes.  Crystal did a fabulous job pulling the party together with lots of thoughtful creativity and small touches here and there.

Click here for the Minecraft birthday banner.

The weather was beautiful, so they took the party outside!  This is a great way to expand your space when your at-home living space isn't ideal for a big gathering.  There are likely all sorts of parks and greenspaces you can take advantage of in your neighborhood.

One of my favorite ideas with any party is including the food as part of the theme and decor.  It's an easy way to add to the theme.  Crystal used the food tags to tie in the theme - notice the pictures are each made of small 3D cubes!  The food itself was based on the food that the main character, Steve, eats/cooks in the game.  Even the cake was the same as the one in the game!

Want to create your own food labels?  Look at this great font option!

Here are some of those fabulous printouts that Crystal found!

 Every party needs a favor!  Favors are not only a fun way to keep with a theme but it also extends the party for the guests!  Whether is keeping the guests busy in the car or for days to come, favors are a special way to say thank you for coming.  Crystal used bright green ("Creeper" colored) bags filled with a rubics cube, square wooden puzzles and green taffy.  Crystal and her hubby found the taffy a few weeks before the party on a weekend away - when you're planning a party, it's never too early to start picking up small things and planning ahead.

Activities are also harder to come by for older kids, but I loved the creativity of the games Crystal chose.  The first game, Creeper Tag, is a Minecraft version of capture the flag.  Simple instructions and will probably cause everyone to break a sweat on a warm day!

 The other game was Minecraft Bingo.  This spin off the classic was a hit and turned out to be a highlight for Crystal.  "My favorite part of the party was the Minecraft bingo.  It was great to see young and old enjoying a game together.  Carter's great grandmother had a blast with it, and so did Carter!"

Have you thought about creating a bingo party game for your own theme?  What a simple, fun idea!

Thank you, Crystal, for sharing your party creativity!

Baby Shower: Strawberries & Sunflowers

This weekend, I had the opportunity to help set-up for a strawberry-themed baby shower.  One of my good friends asked if she could borrow some of my party gear - of course, I obliged.  But I asked if I could take some pictures and feature the shower.  Win-win!

Although this was baby #3, there were lots of bumps along the road for Mommy and she deserved to be sprinkled!  The hostesses provided such a beautiful set-up.  Notice the dangle-bop ribbon they used - it's a small thing that's classy and eye catching.

 

The food was simple - drinks (delicious strawberry basil lemonade) and cracker-topped snacks.  For a fun touch, a chocolate fondue fountain was available to dip strawberries.  Yum!

The cupcakes themselves were a piece of art!  They were so adorable and I'm sure delicious!  The provided the extra pops of color on the shower activity/game table.

I loved the shower games - not over the top (as so many are) but also fun and creative.  They asked the guests to guess Baby Helena's birthday and weight.  An idea like this can extend the party beyond the party itself!  As a host, it's fun to follow-up on a game like this.

The second activity was so cute!  I asked the hostess where she found the idea and she said it's originally a bridal shower idea.  It's perfect for a girl baby shower, too!

The favors were not only perfectly themed, but perfectly packaged and yummy!  This homemade strawberry freezer jelly was the perfect gift to send guests home with.

I loved so many small things about this shower.   The ribbon on the table and the striped red straws added pops of color.  Using mason jars for cups and catching them with the favors.  The pops of green on the cupcakes and jelly jars.  This was such a sweet shower!

Graduation Party: Cove High School

My cousin, Taylor, graduated from high school this past weekend and his family planned a fun open house to celebrate.  There were so many fun pieces to this party!  The inspiration was, of course, graduation, but Lisa (Taylor's mom) chose to stick with the school colors and focus on a walk through Taylor's life up to that moment.

In blue and yellow, the decorations popped and there were small touches throughout the party that added to the fun.  I loved the "centerpiece" above the table.  This was no "small thing" but it sure was fun!

  I also loved the ribbon and labels on the silverware jars.  Silverware can be left as boring or made to pop with just a few pieces of ribbon!

 

And, of course, the food was fabulous with pops of color brought in throughout.

One of the highlights were these fabulous cupcakes!  They were made by one of Taylor's cousins, so it was not only a fun touch, but special, too!

Because this was an open house, there weren't any organized party games or activities.  However, I loved this "Advice & Memories" jar.  Guests were encouraged to give advice for the journey ahead as well as share a memory of Taylor from the journey behind.  How sweet is that?

Another special piece to the party was the use of pictures throughout the house.  Pictures frames were filled with pictures of Taylor from baby to graduate.  This is an easy way to personalize the party as well as put the focus on the graduate's life rather than a theme.

There was also a fabulous picture wall created by Taylor's sister, Reilley.  This was a guest favorite but also a hostess favorite.  When asked about it, Lisa replied, "I loved the picture wall and I loved that Reilley created it for Taylor.  All those years of sibling rivalry and she still loves her brother."  Special indeed!

There were so many things I loved about this party!  But I think the best part was celebrating Taylor and his life to this point.  I loved that the focus was on how much we love him.  I asked Lisa what her favorite part was and she responded, "The best part of the whole party was seeing all of the people who came to help us celebrate Taylor's graduation.  It was awesome to see how many people love Taylor and also to watch him with all of those people.  We are pretty proud of that boy!" 

What a great party!

Glow Party: Black Light Bowling

Last fall, I helped plan a Sweet 16 Glow Party for a friend and loved how it all came together!  This spring, we took a simpler route for a black light "Level Up" party at our church.  We rented out the bowling alley and invited the outgoing 8th graders and all the high schools from our church to attend.  It was a great way for the 8th grade students to start making that big transition to high school - and the party was great!  Good food (pizza, of course) and lots of glow!  We handed out glow bracelets, but also asked the students to wear white and neon.  The party started when the lights in the bowling alley were switched on and the music started blasting.  So fun!

The planning for this party was super simple (basically reserving the space and inviting the kids).  But regardless of how much time you spend on a party, it can still be a blast for everyone!  Sometimes hosting a party outside of your home is the best way to tackle a theme (and lots of people).  When you start planning your party, be sure to think about the different options you have in your area.  Can you gather at a park?  Or in a bowling alley?  Maybe a local putt-putt course?  

Bring your inspiration to a location or have your location be your inspiration - and be creative!