Red White & Coo Snaps and Claps

There are so many professional photos to show you from this incredible Operation Shower event but I thought I'd take baby steps (no pun intended) and spoon feed (okay, maybe that was intentional) them to you.

I have to borrow some from the post I did on our blog and thank some of our amazing sponsors and donors while I'm at it!

All photos in this post (other than the bookshelf of treat bags and red wagon full of candy) were shot and generously donated by the talented, Velia, of Velia Roldan Photography.

Baked goods for the sweets table were donated by Cinotti's Bakery. They.Were.Delicious.

Printed items such as sweets labels and shower in a box labels were designed by me, Amy of Operation Shower and Stem Parties, and generously printed by Print Today in St. Louis. Thank you, Huck and team!

The "Oprah" moment when 36 PGA TOUR volunteers walked in with a car seat for each mom was incredible and made possible by Kmart. Not only did Kmart donate the car seats but also donated almost all of the items for our moms! We can't thank you enough!

Those "blue boxes"...Tiffany & Co donated gorgeous crystal serving pieces. What a special treat!

Whole Foods went above and beyond in donating food for the event, gorgeous floral centerpieces for the food table as well as gift cards attached to a long stemmed rose for each mom. We love Whole Foods!

Thank you once again to our incredible invitation sponsor, TinyPrints, for our continued relationship. We treasure you!

We are so excited to have a new connection with Build A Bear. We love this fellow hometown St. Louis group and look forward to many more smiles to come with the donation of darling teddy bears.

Happy Moms? You bet! Thank you Peace Love Mom for always being such a great supporter of Operation Shower and donating your adorable tshirts. A picture IS worth a thousand words and so is a Happy Mom tshirt!

More photos and thank yous to come. I still have so many to go through. Maybe you can use some ideas for the 4th of July at this rate. : )

Cheers,

Amy

Memorial Day

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My work with Operation Shower has made this a holiday full of such personal signifigance. Thank you to all those that have served and those that currently do so.

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May you all have a lovely weekend with family and friends and take a moment to reflect on those separated from theirs.

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Much love,

Amy

Watch Her Blossom!

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I love it when you see someone throw amazing parties and the next thing you know they are turning their passion into a business. Case in point: Katie.

You may remember Katie from this adorable Woodland Party or her blog From Passys To Parties. Now Katie is taking her talent to the people and doing so with a gorgeous logo. Katie Grace Designs. Looky. Love it.
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Katie apparently inherited her talented from her mother. Look at this "Love Is In Bloom" shower they worked on together. Check out her site for more details.

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Adore the cupcakes in the grass display. And hanging flowers? Yes, please.

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I know there are many great parties to come from Katie and I for one can't wait to watch her and her business blossom.

Cheers to you, Katie!

A Work Of Art

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I recently had the pleasure of having dinner with Jennifer of Whimsy Celebrations. Write that name down as you'll be hearing a lot more from Jennifer. Trust me.

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Jennifer is smart and fun and talented and the moment I saw the paint cans with fabric hanging from the trees I knew that I would pick her to be my sister wife if that ever became mandatory. This Art Party is way cute. Further proof that it was a match made in heaven was when she said that was a middle of the night brainstorm. Don't you just love those?

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Jennifer has more very cute parties in her portfolio and I know there is much more to come. Again...trust me on this one!

This Donation Is A Piece of Cake

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You know the lovelies from Paper & Cake, right?

Just in case: Stem readers meet Paper&Cake. Paper&Cake meet the best blog readers in the world.

Abigail is 50% of the Paper&Cake team and 100% awesome.



She is once again doing a 50 mile charity walk for Multiple Sclerosis in honor of her best friend. Year after year she does this to help raise money for the cause and now she is giving away FREE invitation designs to anyone who will donate a little something to help.



All the details are right here. Who can't use a great personalized invitation and some feel good points?

Good luck, Abigail. I hope you raise a billionty-five dollars, friend!

What Will It Bee?

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When Michelle from The Nature of Grace sent me over photos from this baby gender reveal party she recently did, I found it hard to beelieve this was her first post. As I told her, she is off to a fantastic start.

I know you all are going to bee blown away by it, too!
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Guests were greeted by the sign above as they stepped into the hive. Michelle carried the bee theme over into every aspect with clever touches that have that perfect mix of looking both homemade and professional at the same time. So.Well.Done.

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That beehive and those flowers need to get out of my dreams and into my car. I could stare at those flowers all day long.

There are more photos posted here, along with step by step details and info so generously shared by Michelle.

I don't know about you, but I'll bee waiting to see what she comes up with next!

Puppy Party Petals

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Okay, apparently I am late to the party here. A friend forwarded these to me recently, but looks like they've been making the rounds since 2008. Let's call them "retro", shall we?
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While not normally one for things that border on too "cutesy" there was something about these little pups that made me smile. I think in a more modern arrangement (read: less basket and filler) these would actually make adorable additions to a Puppy Party theme. Can't you see little kids loving these?!
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I'd love to give credit to these canine creations but am not sure where they originated. If you know, let me know so I can give credit!

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Kelly of The Party Dress and WH Hostess has taken Princess to a whole new level of chic with her adorable black and pink princess collection.
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With a client whose goal was to throw a princess party with some rocker details, Kelly was let loose to use her creative genius. The result? A new collection now available for every little rock princess.

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I'd love to post all the pictures myself, but think it's only fair and fitting that you pop over to The Party Dress to see Kelly's post full of all the fabulous details. Not only did Kelly do a great job, but her client did, too. Love seeing moms take printables and making something so special for their kids!

Etsy Love: Hey Yo Yo

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This installment of "Etsy Love" could also be the first installment of "Why Didn't I Find This Sooner?" So many items in this amazing Etsy shop full of retro goods would have been perfect for the Red, White & Coo baby shower.

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I know where I'm shopping for my next retro party and possibly even just making up reasons to have retro parties now.

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From containers and toppers to toys and other goodies, Hey Yo Yo is full of so much happy. These are just a smidge of what's in the store. Go looksy.

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I mean, really, aren't you dying for pickle bags now? And the peanut made me gasp out loud. You know that would just make for part of a darling "Little Peanut" baby shower.

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Discuss.

Beautiful Bake Sale

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I just fell in love with this Old Fashioned (and yet this is nothing remotely like the old bake sales) Bake Sale sent to me by the Bird and the Berry.



What could make this gorgeous set-up better? The proceeds all went to Bake for Hope, a grass roots charitable organization for breast cancer. Please go to the Bird and the Berry for more amazing photos and more info.

What can you do today to make a difference for someone?

How Tweet Indeed!

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Kaysi of FABU weddings and events sent me over a link to this insanely gorgeous baby shower she recently created.



Full of lovely natural accents, amazing handmade details and wonderful photography, this "How Tweet It Is" theme has never looked better. So many more photos to see here on Kaysi's family blog. Check them out! Then, go check out her FABU blog for tons of stunning posts!



Thanks so much for sending these my way, Kaysi! I can't wait to keep up with your gorgeous FABU blog.

event planning: FABU weddings & events
bakery: dippidee bakery
photographer: kaysi fox
invitations, dessert bar, favors, flower balls: FABU weddings & events

Operation Shower Red, White and Coo Video

This is the clip that aired on The Golf Channel this week. I just have to share it with you all. It's a joy beyond words to be a part of this.



If you would be so kind to repost this on your blog or website, I would be eternally grateful. Please leave a comment here if you do. That's an easy way to pay it forward that would mean the world!

We are four volunteers and have little to no funding - this check from the PGA is pretty much our bank account. We rely solely on donations, so spreading the word and sending people to our site means more than you'll ever know. We never want to have to stop honoring these deserving families!

Much love,
Ames

Last Minute Mother's Day Goodies

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Maybe next week I'll be fully recovered from my trip to Florida for Operation Shower. This week was full of being busy with a touch of sick upon my return.

Thankfully there are amazing and generous people out there to provide us all with free goodies. This time, two for the ladies! One for the big and one for the small. Click on the links for all the details.

For Mom. (Oh, and I'm sorry I took the best mom in the world. I almost feel selfish.)


TomKat Studio's cuties

Got Girl Scouts? (Or just need some really cute free wrapping paper to print?)

Kellie Medivitz is a rock star. She has some incredible free desktop wallpapers up right now, too!

Damask Is The New Forty!

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My super sweet interweb friend, Toni, just celebrated her 4oth Birthday in Big City style with a New York City themed party.



Crisp black and white damask and printables from none other than Kim of TomKat Studio set the scene for this stylish soiree.

Other great DIY touches included a plain store bought cake that was decorated with the NYC skyline by one of Toni's talented friends, napkins wrapped in damask, treat bags with TomKat Studio tags and square vases packed with bright red carnations.

Oh, and that menu that I want to put in my pocket and look at all day long? That is HANDWRITTEN by another talented friend. Click to view larger because that is the best handwriting ever. Ever.

Happy Birthday, Toni. I hope I'm as cute as you in 13 years for my 40th. Ahem. Or in 2 years...whichever comes first.

How Sweet It Is

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Do you ever tire of looking at gorgeous and delicious sweets tables? Neither do I.

This bright and cheerful confection by Save The Date For Cupcakes makes me so happy. And not because I want those cookies or that she gave me the sweetest shout out. More like because I want the whole table and she gave the sweetest shout out to some of my faves, too!

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Check out STCFC blog for more sweet deets.

Red, White and Coo Recap Number 1 (of many to come)

Still trying to get caught here after an amazing weekend and baby shower with Operation Shower!



In the meantime (I kinda want to wait for the professional pictures...sorry!) take a second and read this wonderful article by Travis Hill. It sums it up so well! Get the Kleenex!