Saturday, September 8, 2012

DIY Corset Lingerie Shower invitation

I just realized I never posted the instructions on the DIY Lingerie Shower Invites I did for my best friend's lingerie shower that I hosted.


I used this tutorial as a guide (and you should too).  But since I like having pictures to follow I figured I'd post the ones I took as I was making them.

What you'll need...
Cardstock in the color you want the print to be on, scrapbook paper that goes with your color theme, lace and ribbon that matches, double sided tape and hot glue!

In Word or Illustrator, type out your invitation and try to make it small in the middle and wider on the top and bottom (like a figure).

Print it out and draw a corset around your words.... use envelope as your guide.  This may take a little bit of trial and error. :) p.s. excuse the smudged look on the invites... I tried my hand at photoshop to blur out the address and such for internet purposes... easier said than done!


Once you have a template for your invite, trace the bodice onto the back of the scrapbook paper.


Then match the paper up to your cardstock invites.

 Use some double sided tape to keep the middle together.  Now cut some lace to fit the top of the corset.


Dab some hot glue to keep the lace in place.

Cut your ribbon to match the legs and use some hoto glue to keep those in place as well.

I added some little sticky pearls for an extra touch!

 Ta-Da...super cute and unique handmade corset invitations! I put mine in pink envelopes since that was the other color in my theme.


Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Aqua and Pink Lingerie Shower


Last Friday I hosted a lingerie shower for one of my best friends, Stephanie.  I had a blast planning this and went with an aqua, teal and pink color theme and a fondue party theme.  Here are some pictures from the evening (side note: Charlie was out of town so I tried my hand at taking pictures with the fancy camera...realized half way through the evening that I didn't have the flash on, whoops)!



Food table (Minus the actual fondue, it was in the kitchen)


Some of the Fondue dippers 


Paper products and little bowls to put the fondue in so it wouldn't run

The Strawberry cake from Pink Magnolia

 The invite (DIY tutorial here)

Cookies by Pink Magnolia 

Centerpiece



Tulle Pom Poms

 Wreath

Pretty Bride-to-be :)

Details:
Tulle Pom Poms: Handmade... I bought the tulle at Hobby Lobby and made them semi-using this tutorial.  I made some big and some small so I did have to play around with size ( I used a CD case for the small ones and a 10x10 photo album for the larger ones. 

Bra & Undie garland: Handmade... I used rope ribbon and clothes pins from Hobby Lobby and found inexpensive bra's and undies from stores like TJMaxx. 

Strawberry cake and lingerie cookies: These are from Pink Magnolia Bakery.  I use them for all of my parties.  I just love what they can do with a cookie!

Invite: I came up with the idea to do a bodice shaped invite and when I searched online I found this adorable invite that I used as I guide.  They were definitely time consuming but I loved the final product!

Centerpiece: I found this awesome tutorial on how to make aqua colored vases and mason jars but then when I sent Charlie to Hobby Lobby to collect the supplies, they had glassware on sale.  So, he called and I told him to just go ahead and get the ones that were already aqua.  So, I went the easy route!  I bought the flowers at Fresh Market and arranged them myself.  Easy peasy! 

Wreath: Every time I host a shower, I make a wreath to hang on the door.  This way, the guests know they are at the right spot and it sets the tone for the shower. :) I bought a plain twig wreath from Hobby Lobby and wrapped it with the same lace and ribbon I used in the invites (love coordination)! Then I made mini corsets using the same paper, lace and ribbon and hot glued them to toothpicks to use in the wreath. Lastly, I hung the invite in the middle with pink tulle. 

Backdrop: I used this same backdrop for my Tiny Dancer baby shower I hosted back in January. This was made using discounted fabric, folding over and hot gluing a seam.  And Ta-Da, handmade backdrop on a budget.  We (ahem, Charlie) used 3M hooks to hang a curtain rod above the laundry room door and the fabric slides on like a curtain. 

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

DIY Cowgirl Baby Shower Invitations


DIY Cowgirl Shower Invitations

I just love handmade invitations!  I think it's fun to customize and add special touches that just can't be done with a printer.  They are much more time consuming but the finished product is always well worth it! When we decided to throw our friend a cowgirl baby shower I started brainstorming ideas for western themed invitations that still had a girly flair.  This is what I came up with (pictured on wreath below).

The Supplies: Burlap, cardstock in the color of your choice, twine, a stamp, ink pad in your other theme color.  Not listed: 65lb White printer paper

After you have come up with your wording, Use a computer word formatting document (like Microsoft Word) to make your invite on the computer.  I used two columns and was able to fit two invites per sheet.  You may need to play with sizing.  Always use your envelope as a guide to sizing your invite.  Start with your colored cardstock by getting it to the perfect size then your top sheet will need to be slightly smaller.

Next Step, tear the paper so it fits on the cardstock with the color popping out underneath

 Stamp in the top center
 You could use a hole puncher for this next part but since I was wanting these to look rustic I wanted the holes to be hand punched so I used a push pin to get the hole started and then a nut cracker to finished the job


 Next measure your burlap to match the size of the cardstock
Now make a hole through the burlap (which is really easy because of the material)

Cut the twine and string it through the holes and tie a knot or bow (if it's going through the postal service and not hand delivered it may need to be a knot)!
Now use some double sided tape to make the top sheet stay in place

Ta Da! All done!

And here is the back!

Cowgirl themed Baby Shower

As I've mentioned many times, I just LOVE themes.  Give me a theme and I will go to town!  When my childhood friend, Ashley, announced that she and her husband were having a girl I asked her if we could throw her a cowgirl themed baby shower.  She grew up in the country with horses and actually had real cowboy boots growing up so of course she said yes.

Several friends and I decided to host it together so we started planning.  I thought teal, hot pink and burlap would be a fun color/fabric theme so I went with it on the invites and then we carried the color scheme throughout the party.  We had the shower at 10am on Saturday morning so we went with western themed food (or at least names).  On the menu were individual cowgirl coffee cakes, fresh off the farm fruit, flapjacks, Rodeo Scramble (egg casserole), sizzlin' bacon, cowpoke cheese grits, Texas Potatoes and Bessie's buttermilk biscuits.  We made tags for the food and favors using the same card stock from the invites but traded out the white top layer for some natural paper that matched the burlap and used a longhorn stamp dipped in pink ink to tie in our western theme.

Here are some of the details from the shower.


Our wreath


 I saw this at a shower I attended recently and thought it was the best idea! Everyone takes one and writes down the prayers they will be praying for the baby

Centerpiece










We used Mason Jars to serve the beverages and they were borrowed from a family friend.
We made Mini Cherry pies in Cupcake tins for everyone to take home and just wrapped them in cookie bags.



Beautiful mama-to-be!
 Hostesses with the mama-to-be

Details: 

Wreath: Handmade using a twig wreath purchased at Hobby Lobby and doctored up using a couple of teal bandana's, burlap, some wooden letters painted pink. I also added a mini longhorn from the western section of Hobby Lobby.  The boot wreath hanger was also purchased at Hobby Lobby. 

Centerpiece: This was made using a pair of my cowboy boots with some vases placed inside and fresh flowers.  The cowboy hat was also in my possession from a trip to texas (ha) and the rod iron sign was purchased at Hobby Lobby.  The hot pink and teal topiaries were found at Olde Time Pottery and were put sporadically throughout the table to add a pop color!

The burlap "Z": This was a wooden "Z" from Hobby Lobby wrapped in burlap and hot glued together.

Coffee cake toppers: These were so cute and super easy! I bought some cowboy inspired stickers out of the scrapbook section and hot glued them to toothpicks and Ta Da... Cupcake toppers in a matter of minutes

Mini Pie Favors: My dad and I made these together using muffin tins and then I wrapped them in cookie bags.