Hostess Jo

B is for Baby Shower

Here are the photos from the baby shower! The baby shower was hosted at a local cafe, which decor happens to be yellow and orange. I really lucked out with all the decorations. The vases came from Micheal's for about $1 a piece. Notice the one with the honeycomb pattern! The birds, butterflies, and bees were on sale, too. The tissue paper balls hanging from the ceiling were found at Marshall's for $2. I also incorporated Lena's paper goods as confetti and tags. The guest book is actually a photo album, which we put the photos from the shower. This was given to the momma to be as a gift. I hope this gives you some ideas for your next shower!

B is for Baby Shower-Invitations

Lena from Zeina Lena Design did these wonderful invitations for the "B" themed baby shower. FYI-Lena also did Jo's invites for her baby shower. The invitations really set the tone for the shower. The papaya and poppy colors were used throughout for the decorations. She also did these wonderful circles to use for cupcake toppers. I ended up using them for confetti. Lena designed the thank you cards and the return address labels to coordinate with the invitations as well. The envelopes are from Paper Source.

Nesting Baby Shower

I'm so excited to share with you the photos from my Nesting Baby Shower my wonderful friends threw me this past weekend!  The decorations were gorgeous plumes, birds, nests and butterflies- all pretty in pink and green.  I am so lucky to have such great girlfriends to throw me such a lovely shower. 

Look closely... there are so many special details!  Enjoy!

Welcome Wreath

 

Wishing Tree-this was so fun to go back and read everyone's well wishes! 

 

More lovely bird decor.  I got to take the bird cages home and display them in the nursery.

 

The hostesses borrowed my manzanita branch trees and they looked great with the nest eggs hanging from them.  These trees were the best decoration I've ever made!

"Reese" spelled out in paper circles.

There were butterflies everywhere!

Gorgeous food table.

So cute- nest cupcakes, tags and circles made by my friend Nicole.

 

Feather centerpieces

Nesting bird centerpiece.  Love the plumes.

Jelly bean "egg" favors with coordinating tags by Nicole.  Notice the heart hole punch!

Hope my shower gives you even more Nesting inspiration for your next baby shower!  

Nesting Details

My dear friend Ashley sent me a couple of pics of the decorations she is working on for my Nesting Baby Shower in June.  I just had to share them with you- of course!

These birds are just spectacular!  I love all of the plumes.

You know how I love butterflies!  So cute.

These are already so adorable I can only imagine what everything will look like that day-beautiful! 

I am a lucky girl. 

Stay tuned...
  

Love in Bloom

This weekend we celebrated the upcoming wedding of our two friends, Bonnie and Paul, with a lovely cherry blossom themed bridal shower.  My friend Ashley styled the event-I was in charge of drinks this time ;) 

This theme was light and airy with spring blooms and shades of pink.  Perfect for spring and perfect for LOVE.

Enjoy some pics from Saturday....

The pretty invitations that gave a sneak peek to guests of what was to come.

The all important food table with a pink cherry blossom centerpiece and pink accents.

Adorable cupcakes Nicole made.  She also made the circles-I keep telling her she needs to start selling these!  The "B" was for the bride's soon-to-be last name, and of course more cherry blossoms.

Delicious fruit cups that not only taste great but look so pretty displayed.  Recipe to come in a later post-they are so EASY.

  

A close up of the coordinating pink cherry blossom ribbon that added a special touch.

More cherry blossom accents for outside. 

Hope this shower will inspire you to try something new for your next celebration!  This is a great example of how carrying through a color or item can really tie everything together!  This theme would also work well for Mother's Day or a spring party.
  

Nesting Instincts

Hi Everyone! 

So sorry for the long break.  I have a good reason though-I am expecting a baby girl come August!!  I have no other excuse for not blogging besides being totally wrapped up in all things baby!

I have really missed you in the meantime.

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful Spring.  I have a couple of events coming up I can't wait to share with you.  First is a cherry blossomed themed bridal shower for one of my friends. Then a tea celebrating the arrival of my baby.

Next, is my "Nesting" Baby Shower.  I have been in love with this theme since I started blogging and am so lucky to have friends who have let me be involved in the creative process.  I can't wait to see it all come together.  Here is a sneak peek of my amazing invitations designed by my friend Lena.

 

We gathered tons of great inspiration from around the web for this shower.  We are going for a Anthropologie-ish feel.  We shopped for grapevine wreaths, nests, bird cages, birds, butterflies, feathers etc.  We took major advantage of all the Easter goodies on sale! 

Here are some links I love:

Modern Nesting-Hostess Blog

Vintage Nesting Part One-Pepper Design Blog

Vintage Nesting Part Two-Pepper Design Blog

Oh How Tweet Part 1-Hostess Blog

Oh How Tweet Part 2-Hostess Blog

More details coming soon!

Christmas Party

This weekend we had our Christmas Potluck Party.  I kept decorations simple and went with a red and aqua snowflake theme and it looked great!  The colors were fun and really popped against each other.  I ended up using one of my manzanita branch centerpieces.  They are just so versatile, I couldn't resist.  Hope you enjoy the pics!

Dining Table/Centerpiece

Plates from Hostess Jo

Red and aqua snowflake napkin rings from Print Your Party.  These were a big hit.

Red glitter snowflake ornaments.

Peppermints made the perfect filler for the base.

Drink Station
 

Pretty AND tasty Champagne Punch-get the recipe here.

Check out more photos on our Facebook page.  

Hope this inspires you to try different color combos for the holidays!  These colors would also be great for New Year's and winter themed parties.
 

Christmas Party Plans

We are having a Christmas party next month at our house and I have been looking for ideas of how to decorate the dining table/kitchen area.  My family room will be decorated with what I am calling a "gilded christmas".  Remember last year I was having trouble using my old decorations with our new terra cotta wall?  Well this year I've decided to use new gold, copper, and brown decorations.  I think they will look great with our wall. 

I would like to do something with more color in the kitchen/dining area.  I'm hung up on the red and aqua combo I've been seeing lately.  I love these two colors together and think they are so fun to use for Christmas parties and decorations.  Here are a few ideas I've gathered so far...

My main inspiration came from Kim at The TomKat Studio's Little Snowflake Invitations.  Kim is so talented and I always love all of her designs.  I can't wait to see the rest of this collection!

Too cute right?!  Check out Kim's inspiration board for the Little Snowflake party here!

A beautiful table below incorporating red and aqua.  Love the little red birds.

 

Plates from Hostess Jo I'll use:

Glass stickers...

Cocktail napkins...

Stay tuned to see everything come together!
  
 

Simple Football Centerpiece

I just discovered these pictures of the football centerpieces I made for our first game celebration and thought I'd share.  They are good examples of how you can take things from around the house and turn them into party decor easily and inexpensively.

I actually took the football from my Touchdown Lazy Susan and cut floral foam to fit inside it.  I bought an inexpensive bouquet from Publix and divided it between the three.  Voila!  Instant decor for you game entertaining.  Of course the guys don't care about them but I bet your female guests will enjoy them. 

I set mine up outside where I knew my girlfriends and I would be hanging out.

They add just the right amount of football spirit to your everyday decor.

 

Get creative!  Look around your house-I bet you have items you can transform for any occasion!

 
 

Most Fabulous Halloween Dinner

Run!  Hurry!  Go now!  You must see Kara's Chic Halloween Dinner!  Here is a little sneak peek:

Dessert Table

Loving the black chandelier on the wall!

Place Setting