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!

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!

Inspiration Board: University of Washington

For a casual birthday dinner, a college team theme is perfect!  Inspiration comes in many ways - the inspiration for this party came from Husky tickets and yellow plates.  The hostess already had yellow plates and her husband was headed to the game the next day.  Lots of purple and gold!  

Whatever your inspiration - be creative!  And remember - it's all about the small things!