I threw my first baby shower this year!… and my close friend had her first baby. Okay, one of these is more momentous than the other. The new mom is a laidback librarian-to-be, so she requested that for her baby shower guests bring books in lieu of other gifts (such a great way to build a library for baby!). From this we decided on a “bookworm” baby shower theme.

Inspired by Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar and all of the Paper Source circle card and sticker options, I started playing with baby shower invitation ideas. My first thought was to use 1 1/4″ circle stickers to create a little bookworm on an A7 folded card with hand written details on the inside, but I quickly realized my handwriting wouldn’t look so pretty after 50 invitations! This card idea, did however, turn out to work perfectly for coordinating thank you notes, which I presented to the mom-to-be as a gift.

Next I experimented with printable circle stickers Read the rest of this entry »

I’ll admit there’s some pressure when you’re giving a gift to a fellow Paper Source employee – they know the products and secrets all too well. We recently threw a baby shower for our lovely and talented coworker who is having her first baby, and I put together a gift basket on behalf of the group. Filled with all kinds of special baby goodies tied individually with satin ribbons, the basket came together nicely…but I wasn’t quite satisfied.

Though full to the brim, the basket itself was lacking so I added a banner strung across the front with miniature paper animals secured to a ribbon with tiny wooden clothes pins. Irresistible and easy, I promise. I cut out the animals from sketch drawings I did on the back of our dots gift wrap keeping the silhouettes simple and rounded. If animal shapes seem too detailed for you try cutting triangles for a pennant banner instead. This extra special detail made the gift one to remember.

p.s. We are so excited to announce the birth of Molly – congratulations to new mom, Carolyn!

–Kristen
PS colors: pool & chocolate
Latest fave: Gold, Pink Dots Nesting Box – great to have around for last minute gift wrapping.

We talk a lot about color around here, but it really can be inspirational. A room painted in yellow can leave you feeling sunny and pair of great pink shoes can make you smile. The same is true for inspiring memorable details for any event. Recently, we had the pleasure of hosting a baby shower for one of our coworkers. We used her nursery colors – night and chartreuse (gender neutral since the sex of the baby was going to be a surprise) – as the jumping off point for all of our decorations.

Our delightful banner was super simple to make using a roll of solid gift wrap (also great as a table cloth) with clouds cut from large sheets of cover weight paper. To make the letters we printed outlined letters onto sheets of 8.5 x 11 paper, then cut just inside the outline to create perfectly stenciled letters. Ribbons in different colors, widths and textures created a rain effect. The banner was such a hit one of the clouds now hangs in the baby’s nursery!

What’s a baby shower without baby shower games? Read the rest of this entry »