Thanks so much to Morgan from Pepper Design Blog for inviting me to be a part of her Friday Guest Interview series! Click here to check it out.

Morgan has featured many of my favorite design/party people already – if you have time, check out these fun interviews with the following lovely ladies: (the links will take you directly to the interview)
• Cortnie, Jen, & Vanessa from Lollipop Events
• Chris from Celebrations at Home
• Amy from Stem Parties
• Kim from At Home with Kim Vallee

HWTM got a little mention in the new People Style Watch issue (June/July 09)! Just saw it while checking out at the grocery store early this morning. Good start to the day! =)  Lots of fun, summery ideas in this issue, too!

Have a baby shower in the works? If you’re looking for a fun concept, here’s an owl-themed baby shower that I created for this month’s issue (April 2009) of Pregnancy magazine, featuring super-cute plush owls, colorful feathers, woodsy elements, and more!

{view the article at a larger size}

P.S. This could also be a fun theme for a kids birthday party… just change the title to something like “Look Hoo’s Turning ONE!”

One of my favorite eye candy resources – Amy Atlas Events – was just featured in the premier issue of Southern Weddings magazine (a new glossy that’s loaded with great material, by the way)! Click here to download a pdf of Amy’s article…aptly titled “Oh, Sugar!“.

I was also excited to discover that Amy listed HWTM as one of her favorite sources of Inspiration! Thanks, Amy…and right back at you!

For those of you that have yet to see Amy’s drool-worthy portfolio of ridiculously creative dessert buffets…here’s a peek at a red, white & pink design she created that might spark some ideas for Valentine’s Day, which is coming up soon!

Swirly meringues, twisted marshmallows, pink & red candies, adorable cupcakes, striped & dotted cookies, and more…

This is a really fun idea for easy, DIY party favors… all you need is a few different decorative papers, cellophane treat bags, and coordinating candies (of course!).

Can’t get away on a fancy trip this holiday? Why not bring the destination to you?! This is the concept behind the “Staycation!” feature in People magazine’s special Holiday 2008 Extra issue, which included  3 “dream destination” vacation spots – Aspen, London, and The Caribbean – and I was super excited to be asked to create the London theme!

I think the issue only went out in the mail, but you can click here to view a jpeg of the full spread at a legible size – or check it out online at people.com (although most of the images are only in the print version).

I also designed some printable invitations to go with this party theme, which are pictured in the top image. You can download them below for free (pdf format). There are 2 versions – the first is exactly like the version pictured in the article and says “HAPPY HOLIDAYS” at the top – and the second says “YOU’RE INVITED” instead of “Happy Holidays” so that it can be used anytime of year…

Get the links to download both invites – and additional British-themed tabletop & party decor ideas – after the jump!

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LONDON/BRITISH STAYCATION PARTY IDEAS

• Greet guests with UK flags placed outside your front door.

• Wish You Were Here: Hang a few posters of popular historical landmarks like the London Tower, House of Parliament, and Big Ben clock tower, and take close-up shots of guests “visiting” their favorite hot spot. Upload the photos to an online gallery so everyone can see them, or – for instant gratification – use a Polaroid camera and let guests take their photos with them. Be sure to include a sharpie to scribble “wish you were here!” along the bottom of the Polaroid.

• Hang a Union Jack umbrella in the entryway for guests to walk under when then arrive.

• Create an “English Flag” table cover: Start with a white tablecloth, then add strips of red fabric, ribbon, or gift wrapping paper in to emulate the look of the flag of England.

• Feature replicas of British Double Decker Buses and London Taxis as table centerpieces, along with small framed  pictures of London hotspots.

• For table settings, feature gold leaf beaded edge charger plates and red and white dinnerware and linens.

• Adorn drinkware with crown-shaped rhinestone stickers fit for a queen.

• Create British-themed napkin rings from 1” strips of red scrapbook paper and UK Union Jack mini buttons.

• Decorate food & drink tables with framed pics from a London calendar. Splurge on a fabulous wire model of Big Ben if you really want to go all out!

• Hire someone to dress up like a Royal Guard for more fabulous photo opps!

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DOWNLOAD & PRINT THE INVITATIONS {Adobe PDF}

Version 1: “HAPPY HOLIDAYS” {Preview Online}  {Download Now}

Version 2: “YOU’RE INVITED”  {Preview Online}  {Download Now}

*Invitations are sized to fit in a #10 envelope and would look fantastic in Paper Source’s #10 Button & String Envelopes (color: Red or Night) – or in Stardream’s shimmery metallic #10 envelopes (color: Mars, Sapphire, or Silver).

Inviting LOTS of guests? Check envelopemall.com for fabulous prices on all sorts of specialty envelopes – including #10 Stardream metallics!

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Enjoy! Please let us know if you end up hosting a Staycation party of your own – or if you have any ideas to contribute!

I feel like I great advice from people all the time – but I wish I was better at implementing it!

A while back, blogging guru Grace Bonney from design*sponge (just a wee little blog… perhaps you’ve heard of it? *wink*) suggested that I start doing a “weekly wrap-up” post on Fridays so that readers can better see that the blog covers a wider variety of topics than what happens to be on the index page at the time (i.e. “Halloween”).

Well, cut to several months later, and I’ve discovered that it can be just as hard to adopt new habits as it is to break old ones…sigh. But, as they say, there’s no time like the present, right?!

So, without further adieu, here is the first of what I hope is many “Weekly Round-Up” posts here at HWTM…which will be recaps of posts & ideas both here and ’round the web… please feel free to hold me accountable to this new habit if you find me slipping!

• Exciting News: CosmoGirl feature! (November issue) See it here.
• Creative Celebration: Portrait Party by Kati Driscoll
• Upcoming Events: Hip Hostess Halloween Party – Next Thursday, Oct 23rd!
• Party Girl Guide: Halloween Cocktails
• Have a Good Laugh: Anne Taintor Products
• Fall-tastic Giveaway: Indie Fixx Autumn Cornocopia Giveaway
• Baby Shower Idea (Multiples): Sweet Peas
• Pick Your Flavor: McCain or Obama
• Food for Thought: Modern Apple Harvest Party by Kim Vallee, Apple-flavored Cocktails, Delicious Apple Desserts

And Coming Up Next Week…
New HWTM Giveaway, fun guest blogs, Halloween craft projects & DIY party decorations, NEW Real-Life Parties, Dine by Design recap, and more! See you soon!

Laurie at Tip Junkie interviewed me for this week’s Talk to Me Tuesday segment on her creative, tip-driven blog. The interview is focused more on blogging than entertaining, but it was fun to discuss the business side of things this time…thanks for the feature, Laurie!

The Candyland party we helped create for Max Sutter this past Saturday will be featured on Extra tonight! {click here to view online} …and also in this week’s issue of Life&Style magazine. HWTM gets a little shoutout in both… we’re super excited! And thank you so much to everyone for all the nice comments and emails!

{click image to view larger}

P.S. The cute & colorful soft toys from the party were from IKEA and ranged from only $3.99 for the small ones to $9.99 for the giant ones. They are so adorable in person… I definitely recommended them for affordable kids party decorations – or even a fun baby shower!

UPDATE 8/13 – I’m allowed to put this post back up now! Yay! (was originally posted on Monday but had to wait until the MomLogic article was up.)

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Hi Everyone – I’m back from Colorado and happy to report that Max’s Candyland Birthday Party went well!  We definitely ran into some hiccups with the weather (hello, sporadic thunderstorms!) and ended up having to move everything indoors at the last minute, but it all worked out in the end… more on all that later!

It will probably take me a couple days to get everything up in the Party Themes section with detailed “how-to” instructions and all that fun stuff, but in the meantime – to get something up quick – I added 2 photo albums of the pictures that Sonny took with our camera onto the HWTM Facebook Page: Candyland Birthday Party – Part l (featuring party decor, candy & favor shots) and Candyland Birthday Party – Part ll (Max, Trista & Ryan with the birthday cake). 

Pictured above: Max having fun with his giant birthday cupcake. Pictured below: a few quick decor shots… check out the Candyland Part l photo album for lots more images.  Additional images from the professional photographer should be available soon as well…including more extensive shots of the 10-ft candy buffet!

Riviera Interiors was so kind to feature a spread introducing HostessWithTheMostess.com to their readers in the Summer 2008 issue that recently came out…so thank you, Riviera! Also included in the spread is our new Bedtime Story Baby Shower, a pic from the HWTM/Chambord Tropical Zen event in San Diego, and a gorgeous living room design shot by Ethan Pines at Hold It Contemporary Home.

{You can click on the image above to enlarge the view, or check out the digital version online. When you get there, click in the text field where it says “Cover”, then scroll to pages 88-89.}