Modern Turtle Baby Shower Map Insert

Rebekah, from A Blissful Nest, contacted me awhile ago about designing a map to accompany some adorable baby shower invitations she designed. I was more than happy to help her out! Here's the final result.


To see more pictures from this event stop by A Blissful Nest.

Thanksgiving 2010 Compilation

Once again some AMAZING designs have been shared this year for the latest holiday. With layouts like these no one would ever want to get up from the table! If you're looking for some last minute inspiration this should definitely do it! Be sure to click on the link or picture to go to each designer's site. Most of them have many more beautiful photos to see!

Celebrations at Home


Celebrations at Home


Enchanted Events & Design


Hostess with the Mostess


How Does She?


Katie Grace Designs via Hostess with the Mostess


Pottery Barn


Shindig Parties to Go


Shindig Parties to Go


The Savvy Mom's Guide


The White Library

{Giveaway} Winner of EEAD Holiday Gift Tags

Congratulations to comment #13, tashjian05!
Thank you to everyone who blogged, Facebooked and entered this giveaway. For anyone who is interested in purchasing these gift tags, they are available in the EEAD Etsy Store.

{Giveaway} Thanksgiving Collection! - ENDED

What? Two giveaways in one week? Absolutely!

I'm very excited to share with everyone that the EEAD Thanksgiving table that I posted recently has been featured on Hostess with the Mostess! In honor of this, I decided to offer up my Thanksgiving menu and place cards to all of my blog followers as a printable. Just email me your email address or leave it in a comment below and I'll send it to you with DIY instructions so you can print it at home just in time for Thanksgiving!


Just make sure you click on the "follow" button on the right sidebar of this blog and become a follower to be eligible to receive this giveaway! This giveaway will end on November 24, 2010.


Thank you again to "Hostess with the Mostess" for sharing this with their fans!

{Giveaway} EEAD Holiday Gift Tags - ENDED

To celebrate the upcoming holidays I've decided to do a gift tag giveaway. The winner will receive:

12 Christmas Gift Tags


AND

12 Holiday Gift Stickers

So here is how to enter and win some free stuff!

TO ENTER:
You MUST first be an EEAD Follower (click on the follow option on the right sidebar of this blog)! Then leave a comment on this post for EACH entry below that applies to you.

1. Be an EEAD blog follower.
2. Be an EEAD fan on Facebook.
3. Share this giveaway on Facebook or blog about it!

Deadline to Enter: November 24, 2010.
Winner will be announced on Thanksgiving, next Thursday, November 25, 2010.

And for anyone who is interested in purchasing these items they will be available in my Etsy Store.

Thanksgiving in a Modern Hue

I was hoping to have this post to you earlier in the month. However, I got sidetracked by some last minute events so my Thanksgiving table got delayed. I hope you enjoy the table design as much as I enjoyed putting it together.


Now for the details! I ran across these two paper patterns at Jo-Ann Fabrics and I instantly fell in love with the color combination.


I knew I wanted to do something slightly different for my table and not rely on a completely traditional palette. The gray, orange and white instantly drew me in! Here are some more photos of the final product.



The place cards are envelopes that I tied to the back of each of the chairs with a ribbon. I attached each person's name to the envelope in a cutout to match the menus. These serve a dual purpose as a place card and also as a Thanksgiving activity. Each guest is given some blank cards (one for each of the other guests). They can then write a brief little note of thanks and love to the other person and place it in their envelope (like a Valentine). At the end of the meal each person gets an envelope full of wonderful notes from their friends and/or family.

{Event Recap} 7 Courses of Asia

At my husband's request, I hosted a seven course dinner party last night for some of his family. The level of my table decor for my own dinner parties ranges based on how much free time I have to actually plan for my own events. Sometimes I'm able to plan everything out ahead of time and shop for the perfect items. Other times, like last night, I'm racing around the day of the party trying to cook and throwing together whatever I can find in my house into some kind of coordinated look.

My dining room is decorated in a rustic Asian decor. The walls are faux finished with a bamboo mural. I decided to stick with this theme for the dinner last night. I chose Asian flavored dishes for each course and got some sake and plum wine to drink. After scavenging my home for decor (it's amazing what you can dig out of your cupboards) this is my final look.


I have a stock pile of fabrics and tablecloths so I was able to borrow this green fabric for the table. Although I was debating just using a runner on its own since the dark wood of the table also looked perfect with the theme. My favorite find was the leaf candle holders on the table. I had bought them recently from the 99 cent only store! I love perusing their aisles periodically and find all kinds of fun decor for future tables for a great price!


My husband and I are big fans of Asian food so I already had some dishes to go with this theme. I'm a HUGE dish fanatic! Some girls collect shoes, I accumulate dishes. But if you have one nice set of white dishes you can pretty much put them with any theme. A white dish set is a great item to have in your arsenal. I also coordinated with my mom and we both bought the same white dish set, each in a set of 12. So I actually have a set of 24 at my disposal, which is extremely handy when I want to throw a large dinner party, shower or if I'm doing a multi-course meal and need lots of dishes (so you don't have to wash between courses).

And of course one of the easiest ways to dress up any table, a menu. This is extremely helpful with a multi-course meal to give your guests a sense of what is coming. For this meal I used my Blossom Card design in a color to match the table scape.




Here are a few more details of the table.

Orchid plant I received as a gift a few weeks earlier


Wall votive holder

And now for the food! I'll write another post going into more details about planning out a multi-course meal and how to choose your dishes. But for now ... here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

First course - Appetizer
Soy-Glazed Tofu


Second course - Soup
Edamame and Avocado Soup


Third course - Salad
Ginger Beef Salad with Miso Vinaigrette


Fourth course - Palate cleanser
Green Tea Mochi


Fifth course - Poultry
Asian Chicken, Noodle Salad


Sixth course - Red meat/fish
Mongolian Beef


Seventh course - Dessert
Sweet Coconut Tapioca with Bananas

{Event Recap} Twinkle Twice Grand Opening

I'm very excited to share pictures of the grand opening of a new kid's clothing consignment store in Burbank, Twinkle Twice. First, how cute is that name? The owner, Marta, wanted to put out a dessert table for all of her new customers. She gave me a list of the food and drink items and a copy of her grand opening flier so I could coordinate the design with her logo. And this was the result ...



Custom Twinkle Twice stickers I designed


Ribbon topiaries I handcrafted


Popcorn cones and Brownie pops




Twinkle Twice custom banner


Custom water bottle labels I designed


Chocolate chip cookies with food signs I created


And here's a little look at the rest of the store! All of the accessories in the center display were hand crafted by Marta herself!

Twinkle Twice


Handcrafted head band


And of course I had to snag two outfits for my girls while I was there.

TV Show looking for couples already married

I received the email below and thought I'd pass it on in case any of my readers might be interested. I am in no way affiliated with this show, but since I love weddings and would love the chance to have another go around myself I thought some of you might as well. I did a little research and it appears legit, but please investigate it yourself if you're interested.

****************************************************************************************************
To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Danielle Gervais. I'm a Casting Producer for WEtv and Ish Entertainment and I'm working on an exciting new wedding series based in Southern California. We're going to be giving six deserving couples who suffered some type of an unexpected wedding day mishap the chance to re-do their big day. The series will give these couples the opportunity to get their wedding day back and do it all over again the way they'd always envisioned it. The show is brand new and we're trying to get the word out to as many deserving couples in the LA area as possible. Whether you can post in on your blog, facebook or even pass it along to brides you've worked with in the past, it's an amazing opportunity for the right couples and it's all about word of mouth! Please note that this show is not an expose on event planning and would have absolutely no reflection on the planning of the events or the venues - these mishaps we're featuring would have been out of everyone's control (i.e. terrible weather knocks out the power, groom has the flu, guests are stranded at the airport and miss the reception, etc.)

Please see our casting notice below. If you're interested in learning more, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Do You Have The Ultimate Wedding Disaster Story?
Did you suffer a wedding disaster that put a damper on your big day?
Does your wedding video play like a blooper reel?
Do you wish you could do it all over again and have the wedding you originally dreamed of?

WEtv WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU!!
WEtv is casting dynamic Los Angeles-area couples who deserve the ultimate DO OVER!

What happened to ruin your big day? Did your ex show up and object in the middle of your ceremony? Did a storm knock out your power or prevent most of your guests from attending? Were you forced to elope instead of having the great white wedding you dreamed of? If you live in LA and have your disaster caught on tape, you could get a second chance to have your dream wedding!

If you'd like to be considered for the show, please email us with photos of yourselves and the big day as well as your contact information.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you!

Best,

Danielle Gervais
Sr. Casting Producer
Ish Entertainment / WE tv
Phone: 212.377.4543
IshTVCasting.Danielle@gmail.com
IshTVCasting.com

{Tip} Essentials of an Emergency Kit

If you have a good coordinator, then they will be fully stocked with everything essential in case of a tragedy on your big day. But if you're supplying your own emergency kit (because you don't have a day-of coordinator, your coordinator doesn't have an emergency kit, or a friend or family member is stepping in as a coordinator) then this is the post for you!


With You in Mind, Inc - Wedding Day Emergency Kit
#1) Have 2 emergency kits! I have one fully stocked emergency kit that I can stash somewhere easily accessible, like in the bridal room. I inform the entire bridal party about this stash in case something comes up and they need to get access to emergency items on their own. My second kit is smaller and usually holds bare essentials (bobby pins, makeup touch up kit, stain removers, etc). This can be stored in the bride's purse or another small bag. I keep mine in a fanny pack strapped to my waist so I have it with me at all times. It's not convenient to drag a giant emergency kit around with you all day but this smaller one is perfect if you're gallivanting off to take pictures and something happens.

#2) Makeup. Ask your makeup artist to provide you with a touch up kit. It will probably cost extra, but it’s very handy to have colors that will match what you’re wearing throughout the day. If you’d rather prepare your own touch up kit, ask your make-up artist for shade recommendations after you meet for your preview. Here are the absolute essentials:
-Lipstick
-Gloss
-Powder
-Oil blotting papers
-Straws (for drinking so you don't mess up your lipstick)


Photograph by Anika London
Makeup by On Location Beauty
And ask your bridal party and coordinator to keep an eye on your makeup. It's very easy to forget throughout the day to reapply. I suggest doing a quick touch up after eating/drinking anything, after dancing, before every photo session, and before each event scheduled (ceremony start, grand entrance, cake cutting, etc).

#3) Hair. If you're lucky your hair will stay perfectly in place throughout the entire event. But sometimes (due to weather conditions, enthusiastic dancing, or just because that's what our hair does) it doesn't last the entire event. It's important to stay on top of hair problems as they occur because if you wait too long it's almost impossible to reassemble the great do your stylist accomplished. So again ask your bridesmaids and coordinator to key an eye on your coiffure for any signs of it falling from grace.


Photograph by Hoffmann Photography
Hair and Makeup by On Location Beauty
Here are the absolute essentials you should have on hand in your kit:
-Bobby pins! These are extremely essential. Make sure you have them in a color to match your own hair (and make sure you coordinator does too if they have their own kit). If you're a beautiful blond with black pins sticking out all over your head it will look less than perfect.


-Hair spray
-A no-fuss backup hairstyle (hair band for pony tail or bun, clip for a half do, etc). If everything falls apart what is a quick hairstyle you can put together yourself that will keep you from freaking out?

#4) Dress. Your beautiful, perfect dress that you spent so much time picking out and money to purchase and alter, should look fabulous all day long on you (hopefully). But things happen and you want to be ready in case it does.


-Stain remover (Shout wipes or a Tide-to-go pen will do the trick)
-Safety pins, bustles will break or hems can fall but a safety pin can be a quick fix to get you back on the dance floor
-White chalk, rub a little on a dark spot and it can be a quick patch job if you're worried about getting your dress wet with a stain remover
-Nail polish remover, nail polish on your dress doesn't have to spell disaster
And try not to freak out if you get dirt on your train or dress. It's not always the worst catastrophe. Most of the time the dirt isn't even noticeable because it will look like shadows if you have a dress that has soft folds.

Other important items to have in your kit:
-Medicine for headaches, anti-inflammatory, upset stomach, allergy, etc.
-Tissues
-Breath mints, have one available for both the bride and groom right before the ceremony so that first kiss is perfect
-Sewing kit
-Brushes
-Deodorant (sprays are nice so anyone can use it)
-Tampons and pads
-Hand sanitizer
-Floss or toothpicks
-Band-aids
-Scissors
-Cotton swabs
-Hemorrhoidal cream (for puffy eyes)
-Glasses, contact lens cleaner, eye drops

Coordinator items, in case something falls apart in your design these can be handy for your coordinator to have on hand:
-Thumb tacks
-Pens and Pencils (permanent felt-tip, ballpoint, etc)
-Eraser
-Paper clips
-Staple remover
-Ribbon (in a color to match the wedding)
-String
-Clear nylon thread
-Pins
-Hole punch
-Measuring tape
-Tape
-Lighter/matches
-CD of all your wedding songs (first dance, grand entrance songs, etc) in case your DJ forgets to bring them

Even if everything goes without a hitch, having a complete emergency kit can give a bride peace of mind. There's nothing quite as reassuring as feeling prepared come what may.