monster mash birthday bash

in honor of sweet p's 3rd birfday today, let's take a little look see at the celebration! in february-ish, middle sissy tried to get out of sweet p what kinda party she wanted. after a little confusion, they checked out a party aisle and sweet p said immediately 'monstahs'. and, a theme was born.

now, since sweet p is a girly girl (her colors are blush and bashful), we couldn't just have any monster bash. mom was pretty specific about what she wanted, so here's the team effort invite complete with pink monstah. (hard to tell, but their eyes are blue to match sweet p.)

the party was at a park shelter, where we had plenty of room to string up a banner.

and set out snacks and cupcakes(!) adorned with round toppers.

you know no party's complete without a fun party hat. who wants to help me make it more acceptable in the adult community?!

mom wanted some fun activities to do during the party, so we made monster faces and the kiddies played 'pin the eye on the monster'. (sweet p was NOT into wearin' a blindfold, tho!)

mom put together a make-your-own-monster kit to say 'eye hope you had fun'. inside? homemade 'play-doh' in the party colors, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and monster stickers.

see? there's no running and hiding from these monsters. cute-as-can-be! i love little green guys chiclet teeth! hee hee!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET P!!! roro and UW love you and i'm so glad i got to celebrate with you!

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?!

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!

busy as a bee

and, that's a VERY good thing! here's a glimpse of the goods that have been churning out of the workshop lately. i like posts like this; they're little pick-me-ups for me and proof to mr. man that i am actually working all day (my tan tends to raise questions around here. pshaw!)

i'd also like to take this time to thank all of you, my three readers, for all your support. when you tell me things like 'you're the best' and 'the world sucked when you weren't doing this', it is like a jolt for the self-esteem. i know i say it all the time, but you'll NEVER, never, ever know how much y'all coming back time and time again means to me. i love ya, man!

ok, enough mushy gushy. behold the latest and greatest.

we've had weddin's

babies being born (can we talk about how cute this is?! mama painted this hooty-cute owl art for baby's room, and i knew it had to be his announcement! LOVE it!)

babies being celebrated (oh, just you wait til you see all this stuff come together!)

babies being welcomed

people on the move

goods to be sold

and gifts to be given (i sure hope the farmer isn't readin' this, cause this is what i'm tuckin' in my suitcase for his birfday. maybe one day i'll tell ya all about their farm. or, you could just go to his blog and read first-hand. yea, do that. i'd get everything wrong anyway)