Carissa of JL Designs in Los Angeles does it again! I really don't believe I've ever seen anything she's done that I don't love. Check out her blog for endless eye candy and ideas and the rest of the details of the table above.
Facebook fan, Tina, is looking for inspiration for her son's upcoming pirate themed party. This one is fabulous and sooo inspirational. My son is starting to get into pirates and swords and I'm tucking these ideas away in case his fascination holds until his birthday.
This party was created By Stephanie Lynn for her son's 3rd birthday. So many great details!
Invitations were sent in bottles with burnt edges. She even added ocean scented oil to the bottles so when they were opened there was a fresh ocean scent!
This is my FAVE piece of the decor. The centerpieces! She cut grapevine wreaths in half to create boats! And used stamped muslin as the sail.
Lots of great activities kept all the guests entertained including:
"Walk the plank!" created from a large piece of scrap wood bound together with decorative jute.
There were several sandboxes and all were filled with buried treasure!
Look at his personal cake!
and each child got to take home a smaller version in cupcake form
There are TONS more details on her blog. Muslin flags added to their playset, treasure maps, etc.
Amazing attention to detail! Drop by and soak it all in!
Are you a fan of Everyday Celebrating on Facebook? I share lots of fun things I find that never make it to the blog! Join us and join the conversation!
Tobi, a Nashville pediatrician, recently submitted photos of her daughter's Pirate Princess Party. Lots of fun details to share that I know will serve as inspiration to others!
Invitations featured illustrations drawn by a friend. She printed the art through Shutterfly and then placed it on cardstock.
Food!
Food served included fruit skewers, chicken nuggets, chocolate covered pretzels, bottled water and soda and cupcakes!
Love those boxes on the food table? Toni picked up crates from the Liberty of London line at Target, turned them upside down and used them to give some height to the table.
Cones were filled with chex mix. Made from scrapbook paper and hot glued to hold their shape. The illustration carried the theme to the cones.
She prepackaged the children's food in gable boxes. (Love the napkin rings, btw!) They included:
Favors for the children were treasure chests from Oriental Trading filled with pirate loot: gold chocolate coins, bandanas, necklaces, tattoos, etc. All the girls also received tutus to take home!
So cute! And a different take on the traditional pirate theme!
Visit Toni over at her blog DrBabyMamaDrama to see links and additional photos.
An easy spring wreath tutorial from Avis at Avie Designs. Made with basically just paper, cardboard, a leaf punch and ribbon, this is something you can crank out easily and have your door ready for spring in no time. Or, you can make specialized wreaths for events like showers or weddings, etc.
Also, have you checked out the stationary at Avie Designs? Way back when, she was one of my first purchases on etsy. Her designs are fresh and modern and the quality is phenomenal. If you're looking to give stationary as a gift, I highly recommend her products. You won't be disappointed.
For the invitation for the Black/White Damask shower, I created an oversize postcard and had them printed at Vistaprint. I love the size and the glossy front side really made the design shine.
While they ARE postcards, they were mailed in white envelopes (available also at Vistaprint). On the outside, I used a matching envelope wrap. Very easy to use. Just print out and attach with a glue stick. The invitation and envelope wrap design is available in my etsy store here.
photo credit: Chica Schmica
Cute and easy Valentine's Day treats perfect for school!
Staple a sucker between two cardstock hearts. Decorate one side with a cute face!
A couple weeks ago I recommended a great designer for your holiday cards - KM Thomas Designs. Krysta was fabulous to work with and I wanted to show you the finished product.
The card was designed by her. She dropped in this photo of my son, Keaton. Click on the picture to see it larger.
Here's the back that she created for me by special request.
The printing of these cards was handled by Vistaprint. I use them a lot for 5X7 oversized postcards. The prices are fabulous, but the quality is the best part. The cards are thick and as you can tell by the glare of my camera, have a beautiful gloss on the front. It really is a professional quality product.
Krysta at KM Thomas Designs is offering a free return address label design to my readers. All you have to do is mention Everyday Celebrating when placing your order and she'll create a matching address label for your card design. Once Krysta has sent you the files of your card, you just upload it to Vistaprint and order your cards. Very easy! Don't forget to order envelopes!
Vistaprint is generously offering a discount to my readers as well. Simply click on this link to be taken to a special Vistaprint ordering page where the discount will automatically be taken.
There's still plenty of time to order beautiful, top of the line cards! Let Krysta and Vistaprint do the work for you!
Well, if you've read this blog for any time at all, you know that I'm a planner.
Yep, can't hide that fact very well, huh? If you saw me in real life, you'd see notebooks and calendars. Notebooks of lists, mostly. What types of lists? Oh.. just about anything, really.
BUT... I just marked one thing off my list and YOU CAN TOO!
It's time to begin thinking about your holiday cards. Yes, I know, we haven't even sat down to Thanksgiving dinner, but wouldn't it be great if you got the cards taken care of NOW instead of getting others in the mail and feeling the stress of not only not having yours in the mail yet, but not even knowing what you're doing for them?
I want to introduce you to pre-designed holiday cards by KM Thomas Designs.
In the past, I've always designed my own cards and had them printed at Vistaprint. I've used Vistaprint for many things in the past and their quality and service is spot on, every time.
This year, I chose to spotlight a designer's work instead. I found a great design with Krysta at KM Thomas Designs! Krysta is super easy to work with and you just send her your photos and she pops them into the design. Plus, she gives you the option of changing the colors, the wording, the fonts.. just about everything! Here are a few of her most popular designs right now:
This is one of my faves. I almost went with this one to feature my sweet son.
Maybe you like to send New Year's cards instead. I personally love new year's cards because it gives people something fun to get in the mail after the letdown of Christmas passing. I love this one!
The BEST thing about Krysta? Well, there are two! One... if you don't see something you like, she'll work with you on a custom design.
And TWO... for my readers only, she's offering a FREE matching return label design. When you place your order with her, mention in the comments field that you saw her work on Everyday Celebrating and she'll throw in a matching return label design. Thank you, Krysta!
So you go through Krysta and she sends you jpegs of your card AND your free label design. What next?
Well, you go over to my friends at Vistaprint, upload your designs and use the Everyday Celebrating discount to order your cards and return labels. For my cards, I use the oversized 5X7 postcard and I utilize the front and the back. Vistaprint features free GLOSS which really makes your cards look top notch. Their printing is equal to any professional printer and they are FAST!
My cards are ordered and soon, I'll show you first hand photos of what they look like so you can SEE how amazing they turn out.
Krysta from KM Thomas Designs and Vistaprint make your holiday cards come together quickly! So grab a camera, take your holiday photo and get these out of the way! And while we're talking about cards, while you're waiting on the shipment from Vistaprint, take that time to clean up your card list. Update addresses, add folks you've met over the past year that you want to include, etc.
It's ok. You don't need to thank me. ;)
Remember the airplane invitation I created for my son's birthday? Not just for children's parties!
Alexandria, 15, emailed to inquire about the airplane invitation. To celebrate her 16th birthday, she chose not to have a large party, but instead have a very special unique outing with girlfriends.
Her parents celebrated their daughter's love of flying by taking the money they would've spent on a party and renting two planes and instructors to give Alexandria and 7 of her friends their first lesson in flying.
Alexandria used this invitation to send to her 7 friends. Instead of the childlike logo, she placed a picture of each friend on the invitation. Great idea!
Happiest of birthdays, Alexandria!
The airplane invitation and logo is available for purchase in the Everyday Celebrating store.
Since my son's airplane birthday party last December (seen here and here), I've had many, many questions and requests for the airplane ticket invitations. The template for these invitations are now available for purchase. The template includes the Publisher file which can be altered to include your own party information, your own logo, etc. The best part? You can print as many as you like!
The template is $10. Available in my etsy shop.