Celebrity Baby Shower Gift

Today’s adorable Real Party – created by Lindsey Mintrone of Bella Grace Party Designs – was originally designed as a Valentine’s Day celebration, but it would also serve as great inspiration for the always-popular “Love Birds” bridal shower theme!

From clever lollipop flower arrangements (so cute!) to a homemade “Love Birds Tree” centerpiece and adorable owl & birdie graphics, this get-together is full of charming details and great DIY project ideas…

Read on for lots more pics and all the sweet party details as told by Lindsey…

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“Nature and Birds have both been such fun, green and popular inspiration for party themes recently, and I thought… what cuter theme for Valentine’s Day then “Love Birds“?! However, I wanted to take this idea in an unconventional direction.

I chose a color palette of deep burgundy red, light pink, & bright baby blue to put a little twist on the traditional holiday colors. I also commissioned custom bird graphics to be illustrated so that we could include both owls AND love birds, instead of just one or the other, like I have typically seen.

My dear friend – the amazingly talented Courtney Vickers – photographed this adorably fun and kid-friendly event. She did a perfect job showing the party elements and details!

The adorable Love Bird tree centerpiece (pictured at top) was HWTM-inspired and crafted from branches from my own yard. The precious little birdhouse nestled in the tree was found last minute in the Valentine’s section at Target and made the perfect addition to the DIY project.

The Love Tree was the home to sweet little birdie favor bags filled with pink, white, and red M&Ms.

The delightfully delicious lollipop flower arrangements were inspired by Martha Stewart. Hand-crafted with coordinating paper hearts and red tootsie pops, the “flowers” made another adorable party favor.

Another dear friend and very talented graphic designer Kori Clark of Kori Clark Designs created the precious little love bird and owl graphic which were used to dress up the little Valentine gift bags.

Each little “Love Bird” at the party was given a gift bag to fill with Valentines from each of their little friends. On each bag hung a cute custom name tag and fun Valentine saying to coordinate with the graphic such as “Owl Love You Forever” and “WHO Loves You?”

Desserts and Drinks
The most delicious of the party foods – and of course the biggest crowd-pleaser of the party – were the cupcakes! (See image #2, above.) I baked, decorated and topped each one with one of my favorite party elements, cupcake toppers. Again, loving this little owl graphic!

The gorgeous little heart cakes were a hit with the kids thanks to Little Debbie.

A featured party drink is a must at every event! Now of course these were not for the kiddos, but I had to throw in a few details for the momma birds. This was strawberry lemonade accented with a sweet little birdie nest straw.

Another one of my favorite party details is the custom water bottle label and it was one more excuse to use the sweet little birdie graphic.

I think the most effective way to dress up a food table is by using the food as the decoration. These little snack cups filled with popcorn and M&Ms are adorable and are super kid friendly:

Another DIY project was the Be My Valentine Banner. The design and patterns for the banner inspired most of party details and was used as a backdrop for displaying the kiddos Valentine gift bags.

Of all the parties I have thrown for my daughters, I think that this was one of my favorites. Not because of the décor or the food but because of all the adorable little faces and great friends I was able to share it with… what better way to spend a Valentine’s Day?!”

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Thanks again to Lindsey for all the sweet party inspiration! =)

A more organized mom wouldn't be in a Wal-Mart parking lot, stuffing gift bags for a birthday party OlderSon was going to. Why in the parking lot? Because we had only 20 minutes to get the gift and get to the party on Merivale, bien sur.

I have saved gift bags in our basement, waiting to be re-used (environmentally and budget friendly)... but who has the time? To use them would mean getting a gift days in advance, taking it home, picking a bag sized perfectly.

That's just nonsense.

It's more of an adrenaline rush, a sport if you will, to race into a selected big-box store, select a gift, join the busy Saturday morning line and get in the car with mere minutes to spare. (And four-year-old in tow, of course)

We're almost at the playoffs for birthday party season, and let me tell you - each party is resembling more and more of do-or-die situation.

Two parties last Saturday.

Another this weekend.

And another the weekend after that.

I am in training, and soon I will be the gold medallist in birthday party prep. And OlderSon has become efficient too. He can now chicken-scratch his name onto a card in his lap.

It's nice that he has somewhere to go (especially in these cold winter days, when the snow is more like concrete), but man, I need to get a better birthday gift system.

Tomorrow is Wednesday. Dare I go pick up the gift for this weekend's party?

Nah, that would remove all the fun. And where's the adrenaline rush of packing gift bags at home, by the TV, with a glass of wine on a week night?

You're probably thinking what I'm thinking: never mind the birthday party gold medal, go for the vino.

But then what would I do Saturday morning?