We went down to Portland last weekend to celebrate our nephew Cole’s second birthday. The party was a cowboy theme and Cole’s parents, Mark-o and Johanna, put a ton of work into the details. From the food (mmmm corn bread!) to decorations it was an adorable event. They really went all out and above are just a few of my favorite details from the day. Happy Birthday to Cole and have a great weekend everyone, see you Monday!

Hello, hello! My goodness it feels like I’ve been gone for ages! I hope you all had a fabulous holiday and festive New Year celebration. I managed to squeeze in some rest and relaxation with both sides of our families and it was a great long break. In honor of the new year and fresh beginnings I wanted to start things off with a giveaway!

In the midst of all the holiday cheer Twig & Thistle had it’s 1st birthday! I had the best intentions to do some grand event but the day slipped by without much notice. So, I’ve decided to celebrate the blogversary this first week back. I went to one of my favorite paper stores here in Seattle and bought a few things that I would love to own myself and am giving away this little gift to one lucky winner. The set includes a beautiful fabric covered notebook from Elum, a set of 6 letterpress thank you note cards by Hello Lucky and twenty-five polka dot fabric thumbtacks from Girl of All Work.

In order to win, please answer the following question by Friday, January 8th, 2010. **Contest is now closed**

What one thing would you like to accomplish this year?

*The winner will be announced Monday, January 11th, 2010. Best of luck!

I can’t thank you all enough for your generous support and readership over the last year. This has been an incredible learning experience and adventure for me. There is something so special about sharing my love of design, weddings and crafts with an audience that is as equally as interested. Thank you all so much and here’s to another exciting year!

xoxo, Kathleen

Today is my birthday (Woo Hoo!) and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than finding out that I was a finalist in the DIY Wedding Crafts Contest with Etsy and Martha Stewart Weddings. The Sparkler Cards that I entered are one of 19 other finalists and one winner selected. It’s a huge honor to be a part of this fabulous collection and I couldn’t be more thrilled! The winner and finalists are featured in a slideshow on Martha Stewart Weddings. A BIG ol’ Thank You to Etsy and Martha Stewart Weddings for making this one of the most exciting birthday’s ever! You can see the adorable winning Cake Topper here and the rest of the finalists here.

If any of you are curious, I am now selling a downloadable PDF template for the Sparkler Cards along with coordinating Coat Check Tags in my Etsy shop. I’ll be sharing more details soon but feel free to check it out in the mean time. I’m taking the evening off from blogging to spend some computer free time with my husband so I’ll see you all back here Monday. Have a great weekend everyone! xoxo

I’m thrilled to finally be able to share some of the details of my Mother-in-Law’s surprise 60th birthday party that I’ve been helping put together for the last few weeks. For someone that deserves it the most, this was such a fun event to help plan!

Pictured above are the invitations that I designed just for the event. Since Marilyn is an avid and brilliant quilter I decided to use sewing as the theme. I created the pattern by referencing traditional quilting patterns and added the needle at the top for some detail. Peridot is Marilyn’s birth stone so I tried to incorporate the pale green throughout as well.

To continue with the sewing theme each guest received a handmade pin cushion. Thanks to my husband and my own mother we managed to sew all 40 of these in 2 days! It was a ton of work but everything turned out beatifully and I think she was genuienly surprised. Happy Birthday Marilyn, lot’s of love! xoxo

Check back tomorrow for some more details and a freebie!

As promised, I’ve got the rest of the pictures form Sebastian’s AMAZING 1st birthday party! On top of all the decorations, Katie did all the food, and the most adorable cupcakes, complete with buoys and sharks! These pictures don’t do the party justice, it really was so impressive, not to mention that she did this while 8 months pregnant with her second!!! Thanks to Katie and Nico for sharing their party with all of us and  Happy Birthday to Sebastian! xoxo