2 Lovely baby Showers

I came across these two absolutely lovely baby showers while reading A Beautiful Mess. They were hosted by Elsie the author of the blog. I couldn't help but share these adorable celebrations with you! Take a look, I hope oyu love the details as much as I did!

Here goes shower number 1!

I love these handmade invitations so much!

Tons of craft supplies were laid out along with plain white onesies, and guests were invited to create a wardrobe for baby Ruby.

And here's the second one!

Cute cupcakes with fun handmade toppers!

This party area is beyond lovely!

New Bridal Shower to Plan!

My brother just got engaged and I am in the process of planning a bridal shower with my mom. Jenny (the bride) is not super duper girly, but she has said that she wants something elegant for her wedding with a little bit of "beach chic" so that is what I am thinking for the shower too. However I was thinking instead of the usual "beach" ideas, I might just allow myself to be inspired by the idea of sunshine. I'm thinking of a sunny, whimsical celebration!Here are some things that are inspiring me so far for this party.

Ideas for the menu so far include:

-mini smoothies (like the ones pictured above)

-yogurt parfaits

-spiked lemonade

I would also like to find some more foods that would be good to serve at a venue, we want to make the food ourselves but we want the foods to be fairly self sustaining for the afternoon since we aren't sure if we will have access to ovens or fridges. If you have any ideas for me then please share!

I also think that presentation is very important in making the foods you are serving appealing. Even if you are serving cheap, simple foods , you can present them in a way that makes people feel different about eating them. The food becomes a part of the party experience. I love the idea in the photo above, this simple glass of lemonade becomes so much more with the addition of the adorable ribbon adorned skewers!

As far as colors for this event...I am thinking that oranges, yellows, and pinks are the way I am going to go. Obviously the colors represent "sunshine" , and Jenny loves these bright and happy colors! 

I'll keep you posted as this party develops! 

Black, white, and hot pink party!

I have recently developed an interest in finding all the inspiration I can for bachelorette parties! I have been researching activity ideas, decorations, and scouring the internet for the best decor ideas out there! Here is one of my favorites! These are photos from Kim at Head of the Table , a company that rents every type of dish you could dream of for any party that catched your fancy! More inspirations can be found at headofthetable.blogspot.com!

Kim believes that "when you set the table, you set the mood." I just love the combination of hot pink and the damask-like pattern. According to Kim, the pink base says, "let's have some fun!" while the pattern and hydrangeas say " this is a classy and chic soiree"

All the tableware shown is available to rent at Head of the table

Check out this creative and budget conscious party decoration! She used led pink and white led lights to add some ambiance. Swirls printed on regular computer paper were wrapped in a cylinder around the lights and topped with ribbon to finish off the look. What a fabulous idea!

Just Jenn's Virtual Baby Shower!

Check out this idea for a "virtual baby shower" created by Just Jenn, a creative graphic designer with great entertaining ideas and an amazing blog!She had a friend who lived far away and on bed-rest, and her friends were also scattered all over the country. A virtual baby shower was the perfect idea! She had her friend give her a list of 10 friends. She then sent them each a favor box, and then all the "virtual" party guests had to do was send mom-to-be a gift. I love her theory "Nothing is better than free crap in the mail!" The favor boxes had a pink and brown color scheme (she designed the swaddled baby graphic), and each included three cards that were kind of like the "shower games" , as well as a stamped and addressed envelope for the mommy, so that they could send their completed shower games. One card was a fill in the blank "when I'm pregnant I look forward to...." card, the second was a traditional "make all the baby names you can out of the parents' names" card, and finally a regular " advice" card  ( she wrote "get the epidural" as her bit of advice). What a great idea for a baby shower, bridal shower, or even a birthday party! justtjennrants.blogspot.com is FULL of amazing ideas of all kinds....take a look!

"Shower" games

Favors and games all wrapped up and ready to go!

Retro Bridal Shower Photos Part 2: Favors and Food

Here we are! Part 2!

Flower pens fit into 5 fun Ikea vases! (.25 cents each)

We hand wrote the bride and groom to-be's full names on the notepad favors before the party for the "How many names can you make out of their names" game.

Food table and drink station.

The food table was overflowing with goodies!

colorful cupcakes, fruit cabobs, and veggies....oh my!

Boxed lunches were set on the back side of the food table....ready to serve!

A beverage dispenser held lemonade, and two beverage tubs held bottled sodas.

Boxed Lunches for Retro Bridal shower

As I was imagining the whole food set-up for this shower, I envisioned boxed lunches. I wasn't sure yet what would go in them , but we needed a way to keep food costs down without sacrificing style or quality. Several ladies were going to arrive hungry , so I knew I had to rise to the occasion. Jenny and I ( the hostess ) decided to order several $5.00 foot-long sandwiches from Subway, we cut them into quarters, speared them with heart picks (Martha Stewart, Walmart) added chips, tied up with yarn , a napkin, and a bride/groom pick and BOOM! Adorable boxed lunches!...Ready to serve!

Boxed lunches stacked neatly on the food table.

I found the cutest bride and groom picks at Plumparty.com to decorate the top of each box.

Each row was labeled with the kind of sandwich in each boxed lunch so that guests could choose.

I folded a colorful napkin, and tied up a pick with blue and green yarn.

Here's what the inside of each one looked like.

Retro Bridal Shower Photos Part 1 : Decorations

Here are photos from a bridal shower I helped plan with my roomate for her sister. It was a fantastic success and now I have all the pictures to share with you! There were alot of details that I wanted to show , so there will be 3 different posts to showcase this fun party!

Towel wedding cake.....yum!

The bride has to have a special seat to sit in while she opens her gifts!

Here are the prizes for the shower games!

I never thought I would use crepe paper bells for a party, but here I am ! I think it turned out great! Fabric ribbon makes it more modern.

Entrance, and gift table. .........More to come!

Retro Bridal Shower Favors : Flower pens and notepads

As I have been planning this bridal shower I have realized that I needed to incorporate flowers somewhere since all the colors are so bright and happy and it is the start of spring after all! I always want party favors to be practical so I thought some cute pens and notepads would be good. I got the silk flowers at the $1 store, pens and notepads at staples, and everything else for this project at Michaels craft store. The pens were very simple to make, I just cute the stems of the silk flowers about 1 inch short attached it to the top of the pen and secured it the rest of the way with green floral tape. I decorated the notepads with patterned paper made for scrapbooking ( I used several bright mis-matched patterns ) and felt ribbon. I cut the paper to fit across the top of the pads perfectly, attached with glue, and then attached the ribbon on top of the paper. The guests will get their first use of their favors during the bridal shower for a couple of the games! These were so fun to make and I hope that everyone likes them!