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.

Well, Hello Kitty.

While this may not be part of the Imitation Series, it is a really cute reader-submitted party that you can recreate. THEN there can be a new series "Reader-Submitted Imitation Parties." Or not. That already has me confused.

This adorable Hello Kitty party was thrown for 4 year old Alexandra by her very resourceful mom, Christina. Just check out her creative, money-saving tips below.



"The cute as cupcake bags were the guests goodie bags...got them 75% off at Target after Valentine's day! (Her birthday is March 2 so I always try to hit the Valentine's sales to see if I can use anything for the birthday party!)

I ordered the party plates/napkins/tablecloth and it had a package of invitations included. I made my own invitations so I cut out the Hello Kitty's that were on the preprinted invitations and put them on the cupcake bags with pop dots!

The fruit picks were also Valentine's so I took the stickers off of them and put Hello Kitty stickers on instead."

She made the "oh my word those are cute" cupcakes from an idea she saw on Flickr and made Hello Kitty bows on pink headbands for the girls and made cat ears for the little boys. Pretty fun, right?

Thanks so much for sharing, Christina.

Time to hit those after Valentine's Day sales, anyone???

Hostess Treats

Not this kind of Hostess treat, silly. Okay, maybe I'm the only one who is ridiculously obsessed with cake like treats right now. For your benefit and to the delight of my pants, (my waistbands all shout out a collective, "THANK YOU!") I am referring to this kind of Hostess treat.



Where are those from and how can I get them, you ask? Well, let me do the honors.

Self Symmetry jewelry is the work of Katrina Rogers of Dallas, Texas. Katrina is the designer behind these handmade works of art, as well as a Yoga instructor and a friend from High School of yours truly. I recently reconnected with Katrina (thanks, Facebook!) and found out she just so happens to make what I think would make fabulous Hostess gifts. Few things make someone feel as special as a one-of-a-kind handmade item. Even better when it's jewelry, right?



I'm especially loving her BE Charmed gemstone charms. From Katrina, "Gemstone charms that can be attached to bags, purses, keys, etc. It's a reminder to take a deep breath and find your stillness. When you see your charm, take a moment to just BE: not doing, not judging, not thinking, just BE Charmed!"

Next time you're in need of a Hostess gift, birthday gift or a just treat for yourself stop by Self Symmetry and get something special...because you are all worth it.

Inspiration: Baby Gone Wild Style

I'm excited to share the first party that was inspired by one seen here on Stem. This one was inspired by my Baby Gone Wild Shower seen here on Stem and here on Hostess With The Mostess.



Jasmine of Love Sick Events did a fantastic job bringing together all of the zebra elements with bright blues and greens. What a fun baby shower for a little boy whose mom loves black and white. Just look at those adorable cakes, both real and diaper!

Thanks so much for sharing, Jasmine. Be sure and check out her blog to see other festive parties she's thrown and stay tuned for more reader submitted parties.

Next Week Sneak Peek

That is hard to type without typing "Sneek", but I digress.

Just a preview of a few posts to come next week as part of the Imitation Is The Sincerest Form of Blogging series. Thanks to those of you who have sent in photos so far! Those of you that haven't (I am dying to see some Oh Baby! shower photos, peeps) still have time.



I'd love to make this an ongoing feature here on Stem, so whenever you throw a party using any inspiration you've gained here, send them on in. (Or if you've just thrown a party you want to show off, that will work, too!)

I Love Award Season

Anyone that knows me knows that I'm an Award Season Junkie. The red carpet sucks me in every single time. Every. Single. Time.



You can imagine my excitement then when Laurie from TipJunkie emailed me to let me know that my Thing One and Thing Two shower had been nominated for a Tip Junkie Award! It's fate, I tell you. Be sure to check out all of the fun awards happening over on Tip Junkie and vote for your favorites.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go meet with Rachel Zoe to pick out my Awards ensemble.

Real Shindig

Just in case you haven't spent time with Natalie over at Little Shindigs I thought I'd share just one of her many adorable parties with you today. It's hard to pick just one, but something about the details of this one just really grabs me. Maybe it's because I'm still just a girl that loves to play dress up myself!

Natalie went all out for this Little Mermaid party for a group of 2-6 year olds. Take a look.



Centerpieces were Little Mermaid bubbles blowers made all the more magical with the addition of a large bubble blower to fill the area with plenty of bubbles while The Little Mermaid soundtrack played in the background.

The little guests were all treated to mermaid makeovers (which included mermaid costumes, pearls and flowers in their hair) and mini manicures with glitter nail polish and an assortment of shimmer body sprays. What girl doesn't love a little shimmer?

The menu consisted of fresh fruit, mini sandwiches and gold fish. They sipped on pink lemonade from fancy cups (or so they thought).

Activities also included the chance to make little shell necklaces to take home and lots of swimming. Just before the girls left the party they got ready for their closeup and got glammed up one last time!

Thanks for the all of the great party ideas, Natalie. Make sure and visit her blog for more inspiration.

Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Blogging

Or something like that.

Hey, you. Yes. YOU. I am talking to you. Keep reading.

A lot of you out there have been kind enough to email me about different parties that I've thrown and posted on the blog. So, I had an idea. It happens.

If you have been inspired by any of the parties that you've seen here on the blog and thrown your own version of one of them, now is your chance in the spotlight. Please send me your pictures and I'll post them on the blog! Don't be shy.

I know there are a lot of you that have emailed me about the Oh Baby! shower invitations/details alone. You know who you are. (I hope, because I've lost track). I'd love to see what you ended up doing with that or any other party you've seen here and share it with all the kind souls that stop by here daily.

How fun will it be to see everyone's variations on a theme in G minor? I don't even know what that last sentence means.

Soooo, check out my email over there on the right and send me your pics with any details you'd like to share with everyone and get your 15 minutes of fame.

Ready. Set. Go.

Sweet Feet Treat Winner

Congratulations to Jaime for winning this Giveaway! I left you a comment on one of your blogs with details on how to get your prize on, Jaime.

Thanks to everyone for leaving comments and for visiting Stem over and over. You guys are the best!

A Different Kind of Celebration!

A celebration of life in honor of my dear friend, Marie!

I know what some of you are thinking...Amy doesn't run. Well, you're right. Not yet at least. I CAN walk though and can do anything in honor of my good friend, Marie Spence! For those of you that don't know Marie, you're missing out. Marie is the strongest person I know and has been my hero throughout her journey from diagnosis with Leukemia to her successful bone marrow transplant. Can I get a shout out to anonymous donor guy in Germany that saved her life? Holla!

If she can get through everything she has, then the least I can do is run/walk 13.1 miles and raise some money. And the least we can all do is spare a few dollars. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society not only researches to fight blood cancers but also helps support those going through them.

So, to that end, I am raising funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) as a participant in their Team In Training program and I'm asking you to help by making a donation to my fundraising campaign. I would be so honored if my blog friends could help!

Please use the link to donate online quickly and securely plus learn more about my progress. You will receive a confirmation of your donation by email and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation. If you'd rather send a check, email me and I'll give you the details.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/gat/stlouish09/belleisle

Each donation helps accelerate finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. More than 823,000 Americans are battling these blood cancers. I am hoping that my participation in Team In Training will help bring them hope and support.

On behalf of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, thank you very much for your support. I greatly appreciate your generosity.

Feel free to post this on your blog as well or point people over to it! You guys rock. The most.

Much love,

amy