Monday, February 24, 2014

Glam Camping Party: Sneak Peek


 
Camping parties are not just for boys.  When my daughter asked me last summer if she could have a girly camping themed party for her next birthday, I knew just the perfect graphic designers to get on board for the theme.  Anders Ruff Custom Designs has been customizing printable party decor and invitations for me for close to 3 years now.  I love their style and attention to details. They already had an amazing Glam Camping themed collection and invitation available in their shop and have been amazing to design a few unique things for me to use for this event.
 
 
And then there is the amazing Brenda, of GreatStitch.com .  Brenda designed blankets, pillow cases, hair accessories and the most amazing glam camping tents you've ever seen. 
 

 

To see more of the fun details to come, be sure to check back here!






Owl Miss You Printables by Lauren McKinsey

Lauren McKinsey just released the perfect printable collection for girls and boys who are saying good-bye to teachers and friends. While intended for year-end farewells, when students part ways for the summer, I immediately thought of another use for our family.  A few weeks ago, my sweet daughter Kaylee made the very difficult decision to transfer schools mid-year to take advantage of an opening in an accelerated (gifted) class.  She has been struggling to be adequately challenged in her regular classroom, despite having a wonderful teacher & a great classroom environment.  While she was super excited about the possibilities awaiting her at the new school, she was very sad to say good-bye to friends and a teacher she adored!  When I saw this collection, I knew it was the perfect way for Kaylee to let her friends know that she will miss them and would love to stay in touch.

http://laurenmckinsey.com/banner-events-free-printable/

To get your FREE "Owl miss you" candy bar wrappers, click here.

Be sure to check out the rest of the adorable collection on the Lauren McKinsey website and view a few sneak peek photos below.

Owl Miss You for girls printable collection from Lauren McKinsey :: cards 

Owl Miss You for girls printable collection from Lauren McKinsey :: mommy and me calling cards


Aren't the "mommy and me" calling cards adorable? Such a fun way for kids to be able to keep in touch during the summer.

Owl Miss You for girls printable collection from Lauren McKinsey :: add your own text gift tags

Her labels are editable,  which will allow you to personalize your sweet gifts!

Owl Miss You for girls printable collection from Lauren McKinsey :: granola bar wrappers

Lauren created such fun ideas for handing out to friends on the last day of school.

Owl Miss You for girls printable collection from Lauren McKinsey :: gift tags

Owl Miss You for girls printable collection from Lauren McKinsey :: hanging gift tags

All of you mothers of boys.  Don't you fret!  Lauren didn't forget about the boys!  She designed the OWL MISS YOU collection in a color palette perfect for your little guys as well!

Owl Miss You for boys printable collection from Lauren McKinsey :: add your own text gift tags
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Wednesday, February 19, 2014

An Eagle Scout Court of Honor






































I had the great privilege of helping plan and style an Eagle Scout Court of Honor for a wonderful young man. Styling this event was a fun challenge as there were not very many ideas already available online for inspiration. It was very thrilling to creatively incorporate important aspects from the Scouting Program into this event!






























If you are not familiar with the Boy Scouts of America, it is one of the nation's largest and most prominent values-based youth development organizations. The BSA provides a program for young people that builds character, trains them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and develops personal fitness. To earn the Eagle Award,the Boy Scouts’ highest honor, (which is awarded at a "Court of Honor"), a Scout must be active with a troop, earn a minimum of 21 merit badges, assume a position of leadership in a troop and complete a service project which benefits his community.



Choosing a color palette for this event was easy. The Eagle Scout Award is very patriotic in nature, with red, white & blue as the prominent colors. It was decided that this color palette would serve as the basis for the Court of Honor. We wanted the feeling of the event to reflect the sense of honor and respect that is consistent with the Boy Scouts of America. Knowing the front of the room (where the award presentation would take place) and the back of the room (where the dessert buffet would be served) would be the focal points of the event, I wanted to make these areas especially festive, almost stately. After all, every president of the United States has supported the work of the Boy Scouts of America since its founding in 1910, and each served as honorary president of the BSA during his term in office.


















This particular year was also the Centennial year for scouting.  The honoree wanted to incorporate a slightly rustic feel to some of the décor, so we added some outdoorsy elements, as well as some old wood baskets, crates & apple baskets.
















 

















The phrase: "Be Prepared" is an important part of the Boy Scout program and is the organization's motto. Each young man is encouraged to be prepared for any situation. A 2' x 4' wooden scroll containing those words was cut and painted to hang behind the podium where all speeches and presentations would be made to serve as a reminder that the one being honored at this special court of honor, was indeed prepared. The podium was decorated with the Boy Scout seal and patriotic bunting to recreate the feel of the Presidential seal, as seen when special White House press conferences are being held.   American flags also lined each aisle and brought with them a sense of honor and respect.


 
 
The family of the award recipient made a wonderful light box that they used while the symbolism of the Eagle Scout Award was being explained to the audience.  Each color represented lit up at the appropriate time.  It was a special touch for the program.





































The main dessert table was designed to allude to the American flag. With a red & white striped background and a navy blue table covering, I believe that purpose was achieved. In Scouting, the young men recite a pledge which begins with, "On my honor..." A wood scroll was designed and constructed with these important words painted on it to serve as a focal point for our backdrop.






































Beautiful desserts were created from some of the most talented professionals. I wanted the cake to be impressive and a reminder of why guests were in attendance at this Court of Honor. 4 Kids Cakes designed a beautiful 3 tiered cake representing a scout uniform and sash and all of the patches & Merit Badges earned by this Eagle Scout.   Her detail work was unbelievable and resulted in a masterpiece! Equally as impressiver were her Merit Badge fondant cupcake toppers. My idea for the toppers was to have her recreate the Merit badges earned and worn on the Boy Scout's sash.  Christina of 4 Kids Cakes recreated all of these badges earned specifically by the guest of honor and duplicated another set to match. Attending guests were in awe of her work. In addition, beautiful custom gourmet marshmallows were designed by Madyson's Marshmallows portraying the Eagle Scout symbol. Cookies created to reflect the Boy Scout's Eagle project as well as the Eagle symbol were baked by Flour-de-Lys.   Other dessert table favorites included pretzel rods, colorful rock candy, patriotic candy contributed by Oh! Nuts and colorful donuts.











 




































Credits:
Complete Event Styling: Jen Carver, Banner Events
Printable Graphic Designs: Paper Perfection
Professional Printing: TEKS Services
Cake & Merit Badge Cupcake toppers:  4 Kids Cakes
Custom Cookies: Flour-de-Lys
Custom Gourmet Marshmallows: Madyson's Marshmallows

Wednesday, February 12, 2014


If you have children that play sports, you've probably had a team snack assignment sneak up on you!  On Monday, my husband texted me from work to see if I could throw together a *special* end-of-season treat for the basketball team he coaches.  Insert panic mode!  With just an hour to grocery shop and throw something together that would be "last game worthy", I was so grateful to Jennifer Kirlin of BellaGrey Designs for designing such fun last-minute printable sports bottle labels & candy bar wrappers to add some pizzazz to our treats!  She adjusted the colors to the team colors and added their team name to make them personal.  The kids loved them!  They were definitely a slam dunk!
 




 




Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Lauren McKinsey Cute Club Membership!






























Have you heard the amazing news?  Graphic designer, Lauren McKinsey is celebrating the launch of her new CUTE CLUB membership! She is offering unlimited access to all of her adorably fun printable collections for a $12.99 monthly membership fee or $89 for an annual membership fee.  With thousands of printables already available on her site  (worth over $2,100 if purchased individually), this is such an amazing deal! Currently, she has over 95 printable collections available on her website, with new ones being released every week. Lauren offers a variety of collections for just about every holiday, birthdays, other special occasions, school & teacher gifts, summer celebrations and more! (Plus, she's open to YOUR ideas too!)

For more information, on this exciting news be sure to visit her blog post HERE!

For a limited time she is offering a special discount rate for the CUTE CLUB membership of $9.99 for a monthly membership and $59.99 for an annual membership, which is a GREAT price!! So hurry and sign up today so you don’t miss out!

Oh, and guess what?   You can enter a giveaway to win a FREE annual membership using the Rafflecopter entry form below! Good Luck!! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Super Hero Valentines































It's a bird.  It's a plane.  It's super hero Valentine ideas here to rescue you from holiday frustrations!


It's no secret that I adore Lauren McKinsey's graphic design work.  Her style is bright and fun and definitely kid-friendly. 


This year, I have FOUR kids in school, each one wanting something unique for their Valentine's Day celebration.  My youngest, Max, absolutely loved these super hero Valentines.  It *might* be because we call him "Super Max", and he runs around in his cape from the Dollar Tree.  (Or, it may just be that these designs are so darn cute.  I'll let you decide!)

P.S.  Lauren offers free weekly designs, including one of these super hero gift tags, so be sure to visit her site and sign up for her newsletter.