For the bride-to-be...

These invitations were inspired by the bride-to-be... described by her friend Amy as a girly girl who is all put together ALWAYS. So of course, that's where the pink comes in. Her wedding is in September and her color is cinnamon, which was described to me as a rusty orange, so I threw in the burnt orange and brown.

Amy also wanted an enclosure for guests to bring along with them to the shower giving Heidi some marital advice, so I made some coordinating cards as well.

I actually ended up using the advice card template to make my sis some Change of Address cards this afternoon in a different color scheme, which turned out cute as well!

Big birthday tomorrow. Any guesses?

Little Cupcake

I found Erin and The Vintage Pearl through my friend Tammy. Then Erin helped me set up my blog originally when I started this whole thing a year ago. She makes jewelry, is an awesome photographer, and is the mom of four. Her blog chronicles daily life around their house, as well as showcasing some of her jewelry.

Let's just say I may fit into the "blog stalker" category. I told Erin that last year I was on vacation with my three sisters (one of which fits into the same category) and it just happened to be the weekend her daughter Eden was born. We were talking about what she had named her, etc. and finally one of our other sisters said "WHO ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" because we were talking about them as if we knew them.

That trip must have been a year ago last weekend...*golden* and I coordinated to make Eden's birthday outfit and a few other items. Erin's pics are too good for me to shove in a collage, so you get the full sized ones today!

And because I can't resist a good cake smashing pic...

And a couple other things for Eden...

Thanks, Erin, for the pics and for the peek into your daily life with your beautiful family!

Over the Rainbow

I had another project I was going to blog about today, but then last night *golden* sent me over the pics of the tutu I made to match a pair of bloomers she made for a client and I couldn't resist posting this instead!

I enlisted Rach to make bloomers for my Made to Match collection, but she loved making them so much that she now makes them to match any of her bibs, hats, and tees. This client just happened to pick one of our favorite fabrics and it was so fun to match to. Need a pair of bloomers? Check out Rachel's shop!

{Happy Customers} : Jacob

Check out this little cutie! I made party decor for Jacob last winter for his snowman 1st birthday party. Funny thing is, the whole time I made it I DID have enough snow to make a snowman...but little Jacob lives in Texas and it was 70 degrees on the day of his party!

You know I always love coordinating with Rachel over at *golden*...this was no exception! I drew snowflakes like the ones she used for Jacob's bib and used them on everything from his door sign to his chandelier picture snowflakes.

To see the pictures in greater detail, read mom Courtney's kind words, and to see all our little happy cuties, head on over to our {happy customers} page!

Baby Bling

This client was actually from Georgia, but she was coming into town to throw a baby shower for a good friend right here in MN. I know I am not technically "doing" custom orders for people I don't know, but I have a weakness when we are celebrating my home town girls! So I agreed to do it, but since my schedule was booked I had to make it last minute and we had to meet at a local mall to get her the goods. It's fun to see my actual clients...you are all usually just out there as phantom emailers with no face. :)

The theme for this shower was "baby bling"...inspired by this party on HWTM and this party at Social Couture. She wanted lots of sparkles...

...and although I looked like the glitter fairy threw up on me when I was done (yes, picture it people!) I think it turned out exactly as she wanted it!

Off to celebrate my anniversary with my hubs...date night! Woot woot!

This party was jumpin'!

Last weekend we got to attend a party that had been in the works before the smallest guest of honor was even born! Our closest friends have a son that is four months younger than Tate and a daughter that is 4 months older than Beckett...add Avery to the middle and it is quite the mix of 5 little ones when we're together. Kelley decided when she was pregnant with Brielle that a bouncy party would be perfect for her kids (whose birthdays are less than a month apart) when they were turning 2 and 5.

These are the people that we moved into our neighborhood because of, but since moving into this neighborhood, we've met a lot of other really good people, too. And they were ALL there. The party for these two jumpin' monkeys lasted over 12 hours and saw about 40 kids through the jumper they rented.

A totally fun day.

Not to mention so fun to make stuff for...

Happy birthday, lil' monkeys!

Kasey's Graduation

Last week I was out of town celebrating my littlest sis's graduation from high school. She has made several appearances on this blog in past months, but this was one of the most fun projects to work on with her!

Kasey is a girl who already has invented something in her head before she knows if it is even possible. Totally cracks me up. We planned her entire graduation around my favorite pic of her growing up:

Luckily I was able to find great paper that made what Kasey had envisioned in her head a reality! We decorated the garage and tent where her party was held with a banner, a photo banner of all her school pictures growing up, and vases wrapped in coordinating paper. We cut out bigger circles and attached bigger images of her favorites throughout the years as well as hanging some of her favorite tap dancing outfits and volleyball memorabilia as well.

Despite the fact that it POURED throughout the entire party and graduation (thank goodness for that tent and a heater!) it was a fabulous weekend. We are so proud of our sis and valedictorian of the BLH class of 09! Love you Kas!

For more detailed pics of her invitations and banners, check out this post.

Remember this??

I blogged about this Sesame Street project last week...

It was actually something I worked on for Nancy O'Dell for her daughter Ashby's 2nd birthday. I worked with Jayneoni Moore of The Breakfast Club Mommies and Jenn Sbranti of Hostess With The Mostess to come up with a bright colorful backdrop for the Sesame Street theme. Jenn did most of the styling and knocked it out of the park as always!

Pictures are all courtesy of the fabulous Gina Lee Photography, who I had the pleasure of meeting when I was in LA in February. She photographs mostly kids and families and has some mad fabulous ideas!

Here are some of the pics she took on Saturday...

For all the pics, check out the album on the HWTM Facebook Page and Jenn's blog later in the week!

Baby Blue and Zebra

A while ago a client asked if I thought I could come up with something for a baby shower she was throwing that centered completely around baby blue and zebra print. She decided that she wanted the banner to say the baby's last name since the mom and dad know they are having a boy but aren't sharing names.

I can't wait to see pics to see how the rest of the shower came together!

For the Twins...

These are the last of the "birthday box" packages that were my big project last week. I had two sets of twins to make boxes for, so I needed to keep the colors bright and fun while making it appropriate for both boys and girls.

If you have any more favorite birthday sites for our first Find It! feature get them in by the end of the day tomorrow...I want to post them on Monday! Thanks to all of you who have already sent them in!

Birthday Box for Boys (Round 2)

Most of the birthday boxes that I worked on for my big project I started showing you last week were either a boys version, a girls version, or a twins version (watch for those tomorrow!). I had to make one special boy version, though, because two of the kids I was making them for were brothers and couldn't give them both the same one! So Mason got his very own special box.

As I said before, I tried to keep them very neutral so they could be used with lots of themes...basically just stuck to a set of colors.

Birthday boxes for twins coming tomorrow!

Find It!

Hello from the farm, people! I am at my parents' house all week after celebrating my little sis's graduation. I will post some this week, but I don't have access to my pictures or my computer.

I have been working on this idea for a while, but I want some help from all of you! I get emails every day asking where I find this or that. So why not get together a list of the best places to find party related goods and ideas, right?

I have a list started, but I would love if you have your own favorite sites to send them my way. This week I am looking for sites that feature general party ideas and inspiration. Depending on how long the list is, I will not be able to feature ALL the sites in one post, but I will revisit topics as I find the need to share more inspiration or good products with you all. If you have visited a great party site or if you have one of your own, email me at polkadotsandpirates@gmail.com.

Let's Hear it for the boys!

So apparently yesterday I was dreaming of Friday and said I'd be back with these on Monday. Another day, another blog!

For the boys birthday boxes, I needed something that could be tied to many universal themes and with lots of bright colors. Same went in these boxes as the girls' version...cupcake toppers, hat, and personalized banner...

LOVE how those cupcake toppers turned out!

Okay, people, now I really won't be back until Monday. Have a good weekend!

Sophisticated Flowers

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was working on a special project. I finished it this week and it involved "birthday boxes" for about 20 kids, one of which was the Sesame Street one I showed you yesterday. Here is another of the styles I sent out...I made some with white paper for the letters and some with colored paper for the letters because I couldn't decide which one I liked better!

I'll be back with the boy boxes on Monday!

How to get to Sesame Street...

...without Elmo, Cookie, and Big Bird.

You know it is one of my favorite challenges to add to a character themed birthday party without putting the actual character everywhere as overkill.

I know I say this pretty often, but this is now one of my FAVS! I love the bright colors, the crayon-ish looking font, and I couldn't have found better paper if I had invented it myself.



I hope it is a hit at Ashby's party!

Pomp & Circumstance

Yep, its that time of year. My son graduated from preschool last Friday and my youngest sister Kasey graduates from high school this weekend!

Here are a few of the things I've been working on for her graduation...

Because she needed so many invitations we printed them as pictures to save a little money. The photo banner was so fun...I have done one other one for a client for a first birthday, but this time Kasey and I were looking for a way to display all her school pictures. We took pics from the time she was 6 months old all the way to her senior year and strung them out. It turned out so cute! It is so long it was hard to get a good picture of it. I will try to get better ones this weekend.

I have a few more projects to work on for the party...more next week!