Baby Lifestyles
Feb/March 2013 Magazine
Baby Lifestyles LAUREN HALPERIN Publisher, Creative Director
TARA STEINLE Managing Editor
ELLEN FELDMAN, BETH MERAN Contributing Editors
LOLA STEEVENS Sales Director
AUSTIN “Mr. Z” RAPPAPORT Website Architect
MICHAEL GUSTMAN S.E.O. Management Visit Baby Lifestyles online at www.BabyLifestyles.com for inspiration, real baby showers, birthday parties, nursery reveals, hot products, news, updats, contests, giveaways, and more Would you like to contribute to Baby Lifestyles? Email our editorial staff at Editor@BabyLifestyles.com Submit your baby shower, birthday party or nursery to Baby Lifestyles at www.BabyLifestyles.com For information about advertising in Baby Lifestyles Magazine and online, contact Lola Steevens at advertise@babylifestyles.com Follow us on Twitter: @BabyLifestyles1
Baby Lifestyles Feb/March 2013 Magazine
On This issue’s Cover We instantly swooned for Katie of Petite Social’s idea of a cookie decorating party to celebrate Valentine’s Day. check out all the loveliness on page .
CONTENTS Feburary/ March 2013
PAGE 84
PAGE 94
PAGE 14
PAGE 20
PAGE 64
PAGE 76
IN EVERY ISSUE
PHOTOGRAPHY
CELEBRATIONS
12 PRODUCT TRENDS 122 LAST CRY
30 THINK PINK MATERNITY 34 PHOTOGRAPHER SHOWCASE 48 WAITING FOR A FAIRY 76 KISSING BOOTH
14 LACE AND LOVE 20 VINTAGE NOSTOLGIA 84 READ ALL ABOUT IT GENDER REVEAL 94 COLORFUL YARN MADNESS 109 HEART COOKIE DECORATING
DO IT YOURSELF 9 PAINTED DRESSER 70 HOT AIR BALLOONS
NURSERY REVEALS 56 GREY GOES MODERN 60 CREAM BOY STRIPES 64 ISLAND BLUES AND GREENS
WE HEART OUR CONTRIBUTORS !
Jeni Maus
Marcie Lenick
Jamie Thrower
How do you create magic with yarn? Jeni knows the answer! Check out her amazing colorful yarn ball baby shower she threw for her best friend.
This talented designer knows how to announce a baby’s gender. You’ll want to read all about it in her newspaper inspired gender reveal shower.
The brains behind Studio 13 Designs shot this incredible first love kissing booth photo shoot for Valentine’s Day.
Jenna Shriver
Heather Hagler
Jonathan Ivy
Do you love aqua? Jenna does and that’s why she used this sweet hue for her gender reveal party. You’ll love her amazing photography of the day.
Vintage parties always feel romantic. This Valentine’s Day, Heather designed a gorgeous vintage party for lovers of all things vintage.
The man behind the lens photographed his beautiful wife whiel she was expecting their daughter in this Think Pink maternity shoot.
Lindsey Freitas The beauty behind Bellalu photographed this romantic maternity shoot featuring mom and baby waiting for the latest angel.
Nicola Pravato
Kate Brown and Yolanda Cerra
Get ready to take flight. Nicola The ladies behind Kiss Me Kate shows you how to lift off with her created a lovely lace party with incredible DIY project for hot air elegant doilies, perfect for the little lady who will always be balloons. Great for your baby your Valentine. shower or nursery.
Giving a Dresser A Second Life
When Rachel of Southern Exposure sees something in passing, she will not stop thinking about it until she gets the opportunity to recreate it. She’s a DIY machine! Her latest creation is transforming a wooden chest into a beautiful dresser with sections in colored paint for her baby's nursery room. Not to be looked over, when giving a dresser a makeover, Rachel knew once the doors were open, the drawers would be revealed. For a cohesive look, she painted the six large drawers inside so when the cabinet doors were opened, everything matched. It will be perfect storage for baby Hayes’ nursery since there is only a tiny closet in the room.
Regardless of your photography background, you are already bonded to Stephanie Cotta by one thing –love for capturing perfect little newborns. Several years ago, she was a mom with a nice camera and a vision to take gorgeous, stunning photographs of newborns. Not only did she want to capture all of their perfect little parts, but wanted to create art that families could forever treasure. And by practicing and making mistakes, she was able to fine-tune the art of the SCP Newborn Session. “When I started holding my SCP Newborn Mentoring Workshops, I fell in love with teaching others to do what I do. Thus began the start of designing and creating the SCP Newborn Posing Guide.” Not only does this guide provide a step-bystep instructions of newborn poses, it also gives you advice on scheduling the newborn sessions, prepping parents, soothing techniques, shooting strategies, perfecting each pose, posing order, studio setups and of course, where Stephanie gets all of her favorite session goodies. “Had something like this been around when I first took on this “newborn photographer” title, it most likely would have saved me weeks of time. And perhaps that is my biggest reason for wanting to share this with all of you… because this guide will provide you with the tools necessary to create this amazing newborn art. It will lay out every detail so that you, too, can feel confident in your newborn sessions and the photos that you can produce.” Whether you are new to this art and are ready to try your first newborn session or if you are ready to truly take photography to the next level, this is the guide for you. Become a fan on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephaniecottaphotography Website: http://stephaniecottaphotography.com/
Vintage Lace and Love By Kiss Me Kate
Ashton, a young enthusiastic and super organized mother contacted Kiss Me Kate to style her daughter's first birthday party. She requested a vintage doily tea party celebration and wanted the dessert table to have a soft and feminine style. "Our client wanted the party invitation to have a clean and simple aesthetic so we turned to Anders Ruff Custom Designs to design the invitation and coordinating printables. The invitation featured one large single doily on a peachy pink background and this understated, pretty design was extended throughout the printable package. We were also briefed to style the dessert table using a soft colour palette and to incorporate vintage style props such as tea sets and flowers."
Kate then went on a hunt for the most beautiful doilies in various sizes. The selection of doilies were dyed using pink food coloring and then starched stiff so that they could be easily pinned on the backdrop. A recent trip to the country snow fields is where we stumbled across a small haberdashery store from which we purchased the doily buntings, fabric garland and embellishments. The birthday cake was designed to reflect the invitation, uncomplicated yet pretty. Kate baked an ombrĂŠ style cake, peachy pink in color with a white doily boarder. Other dessert items included the doily lace cookies, cake pops, mini jams tarts, macaroons and chewy meringues.
Vintage Valent By Heathe
tine’s Day Love er Hagler
Photography Showcase
Photo by Saperstone Studios
Photo by Amanda Andrews Photography
Photos by Charity Remington Photography
Photo by Dusty Gorman Photography
Photo by Kimberly Chau
Photo by MSM Portraits
Photo by Natalie Champa Jennings Photography
Picture by Photos by Miss Ann
Photo by Ron B. Wilson Photography, Inc
Photo by Ronda Wollard Originals
Photo by You Are Raven
Photo by Savvy Images
Photo by Warthan Farms Photography
Photo by Zenobia Studios
Waiting for a New Fairy By Bellalu Photography
Tranquil Winter Grey By Tara Steinle
Sweet Creams By Lauren Halperin Megan describes her design style as transitional, a mix of contemporary and traditional design. She loves muted colors that make her home feel very peaceful and relaxed, and that is what she created for her son Jaxon’s nursery.
space her junk room. “Jaxon was a great excuse to get that room cleaned up and looking much cuter.”
“I wanted a room that my son could grow into and wouldn’t be too “babyish”. I felt that the soft creams and blues would allow him to enjoy this Before her baby boy was the occu- room for several years to come. The pant of the room, Megan called the only element we’ll need to change is removing the rocking chair and up-
grading his crib to a twin bed. Otherwise, I think all the furniture, color scheme and stripes will work for and older boy as well.” She spent around $2,500 on the nursery, deciding to splurge on good-quality furniture pieces that would last for a long time such as the crib, bookshelf and rocking recliner. “I also love supporting other artists, so several of my purchases were from Etsy sellers, which wasn’t cheap but I’d rather purchase from a small business whenever possible.” At her 19 week appointment, she learned she was expecting a boy and got to work decorating the room with striped walls and a soft color palette. For the stripes, she used Frog Tape to give a crisp line to each stripe. “The hardest part was placing the tape throughout the room and making sure the stripes were level and an equal width. You could always just do one accent wall in the stripes if you didn’t want to tackle the entire room.” The details that make this room are the fabric choices. You wouldn’t necessarily think of these fabrics as childish, which adds a hint of sophistication to his nursery. “The custom items I or-
dered from Etsy really help complete the room – such as his owl mobile from Lovefelt Creations. The designer allowed me to mail her some pieces of my fabrics to incorporate into the mobile design which really helps tie it into the nursery.” It was very difficult for Megan to find the perfect bedding, which is why she opted to purchase the fabrics and create the bedding herself. “My friend Ashley sewed me the crib sheet, my mother in law sewed the blanket, and my husband and I created the crib skirt. Ashley also helped me sew basket liners using one of the nursery. It just added another custom element into the bookshelf” To create the ‘Jaxon’ banner, Megan purchased some burlap and linen triangles and then stamped the letters of his name on each triangle. Then she attached them together using a strand of twine. My advice to other parents is to start by getting inspired. Once you feel inspired, the rest starts to come pretty easily.
Modern Nursery Mosaic By Lauren Halperin Meredith and her husband live on an island, so it makes sense that her favorite color to decorate her traditional yet shabby-chic home is a light and airy shade of blue. But when it came to designing the nursery room for her son, David, she thought much bolder, adding in other shades and complimenting it with greens and tans. Before I knew we were having a boy, I became obsessed with painting the nursery dark blue. There is a painting hanging in the nursery above our glider that was given to me when I was about 10 weeks pregnant. It has a lot of bold colors and I knew I wanted that to be the inspiration.� After finding inspirational pictures where she had seen the color used for both boy and girl nurseries, the idea was a go.
“I knew from the beginning that I wanted to do the dark blue, and once we found out we were having a boy, green seems like a good accent color! My favorite part of the nursery is the wall color and how the white furniture and fabrics pop against it. It is Sherwin Williams Loyal Blue.” When Meredith found a rug that matched her color concept perfectly for pennies at TJ Maxx, she knew she had hit the jackpot with her color combination. “Honestly I feel like the whole nursery was a DIY project! I knew I wanted to do something unique and not just buy a matching set of furniture or matching bedding, so everything felt DIY. The crib skirt, bumper pads, curtains and pillow for the glider were all done by a seamstress, but with my direction.”
“I love how the wall color, fabrics and white furniture all works so well together! I also love the mixture of old and new items.” Upon walking into the room, guests see the white glider and ottoman. On the chair is a turquoise throw from Target and a pillow that was made out of the blue and green fabric. Above the chair is the painting that was given to Meredith as a gift that was part of my inspiration. Next to the chair is a floor lamp from IKEA, and an old side table from her grandfather which she painted white. “The white bookshelf I have had for years (Shabby Chic style from Target) that we reused in this room. It is filled with items that have been given to us for the baby.” I knew that I wanted to frame the original blue and green fabric which is used in the crib skirt to tie the room together, and I had originally planned on using it in all three frames until my mom found the adorable green giraffe fabric!
A Day of Love and Kisses By Studio 13 Designs
Clothes and accessories: Half Pint Sonoma Styling: True Emerald Styling and Planning Photography: Jamie Thrower of Studio 13 Designs Cake/cookies: Crisp Bakery
Read All About it Gender Reveal Styling by Marcie Lenick Photography by Jenna Shriver
For Jenna's first child, she and her husband wanted to find out baby's gender as soon as possible, we wanted to make it a really fun experience to share with our family and friends. She and friend Marcie Lenick of Celebrating Moments by Marcie came up with the lovely theme “It’s Time for the Big News to be Revealed!”
"Jenna loved that her baby shower allwoed her to combine her passion for she could tie in my passion for everything vintage along with cool hues that made her happy. "Jenna wanted to use the colors because they were similar to their wedding colors and also coordinated well in her dining room. We didn’t really do the blue to announce the gender, it's because aqua blue is one of her favorite colors." The pair collaborated in making the invitations. Jenna designed the text, she provided the wording, graphics, and put everything together on the newspaper and mounted on real newspaper and cardstock with some of Marcie's vintage clock graphics.
"I wanted to bring in some whimsy and came up with adding the teddy bears," Marcie said. "I have to say the bear reading the newspaper is my favorite element! I purposely used our local town paper for the cover." Vintage touches were carried throughout with the antique chalkboard frame Marcie made for the guests to vote on what gender they thought the baby would be. Antique suitcases and clocks also added more vintage touches throughout. Marcie dressed up Jenna's backyard with her decorations and fabric garlands left over from Jenna's wedding, a beautiful way to incorporate meaningful touches. Guests voted on baby’s gender on a chalkboard and were fairly divided between boy and girl.
"While everyone was gathered in our dining room, living room and kitchen we cut the cake to reveal. It was suspenseful. And it's a boy!"
The Colors of Baby Love By Jeni Maus
When you truly love your friends, you will go above and beyond to celebrate their happiness. This is the case for Jeni and her best friend Allison. "It's hard to put into words how special Allison is to me. In the years I have grown to know and love her, she has become so much more than a friend and business partner. She is a part of my family." When Allison announced that she was pregnant, Jeni jumped at the chance to throw her a baby shower. "I wanted to show her how cared for she is and give her a celebration that she so deserves. So this meant I had to go big!"
Since Allison has a heart for elephants, the majestic animals would definitely be incorporated in the shower theme. As Allison and her husband, Tim, decided to wait until they learned baby's gender, the pachyderms would be in a neutral color palette. "When I asked Allison what she would like the color palette to be, she pointed to my embroidered chambray top and said "I like that." So we pulled a number of fun colors from the shirt for the palette. Allison also inspired the theme and palette in a collage she'd created toward the beginning of her pregnancy titled for her baby's art collection.
Once Jeni decided on the multi-colored palette, she knew she wanted to integrate something colorful, playful and fun... yarn! "We had been creating yarn balls of all sizes and colors for quite some time, but hadn't settled on the perfect found way to use them until now. When I knew my inspiration for the shower, I shared some of the colorful and elephant-filled artwork with Amber of Pitbulls and Posies, who created the gorgeous invitations and provided a beautiful vision for the whole event."
"We had been creating yarn balls of all sizes and colors for quite some time, but hadn't settled on the perfect found way to use them until now.�
As the shower approached, Jeni began to style her husband's photography studio space to host the shower. She started by creating a unique focal point for the dining area by hanging yarn balls of all sizes and colors over the tables. She also hung the plethora of yarn over the lounge vignette with a deconstructed umbrella to "shower" Allison with yarn. Other colorful DIY details included color blocked book shelves and a pixilated sweets station backdrop.
Because a perfect weekend to Allison is not complete without breakfast at Fullerton's Early Bird Cafe, breakfast for dinner was a menu must. Head chef of Early Bird and owner of J & R Foods served Allison's favorite breakfast: Eggs Benedict, Waffles and Orange Cream.
"A favorite detail a mine is a chair I had reupholstered just the perfect size for a little one to find a seat in. I also used a variety of antique wood kids chairs of all different colors on the wall to use as decor and to put things on. There were so many little details that added splashes of color and character throughout the entire space. I was so taken back by the stunning work put forth and feel so lucky to call each one of those who collaborated a friend. I was so happy with how the shower turned out. In the end, all that mattered was making Allison feel special, and I think that was accomplished by all those who came to celebrate her." Design + Coordination: Jeni Maus of Found Rentals Floral Design & Styling: JL Designs Invitations & Stationery: Pitbulls and Posies Cake + Desserts: Sweet and Saucy Shop Catering: J & R Foods China + Silverware: Casa de Perrin Photographer: Joel Maus of Studio EMP
Allison has since welcomed a son named Elliot Wilson Howell. Jeni tells us that she and Allison "absolutely fall in love with him more each and every time we see him."
How does your baby party? www.babyLIfestyLes.com
Decorating with Love A Valcentine’s Day Cookie Party By Petite Social
Event Styling: Katie from Petite Social Event Photography by MoxieSox Photography Custom Designed Party Printables: Frosting & Ink Macarons: Marianna’s Macarons Decor & Accessories: Kid’s aprons, Hair Accessories Baskets from Little Choux Children’s clothing: Shop Belle LOVE Muslin Favor Bags: Paper Moon by Kat
A hundred hearts woul be too few To carry all my love for Photo by Taken Photography