To make snow for the Christmas in July shoot I used white paper stars, they looked just perfect strung from a tree above our table. I also used the stars this weekend in the wedding I styled, coming soon:)

You can purchase the stars HERE in many different sizes and colors. Their creator Lisa has been so sweet to share her tutorial- so that you can make them for your own events, YAY!

Make your own paper stars:

• Take 4 strips of paper equal in length. Fold each in half and weave centers together creating 4 double strips of ‘tails’.
• Take 1 strip per ‘tail’ and fold across center weave. Tuck the 4th tail under the first one.
• Fold 4 tails diagonally.
• Flip star over; fold each diagonally folded tail downward.

• Fold each downward folded tail onto itself creating a point.  Tuck each point into the top layer of center weave.

• Repeat Steps 4 and 5 to remaining 3 folded tails.
• Repeat Steps 3, 4 and 5 to remaining 4 straight tails.
• To create top and bottom points, fold each tail towards the right and tuck into the frontward tail.
• When you have done this 8 times, your star will have 8 tails that will need to be trimmed.

• Trim each tail and your star is complete!

PS. Lisa is also offering the DIY kits for the stars, complete with supplies that can be purchased HERE.

blessings.

It all started with the idea to cool down and cheer up for the summer by bringing surprise Christmas gifts to our neighbors. I think that is just the loveliest of ideas, especially in July & especially if they are tied up with red twine and dragged behind a bike!

Although it is not a normal Christmas occurrence where we live, having snowballs seemed quite necessary. A vintage crate filled with water balloons hold the makings for a summer’s worth of fights that are sure to cool things down!

A dessert table is set up on a reclaimed, painted table filled with holiday treats! Christmas cookies are stacked high on a homemade cookie stand to elicit smiles all around.

To bring home the holiday spirit I planted mini Christmas trees that hung in red painted bird cages + more snow was a necessity! The beautiful white star snowflakes are the creation of Lisa and can be found for purchase HERE. A DIY on them is coming soon.

Peppermint pops made with candy, sticks and a bit of frosting were scrumptious additions.

It brought me great joy thinking through what desserts we could serve! Snowballs, candy & cookies, to drink peppermint shooters (aka melted red slurpees) seemed perfect.

And doughnuts with holiday flags that are super easy to make- see the tutorial HERE.

The bike basket was overfilled with cherries and flowers, a serious cheer bringer throughout the year.

I loved the idea of using cherries throughout our shoot. Perhaps because they bring me so much cheer? A bunch of them hung from the tree as a mistletoe to smooch underneath + cones of them serve as a healthy additions to our sweets display.

An ornament display of baby’s breath and ribbon is just as lovely in the summer as it would be hanging over a holiday table.  Strung from a tree or carried as a bridal bouquet I believe I am equally as smitten about using one of these as a part of any upcoming celebration!

I hope this inspires you to celebrate cheer, and the holidays even amidst the HOT, HOT days of summer!

Photography credits to the very lovely- Chelsea Robbins
Star snowflakes via sponsor- Starcrosses

blessings.

]]> http://thecitycradle.com/christmas-in-july/feed 15 http://thecitycradle.com/knotted-in-love http://thecitycradle.com/knotted-in-love#comments Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:52:03 +0000 Vicky http://thecitycradle.com/?p=12005 Knotted in love, a shower for a lovely bride to be.

The inspiration for this shower came from this article, upon seeing it I just feel in love with the idea of a yarn maze- it is amazing! Although not as long or even an actual maze, I was thrilled at how the backdrop for the shower came out. The yarn strung across our sweets table with the word LOVE tied into it was just the perfect starting point.

The backdrop quickly gave inspiration for what became the centerpiece of the room, a yarn spun chandelier. I created it using different size kids bouncy balls & bright colored yarn. I secured one end of the yarn to the ball and roped it around many… many times! I also hung ribbons with buttons to add to the homespun feel. The mid-air yarn ball chandelier really set the stage for our celebration. PLUS, I am convinced this would make the most lovely baby mobile:)

The yarn balls were repeated on the table as flowers. They provided a wonderful pop of color seated in spray painted bud-vases. See the tutorial for these by clicking HERE.

I used a whole bunch of letters in the design of this shower, LOVE spelled out in as many ways as possible around the room.

I am happy to pass on a FREE DOWNLOAD for the banners of love that were placed around the room. Simply click HERE to download your copy. Each template has a small version of knotted in love plus the larger LOVE. They can be cut and re-sized for your showering pleasure!

Along with the scrumptious panini’s, a buffet was also set with a sampling of treats. Chocolate dipped pretzels and ribbon tied cheery pops were a few favorites of the day.

To drink, I served the brunch appropriate Mimosa! Each Champagne bottle is outfitted in a custom label and custom cocktail stir sticks adorn the flutes. I am also offering these tags as a FREE DOWNLOAD for you- grab the file by clicking HERE. You will need to print them out on 8×10 label sheets or simply cut and attach each one with double sided tape.

A random stash of vintage thread spools was spotted and I quickly picked them up to be perfect accompaniment for this shower. We used them to adorn a bulk pack of white buffet napkins. A fun guest book idea- for any upcoming shower you might have, instead of using a guest book we stitched in thread, buttons and fabric swatches creating a whimsical homemade set of dinner napkins for our future bride.

I also used the vintage spools to decorate around the room, they made such lovely vases!

Cheery yellow butter dishes for favors, monkey fist knots with bright pink yarn interwoven and marriage advice flowing freely made for a very cherished afternoon. I am happy to have made a new friend in this bride and am looking forward to styling her wedding very soon!

Photography credits- Jackie Wonders

PS. I have a new flickr stream that I am going to attempt to keep fresh. Check it out by clicking HERE to see the whole gallery of Knotted in love photos.

blessings.

]]> http://thecitycradle.com/knotted-in-love/feed 13 http://thecitycradle.com/a-panini-bar http://thecitycradle.com/a-panini-bar#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:02:49 +0000 Vicky http://thecitycradle.thecitycradlefamily.com/?p=11481 Hello. Happy Monday, I am so glad to be back. I was hoping to share the new site design with you today but alas everything in life takes more time than planned. Soon it will be done:)

I styled a sweet bridal shower earlier this month and for brunch we decided to make panini’s. We set out fresh sourdough bread, lots of veggies & a sampling of cheeses. We cooked each on an old George Foreman grill. They made for perfectly easy + very lovely summer afternoon party food!

The rest of the shower design coming tomorrow, including all the printable labels!  For today see the full shower feature post @ Style Me Pretty

blessings.

PS. Yarn flower tutorial for the shower can be found HERE

Homemade Paper Flowers

(photo from A Proposal Picnic)

The lovely thing about making a paper flower is that it does not need water- so it will stay alive and happily alert throughout an afternoon picnic + it can grow anywhere even out of an old picnic basket.

How to make a paper flower

First you will need 8 coordinating sheets of paper (double sided patterned works best). Download the Paper flower template by clicking HERE, it contains print quantity instructions for each paper.

• Run the templates through your home printer and cut out the paper flower leaf shapes.

• Cut one square of paper for the inner bud- 2 inches long by 4 inches tall. Fold in half and cut small slits going 80% down the paper.
• Wrap this paper and glue in place around your floral wire.

• Beginning with the smallest set of leaves first- glue each leaf to the floral wire around the base of your paper bud. Feel free to bend the paper into shape as you glue.
• To create the flower photographed you will be gluing 3 layers of leaves from the center. Large, medium and small in descending order.
  

All picnic photography credits to Jackie Wonders

An easy and lovely way to brighten up your next picnic outing!

blessings.

Yarn flowers…

Placing bouquets of these around the room will bring a fabulous dose of color to our little soiree plus they are cheap, easy, and eco-friendly! I spray painted thrifted bud vases to showcase the groupings of flowers.

Make your own yarn flowers

Materials for small yarn flowers:

Yarn
A small (1 inch) foam floral ball, you can find them in packs of 12 at local craft stores.
Glue
Wrapped floral wire

Instructions for small yarn flowers:

Glue one end of the yarn to your foam ball.
Begin wrapping the yarn around the ball, wrap in sections to keep the coverage even.
Continue wrapping until the whole ball is covered.
Stick a piece of floral wire into the bottom of each ball to make a flower, cut down to size as needed.

I promised they would be easy! Easy enough to make hundreds for your next party but also simple enough to make just one bunch to brighten a rainy summer afternoon.

blessings.

We had a mad tea when the clock struck noon- Red Queen’s orders. The Mad-hatter himself even showed up to celebrate.

A mad tea

We beckoned guests with whimsical invitations encouraging them not to be late.

The table was set with a black and white harlequin backdrop surrounded by hot pink & teal. Antique cups were used to sip and old fashioned clocks kept the time.

A drink me tag was tied around the lemonade canister where it spent the afternoon resting on a vintage dresser for the young woman’s taste buds not quite accustomed to tea. You can download the drink me tags I created by clicking here.

Bunches of colorful poms floated above. The birthday girl desired to have the colorful style from the old Disney movie combined with the sophistication of the new.

We created this look for her by using heavy vintage pieces and a dramatic black & white backdrop, redesigning a garage sale patio set to fit in as seating was an easy way to incorporate our theme.

Setting a table filled with youthful charm- vases of playing cards and whimsical pink flamingos created a fun celebration.

A bakers rack was set to the side as a place for hanging all of the custom hats- it also housed a fabulous vintage tea collection.

The red queen headed up the tea with elegance and just a bit of fear. The girls carried custom off with her head flags through the neighborhood on their way to play croquette.

A very mad tea indeed…

blessings.

]]> http://thecitycradle.com/a-mad-tea/feed 5 http://thecitycradle.com/printable-guest-book http://thecitycradle.com/printable-guest-book#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:42:10 +0000 Vicky http://thecitycradle.com/?p=10465 Happy Monday morning, I finally feel like we are coming out of the haze of being sick around here. This will be a fun week, I have DIY’s to show and one more party theme from last month to share.

One of my favorite touches to the Sherbert & Spice Party was our printable guest book, perfect for any kids event.

We had numbered pages laid out from our printable guest book for each attendee to sign. They read what had been written before and then filled in their page of the story, many colored in the black and white pictures as well. Each guest signed their name at the bottom of the page. It turned out to be a great way to get the whole family involved in the process.

After the party the birthday girl’s mom took the pages of our printable guest book home and bound them together by hole punching the sides and stringing ribbon through them- creating a story book. I’ve been told the birthday girl is having a blast reading her special birthday story over and over again.

Printable guest book

I am handing off this guest book for you to use and re-create. Print out the complete printable guest book template I created by clicking HERE. The book was created using pictures from a compilation of old story books. It prints in all black and white as to work with any part theme. There are 20 story pages included.

Have a table set up at your party for the printable guest book creation- set out the pages & pens or colored pencils to write. Set out a note explaining to all your party guests what to do.

Enjoy watching a riveting story come alive that you and the birthday child will treasure for years.

Photography Credits- Jackie Wonders

blessings.

PS. I have also designed a printable guest book for weddings that will be coming next month.

Ice Cream Birthday

A bit of old fashion vintage charm peaked through many of our ice cream birthday design pieces. We washed and sanitized a bushel of very old coke bottles found at a local flee market to serve as glasses for the event. With bright straws sticking out they were a huge hit.

The dessert bar featured custom popcorn cones, a cake with a chalkboard banner, and these vases of old fashioned candy.

The sherbert stand was truly a work of love! Made by the mom I was planning for- she hand drilled it all together and right in the middle of a major family move. The kids loved it and our chalkboard Sherbert sign signaled them over throughout the afternoon.

On the sherbert stand we offered a variety of both ice cream sandwiches and ice cream birthday cones. The sandwiches were tied up neatly with custom ice cream birthday labels and tied off with string.

You can download the labels for the ice cream sandwiches and cones by clicking here. Instructions: Simply print (there are multiple labels per page) and trim where necessary to fit your ice cream treats! Wrap around and tie with string.

We served up the sherbert toppings in a vintage model ferris wheel, each little basket holding a different yummy treat.

The kids especially enjoyed when we had the ice-cream man working behind our stand serving up gooey goodness for them. My little Chica even ate a whole messy cone herself- 25 cents was the going price:)

The wall behind our sherbert stand was strung with homemade kites, DIY coming soon. They served as favors for each of the kids in attendance.

To quench the after ice cream thirst we had stacks of custom labeled juice boxes set out along with fruit-lemonade for the adults.

Inspired by this celebrity party, the custom juice labels seemed too lovely a detail to pass up. You can download these custom juice box labels to use at your own party by clicking here. Remember to take the straws off the boxes before covering them, you can reattach them with string or simply set them in a bowl nearby.

To ensure guests didn’t faint from all the sugar we set up a food table with a special carnival fare.

Stacks of corn dogs curbed hunger and BBQ’d corn was finished off with fabric flag holders. The DIY for the fabric flags is here, I simple attached each flag to 2 toothpicks and stuck in the ends of the corn. The flags are a great stand in for those plastic hot corn grips. Wouldn’t they be lovely done as USA flags for an upcoming independence day celebration?

A bite size vegetable spread was centered on our food table. Using baby versions of the veggies they fit snugly in small candy cups. Multiple dips were ready beside them for dipping.

Before our guests left for the day we gave them a little project. In lieu of a signing book we created a blank story time printable guest book. Each guest wrote in a part of the story for our birthday girl. They did a great job and from what I hear the book has been bound and is being very treasured by a certain four year old, DIY instructions for this cane be found here.

Our Sherbert & Spice theme was possibly the most enjoyable celebration I’ve done. The details would translate well to many other summer-time parties- really anytime you give a group of kids melting ice cream & games it is a success!

Hope you’ve enjoyed this design. In case you missed it- part one is here

All photography credits to the lovely, Jackie Wonders!

blessings.

]]> http://thecitycradle.com/sherbert-spice-part-two/feed 20 http://thecitycradle.com/ice-cream-birthday http://thecitycradle.com/ice-cream-birthday#comments Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:36:04 +0000 Vicky http://thecitycradle.com/?p=10188 Sherbert & Spice and everything nice…

This ice cream birthday was pure joy for me to produce. From the inspiration found here to the invitations found here- it was girlie, summer, old-fashioned fun at its best and I am just giddy to share a bit of it with you today.

Ice Cream Birthday

We are starting with the Spice of the design, all those circles…

A chandelier made entirely from hand cut felt circles was centered above the desert table and was one of the original inspirations for the Sherbert & Spice ice cream birthday.

This little miss turned four under our canopy of dangling circles… 575 to be exact- Congrats to Jenna Wood for guessing correctly and winning our ice cream birthday contest!

Once we started with the circles, it seems we couldn’t stop:) They began popping up all over the party making the entire backyard feel simply magical.

Individual handmade pinatas filled with treats for each of the kids.

An old funky sofa found new life as backyard seating. We brought it into the ice cream birthday design by stitching circles made from spray painted fabric along it’s sides. Bringing indoor furniture outside can be such a great way to add charm and detail to your outdoor party.

A tee-pee sat underneath a nearby tree. Made out of a thrifted bed ruffle, 3 stick of wood, a bit of ribbon and layers of strung felt circles- it quickly became a favorite spot for our little ones to sit and eat.

Even our games seemed to have circumference in mind. A homemade version of twister made in our bright ice cream birthday colors was a sweet addition for the party, and will be a lovely keepsake to brighten up a future rainy day.

We had multiple old fashioned games set up around the yard with hand painted chalkboard signs to alert our guests of the fun to be had. Find the homemade photo booth instructions here.

Chalk for the kids to play with was an easy way to add party decor below our feet

We even had a pogo-stick which ended up being great fun for the dads + a pallet cleansing connect four game that served up smarties between our party courses.

Dots for dessert complemented our sherbert ice cream perfectly.

A sweet model to showcase our dotted bracelets. We affixed sticky pieces of Velcro to each of our dotted papers to create candy bracelets for each of the children.

All these circles and you haven’t even seen the sherbert yet, or the juice boxes, or my favorite guest signing idea ever!

Part two HERE.

Photography Credits- Jackie Wonders

blessings.