Wednesday, May 26, 2010

SWING ON OVER FOR A GREAT BIRTHDAY!



Swing over to Penguin's Gift to see the most adorable birthday party! The birthday girl, Anna, loves to swing on her swingset - this may be the sweetest little birthday theme yet!


Kat from Penguin's Gift went all out with cups from Garnish that she personalized with stickers so that no one lost their drink. (love garnish!)

Here are the invites. I designed these in several colors before the birthday girl decided on pink and orange and I think she was absolutely right. This color combo is perfect! LOVE a girl that knows what she wants!!

The best part of this party (for me, anyway) is that I designed these all as printables and Kat printed and assembled everything at home. So keep an eye out for more printables here and a big announcement very soon....

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

GRADUATION GIFTS

Following up on the graduation party ideas from yesterday, here are a few graduation gifts that I love to give!


What better thing to wish for a new grad than a charmed life! This sterling silver Charmed Life
necklace from Stella & Dot makes the perfect gift for a new grad because it is trendy and beautiful and well, the name says it all!


Book of Money from Martha Stewart

When I think graduation gift, I usually think money - but it's a tad boring, right? (well, maybe not to the recipient). This book of money from Martha Stewart puts an end to that! The book pictured was done for the holidays, but what could be more perfect for the graduate? You could design the book cover as a yearbook, a journal or a mock self-help book entitled: "How to Make One Hundred Dollars in One Easy Step" then the inside page could read "Graduate!"



I have been obsessed with the Feed Your Soul project at indie fixx and when I saw this beautiful print by Valentina Ramos, I immediately fell in love. You Deserve to Have Your Dreams Come True is the perfect message with which to send a graduate off into the world. Placed in a simple frame, this would make a really personal and meaningful gift. And guess what? The print is free! Available in three color ways from the Feed Your Soul project, you can download this print (and many others) to print at home. How perfect is that?

Monday, May 24, 2010

GRADUATION PARTY (revisited)



(originally posted on July 7, 2009)

I finally have a moment to recap the graduation party we threw for my niece and nephew last month. You heard a bit about it here, and saw a bit of it here, but now is time for all the juicy details! This was a particularly fun party to put together because it was for two graduates, giving me a chance to have a bit of fun with the design. The two graduation caps on the invite are a good example of how we played off the fact that this was a party for both a boy and a girl graduate.



The graduate silhouettes used in the banner also played off this theme. I really loved this idea of using two silhouettes and the first invite that I designed played up this motif (seen below), but that design was vetoed by one of the graduates, making the double cap design next in line for consideration. It was their party, after all! (don't you just hate when the honorees have an opinion?!?) Luckily, I was able to sneak the silhouettes into other aspects of the party.



See. Cute, right?



If you haven't guessed, the graduates' school colors are blue and white which became the obvious palette for the decor. The dark blue and light blue worked well with the design for both a male and female graduate. I loved how the water bottles looked all lined up in the fridge.



Because the weather for the day was questionable, my sister decided to move the party indoors. This caused a few moments of panic as much of the decor planned for the tent would not work indoors, but a last minute banner and some other small details worked wonders to create the look we were hoping for indoors. The menu signs were very well received by the guests for their playful practicality.



For dessert, we served a cookie bar along with the cake and some fun, personalized M&M's. I just couldn't resist the idea of a sign that said 2 Smart Cookies!


The Class of 2009 whoopie pie flags were pretty darn cute too. Cellophane bags with coordinating labels were provided for the guests to take some treats home as well.



My favorite project, by far, for my niece and nephew's graduation was definitely the photo montage dvd that was created using iPhoto, iTunes and iDVD. These applications worked beautifully together to make this project really easy to do and super fun. I loved going through all of the photos of the graduates and reminiscing about their lives and all of their wonderful accomplishments. The DVD was shown over and over throughout the day for family and friends and the guests of honor even enjoyed watching it time and again and playing it for their friends. I was just happy to have chosen songs that were not considered dorky and uncool by the high school crowd! (for your reference so you can be as hip as I, the songs were "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield and "Time of Your Life" by Just Jinger)



For favors for the girls, Petunia and I made up cute little flip flops using a similar technique to the tissue poms that we love to make so much. You'll never guess what we used to make the poms to insure they would be water proof. I'll post a tutorial later in the week to fill you in on all the details of this fun project. The flip flops were displayed in my nephew's wrestling gym bag just to play down the girly factor a bit. I loved the contrast of how they looked in this old, beat up bag.


Despite the sketchy forecast, the day turned out perfect. After a fabulous party and tons of fun, the final detail: thank you notes.

It was an absolute pleasure helping to put this party together for my adorable niece and nephew. I am so proud of all of their wonderful accomplishments but even more so of the incredible people they have become. Congratulations Philip and Kayla! XOXO

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

FREE DOWNLOAD - MS SUMMER GRILLING COOKBOOK


Click here for a free download of Martha Stewart's Summer Grilling cookbook from Sirius.

Friday, May 14, 2010

NEW PARTIES COMING SOON!



So sorry for the long absence.
Promise I'll be back next week with new parties and a big surprise!