hudson's first birthday.

as i was looking back at the past year and considering the things for which i am so thankful, my friend jen collier came to mind. she is such a talented individual, and she and her family bring so much love and light into my life.

i was thinking how quickly the year has passed and just how soon her son's second birthday will be here. i then realized that i never featured his first birthday party.

as always jen did a bang up job for her little one's special first birthday.

picture above copyright jenny collier photography

this "first birthday" set was purchased on etsy. {i've looked for the shop, but can't find the information. i'll add that information as soon as i confirm}. i don't know about you, but i think they are adorable!

jen made all of the fantastic details for the birthday party including the birthday banner, the pennant, the cupcake toppers, the favor stickers, and all other details seen throughout the event.

{the above five photos: copyright imago vita photography}

jen took a few pictures before the party, but wanted to be able to experience her son's birthday with him, so she hired the very talented shannon of imago vita photography.

{images copyright jenny collier photography}

{images copyright jenny collier photography}

{images copyright jenny collier photography}

{image copyright jenny collier photography}

whoo is graduating from OU?

i was looking through some of my favorite custom designs of the year and i came across this graduation party for an OU med student. i had so much fun creating this owl and his cute lab coat, graduation cap, and stethoscope. as popular as they are right now, i had still always been too afraid to tackle one of these precious little guys.


the owl was used throughout the entire party, from the invitations, to the cupcake toppers, to the banner that was hung across the party. i didn't get pictures of these on their sticks, but they were mounted on crimson scalloped circles before attached to the sticks.
i will look for pictures of the banner and share it in the future. coordinated parties are my absolute favorite.

Suzie Homemaker.

I love the different ideas you girls are coming up with for showers! I recently coordinated with a group of super fun girls who were hosting a bridal shower. They wanted to have a retro, 1950's housewife-themed bridal shower. The bride loves bright, bold colors, with her favorites being orange, red, and yellow.

Check out a few of the details of the custom-designed package we created …

{invitation}

{invitation insert}
Each invitation included a recipe card for guests to fill out and bring with them to the shower.

{invitation seals}

The invitations had a couple of inserts. To make sure all the pieces arrived to the guests, a coordinating sticker seal was created.

{cupcake toppers}

After being attacked to white sticks, these were placed atop red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing. {The cupcakes were so yummy!}

{guest message cards}
In lieu of a traditional lined guest book that winds up packed away in a box up in the attic, the hostesses decided to create a special book. A 12x12 scrapbook sized album was selected and each page was devoted to a guest from the shower. These pages included a picture of the guest with the bride, the recipe the guest brought with them, and the guest's message cards.

{favor tags: front}

{favor tags: back}

These favor tags were attached to goodie bags filled with cookies made from the same recipe.

{apron}
In keeping with the theme of the shower, the hostesses felt it was only fitting the bride receive a retro apron. A perfectly coordinated apron was created for this special gift.

{recipe cards}
Finally, the bride couldn't walk away from this fun shower without her own set of coordinating recipe cards. In addition to the apron, the hostesses gifted the bride with a set of personalized recipe cards.

What kinds of fun themes are you planning for your upcoming events? What themes have you seen at other showers?

fourteen days of love. 14.

My mom is a Valentine's Day baby. She is so thoughtful and always going out of her way to do kind things for others, so this year we decided to do something a little different from the traditional afternoon family lunch and gifts.The birthday girl collects tea pots and tea cups so an afternoon tea was right up her ally. We started with the invitation {you can see it below next to the vase of flowers ... I'll try to post a picture of just the invitation later} and went from there. The colors were inspired by the pink, white, red, and yellow found in spring tulips + my mom's love of paisley.
lemon cupcakes with toppers reading "happy birthday," "deniese," & "d"

lovely spring tulips {+ the invitation}

the spread

another shot of the spread: raisin scones . lemon cupcakes . red velvet cake balls . brownie pops . asparagus + ham + honey mustard + cream cheese on whole wheat . cucumber + cream cheese & mint on whole wheat . tuna sald on rye . chicken sald on whole grain rounds . tomato + basil quiche . spinach + mushroom + strawberry + almonds salad . made by yours truly + lindsay leach + justin leach

the birthday banner {but certainly not the greatest shot of it}

I didn't have the best camera in the world, so please excuse the pictures.

fourteen days of love. day 10.

10. cupcake toppers

We're closing in on the last few days of love. I've mentioned the obsession with cupcakes ... and just when you thought cupcakes couldn't get any better, someone invented cupcake toppers!

image & design found at the tom kat studio

I had hoped to post pictures of the precious topppers Jen Collier used for Hudson's first birthday, but I wasn't able to get a close up shot. May I just say, so. cute.

I was in the middle of working on a set of these for an upcoming tea party when I got a phone call from another client requesting some for a graduation party. As shown above the Tom Kat Studio has created some for Valentine's Day. So let's see: tea party. graduation. Valentine's Day. bridal showers. baby showers. engagement parties. These tiny little pieces pack a big punch and are even better than the icing on the cupcake! Who thought that could be possible?