Cari's Baby Shower

My dear friend Cari is pregnant with her second baby and our friend Bonnie wanted to throw her a grand baby shower. I was thrilled to get to create the invitations and printed items for the big day. 

The color scheme was gold with lots of different purples and we were going with a vintage fairytale theme. I had so much fun creating these!!

Using card stock from Paper Source in their Plum color, I created simple pocketfolds that displayed the invitation and held the two inserts. I layered a metallic gold, vine-y ribbon on top of some purple satin ribbon and a couple pieces of card stock to hold the pocketfold closed. Both ribbons were purchased at JoAnn's.  

I backed the invitation with a mat using Stardream Antique Gold paper, also from Paper Source. I had everything printed at my local Office Depot. I have been really happy with the print quality from my local store. 

The two inserts:

This time I didn't want to do address labels, so I printed addresses directly onto the Antique Gold envelopes with my laser printer. 

At the shower, a simple welcome sign sat on an easel at the doorway.

Bonnie stained a couple dozen onesies and set up a decorating station. It was so fun!

Here's the onesie I decorated; my first time "painting" with a bleach pen!

I printed out a few quotes from famous fairytales or authors that we framed and displayed on the tables.

A "wishes for baby" card was at each place setting and Bonnie collected them to be made into a book for Cari. 

This shower was such a treat to work on! I'm working on publishing a more detailed post about the party itself on Mama Say What?! I'll add the link here once it's up.

Congrats Cari!!

Welcome to my new site!

Hello fans (if there are still any of you left!). My website was hacked a few months ago and fixing it fell far beyond my capabilities when it comes to website design. I had already been thinking about a redesign and this motivated me to get it done. 

Unfortunately, because of the shambles that remains of my old website, I wasn't able to transfer any of my old blog posts. I've been slowly re-creating what I had before, but nothing will be in the same chronological order as it once was. 

More importantly, I am hoping to share some of the more recent projects I've done and updating my FAQs and pricing information. It's been a busy year and I want to share some of the awesome stuff I've had the pleasure to work on.

Here's a little teaser:

Please feel free to send me an email if you have any questions: alextebowdesigns@gmail.com

Custom Holiday Cards

I created holiday cards that are currently available in my Etsy shop. Each listing explains what can and cannot be customized and if there are options for colors. Let me know how you're planning to print your cards and I'll make sure to set up the final files to the correct printing specifications.

Clicking on an image will direct you to its corresponding Etsy listing.

This is one of my current favorites! One image and a Christmas greeting, choose either the green or blue colorway.


This is a two-sided design with a large image on the front. You can have it say either Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays (or some variation of those). The back has space for up to five images along with a letter to friends and family about your family's year. 


This design allows you to showcase five images and give your family and friends a top ten list of the highlights of your year. I can do either a green or blue faux chalkboard background and I have have the bottom say either Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas (or any variation of those). Please keep your "top ten" brief as space is limited.


This design is laid out to be sent in a #10 envelope. You can have the bottom greeting say anything you'd like and the space at the bottom of each polaroid photo can caption each image.


Six images and a non-Christmasy greeting. Great if you're like me and you struggle to get your cards into the mail before Christmas!

Share one image with a snowflake background and holiday lights for a border!

One family photo and a couple of giant snowflakes. I can customize the color of the flags at the top and bottom to correspond to colors that are in your photo or leave them as is. Let me know!

One family photo and sized to fit into a #10 envelope. You can choose between a red, green or blue swirly background too!

Simple design with a greeting you can customize. Choose either red, green or blue for the snowflake background.

Simple design that showcases one family photo. Two color options and it can say either Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or a variation of those.

I am working on new designs that I hope to be able to add to my shop within the next week or so. 

Shoot me an email if you're looking for something custom or you want to rework one of these designs. Also check out the custom cards I've created for clients. I can rework those designs to fit your needs as well. 

Melinda and Alex

I had the pleasure of working with Melinda on the items for her June wedding. She wanted to go with a winery theme, but she didn't want grapevines or grapes on the invitations. She saw the wine ring invitations I created for Allison and Eion and she wanted to do something similar.

Many thanks to Melinda and her wedding photographer for the lovely photos!!
JF Hannigan Photography

Images by JFHannigan

Images by JFHannigan

We also created place cards and table numbers for the reception.

Image by JFHannigan 

Image by JFHannigan 

Image by JFHannigan

Image by JFHannigan

Image by JFHannigan

Image by JFHannigan

Image by JFHannigan

Image by JFHannigan

A menu also sat at each table.

Image by JFHannigan

Image by JFHannigan

Last we created a seating chart that Melinda had framed with wine corks. It turned out so awesome!

Images by JFHannigan

Images by JFHannigan

Thank you again Mel and congrats!!

Sara and Michael

The youngest of my two brothers got married last September with a small ceremony. They were originally planning to get married the following year but chose to get hitched sooner and they only gave themselves five weeks to plan it. Five weeks!!

We were tremendously lucky that Jessica from Jessica Kay Photography happened to be free that weekend and was able to come and shoot their wedding. Thank you Jess!!!

Needless to say, sending a formal invitation was really just a formality. They invited each of their guests either in person or over the phone and then mailed an invitation to those who were coming. 

We created a thank you note that was placed at each place setting:

Image by Jessica Kay Photogtaphy

Image by Jessica Kay Photogtaphy

Image by Jessica Kay Photography

Image by Jessica Kay Photography

For favors, Sara and Michael made a big batch of their favorite homemade taco seasoning and divvied it into small jars. We added silver sparkly washi tape to secure the lids (they popped right off!) and tied a favor tag to the top. 

Images by Jessica Kay Photography

Images by Jessica Kay Photography

For their guestbook, they had guests write well wishes on Jenga pieces. This was such a FUN guestbook!! The sign on the table says: Marriage is a game of balance. Please leave your words of wisdom on a block and help us build our future.

Images by Jessica Kay Photography

Images by Jessica Kay Photography

My son was so proud to write his name on a block!

Images by Jessica Kay Photography

Images by Jessica Kay Photography

Our uncle (who makes wine) bottled some delicious zinfandel for this special occasion and I created a custom wine label to go with it.

Images by Jessica Kay Photography

Images by Jessica Kay Photography

Lastly, there were bright blue signs on each of the bathroom doors at the venue, and they were kind of in the middle of the space where the ceremony was taking place, so I quickly cut out big silhouettes of Michael and Sara and we taped them over the signs on the door. It was a super last minute thing, but I really love how it turned out.

It was quite an experience getting to play a small role in the planning of this beautiful wedding. Congratulations!