Carnival-Inspired Celebrations

I love the child-like whimsy of a country fair or carnival theme. Bright colors, balloons, and pennant banners set the scene, while carnival cuisine in mini portions like french fries in paper cups or cotton candy, and even rides or attractions invite you to let loose.

Fun "Marry-Go-Round" Carnival Wedding Inspiration from Snippet and Ink

The inspiration doesn't stop at weddings. Check out this unique Big Top Baby Shower Inspiration designed by the amazing Jen Sbranti of Hostess with the Mostess.

For a glimpse of a real event using this fun theme, check out this amazing carnival wedding designed by Amorology and captured by Jamie Hammond.

Wouldn't you love to be a guest at this wedding?

{Real Party} Country Western Goes Vintage

Fall always gets me thinking of rustic, country style. I love how country western is interpreted for a little girl in this adorable Vintage Cowgirl Birthday. Mini horses, cowbells, pastel-patterned fabric, and even a wanted poster make for such a unique party. I imagine any girl with a love of horses would go crazy for this!




This Vintage Cowboy Baby Shower designed by Beth Helmsetter Events is definitely vintage country style at its best: daisies in mason jars, vintage cowboy books, bandanna decor, hay bales as seating, and BBQ and mini pies!

I imagine a lot of inspiration came from those vintage cowboy books!

Bastille Day Inspiration

Sadly, it occurred to me too late that July 14th was Bastille Day - the national holiday of France, but, even fashionably late, I just have to feature some great French inspiration anyway!

Bastille Day Wedding courtesy of Snippet and Ink. Quelle magnifique!

A little off the beaten path, I found this absolutely stunning French Baby Shower!

The parasols! The lavender! The Eiffel Tower-embroidered onesie! The hanging flower rope letters! What an elegant entrance into the world for a baby girl! To see how this theme could be adapted for a wedding or adult party, see my Lovely Lavender post.

Do you like Egypt? Then get ready for my weekend post...

P.S. I've been featured! The talented Anna Rose of The How-To Gal featured my custom inspiration board for her daughter's birthday (which I'll give details on soon) and even demonstrated how to make one of the decor elements I included. Check out the post here! You'll love her blog!

{REAL PARTY} Bee Party Inspiration

I'm not a fan of bees....at all....whatsoever...in fact, they terrify me, but they are so iconic of warm weather and of the honey they produce, that it's such sweet and adaptable theme for spring or summer gatherings! I have seen so many adorable parties featured around the little bee, like this bee themed birthday featured on The Creative Party Place, that I may have changed my mind about bees! (Well, a little bit!)

How cute are the yellow and white paper lanterns and paper poms? It really creates the effect of buzzing bee hives!

Tissue paper corsages for each of the party guests!

Love the yellow "honey pot" flower pots and fresh, white flowers! Daisies would be beautiful too.

And the game prize.....

....you guessed it!

I'm particularly fond of the combination of yellow and white, rather than yellow and black, which keeps the details warm and sunny.

And how about the custom details of this first birthday party featured on Imprintables?

From the food labels,

to the birthday cake,

...to the whole dessert table and honeycomb backdrop , everything features the happy little bee. (It's so much easier to love a bee when it's this cute!)

It wouldn't be a tribute to the bee without a few honey-infused sweets, like this honey popcorn in paper cones!

An obvious, but fool-proof favor idea would be jars of honey.
Image courtesy of Martha Stewart

These cupcakes are absolutely amazing! They're topped with hexagonal "honeycomb" sugar cookies, filled with honey in the center, and complete with candy "bees"!

Of course, this theme could easily be adapted for a baby shower or even a bridal shower! For just such an example, just check out this chic B is for Baby Shower featured on Hostess with the Mostess!

{REAL PARTIES}: Pretty in Pink Shower

This radical 80's-inspired shower featured on Hostess with the Mostess is a perfect blend of traditional and fun! The mommy-to-be loves the movie Pretty in Pink and this baby shower incorporated that theme.

I love how much color the balloons add!

The table runner was made from photocopied images of the Pretty in Pink cover. And check out those vinyl records as plate chargers!

Centerpieces were created from film reels with pink carnation and rose arrangements and pink pacifiers.

The full tablescape.

Guests got box lunches tied with cassette tapes and ribbon.

You know my love of paper poms and decor!

LOVE all the pink sweets and custom labels to match!

See more details here!

More Peach...and Pink!

As promised, today's inspiration is more of my favorite color palette! You could call the late summer wedding inspiration coral, so today we have peach and pink! This first inspiration board is definitely for a baby girl shower, but a little off the beaten path. I like to call it a Peaches and Cream shower.

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Great details:

These super easy to make poms courtesy of the original party diva, Martha Stewart.

And how about this Peach Cake from Betty Crocker?

Details: peach and pink ranunculus, peaches and cream sign, peach cake, baby in pretty wrap, paper poms, hand-crafted invitation, peach jam, peach maternity top, rose teacup votive.

Other things you could include:
- a dessert table dedicated to peaches and cream! peach cobbler and ice cream, peach buds candy or peach rings, cream puffs, peach lemonade, etc.
- lace details on invitations, favors, or decor
- matching party decor from Plates and Napkins
- baskets of flowers in peach and cream. If you like the idea of paper poms, you continue that theme inexpensively with paper flowers! An easy tutorial for pretty peonies can be found here - love her blog name!

If you just love the idea of a traditional pink baby shower, why not run with it? That's exactly the idea behind this girly pink party.

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Details here: Pink balloons and flower arrangements, sweet pink buffet, pink floral pennant bunting (very easy to make! maybe I'll include a post about creating these fabulous decorations), pink invitation - complete with baby's first picture!, pink lemonade in mason jar glasses, assorted gifts, pink Gerbera daisies, pink polka dot plates, strawberry freeze dessert (I have a great recipe! - contact me for more info), baby bottle candle favors, girly cupcakes, and pink diaper cake.

Because so much inspiration was drawn from this Pretty in Pink Shower featured on the fabulous Hostess with the Mostess, I will share details soon!

Baby Bird Shower

While we're on the subject of baby showers, I recently designed this inspiration board for a baby bird shower that I just LOVE! I designed the theme around the vintage baby bird plates, and I wanted to use that motif throughout the décor with natural elements like twig nests, tree branches, and this adorable, hand-crafted wreath. Imagine this for a springtime shower!

A few of the adorable details up close

Details: vintage baby bird plates, birdhouses, wreath, baby bird cupcakes, baby bird art, paper banner, baby bird invitations, paper lantern, chair sashes in alternating colors, baby bird cookies, blue poms and table decor, nest cupcakes and birdhouse cupcake stand topper, blue candy buffet, felt birds, candy almonds in mini nest place setting, bare branch tree and wishes for the mom-to-be.

Rubber Duck Baby Shower

I used this theme for a baby shower I threw for my sister awhile back, but looking back on this theme I couldn't help but create a new inspiration board for a sunny, springtime shower. I like that it's a creative take on the blue shower for a baby boy, but it could also be used for a baby shower where the gender is unknown. Plus, how cute is the rubber ducky motif?


Top row: Lemonade in a finial glass beverage jar (LOVE these for any outdoor or warm-weather event!), adorable rubber ducky cake with whipped icing as bubble suds, yellow candies in glass jar - you could create an entire candy buffet in these accent colors!, pale yellow and white onesies and baby clothes on clothesline
Middle Row: Yellow daisies in Chinese take-out box, blue candy favors, rubber duckies in a tub - I used this idea for the punch bowl, blue polka-dot plates, rubber ducky invitations and stationary.
Bottom row: Tented, outdoor shower with hanging white paper lanterns (to mimic floating bubbles - or you could use clear balloons), white tables and chairs with yellow table runners, rubber ducky invitation, cupcake with rubber ducky candle toppers - these could make great favors, and rubber ducky/bathtime themed diaper cake.