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 have had MANY requests for a summer session of {Picture Perfect} while the kids are out of school and schedules are more flexible.  So…sign ups are now open for the summer session which begins June 28th.  You can register  HERE.   Spots for this session have already started filling without me even officially announcing it yet…so they will go fast! 

For those of you headed out on vacations and such and worried about timing, I want you to know that these are VERY flexible classes.  You can watch them at any time during the six week period (I usually leave access to the videos up for a few extra weeks for you too, so you can catch up) you can watch them as many times as you like, AND there is a pdf each week of the lecture with all the info and picture examples so you can print it out to keep and reference forever.  Just for those of you concerned about missing a week!

And just because I can’t post anything with out a picture…here’s a little sneak of  a  baby shower from this weekend.  vintage little boy theme…so fun.  more details and pics to come!

have a great day!
-t

I contacted a SUPER talented baker in our neighborhood to see if I could talk her into designing something fun and patriotic for the evening. She came up with a total show stopper…SO cute!

Not only did it look good, but it tasted AMAZING!!!  Cake made from scratch with the best chocolate buttercream filling I’ve tasted.  YUM!!! 

Lucky for you, Jodie has decided to go into the cake making business and would love to design something for your next event.  If you’re in the Orange County area you can contact her here:

jodie.williams@gmail.com

and you can check out more of her amazing deisngs too…

Jodie’s Cake Gallery

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

Grab some scraps of paper and ribbon, some tape and a heart punch and you’ve got yourself some homemade valentines in minutes…

Thanks to inchmark for the cute idea!

Have a great Thursday!!

-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

I originally did it as a twist on an orange bowl party, and since the Orange Bowl is tomorrow…if you’re a football fan and having a little get together (or if you just want to have a party to get rid of the post Christmas winter blues) here’s an idea for you it’s certain to brighten your day…it doesn’t have to be ALL about the football.

You can find all of these goodies pretty cheaply around town.  Orange take out boxes are from Michaels, fill them with clementines that are in season right ow for a fun favor, the orange chargers are from Party City…I believe they were under $2 a piece, white napkins in a 12 count package from Homegoods for under $10, I mixed in some of my silver mercury glass Christmas ornaments and candle holders for fun, white pillar candles from IKEA for like $1 each, you can find the paper lanterns at most party stores for a reasonable price, Izze at Costco, World Market or BevMo, and you’re all set for some last minute fun tomorrow!

Have a great day!

-t

Hope that brings a

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

all of these cute paper goods were downloaded for $8..yep you read that right…$8!!  You simply pick your party theme, send them $8 and they send you a file to download with all the goodies, then you can print them to your little heart’s content.  Whether you have 8 or 80 people at your party it’s up to you.  How cool is that??  There are SO many cute themes to choose from.  If you are in the market for party supplies I highly recommend checking out Paper and Cake!

For your thanksgiving dinner they are offering this super cute freebie for all your paper goods needs.  Have fun with it!!

Have a great Thursday!
-t

I took the text from the series of Madeline books.  I took a few lines from different books and used them together as I saw fit.  It worked out that the text fit perfectly exactly two times.  I couldn’t have planned it any better…and no, I didn’t plan it…it was a total fluke!    I didn’t worry about super straight lines, I purposely made some of the words bigger so they would stand out more..just to add even more whimsy.  The whole project took about a half quart of paint and less than 2 hours.  SUPER easy!!  You can totally do this yourself!!  Pick your child’s favorite book and add some text to your walls.  

I have MANY more plans for this room….I can’t wait to get the headboard, dresser and drapes finished.  Just think vintage, lime green and polka dots…it’s going to be CUTE I think!!   I’ll be sure to share the finished product when it’s done!

You could use this idea for SO many things!  Think parties, photo shots, weddings…the possibilities are endless!

Hope you’re feeling inspired!!  Go paint something crazy in your house today!!

Have a great day!

-t