New Collections Coming to the Shoppe!!!

I'm baaaaaack :)  I've been a bit MIA over the past couple months, but I've been a busy little bee getting some exciting new things ready for the shoppe. This week I had an amazing photography lesson with Nicole Benitez of Nicole Benitez Photography. I set up four collections to get new pics  and learned so much from sweet Nicole. If you happen to be in San Diego and want to learn how to take gorgeous pics, I would HIGHLY recommend hiring her for a mentor session.

The four collections that I shot are the train party, ahoy, it's a boy baby shower, superhero and vintage airplane. They will be listed in the shoppe over the next couple of weeks but here are some sneak peaks.

I've got give HUGE props to Stevi of Hey There, Cupcake! who made the darling cake and cupcake toppers.  Her sense of style is second to none! Plus, she just opened an etsy shoppe called Hey There, Sugar! so you don't have to be in Southern California to use her goodies.

Can't wait to share the rest of the pics with you! Be back soon!


XXOO

Quinne's Rainbow Hot Air Balloon Party

I've been dying to share these pics with you. Quinne's Rainbow Hot Air Balloon Party was featured on Hostess with the Mostess yesterday (yay!) It's been so tough holding back these pics from you guys. I'll be going into more detail about the party over the next couple weeks but here is the full post from HWTM.  Hope you love it! This party cost me many sleepless nights and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Most importantly, the kids had a blast!

UM…ya. I am pretty much dying over this ridiculously adorable Hot Air Balloon Birthday Party! Created by talented interior designer/graphic designer Paige of Paiges of Style – in celebration of her daughter Quinne’s first birthday – the level of creativity here is just above and beyond!
The bright, happy colors, the way-too-cute treats (every single one is so creative and can you even believe the level of detail on those cake pops?!), the oodles of DIY details – including a fabulous ruffled burlap backdrop, colorful rainbow ribbon garland, homemade “hot air balloon” table centerpieces, & more – the In-N-Out Burger menu, the matching ruffled rainbow bloomer on the birthday girl … what’s not to love?! As always, Paige tied everything together with coordinating paper details that adorned everything from the french fries to the crayon containers. And guess what…this entire printable paper package is available in her etsy shoppe!


Read on for more happy, colorful photos + all the creative details, vendor resources/credits, & links to DIY tutorials…





















*****

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Paige…

::
“When I started thinking about Quinne’s first birthday, I knew I wanted it to be fun, colorful and be a play on the fact that her first year “had flown by.” I have two girls 16 months apart so Quinne’s first year had been quite a roller coaster!
I love the rainbow color palette but I wanted to incorporate hot pink since she is, after all, a girl! I had so much fun mixing the vintage hot air balloon with more modern chevron stripes and rustic burlap.
INVITATION
I think the invitation is so important and sets the stage for the event. I wanted to include a photo of Quinne but didn’t want it on the invite so I used a photo of her on the envelope liner, our friends loved it! See the tutorial here.
GREETING THE GUESTS
To greet the guests, my husband and his mom made a rainbow balloon arch using a tutorial found on Design Mom. Next, the kids got to pick a party hat with their favorite trim and sign Quinne’s hot air balloon book. Just like Charley’s monkey party, I had our guests sign a children’s book that matches the theme of the party and asked them to predict what Quinne will be when she grows up!
DESSERT TABLE & TREATS
I decided to focus mostly on the dessert table. The colorful chandelier was the starting point and I knew it needed to be grounded with a burlap background. I made both of the exposed layer cakes over a few days before the party… talk about lots of food coloring! Quinne absolutely loved her cake, she even took a break from chowing down to give it a hug – so sweet! (And don’t worry, she didn’t eat the whole thing.) I topped the cake with a darling fondant hot air balloon from Modern Luxe Events.
The #1 favorite of our guests were the hot air balloon cake pops. Kris with kCreative Cake Pops exceeded my expectations with the detail on these cake pops. I couldn’t believe the gorgeous colors were and how much they really looked like hot air balloons! Another one of my favorite desserts on the table were the beautiful macaron towers by Baked. Nanci made my vision come to life with the colorful macarons and each color was a different flavor – yum! Nanci also made the gorgeous sugar cookies and red velvet cupcakes, were such a hit. I made the rainbow jello in mason jars (again, over the course of a few days) and used twine to tie colorful mini spoons on the jars.
FOOD
To take the stress of prepping & serving food during the party, I sent my husband out to pick up burgers and fries from In N Out Burger just before the party started. Our guests LOVED it and it was inexpensive and so easy! Of course, I have to label and repackage everything, so I bought striped candy bags from In the Clear to rewrap the burgers and made paper cones to display the fries in. I displayed the food and drinks on an old door I found on the street in my neighborhood (!) and added the concessions stand banner. I spent about $8 to make the rainbow fabric garland that hung behind the food. I love a custom label so I wrapped the water bottles in custom labels that I sell in my etsy shoppe.
TABLES
We set up kids-height tables for the kids to eat at and lined the tables with homemade hot air balloons. I spray painted strawberry baskets brown and used twine to tie a helium filled balloon to the basket.
ACTIVITIES
For activities, we hired a family friend who is a professional balloon twister (aka makes balloon animals) at Downtown Disney. The kids LOVED him and all waited in line for their turn. I also had a custom hot air balloon pinata made by Whack. Now it hangs in our playroom and looks so fun! One of my best friends painted the kids faces and we set up our little bounce house. I designed custom coloring pages for the kids. One of my favorite things at the party was the crayons I separated and placed into tomato paste cans with custom labels.
CLOTHES
I’ve always got to color coordinate our clothes for the party. I spotted this fabric and knew it was absolutely perfect for our party. I sewed each girl a dress (the morning of the party – crazy I know!) and had custom bloomers made for Quinne by BloominBloomers. And my brave husband sported a matching necktie while I pinned on a flower in the same fabric.”
*****
VENDOR CREDITS:
– Party Design & Styling: Paiges of Style
– Stationery Details: Paiges of Style – available for purchase right here
– Photos taken by Carly Taylor Photography and edited by Paiges of Style
– Cake Pops by kCreative Cake Pops
– Macaron Tower, Hot Air Balloon Cookies & Cupcakes: Baked
– Fondant Balloon Cake Topper by Modern Luxe Events
– Custom Hot Air Balloon Pinata by Whack

HUGE sale in our etsy shoppe

I am so excited to have 1000 Facebook fans so I'm having a HUGE sale in my etsy shoppe. And, of course, I didn't want our blog readers to miss out on all the fun.

Are you ready for it? Everything in the shoppe is FORTY PERCENT off. Yep, 40% off! Use the coupon code 'FB1000' when you check out with your purchases. The sale lasts until Wednesday at midnight.

Tweet it, Facebook it, just spread the word!

And, here is one more sneak peak from Quinne's party. I'll be sharing the whole shebang soon, very soon!

Photo by Carly Taylor Photography

And I promise to be back more regularly. We've moved, been sick {twice}, been out of town and most recently, I was helping set up the Hostess with the Mostess Wonderlandia party {which was spectacular}.

XO

Hot Air Balloon Invitaton Available in my Shoppe

The party is finally cleaned up, my craft room/office is starting to look back to normal and the chaos is winding down. I have a darling little one year {and a two year old, yikes} and it's time to share her birthday party invitation. This is DEFINITELY my most favorite invitation I have ever designed.

I just listed this in my shoppe {after getting several requests for it} and it is available here for $18 for the printable file. Did you know I also offer printing? In fact, I can also line your envelopes with your own photo. I've got 45 envelopes to line for a client today.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a superhero party! {Featured on Amy Atlas}

 

 

Supermoms  do rule!!! Especially one seriously supermom... Miss Sarah Crawford of Lil Hoot. I've blogged about Sarah before when I shared her insanely creative Fun-do party {that was also featured on Amy Atlas here}. Not only is this lady creative, witty and fun but she is so so kind. If she didn't live clear across the country, I think we might be constantly joined at the hip!

Alright back to the fabulous party Sarah threw for her nephew Mac's second birthday...

Sarah asked me to create the party printables with a fresh color palette and a modern vibe and I think she got what she asked for. I finally listed the entire superhero collection in my etsy shoppe, they are available a la carte or as a package. Visit my etsy shoppe here.

I'll let the gorgeous photos do the talking...

Pinata by Whack (I just used them for Q's pinata and it was incredible)

 Note to self: Definitely make surprise balls for our next party, so fun!

Last three photos by Paiges of Style

Sarah, thank you, thank you, thank you for letting me be a member of your team. You truly do create parties with heart! Hoot Hoot!!!

Photos by Meredith Nelson

Sweets by Stacey Butler of Sugar on Top

Fondant Cupcake Toppers and Cake Bunting by Cakes and Kids 

For Sale: Keep Calm and Eat Bacon Printable Poster

After lots and lots of requests, I have finally listed the printable Keep Calm and Eat Bacon poster for sale in my etsy shoppe. When you purchase the listing, you will receive a jpg file sized at 8x10 AND 11x14 ready to be printed at any photo finisher. I can create this in other colors but a custom color fee will apply.

If you need some cheering up in your life, this is the poster for you. It's pretty ridiculous, I mean really, it's an ode to a stinky pig! But it's really fun and always brings a smile to my face. Now, it's not so bad cleaning 100 baby bottles by hand. Ha, I wish!

You can purchase the listing here for $12. 

Bottom two photos are by Marla of Sprout Photography

A good old fashioned before and after by A2 (home+made)

After Julie of A2 (home+made) worked her magic

Closeup of the fun pattern on the desk drawers

Do you love a before and after as much as I do? Well, I love them up until I'm about 3/4 of the way through the project and I get over the hard work?

Enter my dear friend Julie of A2 (home+made)!

Julie has just recently started a business called A2 (hand+made),website here,  where she gives well-made vintage furniture a second chance. In her own words, "These one of a kind pieces, encompass a modern style with character. I transform each item with the use of color, pattern and clean lines. Good furniture deserves a second chance." I couldn't agree more.

Are you finally ready for the before picture of the desk?

Can you even believe this is the same piece of furniture?

Before and after of the armchair, love the fabric she used!

I've been friends with Julie since the Navy brought us together while our husband's were in flight school in Pensacola, FL. It's not too often that I meet other military wives as into design and good food as I am, so this was a perfect match! They moved to San Diego about a year before we did and we've been stealing restaurant advice since the day we moved here.

 I think this might be my favorite piece listed in her shop right now

 LOVE this dresser!

Julie is a "real" designer, meaning she's got credentials behind her good taste, unlike me. I just happen to love all things design and have been lucky that my clients don't give a hoot that I don't have formal training. Look at how gorgeous her dining room is below. PS- She won that amazing DWR light fixture at work a few years back and had quite an ordeal getting it into her 4th floor apartment since it wouldn't fit through the doorways.

Sadly for me, Julie now lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her husband and darling son Will but can ship anywhere in the US. She can even hunt down a specific style or piece of furniture and refinish it for you. Visit her shop, show her some love and leave your future DIY projects to her.