Owl Shower

We finally had our orange and blue owl shower this past week. I love how the colors turned out, there was lots of orange, blue, and brown; everything coordinated perfectly from the food to the table service to the gift wrap! I can't wait to plan the next shower and already have lots of ideas!

My new "Brown Bag"

My old lunch bag was getting a little *blemished*, so over Memorial Day I decided it was high time for a new bag. I picked a colorful, patterned Amy Butler pattern to help cover some of those inevitable food stains and a dark grey fabric for the lining. I also used a coordinating light-blue edging to bind the two fabrics together and for the handles. This was my first attempt and I already have idea for improving the design and making the handles a little more sturdy (they were more of an after-thought this time around), but hopefully I won't need to be making another bag any time soon!

12 dozen!?!?!

It's that time of year again... christmas cookie time! Last week we sent out invitations for our 2nd Annual Christmas Cookie Party. It's going to be a lot bigger this year... last year we had 2 guests, this year we've invited 22 lovely ladies! AND we're asking each woman to bring 12 dozen cookies, so each person goes home with a good number of each kind, meaning if everyone shows up we will have 3,168 cookies in our apartment! I think our apartment will be bursting at the seams and I have no idea where we're going to put all those people and cookies!

We've asked each guest to RSVP with the kind of cookie they're bringing, so far we have Chocolate Crinkles, Sugar Cookies, Gingersnaps, Spritz, Pecan Tarts, and last but definitely not least Peanut Butter Blossoms (my fav)!

My not-so-mini skirt

I have needed a bed-skirt to finish off my bed for a year now, I originally bought a chocolate brown skirt with white detailing, but it was too drastic of a contrast for me. So I decided to make my own! About three weeks ago, I spent a couples hours on a Sunday afternoon making my new bedskirt. It's very simple and I love the way the skirt finishes off my bed. Most of all I am completely smitten with the rich warm gray color. Eventually I am going to make a headboard out of the same material, but I am having trouble deciding on the style of headboard I want... to tuft or not to tuft? Below are some looks I am debating, any thoughts?

1: Room & Board "Ella"; 2: Room & Board "Monica"; 3: Inspiration room from decor pad; 4: Inspiration room from the nest.

Check it out!

So... I just read that air conditioned [design] designed the American Love it or Fix it Poster... if you thought their poster was designed well, check out their website. Holy programming! This may be the most unique and best portfolio sites I've seen! It's a little hard to navigate, if you don't want to spend a lot of time making clicks, but it definitely makes up for it in the cool-factor. There are a couple different transitional elements to scroll through the project photos and once you view a project, the icon representing it turns grey. How clever?

Voting Cheat Sheet

As I'm watching the election results on TV, I'm reminded of this "cheat sheet." I'm a little late on the game... but better late than never, right? A very well-designed voters guide, GOOD describes this as: "a head-to-head comparison between John McCain and Barack Obama on the big issues facing America, from Afghanistan to public education." This was available in print from October-November 5, check it out here.

Guess whooo!

My manager is having a baby boy in December; so a couple co-workers and I have been working on shower themes for him. We recently sent out the above invitation for the party.

The baby bedding this super cute Silly Owl bedding, so we decided to really play up the owl theme and colors in the party. We're using lots of orange and warm gray with hits of light blue. And of course, no owl-themed party would be complete without Tootsie Pops!

Everything Leo & Amy have picked out for their baby room is super modern, so we want to carry the same simplicity through to the party. We're using the modern baby shower from Blueprint as inspiration, it's even the right colors!

Crafty Chicks Inspiration

My "big sister," Dayle from Sodapop at her super cute booth at Crafty Chicks. Love her!

Today was the Crafty Chicks craft fair I mentioned earlier. I picked up some great little things and walked away completely inspired and ready to do some crafts of my own!

Here are the blogs of some great booths that I saw:

Sodapop, colorful, girlie accessories with style (LOVE the new ruffle wristlets and rings)

Southern Design Bee, with vibrant "rag bags" and other accessories

Dirty Laundry, with her super cute aprons, headbands and tees

Homemade Circus, with great "whimsical, circusy folk art"

Oh for Heaven Cakes, with super cute sweet treats

Paprica, blending paper, fabric and beautiful stitching

I'm off to start planning MY crafts!