Jackie's Bridal Shower

My sister Jackie got married last October, but before she walked down the aisle, her BFF Joanna and I planned a super fun 1980s-themed bridal shower for her.

When we got started, we were kind of at a loss for theme ideas. The venue was going to be the CrossFit gym where Jackie works, so that somewhat limited theme ideas. She had mentioned doing a "sporty spice" theme, but we really had no great ideas to go with it. 

Finally, Joanna and I ran across some inspiration on Pinterest for a 1980s theme, complete with big hair, leg warmers, Jazzercise, and lots of Spandex. We loved it! So we decided to change the theme and not tell Jackie about it. My sister is a planner and admittedly, a bit of a control freak. It was a struggle for her to not be involved at all in the planning of her shower. Joanna and I loved every minute!

I'm really proud of how the invitation turned out.

I printed them at my local Office Depot and mounted them onto Sour Apple card stock that I purchased from Cards & Pockets.

I created a wraparound address label that continued the theme and used Watermelon envelopes, also from Cards & Pockets. 

For favors, we filled cellophane bags with jelly bracelets, Pop Rocks and a Ring Pop and I created a tag that was folded and stapled to each bag.

I created a water bottle label too. Is the theme from Flashdance stuck in your head yet?

For refreshments we came up with foods that were popular in the 80s, so friends made Sloppy Joes, cocktail weiners, 7-layer dip, and deviled eggs. We also had Capri Suns and wine coolers. We tried to find the old school Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers, but the local BevMo didn't carry them.  

For the food labels, I tried to pair each item with a hit song from the 80s.

For a fun little extra, I created a cootie catcher that I had a blast creating. I was definitely chaneling Lisa Frank with the rainbow animal prints.

Just like the cootie catchers we created as kids, I created "fortunes" for the insides, describing your future, in full 1980s style.

These two futures say:

1. You will settle on an island in the South Pacific where you make exotic bath products with your wife of 20 years who looks just like Brooke Shields.

2. You will shack up with David Hasslehoff and work on the set of Knight Rider where your daughter Kitt will be both conceived and born.

These two fortunes say:

1. After a 6-week whirlwind marriage to Tom Selleck, you will become the graphic designer who builds a fortune putting a mustache on EVERYTHING. (This one is one of my favorites)

2. You will marry Kirk Cameron, have 6 children, and you will live in a seaside New England cottage where you make and sell jam locally.

I created six more futures that I'd be happy to share if you ask. ;-)

This shower was such a blast to create, I am going to try and create a version I can put in my Etsy shop! 

Charlee's 1st Birthday

Charlee's mommy, Sarah wanted to do a fun Queen Bee theme for her first birthday, because, well, she is the queen bee in their home! We had fun with chalkboard backgrounds and some fun fonts and Sarah was gracious enough to take wonderful photos that I could share. Check out the photos from Charlee's big sister's birthday too: Georgia's 1st Birthday.

Here's the invitation: 

First we created water bottle labels:

Next we created labels for all of the food items:

All in keeping with the "Queen Bee" theme.

Favor tags!

Next we did both cupcake toppers and wrappers.

Lastly, I created a faux chalkboard that shared a bunch of Charlee's accomplishments in her first year. 

I love how everything turned out! And thanks again Sarah for sharing the wonderful photos with me. Happy birthday Charlee!!

Cameron's 1st Birthday

Cameron's parents have called him Cam-Man since he was born, so his mom Lindsey wanted to do a PacMan theme. Perfect!!  We had a ton of fun with the invitation:

No worries, I changed their address and phone number. 

A pennant banner was next:

I created a t-shirt graphic that Lindsey ironed on to Cam's t-shirt using DIY transfer paper.

A high chair banner adorned his seat, complete with ghosts.

Happy birthday Cam-Man!

Check out when Cam turned two and shared his birthday party with his big brother, Tyler. And here's what we created for Tyler's 1st birthday too!

Tyler & Cameron's Birthday

While they are still young, Lindsey wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to have a joint birthday party for her two boys. She chose a pirate theme and we had fun coming up with a few items for the big day.

I had some fun with the wording!

Lastly, I created t-shirt graphics for Tyler and Cameron. 

It's not easy to read, but they say "Aarrg matey, I'm Captain Cam" and "Captain Ty" and their age is printed on the skull's eye patch. I love how they turned out!!

Happy birthday Cam and Ty!

Matthew's Red Egg & Ginger Party

My husband's family is Chinese and it's a Chinese tradition to celebrate when a baby turns one month old. This tradition dates back to when infant mortality rates were high and new moms would spend a month in postpartum confinement. At this one month birthday, mom rejoins the world and they announce the baby’s name to family and friends.

Red represents good luck and happiness. Eggs are symbols of fertility and renewal of life. Ginger is representative of the postpartum mama; an ingredient that’s beneficial for her postpartum recovery. 

It’s also tradition to celebrate when a baby turns 100 days old. Since we live two states away from most of our friends and family, we chose to have Matthew's Red Egg & Ginger party closer to his 100 days birthday. 

Here's the invitation I created:

I had originally created a simpler invitation. When I showed it to my husband he joked that I should create a cartoon of our son riding a horse (it's the Year of the Horse), holding a red egg and some ginger. It was too awesome of an idea to NOT do!

We invited about fifty of our friends and relatives to join us at a local restaurant for a traditional Chinese banquet. I created a centerpiece that was made from an 8.5x11 piece of card stock that I tri-folded and put information on each of the three panels. One panel listed the evening's menu, one listed the names of everyone sitting at that table, and the third panel briefly explained the history behind the shindig for our non-Chinese friends and family.

Since a Chinese banquet is serves family-style on a lazy Susan, these centerpieces were easily moved once the food started coming out.

Lastly, I created this fun favor tag that adorned red, plastic eggs that were filled with ginger candy. My older son loved having the responsibility of handing these out to guests. 

It's often common to give dyed, hard-boiled eggs to guests, but neither my mother-in-law nor I wanted to boil and dye that many eggs. They never really end up truly red either, they usually end up pink. 

If you'd like to see more from my son's Red Egg and Ginger party, check out the full post on Mama Say What?!