Father of the Bride BBQ - The Real Thing

Can I generalize here? Men love barbecue. No wonder George Banks (played by Steve Martin) the father in "Father of the Bride" dreamed of a barbecue for his daughter's wedding reception. My husband settled for the night before event to be a barbecue at our daughter's destination wedding weekend at Sunriver Resort in Oregon. When I was in the planning stage of this event  I put up this post last summer.

The bride saw a yellow and white check tablecloth and the theme was set. I decided it would pop with black and we rolled with it. I think everyone had a ball playing ladder golf and cornhole, chatting it up about the day's activities, eating good food! I have a wonderful son in law who was thoughtful enough to wear black while I wore yellow and my daughter wore white. She is the bride after all!  My husband? Well, he just chose a shirt he feels good in!

All these photos are from our fabulous photographer Braedon Flynn

And the delightful twiggy basket florals are by Allison at Mint Floral

The buttons were a real hit so if you are considering doing something like that for a party of your own I say 'do it'!

 
This girlfriend worked with the bride, lived in the same cities in Idaho and Washington too.

And this guy was a college school friend from California.

I made the cornhole beanbags, stenciling the burlap with the bride and groom's initials.

The photographer caught the "B" beanbag in midair!

These lawn games were great because players can still hold a beverage and toss!

Graduation Cap Invitation

I have favorites. And this one I created is ranking up there. Two square papers that become a mortar board with a silk ribbon tassel and a little paper button on top. Too cute. And ya gotta do the square envelope!

I Spy... a Hanger

A week or so ago I was checking out one my favorite wedding blogs, The Bride's Cafe, and I saw one of my padded hangers. I glanced at the custom tag and realized yes it was one of my little creations. It was a tiny thrill and it made me happy that the photographer, Eleise Theuer, thought enough of the hanger and tag to shoot a close-up as well as a couple other shots. yay!

Oh, the Places You'll Go with a Twist!

Surprisingly, an 80th Birthday Party can have a Dr. Seuss theme too. And Dr. Seuss's last book "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" has become a classic gift for anyone graduating from just about any grade or a college or university so why not for an eighty-year-old's birthday. We tweaked the book title to "Oh, the Places He's Been" but the style and colors are very Seuss-ish! I can already imagine the decor!

Construction Business Card & Logo

It hit me the other day that I had not posted the final design for Starboard Construction! It might sound like this company is in the boat building business, but not so. They do deal with a lot of water though! Underground water and sewer pipelines is the business, and besides that Kevin has a love of sailing. After coming up with a few designs which I posted earlier here, the owners decided to add a compass rose. Love that detail! The colors are earth and water which seem to fit perfectly.

A 90th Birthday with a Musical Theme

How darling is this little girl who was a "Clark Kiddie" in the photo on the invitation back in the late 1920's, and then later one of the "Clark Sisters" that sang with the likes of the Tommy Dorsey orchestra. She's a vibrant woman about to turn ninety and the family is ready to party! I understand that music is in this family's DNA so there will be singing and playing all afternoon long!

Printing on Fabric... I Had to Try It! For a Good Cause

Crazy, but it clearly has every chance of being an incredibly fun day, I am on a one-day Amazing Race team... for charity! Casa de Amparo is a foster care facility in North San Diego County that gives shelter, counseling and love to abused children, of which my husband and I are long-time supporters. They are the beneficiaries of this Amazing Race so win or lose for my team it's a WIN for Casa de Amparo.

My team, the Blazin' Babes, were in need of team shirts so I volunteered to create something special. While cruising Pinterest (you can follow me and my crazy pins) I found a tutorial on how to print on fabric. I'm so glad I pinned it because I needed to do it. Here's how it worked for me:

I cut my fabric just a bit larger than a legal size paper.

And then I cut the freezer paper about the same size.

With the side of the fabric that I wanted to print on facing the ironing board, and the shiny side of the freezer paper facing the wrong side of the fabric I ironed to fuse the two together. Don't worry it's not a permanent fuse, just temporary.

Then I trimmed it exactly (well, pretty close) to a legal size paper.

Then I loaded it into my printer, said a prayer, hit print and watched it come out the other side with the design I had created. Cut out lines and our team name logo "Blazin' Babes".

Then I cut out my shape and peeled the fabric from the freezer paper.

As you can see I stitched it to another flame in red

and then pulled the bobbin thread to gather it up just a bit. I did this same thing for flames with each team member's name and also to other fabric flames.

I pinned the flames in place, hand-sewed them on our black t-shirts and now we are ready to win our Amazing Race!

Wish me and the team luck!

Someone's Turning 90!

Here's a sweet little gal! And as you can see, music has been a part of her life since she was very young. So a music theme to the party was the obvious choice. My client is still deciding between these semi-rough drafts.

Many Hands, Two Designers, One Invitation

A wedding shower that will be at an old train station! There's so much to play around with on this one that a friend and I teamed up to pull this one together. The invitation design is by my friend Danielle Leopold, and I did the choo choo train envelope liners and figured out how to have the celebrated couple "pop up"! The luggage opens up to the list of stores where they are registered. The hands of other friends assisted with the cutting and gluing on this one so it was truly a combined effort because the groom's parents are dear friends to us all.

All Sweethearts Deserve a Valentine

Valentine's Day is not just for lovers. It can also be a day to recognize the kindness of a friend or neighbor or other real sweethearts in your life. This year I have decided to send a Valentine to a handful of clients as a thank you for their business. They have trusted me with creating something for a special event in their lives and that was SWEET!

Decor and Details for the 60th Anniversary

Can you believe they still have the bride's dress? And I thought I'd try a new style of bunting too.

Friends from church brought some goodies for dessert. Can you believe this layered Jello?
I've never seen anything like it! She even made it to match the color scheme.

What a wonderful party that honored this deserving couple! If a couple has been together for 60 years you know they've got a lot going for them. Good health, obviously, much in common and a good sense of humor are a few of Ed and Lorraine's attributes. This couple's marriage has been filled with travel, family, friends, parties and a whole lot of music. I decided to focus on the music and used vintage sheet music as a runner down the long tables, breaking it up along the way with some folded music fans, paper roses from sheet music and then real yellow roses tucked in here and there. No great surprise there was singing at the party! The church choir did an adorable rendition of "Do You Love Me?" from Fiddler on the Roof and some family members sang the song which Ed serenades Lorraine.

My client made a wonderful program that included a custom crossword puzzle on the back that had "Ed & Lorraine" clues and answers. Lorraine is a regular NY Times crossword puzzler. The pinwheel on a pencil was the party favor and it had a dual purpose. One, the party-ers needed something to solve the crossword puzzle with, and two it represented how the couple met all those years ago when Lorraine's dropped pencil was picked up by Ed. Awe. You can check out the invitation here.

Just a Note

Personalized notecards are a treat to have. But then I love anything that is personalized with a name or monogram or cypher. Somehow it makes the item more special and maybe even royal! These are a crisp two-layer flat card with matching envelope. I hope Teri feels super special when she gets these!

A Diamond Anniversary Invitation

Wow! Sixty years together! I had to Google it. I knew the 25th is the silver anniversary, and the 50th is the golden anniversary, but 60th? I'd say that's "diamond worthy".

This is one absolutely lovely couple that I am blessed to know. They are fun and generous and the epitome of hospitality. So of course they deserve a party!

I chose two layers of ivory paper, each with different textures, a vintage photo of the anniversary couple and a little diamond bling to add a touch of glam to this traditional invitation.