To creative, clever moms and crafty husbands …

This was the coolest kid castle I have ever seen!  Friends of mine struggle with 2 winter birthdays for their children and how to keep kids entertained, so the solution for Chloe’s second birthday – build her a homemade castle of recycled cardboard, hand stenciled, and strung with flag banners and balloons. A colorful duct tape hopscotch led to the gated door, and on the inside were 2 areas to get lost in. Lastly, what castle would be complete without crowns and swords for all it’s residents. Too cool – was kind of jealous I couldn’t fit. The best part was the kids got to help make parts of the castle and enjoy watching it come to life, and it stayed up long after the party was over. True birthday success!

When it comes to Mom’s we all know it is the thought that counts. Try to plan a perfect gift around her interests or plan an experience that the two of you can do together.

Below are some clever last minute gift ideas, and please if nothing else, make mom a card to make her happy!

Sweeten her day by baking a pie or buy one, and place in this pine Pie Box, which she can use to transport her future homemade pies.

Hand paint a tote and fill it with Mom’s favorite foods or goodies. This one comes from FS Screen printing etsy.

Pamper her with a new makeup pouch, fresh shade of nail color, and the best mascara.Throw in a gift certificate to get her hair done and you may get a big ole kiss.

Rennes pouch, Tom Ford Nailpolish, Givenchy mascara

Dress up a mason jar with glitter and make your mom a bouquet she won’t forget. Mix neutral shades of different varietals, grab wild flowers from the garden or buy a monochromatic fuller flower like lilac, peonies, ranunculus.

Mason Jar concept by Project Nursery

A co-worker, a fellow paper-lover, is having a baby.  She is having a boy, so we showered her with love in simple yet sophisticated hues of blue.

I designed an evite which we emailed to guests.

And created an ‘oh baby baby’ banner which hung from the treats table.

Meri Meri cupcake wrappers were perfectly on theme.  I work in a calorie-conscious environment and therefore looked up healthier cupcake recipes – the below did not disappoint.

White Cupcakes, recipe courtesy of Can you stay for Dinner

Ingredients:
1 cup cake flour
½ cup whole milk, at room temperature
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup standard size cupcake tin with paper liners. Spritz each with nonstick cooking spray. Lightly whisk milk, egg whites, and vanilla extract in large glass measuring cup. Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a stand electric mixer and add butter; beating at low speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no large clumps of flour. Add 3/4 of the milk mixture to the crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using handheld mixer) for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for 20 seconds longer at low speed. Evenly distribute the batter in the cupcake tin. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the pan carefully and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes, courtesy of shape.com

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
1 c. almond milk
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/3 c. vegetable oil
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the vinegar with the almond milk and let sit for five minutes. Whisk together the almond milk/vinegar, oil, sugar and vanilla. In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add wet to dry and mix until combined. Pour batter into greased cupcake molds and bake for 25 minutes, or until springy. Let cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese frosting, courtesy of Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners’ sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

Striped paper straws were served with lemonade, and a card was made for everybody to sign.

The afternoon delight … a candy bar and tiny treat bags, so everyone could take some sugar on-the-go back to their desks.

One happy mama!

This spring/summer send some garden love with the Sow Sweet Collection by Gilah Press

Throw some seed bombs into your garden, available at Anthropologie

Or upgrade your herbs to wooden herb garden stakes available at Nordstorm

Loving this trio of color blocked pods filled with succulents by Seas & Asters. I sent them as a surprise birthday gift to a friend. Who wouldn’t smile upon opening these …

A spring soiree planned to celebrate a very special Korean first birthday!

I had the pleasure of working with the Eaton Family to create a butterfly themed birthday for their daughter Caitlyn.

Pretty pinks and greens in pastel hues, plenty of butterflies, and spring time arrangements made this party a flutter of fun. I absolutely love how it all came together. See the amazing photos by Amy Bolger below and check out our initial inspiration board here.

A handmade flag banner hung as the focal point behind the Dol table. While fruit and rice cakes among other foods were placed on the table to represent a similar theme – the hope for the child to prosper and have good fortune in life. Individual dining tables were adorned with butterfly menus on moss and butterly lanterns in lieu of flowers. See DIY instructions on how the lanterns were constructed here.

Amy the photographer did a pre-event shoot of Caitlyn in her traditional Dol dress a few weeks before the party which we were able to use on the invitation and I created a butterfly thank you card to match.

A cupcake tower filled with petaled sweets and a customized cake, made to look like the birthday girl, were created by Marnee Gorman, a family friend.

A Wishing Tree was created using Dogwood arrangements by Gramercy Park Flower Shop. Each guest wrote a wish on die cut flower petals and attached it to the branches. Butterfly Lollipop favors bought from Sugar Plum, with custom made labels, were placed in wheatgrass planters and handed to each guest before they left.

Another friend of the family created fabric letters spelling out Caitlyn’s name, which were perfectly placed on the Doh Table display.

The Dol Ceremony  – the baby picks up various items on a table or in this case a matt that attract her. The items that the child picks up are said to predict the child’s future.

After the Dol ceremony a special visit from Abby Cadabby, face painting and cotton candy entertain the children and adults. It was a room full of smiles, indeed.

More details: Venue, Bann Restaurant NYC | Cake, Marnee Gorman, contact cuppy312@yahoo.com | Cupcake liners, Bake it Pretty, Wheat grass planters, Designer’s garden NYC | Butterfly Punch EK tools | Paper Lanterns, Luna Bazaar

Get creative in your Easter Egg decorating, take cue or hues from these fresh ideas…

DIY Pantone Easter Eggs by How About Orange

DIY Tissue Paper Stripes by Sweeter than Sweets

Egg Critters, Home Made Simple

Paper Mache Eggs, Home Made Simple

DIY Neon Dip-Dyed eggs, Oh Joy

Pretty pastel hues in solids, speckles and stripes make for great details when decorating and dressing this spring. Searsucker, chevron or simple stripes are effortlessly classic and will truly never go out of style.

1. Pastel Mason Jars, Beach Blues etsy, 2. Easter egg sugar cookies, Sweet Life Cookies etsy, try a recipe from Martha Stewart, 3. Mint green striped straws, Cherished Blessings etsy, 4. Chevron Nail Applique, Make it Stick Designs etsy, 5. DIY Speckled Easter eggs, 6. Boys searsucker bow ties, Little Gentleman etsy

Spotted … the coolest bunny ever! Presented by One Kings Lane, Barney by Andrew Bannecker, is one styling hare. Generations alike can fall in love with this print.

Looking for cute projects to make your valentine, Daily Candy compiled a great list of blogger DIY Valentine’s ideas …

Stamped ribbon message on spool, papernstitchblog.com

Heart clay message, matsutakeblog.blogspot.com

Feathered arrows, designsponge.com

Matchbook treat boxes, these would make for great classroom valentines, nchmark.squarespace.com

see more of the great ideas here