Inspired Goodness

The Baby Shower Goes Green; The Recap

A close friend of mine, Ben, recently helped host a fun-filled baby shower for his sister's first child, Jackson. Taking a cue from this Martha Stewart event, Ben designed all the printed materials - with a similar orange and blue palette.

Ben's sister, Becky and her husband Josh have a really fresh approach to the birth of their first son - and many of the elements for the shower reflected their ideas to GO GREEN. So much of the details from the shower were all taken care of by family and friends. The adorable fondant covered cake, baked by their grandmother, all the circular signs mimiced the design of the invites - and I adored the reusable linen totes that were given to guests as favors - complete with a "J" decorative iced cookie and Tips for guests to follow along on the path to GOING GREEN.

This shower was so special with the help of so many caring people - one's that came together to honor the wishes of these soon-to-be-parents. For sure, Jackson is going to be a very lucky little boy to enter into a family full of such love.

To recreate some of these details for yourself, how about getting some similar paper from Paper-Source, alphabet-shaped cookie cutters, ribbon (to hang all those circular signs) and while you're at it - get a circle-cutter to make this project a snap. The favor bags can be found here.

Holiday Hangovers + Leftovers, 2009

For the past few years, we've thrown an after the holidays party and spend weeks planning, cooking and preparing for this fun event. The goal is to try to get all our friends over to our place - and re-celebrate the holidays. We keep up all the holiday decorations (except our Xmas tree - since its needles decided to flake off way too early) and create a festive atmosphere all around our apartment. (Special thanks to Brooke for all the amazing food labels and to Nick for his help setting up!)

For the signature cocktail, we created a fun Rum Punch.

Here's a look at the food spread:

Including some crudites with French Onion dip (I hollowed out a purple cabbage to hold the dip)

Some cheeses, sausages, pita chips and hummus:

We made a delicious ham - and decide to serve them as sliders paired with 3 choices of mustard:

John recreated his X-mas Dinner Trifle in handy parfait-style servings. These were a hit!
(They include layers of ground turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce {jellied of course}, gravy and stuffing.)

I spent most of the week fashioning marzipan mushrooms, holly leaves, berries and a pine cone for cream-filled Yule Log. A shredded coconut floor of "snow" and covering of frosting and powered sugar brought the dessert to life. (check out eHow Video for more Marzipan tutorials)

Deviled eggs completed the spread:

  

And of course, there was a fully-stocked bar:

Dave and Amy brought honey covered bacon that we dipped into whipped cream. Sounds totally gross, but I swear you have to try it - yummy!

It got pretty crowded in the dining room once the bacon and whipped cream made the rounds. (ah - look how cute everyone is!!)

For the second year in a row, we had a gift exchange and asked everyone to bring their least favorite gifts for a little re-gifting. Items ranged from a Hockey puzzle, action figure and some of the best Inventions of 2008. I ended up choosing #10 from the gift raffle and snagged myself an awesome new gift:

  

A Snuggie - and yes - its really THAT BIG!

A close-up of the action figure (sans sword) that Doug received - next to the award-winning Gingerbread house.

And...

Here's a few shots of everyone who came out to make this year's party a great success. Can't wait to celebrate again with everyone next year!!

  

For a little more info on the gift exchange, check out Brooke (aka Miss Cupcake's) new blog, Claremont Road!

Perfect for Fall: Acorns Everywhere

Aren't these felted acorns by Littlefish Studios just so adorable. Available in lots of fun colors, they would make  perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table, no?

Or how about a nice set made from polymer clay by JooJoo.

Thanks to Abbey from Aesthetic Outburst for introducing us to these one of a kind nuts.

Fun Ice Cubes

Don't you just adore these"sink or swim" ice cube trays with little icebergs and replicas of the Titanic? How's that for making a splash at your next impromptu get together...

Available here.

A Feathered Frenzy: Brooke's Bridal Shower

This weekend we partied in our fabulous frocks, had an absolute blast and drank ourselves silly with wonderful Brooke-a-politians at my SIL's "Shower with a Twist"!

I have some special posts about the shower planned for next week, during Inspired Goodness' guest blog on Elizabeth Anne Designs but didn't want to deny some of the fun to our readers.

Hope you enjoy these photos taken by the wonderful Maggie -- thank you for your awesomeness and being our resident event photographer!

And P.S., yes, Miss Cupcake is holding a Mashpotini in case you were wondering!!

 

A Wet n’ Wild Weekend: Bridal Shower AND Bachelorette Party

If you’re a fan of WeddingBee, I hope you’ve been following my SIL’s big day plans. As the perfectly suited Miss Cupcake, we’ve all gotten a chance to know Brooke a little better and see how incredibly talented she is! Although I did just get her stunning wedding invitations in the mail last night and am dying to share them with you, there is the matter of posting about the Bridal Shower that took place a few weeks ago, not to mention some peeks at our fun and celebratory Girls Night Out/Bachelorette Party.

The shower was held by a dear friend of my MIL’s, Linda, a true hostess with a panache for throwing spectacular showers — (remind me to share with you the one she posted for me one of these days).  In attendance were about 35 women, mostly family and close family friends, celebrating our special girl! I was in charge of creating the bow bouquet – it was a ton of fun to make and the other ‘maids all helped out with the gift opening!

The Bachelorette Party was super fun and after dinner and drinks at El Vez in Philly, we headed to some local waterholes for some cocktails and girl talk. It was a ton of fun to get to know my SIL’s fabulous friends a little more and to spend time celebrating such an important person in all our lives. We ended the night with some dancing and photo takin’ madness at Fado. For the full details, make sure to read Brooke’s fabulous post with all the great photos from both events!

Dinner in the Sky

This totally insane idea will probably never reach U.S. soil, but one cannot deny the originality in having a party hundreds of feet in the air, suspended by a crane, strapped in and celebrating an unforgettable evening. Check out Dinner in the Sky for more images of this unique experience. Oh, and did you notice that piano?!?