Monday is the last day to enter the giveaway for a set of paper products from the Kendall Collection at Carolina Pad. Go to this post and enter. Good luck!
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Today I have loads of cute pictures from a rubber duckie baby shower thrown by my friend Kelly of Eventology Weddings in Houston. Lots of fun details! Enjoy!
Debbie recently wrote in with beautiful photos from her son's baptism party. I love the soothing colors and how clean and simple it is.
You may have seen the button on the sidebar there. This one:
That's one of the largest blogging conferences in the United States and it's sold out. As always.
I'll be there representing several sponsors and one of them is the fine folks at Smilebooks.com
SmileBooks helps you turn your favorite digital photos into treasured photo books. Within minutes you can download SmileBooks free software and begin creating permanent photo book memories. When you're done, fill out the order form and within days you'll receive your incomparable quality photo book. Create memories that last a lifetime, in no time at all with SmileBooks photo books.
They have several sizes to create and also great templates if you're not that creative. However, if you do want complete control over the design of your pages, you have that capability.
I found the software to be easy and self explanatory. The preview was clear and I loved how it would immediately tell if your photos were not going to print at a high quality level.
To show you an example, here is one of the booklets that Smilebooks prints. What you are seeing here are the custom designed idea books I'll be passing out at the BlogHer conference. Please leave me a comment if you're going to be at the conference. I'd love to meet you and load you down with some swag! :)
If you click on the photo, you can see more detail. The pages are a beautiful gloss and really are coffee table quality. They make beautiful hardcover books that are perfect gifts or a great way to celebrate a special occasion such as an anniversary, birthday, graduation or wedding.
Stay tuned! Smilebooks and Everyday Celebrating is going to be having a fun competition through this blog with lots of fun prizes!
But for now.. Smilebooks wanted to celebrate blogs and the people that read them by giving a 25% discount to readers. Simply type in the code Blogher25 at checkout to receive your discount!
So get busy creating a book of memories! You don't need an occasion.. how about making a Summer Fun book or a book with your vacation photos?
Don't forget! If you're going to the BlogHer conference... leave me a comment!
Enjoy!
Sarah wrote in to share a recent Sip and See she threw for a good friend. For those unfamiliar, a Sip and See is a gathering held after a baby is born. It's a way to celebrate their birth and for family and friends to get their first glimpse at the new addition. Also, it's a wonderful way to shower the Mom (or parents) with some love, get them out of the house a bit and of course, let them show off as proud parents.
Sarah took her theme inspiration from my friend Kim at TomKat Studios. While Sarah made her own invitations using digital scrapbook kits, Kim was the originator of the design and actually sells the invitations as well as a whole party kit in her store.
Reminder: make sure you click on the pictures to see the detail.
Here are Sarah's invitations.
When I saw Sarah's entry, I laughed. I can't tell you how many of those bubble wands I've purchased!
Inside the pots? Those are bubble wands from the Dollar Store and my son loves them! I love how they really add to a theme and come in bright colors. Sarah inserted them into colorful pots found at the Dollar General.
Sarah found these great drink jars at Walmart for $5.96 each! Added some great labels and colorful drinks!
Cupcakes! The cupcake stand was found at Michaels (don't forget your 50% off coupon!)
And the cupcake toppers again were inspired by TomKat Studio.
If you look closely, Sarah cut paper to fit each level of the cupcake stand. Brought in a bit more color and whimsy to a plain, white stand.
For favors, Sarah created the traditional candy bar except ... guests were asked to fill up a sippy cup to take home! Sippy cups were found at the Dollar Store at the fabulous price of 5 for $1!
Candy was easy to find inexpensively at Walmart.
Thanks for sharing, Sarah! And welcome to the world, Jasper! With Sarah in your life, you're sure to be showered in fun times!
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Don't forget to enter the Carolina Pad giveaway! A cute set of Kendall Collection paper products!
Enter now! Here!
An easy way to label your drinks! Martha Stewart provides lots of free downloads and templates for these types of details. It's categorized as an escort card template, but.... print it out, cut them up and add them to cardstock to label items for your guests.
Labels seem obvious? Think about things like sweet versus unsweet tea. Do you have diabetic guests?
Or that lemonade up there? Could easily be a limeade. Who knows?
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Don't forget to enter the Carolina Pad giveaway! A cute set of Kendall Collection paper products!
Enter now! Here!
Another easy way to add the famous 3 colors to your holiday display!
Layer candy in mini bottles or vases!
Get cheap mini glasses, bottles and vases at Goodwill or the Dollar Store!
credit: Better Homes and Gardens
The carnival themed birthday is colorful and kidlike and is just one of those classic themes. And it's one that's always worth revisiting.
Brittany sent in her son's first birthday party and I'm happy to feature it as as one that really shows how you can truly customize an event with labels and signage.
She made these great ticket style signs out of posterboard for the floor entry. The numbers are his birthdate.
Lots of custom labels for carnival type foods.
I love the striped tray with these apples.
Brittany turned this beverage tub upside down and painted it for a cute circus stand/cake stand!
Brittany found cute carnival signage and other pieces at places like Hobby Lobby and Oriental Trading. Some were from the Pottery Barn Kids line that is discontinued now, but may still be floating around ebay.
I love this kissing booth she made with a blown up photo of her son!
Everyone knows I like a wrapped set of utensils. Love how she wrapped them in tickets!
Guests left with the ultimate carnival favor... a goldfish!
Lots and lots more photos of her fabulous carnival party! Including photos of all the fun carnival games and decorations! Stop by Brittany's blog and compliment her on her hard work!
Have you ever had someone ask you what you want for your birthday/valentine's day/anniversary, etc?
Ever
wish you had a list you could just email those people? And the list
would contain everything they need to know to buy you a gift?
Wishpot is your place!
It's an online gift list or registry. It lets you create an online wishlist where you can include items from many different online stores. Add the Wishpot button to your browser and whenever you see something online you'd like, click the Wishpot button and it will add it to your list. You can add details, like what size you wear, what color you want, etc. I have lists for myself, my husband and my son. No more relatives asking what my son wants for his birthday. Online gift lists are genius! Especially for hard to buy for people like myself.
Wishpot appreciates bloggers and their affinity for online shopping!
Everyday Celebrating and Wishpot will be giving away a Microsoft Zune mp3 player.... soon!!!!
Going to BlogHer? Come meet me to find out how to enter!
Shayna, from Dallas, wrote in asking for some inspiration in planning her baby girl's MONKEY themed first birthday. Here are some fun ideas and if anyone out there has additional ideas for Shayna, leave a comment! Let's help Shayna celebrate her "little monkey" in a fabulous way!
Monkey themes have gone more modern lately, which thrills me. I love the bold, but modern lines of the sock monkey type image.
In realizing that everyone is either not crafty or just doesn't have the time to be crafty, there are plenty of great "store bought" monkey supplies that you can pick and choose from these days.
This set from Paper and Napkins:
This one from 1st Wishes:
My friend Jennifer of Nounces Design, makes a great invitation that fits with the above set or she can create something specific to your color scheme or any theme... not just monkey.
Parties by Hardie has full kits you can purchase that are handmade. Still "store bought" but without the look of the store. Love the napkin rings and treat bags!
The key to any theme like this is finding a main element and working around it. Take those yellow plates above and those cupcakes, and add on something creative like these banana sugar cookies made from half of a circle cookie cutter.
Notice the plate that they sit on. Details like these plates that tie in with the theme are what make a party come together. It's one of those things that someone may not notice right off the bat, but makes a person oooh and ahhh.
And what about these cute handmade monkey pinatas? Even if your child and their guests aren't old enough for the game, they really make a decorative statement and are great space filler! Look at how LARGE these are. I could really see putting a piece of painted circular wood on top and making toddler tables out of them!
Love this banner by LePoppy Design:
Pull in some greenery for easy themed decor. Order banana leaves. They make great filler and tie in perfectly. Make a large arrangement and stick in a couple bananas. To make the bananas stand up, spray paint dowel rods green and stick into the bananas.
If you're using the sock monkey theme, buy a small monkey and include him in the centerpiece or leaning up against the vase. Burlap or netting would make a nice tablecloth for the main table.
Get a roll of thick twine and hang monkeys from it.
Food can tie in with this party as well. Of course, the cake! Love the mini donut ears!
Want to do cupcakes? Of course, cupcake toppers are everywhere, but I'm loving this different take on them. Felt! Better than your average flat printed ones. Get them here.
that you can now buy pre-made hand painted fondant cupcake toppers. Beautiful! These are from Clineffs Confections.
And look at these! wow! From Raspberry Pink
Most children like chocolate covered frozen bananas on a stick.
Or, if you're having a cookout, try the BBQ'd chocolate bananas! Not the best LOOKING thing in the world, but they are heaven. Slice a banana lengthwise, leave it in the peel and fill with pieces of chocolate and marshmellow. Heat it up on the grill!
This party is a great excuse to incorporate healthy foods like fruit skewers, etc.
Of course, I've been known to tie in my son's attire to his party theme. Some people think it's corny, but oh well. I've only got a little bit longer to dress him before he says no. hehe
Shirts by Jill Alvarez.
Just a few ideas to get the creativity flowing. Like I said, if you've thrown a monkey themed party or have ideas, please feel free to leave a comment.
Hopefully Shayna will take lots of pictures to share with us!!!
Teachers. One of the hardest jobs in the world. And the most important.
Now usually I'm not a huge fan of the cash or gift card gift, but I really think that they are totally appropriate in some situations. Like situations where you get WAY more in return than you're paying on a daily basis - teachers or daycare workers, etc.
Here's a fun way to present CASH that every crafty teacher will appreciate from the
A pad of cash!
This is a stack of dollar bills bound together like a notepad.
Basically, get parents to donate cash.
Find a bank that has beautiful NEW dollar bills.
Have the children write up the ways they'll miss their teacher and print them on vellum in the same size as the cash.
Place one reason in between each dollar bill.
Take the stack to Kinkos to glue together like a pad of paper. A super cheap service!
Wrap it up with a bow and you're done!
This would also be a fabulous gift for a new graduate, wedding, Christmas, etc. Great for anyone that's hard to buy for or just likes to receive cash to do their own shopping.
credit: nikbok
