You know me, when somebody says party my brain goes into overdrive!!   When planning a party I always think about a theme first.  Whether that theme is a color palette or a style doesn’t matter….just something that makes bringing everything else together easier.  I immediately thought of a vintage baby boy theme since I have some cool vintage glass plates and cups that I have been DYING to have an excuse to use, so this was perfect!   You can find them pretty easily at most antique stores.

I found this cute little shop online, Pretty Little Studio, that makes the most adorable vintage baby flashcards and all kinds of fun stuff.  I had her custom make some invitations for me and I think they turned out SO cute!!

We served simple breakfast foods that were yummy…a parfait bar with yogurt, fresh berries and granola, bite sized cinnamon rolls and other pastries, and a yummy drink.  To go along with the theme I made a little label for each food item

I just made them in photoshop and printed them out on cute scrapbook paper.  I also made one for the gift table:

Now my favorite part…the favors!!   John thinks I’m crazy because I spend hours making things like this, but this is honestly the most fun part for me.   These are very easy and inexpensive to make, but they are time consuming.  If you have the time and love to be crafty then these are perfect for you!

to make the giant cookies find the recipe here

for the bags you will need:

a roll of parchment paper

thread

a sewing machine

ribbon

a hole punch

pinking shears

any deocrations you want for the bags

Cut parchment paper into 6.5×14″ strips.  fold in half and stitch the sides up using a colorful thread and a zig-zag stitch.   trim off the excess on the sides with the pinking shears.  slip a cookie into the pouch.  fold the top of the bag over and punch two holes at the top about an inch apart.  feed the ribbon through the holes and tie into a bow on the front sideof your bag.  decorate as you like.

like I said, pretty easy, just time consuming but I think the result is WELL worth it!

It’s easy to do this for any shower boy or girl, or even if you don’t know what it is just make a mix of boy and girl vintage tags!   It would also be cute for a little girl’s birthday party if you played some vintage games and added a few more decorations and changed the food a bit!

Hopefully that gets your creative juices flowing for your next party!

Have a great day!
-t

I think these last several years of attending and shooting elaborate parties have taught me that kids are really very happy with the simple pleasures.   Sure, they love bounce houses and ponies and magicians, (and I love to plan paties like that!!!) but put a table full of goodies in front of them and let them decorate a homemade cupcake and they are JUST as happy.  Just something to keep in mind for those of you planning birthday’s in the near future…that would be me.

Enjoy this gorgeous party!

Mom attended to every gorgeous detail…LOVE the white hydrangeas in a lime green ribbon wrapped box!

the butterflies on the straws…Stunning!

cute little bowls to hold the goodies courtesey of Anthropologie

the darling birthday princess

a finished masterpiece

i LOVE the lighting in these shots…YUM!!!  after decorating cupcakes the kids gathered to make bead necklaces on PIPE CLEANERS.  Genius!!  For little kids they stay stiff enough for them to feed the beads onto…great tip to remember!!  You can then twist multiple strands together to make a necklace that’s long enough.

Hope you’re feeling inspired to plan your next event!

Have a great day!
-t

Materials:

1. Paper punch I used a heart for valentines, but with the number of punches on the market, the possibilites are endless!!
2. You can use any papers ou have on hand for this craft. Vintage sheet music looks really cool for a more elegant versin. You can find it at flea markets, thrift stores, yard sales or etsy.com.
3. Ribbon
4. Glitter
5. Scissors (if you have pinking shears those would add a fun look too)
6. Clothespin or binder clip
7. White Glue (I use aleene’s tacky glue, elmer’s would work fine too I’m sure)
8. Hole Punch
9. any fun embellishments to hang from the ribbon

Directions:

1. Roll one sheet of paper into a cone shape, gradually working with it to get it to taper off to a point. Glue with a thin layer of tacky glue, using a clothespin, binder clip or paperclip to hold in place until dry.
2. Punch or cut heart shapes from coordinating paper and glue around rim or down the front seam of the paper cone. To create three dimensional look, I folded my hearts slightly in the middle so that they stuck out from the cone,   Apply a thin line of glue along edge and hold in place for a few seconds until the glue begins to dry.
3. When completely dry, apply white glue to desired areas and dust with glitter.    4.   Punch a hole on each side of the cone and thread ribbon through holes to hang.    5.   Fill with goodies and enjoy!

Obviously you can make many different variations of this.  Just think of the posibilities.  How cute would these be made in the theme of your choice, hanging from the backs of chairs as place card holders.  So fun!!

enjoy!!

-t

The napkins are are cute too!!  find some old school cupid fabric and make some for your homemade valentines dinner.  Michael Miller makes some cute vintage fabric!

feeling inspired???  have a great day!

-t

and extra Merry Christmas to:

Winner of Pink Peppermint Design Giveaway: Melissa

Winner of the Red Possum Capelet Giveaway: Sandi

Winner of the Flora Bond Giveaway: Cindy Barriga

and….

the winner of the big kahuna $200 worth of free tuition to {Picture Perfect}……………………………

The Monkey’s Mama!!!!!

Congrats to all!!!  Contact me with your info so I can get these things out to you!

With the illness that hit me hard for the first two weeks of the year, I ended up throwing cards out the window this year.  So, if you didn’t get one from me, don’t feel bad…no one did!  

I wanted to share what I had designed here…sort of an e-card for all of you, my online family.     I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Thank you for your love and support.  Your comments and emails truly bring a smile to my face.  Thank you for spending a little piece of your day with me each day.    I’m signing off for a little bit to spend some time with my family, but I’ll pop in every now and then just cause I’ll miss you all!   I’ll be back soon with lots of great things in store for the new year. 

until then….

Merry Christmas

-t

I think it’s about time we give away some gorgeous accessories…what do you think?  When I found Florabond needless to say I was stunned.  These pieces are knock-your-socks-off gorgeous.  The first thing that came to mind was anthropologie.  I am a lover of all things anthro.  These however, are even better.  Custom, handmade and for a better price.  Can you beat that???  Floral bib necklaces that make a statement.  Think silk handmade florals, vintage buttons, lace, antique sequins…YUM.

Be prepared to be blown away…(and not just by the gorgeous model)

Nicole has graciously offered one of her stunning vintage statement headbands to the lucky winner of this giveaway.  So, who’s it going to be??  Head on over to Florabond, pick your favorite item and let us all know about it here in the comments.   If you blog, FB or tweet about it let us know in a separate comment for extra entries. 

As always, winner must contact me within 48 hours of winner announcement or another winner will be chosen.  Winner will be announced on Tuesday. 

and the Mellon Monkeys winner is…congrats to Leilani!!  It’s your lucky day!!  Send me your contact info and which ties/sizes you would like and I will send them off to the cute girls at Mellon Monkeys to get them in the mail for you!

Good Luck!!!

-t

So, sit back, relax and get ready to win some stuff!!    And, just because you KNOW I can’t do a post without a picture, here’s one of my FAVORITE ideas for an advent this year.  You can easily re-create this with those cute little buckets from the Target dollar bins.  Fill each one with some goodies and maybe a service idea for the day.  SO FUN!!

sorry the images are a little blurry… i had to resize them so they were big enough to see here..darn internet!

find the original at garnethill.com

have a great day!
-t

i hope you’re having fun out facing the crowds today!!  happy shopping!!!

-t

I LOVE to go antique shopping.  My head is always spinning when I walk through the aisles and see all the treasures.  I’m always trying to find the perfect piece.  I’m always drawn to old windows and doors and kitchen items. (I have a major addiction to buying kitchen stuff…new or old, probably stems from my love of entertaining)   I found these cute ideas and thought I’d share…not only are they cute, but they are SUPER easy!

sorry…the pictures aren’t the best…that’s the only problem with finding them online! :0 

The first is an old window used as a frame.  I love the addition of a few rub-ons to add words to the pictures.   Here’s a better idea of what it looks like up in a room…

so cute!

the second is a vintage serving tray repurposed into a magnetic memo board.  Simply add a picture hanger on the back, and hang it on your wall.  I prefer it with these silver trays, but the flower one is cute too…

Isn’t that a fun way to use some of your antique treasures? 

Here’s a tutorial for you to make it even easier if you want to make the memo board.  Wouldn’t it be fun to make one of these for Christmas for the antique lover in your life??

And now for the winner of the adorable Planet Pudge Shirt…drumroll please…

Shanda!!

Congrats!!  Send me you contact info so I can get Planet Pudge to send one your way!

Back with another giveaway tomorrow!!!

Have a great day!
-t

At least at our house.  We have so much going on over the next two weeks with Thanksgiving, and I am hosting a church Christmas get together on December 1st…so I hadto get started with the decorations yesterday.   It feels kind of funny, but all the kids on the street think it’s awesome!!   We had lots of little people peering in the windows tonight.   We decided to get it in full swing.  We put on last year’s Christmas jammies, played Christmas music, had a fire and made some hot cocoa.  It was fun!!

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for the ADORABLE Planet Pucge shirt.  Drawing is tomorrow night!

Back with a fun shoot of a cute family tomorrow!

Have a great day!

-t