Sweet Sanity Designs

Every girl needs a purse she loves and I don't see why a fabulous diaper bag should be any different.  That thought inspired my latest design idea for a baby shower sticker - the Diaper Bag!    And a trendy one full of goodies to boot.  Was able to see it in action for a shower for Soon-To-Be-Mommy Janet, so thanks to Hostess Lizzy for letting me drop in! 

Details in pink and purple (yes, it's a girl!) and a mix of chevron and stripe patterns
kept it fun and current from the favors to the water bottles.

Was particularly in love with the idea below. Little girlie socks stuffed with tissue to fill them and hung from the chandelier over the lunch buffet.  They looked so cute you just wanted to squeeze them!

Diaper bag stickers adorned the popcorn mix favors (that included pink and purple M&Ms of course) with a little note .... GOODIES TO TOTE HOME!      {Find the recipe for the mix at the end if you are interested.}

Pink striped straws topped off the shower with purple cups full of pink lemonade! 

Needless to say this idea for a baby shower could go on and on...
1) Perhaps a diaper bag shaped-cake (oh yes, google it, they are out there!) 
2) Maybe a group gift for the Mommy-To-Be ~  a new diaper bag filled with all the necessities to start her off?
3) A game or raffle filling up a diaper bag with 'Wishes for Baby" or 'Wisdom for Mom'?

Hope this sets gets you brainstorming and gives you a new ideas for a twist on the typical Baby Shower themes!

{Diaper Bag Stickies now in the Shop!}

Popcorn Mix Recipe {from the Hostess}:
I took two microwave bags of popcorn and put them in a large bowl, poured over some melted white chocolate (I used a glass bowl over a boiling pot to get the white chocolate chips melted) then poured it over the popcorn, mixed and added colored M&Ms at the end. It was actually easy, I thought I'd have to mix for much longer, but everything incorporated very well!

So nice of Jenn to send over some photos from a baby shower she hosted using the Bumblebee Party Pack.   She did an amazing job assembling them and setting it up in her gorgeous apartment.  All white  platers, crisp white & yellow flowers and striped napkins gave her buffet such a fresh look!

Thank You....For Beeing Here!

Must say my favorite detail was stringing the pendant banner through the
mouths of her Foo Dog lamps to mark off the gift section! 
I want a pair of those lamps for the record!

Thanks again Jenn! XOXO

Home from a girls weekend to Charleston, SC.  Amidst shopping, eating and massages we squeezed in a surprise baby shower over lunch! Hope the Queen Bee felt spoiled as she should.  Taking this mini-shower on the road required a few tricks but the Bumblebee theme proved to be a winner and the yellow/grey is such a refreshing mix for a gender neutral theme.

The mini pendant sign worked perfectly.  If you are not sure you'll have a blank wall for a banner, a mini-pendant is great.  I strung it ahead of time and grabbed a couple of glasses from the waitress.  One friend had the mission of bringing the Lemonheads to fill the glasses and add more color.  A bow around each lollipop stick (a straw would work, too!) and you're all set.

The centerpiece revolved around the infamous beehives (tutorial here) which made it in one piece in my carry-on. Bees attached on site.  Napkins doubled as a great substitute for some tissue paper (a good call by a friend drafted for setup!) The lollipop sticks were wedged in and everyone snagged a "HE" or "SHE" for their drink depending on their guess!  And yes, I brought my own picture frame. Remember I was already carrying beehives at this point...

And yes, there were plenty of sweets, because that's how this crowd rolls...mini cupcakes with yellow sprinkles, personalized Hershey minis, and of course jars of HONEY for favors!

{For a How-To on the beehives and bees click here!}

Perhaps one of the most genius little gifts was a Queen Bee necklace from Dogeared.  So delicate and a great reminder of the weekend!  Congrats again to our Queen Bee! 

XOXO

 

{Designs by Sweet Sanity, PACKAGE HERE}

This weekend I am helping out with a surprise Bumblebee Themed Shower.   I've been pondering what could be a fun centerpiece.  Something to get the point across... what better than a BEEHIVE?!

For the record, after diving into this theme you can do wonders with it...the 'Queen Bee', 'Thanks for Beeing" here, honey favors,  beeswax candles, etc.  The brainstorming never ends!  I hope to show you the rest of the fun details next week but until then my Beehive Tutorial.

To Start, the Hive.  Most craft stores have styrofoam pieces. I was picturing a dome shape in my head, and found the perfect pieces (in the flower arranging section.)

Two cake layer-like pieces, plus a domed top worked great stacked together. I tested them out a bit in the store, and settled on a making a large hive and a small one. 

Glued them together first with Styrofoam glue, no rocket science here....

Next I settled on a big fat chunky yellow yarn.  Called "Pittsburgh Yellow" to be exact.   Here's where you need a little patience. I squirted some glue and pushpin-ed the first strand down.  I tried a few strategies: first squeezing out a bit of glue as I went (that took forever), then squirting a bunch ahead of myself and then wrapping the thread.  Finally the best was just using my fingers (maybe a brush would have worked??) to cover about an inch high around the hive, and then twisting the paper towel that the hive was sitting to spin the yarn around so I didn't have to move. Much better!

Let the glue dry!   (Don't be like me, slight mishap when I picked it up and the bottom fell off of the big guy)

Next onto the bees.  This stumped me. Found darling felt ones online but too expensive per bee and if you wanted to buy a bunch. I kept thinking there had to be a way to make a little abstract one using a peanut? a piece of candy? fabric?  After much tinkering I settled on a couple of COTTON BALLS. I pinched them together and wrapped some of the leftover yellow yarn around it.  Then finished them off with a little black ribbon.  They were so light that just a touch of double stick tape worked perfectly to stick them to the hive.

Looks like his little wings, no?

And there you have them!

See how the shower turned out here!

XOXO
Kerry
 

A friend and I recently put our heads together for a baby shower gift.   We thought a massage for our friend would be a great gift, but since we did want to add in a few things for the baby, it blossomed into a "soothing" theme for both Mommy and Baby.   
Soothing things For Mommy: ~ 1 Hour Massage Gift Card, and a designer chocolate bar!
Soothing things For Baby: Softie blanket, teddy bear and little teether.

Clearly custom tags were in order. I just can't help myself!  We tied each of the gifts with the appropriate tag, including the gift card envelope for the massage, and piled them all into an open box full of fun tissue.

So in case you are in the market for a shower gift idea, sharing the freebie tag download!

XOXO!

Lots of lovely events are getting customized water bottles!  Such a fun touch to add to your party ~ these printables were ordered from Sweet Sanity and can be found here.    Jen picked a charcoal damask print for a Sip and See Baby Shower,  Brittany picked the big polka dot pattern for Vicki's Baby Shower, Pam chose the Columbus Skyline for Sarah and Matthew's Wedding and Sharon picked a pink Damask for Natalie and Jeff's shower.

Seen Below:  Kelly chose a black damask print with a touch of kelly green for her wedding, Deanna ordered stripes in teal, and April chose the Filigree Design in jelly and black. For Ava's 3rd  birthday party we used a pink damask print but just had to add some ballet slippers!  And finally Kelley ordered the black damask pattern for a retirement party for Mary Ann!

Perfect! Seller was very responsive to questions and worked with me on the colors that I wanted. I love the skyline of Columbus, Ohio and it was captured perfectly for our water bottles!

Thank you for the extra work you did and in such a tight time frame!! They were a hit! You're the best!

My latest pattern on Etsy is a delicate feminine damask print perfect for a shower!  Laura is throwing this one for a dear friend of hers and settle on these Thank You stickies with matching stripes tags for the candy bar vases.  This new Speciality Patterns listing allows you to fully customize by picking your pattern (lattice, bamboo, or damask) as well as the plaque. Laura chose the 'cute curvy' to display the text.  Thanks Laura!

Thanks so much to Jennie and Elle for their photos! Jennie who hosted a Baby Shower with a sailor theme for the little guy on the way!  She used the stickies for the cookie favor boxes.  Elle hosted a monkey themed 2nd birthday party for her daughter Sophia! She used the stickies on the goodie bags and slipped the matching 5x7 signs into picture frames. (Ms. Monkey's bow may be removed for a boy theme.) Thanks girls!!