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!

Happy Monday to you all! I have two really exciting things to share today so I’ll get right to it. The first announcement has been so hard to keep quiet but I am so thrilled to announce that yours truly will be part of a Halloween/Fall feature in Better Homes & Gardens! Three other bloggers and myself were asked to contribute and take part in an online contest where we’ll each create four designs based around a specific concept. Our first project (sneak peek above) is scheduled to appear in the October issue due on newsstands September 5! Each project will be voted on by online readers and the Better Homes & Garden’s Staff to select an ultimate winner. The blogger that wins the entire contest will then be featured in next years issue along with another Fall themed project.

I have some seriously talented competition and am beyond humbled to be part of this exciting event. I never, in a million years, thought I’d be featured in such an iconic magazine nor be competing with several of my favorite bloggers! The other three are: Nicole Balch of Making It Lovely, Elizabeth Owen of Mabel’s House, and Suzonne Stirling of Urban comfort. I’ve already seen of what they’ve been up to and I can honestly say that the butterflies are starting to flutter. These ladies have got some skillz so it will be a challenge for sure! I’ll be sharing more about each of the projects as I go and shamelessly asking for votes as well. I hope I can live up to the task and maybe win one or two rounds. Keep your fingers crossed for me and stay tuned!

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The next bit of news is about the posts for this week. I will be taking some much needed vacation and have asked my good friend Tara Lee to hold down the fort while I’m away. You probably all remember her ADORABLE circus themed letterpressed baby shower invites from awahile back. Well, she’ll be here starting tomorrow, sharing more of her creative projects and design inspiration for the rest of the week!

Tara is such an inspiration to me creatively and she really is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever known. You’ll be in great hands so please join me in welcoming her to Twig & Thistle! Check back tomorrow for Tara’s first post.

I’m back today with a few more photos from my husband’s 3oth Birthday Surprise. Sadly I was so busy the day of the event that I wasn’t able to snap any pictures of the party but I was able to shoot some of the details afterwards. I really went all out with the decorations too so I’m bummed that I don’t have any pics to share.

To coordinate with the “meat tooth” theme, I made meat inspired buttons that people could wear as they saw fit. It was a nice ice breaker for people that didn’t know each other and a fun token from the party. We can all use a little flare now and then!

I knew that people would be dressing up, so I wanted to make sure Tula was properly accessorized . I’d seen this tutorial in Martha Stewart Weddings on how to make flowers from silk and tulle so I sewed one and attached it to a matching homemade dog collar. Tula was quite the trooper and looked perfectly adorable in her oversized corsage!

I’m so excited to be guest blogging over on Sweet Designs today! Amy Atlas has been a huge inspiration to me over the years so I was completely honored to provide a picnic inspired DIY project for her site. You can see my paper chopstick holders and get full instructions on how to make the custom paper napkins right here.

Thanks so much to Amy for having me and I hope you all get a chance to get outdoors and enjoy a meal outside! Cheers!

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!

The class that I mentioned yesterday reminded me of a beautiful wedding I spotted recently in the latest issue of Wedding Style Guide. While summer is in full swing here in the states, winter is just getting under way in Australia and their winter issue is breathtaking as usual. The assortment of perfect little details throughout this wedding are pure perfection and stopped me dead in my tracks. I adore the couples use of a refined and sophisticated color palette combined with the playful stripes and silhouettes.

This stunning wedding was styled and designed by Maven Creative and I was able to snag a few more images from their site. You really must check out the latest issue and see the plethora of gorgeousness this magazine has to offer. I’ve already scoured each page at least three times! Also, visit the Wedding Style Guide’s blog and site for even more wedding goodies!

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 did these last year but I really wanted to share them with my newer readers. I love how the project turned out and they would make the perfect compliment to yesterday’s DIY. For full instructions, check out the original post. You’ll find everything you need to make your own sparkler cards, matchbook wrappers and straw tags, including printable templates!

The 4th if July is coming up this weekend and for folks in the states that means fireworks, friends and entertaining. I thought it’d be fun to make a week of it and share some of my favorite Independence Day themed projects and designs.

First up, Chocolate Dipped Rice Crispy “Popsicles” on a stick. I got the idea from Balancing Motherhood and thought it would be a fun addition to any 4th of July Celebration. The whole process is super simple, just make rice crispy treats (directions on the box), cut into 1″ x 1″ x 3″ rectangles, add a candy stick, dip in melted chocolate and enjoy! You could easily add sprinkles and wrap them in cellophane for portability too.