A Baby Surprise...

I know you've seen surprise birthday parties on this blog, but this was a new one. My sister Rachel is pregnant...I just may have mentioned this before...with her second child. When her son Jack was born her friends were spread about the country and never threw a shower for her, so they decided that a small surprise shower would be in order this time around.

I kept asking Rach what she was doing this weekend and she was SO clueless...she was actually throwing her friend Darcy a baby shower at her house on Friday night (pics of that in the coming days!) and was so busy that she never suspected a thing. So Saturday morning Darcy asked her to stop by her house, only to find a baby shower waiting.

They were keeping it low key, but thought Rach deserved a banner for her baby room like she has had made for all of them. Rachel and Brad are going to let the sex of the baby be a surprise as well, but I couldn't help throwing a little pink in there, too, in case this is her last baby. Cross your fingers its a girl or I'll be making a new one. =)

{Happy Customers} : Jozlyn (Round 2!)

I can't believe its been a year since this {happy customer}'s last birthday. That means my baby will be two in no time. You may remember Jozlyn from previous posts...I've already written about her first bday, then a happy customers entry for that, and her second birthday gear that we got ready back in May. I've also professed how much I have come to <3 href="http://www.persnicketyme.etsy.com/">Persnickety Me. It turned out so stinkin' cute, Abby!

Head on over to {happy customers} to see the pics in better detail and read Heidi's kind words.

On a personal note...this is going to be my last post for a few days. I was going to try to do it all, but life is a tad overwhelming right now. I am trying to get my classroom in order and mentally prepare myself to leave my kiddos again, not to mention getting Beckett's bday party together for next weekend and finish orders that need to be done before I go back. I will hopefully get a few posts ready for next week. Thanks in advance for being so patient and supportive over this next crazy month! I will be back!

Monkey Business

It was exactly year ago that I sent out invitations almost identical to these for my own baby's first birthday. I can't believe how time flies...now I am about 10 days away from birthday #2 for my baby! Sniff...=) I had a custom request from one of the clients on my schedule to make a party pretty identical to Beckett's monkey party. She had little JJ's pics taken with his own monkey to use for the invitations. I LOVE his pic...don't you want to squeeze those cheeks?

Lots more of this one coming next month!

Noah's Cars

Earlier this summer I did made this banner for our cousin's son Noah who was turning three. Noah LOVES cars, so Abby wanted to do something with lots of bright colors and some images of cars that she had seen on my blog before. We started with one bright paper that I use for my circus collection that she loved and went from there.

Abby also wanted to get Noah a matching tshirt and she knew I had just the lady to do it! She told me to take care of the details, so I got to work with my fav girl Rach at *golden* to make Noah's tshirt as well...isn't it cute?? She took the exact image I was using on the banner and made it into a shirt, and per my request even sewed Noah's name in the window...just as Rachel's logo says...sew cute!

Have a good weekend...lots to show you next week before I am back to school!

{Happy Customers} : Baby Miller

I guess Baby Miller isn't really the happy customer here, but since the party was in his honor, we're going to go with that! Krystle threw her friend a baby shower totally decked out in baby blue and zebra for the baby boy that would soon make his arrival!. I love that twist...I've definitely seen pink and zebra, but I love love love the blue!

Click here to get a closer look and hear what Krystle had to say about her PDP experience. Lots of other cute parties to check out over on {happy customers} as well!

Forty and Fabulous!

One of my previous clients enlisted me to help make some cupcake toppers for a 40th birthday party she is throwing in a few weeks. She was planning the party decor around the paper goods that she purchased, shown here:

Fun, right? Very fun to have to match to! So here is what I came up with...

Hope you love them, Jodee!

More Baby Showers...

I have been doing quite a few baby showers lately! My sister is preggers, and her and her friends are all at that age where everyone is pregnant!

Rachel is throwing a shower with some friends for Darcy...you may remember the bachelorette items I made for Darcy last summer or the welcome cards I did for her last fall. Now they are ready for baby #1 due in January.

Most of the decor will have to stay off this blog until after the shower just in case in between being completely exhausted from being pregnant, moving into a new house this week, and getting ready to go back to school (Darcy's a teacher, too) she actually checks my blog. Doubtful, but just in case!

I can however, show the invites and the inspiration, since she knows about both those things already. They are doing a "Bedtime for Baby" theme so I used much of the same layout as I did for the shower invitations I showed you a few weeks ago, only changed the colors. Here is the bedding that Darcy and Joel have picked out...

Photo Courtesy of Restoration Hardware

And the invitations...

On another baby shower note, I woke up this morning to an email from my friend Shannon of Creative Parties and Showers saying that my Babycakes shower was included on One Pretty Thing's post this morning! If you need some baby shower inspiration, there are TONS of good ones over on OPT today...go check them out!

Photographing Your Kids Parties

I wish I were a professional photographer, but I am not. I practice as much as I can, but I am often still disappointed after my kids parties that I didn't get the pics I was looking for.

One thing I have learned since my oldest child's first birthday is that if I depend on myself to get all the pictures at the party I will surely be disappointed, so now my mom and my sister take pictures the whole day so I don't need to worry (I do it for her, too, for her kid's parties...works out perfectly). I also take some decorations pics about an hour before everyone arrives. I am always looking for great tips on how to take better pictures...since we spend so much time preparing we may as well have some good memories when its over, too, right?

Photo courtesy of The Vintage Pearl

The other day when I was on Twitter (follow me here!) I noticed a tweet from my friend Julie of On The Dot Creations. It was a link to a great article she found from Digital Photography School, a website with simple tips to help digital camera owners get the most out of their cameras. This particular article was titled How To Photograph a Child's Birthday Party. There are some really good and simple tips to getting better pics of the party. Read it before your child's next party!

Photo courtesy of The Vintage Pearl

You can also subscribe to get email tutorials containing beginner tips to making your pictures better. Just remember to send me a copy of your pics after your party is over!

Sneak Peek of Beckett's Party...

So like I said...I am in full swing over here planning Beckett's 2nd birthday. I decided shortly after his party last year that I wanted to have this year's outside on the farm that I grew up on. (Did you know I could throw bales and milk a cow?) His birthday isn't actually until September 27th...but for three reasons I decided to have his party on Labor Day weekend this year.

1) The weather in MN at the end of September is pretty iffy...could be pretty cold.
2) My Dad will probably be in full harvest mode by the end of Sept.
3) I wanted to get the party over before I start school.

So, we thought Labor Day weekend would be good because both of my college aged sisters will be able to be home from school. Since we were going to have the party on the farm, of course it will be farm themed. But because I actually grew up on a farm I need to tell you a few things...

We will not be wearing overalls to the party. Most farmers don't really wear those, you know. Nor will we be chewing on any straw, or yelling "yee haw" or any similar phrases. When I first went to college my best friends dressed up like farm girls for Halloween. I didn't know whether to laugh or spit in their face. =) CJ...you know what I am talking about.

I digress...back to the party, so anyway, the main inspiration is that all three of my kids are obsessed with going to the farm. They love playing outside, riding in the tractor (or any equipment for that matter), and exploring Grandpa's shop.

One afternoon I took Beckett to the farm to get a few pictures that might work for his invitations. He was in a very good mood, which is always helpful. Just a few of over 100 that I took that day...

As you can see, I enlisted *golden* to help me out with a tee for his party. If you've never visited her shop...it is a must.

After I took the pics, I made the invitations...here is a sneak peek at the invites and some of the paper and goods I have collected for the party...

On a side note, after my dad saw their invitation last night he called me and in his most sarcastic voice he asked why he had shined his tractor if I was going to use the picture of Becks on the smaller (and unwashed might I add, although can you tell? Absolutely not.) tractor. I reminded him that the picture was supposed to be of his grandson and not of his tractor, so I had to pick the best smiling pic of HIM. I also reassured him that I would be using some of the other pics at the party as well. But just for fun...

So Dad...I sent out only 19 invitations, but over 500 people will read this tomorrow. Do you feel better now?

Sailing through her pregnancy...

My sister's friend Carissa enlisted me to make some decorations for her SIL Erin's baby shower. She sent me to Erin's blog to see the bedding they had picked out from Pottery Barn Kids (if you love it and are expecting it happens to be on sale right now!) And I have to admit that while I was on there I kind of wanted to puke...because that girl is one of those people who are CUTE during pregnancy...you know totally skinny with a little bump on the front, even now at 36 weeks...one of those girls I WAS NOT. And Erin, if you are reading this...I really do mean that as a compliment. It is complete jealousy you are reading here. =)

So anyway, here is the bedding that Erin and Josh picked out for their little boy to be which I was to match to...

Erin had pictures of her completed nursery on her blog as well, which was so helpful in planning the banner and door sign. I drew a little sailboat that was kind of a mix of all the ones on the quilt and added it to both the banner and the door sign. Her shower was finally this weekend so I can post pics without spoiling the shower decor! Carissa was nice enough to send me pics this morning of the banner hanging in the baby's room after the shower and the door sign on his door.

Thanks for sharing the photos, girls! I think Little Carter will be one lucky kiddo!

{Happy Customers} : Julia, Erik, & Emma

You may remember these projects I did a while back for my great friend Tammy's kiddos...three of her four kids celebrate their birthdays within about 6 weeks of each other.

We combined them all into one entry...for a closer look and for all to see all our cuties...head on over to {happy customers}. Can't wait until 'Lil Frank's bday, Tam! =)

Going out today...

I have been working like mad to get Beckett's invitations done...this will be the official start of the Newman party season. With birthdays in September, then December, then February it is an almost constant thing once this time of year rolls around!

His invitations are in the mail today...once everyone gets their invite I can post a sneak peek of the party goods next week...but here's a sneak peek of the sneak peek. Ha. That's all you get for now.

SUPERJACK recap!

Its hard to believe my nephew Jackson is already three...but I guess I say that every time one of my kids turns a year older, too. Time just flies!

Last year Jack's baseball party was at our house because Rach and Brad's condo wasn't quite big enough for the amount of people that were coming. We loved it, but we were all overjoyed this year when they were able to sell their condo and buy a home (which just happens to be less than a mile away from our house =) in order to make room for Baby #2 coming in November.

We had a great day...here are some of the details...

Here is Jack and I...LOVE his cheeseball smile...and Jack's banner.

And then some party details...

1. First the cake...made by my high school BF Tracie, who always makes our cakes...they're so darn cute and delicious.

2. I made Jack's crown and hats for my kiddos to match. Rach bought superhero masks from Superfly Kidz on Etsy. Get them here!

3. My mom made Tate, Avery, and Jack superhero capes last year. Beckett was too small at the time, so she got one done for the party so they could all be superheroes for the day. Thanks a million, Mom!

4. I didn't get a very good picture, but Rach got plates, napkins, and silverware in coordinating colors from my fav online paper goods store, Plates and Napkins.

Time for cake!

I had designed a SUPERJACK logo for Jack's invitations (check them out HERE) which Rachel had used to make shirt for him. Then she asked if I could make logos so she could make T, A, & B their own shirts to wear to the party. They all looked so cute together!

My sisters and I always take a picture in the kids' hats. I am really not sure how this all started, besides the fact that we look for any excuse to take a picture together. =) So we decided this weekend that when we're old and we've all had kids we're making a book of all our pics of us in our kid's party hats. Total nerds...we realize.

Thanks, R, B, & J for the great day. Happy Birthday, Jackson Pete!