BabyLifestyles

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Baby LifestylesLAUREN HALPERINPublisher, Creative Director

TARA STEINLEManaging Editor

ELLEN FELDMAN, BETH MERANContributing Editors

LOLA STEEVENSSales Director

AUSTIN “Mr. Z” RAPPAPORTWebsite Architect

MICHAEL GUSTMANS.E.O. Management

Visit Baby Lifestyles online at www.BabyLifestyles.comfor inspiration, real baby showers, birthday parties, nursery reveals, hot products, news, updats,

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Baby Lifestyles is published bi-monthly by Baby Lifestyles, LLC. All contents ©2012 Baby Lifestyles, LLC. All rights reserved.

OOnn tthhee CCoovveerr

We instantly swooned for lana of celebrate life’s vision of a victorian era,Marie Antoinette inspired baby shower.check out all the loveliness on page 150.

Baby Lifestyles

IN EVERY ISSUE10 PRODUCT TRENDS173 LAST CRY

STUFF WE LOVE13 RUFFLE CAKE TUTORIAL26 PARTY STYLING TIPS

PHOTOGRAPHY56 SLEEPY NEWBORN67 ROAD TRIP MATERNITY

MAKING A DIFFERENCE118 MARINE HOMECOMING:

A FATHER MEETS HIS SON

NURSERY REVEALS41 LAEF’S EXPLORER ROOM46 AVERY’S RETREAT51 ELLIOT’S METALLIC WORLD

PHOTO SPECTACULAR30 SUMMER TEA PARTY61 SHOWCASE OF TALENT

CELEBRATIONS20 BACK TO SCHOOL74 TEDDY BEARS AND POPCORN 95 DAZZLING ELEGANCE104 A HAWAIIAN LUAU 140 BOOK EXCHANGE PARTY150 MARIE ANTOINETTE SHOWER160 PINK PERFECTION

CONTENTSAugust/September 2012

PAGE 51 PAGE 104 PAGE 95

PAGE 118 PAGE 160 PAGE 13

www.NewspaperAnnouncements.com

Newspaper AnnouncementsAnnounce your baby to the world with a completely

customizable newspaper!

Your photos!

Family quotes!

Time Capsule!

Custom Crossword!

Your Wishes for YourBaby’s Future!

Kara AbrahamsenLillian Hope Designs

With a book worm daughter wholoves reading, Kara planned agreat book exchange party to get her daughter Lillian somenew pages to turn on page 140.

Natasha BascomThe Flair Factor

If you have a love affair withpopcorn, turn to page 74! You’llpop for Natasha’s own popcornand teddy bear themed baby

shower.

Melissa CoetzeeBella Diva Photography

Melissa was behind the lens ofour most moving photo shoot ofa marine returning home fromdeployment, where he met hisson for the very first time.

Margaret JaNickiJaNicki Photography

Summer is coming to an end,and Margaret was there to catch

this happy family enjoy an outdoor tea party before thesummer sun says farewell.

Julie KhuuHaute Khuuture

You want to be friends with Julieso you can attend her parties. Ifthe Hawaiian luau themed, coedbaby shower bash on page 104is any indication, you’ll be her

bestie shortly..

Tami JillTami Jill Photography

The stunning baby shower onpage 95 was caught by Tami.See how she makes everythinglook even more regal looking.

Lana KulinichCelebrate Life

Lana took the idea of “Let’s EatCake” and styled a Victorian erafantasy complete with cake bar!

Kelly TesarTesar Photography

Kelly’s stunning photographyof Elliot’s nursery room

caught our attention as shecaptured every metallic detail

perfectly on page 51.

Mariah LeesonGiggles Galore

It’s almost time for school! Onpage 20 Mariah gives you

brilliant tips for planning yourback to school party.

Digital MemoriesBy Lauren Halperin

Digital Scrapbooking is differ-ent in terms of creativity becauseyou are not limited to what is onthe market. For new and expec-tant moms, you’ll notice now isthe time where you find yourselftaking pictures of your expand-ing belly or snapping away withyour iphone at the little face thatnow lights up your life. You’regoing to want to keep every pic-ture you take, as each one is amemory you’ll want to have for-ever.

Traditional scrapbooking in-volves cutting out pictures or pho-tos and decorating each pagewith embellishments and creativetext. The end product is a multi-di-mensional, layered page that cap-tures a memory of a baby

sleeping peacefully or your babyshower celebration, using designsthat are clean and fresh withsprinkles of color and cuteness.Digital scrapbooking does theexact same thing, except all thework is done in a digital environ-ment like Photoshop. Digi-scrap-pers can use digital papers anddigital embellishments and fontsto create a 3-D look.

The biggest difference is thatwith digital scrapbooking youwork entirely on your computerwhereas traditional scrapbook-ing is all hands on. How muchtime it takes really depends onhow creative you want to be.Digital scrapbooking is quick, fun, easy to share with family andfriends via email and even Face-

book. Plus the creativity optionsare endless.

“I think the whole “nesting” pe-riod of pregnancy contributes a lotto the discovery of scrapbooking,”said Louise, who runs the Etsystore Sunshine Lemons. “We’retidying up, getting organized,making mobiles and getting craftyin general. This was definitely myexperience with my two pregnan-cies. And then when the newbaby arrives, well, besides want-ing to capture all the milestones,one can’t help but feel a respon-sibility to record all the details andfor this reason scrapbookingmakes so much sense.”

Nicole who operates EtsyStore The Dreamery Designs,think that this time of life is full ofnew beginnings and experiencesfor a mom and her baby. “Wewant to capture all of thechanges and developmentalmilestones and be able to sharethem in a creative way withfriends and family.”

Some of the benefits of digitalscrapbooking as opposed to thetraditional way are that it is afford-able, portable and shareable.With digital scrapbooking ele-

ments you can use them over andover as many times as you like.This means you only purchaseonce and you have a lifetime ofunlimited digital scrapbook paperor clip art.

Tania got into digital scrap-booking after she had her son. “Ihad heaps of digital photos and Iwanted to share them in a cre-ative way. She now runs Etsystore Lady Siren where her digitalpapers can be used for scrap-booking, birth announcements,and party papers.

If you are new to the digitalscrapbooking revolution, thereare many talented designers outthere who have created DigitalKits to suit or expand the ideasyou have.

HHooww ttoo MMaakkee aann OOmmbbrree PPaasstteell RRaaiinnbbooww RRuuffffllee CCaakkee WWiitthh FFoonnddaanntt

While this cake was frosted and filled with delicious Buttercreamfrosting, the actual ruffles Linda Vandermeer from Bubble and Sweet created are fondant. Here she shows you how she created this ombre rainbow effect out of fondant and

food coloring in five colors

MATERIALS NEEDEDButtercream (or ganache)Fondant*Pink, purple, blue, green and yellowgel food color (I used Wilton, al-though for the purple fondant I usedAmericolor)Large rolling pincornflour (corn starch)Small Rolling Pin

Large knife for trimming the cakeSmall sharp knifeCake smoothers X 2Frilling tool - if you do not have afrilling tool a toothpick can be usedfor a similar resultNot stick flower molding matSmall brush and water

DIRECTIONS:

1. First make the cakes. The recipe Linda uses is the Quick and Easy VanillaCake from page 9 of her book Sweets on a Stick . Mix up a couple of batches,divide it into five bowls and color each batch using Wilton gel food colors. “Youonly need a small amount of these gel colors for the cake to be a pretty vibrantpastel color. Start with 1/4 tsp and add more if your cake batter batch is largeuntil you have your desired color.”

2. Make sure you grease, flour and line the tins to make removing the cakeeasier. “I only had 2 tins the size I wanted so I cooked a couple of cakes wipedthe baking pans clean, regreased and floured, lined and popped the new batchof cake batter in.” Pop the baked cakes onto a wire rack to cool.

3. Trim the top and bottom off each layer to make the cake flat and remove thethin brownish crust. Linda started with yellow as the base. She took a cake boardand popped a little of the buttercream in the center to secure the cake and thenstacked the cakes up with Italian Meringue Butter cream in between each layer.

4. In between each layer, put the cake into the fridge to chill to make sure thewhole thing doesn’t slide off the plate.

5. The Italian Meringue Buttercream recipe she used was from the WhimsicalBakehouse cookbook. Once the final layer was in place and chilled, Lindaspread buttercream around the edges and made the cake as smooth as possi-ble. Chill the cake again until the buttercream is firm.

6. Mark a piece of paper so you will know where each layer ended and the nextbegins.

7. Measure around the cake with a piece of string, so you will know how longyour fondant will need to be and then measure the height. Cover the cake withthe fondant underlayer for the ruffles to stick on. Linda used plain white foraround the side.

8. Roll out a piece of fondant that you can cut into a rectangle the size that youhave measured. Roll out the fondant on a workbench dusted with a little corn-flour, turn and lift the fondant often to make sure it does not stick and try and rollout in a rectangular (ish) shape.

9. Once the fondant is big enough trim along the top to get a straight line. Takethe cake out of the fridge and lay it sideways onto the fondant so that you canwrap the fondant around the cake. Where the fondant joins at the back you canwrap one layer over the other and then using a sharp knife cut down in astraight line. Lift up the fondant and remove any excess underneath andsmooth the cut line together with your finger. “Don't get too uptight about it, it'sall going to be covered with ruffles.”

10. Put the cake upright and use a sharp knife to trim off the fondant fromaround the bottom of the cake, and use fondant smoothers to make sure thatthe cake is smooth.

11. Color some of the fondant pink and roll out until very thin and using thecake tin that you used to bake the cakes in. Press down to cut out a roundthe approximate size of the cake. Place it on top of the cake and use the fon-dant smoothers to make the top as smooth as you can. “I used thesmoothers in a kinda T shape around the top edges to make a moderatelysharp edge.”

12. Take that piece of paper from before where you marked the colors andusing a knife make a little indent so you will know where each colorends/starts.

13. Now start making the ruffles! Color your fondant by kneading a smallamount of the gel food color into the fondant. You should not need a largeamount of colored fondant for each color, about the size of your fist shoulddo if you are making a smallish cake, obviously more if you are making alarge cake.Helpful tip: Remember fondant dries our really quickly so keep itin an airtight container or zip lock bag while you are not using it.

14. To Make the fondant ruffles dust the workbench with cornflour (corn-starch), take a piece of fondant about 1 1/2 tsp and shape it into a rectangle,using the small rolling pink roll in out into a long strip. As you roll you mayneed to press the sides in carefully with the sides/heels of you hands to stopit from getting too wide, or if you find that is not working you can always usea sharp knife to trim it back to size. Keep rolling until the strip is quite thin. “Ilike to pick the strip up after each roll to ensure it is not sticking to the benchand when necessary dust underneath again.”

15. When you have rolled out as thin as you can on the workbench, pick up thestrip of fondant and place onto a nonstick foam (the type you use for makingfondant flowers) and using the middle section of the frilling tool roll back andforth (like using a rolling pin) to make the strip even thinner, you will probablyget it to double in length. Then use the pointed edge of the frilling tool rollingback and forth along one edge of the strip a little more to make it a little ruffled.

16. Attach this strip of fondant to your cake starting at the top. Brush on avery small amount of water to the cake along the top and press the fondantstrip onto the cake. “I tried to gather the strip to make it appear more ruffled.”When you have finished attaching one strip make another and attach it to thecake starting where the last strip finished. Go back and press the lumpy bot-toms of the ruffles down as you finish attaching each strip.

17. Continue making pink strips of fondant and attaching them to the cakecone working your way down the cake until you reach the indent that indi-cated you should start with the next color and follow the instructions this timemaking violet ruffles. Follow this process for all the remaining colors until thecake is completely covered with ruffles.

Helpful Tip: As you work your way down, some of the ruffles may fall downand look floppy, I usually brush a tiny amount of water around the middlesection and press the ruffle up so it is upright, but this look is not about per-fection so some floppy areas will work just fine.

Now relax and have a piece of cake!

Back to School PartyBy Mariah Leeson

The carefree days of summer are coming to an end, but for a freshbatch of nursery school-aged kids a new adventure is just aroundthe corner. Back-to-school means new friends, new teachers andnew memories! MMaarriiaahh LLeeeessoonn ooff GGiigggglleess GGaalloorree wants to get yourlittle ones excited about the new school year by celebrating with a

Back to School Bash. Whether your child is starting kindergarten orthey are a seasoned school pro these tips will guarantee your Back

to School party gets an A+!

CCllaassss iiss iinn SSeessssiioonn.. Set the stage and decorate the party with lots of school decor like a

globe, books, chalkboards and school supplies. Use an old desk andbookshelf to display the party treats.

RReeaaddiinngg aanndd WWrriittiinngg.. Find inspiration in things your child loves and create the party usingthose elements. “My daughter loves books and is learning to read so Icombined it with classic school colors to celebrate the beginning of the

new school year.”

TTiimmee ffoorr RReecceessss.. Give the kids an outlet to release all their energy with some schoolthemed activities. Play "Teacher Says", Red Rover, Freeze Tag or Kickball. Create a special "Reading Nook" and fill it with books about going to school. Have story time and read one of these favorites: The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn, The Twelve Days of Kindergarten by Deborah Lee Rose or Miss Bindergarten Get

Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate.

SSnnaacckk TTiimmee.. Traditional "school lunch" food items are fun to serve, easy to makeand always a big hit with the kids. Turn these ordinary lunch itemsinto a feast for the eyes by placing PB&J sandwiches in glassine

bags tied with ribbon or serving fruit in small ice cream cups with co-ordinating stickers.

CCllaassss PPhhoottoo.. Paint a picture frame and have each kid pose with a sign indicating

what grade they will be entering.

SSeeee yyoouu iinn SScchhooooll..Hand out paper bags with note pads, crayons and a sweet treat toenjoy. Make sure your bookworms are ready for the school year

with their very own bookmarks and books.

Tips for StylingAn Unforgettable Partywith MKR Creations

Tips for StylingAn Unforgettable Partywith MKR Creations

With a lot of love, we created the Olivia themed 1st BirthdayParty for our daughter/niece, Vida Salomé. Vida fell in love withOlivia after first watching the show on Nick Jr at the age of 4months. She instantly starting recognizing Olivia at the store

and on TV and would go gaga over her!

Mix and match colors and patterns to make your party decor a little unique.

In this Olivia themed party, we used different patterns such asdamask, polka-dots, and stripes. They all blended together

perfectly and the entire decor looked amazing with the differentpatterns in white, black, and red.

Use products that you already have around your home. It is such a big money and time saver. For example, the lemonadestand was used from an old wood fence; the center piece bases

were old text books wrapped with wrapping paper.

A Summer’s Day Tea Party By JaNicki Photography

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http://tinyurl.com/bnx689o

An Adventure Room forAn ExplorerBy Tara Steinle

Wanting an eclectic mood for her son’s nursery, photographer Rebekah Fancher didn’t want the baby feeling of light blues and yellow. Instead she

took inspiration for creating this explorer nursery from her son’s name: Laef.

Named after Leif Ericson, thegreat Viking explorer who discov-ered America, Rebekah spelled itdifferently because she didn’t wantpeople to call him “Leaf ”. “Wewant it pronounced “Layf ”. Hisname means ‘Heir,’ ‘Descendant,’‘One who is loved.’”

Originally, Rebekah wanted to domore of a classic, vintage "London"theme, but her husband found thepillow marked with maps and ex-ploring ships which now resides inLaef's crib at Ikea and the themechanged. “He was so excited aboutit and said ‘Lets make this the themeof his room. Like Lief Ericson.’”

As traveling around the world issomething Rebekah and her hus-band Brandon are passionateabout, she loved the idea of usingthe explorer as a tool in their creat-ing Laef ’s room. Using that inspi-ration, they incorporated ideas ofmaps, voyage, paper boats, ships,lanterns, burlap and other explo-ration accoutrement. “I kept think-ing of that scripture, ‘Blessed is theman whose heart is set on a pil-grimage.’ from Psalm 84:5. I thinkit’s appropriate.”

While most exploring rooms useEarth tones, Rebekah chose hercolor palette from an artist’s paint-

ing she loved. “I was originally goingto let these paintings be my inspira-tion to decorate. I also have alwaysloved those deep fall colors of mus-tard yellows, dark greens, orangesand reds.” As she had recentlypainted her office from yellow to“Willow Tree” by Sherwin Williams,she kept the wall color and her officewas moved to downstairs to makeroom for the little voyager.

If you want a great tip for beau-tiful things in your nursery, Re-bekah advises to surround yourselfwith great artist friends and letthem make things for you. At herbaby shower, her friend Sharonmade the canvas “Laef Owen” sign.Her sister-in-law-Jessica made the

adorable boats for her. “Oh mygoodness….I just love them somuch. She also made Laef “Mr.Bowtie” and made him vikingishwith red hair. And she also made lit-tle Mr. “Eric the Red” on the left.”She even made the amazing pillowswith trimming from one of mygreat grandmother’s dresses.

Even Rebekah’s mom got in onthe crafting action. After seeing theboat mobile on Etsy and sending hermom a picture of it, she surprisedher daughter by making it for her.She created the boats out of mapsand old children’s encyclopedias.

Now Laef ’s room is ready for himto begin his travels of the world.

Peaceful WorldBy Tara Steinle

Too much of a planner to wait,Andra found out the gender forboth her children. When she dis-covered she was carrying a girl,she couldn’t wait to tackle herbasic home office and transform itinto Avery’s future bright andcalming room. “I just love the ac-tual feel of the room when youenter. It’s inviting, soothing andfeminine, and I just love the colorcombination. I feel so at peacewhen I'm in there nursing Avery,and often look for excuses just tospend time in the room.”

Originally Andra had the idea ofa buttercup-yellow room with graydetails, but once she started look-ing at paint chips, she realizedthat wouldn't work with the carpetcolor. So gray with yellow andwhite accents it was! “I went withthose colors because I wantedsomething soft and calming, andobviously feminine yet not in yourface about it. And no pink!”

Because she put so much ofherself into Avery’s room design,it’s hard for Andra to narrow downher favorite elements. The ribbon

bunting is one of her favorites,simply because it is so uniqueand makes a statement, and wasridiculously easy to do. “I knewthis would be the first detail yousee from the hall, and wanted it tohave serious impact without beingoverpowering.” Heavily pregnantwhen at the time, Andra didn’twant to mess around with climb-ing up and down a ladder to pinthe ribbon to the wall. “If you havea sewing machine you could whipone of these up quite quickly, butif you don’t—like me!—just usedouble-sided tape and glue theribbon strips onto a longer whitepiece. She also adores the button art-

work tree because it was a laborof love, and hopes it will be some-thing she keeps as she growsolder and perhaps even puts inher own baby's nursery some-day?. Andra decided to use atree for the project as a circle andthe trunk seemed like the simplestshape to create. At the time,Avery’s name had not yet beendecided on so she didn’t choosean initial. “On a scale from 1 - 10:Easiness - 3, Tediousness - 10.The buttons were the easy part,

and was done relatively quickly ...the trunk made with tiny bradswas ridiculously time-consuming.

The buttons were fastenedusing glue dots, and the silver isactually a variety of differentbrads, each one carefully pokedthrough the cardstock. The“falling leaves” were done tocover a black mark I found on thepaper about 3/4 of the waythrough the process, which upsetme at the time but I’m now happyhappened. I think this is my fa-vorite piece in the room.”

“I knew this would be the first detailyou see from the hall, and wanted itto have serious impact without being

overpowering.”

METALLIC MASTERPIECEBY LAUREN HALPERIN

PHOTOGRAPHY BYKELLY TESAR

With a combined design styleof modern, classic, feminine andold world, Launa Fowler begansecretly collecting for to transformher guest room into her baby’snursery long before she found outshe was expecting a girl. “I had a‘feeling’ she would be a girl. I keptthe receipts just in case!” Beforethe nursery, this guest room wasa space a guest might not want tostay in. Launa and her husbandhad only lived in their home for ayear and didn’t want to invest toomuch money into the room asthey knew we would eventuallyturn it in to a nursery.

Wanting a space that was el-egant but still had a touch ofwhimsy, Elliot’s room is a palaceof creams and metallics with a airof shabby chic sophistication.The common theme was a neu-tral pallet and Launa addedthings she loved from there. “Ilove metallic! I knew I had tohave a metallic element to ourbaby’s room. It all started withour silver metallic striped hallwayand my obsession grew fromthere. I thought of it as mynursery, at least until Elliot is oldenough to know what she likes.”

Since this room was bare

bones Launa knew she wouldhave to invest in this room. Shespread the cost out over the ninemonth deadline with fairly gener-ous budget of $1500 from startto finish. “We didn’t want to haveto spend more money to changemuch of the decorating as shegrows, so we tried to make itless ‘baby’ and more of a spacethat can be easily changed asshe grows without a lot ofmoney.”

The first item purchasedwere the stunning angel wings,which are also the first thing yousee upon entering. Launa origi-nally saw a pair made fromwood and much more on theshabby chic and more impor-tantly, expensive side. Aftersearching, she finally trackeddown this pair and is over themoon with how magnificent theyturned out. “They were goldand pretty banged up so natu-rally, I pulled out the metallic sil-ver spray paint. They are prettysturdy so I was afraid of themfalling on the crib or Elliotpulling them down, so instead ofhanging them by the hooks onthe back, my husband drilled

them straight into the wall.Those beauties aren’t goinganywhere, so I hope Elliot does-n’t want to change those...ever.”

“I really enjoy the tissue tasselgarland; seriously, the best deco-ration ever! I’m convinced I needa tassel banner in each room ofour home. I never get tired oflooking at it and it is still one of myfavorite decorations in the space.After we hung the mirror, thespace above looked so bare andmy husband and I agreed that Ineeded to add some color to thatside of the room. I knew I wantedto make the cloud mobile soabove the changing table the tis-sue poms went. I’m glad we putthem there now, I catch babyElliot looking at them when she isbeing changed. I think they helpmake the space more playful.”

The cloud mobile was also aDIY project with some sewinghelp from Launa’s mom. Shetracked down the perfect peachfelt on Etsy, cut out the shapes,and sent them to her mom forsewing. She stuffed them withcotton balls, added faux crystalraindrops, and found the glitterstar from a toy wand. “Peach is a

difficult color to decorate with be-cause there just isn’t much outthere and finding coordinatingpeach colors was a big challengeas well.”I also really love the chandelier.

My husband put a dimmer on theswitch and I love to look at it dur-ing late night feedings. As Elliotgrows, I’ve noticed that she lovesto stare at it too. She is definitelyher mother’s daughter. And let’snot forget the ruffled pillows! Icannot get enough ruffles. I haveruffled pillows in other rooms ofthe house and I could not wait toadd them to the nursery. I also re-ally love the horseshoe from myhorse, Uno, that I have had fornearly 18 years above her doorfor ‘good luck’.

That round rose rug packs abig impact, but was also one ofthe biggest splurges Launa madein the room. “We didn’t reallyneed a rug but I just loved it somuch that I wanted to include it.That was not in our budget. Itwas definitely a last minute indul-gence, like the icing on the cake.We did wait for it to go on sale,but it was still out of the pricerange I wanted. My sweet hus-

band strongly dislikes rose rugs—even though we have a red one inanother room of the house--buthe knew how much I wanted theivory one for the nursery. Hemade it happen though, he’s thebest!”One element that set Launa on

a search was finding the perfectbedding. Wanting to stay with theneutral color pallet, she was soldon the detail of little sheep em-broidered on the bumper andquilt. A bonus was that the cribsheet was a neutral ivory. “Ibought extra sheets on sale atBabies R Us (with their coupons!)for those nights when accidentshappen, that way the bedding stilllooks complete, even after a nightof chaos.”Elliot Noel arrived a week early

over Memorial Weekend this year.She weighed 6 pounds 9 ouncesand 19.5 inches long. “There is aquote by William Morris that reads“Have nothing in your house thatyou do not know to be useful orbelieve to be beautiful.” My ad-vice would be to read the quoteand implement it. And implementit for your baby.”

Crib: Babies R Us (on sale!) BabiItalia Eastside Classic CribBedding: Counting Sheep fromLand of NodDresser: IKEA Malm dresserChair : Nurseryworks EmpireRocking Chair from RockingChairs A to ZWall paint color Unknown, it is ourtrim color from the previous owners color matched at Lowes

Angel Wings: Hobby LobbyTissue Tassel Garland: Etsy shopEvery Lane DesignDrapes: Crate and BarrelRound Ivory Rose Rug: Pier 1Zinc Letter: AnthropologieTissue Poms: Etsy shop Prost tothe HostRaining Cloud Mobile: DIYButterflies: Etsy shop A Bugs Loft

c{ÉàÉzÜtÑ{ç f{ÉãvtáxPhoto by Corlis Gray of Gray Photography

Photo by Cheryl M. Photography

Photo by Eternal Reflections Photography

Photo by Kate's Lens Photography

Photo by Afterglow Photos

Photo by Cheryl M. Photography

Photo by Ian Grant Photography

Photo by Dawn V Gilmore Fine Art PhotographyPhoto by Dawn V Gilmore Fine Art Photography

Photo by Ilene Squires Photography

Photo byJillian Rose Photography

Photo by Tammy Bacon of Country Roads Photography

Photo Set by Kay Meyer Photography

Photo by Petula Pea Photography

Photo byJ Layne Photography

HOW DOES YOUR BABY PARTY?WWW.BABYLIFESTYLES.COM

A Teddy Bear FamilyBy Natasha Bascom

Dainty, modern, and girly is exactly what Natasha of The FlairFactor wanted when it came to her own baby shower. With alove of feminine touches, she incorporated soft elements intoher theme of "Building our family one Block at a time."

Along with building blocks and teddy bears, ruffles androsettes were the decor trend of choice in shades of pink andaqua. Decorations started at the front door with oversized,custom building blocks flanking the entrance, and a hand-crafted ruffled wreath on the door. Shower guests were wel-comed with a pink grapefruit or berry lemonade spritzer withtiny pacifiers adorning the drinking straws.

Tables were dressed in fitted white ruffled table toppersdesigned to accentuated the aqua linens. Hand-paintedbuilding block centerpieces with teddy bears dressed upin little pink skirts, a rosette bow, and a signature logotee matched the baby shower stationery. Ruffles androsettes were incorporated into the cake, signage, tablelinens, guest of honors chair sashes, and custom pillow.

Since Natasha is a lover of popcorn, she switched up thesweets table by creating a popcorn buffet. From sugary to

savory, a suite of popcorn flavors were offered to guests withmenu options including cheddar, caramel crunch, asiago andcracked pepper, and chipotle and lime. Guest were also

given the option of having freshly popped popcorn for sprin-kling a choice of nacho, ranch, or old fashioned butter sea-sonings from baby bottles. Guests went home with teddy

bear favors and lots of popcorn!

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Shabby Chic CoutureBaby Shower

Photography by Portraits by AXYZ3

Nothing says baby girl shower, like being showered in pinks, doilies,pastels and lace and roses and tulle. Tamar used glittered fuchsia tulleon the inside of the tent to give off a soft pink hue on the inside of thetent, once the sun came through. She hung garlands with pink daisiesfrom a canopy, made a table skirt with soft pink tulle to drape from thecandy buffet table, hung garland made from soft pink ruffles to create amajestic entrance to the space. She decided on using doilies both forthe invitation and the décor and throughout the candy buffet, becauseof their versatility and simplistic beauty. “Doilies folded over twine withshabby chic inspired clothes pin gave the twine and doilies a very

shabby feel.” The pink ruffled garland made it’s way from the entry pointof the candy buffet area, to the guest seating area and tables. Smallshabby green bows made from tulle adorned the ruffled garland as ithung above and at table level. Bird cages were painted in a shabby

blue to add to the contrast on the white table cloths with pink plate set-ting. Flowers and moss filled the inside of the bird cages, topped with a

big silk hot pink bow.

Pom poms are always a beauti-ful addition to any party. Tamarblended in two shades a pink, asubdued pink and an intense

fuchsia the result was a life likelooking flower with so muchpersonality. In addition, sheused 18” hanging pom pomsmade from shimmering pink

tulle from Heart to Heart, alongwith the green grass mats withbright pink Daisy flowers.Sarafelt so special being showeredwith so much shabby chic love,that the inspiration will soon beseen in the baby’s nursery.

The sugar cookies were provided by Suzette at Simply SweetBaked Goods, in the shape of a silhouette from mommy’s belly,a onesie and a circular cut cookie. She took her color cues fromthe shabby chic color palette for a wonderful mix of light pinks,blues and greens. “Sara loved the tent area where the ShabbyCandy Buffet table was the best. She especially loved the

shabby chic inspired rocking chair and the frame that held herBaby’s ultrasound picture.”

SShhoowweedd iinn EElleeggaanncceePPhhoottooggrraapphhyy bbyy TTaammii JJiillll

SShhoowweedd iinn EElleeggaanncceePPhhoottooggrraapphhyy bbyy TTaammii JJiillll

Coeds Get Leid at a Hawaiian Luau Baby ShowerBy Julie Khuu Photography by Vanda Events

Coeds Get Leid at a Hawaiian Luau Baby ShowerBy Julie Khuu Photography by Vanda Events

When it comes to coed baby showers, Julie Khuu knows how tothrow a celebration every guest doesn’t want to miss. “As withany party you must entertain the lot of different ages of guests.Something isolated for the kids, booze for the adults, and ofcourse, a music playlist that features all the popular radio jams. I like to think of my parties as a dance club for all ages. Musicgets them pumpin’, live action keeps them partyin’, and alcohol

pretty much keeps all of the adults happy.”

Initially inspired by the gorgeous outdoor location at her localcommunity recreation center, the large, expansive, open grassyarea provided the perfect backdrop to plan this party for morethan 100 guests, plus babies and even a few dogs. “I knew Iwanted to bring the indoors-out, so florals and decorativefoliage were first on my list. Large banana leaves and open

palms littered the tablescapes while bold and beautifully coloredorchids peppered contrasting color throughout the space.”

The pops of red and yellow in the flowers were Julie’s guidingcolor scheme for the party since it stood out against a sea oflush greenery. From there she added grass skirts and inexpen-sive fabric to complete the table runners, bright paper umbrellasto shade the guests from the penetrating sun, and tiki torches

that light up any modern-day luau while keeping the bugs at bay.

As a rule, Julie enforces a dress code in the initial baby shower in-vitations so all of her guests dress according to theme.

Matching outfits makes the photographs that much more memorable for the parents-to-be. Julie scored when she foundbeautiful poly-printed Hawaiian floral fabric and ended up

purchasing over 30 yards at $1.99/yd. A separate styling partywas held to show her friends how to wrap and tuck the fabric into a

bonafide party ensemble. “Some used their fabric to wrap asarong, others made mini-dresses, while I sewed myself an easy-

breezy maxi dress. No wardrobe malfunctions here!”

With no shortage of stores that sell Hawaiian decorations, Julie was able to decorate this party on a budget. Fabric leis werea Dollar Tree find allowing guests to be welcomed with a colorfullei that set the tone and were a great way to direct guests to thedifferent “zones” at the party. “I also found really cute Hawaiian-

themed beverage sleeves so I designed some “WelcomeBaby Jaxon” labels, inserted ice-cold drinks like Hawaiian punch for the kids and wine coolers for the adults, and

gave these away as party favors.”

Julie believes that every food buffet should have a centerpiece,something that should wow guests as well as satiate their

appetites. While it’s not typical for a baby shower, a roasted pig is the traditional fare in the Hawaiian islands. “Guests totallygot a kick out of seeing that roasted pig right next to the spammusubis and chicken cutlets…How do you throw a luau without

the celebratory roasted pig, right? We are rejoicing in a baby’s birth after all!”.”

These luau baby shower guests did more than drink from coconutsand enjoy the beautiful weather. “We had face-painting, balloonartist, and a jumper for the kids, endless amounts of cocktails andbeverages for the adults, made-to-order snow cones for everyoneto enjoy, and of course a shaded indoor recreation center for thegrandparents who just want to relax away from all the commotion.”Throughout the party we held a raffle drawing with prizes like giftcertificates to Starbucks, Best Buy, Target, etc. “There’s

never a dull moment and raffles are the perfect way to get every-one’s attention since everyone loves freebies! We also held alimbo contest, hula-hoop contest, and some baby shower games

like my personal favorite, the “Pooper Scooper”.

The centerpiece of the desert table was a 3D two-tiered cakedecorated with an “aquatic” theme complete with an under-the-

seascape, Hawaiian hibiscus florals, and some surf action for babyJaxon. One of Julie’s friends created the dessert menu includingcake pops, sugar cookies, mini-cupcakes, and 3 different types ofmacaroons. Julie then decorated the desserts with inexpensive

cocktail umbrellas to add that party punch of color and backed thetable with over-scaled tropical leaves and palm.

MMaarriinnee DDeeppllooyymmeenntt HHoommeeccoommiinnggAA FFaatthheerr MMeeeettss HHiiss SSoonnPPhhoottooggrraapphhyy bbyy MMeelliissssaa CCooeettzzeeeeooff BBeellllaa DDiivvaa PPhhoottooggrraapphhyyAdrieuna is studying to become a nurse and met her fiance, Greg, a Marinein his second enlistment, in 2010 on Facebook. Deployed three times before,he was in combat in Iraq for a period of time. In May 2011, they found out theywere expecting a baby due in January 2012, while Greg would be deployedto Okinawa, Japan, and would not return until March. Adrieuna had aC-Section, so Greg could watch his son being born via Skype. On January 8,2012 Luke Brayton was born at 10:50am weighing 7-lbs 4-Oz, 19 Inches.

Greg couldn't come home right away, so taking care of a newborn was up toAdrieuna, with a lot of help from her family. Greg's Homecoming was March16th 2012. The day he arrived, the wait seemed like forever before sound ofthe Harley Davidsons that were escorting the busses was heard. Greg was onthe third bus and when he came off, Adrieuna pushed the stroller his way andjumped into his arms. She took their sleeping son from his stroller and placedhim in his father's arms for the very first time. This moment was priceless.

"Being a military family is not easy but we made it together. Our love andstrength grows each day for each other. We love our son more than anythingand have bright plans for our future. So, if you ever see someone that servesin our military thank them for their hard work and dedication to our countryand also to the family because we sacrifice everything just like they do."

Keep Calm and Read OnBook Exchange Party

Styled by Kara AbrahamsenPhotos by Annye of Faith Photography

What better way to get the kidsin the mood for the first day ofschool then a Book ExchangeParty! Kara’s daughter Lilly ab-solutely loves reading and wasreally excited to help plan thisparty and get some new books.Kara made the invitationsmimic an old library cards, andincluded the concept of thebook exchange, where everykid brings five books they haveread and goes home with fivenew ones.

When the kids arrived, they puttheir books in the "Library". Anold dollhouse worked perfectly tohouse them and looked like anold school house. Then theyplayed games and took turnstaking pictures on her grandfa-ther’s old school desk. “Theylaughed and couldn’t believe thatthe desk use to be “real”!”Onceeveryone arrived it was time toeat their “Sack Lunches”. Everyone grabbed a lunch andsat down on the picnic quilt toeat, talk, and laugh. Wheneveryone was finished with thereal food they got to go pick outtheir sweets!

When it was time for the bookexchange, each one got to goup one at a time and pick outtwo books the first time aroundand three the second timearound. When they had pickedout their new books theymoved on to the bookmarkstation. Kara cut out rectanglesfrom white cardstock and thekids decorated them withschool themed stamps, mark-ers and crayons.

When it was time to go home everyone got a red basketto fill with “school supplies and sweets”. “They had so muchfun and everyone went home with five new books to read

before school starts!”

Let Them Eat CakeAMarie Antoinette Baby Shower

By Lana Kulinich

This Marie Antoinette baby shower was inspired bymother-to-be Liliya, a very fancy, fabulous and dramatic

woman. When she met with Lana Kulinich of Celebrate Life, she described her vision for her baby

shower using key words such as over-the-top, extravagant,elegant, and royal. “I envisioned an event with a soft

color palette of ivory, blue, peach and pink with gold ac-cents. I knew this project was going to be special and ourvisions aligned perfectly! Liliya had similar ideas in mind

and when I drew up a design, she loved it.”

Gorgeous pastel colored floral arrangements were a mixture of hydrangea, roses, spray roses and stock.

Together, they were the perfect combination for royaltable centerpieces. “The neutral colors were definitely on

purpose. Liliya did know the gender (boy), but as I studied Victorian themed design elements, I noticed the use of pink and blue shades. I wanted to mute the colors down and create a blended color palette, so that the accents of gold popped to add a royal

flair and dramatic touch.”

“Let them eat cake” was obviously a strong themethroughout this baby shower with dessert becoming a

décor element of its own, complete with edible gold dust.Apart from the theme of extravagant dessert, Lana wasinspired by other elements from the Victorian era and

royal rule of Marie Antoinette. From the ivory and golddamask prints of the linens, to the antique frames withthe damask pattern, Victorian details were everywhere. She made a custom ivory tufted “vase” for the center-

pieces, complete with diamond studs and used ruffles andrich fabrics as well as sheer drapery to add elegance to thevenue. Plain Ikea frames were spray painted and hungaround the tables to help set the tone for the event. Sheeven used rock candy as sugar and stirrers for the tea!

With a Victorian theme revolving around the phrase “Let them eat cake” the actual cake had to be fabulous.“Instead of a traditional tiered cake, we chose to do threeseparate cakes with similar designs. This created a “cakes”instead of “cake” look for the dessert table.” There wasalso a menu of French macarons, sprinkled with golddust, cupcakes, fruit tarts and a wide array of otherdessert. The mini individual cakes, which doubled as party favors, were the cherry on top of this sundae. “A relative of the mother is an aspiring baker so she

put her skills to the test and made these. They were adorable and a huge hit with the guests.”

Crystals and Cashmere

Photos by Athena Pelton PhotographyStyled by Jennifer Frisbie-Link

Crystals and Cashmere

Photos by Athena Pelton PhotographyStyled by Jennifer Frisbie-Link

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