New Years Eve Party Tips

I had a blast sharing tips for your New Years Eve Celebration on Today Show this morning.  I hope you like them!  I'd love to know what you plan to do with your guests!

A Bright and Cheerful First Birthday Celebration

 We celebrated our baby girl's first birthday twice this summer!  We had a little ice cream sundae party with her friends while we were in Dallas (if you follow my instagram feed you might have seen a few sneak peek photos - blog post and video coming soon!) and then we had a casual family get-together while we were on holiday with family in Canada.  Her birthday falls on Canada Day, July 1st, so we wanted to have a lot of red and white.  The town we take our annual vacation in is very small so I made the orders and plans ahead of time so that I could be prepared!    Check out our casual celebration below:

The Bean Bag Toss game was a hit!

These darling cupcake flags were an easy way to decorate our cupcakes!  I am certainly not an expert with icing so I was thrilled with this easy solution. 

The same Etsy talent made this darling cake banner that we added to our grocery store bought cake - the only option in the little lakeside town we were in. 

This Fabric Bunting Banner was a great backdrop for our cake photos!  I folded it up and put it away for next year's celebration.

And check out her precious little birthday crown!  Isn't it adorable?  They are available in tons of cool color combos but we did red and white for my little Canada Day Baby!

I Heart Blue and White: Blue Willow China

My husband, Justin, and I had an amazing trip to China in April.  One of the highlights was visiting the Huxinting Tea House (rumored to be the inspiration for the classic Blue and White Blue Willow China Pattern) while we were in Shanghai.  It was built in 1784 and is still in use today. 

You can read the story of Blue Willow China here.

Check out the $3 boxed set on So Into Vintage Blog!

Look at these adorable cupcakes I found on Pinterest! So cute.

Blue Willow Note Cards from The Pink Pagoda on etsy.

I'm also in love with my Blue Willow iPhone case designed by The Pink Pagoda on Zazzle.  I first heard about them on one of my favorite blogs: Belclaire House

Tablescape: An oldie but a goodie from Tobi Fairley.

A fantastic Fried Okra Recipe from Louis Van Dyke of Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle, Georgia on SouthernLiving.com

Itchin' to start a collection for yourself?  Macy's sells a 20-piece set by Johnson Bros. for $200.

And..... there are no words for this one: Tattoo (mmmmmhuh! You read that right.) Your grandmother would be so proud. ;)