real parties......{bow tie baby shower}

a few weeks ago, i had the honor to help out with my cousin heather's baby shower. she is truly one of those people who would go out of their way for you, no questions asked. she and her sister (who hosted the shower and who i assisted with design details) have a HUGE heart. i'm pretty lucky to be a part of their family ;-)

of course, i forgot my camera AND i had to leave early - unexpectedly - so we'll have to make due with the measly few photos i managed to snag with my phone.

the food was excellent - all prepared & provided by the hostess. cupcakes, of course, from hardcore sweet.

you might recognize a few pieces from my "little man" baby shower collection. it was actually designed with heather in mind, bringing in colors from her wedding to make it special :-)

real party....{dora!}

august has been a month filled with children's birthday parties! i had the honor of working with a good friend to design her granddaughter's party. this little girl is such a sweetie and it was a pleasure!

cupcakes - provided by hardcore sweet - were (once again!) the star of the dessert table! 

i added some marshmallow pops, chocolate covered oreos and pretzels dipped in icing to really round out the sugar high ;-)

the birthday girl added her own very special Dora characters to the table!

add in some pretty glass bottles, fun paper straws and you got yourself a party :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VICTORIA!

real party....{super mario!}

my little man is enamored with all things lego, super mario and batman.

when it came time to choose the theme for his birthday party, i was certain he was going to go with a lego theme but i was wrong!

honestly, i was hoping for lego BUT i'm always up for a challenge! here's what we came up with:

each child received double-sided, personalized game passes for their invitations. i really enjoyed designing all the paper goods for this party (which may lead to a little announcement in the very near future!)

we had a pretty large guest list (20!!) honestly, i wouldn't advise any of my clients to have a guest list so large for such a young group but it was made up of several sets of siblings with whom he's grown up so i made an exception in our case ;-) because of the large number, i decided to do a late afternoon affair with desserts only.

cupcakes were the star of the table - cannoli, cookie dough and mounds. yum!! if you're local, you HAVE to check out hardcore sweet cupcakes. these ladies are AWESOME! we added lots of candy to the table in super mario colors of red, yellow and blue. (thanks to banner events & grey grey designs for some inspiration!)

we also had some chocolate mustache pops, fireballs and sugar cookies with fondant toppers.

this was my first experience using fondant. i found it relatively easy to work with but it really is a tedious process. the end result was hugely gratifying, though, so i'd definitely be willing to try my hand at it again!

instead of purchasing special waterproof labels for the water bottles, i printed up my own designs and covered them with packing tape. super easy, much less expensive and just as effective!

the tables called to mind mario kart with the checkered flag runners and start/finish lines and of course we included some chocolate gold coins!

we wanted the experience of a video game party without the expense of the video game trucks that are so popular so we brought a few game consoles to the party with a couple of older tvs and let the kids have at it! for older children who might be true "gamers" i'd say the game truck expense would be well worth it but this alternative seemed to be perfect for our crowd.

to maintain the tradition of blowing out the candles,the afternoon finished with a store bought but home decorated cake - another frugal tip.......

.....and goodie bags for all!

i asked my son to tell me the best part of his party. his answer?

"playing video games and spending time with my friends."

SOOOO worth it!

event styling....{bridal shower tea party}

i FINALLY have a moment to share a few of the tea party bridal shower styling photos with you! all the photos were taken by the fabulous karin goodwin! i met karin at a fair last year and used her for our family photos. she's now my favorite photographer!

my intention was to combine a traditional tea party with casual, shabby chic elements.as with most events i style, i included a diy element: this time it was the tissue paper flowers. i love how they turned out!

mis-matched tea sets and big cabbage rose print linens blended beautifully with the outdoor setting.

i came up with the idea of custom, hand-embroidered quilt squares for the bride's wedding quilt...

every element - printables, food, diy flowers, etc. - was created by little ole me :-)

i can't wait to have the opportunity to recreate this event on a larger scale!

real party....{wild west birthday}

i had such a good time putting this birthday party together! the birthday boy is the son of my best friend and i was given carte-blanche on the design concept - so fun!

my favorite element - the "chuck wagon" buffet table!

the day began wet and rainy - thankfully, we were prepared with a tent!

we had lots of cast iron and a menu of hot dogs, baked beans, wagon wheel pasta salad, beef jerky and trail mix. kids ate off of tin plates lined with red & white checkered paper - so cute! wish i'd thought to get a close-up photo.

and the dessert was so yummy: s'mores cupcakes in little mason jars!!

a 'photobooth' was set up inside, complete with horse, moustache & cowboy hat props.....

 we even included a "creek" for gold panning!

each attendee left with a cowboy hat full of goodies :-)

a good time was had by all!

real party....{40th celebration}

a very good friend of mine recently hit the "big 4-0" and we decided to throw her a surprise party. we had only about a week to pull it together but i think it came together nicely :-)

i chose a color scheme of purples and reds.....vibrant and fun, just like the birthday girl! another friend graciously hosted poolside so i aimed for casual elegance.

cocktails and finger foods were the menu for the evening: prosciutto wrapped asparagus, cucumber rounds topped with crabmeat salad, pinwheel sandwiches, pita chips with spinach & artichoke hummus, mini quiches and shrimp cocktail. a few bottles of wine joined pre-mixed cocktails presented in mason jars - they were delicious!

given the fact that this was an evening soiree, instead of flowers for color, i chose candles - mainly candle sleeves i designed to match the rest of the printed materials i created.

we even had some floating candles in the pool but the evening was a bit windy with an occasional sprinkle....

each party-goer received a little goodie courtesy of bonhomie jewelry - yup, that's me ;-)

we all had a wonderful time but most importantly, we were able to show the birthday girl a good time! stay tuned - in the next few days, i'll share with you one of my diys from this gorgeous event!