Adalyn's First Birthday {The Invitation}

In brainstorming ideas for Adalyn's first birthday I tried to think of things that she loves. Most things that came to mind were, digging in the trash, unrolling the toilet paper and loud squealing sounds. None of which inspired a party theme...until....I saw her reaching for Granny's glasses and the idea hit me, a "Baby Loves Eye Glasses" party. What would be better on "your special day" than being allowed to play with everyone's glasses and not get into trouble! Perfect. I found plastic party favor glasses from Party City in the 25cent party favor bin and the invitation design began to evolve.

The words around her face are lyrics from the song "Glad that You Were Born" from the play "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." The lyrics made the theme come to life by putting emphasis on her eyes and the celebration of her birth.

The top inside panel reads: "Silly or serious, shiny or flat wear glasses to the party and we'll provide a hat!" The invitations made it through the mail and yes I did have to pay a bit extra for the postage, but it was worth the effort to have something so unique, fun and colorful.

Egg Theme Maternity Shower

I'm fortunate to have a good, on-going relationship with two childhood friends. We've know each other since we were six or seven and growing up we were often referred to as "the three amigos." Well the third amigo is pregnant with her first baby and in keeping with a tradition that WE created we hosted a Maternity Shower in her honor.

What's a Maternity Shower? It's the brain child of Tasha Carter Marsh who can be quoted as saying "the best thing about being pregnant is shopping for cute maternity clothes. Krystina, when you get pregnant I'm going to throw you a party so you'll be the most stylish mama on the block." And she did! My best wardrobe is my maternity collection. The first ever Maternity shower was hosted on March 4, 2007 for yours truly. Tasha's was on September 7, 2009.

Here is an overview of the small brunch gathering we had to celebrate the "Eggscellent News" that Sarah is "Eggspecting a baby."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Snakes, Snails and Puppy Dog Tails {Baby Shower Design}

Pieces from another baby shower freelance project for a friend. Snakes, Snails and Puppy Dog Tails themed shower. Hoping she will share pics from the party

Giraffes and Tutus {First Birthday Invitation}

  

I was hired by a friend to design a birthday party invitation for her daughter's first birthday. I'd never heard of a Giraffes and Tutus themed party, but LOVED the idea. The invitation design is mine, and I recommended that she order the giraffe print lined magenta envelopes from Mountain Cow. I also designed cupcake toppers and food marker cards. I asked my friend to share photos of the party and hope to post them for your viewing pleasure. Such a fun theme! Thank you, Jackie for allowing me to be a part of such an exciting milestone for your family!

Hunting Theme Baby Shower {The Main Event}

The Hunting Themed Baby Shower was on Saturday. Here are photos from the day. I thought everything turned out wonderfully and I had so much fun working with the mom to be and her family! And while I was out of my "realm" working with a hunting theme, in the end I really had fun! I couldn't find ANYTHING on the internet partaining to a Hunting Themed Baby Shower, so I'm hoping that this post will inspire others looking for a similar theme. I heard one guest at the shower say "I think the camo themed party is on the up and up." I laughed to myself. Seriously? Or just in east Texas?

These mobiles were ADDORABLE and fairly simple to make, I just cut various theme appropriate shapes from paper that matched the party color and had help attaching them to the oversized embroidery hoops using fishing string and tape. It was a simple and effective way to bring the theme to the food table.

 

The cardboard deer head I made from a pattern that I found on the Chronical Books Blog. The cutting was tedious, but I think it was worth the effort. He added a whimsical charm to the main table.

The cake was made by a lady in our church. I thought she did a great job replicating the cake that the mommy-to-be requested. AND it was tasty!

The centerpieces were made from logs cut in various heights. I placed a candle on the top of each on and added snow since the shower was in December. The pine cones were a nice outdoorsy addition.























With all of the recent interest in this post, I've uploaded pdf files of the various printed pieces I created for this shower. They are yours to use, just please give credit to Bit-O-Me when appropriate! Please let me know if you use the files. I'd love to see your Hunting Showers!
Mobile Pattern
Onesie Pattern
Camo print Food Markers
Animal Game
Animal Game Answers

UPDATE: I recently created a remixed version of this shower. Check it out here. 

Hunting Themed Baby Shower {The Invitation}

I'm planning a baby shower for a couple at our church. They are both avid hunters and want to celebrate the anticipated arrival of their baby boy with a Hunting Themed Baby Shower. Never having spent even one second in a deer stand. And because I've never aimed a gun at an animal, I was a bit concerned about being inspired. There just isn't much on the internet in the way of Hunting Themed Baby showers (believe me, I've looked). So, I'm crossing my fingers this invitation design is a good mix of hunting lovers meets bundle of joy. What's not cute about baby onesies camo and hunter orange strung on a line in a pine forest?

Pumpkin Carving Party 2010 {aka PCP '10}

My family is a hoot and this year they were ALL at the 2010 Pumpkin Carving Party. All 14 of us! So, naturally we had to take a family picture and it's tradition that after the "formal posed" photo we do a crazy shot. Always entertaining! We served Taco Soup and Boudin and guests brought pies! Yum. Steven is a great cook and the soup was a tasty hit.

And the pinata for this year was a slice of pumpkin pie. Sadly this is the best photo I have of this little beauty. And if you read my post about past PCP pinatas, you'll notice I did NOT take step by step photos of my process. Maybe next year.

The outdoor showing of "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" was a BIG hit with the guests (adults and kids alike)!

Did I mention that my best friend flew in from Virginia and brought her adorable pumpkin head, baby M, with her? Aren't the matching pumpkin caps too cute for words.

Another successful party. Onward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hello cooler weather and family time!

Pumpkin Carving Party 2010 {The Invitation}

This little beauty is the 2010 Pumpkin Carving Party Invitation. I L.O.V.E. it!!!!! My UBER talented brother-n-law Kevin Kaleh (aka Kevin Elliott) created the fun, colorful watercolor illustration inspired by vintage pumpkin pails.

The event is just days away and I am scurrying around trying to pull the details together. Atleast the invitation was done well and sent out in a timely manner (ha)!

This invitation is a beautiful tribute to our seventh year! Thank you, Kevin.

Pumpkin Party Piñatas

In preparing for this year's Pumpkin Carving Party I thought it would be fun to do a recap of the last six years. It's fun to see each of the piñatas I've created, but it's even more fun to see the kiddos grow up right before your eyes. The kids are lined up according to age, so you'll see the same nieces and nephews in these pictures.

I create my piñatas using BIG blow up bouncy balloons as a base and then layers and layers of paper Mache (strips of news paper dipped in 1 part water to two parts flour mixture). I've found that colored tissue paper is the best for giving the final design the textured look. I brush on Elmer's glue and then scrunch pieces of tissues paper onto the surface where I've applied the glue. Hope to take pictures of my process this year and let you in on a little piñata durability secret! Stay tuned.

Pumpkin Piñata - Pumpkin Party 2004

Candy Corn Piñata - Pumpkin Party 2005

Acorn Piñata - Pumpkin Party 2006

Sucker Piñata - Pumpkin Party 2007

Corn Cob Piñata - Pumpkin Party 2008

Trick-Or-Treat Bag Piñata - Pumpkin Party 2009