Welcome To Sunshine Farms

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The most recent Operation Shower event, "Sunshine Farms", was a smashing success. This shower was held at The Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on January 25th.

There are so many pictures to share that I will break this down into a couple of posts! Click on any picture to enlarge!

Today's posts will focus on some of the decor. You will want to come back tomorrow though for the adorable sweets station by none other than, Sweets Indeed!

Let's get started!

When guests entered they immediately saw a veritable bounty of gifts in our "Gift Garden" and "Raffle Ranch" areas.
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Don't you love that signage? A big thank you to Hostess With The Mostess herself, Jenn, for doing all the printables and graphic design for this shower and for coming out to help!
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(An exhausted but excited pair...Jenn and yours truly)
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The Gift Garden included diapers, adorable and cuddly items from Cloud B and the most lovely handmade blankets for each mom, made by a local mom and her teenage daughter. Thank you, all!
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Thanks for having such great Raffle Ranch handwriting, Andrea! Don't you love that little chair by Jennifer Delonge? Kirby Ink created a special "Sunshine Farms" print for one lucky mom, too.
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Sun setting on set up day over the 14th green at Torrey Pines.
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The next morning. Get ready...here we go!
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Heavenly Blooms went above and beyond in donating all the gorgeous florals you see. When they all arrived in boxes it was a stunning sight to see. Thank you, Jaclyne!
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Centerpieces were a mix of pails with kid sized garden tools, toy wheelbarrows filled with hay and fresh veggies and florals with mini haybales. We mixed all of that with basic black and white linens donated by Celebrity Weddings, runners made from burlap, sushine yellow plates, mason jars for drinking glasses and Jenn's fabulous printables. (Details of printables to come soon)
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Don't you love these aerial shots? All photos are by my friend of over 25 years, LeeAnn Widyn. Widyn Photography is based out of Dallas, Texas so if you live there, check her out. She's amazing.
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Thanks to our friends and partners at March of Dimes and Kmart for everything you do and everything we do together! Additional thanks to The PGA TOUR, Farmers Insurance, Ashford University and AT&T.
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Okay, that is post #1. I promise there is so much more to come. To see all the photos, head over to Operation Shower's Facebook page and become a fan while you are there!

Coming Soon!

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See this adorable, happy mom-to-be? She was one of our special guests at "Sunshine Farms" Operation Shower event last week. I love that smile!

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I cannot WAIT to show you all the pictures and share all the details and talent behind this shower. All the pictures should be in soon so do come back for more Sunshine Farms, ya hear?!

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Photography by my talented friend, LeeAnn, of Widyn Photography.

Operation Give Thanks: Free New Year's Eve Printables

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Sweet and talented, Lindi of Love The Day, has created a gorgeous collection of New Year's Eve free printables to benefit Operation Give Thanks. You're gonna want these!
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I had the pleasure of meeting and working with Lindi at the last shower at Walter Reed, as she generously donated her time and talents to help make the day extra special for some very deserving military moms-to-be.

I am so glad that she decided to donate her time again in creating these free printables. I bet you are, too!

The printables are completely free, but we ask if you choose to use them, that you consider making a small donation to Operation Shower to help us continue our mission of honoring the sacrifices military families make by producing and coordinating unit-wide baby showers and "showers in a box" for pregnant or expecting military families in a deployment or high stress situation.

Happy New Year, indeed!

FREE December Holiday Printables Available Now

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As mentioned in the post below, I have taken my first attempt at creating some holiday printables for you all to benefit Operation Shower's "Operation Give Thanks" campaign.

I've done a lot of the like for my own parties and for parties I've styled, but never one for mass consumption. Hope this works! I just knew I had to go for it to give you some new options for any winter parties you might be hosting, and in hopes that more of you might be compelled to host a party to benefit Operation Give Thanks! Even if you don't use this to host a party, we hope you'll stop by and donate a little something to help us reach our goal. It all helps!

Below is just a sampling of what you'll find in each set.

LET IT SNOW
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GREEN AND PINK SEASON'S GREETINGS

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RED AND AQUA SEASON'S GREETINGS

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Click on the following for your FREE download. Let me know if you're hosting a party for Operation Give Thanks and be sure and send me pictures after it's over!

Download: Aqua and Red Season's Greetings

Download: Green and Pink Season's Greetings

Download: Let It Snow!

Operation Give Thanks is a nation-wide fundraising campaign to help Operation Shower continue our mission to throw amazing baby showers for military families to ease the burden of deployment.

We are often asked how to best help Operation Shower. We decided that since Operation Shower gives back to our military families through parties, so can YOU !

We are asking people across the nation to host a party, big or small, between now and the end of the year to raise money for Operation Shower. What a wonderful way to express your gratitude and thanks at this special time of year — and have fun!

Pop over to learn more about Operation Give Thanks.

OGT: Coming Soon!

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Psssst. Coming soon are three new FREE printable sets for the holidays to benefit Operation Give Thanks...

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Here is a fuzzy little sneak peek. It's my first time to create printable sets for anything other than my own use at events so hold on tight! This could be a little bumpy. : )

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Stay tuned for all the sets and details this week! Don't forget, it's not too late to use some of the fall free printables found here for your Thanksgiving events. Every dollar helps, so thank you for your support of Operation Shower!

What Really Matters

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Worry you not, I'll get back to parties and such soon but wanted to take today to share the 9/11 National Day of Service with you all.

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I think you know that I, as much as anyone, can get all caught up in all things sparkly and fluffy and party, but, as much as I love parties and all things entertaining, I love my non-profit work more. (Don't tell anyone...)

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In fact, you may have noticed that by a lack of actual events done by me here as of late. I've had to make some choices because, let's face it ladies, we just can't do it all. Okay, I can't. Not well at least! So, when given the choice to accept an event or devote even more time to Operation Shower, I've chosen Operation Shower more times than not in the past year. Naturally this helps that Stem isn't my sole means of income. Let's just get that out there. I'm not starving or going shoeless. I still love to shop, people!

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I am however, putting aside a lot of personal gains with my business to spend the majority of my "free" time on Operation Shower. I've had to decide what really matters to me. I'm not saying this to get claps or awards or not that this whole party world doesn't matter. It's really kind of selfish because of the joy giving back brings me. (Don't tell anyone that, either....) Oh, and does it hurt that part of my work involved throwing Baby Showers for deserving moms? No, not it does not! Mama still needs her fix.

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This week is a great chance to get a little bit of the feel good feeling of giving back for yourself. Don't know where to start? Check out the 9/11 National Day of Service site.

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9/11 National Day of Service encourages all Americans and others to voluntarily support charitable causes, perform good deeds and engage in other service activities in observance of the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. You can find a charity close to you by logging onto the site. You can also do your own good deed and post it.

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Soon I will have a very exciting announcement on how you can all help with Operation Shower. Joining me will be some of your favorite party gals from around the web. It's going to be a big, national party. Stay tuned for that!

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Until then, do something this weekend for someone else. Big or small. It all counts!

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Cheers,

Amy