Happy Monday! Excited to share the photos from one of my best friend’s baby shower, which I had the pleasure of hosting along with four other lovely hostesses. Even though we are separated by thousands of miles, distance hasn’t stopped our friendship of over 11 years, and nothing was stopping me from getting to put my “work-skills” to good use and plan a baby shower to honor her and baby-to-be.

Her gender-neutral shower was inspired by a classic nursery rhyme, you may remember the invitations from last week. The mama-to-be is all sorts of sparkle and shine, and her baby’s nursery is a vintage baby wonderland – so the shower blended both of these elements throughout the decor and setting. This shower was captured by Indianapolis Wedding Photographer, Jessica of Lemongrass Photography. Lots of beautiful photographs, details and vendor credits below, enjoy!







A beverage station was set-up on a vintage console with star and circle garlands hanging overhead. Caprese Stacks and Watermelon Feta Basil were bites set-up on cocktail tables – along with hand fans and parasols to keep the guests cool on a Midwest summer day. And how cute is the mama-to-be? She’s seven-months along and may be the cutest pregnant mama I’ve ever seen!




There was an Activity Table for guests to participate in some baby games at their leisure. There was a Baby Wishes card for guests to fill-in-the-blanks, as well as a Little Bump game. The Little Bump game was arranged in individual packets, guests could make their guess and tie their star-tassled twine to the old vintage garden ladder.





Lunch prepared by talented Indianapolis Chef and Owner of DIY Gourmet, Sarah Kleinknecht. A buffet with fresh summer salads, fruit and carved turkey baguettes was served indoors. Sweeties Gourmet Treats made the most beautiful and equally delicious Red Velvet Cake (mama-to-be’s favorite), which was adorned with gold glitter star toppers. The floral centerpieces were created by Bokay and were the perfect finishing touch for the tables, set with gold flatware and vintage china plates. All the guests went home with gorgeous and scrumptious French Macarons, in Salted Caramel and Madagascar Vanilla – the perfect sweet ending to a celebration for a sweet friend.









Shower gifts were set-up on a vintage staircase, and cake was served to guests will the mama-to-be opened gifts for her little star. And judging by the guest count, I think it’s safe to say Sarah has a long list of babysitters and baby meals coming her way soon! Thanks to all the guests who came out to celebrate Baby H, the four amazing hostesses and other helpers!




{UPDATE} :: It’s an honor to have this baby shower featured on 100 Layer Cake-let, a fabulous site for family and family-in-the-making ideas and inspiration. Check out my feature, as well as the many other other inspiring posts and photos!

{Vendor Credits} :: Photography: Lemongrass Photography | Catering: Chef, Sarah Kleinknecht of DIY Gourmet | Floral: Bokay | Red Velvet Cake: Sweeties Gourmet Treats | French Macarons: La Petite Sucre | Tables, Linens Chairs, Glasses, Gold Flatware: A Classic Party Rental | Vintage Furniture Pieces and Accessories: Violet Vintage | Event Design + Styling: Le Partie Sugar | Invitations and Paper Signage: Le Partie Sugar

Independence Day is almost here and if you’re hosting a Fourth of July party here are a few styling ideas and tips to keep your party festive, without spending too much time prepping. After all, summer parties should be about relaxing and enjoying plenty of fun in the sun with friends and family!

Let the grill do the heavy lifting for the food items, and set-up decorative dessert display for all your sweets – plan to have sweet treats that can withstand the outdoors for a bit so you can set-up before guests arrive! If you’ve seen my other parties, you know I’m always a fan of tissue garland and love the raffia ties on the one shown below. And check out the crepe paper tassels…would be adorable centerpieces on top of the red + white gingham table runner (pssst…it’s recycled wrapping paper). And when it’s time for the fireworks show, how cute would be it be to set-out individual popcorn bags and some themed mason jar cups for guests to grab easily before the show? Resource links below, and my free Fourth of July printables are available here.



{Sources} starting at top, from left to right. Sweets Table, image credit Sweets Indeed | Red + White + Blue Tassel Garland ($30), by The Paper Jar | Crepe Paper Tassels ($10), by Gnomes Whimsey | Red + White Gingham Paper Table Runner ($34 for 50 foot roll), Paper Source | Chevron and Star Straws ($5 for 30 straws), The Party Fairy |DIY Fabric-Covered Mason Jar Lids, tutorial by Two Shades of Pink | Brown Bag Popcorn, image credit Sweets Indeed

Is it June? I can hardly believe it’s 2013, let alone halfway through the year! It’s been a busy first half, and I’m excited to share lots of projects with you all this summer.

Most recently is a shower I had the pleasure of co-hosting for one of my dearest friends. She’s keeping the gender a surprise until the delivery, so we decided on the shower theme “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and played up the gender possibilities with rosy-pink and minty-blue accent colors, balanced out with kraft paper, golds and whites. Who said gender neutral had to be all yellows and greens, right? The recipient address calligraphy on the envelopes was done by Mizue Ohira, isn’t it beautiful? Enjoy the invitation photos, event photos coming very soon!

I’m a mom and with that I wear many hats, one of which is a semi-professional online shopper. Okay, maybe not so much a profession as it is an addiction, but what’s not to love about the convenience of online commerce? Computer, iPhone, iPad…I’ve got the one-handed-browse-and-purchase routine down. Luckily, I’m also a bargain hunter…most of the time.

So in honor of Mother’s Day approaching on May 12th, I put together this board with some of my favorite online items for the mom in your life – whether it’s yourself, your mom, friends who are moms, or a mom-like figure…here are a few things that can show you care – with just a click of a mouse. Easily send a personalized Mother’s Day Card {2} from Treat.com (the newest member to the Shutterfly and TinyPrints family), personalize and buy online and they’ll even mail to your recipient for you – how amazing is that? As much as I love the online world, nothing beats getting a card in the real mail. Speaking of loving things, have you noticed the macaron {3} trend lately? Now these beautiful and delicious treats can be ordered and mailed…fabulous, right? And if your looking for a little freebie, download my Celebrate Mom printable banner for a little festive decor (each letter is individual – so use for other occasions, too!). Resource guide to all the items shown is below the image. Happy shopping and Happy early Mother’s Day to all you mamas out there! xo



{Resources} 1. Vintage Pinboard. $39.95 | 2. Greeting Cards from Treat.com, $1.99+ :: birthday :: mother’s day | 3. La Petite Sucre Macarons, $22+, photo credit La Petite Sucre | 4. Summer Tote, $148.00 | 5. Free Celebrate Mom – Free Printable Banner, Le Partie Sugar | 6. Ikat Apron, $36.95 | 7. Tiramasu French Toast Recipe, photo credit How Sweets Eats

This morning I was taking a look at my Pinterest boards for some inspiration on some upcoming parties I’m planning, and realized I had quite a few heart products pinned. So with Valentine’s Day next Thursday I put together a quick inspiration board with some of my favorite heart items. Get out your crafting hat on and get happy by making some heart garland, or dress up your cupcakes with these adorable heart toppers (I’ve used these before here)! Resources below the photo, and check out my other Valentine’s Day inspiration board and my free Valentine’s Day Card printables.



{Resources} :: 1. Heart Cupcake Toppers | 2. Heart Stirrers | 3. 3D Heart Garland | 4. Heart Garland | 5. Heart Magnets

Finally having a moment to share the photos from the Paper Airplane Birthday Party! This party was for my sweet son who turned two, and like many little boys he’s in love with any type of transportation – especially planes! I wanted the theme to be youthful but still fun for the kids and adults, which is why I combined the idea of “vintage airplanes” with “paper airplanes” for this party – a fun throwback for adults and something the toddlers got a kick out of, too! If you didn’t see the invitations yet, check them out here. Enjoy the photos and as always, all the paper products are available on my Etsy Shop.

A paper airplane garland soared above the main food table, made up of over 100 little paper planes! The blue and red color scheme was incorporated into the food table through the food signs, banner and star confetti. The main food table was home to lots of easy-to-eat brunch food items including quiches, mini-muffins and mini-scones, baked doughnuts, bagel + lox sandwiches, gingerbread shortstacks, fresh fruit – plus star pb+j sandwiches and bunny grahams just for the kids. The theme and free-spirited tone of the invite was carried through all the little signage pieces. The food cards were categorized by “in-flight bites” or “in-flight sweets”, with canny little remarks about the food items.

“Hudson’s Hangar” was the spot for all the beverages and favors – water, hot coffee, milk and of course bloody mary’s and mimosas for the adults. The flags for the red stripey straws and toothpicks said “paper / forces”, “air shark / for life”, “party / party” and “happy / birthday”.

There was a little paper airplane station encouraging the “paper forces to unite”. The station was set-up with pre-cut paper, custom-made star crayons and instructions on how to make their own Model #HJP-1212 DIY Paper Plane. Once the kids (and adults) colored their planes they could take them for a test flight in the Test Flight Zone and try to make it inside the blue and red rings. I loved how the adults and little ones got into this activity, and was very impressed with some of the adults’ paper plane models they remembered making from their childhood!

For sweets we had vanilla and chocolate babycakes, with red and blue stars indicating the flavor, a delicious black and white cake with raspberry filling, and adorable custom-made paper airplane sugar cookies – a paper plane, radar with plane and star – from Sugar Lane Bake Shop (shop is out of New York but ships anywhere in the US).

Given his first birthday party was a much larger affair, I wanted to keep his second birthday a small but special celebration with his closest buddies and family. It was not only much easier to plan and manage, but the birthday boy was comfortable and happy to play with everyone there…which can always be questionable with a two year old!  His fellow little paper forces pilots went home with red suitcases filled with star crayons, paper to make their own DIY Paper Plane at home, a toy tin plane and paper plane themed sugar cookies.

{Resources} :: Cake and Babycakes :: Red and Blue Cupcake Star Toppers :: Star Crayons :: Custom Sugar Cookies :: Invitations and Paper Products

I was approached by Dawn from Not Just A Mommy to help design a few FREE printable pieces for a kid’s Christmas Cookie Party. She was inspired by my Gender Reveal party with the mustaches and lips and had the idea to use Santa’s mustaches for the boys and Mrs. Claus’ lips for the girls. Check out the full details on Design Dazzle including party photos and recipes, and don’t forget to download your free printables here which include food signs, water bottle wraps, favor tags and cupcake toppers. A great budget-friendly way to celebrate the holidays…perfect for kids and kids-at-heart!


{Credits} :: Photos and Party by Dawn of Not Just A Mommy, Free Printable Pieces designed by Cristina of Le Partie Sugar

My friend, Erika, and I have been trying to put together a girl’s night with wine and apps and girl talk since the summer. So since summer came and went, we decided to embrace the holiday spirit and put a festive spin on our get-together by hosting a Favorite Things Exchange.



Everyone brought something they LOVED for $30, and after a bit of eating and drinking and chatting we did the favorite things exchange. For the food Erika and I kept it simple with some savory appetizers: a butternut squash flatbread, puff pastries with caramelized onions and feta cheese, caprese stacks and a cheese tray. We rounded out the spread with some sweets: pink and white macaroons, vanilla cupcakes with custom-made heart toppers and chocolate truffles. We washed everything down with some delicious red wine and a hot spiced and spiked apple cider.






For the exchange portion of the evening, all the girls selected a number at random from the board and chose a gift from the pile according to their number. If they guessed who brought it, it was safe. If not, it was up for a steal (with a maximum steal of 2 times). The “favorite things” spin really made it a fun exchange, some items were more popular than others – but all-in-all everyone literally went home with something awesome…or I guess I should say, someone’s “favorite something”.




The night before, E and I made the Cherry Pies-In-A-Jar for party favors. They were surprisingly easy to make and used this tutorial as a guide. It was a fun time and something we agreed to host for next year. Never too early to start planning…well, maybe I’ll try to get through this Christmas first

With Thanksgiving officially so last week, I finally had a moment to photograph my son’s birthday invites for his upcoming Paper Airplane Party. He’ll be two in a few weeks and like most two-year old boys is fascinated with planes. So I combined his love for paper (yes…he still loves the box and packing more than the item) and airplanes together – mixing in a bit of vintage airmail, stars and stripes, and a few flying paper planes for the invite. Enjoy the photos!

The invitations are available on my Etsy Shop now with the coordinating partie kit coming soon!

I shared the invitations for this party last week, and I’m thrilled to post these photos for this baby gender reveal party which was recently featured on Pizzazzerie, Hostess With the Mostess, and Lil’ Sugar Editor’s Choice. I wanted to create something that could get guys, girls and kiddos excited, so I chose a Sky Blue and Cherry Red and Apple Green color scheme, all set against black and white patterns. Enjoy the details and photos below, the invitations and partie kit are available on my Etsy shop.



The Voting Station gets guests involved in the party and is bound to start cocktail chatter when people don their I VOTED stickers – with lips or mustaches depending on their vote. For the big reveal, I wanted to do something, well…BIG. I’m loving the extra large round balloons these days, so I opted to have a giant balloon “float” out of the box for the parents’ reveal. No leaning over shoulders to see what’s inside the cake filling…just look up!



For the party favors I working with Sweet Shop Cookie Co to create coordinating sugar cookies for the party favors, which were stuffed in black + white chevron bags from Shop Sweet Lulu.