Dr. Seuss Fabric!

This Dr. Seuss fabric from Robert Kaufman recently caught my eye so I had to make a baby shower corsage with it.  I can't wait to make a funky diaper cake and centerpiece to match for my Etsy shop! 


I also finished this cake to match the baby bedding I showed you last week.  What do you think? 

I've been working on a few holiday crafts today..I can't wait to share them with you. Stay tuned.

Owls... Hoot Hoot!

Owls are everywhere right now. Owl craft supplies are getting a lot easier to find I noticed. These owl party decorations are for a baby shower. The baby is a girl and her name is Norah. ( I love that name:). I'm finishing up the diaper cake now. This is the first diaper cake I've had to ship. Any suggestions for the best way to pack it and the best carrier to use?

The Last Inning Baseball Baby Shower

My friend Danielle is one of the sweetest people I know. I just love her! Anyway, she's having a little boy next month (and totally teasing me by not telling anyone what his name will be). This past Saturday was her shower that another friend, Liz, and I threw. It was really fun! I didn't get many pictures as I was taking care of shower stuff during the shower and the ones I got aren't great, by any stretch of the imagination. But, here's some of the details. We ended up getting glass beer steins (at the Dollar Store) and silly straws as favors and they doubled as the container for the root beer floats. We tied ribbons on the handles. If I had more time, I would've made a cute thank you tag and added cotton candy (that I bought and forgot in the cabinet) in a bag inside.

For decorations, we made toppers for the cupcake using the Stampin Up scallop punch, the 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" circle punches with different colored papers and labels printed with the Danielle's Last Inning logo a friend made for me. I used the left over paper from cutting out the banner. I made a diaper cake for the centerpiece of the gift table. It turned out really good but I didn't get any pictures of it - sorry! I used the same fabrics I used for Danielle's flower baseball corsage and wrapped it in red tulle. The bow at the top had a covered button with the baseball centered in the middle. Here are the baseball fabrics I used.  (I used a navy/orange/teal stripe, a navy solid and an orange mottled solid.)

For food, we made a nacho bar with different nacho toppings and different cheeses. We also had fruit kabobs and popcorn in fun popcorn boxes. I was planning to make corn dogs, but it was so hot I really didn't want to turn on the oven! If I'd had more time, I would've made a few more food options like potato salad, etc. But, the food went over really well and the fruit kabobs were a great looking way to add some interest to the food table, as well as separate out foods that people might not like. For example, Danielle doesn't like strawberries (a texture thing) so I made sure to make kabobs without strawberries. I don't like pineapple so I made some without pineapple, etc. I stuck the kabobs into flower forms at the bottom of this footed dish and put limes around the edge of the floral foam. It looked really good! Everyone loved them :)

We played two games: the purse scavenger hunt and the right-left game. Both were a bit different than what we were used to and it was a fun time. It was especially funny to see that some people carry around 5-7 chapsticks/lip gloss! No wonder we women have back problems and headaches so often ;)


My mind is always going a mile a minute when it comes to planning parties, so I don't think I'll ever throw one where I won't be thinking of doing something different (or in addition to) the next time. But, I really enjoy planning them, especially for good friends. It's always fun to me to find ideas and put them together into your own signature event.



Anyway, I had a good time planning and a good time at the shower and I think Danielle did too. To me, those are the most important parts of a successful event.

PS-Danielle's husband Craig e-mailed me after the event thanking me for throwing the shower and saying that Danielle came home with a smile on her face. What a sweetie! I can't wait to see both of them as parents. That little boy (whatever his name is) will be very loved ;)

A Girly Diaper Cake and a Baseball Banner for a Baby Shower

I had a baby shower for my cousin Lindsay this past Saturday.  Through a series of unfortunate events, I missed the shower.  But, here's the diaper cake I made as a gift.  I don't think Lindsay reads my blog, so I doubt she'll see this.  If she does, I hope this makes her a bit more excited about diapers ;)  (If you're Danielle, don't read any further!)

In other baby shower news, the he baseball baby shower is in less than 2 weeks, so that's about the only thing I can focus on now.  The invitations are out and the RSVP's are coming in.  I'm tweaking all of my printables for different things and finalizing centerpiece ideas and gift ideas.  My friend Brigett cut out a bunch of shapes and letters for me with her Cricut and I made this banner.

I really like how it turned out!  I might end up making another banner for the kitchen island that says "Concessions!"  Anyway, so far we're going to have a nacho bar, hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, lemonade, iced tea, root beer floats, and cupcakes.  Anything that's totally baseball that I'm forgetting?  I think I'm going to make personal apple pies for the favors...I mean, what's more American than baseball and apple pie, right? ;)

PS-So far the baseball ticket invitations have been a hit!

A Baseball Baby Shower Invitation (Ticket)

It's difficult to post about the baseball themed shower I'm planning because my friend Danielle (the mom-to-be) also reads our blog (Thank you Danielle! I'm so thankful for supportive friends!).  However, I figured since she would see the invitations anyway, it was totally okay to post them. 

I blacked out the more sensitive information, but you get the idea.  I used a real Detroit Tigers ticket image I found online for inspiration and then tweaked it to my own information and graphics.  The funny thing (and you computer graphics people will likely be HORRIFIED) is that I did most of this with Microsoft Paint.  (My geeky husband is likely gagging right now!)  If I were to do it again (which I think I will) I would use GIMP.  I love GIMP because it's free and it's like a very light version of Photoshop.  Plus, it works with Linux/Xubuntu, which is what I run on my netbook. 

Anyway, what do you think?  I think I'll mount them on some light teal paper with some navy accents, but I like how they turned out.  I have SO many ideas for this baseball themed shower.  I love baby boys, baseball and my friend Danielle, so this should turn out really fun!

Have you planned a baseball baby shower?  Got any tips for me?

Update: I've linked to the following linky parties...go check them out!

Baby Shower Mania!

Last week I was able to visit family in the Northern Detroit area. My niece turned 1 and my sister made these adorable ladybug suckers and had them set out as favors. I think they turned out really cute!

When I got home I was pleased to see I had some custom orders for baby shower corsages and here are a few I made this week. I love making these, and had a customer suggest I make a smaller wrist corsage and add a ribbon to tie it on. (I love that idea!)

I thought I would ask our readers if you have seen any cute baby shower themes lately?

Custom Bunting for a Cowboy, Cowgirl, or Farm Theme

Heather just finished this cute cow print banner and I took some photos of it for the Etsy shop and I wanted to share with ya'll also!

We're going to stage out a Cowboy party one of these days when the grass gets a little greener and we find someone with a barn and haystacks we can borrow. For now we have just been brainstorming some ideas. If you have any please leave us a comment. You craft bloggers have the best ideas around!

I hope the weather has been as good for you as it has been in Michigan for the last few days...

also we've chosen our Lucky Linky winner and will be posting later tonight!

My attempt at a zipper flower and Has anyone seen any cute OWL or Woodland Fairy Themed Fabric?

This is a really random post but I have a few things I've been working on that were really fun. I babysat a very cool 8 year old girl yesterday (she loves watching "What Not to Wear"). I showed her the zipper flowers on Craftaholics Anonymous and she decided she wanted to make one. I think I probably looked desperate so she said okay! The picture above is what we ended up making.

I also had a customer ask for an owl theme baby boy fabric corsage. I looked all through JoAnn's, Michael's, and Country Stitches and had no luck finding boy owl fabric. I searched and found one Moda owl fabric online but I would have to order that and she needed it quickly.

Has anyone seen any cute owl or woodland themed whimsical fabric lately? I ended up making a felt owl but the fabric would be nice to have.

Well that's enough random rambling! I hope your weekend is going well.

Sock Monkey Party Theme Ideas for a Baby Shower or Birthday Party

Today we have a post for you on staging a Sock Monkey themed party. There are so many cute kids' party themes out there and some of our favorite themes are ones that feature vintage or classic ideas or toys. Who wouldn't love a Sock Monkey theme? Though we enjoy making our own crafty decorations, favors, etc. sometimes you just run out of time. When you buy things handmade, you can still get that customized personal feeling .

We've contacted these artists and are happy to feature their creations! We have one of our sock monkey corsages to share at the end of the post.

This is a classic handmade sock monkey doll by Furry Thangs. It retails for $20 and be found on Etsy.

I love these handmade polymer clay cupcake tower toppers from SpiritMama. There are so many options. More sock monkey polymer clay art is available on Etsy at the SpiritMama shop. She also makes sock monkey wedding cake tops. My favorite is her "Zen" monkey.

I am in love with these tags and graphics created by Chickabug. There are also coordinating invitations, cupcake toppers, and thank you cards available.

If you are feeling crafty and want to attempt to make your own sock monkey doll, visit http://www.sockmonkey.com/ to purchase your own Rockford Red Heel socks. It's only $9.95 for two pair. They also send instructions for making the monkey with your purchase.

This is a sock monkey corsage created by Erin of Lucky Star Lane (me:) Don't you just love shameless self promotions?

I hope you enjoyed our sock monkey finds. The corsage will be available in our Lucky Star Lane Etsy shop.