Welcome to THE CITY CRADLE where event planning, design and motherhood collide.

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30×30 welcome + a giveaway

03.10.10 Posted in 30x30, Party by Vicky

Don’t believe the lie. Be inspired. Celebrate today.

The vision behind this new project, 30×30- Where I will be sharing my journey with you as I design and produce 30 parties the year before I turn 30.

Inspirational photo’s, beautiful design, lovely details and hundreds of DIY’s to make your gatherings come together with ease and on budget.

Inspiring you to bless others. Assisting you with inspiration. Putting hundreds of cheap and easy homemade party ideas into your hands. Free printable templates, easy to follow instructions, design tips and the journey of pulling it all together.

Join me in the journey of planning 30 parties this year. Follow this link to our new page where these parties will be organized and updated throughout the journey.

Check out the ever growing collection of parties- go, bless, and be merry.

———————

In honor of this new exciting project, I want to bless you with the ultimate after party planning gift. For when your feet are tired and your arms hurt from etching glasses- a massage to enjoy!

* Win – a $50 spawish gift card that you can use towards any spa procedure in your city (massage- facial- pedicure you pick).

Entry options-

* First entry, leaving a comment on this post below- share with me a party theme you would like to see done this year. You do not need to have a blog to win.
* For a second entry, Grab the new blog button to put on your sidebar (simply paste the html code shown into a sidebar widget). Leave me a second comment with your page link.
* For a third entry, blog about my new project and let your readers in on the exciting news! Leave a third comment with a link to your post.

I will be picking a winner using random.org, contest ends midnight April 10th.

blessings.


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Reader question- A superman party

03.09.10 Posted in Momhood, portfolio by Vicky

Anne asked, “How can you throw a superhero (superman) little boy’s party and not have it be cheesey for the adults”.

My response- Vintage, Vintage, Vintage….

There is really no way to redeem a superman party with matching plastic cups and a bright red shinny banner, it is cheese-filled by nature. If you want your superman party or any superhero party to be attractive to the older guys and nicely designed for the young the only way to go is vintage.

Vintage superman, the guy of the 1940’s, the man’s man of superheros is a great starting point for a little boys birthday. One that will incite joy for the young and old. Here are a few of the vintage party pieces I’ve found to inspire your design.

From top to bottom + some-

The original comic series is the perfect initial design platform. Familiarize yourself with the content and pictures, use the faded colors and original quote bubbles in your design.

An original movie poster, is a great place to start for your stationary. Buy a replica (the real deal is $3,000) and use it for invites. Photocopy it in poster size, write the party info on the back and send your invites out as a posters for the little dudes to hang.

There was an old superman peanut butter jar released that would make amazing labels for food and gifts. Get a hold of this label or create one similar to use on table.

Make these capes for the older guys as well as for the young.

A party banner in the vintage comic colors that would look great re-configured with ribbon.

Extra party items-

You can even buy a 1940’s cartoon for your i-phone to stream during the party.
Have a Kryptonite hunt using green balls for a game both old and young will enjoy (have separate balls hidden super hard for the dads).
Host a trivia game that will challenge all ages of comic book fans.
Lastly, if all else fails, and nothing here has inspired you enjoy laughing at this superhero party presented by SNL.

What would you add to the party?

blessings.

PS. Do you have a party design question that needs answering? Contact me and you might be picked to be featured here. I will be answering the questions in order of receiving them as time and posting space allow for it.

6 Comments

Twin snap Tuesday

03.08.10 Posted in Momhood, twins by Vicky

When daddy turns the kitchen stool over and pushes him around no one can stay sad for very long.
His smile becomes infectious touching every possible heart in its vicinity.

Oh my goodness- That smile… that smile. Do you see that smile? It is incredibly contagious around here,
Especially on days the tears rain down…
On those days his smile is our umbrella.

blessings.

1 Comment

Alphabet birthday

03.08.10 Posted in Momhood, Party, Printable, diy by Vicky

This weekend I had the chance to be featured on Etsy. It was fun getting to email and chat with those who visited. I’ve recently added a couple new items to the store for the occasion and I thought you might want to see what I’ve been up to- as always you will find DIY’s here for everything listed in the store.

Bird shower invitations-

A set of 9 vintage chalked bird postcards-

Also, these magnetic letter alphabet birthday cards-

Make the alphabet cards yourself: A fun way to make a kids invitation that is also its own special gift. They will love figuring out the word and playing with the alphabet.

Grab a set of magnetic alphabet letters ($1 at Walmart)
Prime and then spray the letters using one color for the alphabet and a different color for the word you would like to spell. Let the whole alphabet dry overnight.

Cut the top off a plastic sandwich bag, put all of the letters into the bag and then fold over and down the top.

Attach your own invitations or use the one I am providing, the backside is customizable for your personal party details.

Download the invitation shown above by clicking on the image below.

The small print: The downloadable pdfs on this page are free for personal use only, not for commercial use. If you wish to incorporate any of my designs in your own personal projects, please attribute it to me by linking to my site. As a courtesy, if you wish to link to anything on this article, please link to this page and not directly to a downloadable file. Thanks and enjoy.

Let’s be honest, I even had fun playing with these;)

blessings.

PS. The bird DIY’s will be shared with the bird-nest baby shower reveal in a few weeks.

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Inspired weekend- pinwheels

03.05.10 Posted in Momhood by Vicky

This weekend I am inspired by pinwheels. Kate Spade’s new spring line has debut and everyone is ranting about the loveliness. I completely agree, although not because of the clothes or bags. I spotted this picture flipping through a magazine and it has inspired me. I love the pinwheels and the fence and isn’t it just lovely that I have a fence like that, perfect for a whole bunch of pinwheels.

Inspiration for a party in the making…. coming soon.

Speaking of spring designer clothing- The twins were featured yesterday @ little lovely in their thrifty spring get-up. I see them everyday and I still cannot get over how stinken adorable they are, getting all mushy inside staring at them.

More lovely pinwheels to inspire your weekend:

Watch the video for extra pinwheel love- I like standing on a vintage cars twirling them in the wind, lovely.

A DIY tutorial

Pinwheel seating cards for a wedding.

Edible pinwheels that look downright scrumptious.

Pinwheel candy wrapper origami.

Lastly, a necklace to hold me over until the party comes next month. I seriously cannot put this party together fast enough;)

blessings.

1 Comment

Rookie mistake = easiest pillow DIY ever

03.04.10 Posted in Momhood, diy by Vicky

In honor of the Rookie Mom’s contest we had this week I decided I would share with you my own little Rookie mom mistake.

Five weeks prior to the babies being born, in a craze of nesting instincts, I became suddenly obsessed with needing fancy, pretty burp cloths. I quickly bought a handful of the prettiest ones I could find.

As it goes- we didn’t use these, EVER. I think maybe twice. Instead we used large bathroom towels (because of reflux), we used swaddling blankets (because of accessibility) and we changed our shirts often from not using anything at all.

This week I decided they would make lovely little lumbar pillows and realized the project was the easiest pillow making endeavor that could ever exist, EVER.

Make it yourself:
Take a fancy unused burp cloth, that you probably shouldn’t have purchased-

Cut a slit in one side.

Stuff between the layers with a good chunk of lose batting-

Using a simple needle and thread hand stitch the hole.

A bit of justification for money poorly spent. I was able to make three with my leftover burp cloth collection.

Thanks for your entries in the rookie mom contest. The winner of the Rookie Mom Survival Guide is  Cerise who said “We live just outside Dallas. We love going to parks and taking walks. Although for a rainy day the best time we’ve had is going to the pet shop and looking at all the animals”. Congrats Cerise and please email me your address.

Random Number Generator Min 1- Max 22 = 12 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

blessings

1 Comment

Large tissue-pom flowers

03.03.10 Posted in Imperfect party challenge, Party, diy by Vicky

The imperfect party challenge has just over a week until completion. I am bursting with excitement to show you the lovely parties that have been entered. In the meantime, I would love your help getting the word out this last week, if you are willing. I hope to ensure we get a hold of every wonderfully imperfect party around.

To share about the contest just copy and paste the exact code listed below (in the HTML section of a blog post, in the widget area of a sidebar, or on your twitter/facebook update). I am so grateful for your help my friends, thanks.

<center><a href=”http://thecitycradle.com/throw-an-imperfect-party-win”><img src=”http://thecitycradle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/contest-button2.jpg”/></a></center>

Now on to more party details…

Make it yourself: Large tissue pom flowers-

Start with a 6 inch diameter circle of heavy weight paper or cardboard for your base circle.

You will use 6 pieces of coordinating tissue paper. Doing one at a time begin making your petals. Connect the two short ends of one side and secure onto the base circle with tape. Connect the other opposite two ends and secure on the backside of the circle.

Working gently with the paper poof your petal out and into shape.

Repeat to create six petals.

Finish off with a 4 inch diameter pre-adhered piece of felt to cover all the lose ends. Simply place it on top and press down, the center will hold up to a rainstorm-  it was tested last week:)

Hang alone…

or together to brighten up your party space.

PS. I think these will make you smile.

blessings.

1 Comment

Twin snap Tuesday- a friend

03.02.10 Posted in Momhood, twins by Vicky

How you know you have a life long dear friend?

You get your daughter dressed up to see her…
in the dress she wore as a little girl.
The exact dress her mom made for her and she wore when she was a baby,
because it was given to your daughter to wear.

That is the mark of a true and dear friend. I am grateful that my babies will grow up knowing and loving her and that they enjoyed many hugs in her arms this weekend.

blessings.

1 Comment

Shamrock cupcakes

03.02.10 Posted in Party, Printable, diy by Vicky

Since it is officially March, Saint Patrick’s Day is coming up quickly. I am not Irish, or a leprechaun, or even very lucky. Thankfully though, St. Partrick wasn’t either. He was a great (English) man of faith, which puts him in my heritage. I love celebrating his work and sacrifice.

For a great kick off to celebrating this year why not make a few of these shamrock cupcakes. They would be a fun gift for any child- a much healthier alternative to the holiday class treats this year. The cupcakes would also be lovely as party favors for your Saint Patrick’s Day celebration.

The cupcakes are easy to make. Simply take a small patch of a shamrock plant (dirt and all) and place it in a cupcake wrapper. You can buy these plants for just a few bucks, or pick them somewhere wild (mine are from my yard).

Use a ribbon to compact the dirt together and to make the small plant easy to transport and pot when received. Punch two holes in the sides of the cupcake wrapper to tie the ribbon in front, making a pretty delivery package for your cupcake.

Be sure to label your cupcakes so that others will know what they are- no accidental digestion of dirt at your party. I designed a sheet of labels so there would be no confusion;)

Print the labels on heavy weight cardstock and cut, there are eight per page. Get the labels by clicking the download image below.

* The small print: The downloadable pdfs on this page are free for personal use only, not for commercial use. If you wish to incorporate any of my designs in your own personal projects, please attribute it to me by linking to my site. As a courtesy, if you wish to link to anything on this article, please link to this page and not directly to a downloadable file. Thanks and enjoy.

Attach the labels to your plant using the ribbon, adhere them to the cupcake wrapper, or stick into the dirt with a toothpick.

blessings.

22 Comments

From one rookie mom to another- a book

03.01.10 Posted in Momhood by Vicky

Are you a rookie mom, or do you know someone who is? One of the things I loved about my rookie mom year was the constant adventure of getting out and experiencing life with the twins.

(Ready for coffee circa 6 weeks old)

Inspired by these Rookie Moms and their book, I set out a plan of activities my first year with twins. Month one- go to coffee. Month three- take them to a movie. Month six- buy myself a new pair of jeans. Little accomplishments that marked my first year of momhood.

(Out on the town circa 8 weeks old)

All this to say I am super honored to be guest blogging on their lovely site today, sharing a week of baby friendly activities in Las Vegas. Just incase you decide to do something wild like a weekend in Vegas with your babies in tow. Plus, I have one of their books to give away to you.

It was one of my must reads before the babies were born- keep it for yourself or give it away.


Come visit me over there…

Then leave a comment right here and share with us your favorite baby-in-tow activity in your own hometown to win the book. Comments will close Wednesday at midnight.

blessings.

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Welcome, I am Vicky- a new mom to twin toddlers & an event designer. This is where I chronicle my inspirations, projects and designs for these passions daily. Read more about this blog and if you'd like- visit my store.
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