While doing research for our upcoming Operation Shower Eco Chic Showers for expectant military moms (more on this to come soon!) I found GrowinStyle.

GrowinStyle carries a variety of Eco Friendly diaper cakes as well as Organic Baby Gift Boxes, BPA free teethers, organic plush toys and more.

I am so excited to feature one of their diaper cakes that they so kindly donated for one of our Mother's Day military base showers and thank them for their kindness and generosity.

Many more posts full of design elements and products from our fantastic sponsors and donors to come during the planning of these exciting events. Please visit our website to see what we're all about at Operation Shower.

StudioWed is in the House!

In case you haven't heard (or read online) StudioWed is now open!

If you are in the Atlanta area consider this your Mothership. Can you hear it? It's calling you home.

StudioWed Atlanta located in trendy Midtown West (1000 Marietta St, Suite 124, Atlanta, GA), is an exclusive collection of wedding vendors representing the finest wedding professionals that service the Atlanta area. This is a hip and revolutionary concept in local and destination weddings in Atlanta: a stylish and sophisticated planning studio where the area's best vendors come to you. Meet with a photographer over coffee in the morning and enjoy a glass of wine as you chat with a florist in the afternoon. Best of all, there's no cost to you to use StudioWed's services, so you can feel free to spend an entire day -- or as many as you need -- planning your big day.

“It is my goal with the studio to streamline the wedding planning process and be a resource for engaged couples. I find that brides are quickly overwhelmed with the number of vendors in the marketplace and the time it takes to drive all over the city to meet with these vendors. StudioWed offers couples a haven to find quality vendors and resources for planning their wedding.” ~Michelle Gainey of Lemiga Events and StudioWed.

Congratulations to Michelle and all those have worked so hard to make this happen!

Delicious and Divine Giveaway

If you haven't been over and entered the giveaway for the diviiiiiiiine cookies over at Creative Odds n' Ends, then you should go now. Deadline is Friday at midnight.

Creative Montage (Creative Odds n' Ends) has joined forces with the Gumdrop Cookie Shop to provide the most fantastic monogrammed cookies that feature their custom designs! They are too pretty to eat. Unless you eat them alone in a dark closet where no one can see you, therefore making them not "count." What? Who said that? Look! Over there! A chipmunk riding a unicycle!

Anyhoo, head on over for your chance to win and be prepared to spend a little time drooling over the Creative Montage AND Gumdrop Cookie Shop sites.

Your Invitation to be Pretty in Pink (one more time)

Thanks again to Jenn over at HWTM for posting the Pretty in Pink baby shower I recently hosted!




Several of you have asked what the invitations for the shower looked like and I'm excited to show them to you. Well, not the actual final product since I completely spaced and didn't take pictures of them with the little custom labels and the rest of the touches I added. I can show you the template that I purchased from the fantastic site Webtations. Forgive me?



Webtations is an online provider of do-it yourself wedding, baby, and holiday stationery products. They have a fantastic assortment of designs that you can purchase (VERY friendly pricing), download and print on your own. Next time you have a party to throw, stop by Webtations first. Or, stop by Webtations and get inspired to throw a party!

What I'm Craving Now

What am I craving? Chocolate AND a reason to throw a party using these insanely delicious invitations from Ginger of Serendipity. Can you imagine the look on the little guests' faces when they get this in the mail? These would be such a great start to a colorful kid's party!



If you haven't been to Ginger's Etsy shop lately, pop on over. There are lots of fun new things to see and buy! When you're done there you can visit her website and blog, too. The girl does it all!

Inspiration: Chinese Lanterns

If you've been around Stem very long you know how I feel about using Chinese lanterns for party decor. If you are new here, then this is all you need to know - I.Love.Them. Love.

Stem reader, Jessica, was inspired to use lanterns for a cute Ladybug theme 1st birthday party for her daughter, Sienna. Isn't the birthday sign she made cute?

You may be asking yourself what the limes and sunflowers have to do with ladybugs. The answer is nothing. Nada. Zip. Jessica just so happened to throw this very summery and fresh looking party as well so I thought I'd let you peek at that one, too. I love using fruit for decor It's easy and eco-friendly!

Thanks again for sharing, Jess!

Inspiration: The Sweetest Thing

Stem blog reader, April, recently sent in a few pictures of a sweet baby shower she threw for her sister that was inspired by Stem's "The Sweetest Thing" shower featured here.

Stem Style:



April Style:


April said they had more candy than she could have ever imagined. How about 16 lbs. of M&M's alone just to give you an idea of how much candy was there?!

Thanks so much for sharing, April. If you are you still trying to eat all that candy, I'm available.