yo gabba gabba thank you

Ella's Yo Gabba Gabba 2nd birthday party was a huge success! I'll share pics of the party soon, but until then I wanted to share the "thank you" card that I designed for all her guests. 

I really enjoy designing invites and thank you's. Here is a thank you I designed recently for a friends little boy. Can you guess the theme of his 2nd birthday party...yep, Sesame Street!

Hope you're all having a great week!

xo,

Laura

happy birthday Ella June, you're TWO!

Happy Birthday my sweet baby girl. I can't believe you're TWO years old today. You're truly the most beautiful child and I'm blessed beyond measure by your loving spirited personality. You have the best parts of your daddy and I, and we love you SO MUCH!

Happy Birthday Junebug!

We're having a party this weekend, and its Yo Gabba Gabba themed! Yay! I'll be sure to post pictures next week after the party, but until then...here's the party invite and water bottle labels I designed for the party. 

Birthday Balloon Wreath Tutorial

Im still trying to believe my little one is going to be TWO next week. The proof is in the pink chalk that's scribbled on my front door, i'll get to cleaning that off eventually. 

Memorial Day weekend is a special time around our house because Ella was born on Memorial Day 2010. It's great for her because she'll always have a 3 day weekend for her birthday, and great for mommy and daddy because we have an extra day to recuperate after all her birthday festivities. 

This wreath is so colorful and perfect for letting the neighborhood know that someone in your household has a birthday.  I'm looking forward to hanging it up a few times a year to celebrate all our birthdays. It's so cheerful, who wouldn't be happy when they see it. 

Read on for the full tutorial!

Supplies needed:
14" Styrofoam wreath (I got mine at Michaels, it was $6.99, but with a 40% off coupon I paid $4.50)
2 Pkgs 100 ct greening pins (Got these at Walmart in the floral section for $1.00 a package)
3 Pkgs 72 ct Balloons (Also purchased at Walmart for $4.50 a package)
Ribbon (I already had on hand)

TOTAL COST: $20.00


NOTE: Before you get started, you have the option to wrap your styrofoam wreath in ribbon. I decided to do this so that the back of the wreath is covered in something instead of seeing styrofoam, it just gives it a more polished look. It's not necessary though because you wont be seeing the back side of the wreath when the project is finished. Just personal preference.

Step 1: 

Take 2 balloons and stack them on top of eachother. Place the middle of the stacked balloons between a greening pin.

 Make sure the balloons are centered, if they're not you can adjust them once you push them into the stryofoam wreath, but better to make sure they are before you push them in. Assuring they are centered helps keep your wreath uniform and full. 

 Step 2: 

Push the greening pin with the balloons into the wreath.

 See how the balloons are centered? :)

Step 3: 

Keep on goin'! Continue to place balloons into the wreath until you've covered the whole front side of the wreath. Depending on how big/wide your wreath is you'll need to put more balloons towards the middle and the outer edges. You want your balloons to be close together so that you cannot see the wreath underneath, but not so tight otherwise you'll run out of balloons the last few inches, and running out to buy more balloons when you're that close to finishing doesn't sound like fun. 

 Yep, there's A LOT of balloons to be attached, so keep on going!

Step 4: (not pictured)

Before you completely cover the wreath cut a length of ribbon to hang your wreath and attach it with a few greening pins, then continue to cover right over that ribbon with the rest of your balloons. 

You're finished! Now hang that baby up and get ready to celebrate!

yellow and grey baby shower

I had the lovely pleasure last month of hosting a baby shower for my best friend. I really love party planning and putting a handmade touch on party decor. Here are a few Instagram photos (follow me! my handle is abstractgrace) of the party decor.

I was also happy to find that Kim from The Tomkat Studio, has teamed up with Pottery Barn Kids sharing great party ideas. There are some great video tutorials and free printables for all types of party decor. I took advantage of her beautiful designs and used the Sunshine Baby Shower suite for printable decor and invitations.

I wanted to go with a yellow and grey color scheme from the beginning. I thought that it was a perfect blend of gender neutral (she was having a boy). I didn't want to go to "boy-ish" with the shower. I guess I just like thing uber-girly!

The brunch menu included crepes with nutella, peanut butter, and preserves. We also had  fruit salad, quiche, goat cheese and crackers, and lemon bars (Ina Garten's amazing recipe). Yellow daises in mason jars tied with twine adorned the buffet and tables, and several walls were covered in vertical hanging crepe paper streamers and yellow and grey tissue paper poms.

My favorite part of the shower was the polaroid guest book. We set up a table with several chalkboard props and took pics of guests when they arrived. Then they were able to write a message below their photo to the mom-to-be and baby. Afterwards all the pictures went into a memory book of the shower as a keepsake for mom. 

It was such a lovely day and I got a lot of compliments from guests on how everything turned out. Now onto planning Ella's 2nd birthday!

yummy yummy fudge recipe

Only 18 days until Christmas and the season of holiday parties has begun! If you need a special indulgent treat to share with friends at a party or other festivities this is my go-to recipe. What's better than fudge? It's rich, chocolatey and you can top it with tons of different things: nuts, toffee, chopped chocolate covered espresso beans...mmm.

Ingredients

1.5 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup evaporated milk

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped pecans/walnuts/toffee/etc (optional)

Directions

LINE 8-inch-square baking pan with foil.

COMBINE sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boilover medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

STIR in marshmallows, morsels, nuts and vanilla extract. Stir vigorously for 1 minute or until marshmallows are melted. Pour into prepared baking pan; refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into 48 pieces.

(In case you're wondering the nail polish i'm wearing is called "Passion" by China Glaze, and the glitter is Martha Stewart Craft glitter.)

{Ella's 1st birthday!-pinata candy bags}

We're having a few older kids to Ella's birthday next weekend so we decided that a pinata was a must at the big 1st birthday celebration. Instead of just giving the kiddos plain bags to scoop up their candy in I whipped up a quick label (in Photoshop) with a ladybug to keep with the theme. Then I printed them on sticker paper, cut and then stuck them on plain brown paper lunch sacks. It was extremely easy and quick to do. I think that its personal touches that really make a party fun, and total cost for 24 bags (minus the sticker paper and printer ink, which I already had) was only $1.00!

{baking goodies}

I'll start out this post by saying that I'm not being paid or compensated in ANY way by Bake It Pretty for this post. (However I'd love to accept anything from them, as I'm sure you will after reading this post, hehe.) 

I've blogged about Bake It Pretty before, and continue to order all my baking needs from them. They carry every fun, random, unique baking gadget, cup, sprinkle, and cookie cutter you could think up. As soon as I knew that we were going with a ladybug theme for Ella's party I got my order together. I knew that they'd have just what I'd need for baking the cupcakes, and other party goods. 

I decided to go with the giant pastry frosting tip, black and white polka dot baking cups, and cherry red dotted portion cups, and as soon as I got the package in the mail I couldn't wait to get it open. Every time I get my order from them it feels like Christmas!

cute packaging

baking cups and frosting tip

Here are the stock photos of my order from the website:

via bake it pretty

via bake it pretty

via bake it pretty

Everything is SO darling! I can't wait to use it all at the party, especially that giant frosting tip. I've been dying to try that out. I'll be sure to post pictures of how everything turned out. Until then, have some fun browsing their site, you'll be sure to find something that you just have to have.

{Ella's 1st birthday-ladybug invitation design}

I can't believe that Ella is turing ONE on the 31st! This year has really flown by, and I can't imagine my life without her anymore. We're planning a big bash to celebrate the occasion. Since we often call her Junebug or Little Lady we decided to do a ladybug theme for the party. I designed her invite (details have been changed, so don't bother trying to crash the party :).

 Invitation design has become a little side hobby of mine lately. I've designed a few for friends birthday's and a bridal shower, but that's for another post (soon, I promise!)

Back to Ella's invite, I took the picture, and then designed the invite to fit our theme. I think it came out darling! What do you think? I think it sets the tone well without being overly kids-y.

I'll be sharing a few other details of the party planning in the next few days. And then after the party I'll be sure to share how the big day went, so stay tuned!

{happy cinco de mayo!}

Happy Cinco Do Mayo!

I'll be sipping a cold margarita this evening amongst friends at our "Taco Bar" party. Here in Northern California the weather is GORGEOUS! We've hit 90 degrees and it's going to be the perfect evening for an outdoor celebration. I LOVE Mexican food, we've had it three times for dinner this week, but we cant get enough in our household, eek! Below are some photos to celebrate the day. Hope everyone enjoys their May 5th!

Print your own HERE via Cakes Likes A Party

Red Chile Short Rib Tacos via Bobby Flay/Food Network

via Bird's Party

{baby shower, from far away}

During the short 6 months that I was in Southern California I had the immense pleasure of joining a MOPS group. It's a moms group for Mothers of Preschoolers (children 4 and under), and let me tell you it was a LIFESAVER! 

I met a group of amazing women and we had a great time once a week leaving our little ones in childcare while we listened to a speaker, did crafts, ate brunch and sipped coffee (mostly decaf). Although all of us had kids there were a few special ladies expecting little ones during the time I was there. 

I offered to help design a suite of decorations for a baby shower honoring one of the ladies. I'm sad that I had to move before the shower happens, but I know that i'll get pictures of how everything turn out, and i'll be sure to share them!

This included the invites (they turned out soooo cute!), cupcake toppers and water bottle labels for the shower. I'm going to do a full post soon so you can see how everything turned out and i'm thinking of doing a free download of the cupcake toppers as well, but until then here's a sneak peak the party goodies. Oh, and the theme is everyones favorite, Owls!

{alice in wonderland}

First off, if you haven't entered the giveaway, click here to do so!

I know it's a ways off, {ok, like waaaaayyyy off} but I can't help starting to think about Little Lady's 1st birthday. You're probably rolling your eyes, thinking "this woman is crazy, she has a 14 week old and is already thinking about her 1st birthday!" but I can't help it. I'm not so much planning, as...we'll call it "researching" possible themes and decor.

Up first is an Alice In Wonderland theme, I know all the hype about the movie and all a while back really pushed this theme into overkill, but a year from now no one will remember how trendy it is to have a Wonderland themed party, and i'll still be basking in my love for the book {the movie was a complete disappointment to me}.

Part of me is thinking this would be better suited for a young child's party and not a baby's 1st birthday. I'm thinking that babies sipping luke warm tea from fancy tea cups isn't gonna happen. Anyways...I can dream, so here are a few photos that really get my inspiration going:

The most AMAZING tweedle dee and tweedle dum cupcakes.

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Party invitations. I love a good font or two, and this one uses just the right ones.

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Girly tea cups and drink me tags. Details are everything, aren't they?

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What theme did you do for your little one's first birthday???

{Baby Bird, Baby Shower}

Here are some photos from the lovely baby shower my sister in law hosted for Travis and I. The theme was "baby bird" and it was such a good time with family.

Aren't the nest cupcakes adorable? And the mini bird eggs? So cute!

Love the flower choice...ranunculus right? So pretty!

The yummy sandwich bar, my favorite was the quinoa curry salad. Soooo good!

Me @ 31.5 weeks...my belly is getting HUGE!

{Bebes Pt. Deux}

As promised, here are a menagerie of photos that would be great to base a boy baby shower off of. If any of my currently preggo friends end up having a boy this idea gallery will definitely come to life. My ideas here stem from an outdoorsy-woodland theme. A whimsical forest table with touches of faux bois, polka dots, sky blue, yellow tinged green, brown and grey. There is so much that can be done with texture alone in this category! I thought that bringing in yellowed green and vibrant blue would tone down the "nature" factor while keeping the whole thing fresh and young. I definitely want the whole thing to stay away from having a "camping" feel, but rather am going for an "Alice In Wonderland-foresty-chic" kinda thing...that makes sense right???

{Bebes}

So, I'm not sure what they (whoever "they" are) have been putting in the water, but as of lately there seems to be a lot of people around me either, a.) getting pregnant or b.) having babies. The abrupt news has caught me off guard, and definitely lit a fire under my crafty/sewing little behind.

One batch of baby goodies consisting of: a reversible changing pad, bibs, cloth balls/stuffies/toys, and baby blanket has been whipped up and given to little Jeremiah, the first to arrive, to use.

I also have been doing a lot of scouring on the internet and in blog world for ideas and pics of charming baby shower ideas. I'll be throwing at least one, attending who knows how many this upcoming year and the ideas are endless.

My best friend is expecting her first baby in November, and although there are still a few weeks before the sex of the baby is known I have been compiling ideas for both girl and boy focused showers. I apologize but I don't have references for these pictures, they are a miss-match of photos i've been collecting in a folder on my desktop for a while now.

The collage above is my idea of the perfect outdoor tea and dessert shower for a girl. The pink, white and green colors, as well as subtle butterfly theme would be great for this summer. Lots of color, girly detail, and french macaroons sounds to me like the perfect way to celebrate the mom to be.

Boy shower ideas coming soon!