{GIVEAWAY!!!} "Push-Up Pops" Book by Courtney Dial Whitmore!

UPDATE:  And the winner is..........

Congratulations to Julie Young!!!!! Her comment was:

Julie YoungMar 1, 2012 10:04 AM

I'm having a Robot Fiesta for Asher's 2nd birthday in a few weeks, I would love to make some Fiesta Push-up Pops using lots of bright colors- red, yellow, green, orange. so cute!
oooo I hope I win!! :)

Congrats Julie! You're the lucky winner of Courtney's new book Push-Up Pops!!  Hope you enjoy making push-Up Pops for your Robot Fiesta!  I'd love it if you shared the party photos.


Enjoy!!!

{Whimsy & Wise} Our Little Man is turning one!

He’s all grown up.  He’s officially ONE.  My baby is practically a little man and since the day he was born he’s made sure we know that.  Noah is my serious kid and the one that acts all grown up .  He won’t crack a smile at just any one, he prefers to hang with mom and dad than play with other babies and when he wrestles with his older brother, he always ends up sitting on his chest, as if conquering the win.

Naturally, his personality helped steer the theme choice for his 1^st birthday.  At first, I had a bit of a hard time narrowing down themes {as you might recall} but once I figured it out, the decision was quite obvious.  He’s our little man and fittingly so, he should be given a Little guy in a tie birthday party. I should also mention that we decided to baptize him on the same day we were having his 1^st birthday party.  We figured since we’d taken so long to baptize him {Catholics, don’t judge me!} we should just combine the two events and celebrate all at once. Thus, I needed a theme that wasn’t “too birthday-ey or too baptismal-y”

I knew gray and white would have to be part of the color scheme because I wanted to re-use the table runners we made for THIS baby shower I helped with for my best friend. As a result, I went with yellow, gray and white.  I just thought that color scheme was suitable for the theme and both occasions being celebrated.  From there I decided I wanted to make a paper fan wall to highlight the candy station and also have a photo booth area for guests to use mustaches and lips on sticks to play around with.  All the elements came together perfectly to create one of my favorite events yet.

{Cake & smash cake by: Cynthia's Cakes}

{My friend Monique, of A Blissful Affair, stopped by really early to help me put my vision together}

  

{We had some photo booth fun! Mustaches and lips on sticks are from etsy store: WhiskerWorks. Every child, and even some adults, got a tie t-shirt to wear during the party.}

{Birthday boy!}

{Nater the Inflater stopped by for some balloon animal fun....and even gave us all tattoos!}

{Noah and his Godparents} 

{Happy Birthday, sweet boy!  We love you so much!}

Candy: www.candywarehouse.com

Party Design Ideas: Whimsy & Wise

Rentals: The Party Rental Place

Houndstooth Fabric: JoAnn's Fabric

Party Styling: Whimsy & Wise/ A Blissful Affair

Paper Goods & Graphic Designs: Whimsy & Wise

Invitation: etsy shop- Fresh Chick Designs

Marshmallow Pops & Mustache Pops: Whimsy & Wise

Cakes: Cynthia’s cakes

Paper Fan BackDrop: Whimsy & Wise

Tie T-Shirt Favors:  Janice Hernandez

Entertainment: Nater the Inflater

Easter Centerpieces: Revisited

I noticed on Pinterest this week, that this blog post has been quite popular.  It's given me a TON of traffic recently.  I figured I'd re-post it for those of you who are new followers or who are just looking to get some ideas on Easter brunch decorating. It's never too early to start planning an event, party people!!   Happy Pinning!

{originally posted on February 22, 2010}

I'm so excited!  I will be hosting an Easter Family Brunch/ Play Date with a few friends and their kids.  There will be 10 adults and 5 kids (old enough to sit at a table on their own).  I went to the Dollar Tree this weekend and stocked up on dozens of plastic eggs to use as decorations.  Now I have to figure out how to use them!

I'm hoping I find some inspiring ideas over at Maddycakes Muse.  Michelle is hosting a Spring Tablescape Contest, so I'd love to see what all these creative ladies in blogland have come up with at their Spring parties in the past.  Head over to her blog to see what parties have been submitted thus far....or enter your own tablescape if you've got one!

I have been researching Easter centerpiece ideas, today.  So far, this is what I've found: 

{courtesy of:  Porter House Designs}

{courtesy of: A Passion of Creativity}

{courtesy of: Southern Living}

{courtesy of:  Quick and Easy}

{courtesy of:  Martha Stewart}

{courtesy of:  Pottery Barn}

{courtesy of:  All You Magazine}

So what do you think?  Cute, right?  If you have any centerpiece ideas that are easy and CHEAP, send them my way! I would LOVE to see them!

Rock-A-Bye Baby Shower: Baby Brixton

My bestie is having a baby!!!  YUP!! A real life, rosy cheeked, soft skinned baby boy!! You might remember she's the photographer that's done all my Christmas card pictures {here and here} and my maternity session {here} Well, now she's having her own baby and I am SO excited.  She's due in less than a month.  Ironically, it's almost exactly one year to the day that I gave birth to my son.  Thus, it's a given that our little guys will be best friends, just like their mommies!

When we started planning Jennifer's shower she kept saying, "I don't want a theme!  I don't want anything too "baby" in the shower! I want it to be a cool shower."  But being the "party-passionate" girl that I am, I knew immediately that having no theme is just plain IMPOSSIBLE.  Even if you have a color scheme, the theme is still the colors.....and eventually, you end up adding some baby elements to make it just the right amount of "baby" for the mom-to-be.  In Jennifer's case, she quickly realized she loved the Rock & Roll themed baby shower idea.  It was cool, hip and not at all your typical baby shower theme.  she must have had a crazy pregnancy dream with teddy bears, sheep and bunnies taunting her, which scared her straight out of anything remotely baby-looking. The colors she wanted were red, gray, black and white; perfect Rock & Roll colors!  After that, we "rolled" with it and everything fell into place....

{These were AMAZING! There was a whole Oreo
cookie at the bottom. And notice the small Oreo
on top placed to look like a vinyl record!}

{Beautiful Mama}

Candy: www.candywarehouse.com
Party Design: Whimsy & Wise
Rentals: Create-A-Party Rentals
Houndstooth Fabric: JoAnn's Fabric
Party Styling: Whimsy & Wise/ A Blissful Affair
Paper Goods: Whimsy & Wise
Graphic Design on Tags: etsy shop- Itsy Belle
Invitation: etsy shop- Roxter Designs
Cake Pops: A Blissful Affair
Marshmallow Pops: Whimsy & Wise
Pretzel Sticks: Jamero Delights
Cupcakes: Babycakes
Cupcake Tower {handmade}: Alex Fazio
Photography: Jennifer Nicole Photography