welcome into the world {mel's baby shower}

i love getting to be apart of throwing a baby shower. not only because it means you are welcoming new life into the world, but you celebrate friendships, family and the decorating! i am lucky enough to have grown up in a home that never missed a party. my mother loves to entertain. while setting up for mel's shower, she told us a story of how she served crackers and cheese on her mother's footstool (yes a stinky footstool) to visiting missionaries at the age of 3. she longed to host. she is good at it. and she passed it down to me.

planning showers with two little kids in tow isn't as easy as it used to be (without the kids). that's why we have a TEAM of ladies to help. (from left to right: Amy Sue, Tara, Kristin, Mel (the mommy we celebrated), me with baby Cohen (not mine-ha), Caitlin, and Kellie)

from left to right: Amy Sue, Tara, Kristin, Mel (mommy we
celebrated), me with baby Cohen (not mine-ha),
Caitlin & Kellie)

my friends threw me a shower for Ireland and the coolest part about it was that i was able to take all the decor home and stick it in her room! i seriously thought my friends were genius. so, we decided to go that same direction for Mel. they are naming their baby boy "Brooklyn Jay" and with that decided to go a stylish chevron grey, water soft blue, accents of mustard yellow and maps included.

of course we first went to our nifty pinterest site and created a board for mel's shower (view it by clicking on the link). we had an intial party planning meeting to divy up jobs and we were on our way. a few of my tasks included:

the invitation

chalkboard, books, napkins and the map pinwheels

spray painted botles, created the map "b" and bought the amazing globe off of craigslist for only $20. ps it's vintage 1963 and came with a book to authenticate it. all going in the baby's room.

wrapped the cones in map paper which were then filled up with fruit.

oh, there are so many more details that mel's amazing friends came up with like the pallet board, the table decor, the favors, etc. i can't leave out the banner that the one-and-only aubrey stewart created. the map print outs that we stuck in frames, the mad gab game created for the tables. i guess I'll just have to do a part 2.

another baby shower down. love you mamma melly! excited to "welcome baby brooklyn into the the world" in august!

Shabby Chic {part 2}

It was hard not to resist blessing my sister-in-law and soon-to-be-born niece "Ella." We had a blast throwing the party and putting our creative heads together (Caitlin Zick, Yolie Orozco, Kellie Vandermark, Paige Ellis). I think our mothers have all passed down the joy of throwing parties to us, or we just fell in love with the idea somewhere along the way. I guess I just like reading blogs about parties and then I think to myself, "I could do that"...so we make it work...

Here are a few snapshots:
Mel (Baby Ella), Caitlin and Myself...the reason the shower happened...

I had purchased this old antique chalkboard for $15 from an antique store in Old Fair Oaks for Judah's birthday. Since then, it's been used at birthday parties and showers galore. A great purchase! If you are ever bored and like to rummage through antique stores, there is a row of them in Fair Oaks Village. Amazing finds! Caitlin had purchased the birdhouses from Michaels during a good sale and we had to hang them on my tree with torn ribbon from Joanne's. The gift table features just a few of the pom poms that were hung...Purchase "clear thread" from Joanne's and hang them with a staple into the ceiling. Another great trick we learned from our good friend Aubrey Stewart.


Even though we had nothing to do with the Cake design, I had to feature it here because it was AMAZING! Paula Ellis (Paige's mother-in-law) did this amazing design for us and went above-and-beyond! If you are looking for a baker...I'll give you her contact info! She was amazing! Not only did it look beautiful, it tasted wonderful too!

Paige Ellis made this amazing Blueberry French Toast (Perfect for any shower)...I'll have to post the recipe! Also, the tags for the food and our party favors were done with the "Silhouette." Have you ever heard of a Cicket before? This is much more fun because it's like itunes for party designs! It can cut vinyl, banners, stencils, glass etching, and more! Aubrey purchased it with a friend when it was on sale, or you can try to win it off blogs...they are doing giveaways often! I think I'm requesting one for my birthday. They make any party stand out in detail...and it's great for home decor too! We made all the food dishes per Mel's request (Can't say no to a pregnant woman!)Looking for any good brunch ideas, just ask- I'll email you the recipes!

Last but not least our the tables. The colors we went with were pink and gold. Caitlin and I scowled antique stores, shabby chic stores, but most importantly the Goodwill for vases and random artifacts that represented the "shabby chic" look. The Goodwill happened to prove to be a success with each trip. We found vases from $1-$2. It was amazing. We hot glued left over fabric and rosettes to the front entry chairs (the hot glue peels right off).

I was in love with the way some of the Shabby Chic stores had pairs of books wrapped together in twine. They weren't for sell, so I decided to replicate on my own. I again purchased some hardcover books (each for $1 at Goodwill) had some twine from Walmart's craft section and made it work. Funny thing is we have moved them to our mantle and they are still up in my home.

I still have a few secrets to share, but I don't have GREAT photos on hand (maybe somebody else captured them). For the party favors, I had seen at anthropolgie a super pretty glass teacup with melted candles in them. I ran out of time to melt the candles but found amazing deals at the Goodwill for glass cups. I ended up at 3 different Goodwill stores and purchased punch bowl sets. Did you know they sell glass punch bowl sets with 12 cups for only $5.99. I even found an identical punch bowl to my mother's expensive set for only $7.50 (which i ended up keeping for myself). Ever in need of glassware...that's a great start for a cheap price! We had our guests use their favors for coffee during the shower and gave them bags to take them home.


Also, I have to give credit here to Caitlin Zick. She is in love with this blog "Save on Crafts" We were able to purchase 3 birdcage sets (for a great deal). We hung them with fabric from a vent above the food table, and then Cait gave them to Mel for her nursery. If you are looking for cheap decor, whether getting married, having a baby, etc. This is the first place you should look.

Well...I wish I had taken some video of the decor. Once we took everything down, I realized my flip camera hadn't been utilized. I was so bummed...but hopefully you'll get the gist and be able to use some links above or ideas for something in your near future!

shabby chic :: part I

My brother & sister-in-law will be welcoming a little baby girl "ella" into the world near or around February 19. We couldn't be more excited because our world right now is all about how to shop for a little boy and get dirty. If you ever have done any baby girl shopping, you would understand why I'm so excited...girl clothes and frills are simply hard to resist.

We are throwing Melissa a shower for baby Ella on Saturday. She's got a "shabby chic" theme going on in her room, so our decor and theme for the shower naturally is "shabby chic." I've found that I have a hard time going there in my head, because my home is so not shabby chic (I'll do a blog on my home decor another time), however, I'm loving every minute of exploring antique stores, thrift stores, and other shabby chic blogs for ideas. I love opening my mind to new things and designs.

We were also inspired for the theme by reading this blog- "Hostest with the Mostest"


I can't ruin all the elements of surprise before the shower, but I thought I would share a few simple craft ideas that I discovered from reading blogs and then of course watching the hands of my good friend Aubrey Stewart (soon to start an Etsy store - which I will link to later). They are so simple and fun and make a big impact- statement pieces...so if you are planning a party any time soon and need some cheap fun ideas...here is a good start...sorry if this is so last year for you...but I'm just getting around to learning all these new fun things.

1. POM POM TISSUE BALLS
If you live in Sacramento and have never been to "Wrapped All Up" and you enjoy throwing parties or gift wrap...you are missing out! I bought the tissue paper (which they sell all unique colors) for $2.50 for 24 sheets. Each pom pom tissue ball takes 8 pieces of tissue. I initially saw these on a party blog which I can't recall at this point in time...but then Aubrey showed me how to do it and I realized how simple it really was...Here is a good written tutorial you can follow from Martha Stewart...Or just search "pom pom tissue tutorial"...and you'll come up with video how to's and more...This was my first attempt:

2. FABRIC ROSETTES
I was first introduced to the idea that you could even make these again by my friend Aubrey Stewart. After she convinced me that they were easy to do...I decided to give them a try. They are the perfect hair accessory and they can make anything look a little more "done up"...so I was sold. We will be using them as little perks throughout Mel's shower...Here is a great tutorial (or again, just search "fabric rosette tutorial" and you'll come up with a ton of great links)...This was my first attempt (taken from my phone camera).


I'll throw up more photos and pictures from the shower after it takes place on Saturday...This is just Part I of the Shabby Chic collection...=)

Today's Surprise:
My lovely husband surprised me at work today. The only bummer was that I was in a meeting, but I got to see his handsome face for a second (one of the perks of working with friends and for my dad)...wishing I would've taken a picture for you...maybe next time...but the real surprise for you is that he is going to be a guest blogger on here on Wednesdays. We are going to call it the "average joe" spot- since I'm {everyday laine}...I think it would be fun for you to hear about life from my husband's perspective...I'm sure it's a whole lot different than mine...ha ha!


More to come this week (especially tomorrow)!