Party Supplies Shops

Local craft stores are beginning to catch on to the new trends in party supplies but if you're looking for paper straws or striped twine, you will have to shop online for now. Here are a few of my favorite online party supplies shops.

Shop Sweet Lulu

The Sugar Diva 

 

Bake it Pretty

Beau Coup

Le Petit

I have also used Etsy for party décor. Party City is still a great resource but may not always have the exact color you need. I have had luck finding the extra large balloons there but they only come in a variety pack with specific colors. If you're looking to order a specific color, online is the way to go. (Party City will fill your balloons with helium for a minuscule charge).

Hope that helps with your party planning needs!

Fall Shower for Baby Jayde

Last Fall I helped host a shower for one of my best friends from college, Lynsday. Lyndsay and I were in a sorority together in college and although we were in the same pledge class, we didn't really get to know each other until we became officers together our Senior year. I remember the first time we had lunch together. We shared our visions for the upcoming year and it was like we were reading each other's minds. We both knew immediately that we were going to make a great team. Fast forward to present day and we're still working with our team of officers! The hostesses included the President, Treasurer, Sr. Representative and Social Director of our sorority (Lyndsay was our VP)!

I wish I could take credit for introducing Lyndsay to her husband, who happened to be my husband's roommate in college and childhood friend, but it wasn't until after college that they met and fell in love and now they have been blessed with their first child, Jayde Marie! Special thanks to Ally for taking these photos while I ran around like a crazy person. :)

 

We served pink raspberry sparkling cider to guests upon arrival.

  
Lauren, one of the hostesses and Social Director Emeritus of our sorority, was responsible for the vision behind the decor. In fact, if you happen to need interior design services in the Houston, Texas area, Lauren has her own company, Studio L Interior Design.

We used cupcake liners to make a banner for the stairs.

Lauren also designed Jayde's nursery so she had the idea to make these frame letters of Jayde's name to use as decor for both the shower and the nursery!

  

We wrapped individual bottles of orange juice with gauze and pinned them with clothespins to look like diapers. I will post a DIY on these soon!

The hostesses made Jayde a onesie for each month of the first year of her life. We hung them as decor around the living room where the guest of honor opened her gifts and then had her guess who had made which onesie.

Special thanks to ALL the hostesses! Please excuse the blurry picture but I liked this one better than our traditional "stand stoically and smile" picture.

Congratulations Lyndsay! Jayde is blessed to have you as her mommy!

A Simple Way to Say I Love You

Well I missed posting this for Valentine's Day but it works just as well for an anniversary or just because you love someone. Ash at Butterfly Food came up with this simple yet adorable way to say I love you. This would be a simple, yet sweet spontaneous surprise for a husband or kids one day when they came home from work or school.

Ash says, "I made the little flags out of bamboo skewers and cardstock cut into little flags and the 'I love you' banner is a wee smaller version of this." Thank you for sharing Ash!

Dual Gender Baby Shower

It is trending right now for parents to wait to find out the baby's gender until the birth date. Not knowing the baby's gender can make planning a shower difficult and many are opting to host sip n' sees after the baby is born but today I want to share with you a way you can throw a shower prior to the baby's birth.

My cousin Chandra and her husband decided to keep the gender of their baby a surprise but this is their first baby and they had zero baby supplies. As a result, we decided to plan a dual gender shower for both a boy and a girl as opposed to a gender neutral shower. Chandra had already picked out the name Layla for a girl and Drake for a boy, so we split the room in two and decorated one table with all things boy and the other all things girl! We tried to split up the foods into "boy" foods and "girl" foods but when my husband saw the veggies on the boy table he promptly informed us that vegetables are NOT boy food. They matched the boy table better so we left them. What does he know anyway?

First I want to share the invitation which was designed by the guest of honor's sister, Aubrey. Chandra and her sister are the principle designers/photographers for Three.

 Could they be any cuter?!

 Is it a Drake or is it a Layla?

 We made mustaches and lips to put on straws using my Silhouette.

 This Peppermint Punch via Better Homes and Gardens was a hit!

Upon arrival guests were encouraged to choose either a Drake or Layla pin to determine which they thought the baby would be. We made snails for Drake's pin and flowers for Layla's.

 Since Chandra didn't know what she was having, some guests opted to bring money or gift cards instead of gifts. We had them hang their cards on our money "tree" (bird cage).

 Guests were also encouraged to decorate neutral onesies for the baby-to-be. We printed out pictures to help guests with ideas but this creative crowd didn't need our help.

As a side note, this theme would also work well for a gender reveal party. The concept might be the complete opposite but the theme works for both!

Oh and for the record, It's a Layla! Born January 16, 2012 at a healthy 9 lbs. 4 oz.

Birth announcements by Three.

English Tea Party Baby Shower

Shower season is upon us and I have a plethora of ideas to share with you. First up on the list is a shower in honor of baby girl Bella. Amanda, my good friend and party planning bosom buddy, posted this English Tea Party shower on her blog. I am praying for the day when she will move here so we can plan parties together forever because this 300 miles away long distance relationship is just not working out for me.

Amanda's precious homemade front door wreath.

 

These letters were cut out of foam board and painted pink. They served as both decor and a gift for the mommy-to-be. Check out the rain drop garland...perfect decor for a SHOWER!

Homemade bunting and garland.

I love how they chose to display the different teas in decorated mason jars.

Amanda made these headbands to use for photos at the shower and inevitably party favors!

Thank you for sharing Amanda!

Happy Valentine's Day!

My hubby and I bought each other massages for our Valentine's gifts to each other but I wanted to do something special for him today since we wouldn't really be exchanging gifts. When I saw these free printables from One Charming Party and this post on Me and Him I knew what I had to do.

I bought heart doilies from the Dollar Store. (Not like the DIY's on Pinterest that say "found it at the Dollar Store!" and you think "my Dollar Store does NOT carry that." Like silver trays. What Dollar Store carries silver trays?! I digress.) I really did find them at the Dollar Store.

Then I print and cut the free printables and wrote in my own awful special handwriting 14 reasons I love my husband. Here are just a few...

And took those Dollar Store heart doilies, wrapped them around my notes and sealed with a sticker.

The first Valentine on his bathroom mirror told him he'd be recieving 14 Valentines throughout the day.

I found strategic places around the house to put my notes. Like here...

(he always syncs his phone with iTunes in the morning)

And here...

Then after he left for work (he always leaves before me) I taped up a few more that he will find when he comes home for lunch like this one...

...if the dogs don't eat it. (It is their first birthday today!)

And this one...

I really wanted to take some to his work but seeing as I work about 45 minutes away from him that didn't seem reasonable so I hid a bunch in his car and briefcase and will text him throughout the day where to find them. For one of these notes, he will open his trunk to find this:

Which I also bought at the Dollar Store. (The balloons of course, not the golf clubs.)

He has been advised NOT to read this post until the end of the day. We'll see how that goes. :)

I hope you all have a blessed Valentine's Day surrounded by those you love!

Submissions

You may have noticed a new tab on the blog for submissions. I am well aware of the creative genius of my readers and would be so honored to feature any parties, DIY or great ideas you have so please oh please send them to me! Follow the submissions link for more details about how to submit. I look forward to seeing your work!

Paper Wheels Tutorial

My friend Kristen over at Lullaby Lubbock made these paper wheels for her daughter's birthday and I think they would be the perfect decor for Valentine's. You can buy them for a fortune at BHLDN or you can make them yourself via Kristen's tutorial. I made similar ones last year for Preston's birthday without using a tutorial and in pictures they looked ok but trust me, it was not pretty. Follow Kristen's super easy tutorial and you'll be much more pleased with your final product. And don't use tissue paper. I learned that the hard way.

 Aren't they so cute hanging on the wall?!

Thank you for sharing Kristen!