Happy October!

I just love this quote from Anne of Green Gables because I love October! It's such a beautiful month here in the Midwest, and for those of us who are already dreading the predicted brutal winter (again?!?), we have to remember to savor this month -- the sunny days, crisp air, chilly evenings, changing and falling leaves, pumpkin patches, cider, fall flowers, football games, soups...okay, I could go on, but I'll stop! You get the idea. Yay, October.

I designed a little chalkboard art print to celebrate the month; I just learned how to turn my own handwriting and doodles into digital chalkboard art (I'm not limited by available fonts and graphics anymore!), and it's pretty fun. If you use the coupon code BLOGOCT, you can get it here for only $2! It's an instant download, so just print, frame, and enjoy.

Also, here's a song ("Ode to Autumn") about October, by this young artist I saw at our local farmer's market last fall. I love her sound and the lyrics to this song, so just thought I'd share :)

Let Freedom Ring

Happy 3rd of July! To celebrate America, I designed this fun printable -- find it in my Etsy shop for only $2.50 (for an 8x10" print-at-home jpeg) through the holiday :)

Here's how I used it for my own holiday decor:

(...as part of a centerpiece tray that I took to our family party.)

"Rockstar Mom"

I don't know that I'd call myself a "Rockstar Mom," but I'm thankful to Lauren over at Sixteen Sunbuckles for featuring me in her monthly "Rockstar Mom" series!

I'm offering 15% off anything in my shop to her readers (for the month of May), too, so check it out :)

A Curious George Birthday Party

Jacob turned two about a week ago! I can't believe my baby is not so much a baby as a little boy, but I'm having a blast with him each day! Sure, we're in the height of the "terrible twos" (I think his started early!), so there are definitely tantrums, but this is really the sweetest, cutest age, too. He still needs mommy a lot, but he's constantly learning and exploring his world and amazing us as he does. He says some of the funniest things. Actually, he says pretty much everything (whether we want him to or not...) ;)

I blogged about all the party preparations a while back, and now I want to share how the party turned out! We did Curious George theme  with primary colors (a mixture of the Classic George, since Jacob loves the books, and also the "TV George," because he LOVES the show on PBS). I think it turned out pretty adorable :)

crepe paper weaving on the stairs / table in the front entryway / photo banner in the dining room

The front table held goodie bags, hats, and coloring books for Jacob's friends, his "favorites/milestones chalkboard," the party invitation, a photo book of his second year, and a cute Birthday George. The chalkboard and invitation designs can be found in my shop. For the staircase decor, I wove four colors of crepe paper streamers among the banisters and embellished with scanned images (printed on card stock) from his Curious George books -- a very  cheap, easy way to add a lot of color to your party!

Toddlers in party hats are the cutest! Of course, they don't stay on long.

The best we could do at getting four toddlers to sit together for a photo ;)

family room decor -- a coloring poster for the kiddos to stay busy, George toys and books to play with, balloons (all the kids' favorite part!), and the birthday banner I designed and made (find the template here in my shop)

more details -- more views of the family room, the cake (baked and decorated by Jacob's grandma, bunting by me), George paper goods, and my little "yellow hat" place settings (thanks, Pinterest!)

the food spread -- a colored table cloth, themed paper goods, bright straws, and cute napkins added fun and festive details!

The party food included banana pops (frozen banana thirds, dipped in chocolate), fruit salad in waffle cones, Curious George fruit snacks, colorful goldfish, "cookie dough dip" with animal crackers, a veggie plate, relishes, Gerber banana cookies, BBQ meatballs, a cheese & cracker plate, several candy dishes and of course cake and ice cream. Lots of color and kid-friendly options are must-haves for a toddler party!

Jacob's friend Jane loving the cake and ice cream!

He wanted Aunt Charly to help open allll the presents!

Grandma & Papa passed down Daddy's old rocking chair -- so cute :)

Fire Chief gear from Great-Grandma -- he LOVES everything fire truck related right now!

...which made his big gift from Grandma & Grandpa so perfect!

We had a great day, and we are so appreciative of our great family and friends! We love that Jacob has such cute little buds who could celebrate with him, too! The party was super cute, but it was also very special because we have such a loved little boy :) Thankful for our many blessings.

Look Whoo's Having a Baby Boy!

I love baby showers. The mom-to-be is always glowing (they're usually hosted before those last few, uncomfortable weeks!) and there's so much anticipation about baby. What will the name (and sometimes even the sex) be? When will he/she arrive? How big will he/she be? It's a celebration of new life, and baby things are just SO adorable. Plus, there are always a few fun games (even if they're a little cheesy) and lots of delicious food. What's not to love?

Many of my friends either have babies or toddlers or are just starting to have children, and that means lots of baby showers! My friend Jen and I threw this one for our college friend, Molly, a couple of weeks ago, and it was so much fun! We were all Kappa Kappa Gammas, and one of the symbols for our sorority is owls. Since owls are cute for a baby theme and so popular right now, we decided to run with it and have a "Look Whoo's Having a Baby?" shower. Molly is having a little boy, so we chose a color palette of blues/greens/browns and headed to Pinterest! I offered to design the invitation and any printables we would use -- games, decor, etc. I came up with a pretty sweet little party package (listed here in my Etsy shop), and those colors and designs helped us keep everything tied together throughout the shower. I took plenty of photos throughout the process and before the shower, so you can re-create as much as you like, or pick and choose which ideas might work for your own shower!

My "Inspiration Board" after I'd designed most of the printables and Jen & I had pinned like crazy on Pinterest.

The invitation design! I printed them via VistaPrint and was able to upload my own design and also matching backside (the blue). We included the raffle tickets with the invitations (just printed and cut at home).

A welcome sign (which I cut out and mounted on card stock and scrapbook paper), circles that could be used to make favor tags, cupcake toppers, a mini-garland/banner, etc., and cards for our "Words of Wisdom" Tree (see details below)!

We simply printed the cards on card stock, punched holes, and tied ribbon. Then, guests were to write their "words of wisdom" (new mom advice) for Molly and hang the cards on the "tree" :)

We just used branches from my willow tree in a decorative pitcher, and it came together nicely.

I made the little chalkboard sign with an unfinished wooden framed "chalkboard" (really just gray paint, I think) and two coordinating washi tapes -- so easy and cheap!

They make the cutest tapes (found these at Walmart), and you can see that it they matched our colors perfectly.

Jen had the idea to use the circles I had designed as favor tags (in addition to the cupcake toppers I'd originally planned) -- it was a great idea to mix up the look of the favor bags! The favors were just little Target dotted paper bags filled with green and blue jelly beans (they were egg-like and went well with the theme and colors).

A close up of the cupcake toppers! We printed the circles on card stock, cut them out, and taped a toothpick in between two of them to make each topper. Please excuse the slightly jagged cutting -- I think I should invest in a 2.5" round punch! 

My banner design, as it looked on the computer screen. You can buy this design in my shop, or I can make you an entirely custom banner design :)

materials for the banner assembly -- tape, some twine, and little metal brads (I happened to have them in a coordinating color -- that was just lucky!) 

First you print the pennants, cut them out (more cutting!), and cut larger triangles of coordinating scrapbook paper (or card stock). Then, tape (or glue) all the pennants to their backgrounds.

Use the brads to connect the pennants. I have seen this done with twine/yarn/ribbon, etc., but I've found that banners hang very nicely and look really clean when they are connected with brads. It's totally up to you!

I did use twine for the ends, as I like the look of it to tie up the banner and hang loose at the ends of a mantle (or wherever you'd like to put it).

The finished product on the day of the shower!

Another random little detail for the shower -- I thought I'd run with the owls theme and scan some of the owl-related artwork from some of Jacob's children's books. Owls are very popular in baby and kiddie lit., it seems! I just created a quick little collage of the images in Photoshop, printed it as an 8x10" photo at Walgreens, and framed it in a simple frame to use as shower decor and also to give to Molly for her nursery :)

The last printable (also a part of the whole package on Etsy) was a fun Mad Libs game. It was Jen's idea to do this game, and we decided Mad Libs never get old. Guests completed the words list in groups of 3-5 (without seeing the story), and then we asked Molly to read the stories aloud for the group's entertainment! We just had three groups, so if you had a larger shower, you may want to have the guest of honor read the story once and just have groups call out their answers.

Molly was forced to read about some very interesting labor and delivery scenarios she might have to look forward to ;)

And here are some collages of all the shower details as they looked when we brought everything together that day! Jen and I live a couple of hours apart, so we each did our own portions and didn't show each other much before the day of the party. It all came together well, and we had such a nice day celebrating Molly and her baby-boy-to-be!

The flowers were simple Kroger bouquets divided among several vases. The whites/greens/yellows looked so fresh and springy (although the day felt wintery). The turquoise basket held prizes that guests could pick if Molly was opening their gift when a timer sounded (I think we set it for every 5 min.). 

Jen did a great job with all the paper goods, the punch, and a lot of the food -- her hummus cups, fruit cones, and Asian cole slaw were popular! We just ordered cupcakes (so easy for a shower where you have to travel), and I also made the little birds' nests for dessert.

the "Words of Wisdom," Diaper Raffle, and game areas (Another quick and easy game we did was have guests guess how many eggs were in the jar -- the winner took home the jar of candy!)

Jen and I with the mom-to-be!

Birthday Preparations!

My baby boy turns two in about two and a half weeks. TWO. So, not a baby at all anymore? He's officially been a "toddler" since he started walking at 10 months, but before two, they're still kind of a baby, and I'm sad to let go of that. I can't believe how the time has flown.

I feel like I was just in the stage of sleepless nights, new-mom worries (is he still breathing??), endless diapers and burp rags, and spending every moment fussing over him, even though he didn't really do much. Any other moms remember how busy you feel when they're newborns but look back at two and wonder why that was? I think the lack-of-sleep clouds our perspective! And the practically full-time job of nursing doesn't help. I miss those days now, though. I look at him and can't believe he was ever that tiny, helpless, beautiful bundle.

By two, you're (hopefully!) getting a full nights' sleep regularly, but that's a blessing since you're so exhausted by the end of the day from avoiding catastrophes, moderating tantrums, cleaning up crumbs and sticky little hand prints, playing "cars" or "dinos," and trying to keep up with such boundless energy! It's tiring, but it's so much fun, and I'm in still in awe of each milestone, each "first," and each new word (or complex, matter-of-fact sentence) that comes out of his mouth.

Okay, I'm pretty sure I'm going to cry on April 4th.

But on to the fun part of this upcoming second birthday -- the party!  I've planned several parties and events: our wedding, several bridal and baby showers, and three high school dances. But I have to say, kids' parties are the most fun! I enjoyed doing Jacob's Very Hungry Caterpillar First Birthday Party last year, and I've had lots of fun so far this year, too.

We're just doing a small gathering, mostly family and a couple of his best toddler buds. I can't help myself when it comes to the party-planning, though; I love designing and decorating things (hence my Etsy shop), so the party may go a little overboard for such a small group...oh well! We're having a Curious George party, since George is one of Jacob's favorite characters lately, and PBS's Curious George is his favorite show (he starts each morning watching an episode and drinking his "milky"). I chose primary colors that coordinate with the classic George books (red, blue, yellow, white), and I think the party is going to be adorable :)

Here are some of the fun things I've been working on:

1. Invitations

It all started with the invitation. I had so much fun designing it, and it became the inspiration for the entire party, as I think is common. Here's what I came up with:

Like what you see? I can create a custom invitation for you, too! Just see this listing in my Etsy shop. Please note that I cannot post this exact design in my shop, due to copyright issues (I can't sell anything with a character graphic since I don't own the characters). If you provide the graphic(s), however, I can design the invitation (I found this George graphic here, on a site with lots of free character images).

I had them printed on VistaPrint.com, and they turned out great! I love that Vista Print allows you to upload your own entire design, prints a full-color back if you choose (so I used the yellow chevron), uses a nice, matte card stock, and includes envelopes! This is not a paid endorsement -- I just like VistaPrint (and I also got a Groupon for it!). :)

2. Banner

My next project was a birthday banner. Buntings are super popular lately as decor for parties, showers, and holidays, so I thought I'd try to create my own pennant flag banner! I designed the flags to match the invite (and posted the design in my shop, here), and then I used blue card stock, little gold brads, and some ribbon to create the banner:

3. Chalkboard Sign

Anything "chalkboard' is also en vogue right now, and I've always loved the look of a chalkboard. I design a lot of "chalkboard-style" items for my shop, and it all started with Jacob's first birthday chalkboard sign last year. After seeing similar designs on Etsy, I thought I'd try to make my own "birthday favorites" sign for his party. This was the final product (and I've since sold lots of them in my shop -- a favorite design to do!):

 

I printed it at Walgreens last year (just like an 8x10" photo) and put it in a frame, but this year I'm debating about either doing the same (but printing at home on card stock for a more matte look) or printing it larger -- we'll see!

I want to make this a tradition, since I put a copy in his baby book and love the idea of having a "snapshot" of all his favorites, height & weight, etc. from each age! So, I decided to design this year's chalkboard with a border (also listed it in the shop), to match the invitations, banner, etc., and here it is:

I'm done with plugs for my shop now, I promise! I just wanted to link everything, so that it's easy for people to find my designs if they're interested in similar party items without the work of doing it from scratch! But I do have a few more party details to share that aren't for sale :)

4. Two-Year-Old Photos & Banner:

For Jacob's first year, I did little monthly "photo shoots" to get these adorable shots which became his first birthday banner:

Well, any mother of a toddler knows that those photo shoots get increasingly difficult at around 8-9 months, and are virtually impossible in the second year! So, I've taken much fewer "photo-shoot"-style photos this past year (I say that because I still take a million day-to-day shots of Jacob, as anyone who knows me can attest to and/or mock me for). I did do a couple at Christmas and some at Valentines day, but I wanted to make sure to do a shoot for some real, "two-year-old" photos, so that we could look back and remember him at exactly two! I ended up taking them about three weeks early because we were getting new carpet and I had an empty room with the perfect light and a white wall for a few days, but it was close enough! 

I used the banner above and some other Curious George props we had (since he loves George we had plenty, like books, a stuffed George, etc.), and he wore an adorable shirt my mother-in-law made for us! I'm so pleased with the results:

Isn't he a sweetheart? 

I loved so many of them that I wanted to make a photo banner like last year's, but just with the two-year photos instead of monthly shots. I may need to remove a few photos (I used 15 4x6 prints) because it's pretty long:

Here are some pictures from the process, in case you want to do something similar: 

All you need (besides the photos)! You could use twine, ribbon, etc., but I had yarn on hand.

It helps to lay it out and center the yarn before starting, so you know you'll have enough.
Cut extra yarn length if you want to tie knots to keep the photos in place, like I did.

Simply punch holes in each top corner of the photos and string them together, tying knots in each hole as you go.

5. Party Supplies

Finally, my designs and decorations are all planned and created, but you can't have a party without coordinating supplies! Here are some of the items I've bought to use for the party. They can be found at Party City and Walmart. I have a few more surprises up my sleeve, but I'll do another post of how it all came together sometime after April 5. And then I'll be whining about how I officially have a two year old. Crazy!

Kudos (and thanks!) if you've read all of this insanely long post :)