When J.Crew first introduced their wedding dress line way back when, I was amazed at how stunningly simple their collection of dresses was. Classic and modern styles made out of practical yet luxurious materials, offered affordable high-fashion design. Fast forward to present day and you have the first J.Crew Bridal Boutique located on Madison Avenue. I will definitely be stopping by for a jaw-dropping experience on my next trip to NYC! In the meantime, I have selected some of my favorites from their Fall 2010 lookbook. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Ok, isn’t she the cutest?!

For Part II of my Circus Birthday Party I wanted to share some of the details. As a backdrop for the party space, I created a flag banner which read “Taylor” and was accented by animals and the number “1″. Each piece was trimmed to a triangle shape and then strung together with coordinating ribbon. The rest of the decorations included cupcake toppers and small food signs.

At the “kids” table, there were party hats for them to wear and favor bags for each to take home. Initially I tried to make my own cone hats, but it turned out to be more challenging than expected… As a quick solution I purchased colored hats at my local party supply store, then attached paper circles with animals to the fronts. HUGE time saver! I kept the favor bags simple by filling clear acetate bags with animal crackers and attaching a custom label with ribbon.

It was so much fun creating all of these pieces! I am looking forward to next year’s birthday party!

Hello Twig & Thistle readers! I am SO excited to be guest blogging this week! It is truly an honor to be here. Thank you to Kathleen for this opportunity to share (what I hope will be!) some interesting and inspirational projects. I will try hard not to disappoint!

The first project I wanted to share is Part I of a birthday party I recently designed. My niece turned the 1 this past July 4th, and I was lucky enough to design everything for the big day! She LOVES animals, so I thought it would be fun to create a circus theme for the party.

I printed the invites myself, saving a little bit of money by printing part of the invite (the blue) on my home inkjet printer and then letterpressing over the top (the purple). It was bit tricky lining everything up, but it all came together perfectly! I paired the invite with a simple purple envelope which I lined with coordinating striped paper.

Along with the invites I created decorations, party favors and even party hats! Be sure to check back tomorrow; I’ll be sharing more photos and even one of the birthday girl!

Ever since my pup ripped my last pillow cover to shreds I’ve been on the look out for a replacement. I’ve become infatuated with all things mirrored and metallic so when I spotted this velvet and silver pillow on The Bright Side Project I instantly fell in love! I’ve entered my name in the pot so fingers crossed that I win but in the likely chance that I won’t, I’m keeping this one bookmarked. This is one of many stunning pillows sold in the Be Still shop so you must stop by and check them out!

If you follow me on twitter you may have already seen me rave over today’s post but this party is just too sweet not to share! Sofia, of Brancoprata, had the sweetest birthday ever and every last detail is to die for! I just love the unusual color combination along with the perfectly sweet arrangement and stationary designed by the birthday girl herself. And there are no words for how fabulous that cake by Bolos por Gosto is! Happy, HAPPY belated birthday to my blog friend Sophia!

I’m so excited about this new shop full of decorative vintage pieces and craft supplies. The adorable Maggie of Maggie Rose just announced her grand opening last week and she’s already found so many charming goodies to entice us. With her keen decorator’s eye, I’m sure she’ll continually have a shop full of fantastic items. Check out her shop here and get updates as well as loads of decorating inspiration on her blog.

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well and had a pleasant last few days. I took an extended holiday vacation but am excited to be back into the swing of things again.

A few weeks ago, I took a free wedding decor class from my local Pottery Barn. A friend of mine was curious to check it out and I was equally as excited to see what they had to offer so I tagged along. The store had set up several beautiful tabletops as inspiration and a mini candy bar display. The class was brief but it was a great way to see how the simplest accessories could be used to make a stunning arrangement.

Marianne Graham of the Artful Posy, a local Seattle florist and event planner, was there as a guest speaker. She put the centerpieces together and shared some inspiring tips for how to begin the design process for a wedding. She strongly sugessted that if there is a particular flower that you’d like to incorporate into your event, that you try to schedule around the time when it’s in bloom. Though not impossible to get most flowers year round, a little foresight will save you tons of money in the long run. Another tip; ask your florist to recommend a similar flower to achieve the same look if the timing isn’t quite right.

The three tables were really stunning and my personal favorite was the rustic purple garden theme. Her mixed use of succulents, sweet pea flowers, mint and lavender was perfect! I loved the mini watering cans that could double as seating cards and the burlap table runner. The burlap table runner could be an easy DIY project like this one seen on Style Me Pretty. Above are a few pictures I was able to capture at the event but feel free to check out Marianne’s site or blog and check your local Pottery Barn for upcoming classes.

I’m interrupting this weeks 4th of July theme to participate in the Pin It Forward series today. Pinterest and Victoria of SFGirlByBay have gathered various bloggers to share their Pinterest ”pinboards” on “What Home Means to Me”. Pinterest is a new, free online image bookmarking site where images can be viewed and shared by others.

Above are just a few of the images I’ve collected of homes that inspire me and if you’d like to see the rest of my pinboards than click here! Tomorrow I’ll be passing the Pin It Forward torch to Lissa Rowe of Spruce Décor so be sure to stop by and see what home means to her!

Hello Hanna has managed to develop yet another completely adorable product! These mini paper cake stands would be a wonderful accessory to a cupcake party and I can imagine could make some pretty clever centerpieces.

Perfect right out of the box or ready for pretty embellishments; either way, I love the idea and can’t wait to incorporate them into an event. Sold in sets of six and available for purchase on the Hello Hanna site.

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.