Birth Announcements...10 months later.

Last year around this time, I posted my 31 on 31 post, where I was 31 weeks pregnant on my 31st birthday. Well, here I am one year later, having just celebrated my 32nd birthday...and I have yet to post anything about Mikayla, who's almost 11 months old now! When Minted approached me to share their products with my readers, I figured it's about time I introduce my second baby girl...10.5 months later! I received compensation in exchange for this review, but opinions and adorable baby are 100% mine.

I narrowed it down and was debating between these birth announcements...

And I finally decided on this one because I love full bleed images on cards where beautiful script stands out against negative space and the color matched perfectly.

As a newborn photographer for Misha Media, I make sure to capture a variety of options with blank space in case parents want newborn birth announcements like these, where the focus is solely on their precious baby and a beautifully designed message.

I love how when designing cards on Minted, you have beautiful fonts to choose from and can drag the different design elements around. I also love how nice and thick their card stock is and the options to write a long message with images. And the icing on the cake is free recipient addressing...also in beautiful fonts! No handwriting of 40+ addresses here! 

Which birth announcement do you like best? What is your go to site/designer for stationery? I have newborns on the mind as I've been photographing quite a few lately! But I better switch gears and pick up the pace on planning Mikayla's first birthday party. It's less than two months away, I can't believe it! Look how big she is now! 

Oh these two, melt our hearts every single day...

 And this little lady...is registered for kindergarten!?!!

Giveaway #4 of 5! I See Me!

**If you’re new around here, don’t forget to check out giveaways 1, 2, and 3. There’s still time to enter!**

Today’s giveaway is a personalized lunchbox from I See Me! I love I See Me! for their super high quality custom children’s books. I’ve purchased five books from I See Me! because of how the books feel {I totally judge books on how they feel} and the customization on pages throughout the entire book.

Mia loves the books she has and I’m sure she wouldn't mind having a matching customized lunchbox to play with even though she doesn't bring lunch to school. The winner of this giveaway can choose from 10 different designs.

Use the Rafflecopter widget below (or click the Rafflecopter link if the box doesn't show up) to enter to win a personalized lunchbox from I See Me! Giveaway ends Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 11:59 CST. Winner will be chosen at random and announced on Monday.
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Giveaway #3 of 5! uh oh pasghettio

**We are on day three of my blogiversary giveaways! Don’t forget to enter here to win $25 to use on Premier Designs Jewelry and here to win $60 worth of Relished Foods.**

Just like the first two giveaways, this third one supports local entrepreneurs. Up for grabs today is an 8x10 print of your choice from the designs available at Uh Oh Pasghettio.

Uh Oh Pasghettio seeks to capture an authentic picture of life with kids: it’s vibrant and humorous and sometimes it’s sticky…but at its core, it’s beautifully simple and wildly entertaining. Uh Oh Pasghettio is led by two women who have worked together in marketing, design, and business development for years. After helping a number of other entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses, we decided it was time to truly work for ourselves. So, we created a company where we both get to follow our passions and excitement every day - Amanda as Chief Creative Officer and Kim as President and Marketing Director. Many of our prints begin as hand-drawn creations, including pen drawings and watercolor paintings. You can personalize our prints by name, and match them to your décor with the option of customized colors. All wall prints are printed on a beautiful thick paper that looks gorgeous in a frame, and it won’t fade with sun or time.

I love uh oh pasghettio’s fresh and modern look with a touch of whimsy. Wouldn't you want one of these custom alphabet art prints for a little one's nursery?

Or perhaps artwork for a kids playroom or gallery wall?

I also love these party invitations for adults, a little man or little ballerina...

Use the Rafflecopter widget below (or click the Rafflecopter link if the box doesn't show up) to enter to win  8x10 print of your choice from the designs available at Uh Oh Pasghettio. Giveaway ends Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 11:59 CST. Winner will be chosen at random and announced on Monday.
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Giveaway #1 of 5! Premier Designs Jewelry

Can you believe September is almost over!? This weekend not only marks the beginning of Fall, but also my third year of blogging! To celebrate, I have a full week of giveaways to thank all you readers who give me a reason to keep this lil ol’ blog of mine going. So come back every day this week to see what you can win! The first three days of giveaways support fellow entrepreneurs and today, we’re starting off with a $25 gift certificate for Premier Designs Jewelry from the 2013/2014 catalog.

Premier Designs is a 27 year old business that was founded to provide an opportunity for mothers to be able to stay home more with their children and be a company that would support ministries in America and around the world.

Recently, I hosted a dinner party with the ladies in my building for a girls’ night in complete with delicious food, a few lot of bottles of wine and beautiful Premier Designs jewelry. In between catching up, our consultant Jackie showed us tip and tricks on how you can wear pieces of jewelry in numerous ways. We were all amazed at the simple ideas to give one piece of jewelry a different look. After trying on pieces from Jackie’s full table of goodies, orders were placed, bottles of wine were finished and we all had a good night. A few weeks after the party, our orders came in and ever since, I’ve been wearing my pieces frequently!

Use the Rafflecopter widget below (or click the Rafflecopter link if the box doesn't show up) to enter to win a $25 gift certificate towards Premier Designs Jewelry from the 2013/2014 catalog. Giveaway ends Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 11:59 CST. Winner will be chosen at random and announced on Monday.

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30th Birthday/Favorite Things Party {Pink, Gold & Glitter}

**Thank you for the full party feature, Hostess with the Mostess!**

To celebrate my 30th birthday, I didn't want to go to a bar {those days are long gone} or go to a restaurant where all night, you can only talk to the same four people sitting next to you. Since most of my girlfriends are also turning 30 this year, I thought it'd be fun to celebrate all of us with a Favorite Things Party! Click here to see my inspiration board.

These stemless wine glasses were vases at my previous two parties, but this time they were candle holders. Get the tutorial for the DIY tissue paper fringe backdrop here!

I embellished plain white gift bags so everyone could take their new favorite things home. Since the party was to celebrate all our birthdays, every bag included a simple {~$10} gift that I specifically picked out for each long-time friend.

Speaking of more wine, check out my wine & cheese birthday party here.

DIY tags and food tents/picks so we knew what appetizer, drink or dessert everyone brought.

Is it weird that this little bow tie around the napkins was my favorite detail of the entire party??

How a Favorite Things Party Works: Each person thought of a favorite thing that costs around $10. They brought 3 of that same item. Each person’s wine glass had a number at the bottom and I had numbers 1-12 folded up in a bowl. Daniela, my first guest who arrived at the party, had the honors of drawing a number first. Whoever’s number she drew, she received their favorite thing. Then that person went and drew a number and so forth. Everyone explained their gifts as they were given out. We repeated the drawing from 1-12 three times so everyone went home with three different favorite things!

I also requested everyone bring a favorite appetizer, drink or dessert. The twelve of us gathered 'round my dining table to enjoy a delicious spread of food while catching up since it's not often we all get together anymore.

After our bellies were full, it was time for a quick little game of Guess What Year?! I went through my photo albums from 8th grade on up (when I started organizing my own pictures) and found a picture of me and each guest. I love that I've known each of these girls anywhere from 9 to 27 years ago! Trying to guess the year of each photo and where we were was a perfect way to reminisce and retell stories from our younger, less than finer moments.

Thank you to every single one of my long-time friends who came to celebrate this milestone with me. Love you guys! Cheers to what the next 30 years will bring us! And let's not forget the most memorable words of wisdom for the night...red wine in your Cheerios does not mean lower cholesterol!

Favorite Appetizers, Drinks or Desserts: Art of Pizza, Spinach Dip Crescent Rolls, Bacon Wrapped Dates, Filipino Eggrolls, Giordano's Salad, Great Beijing Spicy Chicken Wings, Rumchata,  Prosecco + Peach Bellinis, Polka Dot Riesling, French Silk Pie, Chocolate Filled Strawberries and lots of cheeeese!

Favorite Things: Necklaces, HomeGoods Linen Spray + Mason Jar Candles, Nicholas Sparks DVD - 4 movies in 1, Loreal Shampoo and Conditioner, Starbucks Giftcards, Vosges Haut Chocolat, Essie nail polishes + Clif Shot Energy Gel + Orbit Gum, Oregon Chai Tea + Biscotti, Bath & Body Works hand soaps and candles.

Sources:
Party Styling & Photography - a {day} with lil mama – me!
Favorite Things Party - inspired by Inchmark and Day Dreaming and Sight Seeing via Kara's Party Ideas
Birthday Party Invitation – TinyPrints
Free Wine Printables – Hostess with the Mostess 
Free Gift Tag Printables - Ellinee 
DIY Fringe Backdrop - inspired by Shiny Happy Sprinkles
Square and Rectangle Appetizer Plates - World Market
Black & Gold Votives, Black Napkins - Party City
Gold Frame and Bowl - Target
Gold Glitter Tape - Shop Sweet Lulu

In the evening, Mia called me to say, "Mommy, I wish I could drive home to have fun at your party." Oh Mia, she sure loves girl talk with mommy and her friends. She also wondered, "Mommy, why are your decorations pink? Your favorite color is red." *sigh* love her!

 

Sweet Surprises

Happy {almost} Friday! If you're stopping by from Mia's Princess Ballerina Party featured on Kara's Party Ideas today, hiiii!  Feel free to check out other parties I've styled here.

My baby girl's birthday party knocked two things off my {unwritten} blogging bucket list - getting featured on Tatertots and Jello and Kara's Party Ideas! Yippee, thank you ladies!

Another recent sweet surprise was a package I received from Pick Your Plum. I knew I hadn't placed an order with the daily craft deal site recently, so I wasn't sure what was inside.

After sharing how I used their french fry cups, PYP sent me more goodies to DIY my little heart out! The hand-written note topped off this sweet little Thank You package. Now that is customer service that keeps people around. 

Speaking of DIYing my little heart out, I better get started on the party I'm hosting next weekend!

Princess Ballerina Birthday Party Decorations

**Thank you Jen for the feature on Tatertots and Jello!**

My 3 year old daughter is such a girly girl who loves to wear dresses, sing and dance around (to a made-up song where the only words are "Iiiii'm a prinnnnnnnnnnncessssss...."), pretend to do makeup, carry purses, wear jewelry and of course loves princesses. So sure enough, what was more fitting than a Pink Princess Ballerina Birthday Party full of sparkle and glitter??

Hey there! That's me - party stylist, photographer and lil mama!

If you're new around here, I'm all about DIY, thinking outside of the box and being resourceful to use what you already have to keep costs down. Keep reading for some of my party planning tricks. 

I pretty much based the entire theme and decor on this invitation and dress. Couldn't be more perfect! And yes, she has that sassy pose down. She's well on her way to being a Misha Media client! Click here to see my full party inspiration board.

{Wooden frame from Michael's painted with acrylic paint}

Come on in!

{DIY Tulle Doorway Swag with glitter ribbon from Michael's, similar to what I did for Erin's 1st birthday party}

{Mia liked helping me paint the frames. Then I printed "Happy Birthday" on regular computer paper, traced it with glue and glittered away! I made the star garland with a craft punch from the MonSTAR party and thread}

Someone was excited to greet her guests!

It was SO nice to have Mia's old dance instructor at her party. Just like mommy, Mia is the smallest one.

{Love how this cake stand can go from a boy's monster party to a sweet ballerina party. "Help yourself" banner made with picmonkey.com. No fancy water bottle labels, simply wrapped them in scrapbook paper.}

{Sparkle hydrangeas from Mia's Winter ONEderland party. To add height to the cake stands, I flipped trays upside down.}

Table settings fit for a dozen 3 year old princesses...

{Every little guest went home with favors of pink and white M&M's with a princess star wand.}

{Silver glitter wands for a $1 from Target's party section. Dig through those bins!!}

{I prettied up the popcorn/french fry boxes with a simple ribbon and star from cardstock.}

{Party food for the girls included star shaped salami and cheese sandwiches, pink chocolate covered popcorn, fruit cups and milk with pink striped straws.}

Told you she has quite the personality! I wish I could bottle up her sweet little voice too!

{Think outside the box! The flower centerpiece vases are actually stem less wine glasses wrapped with glitter  tape from Shop Sweet Lulu. Flower arrangements are rearranged from grocery store bunches - 3 for $12.}

{Semi-homemade pink velvet cupcakes from a World Market box mix atop tutu skirted cake stands. Mia's cupcake is topped with a number 3 made out of sprinkles.}

Love you, your animated personality and big squishy hugs, sweet heart!

Vendors:
Party Styling and Photography: a {day} with lil mama - me!
Venue: Baby Take a Bow
Invitation: Brightside Prints via The House of Smiths
Sparkle Tutu Dress: Nordstrom
Glitter Tulle and Glitter Ribbon: Michael's
Glitter Wands: Target
Star Wands: Party City (cheaper than Oriental Trading)
Favor Tubes: Pretty Sweet Stuff via Very Jane and Shop Sweet Lulu
Popcorn/French Fry Cups: Pick Your Plum

Thank you to my mom and best friend for helping with the set up. And to my husband who hates glitter and lived with a pile of pink party supplies for a few months!

linked up and as seen on Tatertots & Jello