{Real Parties} A Homemade Baptism Celebration

This sweet Baptism celebration is full of homemade details that can easily be recreated! {Look for the how-to on the adorable wreath at the end of the post!} Another plus is that the party hostess, Allison, did not have to spend a lot of money!

The pennant banner was made by using different ribbons. Bunting like this is so cute and in my opinion, gives any party a heartfelt vibe.

A sign in page at the door was set out for guests to leave wishes for baby Isaiah.

The Baptism took place on Mother's Day weekend. To honor the other mother's present, Allison made simple arrangements and placed a card on top which contained words sent to her by their children describing their mom. What a sweet idea!

Cookie favors for each guests were found at each place setting...

Ginger Lemonade was the specialty drink on hand. Fizzy lemonade with a twist!

{Tutorial} Ribbon Wreath

As told by Allison

I decided to make two front door wreaths to greet guests as they arrived. They were a cinch to make, taking about 10 minutes per wreath. I simply re-used two foam wreath forms and stripped them completely clean. Then after a quick trip to the craft store, where I picked out ribbon and scrapbook paper to match my color scheme, it was time to create!

I secured the yellow ribbon in place with a pin, and simply wrapped the entire form, securing the final piece with a hot glue gun. From there I traced the outer edge of the wreath onto my striped paper, and after cutting the circle out, attached it with small dots of fabric glue (using double-sided paper works best for this step, so the wreath is attractive from both sides if you have a glass door like I do). I chose green polka dot paper for the center of the wreath, cutting it into a small circle and folding accordion style, then attaching with a dot of hot glue. And last but not least, I thought it would be special to add the guest of honor's name...so using individual stamped letters (I highly recommend having a set, it's a lifesaver for party details), I stamped a white gift tag and taped it to the center. Easy as pie. The best part? Since I can remove the name easily, the wreaths can be personalized for any event, or even Easter.

{Friday Finds} S'mores Day & Weekly Round Up

{via Glorious Treats}

I.HEART.S'MORES. I always have and always will. I was thrilled to learn that National S'mores day is next Wednesday, August 11th! I have a big s'mores post to share with you on Tuesday, so be on the look out for yumminess and eye candy! To help tide you over, visit Glorious Treats for the above mouth watering recipe!

Weekly Round Up

Did you see the insanely creative "dessert" table designed by One Charming Party on Amy Atlas?! All of the "treats" are school supplies!

I'm in the beginning stages of planning a Sesame Street party and trying to figure out a way to make it pretty, modern and non commercialized. I was so excited to see this gorgeous Sesame Street party on Bump Smitten!

HWTM Wonderlandia is tomorrow night and I wish I was there! It would be great to meet so many of my favorite party girls and get out of the Texas heat! Good luck to Jenn and what I am sure will be an amazing party!

Did you see that Birthday Girl has reorganized her site and is now called Cake?! I love Becca's style and I am really looking forward to seeing her new posts!

{Real Parties} A Bright & Cheerful 40th Birthday Celebration!

Who says you can plan your own birthday party?! That's what custom invitation designer, Margot Madison, thought when she started thinking about her upcoming 40th birthday. Margot wanted to plan a party to celebrate her friends and family who went through all of her ups and downs throughout the years. It was more of a celebration for them which I think is so sweet!

I am such a fan of the bright and cheerful color palette Margot chose! Crisp white with bright pops of red, hot pink and orange gave the party a jubilant vibe. Margot loved the fact that she got to design all of the paper goods however SHE wanted to! This is rare for a stationery designer!

The welcome packets were clever. Each pack contained a hand written note, custom name tags and a party game raffle inside.

The flowers were GORGEOUS and designed by Joni of Sprouts Floral Design!

The photo booth backdrop really caught my eye! What a great idea to cover a space with poms! It gave the pictures the perfect amount of texture and pop of color.

Happy 40th birthday Margot! Thank you for sharing your party with us!

{Real Parties} Abracadabra, A Magical Dessert Table

This incredibly creative dessert table comes all the way from Spain from Dulce Sombremesa. It's hard to believe this was their FIRST dessert table to design! Clara and Susana, the duo who make up the team, are too cute! They said they decided "to pretend play Amy Atlas" and create a table for a close friend and relative who happens to be a professional magician. On a whim, Clara and Susana decided to enter the table in the Sweet Table European Contest 2010 and WON the Spanish contest and made it to the European finals!

Dolce Sombremesa created everything from scratch: designing, baking and crafts! The guests of honor is Susana's youngest brother and Clara's boyfriend. They looked back through some of Rafa's first magic tricks for inspiration and in their words, "the table tells the story of the classic elements that give life to a magic show". The treats on the table included chocolate muffin top hats and chocolate magic wands, chocolate playing cards, cookie rabbits, a magic kit with magic stars, aniseed magic dust, popcorn to eat during the show and a hiding place made out of sweet bread for the rabbit that is trying to hide so that the magician won't find it.

I think it's safe to say we are thrilled to have Dolce Sombremesa in the event planning world!!

{Friday Finds} M&Ms Cake & Weekly Round Up

{photo via Martha Stewart Weddings}

I am really liking the up and coming trend of candy cakes, especially a cake decked out in M&MS! The decorating options are endless and it looks good in every color scheme imaginable! I have a few ideas myself and I would love the opportunity to try them out. My only question though is...would people actually enjoy eating a cake with an entire candy layer (taste and texture)? I LOVE cake and my favorite part is the icing. I'm not sure if I would like the crunch addition??

Weekly Round Up

Breakfast and brunch is my favorite meal, so I was smitten with this Eggs Benedict Bar shown on Celebrations at Home.

I was blown away by the styling of this Bb is for Baby Shower on Bump Smitten.

This strawberry inspired bridal shower is just gorgeous. LOVE the pops of turquoise!

Are you familiar with washi tape?! I really want to place an order and get creative!

In case you missed seeing the pictures of a recent client party, here is write up.