DIY Kids Project: Hand Carved Stamps

My final guest post on Oh So Beautiful Paper is about a fun DIY project from my friend Sally J. Shim's new book Pretty Packages (published by Chronicle Books). Admittedly, I am not the best packager/gift wrapper, but this book makes it fun and easy -- many of the projects are kid-friendly too which is a huge bonus in my book.

I chose to make the Hand Carved Stamps project using Lucas' name. He wrote his name, I carved it out, and then he went to town stamping all over kraft butcher paper to wrap a gift for his friend's birthday. We had so much fun doing this project together.

Lucas was so funny -- every time he would stamp his name he would say, "And I present you......" and gesture with his hand to show me his stamped name. Hilariously cute.

I love how proud he is of himself!

We even tried hot pink and neon yellow for fun! After letting the sheets dry we wrapped some gifts for friends.

Thanks for the inspiration, Sally! Check out my guest post and full instructions on Oh So Beautiful Paper. And thanks so much to Nole for having me guest post while she's on maternity leave.

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Recipe: S'mores Pot de Creme

Remember these yummy S'mores Pot de Creme party favors from Theo's 2nd birthday party? Well, it was a huge hit and I've received many requests for the recipe so I thought I would share it here. It's a genius concoction created by Andie at Bakin Bit for an Oh Happy Day Craft Night. The only credit I take is designing the packaging and asking Andie to make them for our party. :) Enjoy!

+ Click here for a printable PDF
+ Photos by me
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Theo's Food Themed 2nd Birthday Party

I can't believe Theo turned two in August. It's amazing how time flies when you're having fun. And when you have kids. This year's party was really similar to his first birthday party -- a pretty low key celebration at our home with family and friends. By the time Theo's birthday rolls around, I feel like I'm just coming down from the excitement and craziness of Lucas' birthday party in April. This year's theme wasn't so clear cut -- Theo generally likes whatever his big brother likes, but no interests or obsessions in particular stood out in particular this year. I realized later that the big difference between Lucas and Theo is that Theo loves to eat. So why not a food-themed party?

The invitations I designed were inspired by his eight favorite foods, which include: blueberries, peanut butter, pretzels, and bok choy. I photographed each of the foods, and laid them out against a white background so they stood out. Under each photo, I inserted the name of the food, followed by Theo's own pronunciation. The invites were flat-printed on heavy, bright white cotton stock, and mailed in a kraft envelope with a custom liner (Theo's yogurt-covered face of course!). Finally, the envelopes were sealed with a black and white wraparound address label. My favorite line on the invitation was, "If you know Theo, you know this kid loves to eat." I mean, he wears the same size pants as Lucas except they're way too long. ;)

We decided to make breakfast at one of our favorite spots, Elmwood Cafe, a tradition on birthday mornings for the kids. We threw on the birthday crown for Theo and I snapped a bunch of sweet photos of the boys on the steps on our way to the car. Lucas has been the most amazing big brother in every way and Theo simply adores him.

It's always so hard to choose just a few items here. Everything is so delicious! We ended up getting the frittata with summer squash, peas, and poblano peppers with organic greens, a mushroom, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich, a cornmeal waffle with organic O'Henry peaches and Vermont maple syrup, a soy latte for me, a house coffee for Nick, and orange juice for Lucas and Theo.

While we waited for our food, I busted out the bag of good ol' random Legos and Matchbox cars to keep the boys busy. It's always fun to see how serious Theo gets when building things. He's got some pretty great fine motor skills for his age (whereas Lucas excels in those gross motor skills if you know what I mean).

After breakfast we walked down the block to pick up our giant order of donut holes from Dream Fluff Donuts for the party -- a tradition at every Jackson kid party. I designed the paper cones using abstract grayed out elements from the invitation as well as Theo's "signature". These are always a big hit with kids and grown ups alike.

And the biggest hit (other than Theo the birthday boy of course) were these S'mores Pot de Creme party favors. To go along with the food theme, I wanted to give something away that our guests could eat. We hired the amazing Andie from Bakin Bit again this year to cater our party (guys, she is crazy talented but also crazy busy!). I had seen these amazing creations she made for Oh Happy Day and asked if she could recreate it using Ball jars that would be given away as favors. They couldn't have bee more perfect -- food themed, delicious, super cute, and the jars are reusable! Many of our friends and family said they were the best dessert they'd ever had. I'm going to have to make these and store them in my fridge! I designed some coordinating labels for each jar to make them even cuter.

For a food themed party you have to have awesome food, right? While brainstorming menu ideas, I thought some sort of bar would be perfect for little ones. My first thought was a grilled cheese bar but then I remembered how last year Andie made this incredible mac 'n' cheese that people wouldn't stop talking about. I suggested a mac 'n' cheese bar and she went with it! She whipped up gooey mac 'n' cheese and had a slew of toppings people could choose from -- breadcrumbs, cherry tomatoes, pea shoots/peas, parmesan cheese, sauteed mushrooms, bacon bits, feta cheese crumbles, jalapenos, green onions, and sriracha sauce. She also made a strawberry, peach, and blueberry (all of Theo's favorites) salad with mint, a kale quinoa salad with cucumbers, and turkey dogs rolled in puff pastry on a stick (another crowd favorite).

The party REALLY got started when Eric (Theo's magical preschool teacher) and Jaime from Your Song My Song showed up to play music, sing, and dance in our backyard. They are just plain awesome and everyone loves them! They also sang Let It Go and you know all the kids got their groove on!

More dancing and noshing from the mac 'n' cheese bar!

The ever so sweet Jeanne from Shop Sweet Things and her adorable kids and hubby George (rockin' the polka dots!)

Not sure what Eric and Jaime did here (did someone take their pants off or something?) but I'm so glad I captured this photo! Theo's confused.

It was way past Theo's nap but Nana was secretly happy about that because look at Theo's little pudgy body melting in her lap.

It's cake time!!! I made a large carrot cake and a bunch of cupcakes. Remember how I said Theo loves to eat? Well, he ate that cupcake AND half the liner!

This year's thank you cards were postcards. Designed with a full bleed photo of Theo walking to pick up donut holes, along with his "signature," these postcards came out super cute while saving money on stamps and envelopes.

Thanks so much for everyone who came to celebrate Theo's birthday. We missed a bunch of friends but there's always next year! :)

+ Photos by me
+ Also featured on 100 Layer Cakelet and Oh So Beautiful Paper
+ Find me on Instagram (@good_on_paper)

Happy Weekend and a Birthday Party Sneak Peek

Happy weekend friends! This week went by so quickly and now my little baby is 2. What?!? We celebrated his birthday last weekend with a little party at our home. It was so much fun but I'm so glad it's over! Lucas is helping Theo open one present each day, which really means Lucas is helping Lucas open one present each day. Theo is more excited about the boxes and ribbon!

Here are just a couple of pics from Theo's party. Stay tuned for more pictures of the invitations and details of the food-themed second birthday party.

What are you up to this weekend?

+ Images by me via Instagram (@good_on_paper)

Lucas' Superhero 4th Birthday Party

The theme of this year's birthday party for Lucas who turned four on April 26th was super heroes. While he loves all kinds of super heroes -- Captain America, Flash, Spider-Man, etc., I really wanted the party to be about the super powers of Lucas and his friends (I spend enough time getting shot with spiderwebs and saving people in the Batmobile).

The invitations were printed in black and green on heavy white cotton paper with a clean, minimal design highlighting Super Lucas. Each invitation set included custom tattoos and instructions packaged in a small glassine envelope for each guest. The tattoos had the guest's name (i.e. Super Connor) as well as super hero speech bubbles with expressions like "WOW", "OK", "YES", and "COOL" instead of the usual "POW" and "BANG" expressions. The envelopes were lined with a pattern of the same super hero expressions.

It's been our tradition to have Lucas' birthday parties at Tilden Park but this year we had the chance to have it at his preschool's outdoor space. It's an awesome space that's safe and enclosed, with fun play structures and multiple levels for the ultimate in superhero fun. The only downside to having it at the school was that we had a guest limit.

Last year I took Lucas to breakfast at one of our favorite places, Elmwood Cafe. We did it again this year and I think I'll make it a tradition. Since the day was all about Lucas, we had Theo stay home with Po Po (grandma) which he didn't mind one bit because she is the world to him. And side note here - it is WAY easier with just one kid. Just sayin'. We ordered yummy coffee, a latte, orange juice, an egg sandwich, a frittata with organic greens, and a buttermilk waffle with lemon curd and blueberries on top. After breakfast we walked down the block to pick up donut holes for the party -- a Jackson kid party tradition!

Lucas got to open one small surprise gift from us - a Lightening McQueen race car. He hasn't seen the movie Cars yet but somehow it's one of his favorite characters and he talks about him all the time. Needless to say, he was floored when he opened his eyes to find this little red racer in his hands.

For party favors, we made custom (no sew!) capes for each of the kids so they could wear them on the day of the party. It was a huge hit with the kids and so fun to see them running, jumping, flying around with them. Some of the kids even wore them to school the next day and beyond. A huge thanks to my mom for pretty much doing all of the hard work -- from measuring, cutting, and washing the material, to helping me paint each of the letters on late at night. We also made paper masks (simply cut out the mask shape onto colored card stock and then staple a piece of elastic on both ends) that kids could decorate with markers and star stickers.

My husband Nick also crafted a building scene out of old cardboard boxes, tape, and spray paint as a backdrop for a photo booth. Each guest was encouraged to strike their best superhero pose in front of the buildings using an instant Fuji Instax camera. The guests could stick the photos into a memory book and jot down something for Lucas to read later.

For lunch we catered mini bean and cheese burritos for the kids from a favorite local Mexican restaurant. For the grown ups we catered Vietnamese banh-mi sandwiches and spring rolls. And for dessert I made a yummy chocolate cake (Lucas' favorite) and cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. And lastly, our parties wouldn't be complete without our traditional donut holes wrapped in paper cones.

Everyone had a blast, even Super Theo who came to the party with Po Po and Nana right after his nap.

Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate. Lucas had the best time and is now talking about how he's going to be five!

+ See the party featured on 100 Layer Cakelet and the invitations on Oh So Beautiful Paper.

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Happy Father's Day Weekend

Hope you all have a happy father's day weekend. Nick will get a fun break this weekend with his friends. We celebrated a little early with a tasty Munchery dinner delivered to our door, a hand made necklace and card from Lucas, a wet berry kiss from Theo, and an Artifact Uprising Instagram Friendly Soft Cover Photo Book from me (plus one more gift on its way).

Happy Father's Day to my sweet, silly, kind, smart, talented, and loving husband, Nick.

+ Images by me via Instagram (@good_on_paper)

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Design: Lucas' Birthday Invitations

It's that time of year again -- Lucas will be a year older and I get to plan his birthday party. Yay and holy crap at the same time! First of all, I can't even believe he's going to be four in April. Where did the time go? I clearly remember all the details on the day he arrived and now he's going to be four?

One of my favorite parts of party planning is designing the invitations (naturally). Here are the last three invitations I designed for Lucas' birthday parties. Stay tuned for this year's party details. Let's just say it's going to be super.

// 1st birthday - modern circus theme
I have received numerous requests for customization of this invitation. Please email me if you'd like a quote.

// 2nd birthday - round theme
Lucas really liked balls and round things at the time.

// 3rd birthday - letters and numbers theme
I had the most fun styling this invitation using PB&J sandwich cut outs.

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Free Wedding Menu/Escort Card Printables on 100 Layer Cake

Remember that wedding invitation suite I designed for Libbie and Jesse? Well, now you can download (for free!) wedding menu and escort card printables from the gorgeous wedding blog, 100 Layer Cake. Use them for weddings or other celebrations. Get them in three beautiful colorways. Which one is your favorite colorway?

// Photo by Gary Ashley of the Wedding Artists Collective

Theo's party details on 100 Layer Cakelet

Some of Theo's smile themed 1st birthday party photos are featured on one of my favorite blogs, 100 Layer Cakelet. Donut holes, Theo-faces-on-a-stick, and carrot cake with sprinkles.. what's not to smile about?

// Photos by Good on Paper

BBQ Party Invitations

The custom 5th wedding anniversary BBQ party invitation set I designed for longtime clients, Adrienne and Dillon Rogers, is featured on Oh So Beautiful Paper. I feel so incredibly lucky to have designed their wedding collateral, birth announcements for both kids, housewarming invitations, a holiday card for every year, birthday party invitations, and the list goes on.

// Photo by Good on Paper