Since this week has been all about babies I thought I’d continue the theme through Friday. And luckily for us, Carolyn Giordano of Two Brunettes, posted these lovelies on Tuesday! Carolyn, a designer in New York, created these custom baby announcements for Janine and Bryon who didn’t know if they were having a boy or a girl.

I particularly love the use of bright orange as a gender neutral color for the special surprise. The foliage illustrations are perfectly cheerful and celebrate the occasion beautifully.

Congrats to the Manokloka’s on their baby girl and to Carolynn on her stunning work! These will be available for purchase in the Two Brunettes Shop soon so keep an eye out.

As promised, I’m back today with the last of my sisters baby shower details. I had so much fun putting it all together and preparing all the pieces. I think the cake topper was my favorite part and hopefully it’ll be something they can keep for some time.

The favors were a keepsake that each of the guests got to take home and were based off these that I had seen in the portfolio of Rebecca Thuss. Mine didn’t come out nearly as beautiful but they were still a sweet addition to the event. I wrapped two shortbread cookies in clear cellophane and put them inside the fabric envelope. These little envelopes could hold any number of things really with the proportions adjusted to fit. Below are instructions for how to make your own.

What You’ll Need:
Fabric
Scissors
Scalloped Rotary Cutter
Thread
Shortbread Cookies
Diaper Pins

Instructions:
1. Cut fabric into strips about 5″ wide x 9″ long. Fold top of fabric in 1/2″ towards wrong side of fabric and hem. Repeat on bottom edge.
2. Once both top and bottom edges have been hemmed, fold bottom portion of fabric up approvimetly 3.75″ creating an envelope. Sew along both edges 1/2″ in; securing both sides of the envelope.
3. Add a little detail and prevent fraying by trimming the sides with pinking shears or a scalloped rotary cutter. Be sure to fold top over to where it will approximately be once favor is inside then cut – the scallops will align and the envelope will appear more finished.
3. Finally, slide favor inside envelope and secure with a baby pin!

For Part II of a Baby Shower In Blue I wanted to share some more details. With the help of my husband, we made a four-tiered white cake with lemon curd filling and a lemon butter cream frosting. For the topper, I ordered some blank nesting dolls and hand painted them to match the illustrations from the invites. It took some trial and error in painting, but I think the final result turned out pretty well.

Each seat at the table had a crossword puzzle based on Allison and Ryan and words related to pregnancy and parenthood. The game was a great way to get people mingling and having fun. To add a bit of whimsy to the table, old fashioned grey and white striped straws adorned each glass. Lastly, for favors, I made little sewn envelopes based on these by Rebecca Thuss. I put wrapped shortbread cookies inside and sealed with a baby pin. Be sure to check back tomorrow; I’ll be sharing the How-To for the fabric favor envelopes!

I’m so excited to share with you Part I of a baby shower I recently designed! My sister Allison and her husband Ryan are expecting a baby boy so I jumped at the chance to do something special for them. I loved the idea of using Matryoshka Dolls as the theme, so for the invitations I illustrated these to resemble the parents and the boy-to-be.

I letterpressed the invites myself and was able to save a little bit of money by using thick blotter paper. I then coordinated them with cute blue craft paper envelopes and lined them with a custom flower pattern from the invite. For the address I was able to print directly onto the envelopes with my laser printer. Above are some process shots of the printing process in the studio.

The rest of the shower coordinated with the nesting doll theme and the colors from the invitation which I’ll be be sharing more of tomorrow. In the mean time, I’m guest blogging today on PaperCrave and you can see more pics and get full instructions for the easy DIY baby shower banner (seen above). I hope you’ll stop by and say hello to Kristen and I!

I am beyond in love with these charming prints from Mint Parcel. Amy is the artist behind them and was kind enough to send me a link to her site and shop. She does such a great job giving life to her illustrations all while using simple geometric shapes. Cute doesn’t even begin to describe her work, I mean anyone who can make an octopus look huggable has serious talent.  Make sure to check out more of her work on her site along with her shop and blog!

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Be sure to check in Monday! I’ve got a guest post to share with all of you and some fun baby shower DIYs coming up! Have a great weekend everyone!