A penny for your thoughts?

My gal pal Suzanne is expecting and I'm excited to be planning a baby shower for her.  Due to the large number of guests and the size and layout of my home, we're opting for a "come-and-go" shower.

I realize that some people view "come-and-go" showers as tacky and unrefined (hmm... seems like I've heard that phrase before), but that's not the question I'm asking today. 

My question is:

Does this invite get the point across that it's a come-and-go shower?  If you read it without the preface I gave, would you "get it"?  (The black bars cover personal info; those will NOT be on the actual invite.)

The shower theme is clouds and raindrops (if you follow me on Pinterest then you've probably seen quite a bit of my inspiration).

Also, you may be thinking, daaaang, Tristin is way on top of things because it's October and she's planning a January shower.  Well, folks, I am SO not on top of things.  It's merely out of self-preservation that I'm already working on this shower.  You see, right after Christmas I'm helping with a New Year's wedding in Tampa, and then hosting this shower the following weekend.  It's all stuff I love, so I'm super-happy to do it, but because of the busy-ness of the season, I know I have to be ready early so I don't have a mental breakdown later.

So, does the invitation get the point across? 

And do you like the theme and style of the invitation?
 
And just for grins, what are your thoughts on come-and-go showers (if you hate 'em, you're welcome to say it but please do so nicely!)?

P.S.  I designed this invitation using the free features offered by Picnik.

Nice Day for a White Wedding

Recently our church had the privilege of welcoming a new family.  They're new Christians, newlyweds, and new to our area.  What better way to welcome someone (officially) than by throwing a fun party in their honor?

This party was the doing of my mother primarily, though myself and several others from our congregation worked to contribute pieces of awesomeness that resulted in an elegant evening for all to enjoy.

I thought you'd enjoy a peek!

Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails

A few weeks ago Sharon and I attended a baby shower for one of the ladies of our congregation who was expecting a baby boy (the baby is now "out", as his big sis told me).  We had a great time eating cake and drinking punch (which Sharon may or may not have been overly enthusiastic about, but I won't tell) and watching the momma open up all those cute boy gifts. 

The mother-to-be is not in fact a "new" mom--this is baby # 3 for her, so she's practically a pro.  With that in mind, I went a more practical route in my gift-giving than I usually would.

I made two casseroles for her freezer and put them in a cheapie cooler ($2) for transport to the shower.  (FYI, people definitely take a second glance when you show up to a baby shower 30 minutes late with wet hair and a cooler in your hand.  Did you get a good visual?)  With practicality in mind, I also included a package of diapers 'cause you can never have too many!

For fun, I made a cute little tie onesie and a matching crocheted hat.  The hat was made using a free tutorial offered by Girl in Air.  The tie onesie was a result of "winging it".  I fused fabric adhesive onto the back of the tie and finished the fabric edges with Fray Check to prevent fraying (as the name implies).  Because I've been loving embroidery lately, I used a blanket stitch on the edges to finish the onesie.

Seriously guys, I want to blanket stitch everything.

I know about a bazillion other women having boys (and by "a bazillion" I mean two) so look out for more baby boy crafts to come! 

Linky Love: December showers bring January flowers

This week's posts have revolved around the shower we helped host for our dear friend and bride-to-be. Today's linky love will serve as inspiration for bridal showers, baby showers, or birthday parties you may host in the future. It's almost that time again - shower season! I already know I'm hosting one in April. Start now and get some inspiration flowing. And because a picture is worth a thousand words ideas...

Hope this inspires you in some way!

Inspiration page by Style Me Pretty

These towel cakes are just adorable! You could use the cupcake idea as favors for guests or the larger two tiered cake as a decorative centerpiece. This idea is creative and will have your guests impressed with minimal work required! Credit to Etsy seller: luly612.

Indulge in this exquisite dessert table designed by Wedding Bells Magazine. At our shower, we chose to supply light finger-foods, but if you chose to do an even lighter morning shower, a dessert table would be perfect. 

You probably know by now that I have an unhealthy obsession for scrapbook paper. I'm just dying for the next opportunity to make these precious cupcake wrappers. Get the full tutorial here.

Martha Stewart is a great source of inspiration. Especially when it comes to weddings. Here is one of her ideas to incorporate vases of different sizes and colors, and transform them into a glorious matching centerpiece. She uses ribbon to bring uniformity to these three once very different containers. These could be used in a very formal shower setting or the idea could also translate into every day house decor.

Another Martha Stewart idea is the infamous paper tissue pom-pom. I found these a year ago when I was brainstorming about different DIY wedding decor ideas. I wish I had actually gone through with making these. This simple pom-pom could turn a great party into a grand one! Look at how they make the room seem magical and soft! She even made smaller ones for the napkin holders.Tired of the usual balloons and streamers? Try this easy DIY decor project for your next party. Get the full tutorial here.

  

I am obsessed with this vintage baby shower designed by Katie Grace Designs. These next three projects (all from her shower) are easy to mimic and will be trendy decor for any kind of shindig. The top photo is a personalized name banner. You can do so many creative things with this idea; including spelling out "Happy Birthday", a bride-to-be's new last name, a child's name... the ideas are endless! Dress the letters up with a great border and some fun scrapbook paper for the backing. 

The second idea that I loved about this shower was the wooden cut-out letter "P" in the awesome vintage frame. The floating effect that the "P" gives and the tilted, off-centered frame add to the wonder and creativeness of this easy project. So go pick up a wooden cut-out letter from your local craft store (these are fairly inexpensive) and a neat vintage frame from your favorite thrift store (also very inexpensive), and you have easy and inexpensive decoration that you can use almost anywhere. How great is that?

The cut-out letter "P" makes its second appearance in this simple, beautiful, why-didn't-I-think-of-that project. I have actually done this before for my dorm room in college. (Except it was an "S", duh.) All you need is a cut-out letter, scrapbooking glue, and some fun scrapbook paper (shopping for scrapbook paper is the best) from your local craft store (Jo-Ann, Michaels, Hobby Lobby - which my hubby calls "Hobs Lobs".) It's extremely versatile - use it as decoration at a party, keep the letters plain or paint them and hang by a gorgeous silk ribbon for a bridal shower, or simply use it to spruce up those bare walls (your baby's name above the crib would be just darling).

SO MANY IDEAS.

I hope you have already stopped reading because you're running as fast as you can to Hobs Lobs to pick up supplies for a new thought of project. :) Not really, I hope you waited until the end of this short blog post (come on people, it's not a novel or anything!) and are running NOW to get supplies.

On your mark,

get set,

CRAFT!

Circle Circle Dot Dot Garland Tutorial

Circle circle, dot dot, now I've got my cootie shot!  Did that just take you down memory lane, or what? 

Today, I'd like to share with you how to make a Circle Circle Dot Dot Garland.  It really has nothing to do with cooties but everything to do with making your special occasions even more special!

Sharon shared yesterday a little bit about the food aspect of the bridal shower we helped to host a few months ago and here's one of the ways we made the atmosphere a bit more special:

No, we didn't play the piano.  We did, however, string our custom-made garland here and there to add some subtle charm. 

Since this bridal shower took place one week before Thanksgiving, we opted for a Harvest-y/Autumn theme.  Not all bridal showers have to be pink and flowery, right?  And when it's holiday time, why fight the seasons? Ya might as well just "go with it".  The garland added just the right playful decor for the occasion.  Balloons and streamers are fine, but aren't homemade decorations so much more fun and customizable?



Here's the paper I chose in keeping with our Autumn theme.



All you need to make your own garland is:

• a few pieces of scrapbook paper (colors and patterns that suit the theme, obviously)
• a circle cutter (SO handy) or a circle to trace
• fishing line or something similar
• glue

First, you'll want to estimate how much garland you want.  This will determine how many circles you need to cut out.  Sharon and I guesstimated (I say that word all the time but have never written it before--weird!) the length of our garlands.  Then we cut lots of circles! 



This circle cutter has been one of my most worthwhile craft purchases!

  

We cut numerous 3" circles and lots of 1" circles, too.  We used thick, solid colored scrapbook paper for the backs of the circles and for the 1" dots.  That was just how it worked out; there's really no right or wrong way to do it.

Once all of your circles are cut, it's time to glue!  I used fishing line as our "base" because it is super-strong and clear, and there's an abundance of it in my garage! 

We layed everything out on the floor because it was the biggest open space to work on.  Just make sure your toddler is napping so they can't reek havoc on your project!  I left about 2' excess of fishing line on the side before I started gluing the circles and dots into place so that there was plenty of leeway when we hung the garland.

Just glue the circles on the fishing line by sandwiching the fishing line between the front and back circles.  If your garland has a decorative front side like the one we made, then be sure to place the fishing line about 1/3rd of the way to the top of the circle.  This way, the weight will be off-center and the garland will hang with the pattern in front.  If you put the fishing line running right through the center of the circle, the circle will spin when you hang it.  That could be cool, too, but it wasn't what we were going for. 

We left 1" of space between each circle and dot, but you can play around with it.  Again, there's no right or wrong way to make this!

Once it's completely dry, your Circle Circle Dot Dot garland is ready to hang!  Ours was such a hit, we ended giving some away to guests as they left.  No joke, our guests loved it!

Here's another garland I made in the same fashion for Junebug's watermelon-themed first birthday party last June:

See how versatile the concept is?  And how cool is her 4-tiered "cake" made out of watermelon? 

So, this was a pretty do-able project, huh?  The only real cost of the project is the scrapbook paper and a little bit of glue, so it was super-inexpensive to create, but the result was spectacular!

What are you waiting for?  You probably already have all the supplies! 

Happy Crafting,

All you need is love... and mini pumpkin muffins

One of the ladies at our church is getting married in February, so naturally - a few of her friends threw a fabulous bridal shower! Tristin and I were a part of that group of friends that were fortunate enough to help host the shower. We thought we would share different aspects of the shower on the blog since shower hosting and attending (whether bridal showers or baby showers) is a frequent part of many of our readers' lives.

What's the most important thing at a shower? (Besides the bride-to-be and the presents?) THE FOOD. Wherever there is a large group of ladies gathered, you'd better believe there will be food. Except for the super skinny group of ladies who never eat anything. We are definitely not that kind of group. For this shower, we had a grand array of finger foods (since the shower was at 10:30 AM, we opted for a lighter menu).

One of the dishes was a delicious mini quiche platter. I could not keep my hands off of these! Mini quiches are a perfect idea for any shower since they are cute, girly, and (unfortunately for my waistline) are extremely easy to just pick up and eat.

Another dish was mini pumpkin muffins. I loved these too! They were made (with love) by Tristin's mom. They were so yummy and festive (the shower was in November - prime time for our Fall/Thanksgiving theme).

We also had a pumpkin-shaped cheese ball. (Again, keeping up with our Fall/Thanksgiving theme) Cheese balls are so incredibly easy to make, and they make a great side dish or appetizer for almost any occasion.

Another super easy finger food for showers is a triscuit with garden vegetable cream cheese spread and a cucumber on top. The cucumber is so refreshing on top of a rich, creamy little bite. This is so easy (even as a simple snack for yourself); why wouldn't you try it?

No girly get together is complete without a fruit plate. Or maybe that's because I'm obsessed with fruit.

And last but not least - no, we didn't forget it - the bridal shower cake. Since it was an early shower, we decided to go with a lighter lemon cake homemade by one of our friends. It was delicious and blended perfectly with the other items on the table.

Whether you're throwing a shower or a birthday party, food is a must have! Why not try some of our simple finger food ideas? Even though recipes weren't included, ideas were! :)