Holiday 2011 Magazine
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Baby Lifestyles LAUREN HALPERIN
Publisher, Creative Director
TARA STEINLE Managing Editor
ELLEN FELDMAN, STACY FINKELSTEIN, BETH MERAN, KIMBERLY MISH 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 is published bi-monthly by Baby Lifestyles, LLC. All contents ©2011 Baby Lifestyles, LLC. All rights reserved.
On the Cover This sleeping little guy was taken by Amanda Dykan of the photography team at Mulberry Lane Studio. See more of baby Jett on page 81.
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CONTENTS December/ January 2011-2012
PAGE 131
PAGE 20
PAGE 62
PAGE 123
PAGE 112
PAGE 16
IN EVERY ISSUE
7 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 10 HOT PRODUCTS 141 LAST CRY
STUFF WE LOVE
11 HOLIDAY CARDS 20 PIZZAZZERIE GINGERBREADS 26 DIY CRAYON ART 30 DIY HOLIDAY WREATH 34 DIY MAKE YOUR MENORAH 36 HANUKKAH PRINTABLES
PHOTOGRAPHY
81 MERRY CHRISTMAS PICTURES 107 PHOTOGRAPHY SHOWCASE
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47 RIVER’S NURSERY 52 JACK’S NURSERY 57 SWEET RETREAT 62 HONEYCOMB HOME 68 GREEN PROVENCE 72 SHOPPING IN PARIS
TRENDSETTER
42 SOUTH AFRICAN PRINTER LOOSH SAYS WHAT’S HOT
BEHIND THE DESIGN
77 DESIGNER KENNETH BROWN
NURSERY REVEALS
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TIPS AND TRICKS
16 CATCH MY PARTY’S TRENDS 85 FLOWER CENTERPIECE TRICKS 112 HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTESS HOLIDAY TIPS
CELEBRATIONS
91 PINK CIRCUS BABY SHOWER 103 POLAR EXPRESS BIRTHDAY 117 BABY’S FIRST XMAS PARTY 123 GUMDROP DELIGHT 131 BRIGHT AND MERRY XMAS
Growing up in a Jewish household, I was always a little
disappointed with the lack of Hanukkah decorating done
in my house. While nothing made me happier than gushing for eight straight days about all the presents I was
gifted with, there was nothing festive done in my home.
Nothing brought this to light more than going to my best friend’s house to help her decorate her tree. I delighted in
throwing silver and gold strands of tinsel on the branches of her tree, helping to put on sparkling ornaments, giggling at the scenes from her Nutcracker music box, and
watching her home fill with poinsettias. When it came
to holiday décor, I always felt I got the short end of the decorative stick.
As soon as I was living on my own, I started a new tra-
dition which my husband absolutely hates… the Hanukkah tree. Each year, I put up my six-foot tall, prelit, faux white tree, decorate it with star of David garland
and ornaments of menorahs, dreidels, and Jewish stars. Any time I can find blue and silver ornaments, they get
purchased, and this year, my tree will be topped with a
Jewish star tree topper in lieu of the blue “Happy Hanukkah” ribbon that has graced it the past six years. Having something to decorate at the holidays makes me so smile every time I see it, and with each passing year, it goes
up earlier and earlier so I can delight in decorating our living in Hanukkah festiveness. This year, inspired by the in-
credible party the Courtney Dial of Pizzazzerie shows us in this issue, I’ll be adding a Hanukkah gingerbread house decorating party to my blue and silver mix, and hope it turns into another tradition of celebrating with family and friends.
To all our wonderful Baby Lifestyles readers, Happy Holidays
Lauren Halperin Publisher & Creative Director
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CONTRIBUTORS’ holiday wishes
Jenn Sbranti Hostess with the Mostess
Paula Biggs Frog Prince Paperie
A safe and healthy delivery of baby number two.
Enjoying time with friends and familiy.
Spending time with my family.
Bird Bird’s Party
Courtney Dial Pizzazzerie
Kori Clark Paper and Pigtails
I'd like a nice powder pink cupcake stand to add to my collection.
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Jillian Tohber Leslie Catch My Party
A little rest after my book launch Enjoying some down time with family to think of new fun ideas. to look through wedding magazines.
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Marci Gerlach Entwined Design Florals
I really just want to focus on spending more quality time with my family.
Michelle Knox I Do Invitations by Michelle
To spend time with my family, not working and away from the computer. To enjoy the real meaning of the holiday. {But a new pair of Uggs would certainly be nice ;)}
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Jamela Robledo
I would love to have a house. I know it's a big thing to ask for but if not a new beautiful L lens for my camera.
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Decorate the Tree
Baby’s First Christmas Ornament
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Blissful Christmas
Twinkling Night
Seasons Greetings
Candy Cane Square
Holiday Cards Hanging Hexagons
Melodic Swirls
Merry Nutcrackers
Painted Berries
Welcoming Words
Starlight Script
Wooden Checks
Wreathed Charm
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Family of Trees
Bold Christmas
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Brightly Merry
Christmas Quilt
Flakes
Fashionista Reindeer
Peace Love Joy
Ornaments
Holiday Stripes
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Christmas Canvas
Pleasant Bliss
Sloping Snowfall
Whimsical Tree
O Christmas Tree
Delightful Pastels
Row of Ornaments
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Colorful Blocks
Merry Colors
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Faith and Family
Peaceful Drinks
Celebrate Dots
A Retrospective
Contemporary Ornaments
Holiday Ornament
Grand Request
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Confetti Collage
Tinsel
Modern Holiday
Uncorked Cheer
Pattern Fun
Color Block Party
Dazzling Wishes
Painted Soiree
Celebrate in Style
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2011 Holiday Party Trends spotted by Catch My Party Trend #1 Gingerbread House Decorating “What's fun about gingerbread house decorating parties is that your guests get to unleash their inner Picassos and then eat their creations!” says Jillian Tohber Leslie, Catch My Party’s top celebrator. “You can either buy pre-made gingerbread houses or pretty easily make your own. Then put out colored frostings and lots of candy toppings and you've got a great activity for kids.” 16
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Trend #2 Christmas Cake Pops
Cake pops are cake balls covered in chocolate, decorated, and put on a stick like a lollipop, and they are the latest trend in fun desserts. “These are easy to make with your kids with tons of recipes to be found and, depending on how creative you want to be, you can either keep them basic or design them to go with the theme of your party.” Check out these from the amazing Bakerella.
Trend # 3 Holiday Party Printables
Party printables are computer files you print and cut out to make adorable holiday decorations. You don't even need to be "crafty" to do it. A pair of scissors, some tape, and pretty ribbon is about all you need! “Since they're just computer files, they are pretty inexpensive. The best thing about party printables is that if you run out of decorations, you can always print more!” Get this set here!
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Trend #4 Feel the Blues “You don't need to stick to the traditional red and green this year,” Jillian advises holiday party throwers. “To liven things up a bit, we recommend adding some winter blues into your decor.” Blue can be used to convey cold, so using it to represent ice with snowflakes is a greaty way to incorporate color into an otherwise ged and green table. Add in some penguins, polar bears, igloos, mittens, and other cool winter ideas and you’ve got an updated look.
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Trend #5 A Hot Chocolate Bar
Why serve the same hot chocolate out of a pot? “At a hot chocolate bar, you serve the belly-warming beverage and then set out different types of toppings to let your guests create their own personalized cups. Examples of items you can put out are: cinnamon, crushed peppermint candies, crushed toffee bits, marshmallows, whipped cream, chocolate shavings, chopped nuts, caramel syrup, candy canes, etc. “Everyone likes to experiment, and this is fun, easy way to add a little something special and unexpected to your holiday party. See the rest of this hot chocolate dessert buffet and many other holiday party trends at Catch My Party.
Gingerbread House Decorating with Courtney Dial of Pizzazzerie Photography by Beth Tilley Green Gingerbread houses were a memorable part of Courtney Dial from Pizzazzerie’s childhood and a wonderful tradition during the holiday season. She still has a gingerbread house she made as a child. This holiday season, she’s sharing with us her tips and inspiration for hosting your own children’s gingerbread house decorating party. 20
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Gingerbread Decorating Party Tip #1 Have houses ready to go for guests Build the bases of the houses so that work is already done. This way, your guests can get to work decorating as soon as they arrive and no one will have the bother of their house falling over. While gingerbread is the old standard for decorating edible holiday homes, if you need a quick and easy solution that will go a long way for a crowd of party goers, try substituting graham crackers. Anyone who has made gingerbread houses before knows that frosting doesn’t always make the best glue for keeping a house together. A great tip for creating sturdier ginger-glue is melting brown sugar in a sauce pan at low heat until it liquefies. Make several batches of royal icing ahead of time as well and your little guests can concentrate on just decorating and fun.
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Gingerbread Decorating Party Tip #2 Be Bright with Candy
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Before they are decorated, gingerbread houses are plain old brown. Provide a fun and colorful assortment of candies for kids to decorate with. M&Ms, ribbon candies, gumdrops, peppermints, candy canes and red hots work great and come in vibrant hues. And don’t forget about other fun decoration like ribbons and figurines for toppings.
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Gingerbread Decorating Party Tip #3 Dress up your Table!
Use a fun, patterned wrapping paper along the top of your table. It will give your tabletop a burst of holiday flair, and will also catch any fallen icing and candy, making for easy clean up. Place the pre-made houses on plates for the kids to transport their finished product home easily. Try decorating the table with candy cane topiary trees and ribbons, it will add to the festivities.Turn on some joyful tunes and let the kids get decorating! It is amazing to see how each child creates something unique and beautiful. They save really well too – just store them in an airtight container.
Create Your Own Candy Cane Topiary Topiary Supplies: * Styoform tree cone * Candle holder – glass works well * Floral tubes, (find them at craft stores) * Glue * Recipe for Royal Icing “Glue” * Two sizes of candy canes * Christmas ribbon Peppermint Instructions: 1. Glue the clear floral tube into the glass candle holder. 2. Make a recipe of Royal Icing. 3. Using the back of a spoon or a spatula, spread the icing all over the cone. 4. Push the lollipop into the top of the tree. 5. Place the candy canes around the tree alternating the sizes. 6. Make a ribbon bow and place under the lollipop. 7. Using an icing decorator, pipe little stars on the tips of the candy canes. 24
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Do It Yourself Melted Crayon Art for Nursery
Gorgeous melted crayon works of art have become the hottest DIY art. They’re not that hard to make and really fun, although they take some time. Want to make your own? Stephanie from 52 Kitchen Adventures broke it down in this easy step by step tutorial to help you make your own. Imagine how amazing this will look coordinated with your nursery colors!
MATERIALS:
1. a generously sized art canvas 2. a hot glue gun and glue stick 3. a hair dryer 4. lots of crayons 5. newspaper. 26
TIP: For this tutorial, Steph used a 16″x20″ canvas, two boxes of 64 crayons, plus some extras from a box of 24.
DIRECTIONS:
Step 1: Pick out the colors you want to use and line them up until you run out of space. For this tutorial, Steph used a rainbow, but how cute would a little girl's nursery room art look in lavender, pink and green? Step 2: Using a glue gun, make a line of glue across the crayons. Quickly place onto canvas in a line, as shown below, with tips facing down. TIP: if you want a certain part showing, like the label, be careful to put the glue on the opposite side.
Step 3: Line your floor with newspaper, place the canvas against the wall, and start blow drying! "I started out on high and warm settings on mine, and alternated with low at certain points. You have to experiment a little to see how your hair dryer works with melting the wax. It sometimes splatters a little, so be sure to cover the floor and surrounding wall, and turn to a lower setting if needed." It takes 5-10 minutes on each area, with 4-5 areas across this 20″ canvas. Aim the heat at the mid to bottom of the crayons where the tips are. Once
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the wax starts melting, move the dryer around as needed to prevent splattering and get wax to go straight down. It took me about an hour to make it across the canvas, getting all the colors to melt sufficiently. Oddly, some colors melt much faster than others. Yellow is particularly slow. Step 4 (optional): After getting all the colors to melt, I went back over certain colors that I wanted to go further down the canvas.
And voila! You have a fun piece of art to hang on your baby’s wall.
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Do It Yourself Merry Christmas Ornament Wreath with Ball Garland
When it comes to the decorating with pizzazz for the holidays, sparkles, glitz, glitter and glam are all part of the accessories. This incredible hanging wreath chandelier from Jessica of Two Shades of Pink captures all these goodies and more in a fabulous display of chic perfection.
MATERIALS:
1. 16 inch (or larger) Styrofoam wreath form 2. Floral tape 3. 2 packages (16 count ea.) 1 inch Styrofoam spheres 4. Fishing line 5. Textured white spray paint 6. Four faux pine garlands 30
7. Strands of silver cording 8. O ring 9. Mod Podge 10. Metallic crochet thread 11. Scissors 12. A yarn needle 13. Ornaments
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DIRECTIONS:
1. First Jessica wrapped her wreath form with floral tape 2. Then wrap your form with your pine garlands to give it a green look. To make it thick, push each wrap tightly together and tuck the ends under the wrapped pieces. 3. In order to give the wreath a fresh from the snow look, use the textured spray paint which will produce the perfect snow kissed effect. Lightly spray with a sweeping motion. Tip: don’t saturate it in one area or it will become too white.
4. When one side is dry, flip it over and spray the other side. It will take at least three hours to become completely dry. When it is, it will be stiff to the touch. 5. Tie four strands of silver cording equidistantly around the wreath, in between the wrapped layers of garland. Tip: Push the garland back around the tied cording to hide the part that is tied. 6. Attach the ends to an O ring (Jessica used a key ring she had). 7. Choose a location to display your festive wreath and hang!
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8.
FOR EXTRA FANCINESS: 8. Jessica added two small garlands to criscross underneath the chandelier using a 16 count package of 1 inch balls of Styrofoam Brand Foam for each garland. 9. Wrap the one-inch balls of Styrofoam Brand Foam with silver crochet thread. While you want to wrap completely but don't worry if some of the white still shows. 32
10. Glue the ends with Mod Podge and let dry. 11. Thread each one onto fishing line using a thicker needle used for yarn. 12. To further fancy her wreath, Jessica strung silver bells. She tied a loop at either end of the fishing line to hang it up using ornament hooks. 13. Add ornaments in complimentary colors. Jessica used silver.
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Do It Yourself Happy Hanukkah: A Glittery Menorah
With Hanukkah around the corner, Sara is getting into the spirit of the holiday season by setting her sights the festival of lights. While normally focusing on recycled crafting, crochet projects and simple DIY décor for her home, Sara, the Creative Jewish Mom shows us how she made her own menorah with her two sons in this easy and fun DIY project. “I have to say this was a huge success. My boys each felt a huge sense of accomplishment, and I know they're going to be so proud when they see how it!”
MATERIALS: 1. 2. 3. 34
A box that holds a roll of aluminum foil or saran wrap, for the base Cardboard tube for the candles Heavy metallic gold cardstock/cardboard
4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Heavy aluminum foil or a recycled aluminum pan you can cut Silver glitter Gold sequins Glitter glue/"tulip" in a few colors Bottle caps for the feet Hot glue
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DIRECTIO S: 1. Open your cardboard box so that it lies flat. On it, draw a design on the box with pencil. “We left the area where the candles would sit blank, but you can plan ahead and decorate that too if you know the sizes of your "candles". Older children should be encouraged to draw the design themselves, but for my boys I
knew they'd enjoy the project more if I gave them something to trace.� 2. Retrace the design with glitter glue, in a few colors, and set aside to dry. 3. Cut the cardboard tube into sections, for nightly candles 3" high and for the shamash, 5" high. 4. Brush on watered down glue, and coat with glitter by sprinkling the glitter over the tube and turning the tube as you go. TIP: Do this over a plate so use can re-use the glitter that falls.
5. Cut out flame shapes from gold cardboard. Then apply lines of glue and have the kids apply sequins. Set aside to dry. 6. Using hot glue gun, glue the box closed so that it is a box once again. Glue at least three bottle caps to the bottom for feet. Then glue the candles to the box. 7. Cut circles of heavy aluminum foil about
1/4" bit larger than the tubes all around, and glue those to the tops of the tubes. Then with scissors make slits in the circle and fold down over the tube to form a cap. 8. Using scissors or a knife, carefully make slits in the aluminum foil caps, and insert flames. 9. Sit down and gaze upon your beautiful creation! If you like, kid's can add their flames as Hanukkah progresses.
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The Festival of Lights
Paula of Frog Prince Paperie wishes there were more parties dedicated to Hanukkah as she finds that the traditions and meanings are truly beautiful! She put together a simple Hanukkah display and included a few DIY projects. 36
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Her display includes an un-traditional menorah, with eight votive cups for the eight days and a center “helper” candle for the shamash and used cups with sugar to help hold them in place. Sparkly scrap book paper created the base. “I’ve been dying to use donuts in a display and was thrilled to find out donuts were Hanukkah food! The oil for frying, like the oil used for lights, is the significant part.”
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Apothecary jars filled with gold, blue and silver bulbs created a nice back drop for the display. The little candy offering were served in regular white cupcake wrappers dropped inside printed cupcake wrappers. Included in the printable pack are some neat paper craft dreidels, perfect for filling with gelt or other treats! Another wonderful item included in the pack are the milk carton boxes – one for every day of Hanukkah. www.BabyLifestyles.com
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“This is a great little project for parents wanting to spread some light on other cultures and traditions for their children. It can all be put away or used for something else after the display is done.� See more beautiful holiday printable collections at Frog Prince Paperie. 40
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South Africa Party Trends with Loosh Creations By Lauren Halperin
Enrika Brianskyte is a graphic designer turned event planner in South Africa. Together with her friend Mandisa Ndovela, they run Loosh Creations, a personalized stationery and event planning company. With a huge passion for organizing and planning gorgeous events, designing personalized stationery and blogging about all the pretty things that inspire me, Enrika showed us how moms and expectant women celebrate babies in South Africa. 42
Parties get started with invitations! How much influence do you think an invitation should have for a party? Invitation design is one of the most important aspects of the party planning. A party invitation will leave the first impression about the event you are organizing. That is why you should always ensure that the stationery perfectly reflects your party or you as an individual.
include an adorable photo of the child. Although most mommies still prefer to send email invitations, printed cards are also high in demand.
What are the invitation trends in South Africa? Unique in design, reflecting specific themes and bright color schemes. The look and feel of the invitation is usually carried across all the party stationery and How are South African moms getting dÊcor. creative with their invitations? South African moms are very creative How important is it to your moms to when it comes to party organizing. They have coordinating paper products that love personalized stationery for their kids’ match their invites in their baby showbirthday parties. The invitations usually re- ers or child birthday parties? flect the cute theme of the party and often It is very important as it adds that special
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touch to the celebrations and creates a memorable. I like to spice up the party with some surprise details such as a perfabulous first impression. sonalized movie about the pregnant couAre party printables becoming popular ple for a baby shower, or the inspirational board with pregnancy photo shoot that in South Africa? Party printables are in high demand. could be used as a décor element. I beMoms particularly like printables offered in lieve these touches make the party so a variety of themes as they can choose much more personal. according to their child’s party theme. They request personalized food labels How do you feel about DIY projects in and menus for their children parties. Print- parties? ables add such a beautiful sparkle to the I absolutely love DIY projects because I like sticking, cutting, scrapbooking, party décor. arranging, designing, crafting, painting What are some of your favorite ways to and ribboning. I particularly like DIY party favors, cup and cupcake wraps, pom add spice to party décor? I always look for creative ideas to add a poms, windmills, all these décor details special touch to make each occasion that I can use in my parties. 44
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What are some of your favorite parties you have thrown or designed for and what did you love about each? The most special party I organized was my best friend’s baby shower. This baby shower had everything from the beautiful table setting, which was really kicked up a notch with absolutely darling food labels that sported cute baby clothing and personalized favors – chocolates with the writing “Thank you for making Laura’s Baby Shower so sweet”, little baskets with a dummy sweet and some flower seeds saying “Plant these seeds in honor of Laura’s new addition and watch your harvest bloom as her new baby grows” and personalized popcorn “Laura is about to pop”. In addition, the beautiful décor included my handmade pom poms, hanging crystals, windmills as well as
personalized baby shower games and even a story board/ canvas with the photos from my pregnancy photo shoot. How do South African moms celebrate the holidays for their children? Christmas is the most popular family celebration in South Africa. Despite the heat during Christmas season, moms still organize the traditional white Christmas for their children that involve a “fake” Christmas tree, father Christmas and lots of lots of food and presents. Are dessert buffet tables popular in South Africa? Dessert tables are becoming a hot new trend in South Africa. They make an exciting addition to the party décor and to the visual presentation of the food.
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What is the hottest dessert to have on your table in South Africa? All things small and pretty are the latest and expected trends for 2012. I think as a consequence of the financial crisis, there is a trend towards more communal dining, hence the popularity of bite size portions; as well as nostalgic 'home cooking', reworking classical desserts like cake pops are a modern variation of petit fours.
Children’s parties are no longer just kids playing in the garden with the cake and balloons but are becoming more thought through events from the party décor, stationery to the food. The party packs for the kids are no longer just sweets and unhealthy processed food but more healthier alternatives. The traditional cake has been slowly replaced by the personalized cupcakes.
What trends do you see emerging in baby showers and children’s in South Africa? Baby showers are moving from the tradition informal gathering to a more planned event, with attention to detail and theming.
What’s the best party planning advice you ever got? Always have a back up plan when organizing an event because some things you cannot predict and prepare ahead as much as possible.
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A River in the Forest By Tara Steinle
When Kate and her husband, Dan would daydream about their son, they would think about walking through forests with him, laughing and skipping all the way. They decided to name their son River, feeling he would be a beacon of peace in their lives. They followed their daydreams by creating an outdoorsy nursery for him to have as his sanctuary. The first things they bought for River’s room were two pillows and the whale ceramics. One pillow had a squirrel on it and the other a fox and a tree. “I loved the
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colors used in these pillows, so that was the inspiration for the color scheme. The ceramic whales that are now hanging from the ceiling we bought just because we thought they were cute, but soon inspired us to create a whole outdoor theme. Most of his room is like a forest, but the corner is kind of our “sea” with the blue curtain and the whales hanging.” As Kate’s family lives close to the ocean, they didn’t want to overpower the room with an ocean feel as he doesn’t have to go very far to experience the real thing.
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Believe it or not, the room was already painted in this green color when the family moved in. While Kate knew she would paint River’s room either green or orange, when she first saw it she knew it would be perfect for her son’s room. She continued to add green and orange from the pillow and then added other bright colors as she found them. The birch trees and bird decals that are on River’s walls make Kate feel like they are in the forest she and Dan used to day-
dream about. After much deliberation between blowing leaves and birch trees, Kate found the perfect set on Etsy. Kate placed his crib on the wall with the decals as she wanted him to be under the birch trees so he could sleep in his forest. The letterpress art on the wall are sayings from “Where the Wild Things Are”, which was Dan’s favorite childhood book. “Some of my favorite items are the items that I made, probably because I am not much of a sewer but I somehow managed to
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pull it off. I made his diaper hanger first and let me tell youUit took forever! It’s now one of my favorite things because I remember the hours it took me to get it right. I also love the hanging whale ceramics because they remind me of Dan and I’s trip to Colorado and how excited we were that we were having a baby boy!” As a photographer, Kate tells us that lighting is the key element to taking great pictures of your baby’s nursery. “Open all of the windows and photograph your nursery at a really bright time of day, like mid-morning or early afternoon. Make sure the room is clean when you are photographing it and pay attention to small details like if the rug is flipped under or the closet door is cracked a little. ” Most of River’s room is composed of items either Kate or her family and friends handmade. “That is probably what makes his room so unique. Nothing has that out of a package/store bought look, because nothing is store bought. I sewed the crib bumpers, curtains, toy retaining wall and diaper hanger and the remaining whimsical items we found at ran-
dom places.” For instance, the owl hanging from the ceiling was found at an antique shop. “It was one of those finds that is just so perfect and makes your whole week brighter.” All of River’s books are from Kate’s childhood book collection that her parent’s saved for me. “Books were a huge part of my childhood. My Dad read to me every night and one of the first things my Dad did when visiting was read River my favorite childhood book, Chica-Chica-BoomBoom. That was a very sweet moment.” While finding enough storage space in a nursery is a problem most parents have, this was one issue Kate was happy not to deal with. River has a huge closet because the staircase is right behind his crib wall. “It reminds me of a little hobbit hole, I’m sure River will have many imaginary adventures in his little closet nook. I also was able to hide things behind the blue “sea” curtain. That is where we keep our DVDs, books, and other random items that are less visually pleasing.”
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Wilderness in Gold By Tara Steinle
was my starting point for this project, every other element in the room was inspired by it,” Maria said. “I always knew I wanted a wall accented with this paper, but I wasn’t sure at first how much I wanted to use.” To keep it as a focal point Maria decided to do only one wall. She never considered going bolder with her color choices than the neutral tones she chose, not wanting other colors to compete with the gold alDecorating for her baby’s nursery ready in the room. Instead she gave her the greatest excuse to added black accents to add a test out this beautiful paper. “It touch of masculinity. When it comes to her personal style, Maria Fe Calvo-Pierce wouldn’t call herself a minimalist, but more modern with a glamorous twist. She loves clean and simple lines and translated this fantastic flair for her son Jack’s nursery. Years before she was pregnant, she saw the Wilderness in Gold wallpaper and always knew she wanted to use it in her home.
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Syroco mirror I got on eBay for less than $20.” Another one of her favorite decorations is the black and white picture of Maria from her maternity shoot. She placed it in an ornate black picture frame.
Once all the big decorative elements including the wallpaper were in place, tying them together with accessories proved to be harder than Maria originally thought. “It’s the small details that really make the room, and I The light fixture is a handmade wanted to chose items that where rattan pendant lamp. “I knew meaningful and special.” wanted something that would emit a soft and warm glow, the Upon entering Jack’s nursery natural material of this woven room, guests are greeted by a pendant does just that! When sunburst mirror over the changing turned on, it gives such a beautitable. “It’s one of my favorite items ful diffused glow!” from Jack’s nursery. It is a gold
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The rhinoceros was a piece Maria’s husband Brad picked. “We saw it at a home decor store and he said it would be perfect for above the crib. We wanted to keep it simple since the pattern was already every elaborate and not add anything else.
paper so it was the perfect fit.”
To solve her storage dilemmas, Maria decided to get a dresser and convert it into a change it table by adding a changing pad to it. Now she has plenty of room for all of Jack’s essentials plus six amplesized drawers for all his clothing, After the wallpaper, Maria had a dif- basics and extra bedding. ficult time hunting down the perfect rocker. She added the rug, not only “Stay true to your taste,” Maria for the texture, but to bring warmth advises to others. “Don’t be influto the room. The biggest “uninter- enced by trends, those will always rupted” wall was the one she used change but your taste most likely to place the crib against. “We knew will not. Take your time deciding that the focal point of the room was what direction you want to take going to be the wall with the wall- when creating your nursery!”
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A Sweet Retreat by Lauren Halperin
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Since 1997, designer Aaron Christensen has been helping families and companies design and create children’s rooms and kid spaces for the young at heart. “Children see the world as a place of possibilities, where anything can happen. I'm the guy that creates that "anything" in my studio.” For this client, he took the softness of colors and the trend of birds and trees and created a nursery that Baby Elizabeth surely will have treasured memo-
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ries in. “It's no surprise that birds and trees are a very popular motif for nurseries,” Christensen explained. “Nature is always welcome in spaces for children. Birds have symbolism around the world and throughout history. The Owl embodies wisdom and virtue, the crane eternity, the eagle power and courage and the nightingale love. Regardless of whether they be animated silly birds or decorative tweets on fabrics and furnish-
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ings they bring nature in and herald joy as in the joy of spring.” Knowing that they were having a girl, this family wanted the nursery to be feminine while sophisticated to compliment the Arts and Crafts architecture of the room and home. “The room has beautiful natural cherry oversized trim, beams and window casings. My client, whose gorgeous craftsman style home sits remotely out in the country, asked that I create a room befitting their home and thought a natural theme would complement their style and their
surroundings.” Before it was a nursery the room was a playroom for their older son and a guest room. Undecorated, it was one of those rooms that ended up with a lot of odds and ends for furniture. Taking the 22-foot tall vaulted walls into consideration, Aaron chose a neutral tone for the walls to help de-emphasis the scale and bring out the richness of the natural woods in the room. The pinks, which range from bright raspberry to a muted mauve, were chosen to offset the wall's
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neutrality and add playfulness to the room's color scheme. “Broadening the pink palette to include variations in hue and tone gave us great levity in choosing bedding fabrics. We wanted to utilize elegant textures with simple patterns.” To make the room more cozy and bring the viewers eye down Aaron incorporated a hand-painted tree mural. “Doing murals by hand allows me the freedom to design my murals in any style, form of execution and content. You can really see the artist's hand when the
piece is painted freehand. For the walls we chose a neutral wheat color upon which we handpainted a mural of poppies, a tree and various birds. We located the birds at a comfortable viewing height and outlined them with empty vintage frames. This draws the eye to the center of the wall and room, reducing the vastness of the room.” Custom draperies and bedding were commissioned in a selection of terrific textures. The drapery fabric had a hint of arts and crafts
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Nursery Serenity By Lauren Halperin
After creating a sensational, cheerful nursery for her first son Graham, Amy of B-Line mixed it up for her youngest son's nursery space. "Graham's nursery (our first) is vibrant and full of energy. It's a really cheerful space. Perfect for playtime. Rowan's has a more classic feel and is calming and relaxing. It actually sort of feels like peaceful naptime, if that makes sense." It absolutely does! Rowan's nursery has a grown-up feel to it which seems to suit Amy's latest addition, as she says he "seems to have a bit of an old soul." With clean, crisp lines and a gentlemanly feel, this nursery will
transition easily into boyhood.
By far the smallest room in her home, Rowan's nursery has to serve as both his nursery and Amy's only guest room. She opted to fill the space with a substantial bureau/changing table, as there is no closet in the room, the crib, and a queen-sized sleeper sofa. Along with having two walls with large windows, the full-sized door to the attic is also located here. "Since we never go in the attic, we opted to camouflage the door by placing a large mirror in front of it. Not only does it help disguise the attic access, it also
reflects a lot of light from those four windows and brightens the space quite a bit. We also decided to paint the walls and trim shades of white and opted for a fairly light carpeting to keep the room on the bright side, and chose white to provide a nice contrast to the dark grey bureau and navy honeycomb curtains."
Without a lot of real estate in the room, Amy used picture ledges to display books face-out and put a few other pieces of art and knickknacks up as well. Felt bowls help keep the boys' toys tidy. "On the right is a portrait I took of our sweetie when he was five days new. On the left, our new family "crest", which features the four of us racing along. And in the center, a colorful hot air balloon mobile made from paper." Amy says her favorite parts of the room are a toss up between the curtains and the mobile. "I love deep, dark blues and the curtains really add a wow! factor to the room while grounding it at the same time. And the mobile is the most colorful (and cheapest) ele-
ment in the room--just a splash of color to keep things interesting. I knew that I wanted dark blue for the curtains and wanted to stay away from solid draperies, so I designed several fabrics on spoonflower (all navy and white) and when the honeycomb swatch arrived, we knew it was the one." Nursery resources: Wall color/ Benjamin Moore Designer White (Eggshell) Trim/ Valspar Semi-Gloss White Crib: Ikea Gulliver Dresser/changing table: Ikea Edland 6-drawer dresser Sofa: West Elm “Henry� Book shelves: Ikea Ribba Clip lamp: Ikea Jansjo in white Curtains: made with navy honeycomb fabric (printed at spoonflower) Pillows: made by yours truly with regatta and navy scales fabric and West Elm napkins Crashing waves water color: painted by a family friend Balloon collage: made by me Balloon mobile: made by me from paper Wooden race cars, house blocks, and little boys: painted by me
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A Piece of Provence By Lauren Halperin
Henry Cambraia has a personal design style that is contemporary and classic. As a designer of nurseries for more than ten years, when it came time to decorate a nursery for Felipe and Rebeca, boy and girl twins, he created a couture home for some lucky babies.
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“I like to think the angels are taking care of the baby,” Henry said. “I love the frames with the angels.”
The crib, bed, dresser and armoire were custom made for the room and were each lacquered in white. The big armoire provided lots of After a fantastic trip to the drawers in the dresser and in Provence, France, he found the bed, which solved any his inspiration in the French storage issues. chateau style with predominance in gender neutral green. The canopy and the bedding Despite having a baby of each are Henry’s favorite compogender, Henry decided on nents to the nursery. The green so that the nursery could nursery bedding was handbe used again in the future for made in cotton and was another baby. manually embroidered using the same color of the wallpaHe based the design for the pers. He used leftover fabric to room around the wallpaper by dress up the dolls in the room. Dolce Spazio and applied He also chose the fabric and French techniques to the walls. the color of the armchair and On the walls, the boisiere ottoman in shades of green to technique was used as frames compliment the décor. “The sitwere used to decorate the ting area with the armchair is walls. The angels on the wall my favorite part of the nursery. were made by one of Henry’s I like to sit down there and simfriends who works with plaster. ply watch the babies.” www.BabyLifestyles.com
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Ooh La La! Avenue des Champs-Élysées by by Tara Tara Steinle Steinle
Before this nursery was transformed into a vision of Paris, it was a minimally decorated guest room. Mom Kelly had just redone renovating her home when the stork came to visit. If baby was a boy, it would have been a fireman themed room, as it’s what her husband does for a living. But thinking pink for daughter Kerrigan, she decorated in her obsession: vintage Paris. “I love the watercolor paintings sold on the streets of the river, the fashion from the 40’s and the timeless beauty it portrays women, & Paris was one of our favorite cities that we have traveled too.”
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When searching for Paris ideas, everything Kelly found was pink and black with either poodles or Eiffel towers. “It felt generic and almost a little to “Hard” for a baby room. The soft palette plays with the feeling of calmness that I want people to feel when they enter the roomU even the pink chandelier shades make the room have a soft pink glow.” One of the standouts in the room is the amazing wall, hand painted by Kelly’s dad. When she and her siblings were kids, he painted Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Dumbo and more on their walls. “We talked about what I wanted the
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wall to look like. He did some sketches and literally started on the wall over the weekend and had it finished within two days. Since we have been renovating our house we had an abundance of test samples in our garage so we didn’t even have to go buy a lot of paint for the mural!” The finished result is the first thing Kelly sees when she opens the door to Kerrigan’s room. “I really didn’t have many family heirlooms to add as far as the baby room was concerned, but I do feel that letting her grandpa paint the mural like he
did mine as a kid really brought the family aspect into the whole room! Built by the family.” “The curtains were store bought, but Kelly custom made the buttons and tie backs to match the same fabric on the glider. The shelves are from Pottery Barn and the match the furniture in color perfectly. “The cream leather chair was from the HomeGoods. It was one of the last additions because my husband was watching me rock in the glider and asked “Where am I gonna sit?” So I kept an eye out for a chair or
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chaise lounge and stumbled upon the chair you see in the pictures.” With so many different quotes to choose from, Kelly chose one about angels. “We believe that religion is a big part of our lives. We met in Sunday school and feel so blessed that we got pregnant even sooner than we planned on! I feel that Angels watching over her and us is such an amazing blessing and that the only thing to do after a child is born is to rejoice, and what better way than to dance!” Kelly’s favorite details of the room are the mural and the glow
that the chandelier and shades give to the room. “I feel like it is almost stepping into a different world and a different time that was just so peaceful and fresh!” “Decorate it in a way that soothes you as well as baby,” Kelly advises. “You are the one that has to look at it and spend a ridiculous amount of hours in before your baby even realizes all the work and details you have done. You may laugh, yell, and cry in the process but it is something that you will never get to experience again.”
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Behind the Designs with Kenneth Brown By Lauren Halperin
Designer Kenneth Brown’s daughter Harper has had not one or two, but three different nurseries since she was born. For her first, he wanted a backdrop that was classic, and he upholstered her walls in a soft grey wool to achieve the effect along with a vintage Veninni chandelier. Later he brought in purples and teals to add pops of color in the bedding and hand painted furniture. Her nursery space now has transitioned into a toddler’s room, her accent colors are now more vibrant in orange and bright pink, perfect for a growing princess of design. His five-monthold son Sawyer’s nursery was done in blue and cream stripes with a modern walnut crib, vintage styled metal furniture and an industrialstyled changing table. After years helping some of the biggest celebrities achieve great design, Brown was inspired by his own children to create the Kenneth Brown Baby Collection so that everyone can get that same great look in their own nursery. Currently available at Amazon, the cool, updated patterns work in both modern and traditional settings. He enjoys the wall art, which helps make any baby feel right at home in their room. Kenneth Brown has learned that design is in the details. With a signature look of blending warm Southern hospitality with clean SouthernCalifornia lines, he knows it’s the smallest details that most people notice when they are in a space. As a design expert, he is a man who knows how to make a house into a home. We got to ask him his advice for making four walls into baby’s nursery. 78
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Do you prefer to design around a theme or around a color palette? I like working with a color palette and introducing a few various ways to implement it. I try to avoid themes – they date themselves too quickly. What’s your favorite decorating advice to give? Create a furniture plan to scale before shopping for furniture. So many people end up with furniture that is too big or too small because the pieces look different in the showroom than in a typical room. Get creative with storage by using wall space keeping floor space for play and tummy time. Do you prefer to design a nursery knowing what the gender of the baby is? What challenges does not knowing pose to you? Yes – it does allow more personalization when you know the gender of a baby – when you don’t know the gender the design can become impersonal. To be honest, every time I’ve designed a gender neutral nursery we’ve gone back in and updated it after the baby was born. This doesn’t always mean blue for boys and
pink for girls.It seems the parents notice that the room felt impersonal and now that they see the personality of their baby they want to show that in the design. Do you see parents decorating nurseries in a whimsical way or matching the rest of their home’s décor? What trends do you see emerging? Most nurseries are beginning to look more like the rest of the homes design – less like a theme park. I see wallpapers and fabrics as a great way to personalize a nursery and create a unique design, with parents relying more on color and less on themes. I’m seeing adult furniture scaled down to kids’ size – mini wingback chairs, sofas and table/chair sets. How do you incorporate elements into a nursery so it will transition seamlessly to a big kid room? Keep the backdrop (walls, drapes, lighting, and flooring) in colors, textures and styles that you can see growing with your child. You can change out lamps, pillows, art and bedding as your baby grows.
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Is being eco-conscious still a big factor in determining how a nursery room is decorated? Yes – everyone should look at labels – there are too many toxic items out there that can harm your child. Look at the paint / finish on your crib, the type of fabrics your baby sleeps on, the paint – less fumes is always best! I tend to like organic fabrics and soft natural materials . How has the economy changed the way parents are designing their nurseries? Where do you
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suggest parents can save money when it comes to nursery? They’re thinking long term. Such as, can the baby grow into a room painted a certain color etc. Parents can save money by re-purposing a dresser or chest you already own by placing a changing table on top. Spend money on a good rocking chair/glider – you will spend a lot of time rocking, sleeping and resting in this chair. Why do moms spend more when decorating for a girl baby than a boy? Of course moms go more all out when decorating for a girl. There are more options to choose from. It’s the same with clothes – how many floors are dedicated to woman’s clothes vs. men’s clothes at your local department store? Same holds true with fabric, furniture, lighting, and bedding. What’s the best part of being a decorator for nurseries? The best part is seeing how happy families are when they have babies. It changes their lives.
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Floral impresario Marci Gerlach of Entwined Design Florals shows you how to put together a centerpiece that will wow at your baby shower.
#1 Think Outside the Box
Choosing to create centerpieces that wouldn’t normally be used can really help set a party in motion.
While using the literal approach to choosing your centerpieces is a great option, the flip side of that coin is thinking completely outside of the box. Choosing to create centerpieces that wouldn’t normally be used can really help set a party in motion. If you’re hosting a party and its theme does not lend to easy centerpiece options, why not be innovative and change the entire environment to the party. When doing an “elephant theme” baby shower (left photo), we were limited in choices, like no baby elephant or gray flowers. Instead we “showered” guests with flowers hung from custom made umbrellas set in color coordinated centerpieces.
#2 Add Special Touches The reality of a baby shower is that most have seen a diaper cake. Customizing your shower to the honoree will make not only your mommy to be happy but will allow your guests to feel as though they are really sharing in her special day. If she has a passion for succulents and the ocean, why not add a couple succulents delicately placed around her centerpiece or a sea shell plate to help accent your floral pieces. Special attention to these details might not be evident to your guests but really help enhance the appearance and might even spark conversation at the table. www.BabyLifestyles.com
#3 Be Literal Let your baby shower’s theme be your reference for inspiration.
Choose your vessels for literal shower and party themes first and let your floral choices speak from themselves. Are you hosting a baby shower with a “tea party” them? Place a collection of delicate florals inside tea cups you collected from local estate sales and use them as your table centerpieces. Remember that being “literal” should look like it was done with intent not accidentally, so use classy literal interpretations, not cheesy ones. For a butterfly wonderland baby shower, we placed florals inside old birdcages and wiring butterflies dancing around the centerpieces to enhance the themes overall appearance. www.BabyLifestyles.com
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#4 Go Monochromatic When your desire is to create a dramatic statement, nothing packs more of a punch then an all-monochromatic floral pallet.
By choosing a single color for flower centerpieces, any and all florals become the focus of the table, thus adding a specific point of interest for your shower guests to focus on. To add even more impact, use monobotanical florals with a monochromatic pallet throughout the rest of your shower and the visual impact results will be stunning. Having a “glam� mommy shower? Nothing screams glam like ruby red roses and tulips paired together in a monochromatic color palette.
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#5 Let the Season Be Your Guide Let the season determine what colors to enhance your party with.
When planning a party, some mommies-to-be decide to base their theme on colors instead of actual physical items. When using color as your guide, let the colors of the season direct your color palette. Utilize burnt oranges with accents of buttery yellow to capture the essence and warmth of autumn. Purchase gourds from your local pumpkin patch and use them as centerpieces or as accents within your florals. Springtime showers can inspire you to use a host of colorful options for your guests. Create centerpieces that look as though they are growing out of the centers of the tables themselves. When creating a “Woodland� themed baby shower we used flowers found in the springtime to switch a normally darker feel into a bright and cheery event. www.BabyLifestyles.com
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#6 Stick with Simplicity
While there is beauty to a tall striking centerpiece at a baby shower, there is an underlying elegance to a simple understated piece.
It’s been said over and over again but the truth is that simplicity has its place if done correctly. Try using smaller vases with florals of the same color hues and gather them together in a less constricted way. Let your flowers cohabitate in their natural state to allow your guests to feel as though you’ve gone to your backyard to pick the arrangements for the shower. Let your flowers flow out of the centerpiece or allow full blooms mixed with tight buds to enhance your look.
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Under the Pink Big Top
Photography by Jamela Robledo
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Nestled in Orange County California, Kim and Mike Landi were thrown a baby shower by their dearest friend, Allee Woods. With a girl to be named Avery on the way, Allee was thinking about pink. Lucky for the hostess, she has the right connections to throw an incredible party. Her mom, invitation designer Judy Scurlock, and her mother-in-law, event designer, Sue Woods, came together to decorate this beautiful pink circus baby shower. Allee called in her college friend, photographer Jamela Robledo to make sure that all the details were captured so Avery could share them later. Every where you turned, something was adorned in pink and stripes and set out beautifully for the pink circus themed baby shower. Not only was Kim surrounded by her amazing friends, family from Chicago flew in for this lovely occasion. From pink flowers to pink cake pops to rosĂŠ champagne and Little Avery is going to be spoiled with love!
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All Aboard the Polar Express Birthday Party
Winter themed parties are usually white and light blue, but photographer Shalonda Chaddock mixed it up with the silver for her daughter’s Polar Express birthday party. The silver and white inspiration came from the silver in the jingle bell which is a key symbol in the movie and of course white is always reminiscent of snow and winter, even in their hot hometown of Houston, Texas. The rest fell into place with giant white snowflakes and miniature snow globes featuring trains. “And then of course we had to rent the actual train.” www.BabyLifestyles.com
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The jingle bell detail was used throughout the day, with Shalonda even tying it into the wording on the invitation. “We always write poems for out invites and this year was no exception!” She printed them on a pearl luminescent paper type, so they looked silvery and glittery. She added a stickable rhinestone to the center of each snowflake for more girly glitz. Snowflakes of all sizes were everywhere, with Shalonda hanging them in shades of shimmer from her entry way chandelier as well as above the dessert table.
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“Everyone seemed to get a light dusting of glitter from the glittery snowflakes as they entered the house. The giant ones hanging over the dessert table were a huge hit! The mantel of our home was lined with all white, silver, and crystal snowflakes tree toppers and looked divine!” Shalonda decided on a delicious, white dessert bar that included an all-white array of delights. She covered the tables with regular white linens but then added a shimmery see through fabric on top to add more glitz and sparkle
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and added to the effect of the giant snowflakes in the backdrop. Her printables for the table were on pearl paper to create a silver look and were bedazzled with rhinestones. The kids loved the white chocolate cake pops, white cake and white iced cupcakes with fondant snowflakes and jingle bells, the most immaculate white and silver train cookies, bite size snowflake cookies, strawberry shortcake shots, silver Hershey’s chocolates, cheesecakes and of course, a favorite of the kids, white powdered donuts! The favors were www.BabyLifestyles.com
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miniature silver snow globes with parents got to ride.” a white Christmas train inside. While Shalonda had planned a For activities, all the little guests fabulous build your own hot snuggled in their jammies and chocolate bar to fit in with her watched The Polar Express. frosty affair as it was a huge part “Wearing pajamas to a birthday of the movie, the warm weather party in the middle of the day gave her an idea for a twist. She was definitely a favorite part of changed it to a frozen hot the party by most of the younger chocolate bar, serving the kids guests!” But no Polar Express milkshakes in paper coffee cups party could be complete without with silver and white straws. a train! Shalonda had a train take “They loved the feeling of being all her guests for a ride on their ‘big’ drinking out of the cups but very own Polar Express. “They drinking yummy milkshakes! It loved the train, especially Addi. could not have been a better The best part was that we invited switch, after riding the train everyjust the right number of guests so one came inside to enjoy everyone got to ride the train as delicious coffee cups of frozen hot often as they wanted, even the chocolate.”
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Photography by Shalonda Chaddock Fondant jingle bells and snowflakes by Two Sugar Babies Snowflake cookie bites by Two Southern Girls Train cookies by Beesknees Creative www.BabyLifestyles.com
Baby Lifestyles is so lucky to feature the incredible pictures of so many professional photographers. Here are just a few of the beautiful moments in time treasured by parents as they celebrate the baby’s world. Photo by Elizabeth Ann Photography www.BabyLifestyles.com
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Photo by Amy Majors Photography
Photo by Ashley Mauldin Photography
Photo by Christina Dely Photography
Photos by Megan Hayes Photography
Feel like your holiday table is looking bland? Hostess with the Mostess Jenn Sbranti shows you how to add the fun to your festive holiday table.
Holiday Table Tip #1 Sitting Pretty
Don’t forget about the option to decorate the chairs around your table! It’s often those little, unexpected details that end up making the biggest impression. You can make mini chair garlands out of things like pine cones, raffia and artificial berries, or even out of the same “snowy” silk rose petal strands used in the hanging centerpiece mentioned above.
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Holiday Table Tip #2 Glam Your Glasses Glam up your wine glasses by tying a small piece of marabou feather boa around the base of the stem. You can easily find feather at your local craft store. You can also add small holiday charms, sparkly rhinestone stickers, or tiny ball ornaments to act as drink markers and help guests keep track of which drink belongs to them!
Holiday Table Tip #3 Sweet Shot For a fun and {surprisingly easy!} twist on the traditional cheesecake, try serving up a batch of raspberry cheesecake parfait shooters, which make for an eye-catching addition to any red and white holiday dessert table. Just alternate layers of crushed graham crackers mixture, cheesecake filling, and raspberry preserves in mini parfait or cordial glasses, then top each treat with a fresh raspberry.
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Holiday Table Tip #4 Personalized Place Settings Make your guests feel extra-special placing personalized or unique ornaments picked out especially for them at their table place setting. For example, if your Aunt Susie is a shoe fanatic place a shoe-themed ornament at her place setting, along with her name. This makes for a thoughtful take-home gift idea that also doubles as table dĂŠcor!
Holiday Table Tip #5 Peppermint Bark
Make your guests feel extra-special placing personalized or unique ornaments picked out especially for them at their table place setting. For example, if your Aunt Susie is a shoe fanatic place a shoe-themed ornament at her place setting, along with her name. This makes for a thoughtful take-home gift idea that also doubles as table dĂŠcor! www.BabyLifestyles.com
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Baby’s First
By Bird’s Party
Baby's first Christmas is a magical milestone in any family, and these are a few easy ideas to help you decorated baby's nursery or their special nook in a more personalized way than the rest of the home. Using versatile party printables from Bird's Party Snowman Xmas Collection, you can wrap and decorate gifts, personalize a Xmas baby shower, decorate shelves with a cute paper banner, make paper Xmas trees, or use the little cute snowmen cut-outs as mantle decorations or to embellish a few yummy Xmas cupcakes! www.BabyLifestyles.com
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If you're expecting guests to come and see baby at Xmas, you can create these easy little hostess gift pouches filled with candy and personalize them with a cute party tag! They also make really fun Xmas tree decorations or stocking fillers for family members! Alternatively, fill little baby food containers with assorted sweet treats! For easy Xmas cookie decorating ideas, simply use colored fondant paste (from baking stores) to decorate homemade cookies! You can even freeze one or two cookies for up to one year for when baby is ready to taste them! 119
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TIP: Create a keepsake box, filled with special souvenirs and treasured items from baby's 1st Xmas!
The printables are also an easy and inexpensive way to create DIY Holiday cards or a scrap-booking photo albums to help record those beautiful memories of Baby's first Christmas!
Find this Snowman Xmas printables collection and many others at Bird’s Party!
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Goody Goody Gumdrops!
BByy KKoorrii CCllaarrkk ooff PPaappeerr aanndd PPiig gttaaiillss
Invitation, Colors and Overall Design
One of my favorite things about gumdrops are their bright, festive, colors which led me to an untraditional holiday color scheme of orange, yellow, red, green, and purple! I designed the invitation first and it served as the inspiration for the whole party. I decided to design this party outside, both to bring in more color, and because I know there are many other places that are still enjoying beautiful weather and would love taking advantage of it! www.BabyLifestyles.com
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Kids’ Table For the kids table, two picnic tables were put together and covered with linens. At each place setting was a colorful plate, favor bag of gumdrops, and a personal lunch in a little kit! The centerpiece was a large gumdrop covered "tree". The smaller trees were ones that the kids made from ice cream cones by spreading them with icing and sticking on gumdrops!
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Gum Drop Activities
The kids at the party had a blast making their own gumdrop trees! We used sugar cones and let the kids coat them with icing, then stick on the gumdrops. The other fun activity we did was make gumdrop candy necklaces! The gumdrops are really sticky, so we could only string about five on before the thread got way too sticky to work with, so we used ribbon to tie onto the ends! And check out the gumdrop shirt for the gumdrop party!
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Dessert Table and Sweets
If you have a gumdrop party, you have to have a lot of sweet treats! The center of the table boasted a gumdrop cake, and on either side of the table was a Blumebox holding "gumdrop buttons". I used Pastry Pedestals to make the skewers. Across the front of the table was a variety of gumdrop cookies from Bees Knees Creative sitting on a bed of gumdrops! 129
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The "Merry & Bright" Kids Holiday Collection bY I DO Invitations by Michelle For the 2011 holiday season, Michelle Knox knew she wanted to see something with bright colors. To create her merry and bright holiday collection, she chose aqua, fuchsia, lime, purple and chocolate as her main colors and we’re in love how her party turned out. Perfect for kids, it’s a new twist on the traditional holiday colors and it’s so much fun! Sydney, Annabelle, Mindy, Presley, Tinley and Michelle’s daughter, Camryn, were the gorgeous little girls enjoying this holiday soiree. “So much fun was had by all and I can honestly say this is by far my favorite party to date. I just love this time of year.”
In the dining area, the girls each had their own cupcake with matching name topper that sat on top of matching plates and napkins. A piece of shimmering aqua paper was set underneath the plates for some sparkling color contrast. “In the corner of the dining table I used a black little shelf I had to display the DIY yarn trees I made. I wrapped yarn around three different height tree foams and hot glued on little balls as ornaments. They are one of my favorite elements and were so easy to make! I spray painted glass candlestick holders that are holding the large ornaments also seen in the black shelf.� She also added tissue poms to the wall by adding push pins for a nice and inexpensive touch. 133
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“The absolutely adorable outfits all of the girls are donning were just beyond perfect. I knew I wanted everyone to be in the color scheme and everything came together perfectly.� Handmade holiday tees, custom hair accessories, pettiskirts and adorable necklaces made all the girls look perfect for celebrating the festive holiday season.
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To decorate the main dessert table, Michelle and her husband got busy with spray paint. She sprayed a fake wreath in the color Key Lime Rust Oleum, wrapped ribbon around it and added some matching picks to it. Making it a main focal point, she added it to her fabric backdrop. “I've never seen a spray painted wreath before, but it covered so well and looked great! Spray paint is now my friend.�
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For the side “MERRY” table, Michelle added ornament picks in a green and pink glass vase and added gems and ribbons to it. Little goody bags for the kids featured a custom favor tag with each of their names on it and were accented with aqua washi tape. “I even made a custom piece to put over my clock.”
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Yummy and pretty sweets on the dessert table were Santa hat cake pops, cookies, fondant cupcake toppers, chocolate covered Oreos and a polka dot cake. “I added a craft stick and some ribbon to the invitation design to use as my cake topper. I also added a few of the fondant trees on the cake as well.” Michelle also created snowmen out of donuts. “I bought a package of white mini donuts and added black food coloring to make the eyes and mouth and pushed a piece of candy corn inside the hole for the nose. I also made the marshmallows by dipping them in white almond bark and adding some sprinkles, a craft stick and a matching tag.” The pink, aqua and lime mini trees were from Hobby Lobby. Michelle also added some ornaments and hot glued other mini ornaments as well. www.BabyLifestyles.com
Merry & Bright Kids Party Credits
All Paper Products + Styling: I DO invitations by Michelle Photography: Photos by Vitella {FASHION} Custom Holiday Tee's: *golden* Pettiskirts: Lilies & Things Hair Accessories: Frills Necklaces: Miss CoCo Designs {SWEETS} Cake Pops: Lillycakes Sugar Cookies: The Cookie Jar Fondant Cupcake Toppers: Lynlee's Petite Cakes Cake: Cakebakinbri Cupcakes: Sweet Dreams
{DECOR + MORE} DIY Yarn Trees + Wreath: I DO invitations by Michelle Flower Arrangement: Town & Country Gardens "MERRY" Banner + Ribbon Garland: A to Zebra Celebrations Cake Stand: OliviaDru Plates/Napkins/Balloons: Polka Dot Market Fuchsia Treat Bags/Straws/Tissue Garland: Shop Sweet Lulu Tissue Poms: Pom Love Ornaments + Bright Trees on Dessert Table: Decorated by Michelle Knox
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"Before you were born........
I loved you."