Tag: party

Welcome to the World Baby Shower

This was the second of three baby shower themes I created for a Huggies Pinterest campaign. Welcome to the World, Baby!

I liked the invitations that I designed for this one a lot. They were based on the look of a topological map.

Brandon’s sister, Portia, assisted me again on the day of the shoot. The baby onesies on a clothes line is one of her tried-and-true baby shower decorations. Portia and I were a lot better at the whole food styling thing the second time around.

All photography was done by Tyllie Barbosa in her studio again. Here’s the sweets table. (Those salted caramels were from Trader Joe’s, and now I want some.)

Another diaper cake masterpiece, if I do say so myself. We also filled a vintage baby carriage with diapers, because why not? (That may have been a strange choice on my part.)

Please take a moment to admire the decoupage here, because that was Brandon’s contribution. I was scrambling to get everything done, and he helped out with covering BABY kraft letters with vintage map wrapping paper and Mod Podge.

Also, I want to thank Yearbook. They’re one of my favorite local shops, and they let me borrow the amazing vintage globes you see throughout the photos for the shoot.

You can find more images from the Welcome to the World Baby Shower on Pinterest. The Comic Book Baby Shower can be seen here, and I’ll be sharing photos from the last of my three themes soon.

July 3, 2013
Comic Book Baby Shower Theme

I styled three baby shower themes awhile back for a Huggies Pinterest campaign. I was the lone blogger among seasoned stylists and wedding/party planners, and when I learned who I’d be working alongside, I’ll admit I was nervous! I always jump at the opportunities this blog has presented though, and in doing so I’ve adopted Picasso’s motto as my own: “I am always doing that which I can not do in order that I may learn how to do it.”

I came up with three themes (comic book, world travel, foxes), and was then tasked with sourcing or creating everything to go along with each of them them. Invitations, food, flowers, desserts, furniture, decorations, shower games/activities, and a diaper cake. All times three.

It was a big production and the showers were created from scratch in a Tyllie Barbosa’s Chicago photography studio. The walls you see are fakes (two big freestanding panels that I painted the morning of the shoot, Antiquan Blue), and you can assume that any surface you see covered by fabric is a pretty plain-looking tabletop propped up on sawhorses. Photography magic!

I acted as planner and stylist, but Brandon’s sister, Portia, helped me as my assistant during the shoots. That’s her handiwork on the speech bubble signs, among other things. She also helped a lot with the food, which is my weak point in party planning. I put in 12+ hour days for each shoot, not to mention all of the prep work that went into them beforehand, and it would have been crazy to go it alone. Big ups to Portia for being there for me.

Fun fact: I used this wrapping paper with illustrated heroes and villains all over the place. And it was adorable! And then, after we’d set everything up and taken nearly every shot, we found out that we couldn’t use it! The only place you’ll still see it is on the diaper cake, and even there, I covered most of it with a wide ribbon. (By the way, guess who’s a diaper cake making pro? Who knew I had this skill in me?)

You can find more images from the Comic Book Baby Shower on Pinterest, and I’ll be sharing photos from the other two themes I’ve created over the next couple of days.

July 2, 2013
Eleanor’s Second Birthday Party (Complete with Rainbow Cake)

We celebrated Eleanor’s birthday on Saturday. You’ve already seen the invitations, so you know I was going for a colorful kind of party. The Marimekko tablecloth and colorful gerbera daisies were a good start to the decorations.

The main attraction though? The rainbow cake. My mother-in-law helped me with it. We followed the Martha Stewart / Whisk Kid recipe; She made the cake layers and I made the frosting and assembled it.

That cake was a smashing success! Delicious and very pretty.

The paper mobiles above the table were made according to these instructions (I used card stock instead of vellum).

There were twenty balloons scattered everywhere, but somehow I missed photographing them. I got a giant gold “2” balloon too (like these), but it blew away! Here are a few paper daisies hung in the window.

These polka-dotted paper straws were cute, but odd to drink out of.

You know that rainbow-colored, yarn-wrapped “Happy Birthday!” banner that I was going to make? Yeah, that didn’t happen. It was taking waaaay too long and I had to scrap it, so I used a “Happy Birthday” banner that we already had on hand instead.

And I filled my elephant teapot with more gerbera daisies.

Happy second birthday, my sweet little Eleanor.

May 2, 2011
Planning Eleanor’s Second Birthday Party

I designed the invitations this weekend. We’re just having our family over, so no need to include the address (I’m pretty sure they know how to find us).

I want to make a rainbow cake for her. Last year, I ordered a chocolate cake from the local bakery. It tasted fine, but it was kind of expensive for a plain cake and I didn’t like the way they frosted it (I decorated the top myself with a chocolate silhouette). I remember thinking that I should have just made the whole thing myself, so this year I’m going to give it a try.

photo by Nicole Hill Gerulat

I’m thinking balloons and polka dots, in lots of bright colors for the decorations. I’m sure the party will come together, but I hope I’m not being overly ambitious with the cake.

April 18, 2011
Tassel Garland

I love that it’s neutral to mix with any decor, but the mix of metallics keep it really fun and festive. So cute for parties, but I’d be tempted to leave it up year-round!

• CONFETTISYSTEM

November 5, 2010
Eleanor’s First Birthday Party

We celebrated Eleanor’s first birthday last Sunday. There were plenty of paper daisies (I knew I’d find a use for them some day!), a happy birthday banner, pink baloons, and floral garland across the windows.

The weather even cooperated for us.

Oh look, an elephant! Too cute, right?

That vase is actually a teapot, but it’s adorable when filled with flowers.

Eleanor was a gracious host, thoughtfully opting to skip her nap so as not to miss a moment of her party.

She was in a good mood the whole time though, despite being tired toward the end.

I ordered a cake for the party, but I asked for it to be left completely plain with just pale pink frosting. I wanted it to be a blank canvas, but the bakery apparently thought that I meant “smash a bunch of crumbs all around the edge, and pipe some frosting shapes as a border around the whole cake”. Oh well. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with it anyway; I just knew I wanted to decorate it myself.

I made Eleanor’s silhouette out of chocolate for the cake. I melted chocolate chips in a sandwich bag, snipped the end, then laid parchment paper over a template that I had printed out to size. I did the best I could, piping the outline first and then filling it in, and I placed it in the fridge afterward to harden. I also wrote “Happy Birthday Eleanor” in white, lightly scratching the letters in the frosting with a toothpick first as a guide. The cake was not perfect, but it was fine. The guest of honor seemed to like it quite a bit.

May 10, 2010