CelebraTORI moment: An Open Letter to a Special Mom

An open letter to a special mom:

Sometimes life brings you down an unexpected path,
or paths cross with unexpected people.
My friendship with notorious DIYer, and mompreneur Tori was one of those
unexpected blessings.

Yes, I saved a screen shot of Tori's shout out to me on Twitter after we first chatted!

She received Mother of the Year Award from Cedars-Sinai and The Helping Hand and celebrated 40 all in the same week.
I couldn't be more proud and honored to have such a passionate, creative, and hard working role model.

McDermott Family Peg Dolls

In her acceptance speech, Tori talks about the moms she meets every day that inspire her.
This brought me to tears.
Yes, a known side effect of mommyhood. We do tend to get (overly) emotional.
Motherhood makes us experience everything in life with greater sensitivity, heightened awareness.
Motherhood is universal, despite how differently we all may live.

She is my hero, as she truly walks the walk and talks the talk.
Thank you Tori for all the opportunities you have given me.
You graciously opened your ediTORIal doors to me,
and offered kind words and advice when they were needed.
You send meaningful, hand written thank you notes.
And you find ways to connect with and inspire moms everywhere.
Wishing you the happiest of birthdays,
I think your first 40 years were pretty amazing,
but the best is yet to come.

Thank you T for so openly and honestly sharing your life with all of us... the proud moments, the crafty ones, the rumor filled ones, and your everyday mommy ones.

Your friend,
Jenny

Summer Pinterest Party, Co-Hosts Announced (Don't Miss This Announcement!)

Ready for summer? I am so happy to finally share the details of our HUGE summer Pinterest Party- Chillin' and Grillin'.  Jenny of Bloom Designs Online and I will be co-hosting this event along with our favorite DIYer, actress, and momista Tori Spelling and we're teaming up with some super fabulous entertainment bloggers to share not only incredible ideas for summer entertaining but LOTS of amazing prizes.  

Join us along with Kim from The Tomkat Studio, Jenn from Hostess With the Mostess, Courtney from Pizzazzerie, Kim from The Celebration Shoppe, Do of Piggy Bank Parties, Kori of Kori Clark of Paper & Pigtails, Casi from CupcakeMAG, and Maureen and Adria of AndersRuff Designs on our Chillin and Grillin Pinterest Board. 

You will be able to sign up to follow the board later this week and then make sure to join the party on Wednesday, May 22 at 9pm est/ 6pm pst for lot of fun summer tips and your chance to win.  Don't miss the first party of summer! Come back all week for more party details.

Big News, and You Are Invited!

You are invited to kick off summer with us in style at a Chillin' and Grillin' Pinterest Party, Wednesday, May 22 9pm EST/6pm PST. Jenny from Bloom Designs and I are so excited to put together this 1 hour event with some top bloggers and very special guest pinner. We will be sharing more details this week, so stay tuned for a BIG announcement you will not want to miss!!!!

B.Y.O.V. Mother's Day Flower Idea {ediTORIal Guest Post}

Just in time for Mother's Day, I am hanging over at Tori Spelling's site ediTORIal sharing this simple & easy way to personalize flowers for mom or any special event you are preparing for. 

Sending flowers just got even more fabulous and personal.  Did you know that your local florist can send flowers using your own floral containers?  Think mason jars, tea cups, milk glass vases, etc... so many possibilities!  

My Great Aunt had flowers delivered to my mom in this teacup for her birthday. It was such a sweet way to pass down a family heirloom. I love seeing a teacup from my Great Grandmother's china closet transformed into a beautiful table centerpiece. She would be so proud!

Photography by Allison Duda

Another bonus to B.Y.O.V. (Bring Your Own Vase) is that you will save money forgoing the florist's traditional glass vases. A great tip to remember when entertaining!

Do you have any treasured pieces that would look fabulous with flowers?

DIY Fish Photo Booth

Last week I shared pictures of our Goldfish Party, this week I thought I would share some more party details. I worked with Piggy Bank Parties to create an adorable goldfish printable party collection. One of Do's fabulously fun ideas was to create a large poster of a fish swimming in a fish bowl that could be used for a photo booth. Not only was this a great activity, but made a terrific little surprise to tuck their photos into their thank you cards!

If you are wondering how to make this, it's super easy and inexpensive!

I printed a 20" x 30" enlargement of our printable file at Sam's Club. It was ready in an hour and cost less than $10! I used spray adhesive to mount the photo on to a piece of cardboard. I then cut out the hole for the face using an Exacto knife.

Helpful insider party tip, I had fun prizes ready for each child after they got their picture taken. It was great motivation to get everyone to show their fishiest faces for the camera!

Fish-In-A-Bag Soaps made great prizes!

O-FISH-Ally FIVE Goldfish Party

What do you get when you cross a goldfish won at the fair with a fish obsessed boy and his crafty momma?  A goldfish 5th birthday party of course!

We had to celebrate my Noah turning o-fish-ally five in a big way!

Remember the sneak at his invitation?

Party Highlights:

Colors: Ombre Blues and Orange

Sweet Treats: Fondant Covered Oreos, Goldfish Bar, Aquarium Pops, Fish and Bubble Cookies, and a goldfish cake!

Activities: Fish Toss, Goldfish Relay Race, FISH-O (aka BINGO!), and fish photo booth!

Decorations: Glittery "Go Fish" Banner, tissue fan bubbles, and lots of orange/white polka dots!

Favors/Prizes: plush goldfish, fish-in-a-bag soaps, stickers, notepads, and goldfish tattoos

I surprised Noah with cupcakes and fondant toppers by Lynlee's Petite cakes on his actual birthday!

They were too cute not to share among the party photos!

Sweet Vendor Shout Outs!

Goldfish Printable Party Collection (banners, invitation, FISH-O, goldfish poster): Piggy Bank Parties

Go Fish Banner: She's Kinda Crafty

Chocolate Covered Oreos: Love and Sugar Kisses

Fondant Toppers: Lynlee's Petite Cakes

Goldfish and Bubble Cookies: Samantha's Sweets

Favor Boxes, party hats. horns, tattoos, plush fish, plates, and plastic containers: Birthday Express

Candy sticks, bitty bags, orange divine twine, paper straws, candy cups: Bloom Designs

Poms, tissue fans, candy vending capsules, and wood scoops: Shop Sweet Lulu

Styling, Photography: Crafty Fish Jenny, Craft That Party

Cake and Fish Toss Bean Bags: Crafty Grandma Fish Jackie

*Goldfish marshmallow pop inspiration and tutorial found on See Vanessa Craft

Mr. and Mrs. Wedding Cake Toppers

I recently had the honor of painting wedding peg toppers for our dear friends. I knew these pegs were going to be extra special. The bride has the most gorgeous red hair and they chose an earthy green for groom's tie. Both colors that POP when painting pegs!

The wedding was gorgeous. Here are a few pictures I snapped throughout the night. I'm obsessed with the gigantic camera photo booth they set up! I might have visited this about um, 5 or 6 times throughout the night. 

If you are interested in wedding pegs, you can find them here