A Very Elmo Princess Birthday Party!

My sister-in-law Sarah Weaver (yes, same name, different spelling - it is not confusing at all ;) planned an AMAZING 2nd birthday party for her daughter, the best niece in the world, Lillian! With a love of all things Elmo as the theme, their house turned into an Elmo Wonderland straight out of a Disney errr Sesame Street movie! See below for some very creative and cute as heck props, favors, sweets, set-ups etc. in the photos from the party!

Special thanks to Ashley P. Smith with A Petite Sweet in Myrtle Beach for her ridiculously cute and scrumptous Elmo pops! :)

My Monogram Plaque Addiction

I've been having a lot of fun lately making custom monogram wall brooches and wreaths for myself and for friends and family. I decided to make one for a friend a month or so ago based on their wedding colors, monogram and wedding date and just loved it so I have continued to do it for every occassion!

I really enjoy making something that no one else can go buy or make like me. I have made them as wedding, engagement, and baby shower gifts or just as a special touch on your front door or wall so far and for myself of course! See some of them below:

Carmella nursery wall brooch

if you look closely it has a damask background and tiny pearls around the edging

Elingburg newlywed wall, porch or front door brooch

wedding colors: sage green and chocolate brown

Weaver wedding door necklace

with our own wedding colors: blush pinka and mocha :)

Hutchins wedding monogram wall, door or porch brooch

wedding colors: different shades of purple

Morris wall, door or porch monogram brooch

 handmade fabric and raffia flowers with a pearl in the middle to complete the beach theme

~ Weaver Spring wreath for front door ~

so bright and cheery!

XOXO

Sara Bernice

A Very "Baby Chic" Shower

On Saturday, a couple of lovely ladies and I threw a shabby chic, or as we called it "baby chic", shower for our wonderful friend, Molly. We had been planning it for a while and we were really excited to see it come to life!

We held it at a clubhouse close to one of the hostesses houses which made it easy to transfer items, food, decor, etc. quickly. The location was also close to the mother-to-be's (MTB) home which made it very convenient for her and her husband and family when transferring gifts and getting home.

The mommy-to-be is a personal trainer and health enthusiast so we knew that would be important to a lot of the guests as most were clients of hers.  We made sure to keep the menu somewhat healthy and light. We served cucumber saladita, chicken roll-ups, cucumber tea sandwiches, chicken salad tea sandwiches, fruit kabobs and olive, goat cheese and walnut dip with melba toast.

For the decor we had to be careful in the clubhouse as far as nailing and making a mess. So, we made a few easy white pom poms, the flat Martha Stewart ones that you can fluff up yourself. I made a "C" for Carmella centerpiece for the main table that could also work as a nursery wall hanging. We made flower balls wih styrofoam, flower cut-outs and pearl pins and opted for lillies and hydrangeas, always a beautiful touch. We also made silverware napkin wraps with Carmella's name on them and loved the special touch it added.

For the welcome table, we had guests fill out their addresses on the thank you cards for the mother-to-be to send later with no worries and had "wishes for baby" cards for them to fill out and place in a birdcage for the mommy to take home and read and save for baby to read one day from all of her "aunties".

Our cake and cupcakes were from Cakes by the Sea in Little River - always a HIT!

For a fun game, we had interviewed the daddy-to-be prior to the shower on some baby trivia and read them aloud and had the MTB answer some too. That is usually funny UNLESS he (and she) knows all the answers and have been studying, which was the case!

It turned out to be wonderful and I hope everyone likes the photos! :)

Here are my 6 take-aways for easy baby shower planning:

-LOCATION. Make sure the location is fairly close to the MTB and DTB's home so that lugging all the exciting gifts home is not too much of a pain! It's also helpful if it has a kitchen!

-MENU. Make sure to know your guests, if there are vegetarians or healthy eaters or lactose intolerant folks, try and accomodate them.

-CUSTOMIZE. Add as many special touches as you can, especially things that mom and dad can take home later and put in the nursery or in baby storage to look back at - even more helpful could be actually preparing the items in a shadow box or scrapbook for them after the shower as another gift.

-DECOR. Fresh flowers are always a must and Costco or Sam's Club usually has a wide assortment and low-cost options in bulk. This goes for your clear plastic plates and cups as well if that is what you're using.

-DRINKS. We had splenda ginger peach tea (decaf) for MTB and champagne punch and tea and water. Once again provide plenty of options for MTB and guests, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, regular and decaf.

-GAMES. You don't need to go crazy with these. A lot of times most people just like catching up and talking and eating with other guests and MTB. We didnt; want it to get cheesy or go on and one forever either. We didn't opt for an actual game with guests per say but the baby trivia questions with mom and dad is always cute and funny.

I hope you enjoyed the photos and happy planning!

XOXO
Sara Bernice