Here’s a peek at the Cravings baby shower theme that I worked on for Parents.com last year. I have yet to actually put this to use for a friend, but am hoping to bring it to life one of these days… don’t you think this would be as much fun for the guests as for mom-to-be?!

Who wouldn’t love a good excuse to indulge in salty & sweet favorites… it’s just for one day! I love the idea of an entire “comfort food buffet” featuring mini bites like grilled cheese squares, fried pickles, and individual servings of oven-baked fries and mac-n-cheese… YUM!

Centerpieces would be old-fashioned sundae glasses & cake cones filled with “fluffy” flowers like peonies, styled to look like ice cream cones!

For party decor: framed prints of traditional “craving” foods like fries, pickles, and ice cream. (You can purchase images for the frames at istockphoto.com.)

Dessert: a build-your-own ice cream sundae bar!

Party favor ideas: a take-home edible treat that incorporates both salty & sweet flavors – like chocolate covered pretzels or a few mini cookies or macarons wrapped up in cellophane or a take-out container and paired with a small bag of gourmet kettle chips.

Here are some fun invitation designs that would work well for this theme too:

Pictured above: Food Cravings Mobile invitation {paperculture.com}; downloadable Craving Your Company invitation from {parents.com}, and Pickles and Ice Cream invitation {polkadotdesign.com}.

You could also incorporate jars of pickles decorated with ribbon & paper details into this theme… any other ideas? Please share them here!

Find more details on the Cravings theme – including a party playlist – over at Parents.com!

I’m just now going through all the images from the Berry Sweet Baby Shower that I styled a couple weeks ago (see inspiration board here) and am planning to do a full recap soon, but I couldn’t resist posting a little sneak peek right now… so here goes!

{The images are courtesy of photographer Jillian Bisinger, who did a wonderful job capturing all the little details!}

This “Yummy Lollipop Display” featuring strawberry-flavored swirl pops was one of my favorite elements of the candy buffet (and super easy to put together!).

I also love this shot of mom-to-be Judy Reyes having fun with her guests…

More sweet things…

One of the 3 styles of table centerpieces…

Sparkling pomegranate signature drinks & another table centerpiece design:

Raspberry fruit jellies from the cupcake dessert bar, and the “big momma” of the 3 table centerpiece designs, used on the 2 largest rounds:

…that’s it for now – much more to come soon! =)

After receiving many inquiries about the framed signs & posters from Alison Sweeney’s Momma Bird Baby Shower theme, I’ve decided to make things easy and offer them here in {free} downloadable format. And for those of you celebrating boys on the way, there are now blue & yellow versions of everything as well!

Below is a preview of each design that’s included, and you’ll find links to download .zip files of each set at the bottom of this post.

For more ideas on this theme, check out the sneak peek, the themed diaper cake, and the party photo album on Facebook.

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8×10 Signs:

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5×5 and 5×7 Signs:

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20×24 Posters: (Recommend mounting to foam core or framing to display.)

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DOWNLOAD THE .ZIP FILES HERE:
{Please read the tips & copyright info below as well}

Baby Shower Signs: PINK & Yellow – Click here to download

Baby Shower Signs: BLUE & Yellow – Click here to download

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PRINTING Tips: Due to the heavy ink coverage, I definitely recommend printing these designs at a print shop (such as FedEx Kinkos) or an office with a high-quality laser printer. A place like Kinkos should only run you between $1.25 – $2 per 8.5 x 11 page, and the 5×5 and 5×7 quotes are set up as 2 per page to help maximize the space/value.

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DOWNLOAD Tips: When files are downloaded to a PC, you might need to “extract” them before they’ll open properly as they may still be compressed. If this happens, select the file that won’t open and look for a button at the top of your downloads folder that says “Extract”, then click it.

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COPYRIGHT/USAGE: You are free to download and print these designs for your personal use only. They may be printed from your home computer or at any commercial print shop such as FedEx Office/Kinkos. (If you ask Kinkos to download these directly from the post, you may need to show them to this permission info.)

Please do not attempt to resell or redistribute these designs. If you’d like blog about these templates, we’d love that, but please make sure to link back to this full post at HWTM and not directly to the downloadable files. Thank you!

Remember the gorgeous Anthropologie-inspired Owl Baby Shower that we featured last month? Well, there were tons of inquiries about how to make the adorable owl stir sticks that one of the shower hostesses – Jesi Haack from Jesi Haack Weddings – made for the party.

When I asked Jesi for the DIY info, she was kind enough to not only share the details, but she also create a fabulous how-to video to demonstrate all the steps! Click the play button below to watch:

Thanks so much to Jesi for the fabulous video & tips!

*Click here to view the video at a larger size on whowhatweddings.com.

Credits:
jesihaackweddings.com
crafthouseproductions.blogspot.com

And now for Part 2 of the gorgeous Anthropologie Owl Baby Shower! (See Part 1, posted earlier today, for more background on this shower & the creative women involved.)

Pictured here are some images of the fabulously creative party decor, which included a cool, vintage-style name banner and picture garland, as well as one of my personal favorite details of this shower – the adorable, handmade owl fans! So cute…

Some detail shots of the name banner and picture garland…

The stylish, eclectic arrangement on this hand-crafted desk looks like stomething straight out of an Anthropologie catalog shoot…

The desk included: a block-letter “L” sign, wooden owl figurines, old-fashioned hard-cover books, a customized photo guest book, knitted baby booties, flowers in vintage vases, and a copy of the handmade baby shower invitation.

Here’s a close-up of the invites, which were both handmade and hand-delivered, and included special details like custom fabrics and twine:

And a couple more decor shots… I couldn’t resist throwing in a full-length view of the cool chair & bottle shot again – LOVE it!

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Photo Credit: Gabriel Ryan

P.S. Thanks again to Leila for sending over all the images!

Blown. Away. Yep… that pretty much sums up how I felt after receiving images of this gorgeous “Anthropologie Owl Baby Shower“. Wow!

From frozen lemonade served in mason jars to owl-shaped paper hand fans to stunning floral arrangements displayed in pretty bottles and vintage vases, this party is overflowing with charm and thoughtful, creative details…

The baby shower was held in honor of Carlie from Gabriel Ryan, and it probably won’t surprise you to learn that there were some very talented people involved in putting it together… including Carlie herself, Jesi from Jesi Haack Weddings, Carissa of JL Designs, and Melody of Sweet and Saucy Shop (wait ’til you see the gorgeous dessert buffet, below!).

There are so many inspiring ideas and beautiful photos (courtesy of Gabriel Ryan) to share that I decided to break this post up into 2 parts.

Here in Part 1, you’ll find lovely images of the flowers, decor, jewelry favors, and dessert buffet… starting with this incredible shot of the table centerpiece that I honestly want to blow-up poster size and put on my wall!

The colorful, translucent vases look so pretty all grouped together like this, and primarily all-white blooms add a soft, delicate vibe without competing with the colors in the vases. Yellow pom pom flowers add and a nice pop of color in just a few key places!

More pretty vases & vintage-inspired decor:

How great is the chair shot, above?! Also pictured above & below, jewelry from Thalken by Hana Lash.

And now, the lovely dessert buffet by Sweet and Saucy…

The presentation & set up of this buffet looks as delicious as the treats! Tissue and paper pom garlands make for such a pretty backdrop…

Treats included: mini candy bar cupcakes, red velvet and carrot cake flavored cake pops, mini fruit “pizzas”, iced sugar cookies decorated with super-cute purple and yellow owl motifs.

YUM! Stay tuned for part 2 – coming later today!

After a short summer break, I’m excited to be contributing regularly over at Real Simple again… starting with today’s feature – Preggatinis: Mixology for the Mom-to-Be.  If you think being pregnant means no “fun” drinks for 9 months, think again!

Here’s a sneak peek at the invitations for the upcoming Woodland Forest Baby Shower I’m hosting in November. The different elements are from a few illustrations purchased at istockphoto.com (see below), and I plan to create some coordinating signage and favor tags for the actual party. I also like the idea of mailing these out in brown bag kraft envelopes for a woodsy feel…

{pictured above: images 7430589, 5820871, 5295049}

Party Favors
When I posted on the inspiration board for this party theme last week (Part 1 and Part 2), Marian from the RIDICULOUSLY ADORABLE blog, Sweetopia, emailed me a link to a Royal Icing Tutorial post that she created, which features woodland forest-themed cookies as the example! And, as luck would have it, we seem to be inspired by the same things…

Seriously, could these be any more perfect?! Here’s how they look all done up with ribbon & cellophane as party favors…

I wish Marian lived closer so I could attempt to hire her to recreate these for the baby shower (she’s based near Toronto). I’m pretty doubtful that my own attempts to recreate these would look anything like her amazing creations, so I’ll probably be turning to someone local that specializes in this sort of thing. That makes one less thing for my own to-do list anyways, right? =)

Click here to check out more eye candy (and lots of tutorials!) at Sweetopia!

P.S. I’m filing this under “kids party ideas” and “first birthday” too, because I still think this theme would be adorable for occasions beyond baby showers too.  The invite wording could be changed to “Let’s Celebrate!” or “Jake is ONE!” or “Birthday BOY/GIRL”, and you could give the squirrel & owl characters little birthday hats… =)

Here’s a peek at the inspiration board for a baby shower I’m styling in November. As you can probably guess, mom-to-be is having a girl! Chocolate-dipped strawberries and a pink & red palette were requested for the event, so I’m tentatively calling this theme “Berry Sweet“.

Pictured at top: Camellia Tissue Paper Pom Set; Boughs of Whimsy gift wrap (the “inspiration piece” for the theme / will be used throughout the party); Rectangle Mod Pink/Red & Red Disc beaded curtains (for table runners &  decorative accents), pink drinks with YUM! Stirrers; cupcakes by Whitney Burke; and sparkling Pomegranate Champagne Cocktails.

Pictured above: Digital mockups of concepts for the accent table arrangements – utilizing oversize red blooms, metallic fuschia vases embellished with gift wrap, pink swirl lollipops, and white mitsumata branches adorned with small red blooms and paper “leaves”. {Ruby dahlias in white vase pic by Floral Art} 

Pictured above: Red and White acrylic drop ornaments; a digital mockup of the table centerpieces (a grapewood branch adorned with oversize flower blooms – real & faux – and paper leaves… might add some crystal ornaments too); Boughs of Whimsy gift wrap; and a few sample elements for the Treat Bar… pink and red candies and chocolate-dipped strawberries.

Last but not least, here’s a peek at the venue – Catch restaurant at the Casa del Mar hotel in Santa Monica. Pretty sweet, right?! (pun intented)

P.S. This theme would work great for a bridal shower or birthday party too! (Just swap out the word “BABY” in the signage with “BRIDE” or the the birthday girl’s name.)

P.S.S. The font used for “BERRY SWEET” and “BABY” is called “JFFerrule“.

Pictured at top: adorable tweet & felt plushies by Etsy shop SleepyKing… Butterscotch Tweed Fox ($18), Belchick – The Mischevious Squirrel ($22), and Douglas Fir – “the little bear with freckles” ($24).

Pictured above: This whimsical Woodland Trail Mobile features a tree stump, bear, bird, squirrel, and bunny… and the colors can be customized to match your theme! (…could also double as a special gift for mom-to-be – $82 at GiftsDefine.com) And pint-sized Pet Pals would make for charming additions to woodsy-themed table centerpieces! ($18 each)

Pictured below: I’m planning to use this playful Friendly Forest collection by Colorbok to create DIY placemats, napkin rings, and drink charms, and also to embellish vases and party favors…

I also ordered some blank Wood Coasters and a Chipboard Family Tree (right hand corner, below) to decorate with the Friendly Forest paper and use somewhere in the party. Not 100% sure where the tree will end up yet, but it reminded me of this cool tree wall graphic that I love (below, left)… and I couldn’t resist =)

(Above, left: Bunny and Squirrel Bean Bags by Cocoon Couture)