I’m excited to announce two new items in my wee shop; mini pencils in both White and Gold! Both of which are perfect for just about any occasion that require a writing instrument. Having a baby or bridal shower? They’re great for games, quizzes and even a guestbook!

Photos by Edyta Szyszlo

I just adore these DIY Baby Shower Invitations by the talented Edyta Szyszlo. Created for her friend, I especially love the fruit stripe envelope liner and the custom silhouettes. Also, make sure to check out the photos form the event, Edyta did such an amazing job!

One of the best details from my surprise birthday party had to be the invites and place settings. Katie hired Miss Danae, a completely amazing calligrapher! Her work is nothing short of perfection, just spend a few minutes (or hours) in her photostream and Etsy Shop, you won’t regret it!

To complete the week of all things baby I thought I’d share this baby shower I recently came across on Imprintables. I literally had to pick my jaw up from the floor when I saw these photographs. Every last detail was thought out and executed beautifully. I adore how even the food coordinates perfectly with the pale pink, apricot and dusty green color palette.

Romi, the creator of Bo Peep Productions, created this entire gorgeous shower. From the cookie mix favors, to the baby quiz and the delicious looking food, I’m sure this was a memorable event. What a very lucky mom-to-be! See all the amazing images and the rest of the details on Imprintables here.

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!

A few weeks ago, I shared these beautiful baby shower invites that my friend Tara Lee designed and letterpressed and today I get to share some of the details from the event. Tara did an amazing job of coordintaing all the pices and creating a stunning environment. Pale yellow tulips along with custom posters with elements from the invitation were displayed throughout which were later given to the mom-to-be to decorate the babies room.

To test their knowledge, each guest got a nursery rhyme quiz where they had to fill-in-the-blank to complete the line of the song. The nursery rhyme game was adorned with a yellow pencil and attached with glue dots. The other game was simply guess the mom’s baby belly size. Each guest received a small bag with ribbon which they cut to the size they thought would fit around her belly bump. And to take home, each person received a sweet bag of cookies embellished with a blue ribbon. All totally and perfectly coordinated with all the other details!

Congratulations to Tara for a job well done and to Lindsey, the mom-to-be, for the little guy on the way!

If you follow me on twitter you may have already seen a sneak peek of this but in case you missed it here are a few more images. This illustrated invitation was inspired by all things baby. My friend Tara Lee designed this adorable little note and I had the pleasure of helping her letterpress them.

We used the large Heidelberg letterpress at my office to print these and I think they turned out beautifully. The details held up really well and the impression is impeccable. Tara used the Eames painting vellum 120lb. cover in white and coordinating teal envelopes from Paper Zone.

Knowing Tara like I do, the shower will be equally as amazing and I can hardly wait to see what she comes up with! If you’d like to get in touch with Tara regarding freelance and/or custom work feel free to contact her through email at hello.tara.lee[@]gmail.com. Thanks so much for letting me share Tara!

More pics after the break!

I finally have the complete set of baby shower goodies up on my Etsy shop! It seems that so many people I know are having babies these days so I felt inspired to make a baby shower kit of sorts. When I hosted a friends shower last year I had such a blast but it was quite the challange to come up with all the details. Hopefully this set will make planning a little easier for some of you.

This set, fondly named “Li’l Tweet”, is just the beggining of what I hope to offer in my shop but to celebrate I wanted to host a little give away! One lucky winner will recieve a Li’l Tweet Stitch Kit in one of four colors: green, pink, yellow or blue.

*To enter, just leave a comment below with your first name and last initial and tell us what you would do with your very own Li’l Tweet. You have until 11:59 PDT Thursday, April 2, to enter. The winner will be selected randomly on April 3rd and announced on Twig & Thistle, Monday, April 6th! Good luck!

NOTE: THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

To see pics from the shower that these were originally designed for check out Baby Shower: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Top Left: Li’l Tweet Thank You Cards, Top Right: Li’L Tweet Mailing Labels, Bottom: Li’l Tweet Baby Shower Set

These PDFs are editable, so you can fill in your own questions and answers and then print and cut. The best part is that once you’ve downloaded the template it’s yours to keep and use again and again! Below are some pictures from my first listing at the Twig & Thistle Store on Etsy.

Choose from Blue, Pink, Yellow or Green

To see pics from the shower that these were originally designed for check out Baby Shower: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. If you have any specific ideas on what you’d like to see next or more of, I’d love to hear from you! Just leave a comment below.

More pics and step-by-step instructions after the break!

Materials Needed:
Sewing Machine
Fabric
Pellon / Interfacing
Iron
Rotary Pinking Cutter
Scissors
Satin Ribbon
Coordinating Thread

Instructions:
1. Iron fabric to Pellon. Create a flag template from paper to desired shape. I made an isosceles triangle measuring 2.5″ wide and 4″ tall. Using your template as a guide, cut out each piece with rotary pinking shears. Trim off excess fabric at the top.

2. Once all the pices are cut out, line them up in the order that you’d like them to appear. I went for a random look but it helped to get an idea of where each flag might hang.

3. Leaving a little extra at each end for hanging, stitch each pice to the satin ribbon using a sewing machine. For flexibility I left half an inch between each flag. That’s it! Now you have a custom garland of your own!

This would make a great gift after the party or a whimsical touch to a child’s room or baby shower, the possibilities are endless… Happy crafting!

*Tip: I only made my flags single-sided but this could easily be done with fabric on each side. Just be sure to get double-sided interfacing.