Oh Baby

I hope everyone had a wonderful, family-filled, relaxing holiday!! This year I was lucky enough to have my family out here on west coast with me. It was so special to wake up Thanksgiving morning to the smells of my mother's cooking wafting up the stairs and the sounds of my family laughing and talking in the kitchen. There is nothing like being surrounded by those you adore, are inspired by and admire.

I definitely feel that way about each member of my family. And, as I have the opportunity to get to know more and more of you (through your blogs and correspondence), I definitely feel that way about each of you as well. Thank you so much for coming on this adventure with me! I feel so lucky that each of you has joined me. And I hope you don't think that my lack of posting lately is any kind of waning in my interest in bringing you all kinds fun-filled party tidbits and inspiration. But I had a to take a little break to....

....well...

...uh...

....TA-DA!!!

You know... run off and finally have that baby I've been babbling about for a while now.

He showed up at 9:21am on Saturday and is, of course, already ruling the roost! 

I hope you will bear with me as I slowly get back in action. (First order of business... checking out of the hospital tomorrow.) 

I'm so excited for this holiday season!! There are so many wonderful party ideas out there. I do hope that I'm not too sleep deprived to throw one!

{Inspiration} Elegant Woodland Tablescape

Happy Monday!! When I came across this GORGEOUS Woodland Tablescape over the weekend I knew I just had to share!! It feels so seasonal and is the perfect mix of feminine and masculine. I LOVE the blueish-green, red and white color palette. And these days, for some reason, there's nothing like some natural rustic elements and a little bit of plaid to set my heart a-fire!!

(via Once Wed and Poppies and Posies)

{New In The Shop} Luxy's Carnival Party

I LOVE it when people come to me with fabulous ideas!!! Recently when Marianne of SugarFoot Designs asked me to create some items for her daughter's upcoming Carnival themed 4th birthday party, all I could think was HOW MUCH FUN!! We worked together within her color scheme of aqua and red and designed a beautiful little collection which is now available in the shop.

Here are a few pictures from Luxy's actual party...

Luxy decided that instead of presents she would like everyone to give to a local mission so that many more people could enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner. So, we designed charity tags which allowed her guests to hang their donations on a charity tree at the party. They raised over $150!! That's a lot of Thankgiving dinners!

Marianne put out a wonderful spread including this adorable "Dots Topiary Tree"... (She's promising a tutorial soon. I can't wait!)

She even had a photo booth...

Aren't her children adorable??!!

Absolutely FUN-TASTIC party Marianne!!! 

All items for this Carnival/Circus themed collection are in the shop today (and will be back up after my "maternity leave" in mid-December).

{Projects} Nursery Update

So a while ago I promised to keep you posted on the my progress with the design of the nursery. Let's just say, with about a week and a half to go before my son arrives, I'm running a little behind the train.

As I mentioned we needed to remove the fireplace from that room as it was a safety issue.

Not a particularly attractive picture (notice how I cleverly inserted a large frowny face to distract you from the ridiculous pile of junk!), but see what I mean... not only is a fireplace in a nursery not a great idea, but the pointy edges on the raised hearth were not going to do anything but freak me out as the little one eventually becomes mobile!

So, here's where I'm at as of today...

The fireplace is gone. Hurray!!

And the room has some lovely, sunny tone on tone horizontal stripes!

(Oh, yeah, and a stair master, and a treadmill, and a weight bench. Grrr... which all have to be removed this morning before the floor guy comes!)

I keep trying to take solace in the fact that the little guy will be sleeping in my room for the first three months. But I keep wishing that there was a way to just stop time and inject two extra weeks into my life! Ever have that feeling?

{Real Parties} Two Pink Perfection Affairs

Lately Amy, over at Blowout Party, has been posting the most delicious eye candy!! (If you haven't checked out her blog, you really should take a moment and click on over.) And, I just couldn't resist sharing a little of it here.

As the countdown continues to the birth of my second son (a week from Saturday. Yikes!!) I have to say these parties do pull a little at my heartstrings as I realize that I'll might never have a chance, to plan a pink party for one of my children. (Well, actually, I guess you never know, right? My first son's favorite color is green. Maybe number two's will be pink??!)

First up is this FABULOUSLY SCRUMPTIOUS Ice Cream Party...

The details are just perfect, aren't they??!

And next up is a BEAUTIFUL Pink Bow Party...

This one just goes to show that a simple theme can definitely be taken a long way. Gorgeous!!

Thank you, Amy, for always gathering and sharing such wonderful ideas and inspiration!!

{Real Parties} Anaya's Fairy Party

Lately I have been approached to by many people to adjust the colors of Woodland Fairy Collection to go with their specific color palate. It has been such fun to see each person's vision come to life. And the color combinations that they have come up with have all been fantastic!!

I recently worked with Anaya's mother, Sapna, on some toppers for her beautiful pink, purple and green fairy party. And when Sapna sent me some pictures of the event I just had to share, because it looked like it was so FABULOUS and such FUN!!

All the girls in their fairy outfits look so beautiful!!

GORGEOUS party Sapna!!! Thank you SO much for sharing it with us!!!

{Inspiration} Sweet Backdrops For Your Sweets

Lately there have been so many amazing and creative dessert table backdrops that I just wanted to round all my favorites up into one place for inspiration.

Adorable Ruffles

(via How Does She)

Murals

(via Imprintables)

(via Sharnel Dollar@My Life My Loves)

Strings of Circles

(via Grey Grey Designs)

Ribbons

(Blair Britt Events via Amy Atlas)

Curtains

(Sandra Downie Events via Amy Atlas)

(via A Blissful Nest)

Strings of Lanterns

(via Katie Grace Designs)

I think that they are all so wonderful and so inspirational!! And they all just go to show that what you put behind your table can be just as stunning as what you put on your table.