Inspiration. Inspired.

After a short break from my new blog efforts, I'm back!

I thought my welcome back blog would be about my inspirations...   Inspirations for what, you may be asking?  INSPIRATIONS for birthday parties, holiday celebrations, and showers, baby or wedding.

For both of Carter's birthday parties I've always tried to pick a theme based on what he's interested in at that time, 1st was cars and trucks, 2nd was ELMO.  When planning both parties I started by searching for things to decorate with for the party, once I found something I LOVED I used that item to inspire my other choices. 

For his 1st birthday, it was the invitation I found at Target that inspired the color palette that I used along with the TONKA truck he got for his 1st Christmas.  The colors I'm talking about, the ones I fell in love with for his most special 1st birthday... orange, lime green and caribbean blue.

And for this 2nd birthday, I knew I couldn't go wrong with ELMO, one of his favorite characters right now and red is such a perfect color for a party.  I then moved on to finding some of the decorations again, that's when I found Cupcake Social on Etsy!  They have some of the coolest cupcake liners out there and they have so many other party decorations, too!  Visit the shop, you won't be disappointed!  Here's where my inspiration started...

HOUNDSTOOTH cupcake liners, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!  Why was I so excited?  Well houndstooth is only like my favorite pattern/design right now! It's an old school design that is definitely making a comeback and as you can see not only in the fashion industry, but baking too!  I mean I love it so much that I've been drooling over this...

I found this at Pencil Shavings Paper on Etsy, if anyone finds they love it as much as I do or if you should want to get me an early birthday gift (insert smile)!

Here's a taste of more inspiration I've found at Cupcake Social and Sweet Estelle's Baking Supply, another great shop on Etsy!

How I wish I had some parties I could use these at!

What inspires your creativity?  I can't wait to hear!

Until next time!

Love

Steph

My style, in words... and a link.

On Mother's Day I found my self flipping through an Ethan Allen catalog, a store that so far I've only dreamt of spending mass dollars at for what can best be described as the most beautiful furniture ever, well at least in my opinion.

As I'm drooling over the furniture in the magazine, I was finding a number of items that I thought were perfect for my "style".  I finally started paying attention to the style name of each piece I had fallen in love with and found they all had the same name...  seriously, every single piece!  And once I heard the name I knew it was meant to be... the name I would go on to use to describe my decorating style...  MODERN GLAMOUR!!

Would you like to see a glimpse of my style?  Maybe you'll find the style that best describes you!  Now just a small disclaimer...  while all of the pieces of the Modern Glamour collection at Ethan Allen are beautiful, it does not mean that I am in LOVE with every piece...  specifically I could live without the dining chairs and mirror, but everything else I would buy in a second!

Modern Glamour!

What decorating style best describes you?

Love

Steph

Mother's Day!

For the last three years I have been blessed with the wonderful title of Mommy/Momma/Mom/Mother, a title that means more than the world to me!  After a long while, 3 years to be exact, of trying to concieve I was finally blessed with a little angel baby of my own, Carter Edwin.  He is my world, my everything, my prince, my LOVE!  Today is a day that at one time I thought I might never get to celebrate as a mother, but my dreams came true and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect, adorable, sweet, loving little boy!

And don't think I would forget...  my Mom!  Who I love with all my heart and am so thankful to have in my life as my mother, my best friend and as the grandmother to my little angel baby!  I love you Mom!

And then there's my mom-in-law...  I couldn't have asked for a better one if I had tried!  And she's an amazing grandmother to that cute little guy on her lap, too! 

Thank you to both of you for everything you do for us, we appreciate and love you more than words could ever explain!

Happy Mother's Day!

Love

Steph

Simple, girly and chic.

What could be better than a pretty baby shower that celebrates everything girly, from flowers to cute little tea sandwiches.  This could possibly be the best tea party ever and all to celebrate the arrival of a wonderful little girl.  Enjoy!

Simple Chic Tea Party for a Baby Shower

Details. Details. Details.

I'm a big fan of Etsy and found most of my inspirations from there, please enjoy.

1.  Invitation:  This wonderful shabby chic baby shower invitation is designed and created by katie-did designs.  Best part is that you can buy them as a digital file and print them yourself or have the shop print it for you.

2.  Tea cups:  What tea party would be complete without these beautiful cups?  If you don't have a collection of your own, maybe someone you know has some you can borrow.  Or you can always have each guest bring their favorite tea cup...  Or check a local antique or thrift store for a good deal.  Luckily my mother has a collection that I can use, as long as I promise not to break any!

3.  Flowers. Flowers. Flowers.:  A few bouquets is all you need, and nothing too fancy after all you want it to be simple chic.  Some of the best deals that I've found are Costco (huge bouquets for not a lot of money), Trader Joe's, and the local Farmer's Market.

4.  Poms decor:  A little  touch of whimsy that you can hang from anywhere, courtesy of PomLove on Etsy.

5.  Tea sandwiches:  Check out any of your favorite recipe websites, books, etc.  My FAVE is FoodNetwork.

6.  Earl Grey cookies:  Seriously what better cookie could you find for a TEA PARTY?!  I found these lovelies at Whimsy & Spice on Etsy, again.  If you would prefer to make the cookies you can always search online for a recipe.

7.  Cupcakes:  I'm really obsessed with cupcakes lately and would plan to make my own.  What I love most about those in the picture is the colors, PINK and TURQUOISE... perfect for this party!  I love the contrast of the two colors and they both go so well with everything else planned, very chic!

8. Display towers: SERIOUSLY perfect for this party! Tea cups and coordinating vintage china used to create wonderful cupcake towers/tea towers found on Etsy (yes, again) at High Tea for Alice.

9.  More cookies:  This time I chose the beautiful and elegant cookie that is french macaroons, YUM!  These beauties are made by The Whimsical Spoon and they are another perfect addition, and once again courtesy of Etsy. I chose two different colors for the variety of both flavor and color.

10.  Fabric bunting:  With a bunting you get some added whimsy and a gift for the mother-to-be all in one. How perfect would this bunting be in a little girls room?!  And you can always get it in the colors/theme that the parents have planned for the new babies room.  I found this wonderful bunting at Starlit Nest on Etsy, the buntings come in many different colors and sizes.  REMEMBER, you can always make your own if you would like and have a little sewing experience.  Here's one I made for the prince's Elmo inspired birthday party.

I hope you found something inspirational as I did with all of these goodies!  I can't wait for the next party I get to plan, so until then!

Love

Steph