{Paper} Recipe Shower Invitations

I have a total party fail that turned out to be pretty cute nonetheless. My friend, The Wick, asked me to make some invitations for bridal shower she's hosting for a co-worker. She couldn't think of a theme, so I suggested a recipe shower inspired by the Taste Test Recipe book I've been eyeing at Anthropologie for the last year:

{Source, Book Images: Anthropologie}

I've been wanting to plan a party around this book ever since I saw it. I had envisioned stitched invitations with matching recipe cards and cute homemade linens. Unfortunately, none of that worked out. Here's an incriminating photo to prove it:

So yeah, I bagged that. Then I sat on the project for three weeks feeling uninspired and not knowing what to do...until I purchased the "Mishka" and "Mishka Ornaments" fonts from My Fonts. I love them! They really made the design fall into place.

Envelopes

Return Address  Label

Envelope Liner

I designed an envelope liner using a Mishka Ornaments character.

Invitations

I scanned the cover of the book and cut the spoon out as a template. I then traced it onto the thick cardboard tops from carryout containers purchased at the Dollar Tree. I tried roasting pans for a shinier look, but they were too flimsy.

The inside of the invite included a recipe card in the party colors and a giant ribbon from Mishka Ornaments.

Miscellany

I also made some miscellaneous signage, streamers, and paper elements with directions for the guests.

There were two styles of food cards in the party colors. The book pages are bright red, green, and orange, which is fun, as the bride and all of her guests are elementary school teachers.

I originally planned to hand cut some spoons and stitch them to the cards with rainbow thread, but decided to use my Silhouette and some silver paper for a cleaner look (and less work).

In lieu of a guest book, the guests will leave messages on the inside covers of the recipe book. Wouldn't you love to have that in your kitchen? It would make me so happy.

"Book Plate" for the Recipe Book

{February} Hitched ‘n Hatched Tea

Back in February, my friends and I enjoyed an afternoon tea in celebration of our engaged friend and pregnant friend. I know that it seems like I go to tea a lot, but in my defense, this one wasn’t my idea. I just styled the event. (Ha! Ha!) 

The “engagement party” was a surprise, so I made neutral, Valentine-themed invitations inspired by a set of persimmon heart cards and peacock envelopes from Paper Source.

As always, I was on a huge work deadline (and office move) in the middle of this project, so they turned out to be a "lazy man's invite," as my Grandma Ona would say.

 

At the tea, everyone was greeted with a customized menu, cloth napkins (from Paper Source - no longer online), and a box containing a party favor.

 Napkins and Menus

I repeated the pattern from the envelope liners inside the menu.

 Party Favors

 

For party favors, each guest received a monogrammed mug, a tea bag with a crepe paper heart attached with baker's twine, a red or blue “tea bag holder,” and some heart-shaped chocolates from Macy’s.

 The complete package:

 The boxes were wrapped in pool wrapping paper, the peacock hearts and lined hearts (printed on plain text) were free-handed and cut out by hand, the persimmon heart was traced from a left over heart card.

My Family Shower

My mom and sister hosted a family bridal shower for me a few weeks ago. It was such a nice afternoon. I can't think of a better adjective for it. It was a relaxing afternoon and I had a good time catching up with my relatives. Other than the few moments that I brought the room down crying about our Grandma Ona, it was a happy day.

These were the cute invitations that I posted earlier:

My mom picked up these pretty gold vases at Ikea after my dress fitting back in August. She then asked the restaurant to use "linens in fall colors." My sister found these perfect favor bags at Hobby Lobby.

We played two games. First, was a vintage bridal bingo that my mom and I found in an antique store on her birthday.

Bingo Images: Etsy Seller EverythingButTheRing

Then, the guests completed a quiz. It was the same quiz that my sister created for the Paper Source shower. Here's an excerpt from a copy that I made for my scrapbook:

As always, I received TONS of wonderful gifts -- five pieces of All-Clad (Not even kidding. FIVE PIECES!), a food processor, towels, a folding table and chairs, glasses, chip and dip bowls, a giant box of kitchen tools from Williams-Sonoma, and a big box of kitchen tools from Crate & Barrel. My mom, in particular, had really hooked me up.

Andy's mom gave me a beautiful Kosta Boda decanter that she brought during a recent trip to Sweden:

Image: Art Glass Vista

My mom bought me this wonderful Christopher Radko ornament.

Image: Mistletoe and Holly

Oddly enough, despite all of the lavish gifts that I received, these mini gravy boats from Crate & Barrel were the biggest hit among the guests. There were actual "oooohhs." (We are Polish and Bohemian, so fights over gravy-hogging are common at our meals.) When I told my sister the next day that I added more to the registry, she told me that she wanted to make a trip to C&B just to buy them for me herself. And she also informed me that I would be buying her some when she buys her first home.

Image: Crate & Barrel

Andy had his moment in the spotlight at this shower. My mom bought him a toolbox and screwdrivers and made him open it in front of everyone.

I love this picture of my cousins:

As with the other showers, I made my mom stationery for hosting my shower. Her cards were the hardest to design because I couldn't decide on just ONE theme. I finally combined two of her interests -- birds and The Beatles. It was a challenge to work the Yellow Submarine era into her favorite colors, pink and yellow, but I mixed some gocco paint together and created a perfect match to the Paper Source Strawberry color. (I'm counting this as a Gocco Victory even if it isn't that big of a deal.) And, believe it or not, I found a free "Yellow Submarine" font.

Image: Personal Collection

I already made my sister note cards after my Paper Source shower. They are the Melissa cards in this photo.

I also made thank you cards for this shower, but I am using the left overs for my bachelorette party, so I can't share them yet. I will say that I LOVE them. :)

Andy's Family Shower

Andy's mom sent me a some pix from the family shower that Aunt Ruth hosted for me at Sur La Table last week. I don't want to post family photos without permission, so I don't have any action shots. Here are a few detail shots.

I am a little ashamed of the thank you cards that I designed for the event. I recreated the design from my etsy apron. It's so cutesy that I almost made myself sick. But it's all in good fun. I hope that if people realized it, they thought that it was funny and not too "Stepford Wife."

 

As with the other showers, I gave Aunt Ruth personalized stationery as a "thank you" gift for hosting my shower.

I also gave Andy's mom some note cards as as "thank you" for everything that she and Andy's dad are doing for us this year. You may recognize the design from the gocco disaster last month. I Photoshopped her name out of the images of the gocco machine that I posted on my blog so that I wouldn't spill the beans before the shower.

All images from the author/author's family's personal collections.

Work Bridal Shower

My coworkers surprised me with a bridal shower at the lounge in the Holiday Inn last Thursday. The lounge, which is located upstairs from our office, has beautiful views of the city. My friends decorated it in a cute pink and brown dot theme:

Image: Oriental Trading

Everyone greeted me wearing buttons with a photo of Andy and I from last Christmas. Unfortunately, it has to be one of the most unflattering photos that I've taken in the last four years. It could be a "Before" picture in a diet pill advertisement. Andy looks cute, but is drunk as a skunk! (So, yes, that means that my boss was walking around with a drunk photo of my fiance pinned to her chest.)

My coworkers made me a wish tree with quotes about love and marriage -- some sweet, some funny. (This could be the second worst picture I've taken in the past four years. When my coworker handed me my camera, he said, "I tried to get some good ones, but I don't know...")

We also had a "Tina Level 2 Assessment" (We design training classes. A Level 2 assessment is a test at the of a course.) Andy popped in at the end of the party and got all of the answers right!

Since everyone at work knows that I've been DIYing most of my paper products, I guilted myself into making my own thank you cards. I took a gocco break and printed them in full color. Three in and I remembered why I love gocco -- NO CUTTING! :)

And, in my attempt to try something new with each project (and save money on pretty stuff), I used some decorative paper to line glassine envelopes. I made a full envelope for one of the hostesses.

I made one of my friends at work who was a co-hostess a set of stationery. She liked it so much that she asked me to make some for her sisters for Christmas. I didn't have time for a photo shoot of the final product. Here's the jist:

All images are the author's personal collection.