Hostess with the Mostess™

The always beautiful, always inspirational Style Me Pretty blog is having an inspiration board contest all week! {See image below for a sample board.} If you want to give it a go yourself - or just take a look at all the eye candy - click here for details. Readers can vote for their favorite board this Friday (August 3rd), and the winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to the store of their choice!

Take a breather from all the “Posh Spice” frenzy and meet PoshBetty! PoshBetty is a cool online shop started by 3 friends who where tired of cards and invitations that were “all the same”. In their own words, this meant “couples walking hand in hand, kittens chasing balls of yarn, and grandpa and grandson building a soapbox racecar”. So the girls decided to start their own company with the goal of bringing back 50’s style with a fresh, modern flair. Today, PoshBetty offers retro-mod invitations, announcements, stationery and more - and just recently launched a brand new favors section. A few samples pictured here - visit the website to view all the goods!

{party favors pictured above, clockwise from top left} CD Tin;, Rhinestone Monogram Stickers ($4.99/set of 12), Aqua Mini Cube Boxes ($7.99/set of 12) and Diamond Shaped Crystal Paperweights ($1.99/$3.29/$6.99 for S/M/L); Dot Ribbon ($4.99/12-yd roll), and Blue Silk Fan ($1.39 ea - available in several colors).

PoshBetty is also currently looking for tips, advice, and wedding stories from Newlyweds and Brides-to-Be. If you’ve got some good stories or advice to share with the world, click here to tell them all about it!

208 comments - Henry Road is definitely a hit with you guys! I really wish there could be 208 winners from the giveaway - but, alas, there can only be one…and that lucky girl is Stephanie from adventures in babywearing, who said “Enter me! I am the cloth napkin queen!!”.

Congrats, Stephanie! Please send over your pattern choice and shipping info with “I’m a winner!” in the subject line. Happy entertaining

You might be surprised where you can find inspiration for the theme of your next party or occasion shower. For example, these elephant wall decals from Vinyl Wall Art just shouted "pink elephant baby shower" when I saw them! How sweet are these…

Once you’ve found an item or idea you love - just start picking out things that coordinate to build on your theme. It makes things so much easier! Here are some fabulous finds for a modern pink elephant theme: the pink elephant wall decals (available in 3 sizes) - lined up in a row for a table centerpiece or used elsewhere as party decor, just dots pastel pink partyware , pearlized pink utensils , pink elephant cocktail charms , and bottled pink lemonade form Lorina .

This ultra-modern Bobles Tumbling Elephant from modernmini.com would make an adorable gift that could also be used as part of the party decor. How fabulous would this be as the star of the gift or coffee table?!

And don’t forget the invitations! Bumble Ink’s Elephants shower invitations couldn’t be more perfect to set the tone for this shower! So sweet…

*If anyone has more great product ideas for this modern pink elephant theme, please feel free to share them here!

Eco-friendly online shop VivaTerra always has ultra-chic entertaining finds, but those finds are even better when they’re on sale! A few favorites from the current clearance rack:

{clockwise from top left}
Slate Tray & Petal Servers - were $49-$69, now $19-$27
Blue Spiral Tablecloth - was $118, now $44
Hand-formed Dipping Set - was $65, now $26
Kiri Wood Footed Trays (set of 3) - were $79, now $54
Sol Carafe (lime or tangerine) - was $29, now $20

My friend Anasuya recently threw the most amazing baby shower! Full details coming Monday, but these fantastic flower arrangements should give you a little preview of what’s to come…(yes, the vases are metallic hot pink!).

UPDATE - 7/30: The details on this shower will be up Tuesday instead of today! Just waiting for a few more images. Thanks for your patience!

Jennifer Tam from Turtle Papers recently launched a new etsy shop that is full of the most adorable stationery, baby tees, and decorative prints. Seriously, how cute are these designs…!

Be sure to check out Jennifer’s regular website too - http://www.turtlepapers.com/ - for even more great stuff, including greeting cards, custom baby announcements and tees for her!

This handmade stationery by Amie Needham from a punkin card company is so very cool… A few favorites pictured here, but everything is so well-designed that it was hard to decide which ones to post! Visit Amie’s Etsy shop to check out her entire collection of greeting cards, note sets, and gift tags for yourself. Swoon…!

How fantastic are these mugs by Scandinavian designer Hanna Werning! Aptly named “Hanna Mugs“, Werning received her inspiration from a childhood chest of drawers filled with souvenirs that her mother had brought back from Russia. That inspiration sure paid off! $16/each at Bunny Maxwell.

A few more of the cool new arrivals at Bunny Maxwell…

Filippa K Lace Mugs and Filippa K Leaf Mugs {$45/set of 2}

DRINK Glassware Set {$46/set of 4}, CHEERS Mingle Wine Glasses ($44/set of 4} and Pick Up Mug and Tray Set {$32/set}

Because of her bold use of color and ultra-modern design style - Tobi Wood Designs is one of my favorite stationery companies - so I was excited to find out that they’re having a summer sale! Just enter the code “summersale” at checkout to get 30% off TW cards, journals and magnet sets. Sale ends July 31st.