Sunshine Sprinkle Baby Shower

This past weekend, I hosted a Sunshine Sprinkle for my bff, Heather.

It was amazing! From handmade fringed garlands {DIY coming soon!} to all white and yellow foods, no detail was left unattended to!

L-R: Yummy yummy food! {tea sandwiches, sugar donuts, banana bread, white choc s'mores cookies, quiche and cheeses}, fringed garlands, wishes for baby and pops of yellow everywhere

 I think my favourite detail were the wishing trees. I brought down my vases of branches from my studio and tied yellow and white ribbons on them. From there, guests could write out a wish to the baby, and tie it to the trees.

 

 

Heather was able to untie them and take them home at the end of the shower, as a little momento and something to share with the baby as they grow and get older.

Watch for the fringed garlands coming up in a post next week as I show you around my Art in the Park exhibition space!

Baby Shower Inspiration...Sunshine Sprinkle

What's a baby shower without the cutest favours around?

This coming weekend is my bff's Sunshine Sprinkle baby shower, and I am just over the moon with the details!

The favours for our guests?

Marshmallow krispie treats...only in yellow! How beautiful, simply wrapped in cello and with some grey ribbon, then topped off with a favour tag {of course!}

How gorgeous will those be?!

Party Tips Tuesday: Wishing Tree

I've mentioned before and I'll say it again, we are not big fans of games at baby and bridal showers around these parts. We've been to them and played the awkward ice-breakers, and really...they're just that: awkward!

For my bff's sprinkle, I decided to do something a little different. We're going to have a wishing tree...

Tall glass vases, filled with branches. Plain wood clothespins for guests to clip their wishes to the shimmery ribbons that will be hanging from them branches.

Beautiful and it will create such an amazing memory for mom-to-be!

Party Tips Tuesday: Sunshine Sprinkle Baby Shower

When your best friend is pregnant and due with #2, what do you do?

You plan a sprinkle, clearly!

I'm so excited to be hosting a shower for my bff next month, and since she loves yellow, I thought that it would be appropriate to do a You Are My Sunshine theme!

The invitations? Oh so chic, with the perfect pops of golden yellow!

Stay tuned!! Over the month I'll reveal activities {we aren't big on games around here for baby showers!}, menu's and other printables!

Talk-To-Me Tuesday: Party Tips!

It seems as though I've been chatting with alot of you about pending parties for this year, so I thought that I would write out my top 5 party planning tips, as featured over on Growing Up Geeky a few months ago.

We all have our themes...bake shop...dump trucks...choo choo trains...under the sea...afternoon campout. They're all spectacular, and I'm super excited to work with alot of you on your parties to make them extra special, and hopefully take some of the stress out of the day for you so that you can relax and enjoy watching your children have fun with their friends and family.

Without further adieu...my top 5 Planning Tips...to help you stay sane!

1) Find inspiration in your theme.

A theme can come from anywhere...a colour, character, idea, holiday, flower, toy. Once you have your theme, your possibilities are endless...but you have to do with it with grace. Coordinate within the theme. For example, if you're planning a campout birthday party, think about the colours, textures, sounds and smells that you would find there. That will inspire the linens, venue, food, and music! Make a list, within your theme, of everything you can think of that pertains to it. It could be as simple as , to use the campout theme again, gingham patterns and s'mores, or as complicated as firefly lanterns and fishing poles. Once you have your list, pick out a few key things that you think you can pull off really well. It's always better to excel at a few things than slack on alot of things!


2) Divide and conquer!

I cannot stress this one enough...start EARLY and divide your list into things that need to be done now, things that can wait a few weeks (or months depending on how early you start), and things that cannot be done until the week of the party. From there, make some brainstorm charts of those three categories and decide how and when you will attack those tasks. Is there any food that you can make now and freeze, or does it all need to be done the night before? Make a visual, and check things off as you go.

3) Hire someone to do the cake

If you're hosting a birthday party, I do not recommend taking on the task of making the birthday cake, unless you are getting all of the other food catered by someone else and know for certain that you will have the time to bake, fill, frost and decorate your masterpiece. If you're doing cupcakes, make them the night before, and frost them the morning of your party so that they are super fresh or better yet, have a cupcake decoration station with different filled piping bags for the kids, sprinkles and decorations! Cakes take a lot of time and detail, and if you're the type of person who will stress the week of the party, this is not the task to be taking on.


4) Loot bags aren't just for kids!

Consider doing a fun favour for the parents at your child's party, or if you're hosting an adult event, do up some fun favours for your quests. For the summer, think of drink mixes, ice cube trays and a funky glass, tied with bright ribbon. A baby shower, maybe handmade chocolates from a local shop or cake pops from your favourite bakery. Using the campout birthday example, for the parents get some gourmet s'mores made by a local chocolatier, and have them packaged in clear cello bags so you can print off a "thank you" sticker and put it on the top. Little gifts of sweetness go a long way, and aren't just for kids anymore!

5) Consider activities other than games.

This is moreso for baby and bridal showers, but we've all been to them where you have to talk to people you either don't know or have to be centred out in a large group to yell BINGO! No one likes it, so why does everyone do those silly games? Consider doing something fun and interactive, yet simple like a DIY Bib or Onesie station - all you need are blank Onesies or bibs, and paint markers...then voila! Custom gear for the mama-to-be! For a bridal shower, consider doing an advice book for the bride where people can privately write notes of advice for her, in a lovely journal for her to keep special memories in.

Whatever the case, make your event your own and choose those few things to do really really well, coordinating everything with a dominant colour or pattern. Have fun with it, and please please please...hire someone to do the cake!!


As always, I'm only a tweet away to answer all of your party planning questions. I have crazy ideas for food, decorations, announcements, thank-you bags, and even just inspiration. If you need a hand with anything at all, I'm happy to help!

Happy planning!

Simple Things Thursday: Mama's Little Helper

He's absolutely into everything these days, always under my feet and pushing me to the side to get past where I am...since it's so much better on the other side of Mama.

Last week before the Baby Shower, he was roaming around under the buffet table, in circles and kept giggling when I would tell him that he was Mama's Little Helper.

So simple. So pure. So completely and utterly in love with this boy!

Link up with Simple As That...you'll be glad that you did!

Talk-To-Me Tuesday: {Orange and Grey} Baby Shower

This past weekend, I hosted a baby shower for a very special mama; my best friend, Andrea.

The menu was delicious, a baby shower brunch fit for a queen, complete with {virgin} mimosa's and baked brie! The decor, all handmade by me, with such a simple colour palatte and theme, it all came together beautifully!


First, the food. Guests dined on...

• Crescents with Peach Preserves
• Warm, homemade Peach Crisp
• Brown Sugar Pecan Baked Brie (to.die.for)
• Shortbread cookies
• Honey Whole Wheat homemade Rolls with butter
• Vanilla Cake Pops, shaped like Giraffe's!
  

Cake Pops handmade, and oh so delicious, from Sweet Cheeks

To drink...Mimosa's and Virgin Mimosa's (yum!), complete with super cute B...is for Baby straws





A balloon wreath in vanilla, white and red with a charcoal grey Baby sign to welcome the guests



Fresh cut hydrangeas with orange and grey striped pinwheels...some in vintage Milk Glass pitchers, others in tall, glass vases



Instead of games, we had a Design Your Own Baby Bib station...10 bibs in all, and each one crazy creative!



Guests took home Vanilla-Peach Marshmallow Pops from Kimberly's Kitchen

Today, I'm linking up this pretty, chic and elegant Baby Shower with Tip Junkie! Super fun and fresh blog, incredibly creative and beautifully written!

Special Post: Facebook Fanpage GIVEAWAY!

To celebrate 100+ fans over on Facebook, I've decided to do a little giveaway!

Up for grabs is a set of 12 custom made notecards! For all of you mama's out there who are throwing 1st birthday parties soon, these little beauties will certainly come in handy!

Head on over to the Facebook fanpage and comment on the Giveaway status with your favourite paper from the Papers album!

Good luck!