Christmas Tabletop Decor

I am hosting our family Christmas Eve dinner this year.  The dress is "holiday cute," the food is fancy and French and the decor is simple and modern.  Check out a few pictures of the decorations I am working on!

Photo frame candle centerpiece

One of our good friends just turned 40 and we missed the party planning window to be able to pull together my fabulous idea: an "It's a Wonderful Life" themed dinner party. The basic concept would be to use black, white and red as the colors and do everything in an old-fashioned, vintage feel while showing off as many photos of the birthday boy throughout his life as possible. One way to achieve that goal would have been to create these vellum photo frames to put around votive candles on the table as part of the centerpiece. That Martha Stewart (or her contributing writers and editors) sure does think of the greatest things!!! Get the full step by step instructions here on her site.

If you are interested in hosting a dinner party with that theme, Better Homes & Gardens' website has a full menu to coincide. Find it here.

Christmas Cookie Exchange Party

My fabulous friend Joanna leads up a mom's playgroup and has recently started an annual tradition of doing a mom's night in that involved a cookie swap for the holidays. This year, she wanted to spice it up and take the cuteness up a few notches. Using inspiration found on a few party planning blogs, she gave the presentation a facelift with her crafty labels and jar decor as well as, well, you will see...





It was not only adorable, but delicious as all the cookies were amazing. Joanna even went so far as to provide cute little git boxes with Christmas-themed tissue paper for us to package up our new cookie assortment. It's the small touches that ake parties great. Thanks, Jo for letting me share your success with the cyberworld!

Simply DIY wall hanging

I can't wait to try to make this for my daughter's nursery which is already decorated with birds and flowers in a modern, whimsical way.  You can get all of the instructions and the template for the bird here. 

Animal themed Nursery

My sister-in-law is pregnant with her second who we've presumed to be a boy. If this is true, she plans on using some safari animal themed baby bedding from her sister-in-law. In order to help make the nursery fun, I am helping her compile creative and cute ideas to build on the theme.



These night light covers are a DIY from Martha Stewart.

Good ole Martha also has a great DIY for making your own animal wall hangings. so cute!

Sesame Street Party

Fun with Elmo and friends!  My friend, Rachel decided to go all out for her daughter Scarlett's 2nd birthday.  She invited EVERYONE she knew and got in major party planning mode.  Since Scarlett is enamored with Elmo, she thought the natural choice would be a Sesame Street theme.  Check out some of these pictures!

Boy birthday idea #1: Construction Party

A friend of mine recently commissioned me to hunt for great birthday party ideas for her little man who will soon be 2.  In my searching, I came across this super fun party.  Although it may not be ideal for his age, I could not pass up the opportunity to share its cuteness with you all.

See more from the party by looking at this mom's original post here. 

Announce the gender with a party!

A couple of ideas to steal...guests were asked to dress in pink or blue to indicate their guess...a colored gumball hidden inside the cupcakes denoted the gender (everyone bit into their cupcakes at the same time).


I am always looking for a good excuse to throw a fabulous party, so when I came across this Gender Reveal Party, I fell in love!  With my second child I did something similar, but on a smaller scale, for sure. Click here to see the full post.

Cookies AND cupcakes!?!

How about edible cupcake toppers?  If doing a simple shape such as this star, go ahead and top your cupcakes with decorated sugar cookies. So cute and tasty!

Cute Retro Sign

How cute would this retro-style sign be when hung as decor for the Twinkle Little Star baby shower?  The soon-to-be mommy could then hang it in the baby's nursery.  Awe! (Buy it here on Etsy)

Vinyl Wall Art

I am loving these vinyl wall decals more and more.  I originally discovered them when decorating my daughter's nursery in January and I am finding more and more great ones out there.  They are especially popular for decorating children's rooms, but they would be a fabulous way to carry out a theme for a party.  This set of three birdies is $6.50 at this Etsy seller. What a cute way to decorate for a birdie-themed party.

Printables

Printables are all the rage in parties these days.  Simply purchase the designs and you are emailed the PDF files to print out on your own either at home or at a local print shop. Check out this printable party package for a birdie baby shower found here on Etsy.


This package includes:


* 5 x 7" Invitation
* Banner for door or front lawn
* Pennant banner - "Celebrate"
* Note card - 4x6"
* Bookplates
* Gift log
* Game sheet
* Folded thank you note - 4x6"
* Cupcake pick / party food lables / name tags
* Cupcake wrappers / snack cup wrappers
* handbag-style favor bag / place card

Moon and Stars Baby Shower

This is the second idea I have for that same couple.  It could be pretty fabulous too...

There's a feature article on Parents.com where you can see some great ideas such as these ones featured on here and many more. Click here for the article.

Don't worry, it's just a "mocktail"."

Bird-themed Baby Showers

I am currently working on some ideas for a co-ed baby shower and I am trying to compile all ideas and images in one place. Bear with me as I add all things birds and all things cute.

This inspiration board can be seen in greater detail here.

This is from a Nesting Shower that was thrown by Creative Party Girl. Get more images and info here.

This birdhouse centerpiece as well as the mini nests on this table can be found here on Not Just a Mommy. 

These cupcake toppers are pretty cute: easy customizable with both colors and wording. Get them here here on Etsy.

These cupcake toppers are ADORABLE, but much pricier! Check them out here on Etsy.

"Pretty in Pink" Baby Shower

Yes, like the 80s movie! This shower was not only gorgeous, but impressively creative and fun.




Check out this link to Hostess with the Mostess blog for the full details. Love, love, love it!

Apple-themed Party

Here are a few shots of an Apple-themed birthday party that my friend, Brenna threw for her daughter's 3rd birthday. Her attention to detail and dedication to the theme were commendable.

Too cute! Perfect for fall.

Candy Corn Decor Dinner Party

I realize that these are unbelievably lame photos. I took them the morning after the dinner party. I had white plates and white cloth napkins which were adorned with napkin rings made of candy corn orange ribbon and little gift tags with a pumpkin stamp and the guests name on it.  They were quite cute...sorry I didn't capture it in time. 

"It's a Small World" Birthday party

I stumbled across this birthday party for a 2 year old and read the details with my jaw gaping open.  Check out her site for yourself. Wow.