Baby Lifestyles
Baby Lifestyles LAUREN HALPERIN Publisher, Creative Director
TARA STEINLE Managing Editor
ELLEN FELDMAN, BETH MERAN Contributing Editors
LOLA STEEVENS Sales Director
AUSTIN “Mr. Z” RAPPAPORT Website Architect
MICHAEL GUSTMAN S.E.O. Management Visit Baby Lifestyles online at www.BabyLifestyles.com for inspiration, real baby showers, birthday parties, nursery reveals, hot products, news, updats, contests, giveaways, and more Would you like to contribute to Baby Lifestyles? Email our editorial staff at Editor@BabyLifestyles.com Submit your baby shower, birthday party or nursery to Baby Lifestyles at www.BabyLifestyles.com For information about advertising in Baby Lifestyles Magazine and online, contact Lola Steevens at advertise@babylifestyles.com Follow us on Twitter: @BabyLifestyles1 Baby Lifestyles is published bi-monthly by Baby Lifestyles, LLC. All contents ©2012 Baby Lifestyles, LLC. All rights reserved.
Baby Lifestyles
On the Cover We instantly swooned for lana of celebrate life’s vision of a victorian era, Marie Antoinette inspired baby shower. check out all the loveliness on page 150.
CONTENTS August/September 2012
PAGE 51
PAGE 104
PAGE 95
PAGE 118
PAGE 160
PAGE 13
IN EVERY ISSUE
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
10 PRODUCT TRENDS 173 LAST CRY
118 MARINE HOMECOMING: A FATHER MEETS HIS SON
STUFF WE LOVE
13 RUFFLE CAKE TUTORIAL 26 PARTY STYLING TIPS
PHOTOGRAPHY
56 SLEEPY NEWBORN 67 ROAD TRIP MATERNITY
NURSERY REVEALS
41 LAEF’S EXPLORER ROOM 46 AVERY’S RETREAT 51 ELLIOT’S METALLIC WORLD
PHOTO SPECTACULAR 30 SUMMER TEA PARTY 61 SHOWCASE OF TALENT
CELEBRATIONS
20 BACK TO SCHOOL 74 TEDDY BEARS AND POPCORN 95 DAZZLING ELEGANCE 104 A HAWAIIAN LUAU 140 BOOK EXCHANGE PARTY 150 MARIE ANTOINETTE SHOWER 160 PINK PERFECTION
Newspaper Announcements Announce your baby to the world with a completely customizable newspaper!
Your photos! Family quotes! Time Capsule! Custom Crossword! Your Wishes for Your Baby’s Future!
www.NewspaperAnnouncements.com
Kara Abrahamsen Lillian Hope Designs
Natasha Bascom The Flair Factor
Melissa Coetzee Bella Diva Photography
With a book worm daughter who loves reading, Kara planned a great book exchange party to get her daughter Lillian some new pages to turn on page 140.
If you have a love affair with popcorn, turn to page 74! You’ll pop for Natasha’s own popcorn and teddy bear themed baby shower.
Melissa was behind the lens of our most moving photo shoot of a marine returning home from deployment, where he met his son for the very first time.
Margaret JaNicki JaNicki Photography
Tami Jill Tami Jill Photography
Julie Khuu Haute Khuuture
Summer is coming to an end, and Margaret was there to catch this happy family enjoy an outdoor tea party before the summer sun says farewell.
The stunning baby shower on You want to be friends with Julie so you can attend her parties. If page 95 was caught by Tami. the Hawaiian luau themed, coed See how she makes everything look even more regal looking. baby shower bash on page 104 is any indication, you’ll be her bestie shortly. .
Lana Kulinich Celebrate Life
Mariah Leeson Giggles Galore
Kelly Tesar Tesar Photography
Lana took the idea of “Let’s Eat Cake” and styled a Victorian era fantasy complete with cake bar!
It’s almost time for school! On page 20 Mariah gives you brilliant tips for planning your back to school party.
Kelly’s stunning photography of Elliot’s nursery room caught our attention as she captured every metallic detail perfectly on page 51.
Digital Memories By Lauren Halperin
Digital Scrapbooking is different in terms of creativity because you are not limited to what is on the market. For new and expectant moms, you’ll notice now is the time where you find yourself taking pictures of your expanding belly or snapping away with your iphone at the little face that now lights up your life. You’re going to want to keep every picture you take, as each one is a memory you’ll want to have forever. Traditional scrapbooking involves cutting out pictures or photos and decorating each page with embellishments and creative text. The end product is a multi-dimensional, layered page that captures a memory of a baby
sleeping peacefully or your baby shower celebration, using designs that are clean and fresh with sprinkles of color and cuteness. Digital scrapbooking does the exact same thing, except all the work is done in a digital environment like Photoshop. Digi-scrappers can use digital papers and digital embellishments and fonts to create a 3-D look. The biggest difference is that with digital scrapbooking you work entirely on your computer whereas traditional scrapbooking is all hands on. How much time it takes really depends on how creative you want to be. Digital scrapbooking is quick, fun , easy to share with family and friends via email and even Face-
book. Plus the creativity options are endless. “I think the whole “nesting” period of pregnancy contributes a lot to the discovery of scrapbooking,” said Louise, who runs the Etsy store Sunshine Lemons. “We’re tidying up, getting organized, making mobiles and getting crafty in general. This was definitely my experience with my two pregnancies. And then when the new baby arrives, well, besides wanting to capture all the milestones, one can’t help but feel a responsibility to record all the details and for this reason scrapbooking makes so much sense.” Nicole who operates Etsy Store The Dreamery Designs, think that this time of life is full of new beginnings and experiences for a mom and her baby. “We want to capture all of the changes and developmental milestones and be able to share them in a creative way with friends and family.” Some of the benefits of digital scrapbooking as opposed to the traditional way are that it is affordable, portable and shareable. With digital scrapbooking ele-
ments you can use them over and over as many times as you like. This means you only purchase once and you have a lifetime of unlimited digital scrapbook paper or clip art. Tania got into digital scrapbooking after she had her son. “I had heaps of digital photos and I wanted to share them in a creative way. She now runs Etsy store Lady Siren where her digital papers can be used for scrapbooking, birth announcements, and party papers. If you are new to the digital scrapbooking revolution, there are many talented designers out there who have created Digital Kits to suit or expand the ideas you have.
How to Make an Ombre Pastel Rainbow Ruffle Cake With Fondant
While this cake was frosted and filled with delicious Buttercream frosting, the actual ruffles Linda Vandermeer from Bubble and Sweet created are fondant. Here she shows you how she created this ombre rainbow effect out of fondant and food coloring in five colors
MATERIALS NEEDED Buttercream (or ganache) Fondant* Pink, purple, blue, green and yellow gel food color (I used Wilton, although for the purple fondant I used Americolor) Large rolling pin cornflour (corn starch) Small Rolling Pin
Large knife for trimming the cake Small sharp knife Cake smoothers X 2 Frilling tool - if you do not have a frilling tool a toothpick can be used for a similar result Not stick flower molding mat Small brush and water
DIRECTIONS: 1. First make the cakes. The recipe Linda uses is the Quick and Easy Vanilla Cake from page 9 of her book Sweets on a Stick . Mix up a couple of batches, divide it into five bowls and color each batch using Wilton gel food colors. “You only need a small amount of these gel colors for the cake to be a pretty vibrant pastel color. Start with 1/4 tsp and add more if your cake batter batch is large until you have your desired color.” 2. Make sure you grease, flour and line the tins to make removing the cake easier. “I only had 2 tins the size I wanted so I cooked a couple of cakes wiped the baking pans clean, regreased and floured, lined and popped the new batch of cake batter in.” Pop the baked cakes onto a wire rack to cool. 3. Trim the top and bottom off each layer to make the cake flat and remove the thin brownish crust. Linda started with yellow as the base. She took a cake board and popped a little of the buttercream in the center to secure the cake and then stacked the cakes up with Italian Meringue Butter cream in between each layer.
4. In between each layer, put the cake into the fridge to chill to make sure the whole thing doesn’t slide off the plate. 5. The Italian Meringue Buttercream recipe she used was from the Whimsical Bakehouse cookbook. Once the final layer was in place and chilled, Linda spread buttercream around the edges and made the cake as smooth as possible. Chill the cake again until the buttercream is firm. 6. Mark a piece of paper so you will know where each layer ended and the next begins. 7. Measure around the cake with a piece of string, so you will know how long your fondant will need to be and then measure the height. Cover the cake with the fondant underlayer for the ruffles to stick on. Linda used plain white for around the side.
8. Roll out a piece of fondant that you can cut into a rectangle the size that you have measured. Roll out the fondant on a workbench dusted with a little cornflour, turn and lift the fondant often to make sure it does not stick and try and roll out in a rectangular (ish) shape. 9. Once the fondant is big enough trim along the top to get a straight line. Take the cake out of the fridge and lay it sideways onto the fondant so that you can wrap the fondant around the cake. Where the fondant joins at the back you can wrap one layer over the other and then using a sharp knife cut down in a straight line. Lift up the fondant and remove any excess underneath and smooth the cut line together with your finger. “Don't get too uptight about it, it's all going to be covered with ruffles.�
10. Put the cake upright and use a sharp knife to trim off the fondant from around the bottom of the cake, and use fondant smoothers to make sure that the cake is smooth. 11. Color some of the fondant pink and roll out until very thin and using the cake tin that you used to bake the cakes in. Press down to cut out a round the approximate size of the cake. Place it on top of the cake and use the fondant smoothers to make the top as smooth as you can. “I used the smoothers in a kinda T shape around the top edges to make a moderately sharp edge.” 12. Take that piece of paper from before where you marked the colors and using a knife make a little indent so you will know where each color ends/starts. 13. Now start making the ruffles! Color your fondant by kneading a small amount of the gel food color into the fondant. You should not need a large amount of colored fondant for each color, about the size of your fist should do if you are making a smallish cake, obviously more if you are making a large cake.Helpful tip: Remember fondant dries our really quickly so keep it in an airtight container or zip lock bag while you are not using it. 14. To Make the fondant ruffles dust the workbench with cornflour (cornstarch), take a piece of fondant about 1 1/2 tsp and shape it into a rectangle, using the small rolling pink roll in out into a long strip. As you roll you may need to press the sides in carefully with the sides/heels of you hands to stop it from getting too wide, or if you find that is not working you can always use a sharp knife to trim it back to size. Keep rolling until the strip is quite thin. “I like to pick the strip up after each roll to ensure it is not sticking to the bench and when necessary dust underneath again.” 15. When you have rolled out as thin as you can on the workbench, pick up the strip of fondant and place onto a nonstick foam (the type you use for making fondant flowers) and using the middle section of the frilling tool roll back and forth (like using a rolling pin) to make the strip even thinner, you will probably get it to double in length. Then use the pointed edge of the frilling tool rolling back and forth along one edge of the strip a little more to make it a little ruffled.
16. Attach this strip of fondant to your cake starting at the top. Brush on a very small amount of water to the cake along the top and press the fondant strip onto the cake. “I tried to gather the strip to make it appear more ruffled.� When you have finished attaching one strip make another and attach it to the cake starting where the last strip finished. Go back and press the lumpy bottoms of the ruffles down as you finish attaching each strip. 17. Continue making pink strips of fondant and attaching them to the cake cone working your way down the cake until you reach the indent that indicated you should start with the next color and follow the instructions this time making violet ruffles. Follow this process for all the remaining colors until the cake is completely covered with ruffles. Helpful Tip: As you work your way down, some of the ruffles may fall down and look floppy, I usually brush a tiny amount of water around the middle section and press the ruffle up so it is upright, but this look is not about perfection so some floppy areas will work just fine. Now relax and have a piece of cake!
Back to School Party By Mariah Leeson
The carefree days of summer are coming to an end, but for a fresh batch of nursery school-aged kids a new adventure is just around the corner. Back-to-school means new friends, new teachers and new memories! Mariah Leeson of Giggles Galore wants to get your little ones excited about the new school year by celebrating with a Back to School Bash. Whether your child is starting kindergarten or they are a seasoned school pro these tips will guarantee your Back to School party gets an A+! Class is in Session. Set the stage and decorate the party with lots of school decor like a globe, books, chalkboards and school supplies. Use an old desk and bookshelf to display the party treats.
Reading and Writing. Find inspiration in things your child loves and create the party using those elements. “My daughter loves books and is learning to read so I combined it with classic school colors to celebrate the beginning of the new school year.� Time for Recess. Give the kids an outlet to release all their energy with some school themed activities. Play "Teacher Says", Red Rover, Freeze Tag or Kickball. Create a special "Reading Nook" and fill it with books about going to school. Have story time and read one of these favorites: The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn, The Twelve Days of Kindergarten by Deborah Lee Rose or Miss Bindergarten Get Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate.
Snack Time. Traditional "school lunch" food items are fun to serve, easy to make and always a big hit with the kids. Turn these ordinary lunch items into a feast for the eyes by placing PB&J sandwiches in glassine bags tied with ribbon or serving fruit in small ice cream cups with coordinating stickers. Class Photo. Paint a picture frame and have each kid pose with a sign indicating what grade they will be entering. See you in School. Hand out paper bags with note pads, crayons and a sweet treat to enjoy. Make sure your bookworms are ready for the school year with their very own bookmarks and books.
Tips for An Unforge with MKR
r Styling ettable Party R Creations
With a lot of love, we created the Olivia themed 1st Birthday Party for our daughter/niece, Vida SalomĂŠ. Vida fell in love with Olivia after first watching the show on Nick Jr at the age of 4 months. She instantly starting recognizing Olivia at the store and on TV and would go gaga over her! Mix and match colors and patterns to make your party decor a little unique. In this Olivia themed party, we used different patterns such as damask, polka-dots, and stripes. They all blended together perfectly and the entire decor looked amazing with the different patterns in white, black, and red. Use products that you already have around your home. It is such a big money and time saver. For example, the lemonade stand was used from an old wood fence; the center piece bases were old text books wrapped with wrapping paper.
A Summer’s Day Tea Party By JaNicki Photography
An Adventure Room for An Explorer By Tara Steinle
Wanting an eclectic mood for her son’s nursery, photographer Rebekah Fancher didn’t want the baby feeling of light blues and yellow. Instead she took inspiration for creating this explorer nursery from her son’s name: Laef.
Named after Leif Ericson, the great Viking explorer who discovered America, Rebekah spelled it differently because she didn’t want people to call him “Leaf ”. “We want it pronounced “Layf ”. His name means ‘Heir,’ ‘Descendant,’ ‘One who is loved.’” Originally, Rebekah wanted to do more of a classic, vintage "London" theme, but her husband found the pillow marked with maps and exploring ships which now resides in Laef's crib at Ikea and the theme changed. “He was so excited about it and said ‘Lets make this the theme of his room. Like Lief Ericson.’”
As traveling around the world is something Rebekah and her husband Brandon are passionate about, she loved the idea of using the explorer as a tool in their creating Laef ’s room. Using that inspiration, they incorporated ideas of maps, voyage, paper boats, ships, lanterns, burlap and other exploration accoutrement. “I kept thinking of that scripture, ‘Blessed is the man whose heart is set on a pilgrimage.’ from Psalm 84:5. I think it’s appropriate.” While most exploring rooms use Earth tones, Rebekah chose her color palette from an artist’s paint-
ing she loved. “I was originally going to let these paintings be my inspiration to decorate. I also have always loved those deep fall colors of mustard yellows, dark greens, oranges and reds.” As she had recently painted her office from yellow to “Willow Tree” by Sherwin Williams, she kept the wall color and her office was moved to downstairs to make room for the little voyager. If you want a great tip for beautiful things in your nursery, Rebekah advises to surround yourself with great artist friends and let them make things for you. At her baby shower, her friend Sharon made the canvas “Laef Owen” sign. Her sister-in-law-Jessica made the
adorable boats for her. “Oh my goodness….I just love them so much. She also made Laef “Mr. Bowtie” and made him vikingish with red hair. And she also made little Mr. “Eric the Red” on the left.” She even made the amazing pillows with trimming from one of my great grandmother’s dresses. Even Rebekah’s mom got in on the crafting action. After seeing the boat mobile on Etsy and sending her mom a picture of it, she surprised her daughter by making it for her. She created the boats out of maps and old children’s encyclopedias. Now Laef ’s room is ready for him to begin his travels of the world.
Peaceful World By Tara Steinle
Too much of a planner to wait, Andra found out the gender for both her children. When she discovered she was carrying a girl, she couldn’t wait to tackle her basic home office and transform it into Avery’s future bright and calming room. “I just love the actual feel of the room when you enter. It’s inviting, soothing and feminine, and I just love the color combination. I feel so at peace when I'm in there nursing Avery, and often look for excuses just to spend time in the room.”
Originally Andra had the idea of a buttercup-yellow room with gray details, but once she started looking at paint chips, she realized that wouldn't work with the carpet color. So gray with yellow and white accents it was! “I went with those colors because I wanted something soft and calming, and obviously feminine yet not in your face about it. And no pink!” Because she put so much of herself into Avery’s room design, it’s hard for Andra to narrow down her favorite elements. The ribbon
bunting is one of her favorites, simply because it is so unique and makes a statement, and was ridiculously easy to do. “I knew this would be the first detail you see from the hall, and wanted it to have serious impact without being overpowering.” Heavily pregnant when at the time, Andra didn’t want to mess around with climbing up and down a ladder to pin the ribbon to the wall. “If you have a sewing machine you could whip one of these up quite quickly, but if you don’t—like me!—just use double-sided tape and glue the ribbon strips onto a longer white piece. She also adores the button artwork tree because it was a labor of love, and hopes it will be something she keeps as she grows older and perhaps even puts in her own baby's nursery someday?. Andra decided to use a tree for the project as a circle and the trunk seemed like the simplest shape to create. At the time, Avery’s name had not yet been decided on so she didn’t choose an initial. “On a scale from 1 - 10: Easiness - 3, Tediousness - 10. The buttons were the easy part,
and was done relatively quickly ... the trunk made with tiny brads was ridiculously time-consuming. The buttons were fastened using glue dots, and the silver is actually a variety of different brads, each one carefully poked through the cardstock. The “falling leaves” were done to cover a black mark I found on the paper about 3/4 of the way through the process, which upset me at the time but I’m now happy happened. I think this is my favorite piece in the room.”
“I knew this would be the first detail you see from the hall, and wanted it to have serious impact without being overpowering.�
METALLIC MASTERPIECE
BY LAUREN HALPERIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY KELLY TESAR
With a combined design style of modern, classic, feminine and old world, Launa Fowler began secretly collecting for to transform her guest room into her baby’s nursery long before she found out she was expecting a girl. “I had a ‘feeling’ she would be a girl. I kept the receipts just in case!” Before the nursery, this guest room was a space a guest might not want to stay in. Launa and her husband had only lived in their home for a year and didn’t want to invest too much money into the room as they knew we would eventually turn it in to a nursery.
Wanting a space that was elegant but still had a touch of whimsy, Elliot’s room is a palace of creams and metallics with a air of shabby chic sophistication. The common theme was a neutral pallet and Launa added things she loved from there. “I love metallic! I knew I had to have a metallic element to our baby’s room. It all started with our silver metallic striped hallway and my obsession grew from there. I thought of it as my nursery, at least until Elliot is old enough to know what she likes.” Since this room was bare
bones Launa knew she would have to invest in this room. She spread the cost out over the nine month deadline with fairly generous budget of $1500 from start to finish. “We didn’t want to have to spend more money to change much of the decorating as she grows, so we tried to make it less ‘baby’ and more of a space that can be easily changed as she grows without a lot of money.” The first item purchased were the stunning angel wings, which are also the first thing you see upon entering. Launa originally saw a pair made from wood and much more on the shabby chic and more importantly, expensive side. After searching, she finally tracked down this pair and is over the moon with how magnificent they turned out. “They were gold and pretty banged up so naturally, I pulled out the metallic silver spray paint. They are pretty sturdy so I was afraid of them falling on the crib or Elliot pulling them down, so instead of hanging them by the hooks on the back, my husband drilled
them straight into the wall. Those beauties aren’t going anywhere, so I hope Elliot doesn’t want to change those...ever.” “I really enjoy the tissue tassel garland; seriously, the best decoration ever! I’m convinced I need a tassel banner in each room of our home. I never get tired of looking at it and it is still one of my favorite decorations in the space. After we hung the mirror, the space above looked so bare and my husband and I agreed that I needed to add some color to that side of the room. I knew I wanted to make the cloud mobile so above the changing table the tissue poms went. I’m glad we put them there now, I catch baby Elliot looking at them when she is being changed. I think they help make the space more playful.” The cloud mobile was also a DIY project with some sewing help from Launa’s mom. She tracked down the perfect peach felt on Etsy, cut out the shapes, and sent them to her mom for sewing. She stuffed them with cotton balls, added faux crystal raindrops, and found the glitter star from a toy wand. “Peach is a
difficult color to decorate with because there just isn’t much out there and finding coordinating peach colors was a big challenge as well.” I also really love the chandelier. My husband put a dimmer on the switch and I love to look at it during late night feedings. As Elliot grows, I’ve noticed that she loves to stare at it too. She is definitely her mother’s daughter. And let’s not forget the ruffled pillows! I cannot get enough ruffles. I have ruffled pillows in other rooms of the house and I could not wait to add them to the nursery. I also really love the horseshoe from my horse, Uno, that I have had for nearly 18 years above her door for ‘good luck’. That round rose rug packs a big impact, but was also one of the biggest splurges Launa made in the room. “We didn’t really need a rug but I just loved it so much that I wanted to include it. That was not in our budget. It was definitely a last minute indulgence, like the icing on the cake. We did wait for it to go on sale, but it was still out of the price range I wanted. My sweet hus-
band strongly dislikes rose rugs— even though we have a red one in another room of the house--but he knew how much I wanted the ivory one for the nursery. He made it happen though, he’s the best!” One element that set Launa on a search was finding the perfect bedding. Wanting to stay with the neutral color pallet, she was sold on the detail of little sheep embroidered on the bumper and quilt. A bonus was that the crib sheet was a neutral ivory. “I bought extra sheets on sale at Babies R Us (with their coupons!) for those nights when accidents happen, that way the bedding still looks complete, even after a night of chaos.” Elliot Noel arrived a week early over Memorial Weekend this year. She weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces and 19.5 inches long. “There is a quote by William Morris that reads “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” My advice would be to read the quote and implement it. And implement it for your baby.”
Crib: Babies R Us (on sale!) Babi Italia Eastside Classic Crib Bedding: Counting Sheep from Land of Nod Dresser: IKEA Malm dresser Chair : Nurseryworks Empire Rocking Chair from Rocking Chairs A to Z Wall paint color Unknown, it is our trim color from the previous owners color matched at Lowes
Angel Wings: Hobby Lobby Tissue Tassel Garland: Etsy shop Every Lane Design Drapes: Crate and Barrel Round Ivory Rose Rug: Pier 1 Zinc Letter: Anthropologie Tissue Poms: Etsy shop Prost to the Host Raining Cloud Mobile: DIY Butterflies: Etsy shop A Bugs Loft
c{ÉàÉzÜtÑ{ç f{Éãvtáx Photo by Corlis Gray of Gray Photography
Photo by Cheryl M. Photography
Photo by Eternal Reflections Photography
Photo by Kate's Lens Photography
Photo by Afterglow Photos
Photo by Cheryl M. Photography
Photo by Ian Grant Photography
Photo by Dawn V Gilmore Fine Art Photography
Photo by Ilene Squires Photography
Photo byJillian Rose Photography
Photo by Tammy Bacon of Country Roads Photography
Photo Set by Kay Meyer Photography
Photo by Petula Pea Photography
Photo byJ Layne Photography
HOW DOES YOUR BABY PARTY? WWW.BABYLIFESTYLES.COM
A Teddy Bear Family By Natasha Bascom
Dainty, modern, and girly is exactly what Natasha of The Flair Factor wanted when it came to her own baby shower. With a love of feminine touches, she incorporated soft elements into her theme of "Building our family one Block at a time." Along with building blocks and teddy bears, ruffles and rosettes were the decor trend of choice in shades of pink and aqua. Decorations started at the front door with oversized, custom building blocks flanking the entrance, and a handcrafted ruffled wreath on the door. Shower guests were welcomed with a pink grapefruit or berry lemonade spritzer with tiny pacifiers adorning the drinking straws.
Tables were dressed in fitted white ruffled table toppers designed to accentuated the aqua linens. Hand-painted building block centerpieces with teddy bears dressed up in little pink skirts, a rosette bow, and a signature logo tee matched the baby shower stationery. Ruffles and rosettes were incorporated into the cake, signage, table linens, guest of honors chair sashes, and custom pillow.
Since Natasha is a lover of popcorn, she switched up the sweets table by creating a popcorn buffet. From sugary to savory, a suite of popcorn flavors were offered to guests with menu options including cheddar, caramel crunch, asiago and cracked pepper, and chipotle and lime. Guest were also given the option of having freshly popped popcorn for sprinkling a choice of nacho, ranch, or old fashioned butter seasonings from baby bottles. Guests went home with teddy bear favors and lots of popcorn!
Shabby Chic Couture Baby Shower
Photography by Portraits by AXYZ3 Shabby Chic is an art. There is a sense of sophisticated aging that is revealed through the colors and décor. Tamar Molina decided to use soft pinks, off whites, light shades of blues and introduced a burst of bold colors as accents for her sister’s
baby shower. “My sister loves everything pink! She had been thinking about having a shabby chic inspired nursery but
wasn’t sure if she could pull it off or where to begin. I host
lots of parties and have acquired a good collection of decorations. I told her to leave it up to me and I would give her a glimpse of what it could potentially look like.”
Nothing says baby girl shower, like being showered in pinks, doilies, pastels and lace and roses and tulle. Tamar used glittered fuchsia tulle on the inside of the tent to give off a soft pink hue on the inside of the tent, once the sun came through. She hung garlands with pink daisies from a canopy, made a table skirt with soft pink tulle to drape from the candy buffet table, hung garland made from soft pink ruffles to create a majestic entrance to the space. She decided on using doilies both for the invitation and the décor and throughout the candy buffet, because of their versatility and simplistic beauty. “Doilies folded over twine with shabby chic inspired clothes pin gave the twine and doilies a very shabby feel.” The pink ruffled garland made it’s way from the entry point of the candy buffet area, to the guest seating area and tables. Small shabby green bows made from tulle adorned the ruffled garland as it hung above and at table level. Bird cages were painted in a shabby blue to add to the contrast on the white table cloths with pink plate setting. Flowers and moss filled the inside of the bird cages, topped with a big silk hot pink bow.
Pom poms are always a beautiful addition to any party. Tamar blended in two shades a pink, a subdued pink and an intense fuchsia the result was a life like looking flower with so much personality. In addition, she used 18� hanging pom poms made from shimmering pink tulle from Heart to Heart, along with the green grass mats with bright pink Daisy flowers.Sara felt so special being showered with so much shabby chic love, that the inspiration will soon be seen in the baby’s nursery.
The sugar cookies were provided by Suzette at Simply Sweet Baked Goods, in the shape of a silhouette from mommy’s belly, a onesie and a circular cut cookie. She took her color cues from the shabby chic color palette for a wonderful mix of light pinks, blues and greens. “Sara loved the tent area where the Shabby Candy Buffet table was the best. She especially loved the shabby chic inspired rocking chair and the frame that held her Baby’s ultrasound picture.”
Showed in Elegance Photography by Tami Jill
Coeds Get Leid at a Haw By Julie Khuu Photogra
waiian Luau Baby Shower aphy by Vanda Events
When it comes to coed baby showers, Julie Khuu knows how to throw a celebration every guest doesn’t want to miss. “As with any party you must entertain the lot of different ages of guests. Something isolated for the kids, booze for the adults, and of course, a music playlist that features all the popular radio jams. I like to think of my parties as a dance club for all ages. Music gets them pumpin’, live action keeps them partyin’, and alcohol pretty much keeps all of the adults happy.”
Initially inspired by the gorgeous outdoor location at her local community recreation center, the large, expansive, open grassy area provided the perfect backdrop to plan this party for more than 100 guests, plus babies and even a few dogs. “I knew I wanted to bring the indoors-out, so florals and decorative foliage were first on my list. Large banana leaves and open palms littered the tablescapes while bold and beautifully colored orchids peppered contrasting color throughout the space.�
The pops of red and yellow in the flowers were Julie’s guiding color scheme for the party since it stood out against a sea of lush greenery. From there she added grass skirts and inexpensive fabric to complete the table runners, bright paper umbrellas to shade the guests from the penetrating sun, and tiki torches that light up any modern-day luau while keeping the bugs at bay.
As a rule, Julie enforces a dress code in the initial baby shower invitations so all of her guests dress according to theme. Matching outfits makes the photographs that much more memorable for the parents-to-be. Julie scored when she found beautiful poly-printed Hawaiian floral fabric and ended up purchasing over 30 yards at $1.99/yd. A separate styling party was held to show her friends how to wrap and tuck the fabric into a bonafide party ensemble. “Some used their fabric to wrap a sarong, others made mini-dresses, while I sewed myself an easybreezy maxi dress. No wardrobe malfunctions here!�
With no shortage of stores that sell Hawaiian decorations, Julie was able to decorate this party on a budget. Fabric leis were a Dollar Tree find allowing guests to be welcomed with a colorful lei that set the tone and were a great way to direct guests to the different “zones” at the party. “I also found really cute Hawaiianthemed beverage sleeves so I designed some “Welcome Baby Jaxon” labels, inserted ice-cold drinks like Hawaiian punch for the kids and wine coolers for the adults, and gave these away as party favors.”
Julie believes that every food buffet should have a centerpiece, something that should wow guests as well as satiate their appetites. While it’s not typical for a baby shower, a roasted pig is the traditional fare in the Hawaiian islands. “Guests totally got a kick out of seeing that roasted pig right next to the spam musubis and chicken cutlets…How do you throw a luau without the celebratory roasted pig, right? We are rejoicing in a baby’s birth after all!”.”
These luau baby shower guests did more than drink from coconuts and enjoy the beautiful weather. “We had face-painting, balloon artist, and a jumper for the kids, endless amounts of cocktails and beverages for the adults, made-to-order snow cones for everyone to enjoy, and of course a shaded indoor recreation center for the grandparents who just want to relax away from all the commotion.” Throughout the party we held a raffle drawing with prizes like gift certificates to Starbucks, Best Buy, Target, etc. “There’s never a dull moment and raffles are the perfect way to get everyone’s attention since everyone loves freebies! We also held a limbo contest, hula-hoop contest, and some baby shower games like my personal favorite, the “Pooper Scooper”.
The centerpiece of the desert table was a 3D two-tiered cake decorated with an “aquatic” theme complete with an under-theseascape, Hawaiian hibiscus florals, and some surf action for baby Jaxon. One of Julie’s friends created the dessert menu including cake pops, sugar cookies, mini-cupcakes, and 3 different types of macaroons. Julie then decorated the desserts with inexpensive cocktail umbrellas to add that party punch of color and backed the table with over-scaled tropical leaves and palm.
Marine Deployment Homecoming A Father Meets His Son
Photography by Melissa Coetzee of Bella Diva Photography
Adrieuna is studying to become a nurse and met her fiance, Greg, a Marine in his second enlistment, in 2010 on Facebook. Deployed three times before, he was in combat in Iraq for a period of time. In May 2011, they found out they were expecting a baby due in January 2012, while Greg would be deployed to Okinawa, Japan, and would not return until March. Adrieuna had a C-Section, so Greg could watch his son being born via Skype. On January 8, 2012 Luke Brayton was born at 10:50am weighing 7-lbs 4-Oz, 19 Inches. Greg couldn't come home right away, so taking care of a newborn was up to Adrieuna, with a lot of help from her family. Greg's Homecoming was March 16th 2012. The day he arrived, the wait seemed like forever before sound of the Harley Davidsons that were escorting the busses was heard. Greg was on the third bus and when he came off, Adrieuna pushed the stroller his way and jumped into his arms. She took their sleeping son from his stroller and placed him in his father's arms for the very first time. This moment was priceless. "Being a military family is not easy but we made it together. Our love and strength grows each day for each other. We love our son more than anything and have bright plans for our future. So, if you ever see someone that serves in our military thank them for their hard work and dedication to our country and also to the family because we sacrifice everything just like they do."
Keep Calm and Read On Book Exchange Party Styled by Kara Abrahamsen Photos by Annye of Faith Photography
What better way to get the kids in the mood for the first day of school then a Book Exchange Party! Kara’s daughter Lilly absolutely loves reading and was really excited to help plan this party and get some new books. Kara made the invitations mimic an old library cards, and included the concept of the book exchange, where every kid brings five books they have read and goes home with five new ones.
When the kids arrived, they put their books in the "Library". An old dollhouse worked perfectly to house them and looked like an old school house. Then they played games and took turns taking pictures on her grandfather’s old school desk. “They laughed and couldn’t believe that the desk use to be “real”!”Once everyone arrived it was time to eat their “Sack Lunches”. Everyone grabbed a lunch and sat down on the picnic quilt to eat, talk, and laugh. When everyone was finished with the real food they got to go pick out their sweets!
When it was time for the book exchange, each one got to go up one at a time and pick out two books the first time around and three the second time around. When they had picked out their new books they moved on to the bookmark station. Kara cut out rectangles from white cardstock and the kids decorated them with school themed stamps, markers and crayons.
When it was time to go home everyone got a red basket to fill with “school supplies and sweets”. “They had so much fun and everyone went home with five new books to read before school starts!”
Let Them Eat Cake AMarie Antoinette Baby Shower By Lana Kulinich
This Marie Antoinette baby shower was inspired by mother-to-be Liliya, a very fancy, fabulous and dramatic woman. When she met with Lana Kulinich of Celebrate Life, she described her vision for her baby shower using key words such as over-the-top, extravagant, elegant, and royal. “I envisioned an event with a soft color palette of ivory, blue, peach and pink with gold accents. I knew this project was going to be special and our visions aligned perfectly! Liliya had similar ideas in mind and when I drew up a design, she loved it.�
Gorgeous pastel colored floral arrangements were a mixture of hydrangea, roses, spray roses and stock. Together, they were the perfect combination for royal table centerpieces. “The neutral colors were definitely on purpose. Liliya did know the gender (boy), but as I studied Victorian themed design elements, I noticed the use of pink and blue shades. I wanted to mute the colors down and create a blended color palette, so that the accents of gold popped to add a royal flair and dramatic touch.�
“Let them eat cake” was obviously a strong theme throughout this baby shower with dessert becoming a décor element of its own, complete with edible gold dust. Apart from the theme of extravagant dessert, Lana was inspired by other elements from the Victorian era and royal rule of Marie Antoinette. From the ivory and gold damask prints of the linens, to the antique frames with the damask pattern, Victorian details were everywhere. She made a custom ivory tufted “vase” for the centerpieces, complete with diamond studs and used ruffles and rich fabrics as well as sheer drapery to add elegance to the venue. Plain Ikea frames were spray painted and hung around the tables to help set the tone for the event. She even used rock candy as sugar and stirrers for the tea!
With a Victorian theme revolving around the phrase “Let them eat cake” the actual cake had to be fabulous. “Instead of a traditional tiered cake, we chose to do three separate cakes with similar designs. This created a “cakes” instead of “cake” look for the dessert table.” There was also a menu of French macarons, sprinkled with gold dust, cupcakes, fruit tarts and a wide array of other dessert. The mini individual cakes, which doubled as party favors, were the cherry on top of this sundae. “A relative of the mother is an aspiring baker so she put her skills to the test and made these. They were adorable and a huge hit with the guests.”
"A wee bit of heaven drifted down from above- A handful of
happiness, a heart full of love. The mystery of life, so sacred and sweet- The giver of joy so deep and complete. Precious and
priceless, so lovable, too- The world's sweetest miracle, baby, is you." ~ Helen Steiner Rice ~