Above : Pocket wish lamp from Greer. Chan Luu scarf from Virtu.

Below: Enamel heart pin from Greenwich Letterpress. Patterned pens from Urbanic. What’s up buttercup? card from Snow & Graham. Ampersand print from Sugar Paper.

Why? Why? Why?

It hit me that this shower looks like it took a lot of effort, when in truth this blog post took much more. (You can see the inspiration and the parts that created this sum here.) For one, words are not my forte and two I have had a difficult time finding a point of view for this post. Which is funny because the point of view or theme of this shower was so clear. And that clarity made this a really easy event to pull off.

For as many wonderful resources as there are these days for party inspiration there is that terrible self-inflicted pressure to make your child’s birthday party or best friend’s baby shower extra special and unique. What might start out as a desire to be a little creative and have some fun can become a stress inducing week of sourcing the perfect color stripey straws.

When I look at these pictures I am in awe a little bit. It looks so well thought out and put together. The truth is that it was and it wasn’t. All of the paper details were dictated by the invitation and some effort was certainly given there, but after that it all came together pretty quickly. The hardest part was cleaning my house!

All of the sweets were store bought. I chose what to serve based on the color of the invitation. Picking one or two colors and committing to them gives the presentation a lot of impact. The whole you-eat-with-your-eyes thing is in full effect here. And I did the same thing with the flowers. I bought every variety of yellow they had at the grocery store that day and kept the arranging simple by keeping them separate. I love this trick.

I know this doesn’t look easy, and it wasn’t in some ways. But having that clear point of view, that theme to fall back on made a world of difference. That’s the best thing I can recommend for any party plans or just about anything.

What does that leave? The dreaded yellow! Here is my outline for putting together a fresh and modern take on the de facto gender neutral color. Details below, more photos of the shower to come!

(click through for details…)

COLOR SCHEME: Drawn from our Chicks, Blackberry and Golden Cherry wrapping papers.
INVITATION: Our fuzzy bright Chick invitation is sweet and modern and gender neutral.
CANDY: Hammer home the color scheme with treats that double as decor.
COASTERS: Another multi-purpose staple at my parties for decoration and protection.
NOTECARDS: A great gift for the honored guest and always hand for the hostess.

These are a nod to the bags of candy that are designed to hang from hooks at the store. I’ve always had a fascination with those bags. We ran sheets of our Roses notePAD through an inkjet printer and attached them to cellophane bags filled with candy using colorful brads.

fig 1. Maison Martin Margiela Wallet  fig. 2 Pierre Hardy Purse  fig 3. Alexis Bitar Cuff  fig. 4 Rag & Bone Jacket  fig 5. Jimmy Choo Loafers