Ashleigh's Bridal Shower

Ashleigh's friend, Tamera went all out when it came to her beautiful bridal shower brunch. Tamera wanted to use bright colors, flowers and some references to rain and umbrellas. This is what we came up with:

The invitation was printed square and mounted on petal fold enclosures. The bright green really looked pretty against the pink, orange and yellow.

We carried the floral graphics and fonts into a variety of signs, including a welcome sign.

On the water bottle label, we touched on the "shower" theme with the umbrella. The graphic of the umbrella was Tamera's original inspiration for this brightly-colored bridal shower.

Custom napkin rings. A super simple detail that can add a little extra. 

Small flags were adhered to bamboo skewers to identify food at the buffet table.

Fizzing bath soaps were one of the party favors.

Guests were asked to leave marriage advice for the bride-to-be. These were saved and put into a scrapbook for Ashleigh.

This sign adorned the candy buffet table.

One of a few different shower games included this trivia game about the bride and groom.

There was also a rousing round of Bridal Shower BINGO. 

Tamera really went all out with the beautiful and colorful details for Ashleigh's bridal shower. It was really a treat to get to create so many unique items. I hope the party was amazing, congrats!

Jackie's Bridal Shower

My sister Jackie got married last October, but before she walked down the aisle, her BFF Joanna and I planned a super fun 1980s-themed bridal shower for her.

When we got started, we were kind of at a loss for theme ideas. The venue was going to be the CrossFit gym where Jackie works, so that somewhat limited theme ideas. She had mentioned doing a "sporty spice" theme, but we really had no great ideas to go with it. 

Finally, Joanna and I ran across some inspiration on Pinterest for a 1980s theme, complete with big hair, leg warmers, Jazzercise, and lots of Spandex. We loved it! So we decided to change the theme and not tell Jackie about it. My sister is a planner and admittedly, a bit of a control freak. It was a struggle for her to not be involved at all in the planning of her shower. Joanna and I loved every minute!

I'm really proud of how the invitation turned out.

I printed them at my local Office Depot and mounted them onto Sour Apple card stock that I purchased from Cards & Pockets.

I created a wraparound address label that continued the theme and used Watermelon envelopes, also from Cards & Pockets. 

For favors, we filled cellophane bags with jelly bracelets, Pop Rocks and a Ring Pop and I created a tag that was folded and stapled to each bag.

I created a water bottle label too. Is the theme from Flashdance stuck in your head yet?

For refreshments we came up with foods that were popular in the 80s, so friends made Sloppy Joes, cocktail weiners, 7-layer dip, and deviled eggs. We also had Capri Suns and wine coolers. We tried to find the old school Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers, but the local BevMo didn't carry them.  

For the food labels, I tried to pair each item with a hit song from the 80s.

For a fun little extra, I created a cootie catcher that I had a blast creating. I was definitely chaneling Lisa Frank with the rainbow animal prints.

Just like the cootie catchers we created as kids, I created "fortunes" for the insides, describing your future, in full 1980s style.

These two futures say:

1. You will settle on an island in the South Pacific where you make exotic bath products with your wife of 20 years who looks just like Brooke Shields.

2. You will shack up with David Hasslehoff and work on the set of Knight Rider where your daughter Kitt will be both conceived and born.

These two fortunes say:

1. After a 6-week whirlwind marriage to Tom Selleck, you will become the graphic designer who builds a fortune putting a mustache on EVERYTHING. (This one is one of my favorites)

2. You will marry Kirk Cameron, have 6 children, and you will live in a seaside New England cottage where you make and sell jam locally.

I created six more futures that I'd be happy to share if you ask. ;-)

This shower was such a blast to create, I am going to try and create a version I can put in my Etsy shop! 

Charlee's 1st Birthday

Charlee's mommy, Sarah wanted to do a fun Queen Bee theme for her first birthday, because, well, she is the queen bee in their home! We had fun with chalkboard backgrounds and some fun fonts and Sarah was gracious enough to take wonderful photos that I could share. Check out the photos from Charlee's big sister's birthday too: Georgia's 1st Birthday.

Here's the invitation: 

First we created water bottle labels:

Next we created labels for all of the food items:

All in keeping with the "Queen Bee" theme.

Favor tags!

Next we did both cupcake toppers and wrappers.

Lastly, I created a faux chalkboard that shared a bunch of Charlee's accomplishments in her first year. 

I love how everything turned out! And thanks again Sarah for sharing the wonderful photos with me. Happy birthday Charlee!!

Panda Themed Baby Shower

I created this baby shower invitation for a client a while back and I loved it so much I decided to expand on it and add it to my Etsy shop as a whole downloadable package. Here's a link to the listing: Panda Baby Shower

All of the files are writable PDF files, so you as the customer can fill in the information as it applies to the baby shower you're hosting.

Here's what's included:

All of the text can be edited on the invitation except the top three lines. Because of the nature of writable PDF files, you cannot change the alignment, size, color or font. 

This package comes with two options when it comes to an invitation insert. One is simple with just registry information. The second includes verbiage for a diaper raffle AND registry information. You can print whichever one you'd like.

Water bottle label and a "wishes for baby" card.

Place cards can also be used as food labels for a buffet and napkin rings can also be wrapped around candles or vases for extra decoration.

Favor tags can be printed onto adhesive paper and made into stickers or they can be printed onto card stock with a hole punched at the top for a more traditional favor tag. Thank you cards are designed to be printed as folded cards that are blank on the inside.

The last item is this card that lets guests take a guess on baby's birthdate and other fun stats. This can be a fun keepsake for new parents.

I am planning to add this same baby shower package but with this aqua and lime green color scheme too, stay tuned!!

Top Son 1st Birthday

When my oldest was turning one, my husband and I were kind of stumped for ideas on a theme for his birthday party. While we know that he would likely never remember his first birthday, the party was more for us to celebrate with friends and family. And dangit, we wanted to have some fun! A Top Gun theme was chosen after remembering that we spoofed a Top Gun movie poster with his birth announcement and we took off from there. 

After his party, I created more items to go with this fun and somewhat unique theme and it's been a blast adding more items over the years. 

Right now, you can purchase the files for this birthday party to work with a 1st, 2nd or 3rd birthday party. If you'd like the files for a different age, just shoot me a message and I can get the files to you. Here are links to the three listings:

1st Birthday
2nd Birthday
3rd Birthday

Here's what's currently included in the Etsy listings:

The invitation is 5x7 and you can customize the text below the header with the details for your party. The file is set up with two invitations on an 8.5x11 page.

With these address labels, the return address wraps around to the back of the envelope. These look great on red or blue envelopes! Print them on full-sheet sticker paper, available at craft and office supply stores, and Amazon. 

Simple favor tags. For an additional fee, I can customize these to say anything you'd like.

Circle cupcake toppers! You add the name of the birthday boy or girl.

Customizable napkin rings. You can type anything you'd like into the three lines of text. A simple happy birthday greeting or turn them into place cards with each guest's name, and maybe their call sign too!

Water bottle labels! Print these on waterproof labels or sticker paper.

Simply print these, cut them out and attach wooden skewers to one side and you have an instant photo prop with some very cool aviator sunglasses.

Each flag on this pennant banner is on one 8.5x11 page, complete with jets and aviator sunglasses that you can put in between the words Happy Birthday or on either side. 

A simple "I'm One" graphic that you can print onto a t-shirt or onesie for the birthday boy or girl. Use iron-on transfer paper to DIY the t-shirt or purchase a shirt professionally screen printed thru my little shop on CafePress. 

Lastly, a simple, blank thank you card. Available in A6 or A7 sizes.