JoAnne's Baby Shower

When our friend JoAnne found out that she was unexpectedly pregnant last fall, the reaction from us friends went quickly from shock to delight and excitement. With our youngest kids in their last couple years of elementary school, most of us haven't been around babies for a while. Let's face it: at our age, our conversations focus more on peri-menopause than Pampers. We were even more excited when we found out that JoAnne was having a girl, after having two older boys. 

It was just a matter of weeks before we started planning the shower. Actually, I'm pretty sure our friend, Laura, called dibs on making the diaper cake before JoAnne could get the word "baby" out of her mouth. We settled on a French theme, since JoAnne was considering a few French names for the baby, with a pink, black and white color theme (actually Blush and Bashful, according to the guest of honor). The "Bébé Soiree" was on! 

It wasn't hard to divide up the work. Susan, the master organizer, offered to host the shower at her house; Sara took over the bulk of the food prep; Ginny was head of procurement; and Laura did the diaper cake. 

That left me with invitations, cake and favors. I decided that an occasion of this stature and importance merited proper paper invitations and not just an email. I found some cute pink and black scrapbook paper, pulled out my old paper crafting stuff and pulled together a simple layered invite. Favors were easy: store-bought macarons in cello bags with tags that I made to match the invitations. The cake was a little more challenging. We went back and forth on this after JoAnne was unfortunately diagnosed with gestational diabetes. But again, I decided that this baby shower required a cake. Besides, why should people have to go without cake just because of her bad luck? Ignoring my last big cake-baking endeavor, which ended with one layer on the kitchen floor, me screaming so loud the kids heard me from the garage, and an emergency run to the store for more cake mix, I decided on a pink champagne cake with raspberry jam between the layers and champagne buttercream frosting. Thankfully, polka dots went with our French theme, because that's pretty much the only thing I know how to pipe. With the cake decided on, the only thing left to do was figure out a cute UL piece to add to the decor.     

The thing about JoAnne is that she has a huge sense of humor. And also a potty mouth. I'm sure you're shocked to hear that a good friend of mine would (gasp) drop the occasional F-bomb, but it's true. In fact, she's gotten quite adept at circumventing the UL censors to create some unique custom designs. I knew that a cute little "Sweet Baby" sign just wouldn't be be quite right for this occasion. I also wanted to make something that she could use in the nursery after the baby was born. Suddenly, it came to me. Inspired by this book, I came up with the perfect idea. For the front of the tile, I used a damask embellishment in Cotton Candy behind the words "Bonjour Bébé" in one of my favorite UL fonts, Adore.

 

For the back of the tile, I wanted the same elegant look so I didn't change the fonts, colors or design. The wording, however, was something a mom or dad would utter at 3 a.m. when the precious little one just would not quiet down and drift off to dream land. It's possible that I had to submit the letters for this design in a little bit of a different order than you see here.

The pretty "Bonjour" sign was displayed right on a table in Susan's living room, along with the diaper cake and some other decorations. Halfway through the shower, I quietly flipped it around and waited for people to notice. Needless to say, there were plenty of laughs...and a little relief that JoAnne would be the one staying up with a crying newborn soon, and not the rest of us.

Doing this shower for JoAnne was an absolute pleasure. Her baby couldn't be sweeter; she is pink and perfect and has several adoring Aunties fighting over which one of us gets to hold her next. The sign will be go in her soon-to-be-Uppercased nursery and most of the time, it will be flipped to the side that says, "Bonjour Bébé."  Most of the time. Go the fuck to sleep. 

Photo A Day #6

Who among us doesn't know the a little girl whose room this expression would be perfect in? Whether it's to add to a grouping of girly girl photos on a wall or decorate a nursery or child's room, the scalloped edges of this expression make it extra sweet. Here, it's been adorned with some of our Dress Ups Gems for some extra sparkle. After all, Princesses must have bling. It would also be pretty with Mini Blooms. Since the Mini Blooms come in 3 colors, you'll be sure to find one that complements the color of your expression. And since all of our accessories are 20% off for just a few more days, you'll even save some money on the Blooms or Gems. Make sure to pick out an extra expression if you're buying this one because all of our expressions are Buy One, Get One FREE! So who's the lucky little Princess in your life who's going to be getting this expression?

Make a Mom's Day

It just dawned on me that Mother's Day is about 3 weeks away and I have to get my act together to make my mom's day special. Too bad my sister and I are all grown up, because I have the perfect Mother's Day gift for any mom with young kids or a mommy-to-be (think baby showers).As all we moms know, our babies grow up way too quickly. Therefore, I love anything that helps us preserve those precious moments and memories of their childhood. A hand print does just that. Now that my own children are getting older (sniffle, sniffle) they love looking at how small their own hands and feet were when they were little.
The Little Prints Keepsake Kit comes with everything you need to create a permanent keepsake of a time when your baby's hand were still small enough to fit in yours. Everything is included: from a pre-painted board to paint, a paint brush and even ribbon for hanging. While you're on my website, check out all of the other great ideas for spring celebrating and gift-giving. And if you are the one with small ones, don't think you have to wait around for someone to pick this up for you. It won't be around for long, and the other thing moms know is that if we want something done, we have to do it ourselves.

Photo A Day - Dreamy Day 4

Aren't these clouds dreamy?

The cloud theme pack is another big one, with 18 solid and outline clouds in 2 colors and a range of sizes! They are so easy to group, scatter, and float in a nursery, child's bedroom, guestroom, playroom or any space that needs some peace and whimsy. And, of course, they are now 40% off and can be part of a free shipping with $50 order. What kind of space would you choose for these fun clouds?

Check back tomorrow to see another of our over 200 40% off sale expressions.

Joshua's Nursery

It's always so much fun for me to be involved with a design from inception to installation. Remember when baby Joshua's parents asked me to design a custom expression for his turtle-themed nursery? I gave them three choices and they picked the one you see here. This week I went over to help Joshua's Mommy install the expression. Didn't it turn out so cute? What was even cuter was Joshua staring at his turtle mobile as it went around and around. His poor mom had to keep winding up that thing. Why don't they make those with batteries?

Anyway, I think Joshua's turtle expression came out so adorable and more importantly, so does his mom. The most amazing part is that the entire 4-part custom expression cost only $24.00. Uppercase Living makes it totally affordable to customize your space with the designs, colors, and lettering of your choice.

I love knowing that Joshua has a one-of-a-kind design on his nursery wall. His mom and dad love it too. But now they face their next challenge: choosing what they'd like to put on the other walls in his room!

They Picked A!

Remember a week or so ago when I told you about baby Joshua and the possible designs for his nursery? Well, his parents made their decision and they chose the first design, with the block font and three cute turtles. I can't wait for them to get it; hopefully his Mommy won't be too exhausted to send me a couple of pictures.

Decisions, Decisions

One of the most fun things about Uppercase Living is taking a blank wall and using custom lettering and embellishments to totally personalize it. Another fun thing is getting to work with lovely people to create something special for their environments. Yesterday I got to do both of these things.

I visited brand new parents and their beautiful 10 day old baby, Joshua. About 6 weeks ago, I had done an Uppercase Living baby shower for this mom-to-be. Last week she called me to help her design something unique for the nursery's wall. Being with them brought back all the memories of the first days home with a newborn: sleepless nights, breakfast at 11:00 a.m., and an overwhelming feeling of tiredness that is only overshadowed by raging hormones and endless love for the new baby that has just joined your family.

The new mom and dad asked me to create a design for the nursery's wall that incorporates Joshua's name as well as some turtles or frogs. We settled on the color scheme and I came home to get to work. I sent them four design choices this morning. I'm not sure which is my favorite; probably a combination of a couple of the designs. The great thing is that we can mix and match and change the design until it's exactly what my clients want. I love knowing that no one else will have exactly what baby Joshua will in his nursery.

Which design would you choose? Stay tuned to learn which one Joshua's parents picked. And if you think you might like to help people design one-of-a-kind expressions to personalize their homes, consider becoming an Uppercase Living demonstrator. I'd love to tell you how you can have a job you love too.