BaByQ Shower

I've thrown a few baby showers in my day, but never a co-ed one! A good family friend of mine, Nikki, requested the men be included in the special day. I figured the best way to get the men to not only want to come, but to (maybe?!) even enjoy themselves, would be to include beer and man-food! Thus, the idea behind the "BaByQ."

The invitations were done with black & red - "bun in the oven, burger on the grill" style. I also included an insert with a new idea where guests bring & sign a book instead of a card. I adore this idea because usually you look at a card once or twice and it gets thrown away. Books are great for children & what better way to start your collection than with ones picked out by your friends & family!?

 

 

Of course, a cute invitation can't be lost in an ugly envelope. I went for red envelopes with white lettering. It is around Christmas, and they looked very "Christmas-y" to me which I didn't love but black wouldn't have been very baby-ish... maybe future Christmas card idea ... we'll see.

 

 

 

One of the BEST things about planning this shin-dig in particular ... catering! It took off so much pressure not to have to cook any food. On the menu: all things barbecue! Mac 'n cheese, pulled pork sliders, cornbread, baked beans, and salad. YUM.

 

 

The soon-to-be daddy's sister had this picnic style cake made! How cute.

 

 

Dessert! I made some red velvet cupcakes with a white cream cheese frosting (& I'll be honest, that recipe was straight from a box) & mini apple pies (which I will never attempt again - ONE large pie would have been so much easier than the multiple mini ones!).

 

 

 

For the cupcakes, I used some white, red, and blue gingham & polka dot cupcake papers. I also used some thick toothpicks and leftover scraps from my pinwheels to make little flags for each cupcake. I'm all about the details.

 

 

 

& speaking of pinwheels! These were probably my favorite detail of the party and SO easy to make! I glued different red & blue papers back to back, cut in squares of varying sizes, cut from each point to the center, gather the corners, hot glue, and add some bling in the center. Wah-lah!

 

 

"It's a boy" banner - made with dark & light blue card stock with blue gingham place holders between words. Strung with red ribbon & finished off with pinwheels on either side. 

 

I added in a little crepe paper - red & white - around the chandelier. I really wanted it all to look baby boy-ish & not 4th of July-ish. Mission may or may not have been accomplished.

 

 

 

Game time - the one game I decided to do for the shower was the "naughtiest thing you've done as a child" game. It's very simple! Each guest gets a piece of paper & writes down the worst thing they remember doing as a child. Without writing their names on the paper, the mom-to-be then has to guess who did what! It actually ended up being very entertaining with both genders present! There are some naughty girls out there! :)

 

I'm so bummed that I didn't take more pictures. Everything looked quite a bit different after we set out the beer bucket, mason jars with red/white paper straws, and of course the catering showed up with the food! Heck, I don't even have a picture of the guests of honor - mom & dad!

 

Nikki & Jason, it was such a pleasure to help you celebrate & "shower" you before the little man comes! We can't wait. If he grows up to be anything like his mommy & daddy, he will be one awesome dude! Hugs.

Vegas Bachelorette Prep

I'm going to cheat here because I only wish these pictures were taken during the bachelorette party. But maybe it's even better that these are before & after the WEDDING. No joke. We pulled it off. Managed to get a picture of the bride & all the bridesmaids looking fab pre-wedding & then again on the morning after. Enjoy.

 

 

 

Here is the bride's cute little lacy tank - "sexy little wifey" (so maybe she can actually wear it more than once!) & I made the veil with a little tulle, some ribbon, & a hair clip.

One of the bridesmaid's moms lives in Vegas. HOW HANDY for us! So I shipped down a box of goodies for her to set up in our hotel room before we got there. Napkins, cups, balloons, crape paper, the "CHEERS BITCHES" sign, etc. 

 

 

 

I made Katie a "Las Vegas Bachelorette Survival Kit" & gave it to her when we met up in the airport.

 

Since I'm all about the details ... the kit included "Rally & Recovery Pills."

 

 

During her lingerie shower we played a quick game of "Drink If ..." It was a good way to get the party started!

After opening each gift she had to guess who had given it to her! She guessed mine first thing. Guess we do know each other pretty darn well!

I also saw this cute idea of making stir sticks by using a skewer & sparkly puff (these pictures are just proof I need to work on my photography!)

 

 

My favorite part is probably these cookies. They are each made out of a heart shaped cookie cutter. As per usual, I always have these ideas that never quite work out how I have planned. I intended them to get to Vegas & packed them safely in a shirt box wrapped with bubble wrap. Then as I was checking my bag at the airport I was accidentally 10 pounds over & had to start emptying my bag into the other girls' carry-ons. The first thing to go were these bad boys! Oh well.

 Happy bachelorette weekend to my dear friend Katie!

Vegas Style Bachelorette Party Invitatons

When one of your best friends is getting married ... it calls for a celebration beyond all celebrations (especially if it's been a long time in coming!).

 

It was decided from Day 1, or honestly maybe even sooner, that we would be taking the party to the fabulous Las Vegas.

Every party starts out with an idea & then ... the invitations!

For this party the theme was a given - VEGAS. But I really wanted to narrow it down to some colors. I picked the glitz & glamorous black, gold, & teal!

(the pink was really only used in the invitations as an accent because the bride is not a fan of pink).

 

 

I printed out the front of the invites & mounted them onto a gold/shimmery pre-made card.

 

 

 

Each inside had a bra & panties with the bride's size (for her lingerie shower) as well as an insert of the itinerary with details so girls would have an idea what we were doing & more importantly, what to pack!

 

 

 

I'm in. love. with these black envelopes & gold addresses. (Secret: they are actually leftover from my brother's high school graduation announcements. It's nice to know some hoarding pays off. Ha!)

 

 

Now I couldn't leave the bride out! I made her her very own invitation but with pictures of outfits she needed to pack. I think she hated the suspense. Oh well! ;)

 

Now I'd be lying if I said I didn't put these together with a glass of moscato. Cheers!

Weddin' Sign Makin'

Two great friends of mine, Steph & Chance, recently tied the knot! 

 

It was a perfect sunny afternoon for the couple to commit the rest of their lives to one another and celebrate with their family and friends.

 

 

Their head-of-the-table Mr. & Mrs. signs -

 

 

 

Of course we had to have a sign that matched their wedding invitations! -

FOOD, BOOZE, & BAD DANCE MOVES

 

I used a dark walnut stain so the white lettering would show up better for their direction signs -

Almost There, Forever Starts Here, & McDaniel Vignery Wedding

 

 

 

On the "our love story starts here" sign I wanted something a little softer so for that I used an oak stain -
 

 

 

 

& who doesn't love a good dessert table!? -

Sweet as it is!

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. & Mrs. McDaniel,

I wish you the happiest of days together!

Thank you for your friendship & letting me be a part of the beginning of your forever. 

 

Mrs. Unger's Bridal Shower

One of my favorite girlfriends, Katie Conner, is tying the knot this summer.

Her wonderful soon-to-be-in-laws did a great job planning a lovely bridal shower to celebrate her big day.

 

 

 

 

(I've been practicing my fancy-schmancy chalk writing - but I always run out of space! Can you tell!?)

 

 

 

Check out the view off the patio.

 



 

The perfect way to welcome guests to any bridal shower - a mimosa bar!

Champagne, juice, & fresh melt-in-your-mouth Unger berries! YUM.



Katie's cousin, Laura asked me to come up with a few games ideas for the shower so we decided on a 'date night jar' & 'bridal bingo'!

I decorated a mason jar with some scrapbook paper, ribbon & pearls (pictures coming soon). While guests were eating they each got a piece of paper to write down a unique idea for something Katie & Jake could do for a date night as a married couple.

For the bingo game I made each game sheet with pictures relevant to the happy couple (things like where they got engaged, pictures of her ring, their honeymoon location, their wedding colors, her favorite wine, etc). I'll be honest, this kind of took more work than I anticipated because every single card had to be completely different! & I really didn't have a good system for mixing all the pictures up each time. I printed out a large version of each picture and taped one to each gift that was brought. Before Katie opened the gift I would hold up the picture attached & tell the description. The first three guests with a diagonal bingo won a prize. It ended up being a fun way to keep guests entertained during the gift-opening part of the shower.

 

 

I stained & painted this "Future Mrs. Unger" sign to hang behind the guest-of-honor!

 

 



  

The Beavers garter I sewed for Katie's gift!
 

Laura wrapped up the shower by serving delicious mouth watering pies made with fresh Unger berries! so. good. I might have had two pieces. But we wont talk about that.

 



The perfect party favor - sugar scrub in a mason jar!

(Made by Katie's fabulous future sister-in-law, Kelsey)

 

 

aaaaand just like all good things must come to an end ... I got the worst flat tire ever on my way home. Thank the Lord for AAA & handymen who can change my flats so that I don't have to break a nail or get my dress dirty. I was able to make it home in the wee hours of the morning & get a minute or two of sleep just in time greet Monday morning with the strongest cup of Joe of my life.

 

 

Look at that thing! It's huge!!