Marathon Party Favors

I love marathon Sunday in Chicago.  The energy in the city is unlike any other day of the year.  This year, Mr. B and I met Jen, Tiffany and Andy at the halfway point and ran the second 13.1 with our friends.  These warriors already had 13.1 miles on their legs, so we tried to be as motivating and supportive as possible.  After the race, my dear friend Mary hosted a post-party to honor Jessica's completion of her first marathon.  Mary asked me to bring a party favor, so I created mini running bibs and medals to celebrate Jessica's accomplishment.

These favors were extremely easy to make!  First, I covered the labels of mini Gatorade bottles with computer paper.  I then printed running "bibs" on card stock and affixed them to mini Gatorade bottles with double-stick tape.  I left the edges loose and poked mini safety pins through all four corners, just like an actual running bib.  Finally, I used ribbon, chocolate coins and a glue gun to create the medals.  I am pleased with the end product!    

A BIG congratulations to Jessica, Jen, Tiffany, Andy and all of our other friends who conquered the 2011 Chicago Marathon!  You guys rock!!!

Two-Year Anniversary Tribute - Wedding Invitations

Happy Second Wedding Anniversary to Mr. B!  After two years, I am just now starting to love the navy and pink color combination once again! (after complete navy and pink wedding-color overload :-)  On a serious note, the past two years have been so unbelievably happy.  Being married to my best friend is the best!

A look back at our wedding invitations, my first (and biggest!) crafting endeavor.

front view of insert cards:  RSVP & Map

back view of insert cards:  RSVP details & Directions

I still love the "wouldn't miss it for the world!" and "will be there in spirit" response choices!  

About to Pop! Invitations

Invitations for Mary's "About to Pop!" baby shower kept in the grey/purple/turquoise theme.  I used Paper Source's gravel card stock and diagonal folder enclosure in luxe white, which has a bit of texture.  I designed the circle border design in my very unsophisticated design software -- Apple's Pages.  

Registry information was noted on the diagonal space (see above) with a sticker made with circle and scallop circle punches and a Xyron sticker maker.

In lieu of a greeting card, guests were encouraged to bring a book with a message to Baby P on the inside cover.  I conveyed this message with a poem and included a book plate (aka sticker) for guests to use inside their book.  To make the book plate, I printed "From the Potters' Library" on Avery labels and embellished them with an owl stamp.

Check out the great books/greeting cards Mary received!

About to Pop! Baby Shower

I used the "Baby is about to pop!" theme for a baby shower I co-hosted for my dear friend Mary.  Grey (Mary's favorite) anchored the color scheme, while pastel purple and turquoise accent hues created a twist to the gender-neutral baby shower.  

"POP the bubbly!"

Cocktails (and mocktails!) were served in mason jars.  Guests were encouraged to "pop" their names on tags attached to the jars.

Grey and white-striped straws found on Etsy were decorated with tags expressing how much "We love Mary!" and "We love Baby P!"

Thanks to the girls for finding a perfect place to hang these Chinese lanterns purchased online at Pearl River.

The original inspiration for the shower . . . popcorn favors with the slogan "Thanks for POPing by!"  I used a recipe found here with lavender and turquoise M&Ms purchased at Party City.

Flowers and greens from Whole Foods arranged in mason jars served as centerpieces.

More pops of purple and turquoise!

A BIG thank you to all of the girls who prepared the delicious food spread!

Some shower games are cheesy, but the "right" games can be super fun!  We played the crowd pleaser "match the celebrity with their (bizarro) baby's name" and a second game, created by Kate, called "Baby, is that for real?!" where we guessed whether baby items were real or fake.  While all the items sounded fake to me, they were actually all real products.  A great game for a group that is non-mom dominant like us!  Download a template here.  

Check out my next post to see the invitations for this shower.

UPDATE:  Since I am back-filling this post, I am happy to report that Mary gave birth to healthy baby boy William on November 25th!

Summer Wedding

I felt extremely honored when my (future) sister-in-law asked me to help with some of the creative elements for her summer wedding.  While the bride's favorite color orange set the wedding's theme, she also wished to pay tribute to her native country Brazil by incorporating the colors of Brazilian flag (blue, green and yellow) in the wedding design.  

I made two prototypes for the place cards.

The bride decided to use them both!  The left version would be the place card for the female guests and the right for the male guests.  See below for the final product at the wedding and pictures of other creative elements from the day.  Note pops of the Brazilian flag's blue, green and yellow colors throughout!

Card box on the gift table:

Table numbers:

An extra favor:

"Altar" decoration:

HUGE congratulations to the bride and groom!  XO

Summer Bridal Shower

Mr. B's brother is getting married in August, so my mother-in-law and I were excited to host a bridal shower to honor my future sister-in-law, Marcilia!  

The decorations and party elements were inspired by this PS wrapping paper that you see in the center of the tables.

These flower pots from Whole Foods matched the daisy pattern and served as our centerpieces.  

Menu cards were tucked inside PS half moon invitation enclosures in chartreuse and stamped/embossed  with this daisy rubber stamp.  

Menu card (inside):

Placecards in persimmon:

Banner:

Seating arrangement and favor boxes:

(each box was filled with two heart cookies, similar to these)

Water bottles (for our post-lunch boat tour):

I am very excited to have a new sister!  

Look for another post about the wedding in August!

OWL Always Love Birthday Parties!

Shout out to my friend Nicole and the adorable owl-themed birthday party she threw her 2-year-old darling, Ella!  Nicole is extremely talented, and you can see her creativity and stylish eye for party details in this picture showcase!

Water bottles dressed up for the owl theme.

We drank from mason jars that Nicole decorated with adorable paper owls.  

Flags decorating the striped paper straws read, "what a hoot!"

The dessert spread of "owl treats" was unbelievable!

Mason jars filled with delicious homemade granola were our party favors.  

"We hope you had a hoot!"  So cute!

Check out Nicole's blog here!