DIY Wednesday- Party Hats

This weeks DIY project comes to use from the very creative Such Pretty Things Blog. You too can take your everday boring party hats and turn them into something special. To get started you will need party hats, you can get them at Target or Walmart in packs of eight for under $2.00. Scrapbook paper to match party theme, and paper garland, rhinestones, aplliques, paper flowers any embellishments that go with the party theme. You can find tons of great ideas on the scrapbook aisle.

To begin, open up one of the hats and lay it flat to form your template (you can put it back together later). Lay your template on top of a piece of scrapbook paper (right-side up) and trace all around it. Then, carefully cut out the shape. It will look something like this:

Then carefully glue your scrapbook paper over the paper hats smoothing out any wrinkles or creases as you go, and trying to match the seams as neatly as possible. Now you are ready to have some fun add your embelishment and ta-da you have totaly swanky party hats, that match your theme to a T!

Blue and Chocolate Brown Baby Shower

Our inspiration for this Swanky blue and chocolate brown baby shower theme all started with Swanky Chicks very own Chocolate and Blue Mommy to Be baby shower invitation. Color is often all the inspiration you need to put together a wonderful shower theme.

We designed our table with blue, brown and baby boy in mind! We hung the tissue paper Pom-Pom's that were featured in an August DIY Wednesday over the table to add color and interest. Our centerpiece consisted of a very simple yet elegant arrangment of cream colored candles and glass vases.

I had the hardest time finding placemats and napkins in the right shades of blue and brown so I improvised. The placemats were laminated scrapbook paper, and I found paper napkins that were the right color. We dressed them just as we would cloth napkins, wrapped in a piece of ribbon and secured with a diaper pin.

All of the guests were favored with these adorable personalized lip balm baby shower favors. They were arranged in simple silver mint julip cups that added an extra touch of sophistication. We loved that we could choose our mommy-to-be's hair and skin color, as well as the label color to coordinate perfectly with our blue and chocolate brown theme.

The adorable personalized lip balms weren't the only favor guests took home. These wonderful little baby carriage shaped favor boxes created a great display and were filled with candies for everyone to take home. I love a favor that can pull double duty.

We added one more personalized little touch to bring it all together. The Chocolate and Brown Mommy-to-Be invitations have coordinating water bottle wrappers! We put out a couple dozen mini bottled waters on our food table for guests to grab either as a refreshment at the shower or a great little take home. Get creative, and have fun. We created a very traditional table setting and centerpiece but threw unexpected little baby decorations, to create a sophisticated and swanky baby shower.

Swanky New Baby Shower Theme Idea

Southern Living Magazine had an article in thier April 2009 Issue with an adorable tutorial on how to create these robin's egg nest place card holders. We think this would be an adorable baby shower theme for the "nesting" mommy-to-be! 

Swanky Chicks even has adorable birdy themed invites to get the word out. You can dye your eggs pink yellow or blue depending on the sex of the baby. This unique shower idea is sure to help you look like the Swanky Hostess!

Blue Bird Baby Shower Invites

Pink Bird Baby Shower Invites

Robins Egg Directions

For tea-stained eggs, add 2 tea bags to glass of hot water and allow to steep. Lower egg into water for several minutes until desired color is reached. Set aside to dry.

For blue eggs, combine 1 drop of blue food coloring with 1 drop of green food coloring in glass of water. Feel free to play with different amounts of food coloring to adjust the color. Lower egg into water and set aside to dry.

To speckle eggs, we used one bottle of brown craft paint and a toothbrush. Dip brush into paint and lightly splatter and dab around the egg to achieve a random, lightly dotted pattern. Allow to dry.

Robin Egg directions from Southern Living

DIY Wednesday

We came across another swanky find on Martha Stewart Weddings this week! Who knew? :) This totaly adorable DIY Lollipop tower is a great fit for any occassion. It will bring a pop of color and whimsy to even the most sophisticated event. So lets get started.

You Will Need.

Styrofoam cone

Floral spray paint (choose a color that will match your ribbon)
Extra-wide flat washers (these will add weight to the bottom of the cone and keep it steady; to get a heavy-enough weight, Cheree used 2 and hot-glued them together. The more surface of the base that the washer covers, the steadier the cone will be; so, if you can find a "Large OD" washer that's 8 millimeters or wider from a plumbing-supply store, that would be best)
Hot-glue gun
8 yards of 5/8-inch-wide ribbon (use 1-inch-wide ribbon for a 24-inch-tall cone;

Gold-topped boutonniere pins (about 30)
Lollipops

Craft glue

Lollipop Stand How-To
1. Spray paint cone with floral spray paint, and let dry. Hot-glue the flat washer to the bottom of the cone, and let set. 2. Cut the ribbon into graduated lengths so each wraps once around the cone, with extra for overlap; the shortest piece (for the top of the cone) will be about 5 inches. You will need 25 pieces of ribbon for 16-inch cone, 28 pieces of ribbon for 18-inch cone, and 27 pieces of ribbon (of 1-inch-wide ribbon) for 24-inch cone. 3. Cover cone with ribbon, starting from the top. Wrap the first ribbon snugly around the cone (you will need to wrap the ribbon at a slight angle so that it lays flat on the conical surface). Fold the end under to hide the raw edge, and use a pin to secure. Continue down the cone, overlapping the ribbons only slightly. 4. Insert your favorite lollipops into the cone, slipping the sticks between the ribbons and angling them down. We used rock-candy swizzle sticks, so we used scissors to cut off the balls on the ends of the wooden sticks. 5. Stick a sign into the top of the cone, or insert a single lollipop instead. To use Cheree's flag, download her template and print it out, then use a craft knife and a metal straight edge to cut the flag just inside the lines. Glue it to a slim wooden dowel; if you like, cut a second sheet of paper and glue it to the back of the flag to cover the dowel.
From Martha Stewart Weddings, Summer 2009

Watermelon Crush Recipe

Ingredients

8 cups seeded, cubed watermelon (about 4 pounds)1 1/3 cups light rum1½ cups freshly squeezed orange juice, or more to taste½ cup orange liqueur¼ cup powdered sugar, or more to taste2 ounces freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions

Put the watermelon cubes in a plastic freezer bag; freeze for at least 8 hours Puree the watermelon and the remaining ingredients in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth, scraping down the sides occasionally. Combine the processed mixture well. Serve in a large old pickle jar or punch bowl and scoop the mixture into Mason jars, tin cups, or other festive glasses

Watermelon Crush Recipe from The Hostess Blog and Southern Cocktails

Fish Taco Recipe- Kelly's Korner Blog Hop

This week at Kelly's Korner our blog hop is to share dinner recipes. This fish taco recipe is simple and always a big hit!
Ingrdients
Mahi Mahi or Orange Ruffy or another light white fish
3-4 Limes
Salt
Pepper
Cayanne Powder
Chili Powder
Shredded Cabbage
Shredded Cheese
Avacado
Sour Cream
Corn Tortillas
Olive Oil (If cooking inside)
Tomatoes
Salsa
Directions:
Place your fish fillets on cutting board or baking dish. Cut a few limes in half and squeeze juice over fish fillets on both sides. (Tip if you stick a fork in the lime and twist you get alot more juice) Then season with salt, pepper, cayane and chili powder to taste. You can then grill the fish or put a dab of olive oil in a pan an cook them on your stove top. Once the fish is cooked it will be flaky and you can shred it. Place shredded fish in a corn tortilla and garnish with your choice of cabbage, avacado, cheese, salsa, tomatoes etc. I usually serve mine with black beans and rice. It's easy quick and very yummy!

Gift Idea for the Couple Who Has Everything

Dallas bride Kimberly shared a wonderful idea with us this week and we thought we would pass it along. We have all been to that wedding where the couple who is getting married is either well established, or has been living together for a long time prior to the wedding. I always find myself wondering what kind of gift do you get for the couple who has everything?
While Dallas couple Kimberly and Andy have just begun planning their nuptials she does have one thing decided for sure, her registry. This is not your typical registry either. Kimberly is an up and coming attorney in Dallas, and Andy is a succesful salesman. What they both agreed on was they did not need not even one more dish or kitchen gadget. And then they had the most genious idea! Kimberly and Andy are asking thier guests to bring a hardcover copy of thier favorite novel, and write an inscription inside the front cover. Kimberly told Swanky Chicks " I know we will probably get 10 copies of To Kill a Mocking Bird but each one will have a special inscription and well wishes inside."

Don't know what to get? We reccommend The Five Love Languages 

DIY Wednesday- Tea Party

Our DIY Wednesday inspiration comes to us this week from the Wedding Style Guide. This gorgeous tea party is something that you too can recreate. Whether it be for a baby shower, bridal shower or chic birthday party for a girl of any age we have great tips and tricks and even a link to download the templates for the tea canister tags and the tea bag tags!

The tables are a simple foldable table covered in an even more simple white table cloth that sets the back drop for the lovely table settings. A vintage floral place mat was used as a base for the centerpieces, they then placed a tiered severing plater on top and adorned with loose cut flowers. Lastly mini place mats were layed out for tea saucers in coordinating fabrics. Don't forget to dress up your tea settings by tying a cute ribbon around the cup and saucer! Check out the original post here at Wedding Style Guide. At the bottom of the post there is a link to the template for creating personlized tea bags and canisters.

New Holiday Favors!!

We have been busy little elves over at SwankyChicks.com adding hundreds of new products including the personalized note cards we featured last week. This week we are launching a new Holiday product line! These personalized favors are perfect for a winter wedding. Your guests would love to take home a cappuccino mix personalized with your event. What a lovely way to warm up those cold winter days. But wait even if you aren't a winter bride our holiday line makes great stocking stuffers, hostess gifts, coworker gifts and little treats for your neighbors. Our Winter Holiday Personalized seed packets would be a great GREEN addition to this years christmas cards. Your friends neighbors and coworkers would be delighted to recieve our Winter Holiday Sugar Cookie mix as a sweet little treat for the holidays.
These cute little candy jars are the perfect stocking stuffers personalized with love from your family.

Hello to my Swanky readers. Head on over to the Veater Family Blog for an awesome giveaway from Swankychicks.com! Ashley has graciously reviewed our line of baby hats and headbands, and guess what she loved them. Her daughter Natalie is just too cute wearing one of our flowered hats. Stop by the Veater Family Blog for more info and to read Ashley's review. We will be giving away a hat or headband of your choice to one lucky reader. There are tons of ways to enter, including signing up to follow the Swanky Blog. We also have a great coupon running until Oct 15th for all blog readers. Use coupon code Veater10 at check out for 10% off your entire order!

Featured Blog- CHS Creative Productions

This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Carolyn Horten, Owner & Creative Director of CHS Creative Productions. Carolyn generously took time out of her busy schedule to talk with me about her Event Planning and Holiday Decorating businesses, and I must say I am impressed. Impressed by the amount of time she spent speaking with me and impressed by the wealth of knowledge she has to share. Carolyn has been planning events and creating event decor for over 20 years. Carloyn says "It is what I love and what I do BEST! "

CHS has planned hundreds of events for just as many reasons. One look at their portfolio and you won't have to think twice about hiring CHS. For Southern California CHS Creative Productions is the event planning company to call. Not only does Carloyn have great style and years of experience, but a personality to match. She knows what she is doing and will make you feel confident in her abilities. You won't be disappointed if you choose CHS for your next event.
CHS Creative Productions is a full service Wedding & Event planning company that specializes in Event, Wedding & Holiday Decor design. Serving Southern California since 1996. Don't forget to sign up to follow The Swanly Blog and The CHS Blog for daily party tips and planning inspirations!

DIY Wednesday- Favor Bags

It's that time again! Today I am excited to share with you a wonderful DIY project from the Style Me Pretty Blog. Abby from Style Me Pretty threw her daughter a birthday bash recently and has shared her DIY tips with us. Notice she incorporated the DIY tissue paper pompoms we shared with you a few weeks ago!She has even included printable templates that you can use to recreate her Favor Bags for a birthday, bridal shower or party. Simply follow the instructions below and fill with your favor or sweet treat. Abby filled hers with Grandma's homemade cookies!

Materials
White Kraft Bags from Michaels / Color Printer / Full Sheet Labels / Paper Cutter
Instructions
1. Print out the Labels using these templates. This one for a Birthday, this one for a Shower or this one for a Party.
2. Using a paper cutter, trim the labels at the top and bottom of each piece, just above/below the pink line. Trim along the sides.
3. Stick on the center of the front of the bag.
4. Fill with treats!

Personalized Note/ Thank You Cards

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Baby Shower Decorating Ideas- Inspiration

Today's inspiration for a modern orange and blue baby shower comes to us from the fabulous Nesting Instincts Blog. Courtney of Nesting Insincts threw this shower for her sister-in-law. Courtney's SIL is not into "babyish" stuff and prefers more adult-type decor. She had already purchased a modern crib bedding set that became the inspiration for the shower. Courtney used the bedding as inspiration and ran with it. She added accents of brown and blue and began to create a theme. Color once again was key to creating this beautiful shower. Courtney used scrapbook paper and wrapped it around square glass vases to make centerpieces with white mums to bring in accents of color. To keep the theme going she used some more of her scrap book paper to decorate plain brown gift bags. If you couldn't already tell Courtney is a DIY Diva, she even made the matching blue and brown cupcakes herself!
To top it all off and send guests home with a sweet treat she created matching orange party favors. To create these favors, you can use Ball canning jars, found at Target or Walmart. Spray-painted the lids white (they were gold) and create round labels using printable stickers. If you are not quite the DIY Diva that Courtney is, let Swanky Chicks do the work for you and order labels that match your theme. Courtney filled hers with Russian tea mix for half and dried papaya sticks in the other half. If you asked Courtney why? She tells her readers "they were orange and inexpensive!" Get creative and fill them with anything that matches your theme or colors.

She created a flag banner out of assorted scrapbook paper that she cut into pennants. Courtney then printed out the letters onto regular paper to create a template for her letters. She then cut them out, traced them onto the scrapbook paper. Once she cut out her finished letters she glued them onto the pennants. Double-sided tape attached them to the brown grossgrain ribbon and the personalized banner was complete. You can take this idea and create a birthday banner or a banner with baby's name on it.

Thanks Courtney and Nesting Instincs for your wonderful inspiration!

DIY Wednesday- Diaper Cake

Have you ever gone to a baby shower and wondered what is a diaper cake and how do you make one? Well they aren't rocket science and you can actually make one yourself! They are pretty simple but they do take time and patience. Remember to be creative, this is your chance to create a personalized gift for the mom to be that she will love and use every bit of. Of course if you aren't the DIY type or just can't find the time you can order diaper cakes to match your baby shower theme at Swankychicks.com!

Diaper cake directions from http://www.plan-the-perfect-baby-shower.com/

Step 1. Ingredients for a diaper cake:
You can get all of these at a local baby supplies store. (You may need to go to a craft store for the ribbon)
• 60 diapers (depends on how big you make it) You can use either disposable or cloth - better find out what the expectant mother would like. You can use either white or patterned diapers. * *Swanky Tip: Pampers Swaddlers are all white and I have found look the best

• Ribbon, 1/2 or 1 inch wide, patterned to fit the baby shower theme. Pink, blue, or yellow are good choices.

• 36-60 small rubber bands (depending on how you want to "build" the cake

• 6 large rubber bands

• One 8-oz baby bottle or one large bottle of baby lotion

• One 4-oz baby bottle• A cardboard or plastic cake platter

• Cake decorations - for example, baby confetti, baby sock roses, artificial roses, etc.

• Baby items - Pacifiers, bottles, lotion, bibs, receiving blankets, miniature stuffed animals, baby towel, onesie, wash cloths, baby hygiene products, toys, etc.

Step 2. Here we go: Let's build this cake one tier at a time.

For the first tier, you will need about 35 newborn or stage 1 diapers. Unfold 17 of them and, one at a time, roll them up tight, starting from the front of the diaper and rolling it to the back. The tighter the better. Place a rubber band around the center after you roll each diaper up to hold it tight. These are the inner diapers for the cake.Take the cake platter and place the 8-oz baby bottle or large bottle of baby lotion in the center. Then place about 5-6 diapers around the bottle and put a large rubberband around the entire ring of diapers.
The picture is what your cake will look like at this point:

Next, form a 2nd ring with the remaining 11-12 diapers by placing them around the 1st ring of diapers. Complete it by placing a large rubberband around the 2nd ring.
Now for the final ring of diapers for the 1st tier: Take 18-20 diapers, unfold each one, roll them up tight like before, and secure with rubber band. Then place them around the second ring to form a 3rd ring. Now take a large, 1/2 to 1 inch wide ribbon and tie it around the entire tier to hold them all together in a circle shape.
(The important part is that no rubberbands are showing when you are done.)
All right! you have made the 1st tier. Here is what it should look like: Step 3. The second tier is made much the same way, only instead of 3 rings, you will only make 2 rings of diapers. Just like the 1st tier, the inside ring will need about 5-6 diapers. Part of the 8-oz bottle will be sticking out of the 1st tier, so place your 5-6 diapers around it to form the 1st ring of the 2nd tier. The 2nd ring will need 11-12 diapers. Place a ribbon around each one of those 2nd ring diapers and hold them all together in a circle with the 1/2 to 1 inch wide ribbon, just like before.
Here is what the finished 2nd tier will look like:
Step 4. Third tier is easy!It is probably easiest to assemble this tier on a table and then place it on the rest of the cake after it is assembled. So, take a 4-oz bottle and place it on the table.Then take 5-6 diapers and roll them up like before and tie them with a rubber band.Then place them around the 4 -oz baby bottle and tie your wide ribbon around it to hold it together tightly in it's shape. Take the top tier and place it on the top.
Drum roll, please! And now for the finished product...
Your diaper cake will look similar to this one, with your own special twist! :] Step 5. Now for the fun part:Add little baby items like Pacifiers, bottles, lotion, bibs, receiving blankets, miniature stuffed animals, baby towel, onesie, wash cloths, baby hygiene products, toys, etc. Place them between the folds of the diaper, tuck the larger items into the outer layer of ribbon.Add stickers and decorations to match the baby shower theme.Place a stuffed animal, such as Winnie the Pooh, teddy bear, Elmo, Demdaco angel, Precious Moments figurine, pair of baby shoes, or something else on top to match the baby shower theme. This one, submitted by one of our Swanky Blog readers was made for a military family. Mom to be just adored the personal touch! And Voila! You're done and it's a masterpiece! Your baby shower diaper cake is sure to receive plenty of oohs and aahs.

Wedding Gift Idea for your Groom

You probably have spent hours pondering just what to get your groom, searching for the perfect wedding gift. Rouge Photography offers a very sexy solution to this dilemma. A boudoir photo shoot! Beth Cupitt and her staff will help you create an amazing memory for you both. Once you give your groom this gift he won't be able to wait for the honeymoon. Beth tells her clients "DO go ahead and book. Please don't stress and say that you'll do it when you lose 10 pounds. Besides the fact is that you are beautiful the way you are, I am a professional! My job includes showcasing your best features and down-playing the rest. Leave that to me. You won't regret it."

How about inviting some of your bridesmaids and best girlfriends to come along for a photo shoot too! Beth offers Pin Up Parties for groups of women who want to shoot together and the hostess receives a few freebies and a great discount. How much fun would it be to have your best girlfriends with you, they help you during your shoot and then it's your turn. Rouge Photo also works with professional hair and make up artists, and they have a rack of lingerie that you can borrow from. You will love the sexy memories that Beth creates for you during your pin up party.