Baby Shower – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Baby October 20, 2017

Meredith’s Otomi Baby Shower

Last Sunday, five other hostesses and I threw an Otomi-themed baby shower for our best friend, Meredith (alter ego: Cake & Confetti, or ‘Cupcakes & Confetti’ according to my brother-in-law). If you are thinking to yourself: “What the heck is Otomi?” well, scroll down, because you will see an Otomi print cake, runners, invitation, macarons, vinyl backdrop, party favor bags, and detailing on the food signs. It would not be a Meredith-shower if it was not colorful, so we brought in every color of the rainbow! The photos are bright and happy, just like Mere is.

I will save you all of the sap, but Meredith is truly going to be the best mom ever. She is already my girls’ sugar mama (well, mainly just Isla right now) – they just love her. Piper is one lucky girl. I am so anxious to meet her. Doesn’t Meredith look AMAZING?! There was some back-and-forth on dress choices before the shower, and I’m so glad she chose the pink one (mainly to match me, but also to show off those rockin’ mama-to-be curves!).

It quite literally took a village to put together this shower, and all of the vendors/sources of paper goodies are linked below. The five other hostesses – Joy, Brittany, Allyson, Michelle and Amy – were the best! I also have to mention the MVP of the whole shower – Monica of Paper Flour Ink, who custom designed the invitation that had everyone talking, then outdid herself (and literally anyone on the internet/Pinterest) with that jaw-dropping cake. The detail on it was amazing. The balloons and arch from Big Ass Balloons were the perfect final punch of color, the florals from Blush & Vine were better than I could have imagined (Hello, tiny peppers in the arrangements! How creative!!). Nancy of Natalie Gene Creative took “Hey, could you do some calligraphy for the shower?” to the next level with those insanely gorgeous wooden signs, tabletop frames and margarita/mockgarita pitchers. The macarons baked by Erica of Wink by Erica and illustrated by Amy Mei of 6120 Creative were so gorgeous and intricate – I wish I ate eggs just so I could have tried one!

Many, many thanks to the amazing vendors for their help!

Sources and Vendors

Thank you cards from Minted, IG: @minted // Macarons by Wink by Erica and Amy Mei, IG: @winkbyerica and @6120creative // Vinyl backdrop designed by Monica of Paper Flour Ink, Printed by Signs.com, IG: @paperflourink // Calligraphy by Nancy of Natalie Gene Creative, IG: @nataliegenecreative // Table/chair and linen rentals by Aztec Party Rentals, IG: @aztecusa // Balloons by Big Ass Balloons, IG: @bigassballoons // Venue – The West Studios, IG: @theweststudios // Invitations, cake, topper, bingo cards by Monica of Paper Flour Ink, IG: @paperflourink // Flowers by Blush & Vine, IG: @blushandvine // Custom napkins from The Monogram Shop, IG: @themonogramshop // Photo booth props & margarita glasses from Party City, IG: @partycity // Bible from Hosanna Revival, IG: @hosannarevival // Custom jigsaw puzzle from CreateJigsawPuzzles.com @createjigsawpuzzles // Dip bowls from Re-Play, IG: @replayrecycled // Chip bowls and white tables from IKEA, IG: @ikeausa // Favor Bags made by my mom with fabric from Spoonflower, IG: @spoonflower // Food baskets, straws, and dessert plates from Shop Sweet Lulu, IG: @shopsweetlulu // Pitchers from World Market, IG: @worldmarket

Baby March 14, 2017

Ivana’s Baby Shower

On Saturday, we celebrated my sister-in-law and her little baby girl, Milly Rose, who is due to arrive mid-April. After bugging Ivana and Bob for months and months, they finally confirmed a name just two weeks prior to the shower, so we were in a mad dash to get at least one thing personalized for the shower. Monica of Paper Flour Ink laser cut that sweet girl’s name out of wood and we hung it on the backdrop – I think it was the perfect monogrammed touch. We held the shower at The Grove (in the Green Room, for anyone considering it as a venue option!) – the food was seriously delicious! It’s one of my favorite restaurants in the city.

Baby December 4, 2016

Destiny’s Baby Sprinkle

Yesterday, I threw one of my best friends, Destiny, a baby sprinkle to celebrate the impending arrival of her sweet baby girl (and also her 25th birthday!). The shower was at Sweet Paris’ CityCentre location, and despite the weather outside being frightful, the atmosphere inside was seriously delightful (ode to one of my favorite Christmas carols). Destiny’s mom flew in from Las Vegas for the shower, and it was so nice getting to celebrate with Baby Thompson’s Nana there too!

We ate crêpes, decorated cupcakes, guessed Baby T’s arrival date, took photos in front of the sprinkle backdrop, watched as Destiny opened one adorable baby item after another, and had wonderful conversations amongst old and new friends. I love baby showers!

Destiny and I met last summer and quickly became good friends. We both have 2.5 year olds, Truman and Isla, who are also best friends, and I love seeing them together, as Isla always lights up when she sees her pal. Destiny is one of the most sweet, considerate, and thoughtful people I’ve ever met, and we wanted to show her how loved and appreciated she is. The group of ladies at the shower definitely filled the room up!

There were a lot of talented ladies who helped me pull off the sprinkle, and I’ll start with the invitations, which were created by Papellerie (the same gals who did our wedding suite and Isla’s birthday invitations). I am thrilled with how they turned out – they have sprinkles in them (see video on my Instagram here).

The gorgeous wedding cake was made by Lisa of Maple & Love, whom gave me all of our incredible travel suggestions when we went to Melbourne. It was a lemon and strawberry cake, and although I don’t eat eggs, I did totally get a bite of the icing – glad I did!

My Cricut got a good workout, as I used it to create the bottle shapes for the Eos party favors, the ‘Guess Baby Thompson’s Birth Date’ activity and the vinyl shapes for the mylar balloons. I left the heavy duty laser cutting to Monica of Paper Flour Ink, who made wooden boards reading Oh Baby Girl that she covered in sprinkle paper. She is the best!

At a recent party I co-hosted, one of the other gals suggested we order thank you cards and pre-address/stamp the envelopes to help the mama-to-be, and I thought this was such a great idea, so I ordered pretty pink and gold thank you cards from Tiny Prints. I also ordered customized mug from Tiny Prints that read, “Sugar, spice, all things nice – that’s what Baby Thompson is made of” for the tea and coffee. Side note: I’m also obsessing over their gorgeous Holiday cards. We’ve gotten a few in the mail that are Tiny Prints, and I love them!!

My amazing friend Amanda baked cupcakes that were at each place setting, surrounded by colorful sprinkles from Layer Cake Shop. Guests got to decorate them as they wanted, then take them home (because crêpes and cakes made for fully tummies!) in boxes, which had customized birthday stickers, also from Tiny Prints.

Meredith, the queen of creativity (hello invitation stylist!), helped me to blow up and stick all of the confetti-shaped balloons to the backdrop, which my wonderful mom sewed (Sasha DIYed the PVC pipe stand and Amanda sanded it down! Talk about a team effort!).

I am seriously so excited to meet sweet baby Thompson. Our oldest babes are already best friends and I know that she and Emi will follow in their siblings/mom’s footsteps. It was such a joyful shower, and I would love to re-live it all over again. She deserves all of the love and attention, as she is one of the most selfless people I know. February cannot come soon enough!

Baby Shower April 14, 2015

10 Items You Need from The Monogram Shop (Giveaway!)

The first time I ever stepped foot into The Monogram Shop, I knew I had found my match. Everywhere I looked, I saw gorgeous jewelry, monogrammed purses, colorful napkins, witty cards, and adorable baby gifts. I wanted it all.

If I ever need a gift for a baby, friend (male or female) or something special for myself, I head to The Monogram Shop, as I know I’ll be able to find something good. I tend not to leave myself enough time to get something personalized, which is an issue, as I always fall in love with something that needs to be monogrammed. My goal for this year is to be more proactive in buying presents more than just a couple days in advance.

Last week, I went to the store to meet with Leah to discuss some fun party items for Isla’s birthday. I cannot wait to see how they turn out! I also browsed the store, looking at their latest and greatest. If you’ve never been to The Monogram Shop and live in Houston, you’re seriously missing out. I’ve put together a list of ten things that you need from The Monogram Shop, which includes their jewelry, colorful cups, travel accessories and many other pretties.

The best part of all is that The Monogram Shop is offering one lucky Snapshots & My Thoughts reader a $50 gift card to their store. You don’t have to live in Houston to use it either, as you can order from their website or over the phone. The giveaway ends at 11:59pm on Friday, April 17th. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you visited The Monogram Shop before? If so, what did you think? If you live outside of Houston, is there a similar store in your area? I’d love to hear about it.

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1 Jewelry | Bracelets, necklaces, earrings, etc.

Baby February 19, 2015

Celebrating Julie & Baby Kerr

On Saturday, I went to the cutest baby shower, honoring my friend Julie and her baby boy, Kerr, who is due in less than five weeks. There were a number of sweet hostesses, but the girl whose home we were at has the best interior design taste ever. I was seriously lusting at everything in their beautiful house!

All of the blue and red details of the shower were just perfect, as you’ll see in the photos below. There was a little adorable baby print with balloons on which guests wrote prayers for Kerr, which I loved! The guestbook was a baby book for people to sign, which was also a sweet touch. The invitations (by Haley Hardcastle Designs), cake and cookies all matched, and I loved the beautiful intricate design.

It was definitely a special party, and I cannot wait to meet Kerr. I’m going to be taking maternity photographs for Julie soon – I pray they turn out well! I’ve never taken any maternity pictures, but have been studying on Pinterest (naturally).

PS Y’all are seriously the best. Thank you for all of the birthday wishes yesterday! xo