li'l punkin autumn baby shower

last fall, a few girlfriends and i hosted a baby shower for our dear friend. since it was going to be in the fall, i thought li'l punkin would be an adorable theme, and ran with it. anytime i host a party, i feel the need to make the invitation as time intensive as possible. it's my thing. plus, i get to show off all the fun things you can do with invites. no invite's complete without a matching envelope!

i knew i wanted punkins on the invite, and then thought a tree with sparse leaves on it would be super cute. i dug thru my ridiculous stacks of scrapbook paper and found some adorable prints that just screamed 'it's fall, y'all'. then, set to work with my cricut to cut out leaves and punkins for 30+ invites! (thanks for being my assistant, mamacita!)

guests were welcomed with punkins (what else?!).

inside, we adorned the tables with punkins and gourds and apples. i got the wild hair to put some fabric that'd been taking up space in the basement to use and make fall buntings. (the night before the party!) a diaper cake adds some whimsy to the gift table (cleverly deemed the punkin patch)

since the party was a sit down brunch, we served a build your own mimosa bar, along with coffee and cream. hosting parties gives me the chance to break out all my nana's silver and china.

there's no way to have an autumn brunch without something punkin. this coffee cake was ah-may-zing! seriously, so delish! i put my gluten-free tendencies to the side when things like this are served! we also had monkey bread, an egg casserole and fruit salad.

we sent all the guests home with their own li'l punkins. we wrapped candy corns and candy punkins up in orange tissue paper, and tied them with floral tape so they looked like punkins. then finished them with a gift tag.

it was a great party, and so fun to see all the loot! baby noah is a cutie pie, and it's hard to believe he's already 10 months old!

hosting a baby shower? how 'bout an autumn theme? the sky's the ding dang limit with all the colors and gourd-y options! let's chat!

chevron and polka dot baby shower

well, hello there. i'll wait while you recover from the shock that i'm actually posting some designs here. on this design blog.

more friends are welcoming babies around here, and it's a must to celebrate mama with tons of loot before baby's arrival. this one's special because it's the first girl for me to snuggle since sweet p came along! can you believe?

baby's nursery is grey and lavender, with fun patterns like chevron, stripes, and polka dots, so we carried that over into the invites. 

chevron on the front, polka dots on the back. and, if you look closely, the b (for baby bunting!) is die cut and pops off the invite for a dimensional effect.

continuing my love affair with wraparound labels, i've brought many a client over to the dark side, and this design was no different.

mama wanted thank you notes in chevron and polka dots to match.

for the shower, we created place cards for all the attendees in the same patterns.

the hostesses of the shower did an awesome job - check out the table - every shade of purple flower! so pretty!

how's that for a re-entry into design blogdom? oh, there'll be more where this came from. lookin' forward to showing you all the goods.

hosting a baby shower? having a baby? need something cute? i'm your gal - let's have a little chat!

*special thanks to baby's mama, who let me borrow her images of the shower.

need more inspiration? check out some other designs around the blog. 

li'l buckaroo baby shower

like i've mentioned, there is no shortage of baby celebrations going on. and, i think the days of my peeps only ordering invites might be over. if you're gonna throw a party, you wanna throw a PARTY! and, this, my friends, was no exception.

my client came to me with an order for a western baby shower. and, man is she clever and creative! she wanted to take it to the limit with plenty of y'alls, boots, hats, bandannas, and a li'l buckaroo. so, to the limit we went. check out the invites:

can you handle it? high noon? boot scoot? y'hear? i know you know i love a theme!

once the invites were done, it was time to move on to all the other goodies. banners, favor tags, table signs, drink signs, beer labels. you name it, this party had it. so, i packed all the goodies up and waited (im)patiently for the party to happen, so i could see the pictures!

i can't take credit for many of the cute sayings. i told you, girl's clever. a sheriff badge star carried the theme thru all the goodies. they strung up the welcome banner, made of burlap sewed onto ribbon, along with a star-spangled 'whoa nelly' banner for over the gift table. and, that bandana and cowhide cake might be the cutest thing ever, next to the mustachioed elk, of course!

no one was going thirsty here, with city slicker sangria, lasso lemonade, and young whipper snapper ale on tap. i was giddy that she wanted to do beer labels. tables were named things like cowboy up and hi-ho silver. and, when the party was over, guests were sent on their 'happy trail' with bbq sauce in mason jars. ok, this diaper cake, made of jean diapers ranks pretty high up there on the cute-o-meter!

can you even stand it? what a great party! and, a great client! i tell ya - you guys are so darn clever. never cease to amaze me.

y'all have any babies to welcome? let's have a little chit chat, y'hear?!

a onesie, and a ...

pretty much all my designs so far this year have been for baby showers. and, most of those orders included much more than just invitations (hello, custom!). this order was no exception.

you may remember the invites:

while brainstorming designs, we both fell in love with a onesie idea. after we found the perfect paper to create the onesies, we started with stripes in the nursery color (sage green) for a classic design. then i topped it with just one(sie), giving the illusion it was drying on the line. 

these turned out sweet-as-can-be, and can you imagine what fun opening the mail was that day?!

to carry on the theme, we created menu table cards.

and strung up a welcome banner of the sweetest onesies tied together, which can be used in baby's nursery later.

doesn't it look like a fun celebration?! and, that view?! wow - talk about a great backdrop!

any baby welcoming goin' on in your neck of the woods? let's chat!

good clean fun (favor tutorial)

as promised, i'm back to show you how to make your own personalized hand sanitizer favors/gifts. 

what you need:
hand sanitizer (i found 3-packs at the dollar tree)
your labels (printed on label or sticker paper)
paper cutter/scissors
glassine bag (or tissue paper)
ribbon/twine/yarn/twist tie

gather your gear | cut your labels down to size | peel off the old labels | 
stick on your new labels | wrap 'em up with a pretty bow | and, give 'em away

see how easy that was? now you can go make your own!

charcoal & turquoise sparkly invites

i thought y'all maybe might wanna get a closer look at the sparkly invites from baby drew's sip and see. mama's got a love affair with grey right now, so i found some yummy charcoal paper and envelopes. and, to bring the ice and sparkle to our winter party, what better color but turquoise.

since we were partying happy hour style, i wanted the invite to portray that. so, a wine bottle and champagne glass for mama, and a bottle for baby - everyone's happy! the invites were mounted to the charcoal paper, then got some rhinestone bling. i cut a small square out of the back of the invite to show gift ideas (sorry, no peechure).

then, tucked it all in that yummy envelope and wrapped it in what might be my favorite label. the return address wraps around the back, and the invite jumps out of the mailbox, beggin' to be opened.

as you can see, i'm playing around with the pictures - trying to find something more crisp and modern. what do y'all think? what's your fave?

and, remember to come back wednesday for a tute on the cute favors.

sippin' & seein'

since baby brother's "sip and see", i've decided it is THE best way to welcome baby numero 2, 3, or 4. it's so relaxed, sittin' around chatting and cooing over the new baby. no sniffin' snickers diapers and mama gets to enjoy a bevvy (or 4) like everyone else!

so, last weekend, my lovely (and crazy talented) friend priscilla and i threw a welcome partay for our gal pal, carrie, and her little peanut, drew. i dooo love a party! such a great excuse to dust off the champagne glasses and break out my nana's silver. we set the mood by sending sparkly invites, tucked in charcoal envelopes wrapped in my favorite label.

priscilla whipped up some pennants and garlands, i added 'baby drew', and strung them up over the food and drink tables.

speaking of food...we wanted the shindig to feel like 'happy hour', so i whipped up a few finger foods, and priscilla baked the most delicious cupcakies and brownies. and, of course they're labeled!

as for the sippin', we had a

 a signature drink (complete with cheeky name)

and, bottles and bottles of red vino (do you think i went overboard with the personalized labels? nah!)

tags tied to each glass for guest names and jazzed up water

we sent guests off with hand sanitizer, because babies don't love germs! they say "it was good, clean fun!" (tutorial coming next week)

you wanna see the guest of honor, right?! he was pretty content to be passed around from arms to arms and all he did was snooze snooze snooze.

congratulations to rock star mama, carrie. and, thank you to my partner-in-crime priscilla for all her help pulling this off, and for the use of her images.

and, seriously y'all, any happy hour that ends with 5 empty wine bottles must be a success!

the merry-go-round

every new year, i think about writing a resolution/goals/life changes/whathaveyou post. and, every year...i don't. i mean, of course i have goals. duh. and, a ridick list of life changes. ahem. but lettin' the universe in on those goals means i maybe might hafta actually try to attain them. and, that reminds me of  barftastic corporate annual reviews. and, that makes me wanna break out in hives. the thought alone makes me itchy. mo.ving.on.

sorry - i really wanted to work on my digressions and tangents, but alas - it seems they's here to stay. sheesh - what were we talking about?

oh, right. the merry-go-round. things is crazy, y'all. and, that is sucka (how could i delete that typo?!) such a good thing! after a two week holiday break full of snow, baby spoiling and cancelled flights, i'm back, with my runnin' shoes on.

this year promises to be a good one (good riddance, 2011), and here's a sneak peek at what's on tha horizon...

onesie cuteness

celebrating baby over a little bubbly

and, the most exciting news of all - baby sister GOT ENGAGED!!! so, get set for oodles and oodles of fun designs, and a healthy dish of sisterly advice. pshaw - goes in one ear and out tha other with that one - poor child was blessed with three mamas.

i'll also be back with a recap of some super creative holiday cards. i love custom - you guys make this job so fun!

let's finish off this post with a little look see at our new year's shenanigans. we tore middle sissy and the farmer away from the kiddies and had a large time in downtown dallas.

don't be jelly - they're taken. at least they have a sense of humor! and, we love 'em for it!

see ya soon!

a new bird in the nest

i guess it's baby shower week around here! this time it's all about middle sissy's shower my mama and i hosted while we were there. you know, most 2nd, 3rd, 4th children get the shaft when it comes to parties, pictures, clothes, time (especially if they are the same gender as the older sibbies.) so, we wanted to give baby brother a warm welcome, and give friends a chance to come snuggle with mr loveable. in the south, these are called 'sip and sees' and well, sitting around sipping mimosas while snuggling a newborn is my kinda shower!

as all parties must, we started with the invite. i wanted to mix it up and do something fun; not just a standard flat card. so i decided fabric bunting, and went to work finding cute fabric. man, cutting out little triangles is tedious work! but, they turned out so.dang.cute! can't forget matching labels for the envelope.

when i pick a theme, i see that sucker through to the end, so we whipped up fabric buntings for over the food table. thanks for sewing, middle sissy!

we welcomed guests with a glimpse at the guest of honor, and all his stats. (he's a big boy!)

to snack on, we served fruit with to-die-for dip (jar of marshmallow fluff and some cream cheese), quick breads, and yummy artichoke dip, which we labeled with silly names (and more fabric triangle cutting!)

to sip, we had a mimosa bar with a selection of juices, and we whipped up some baby shower punch (vanilla ice cream topped with sprite and oj)

after friends had their fill of the baby, we sent them off with snacks for later. they really were 'so tweet to fly by'!

i can't feature this shower without showing off this cute-as-can-be 'diaper-cycle' my mama put together. is it not sooo cute?? and, soccer bear (once baby sister's!) is ready to ride off into the sunset! i don't think i'll make a plain diaper cake again!

and, for good measure, a shot of the hostesses with mommy and baby of honor! he's doing what he did the entire party - snoozin' away!

i'm glad we were there to help out and host a fun party. and, middle sissy -- no excuses for not entertaining - i found all your party gear!

welcome to the world, baby brother - i miss you so much!