Customer Approved! Camp Keaton

I recently worked with a wonderful customer, who was inspired by Lauren's camping party, {which was featured on The TomKat Studio's blog} showcasing my camping party printable designs! I enjoyed receiving Kristin's photos of her adorable son and his fun and rustic camping party. Kristin did a great job of making this printable party her own {wait, that sounded like a comment by an American Idol judge!} and added some unique touches... Here is the main entrance and party display table... how great are those polka dot balloons?!

Here's the adorable birthday boy, Keaton, proudly sporting his Camp Keaton shirt! Kristin asked me to design the front and back for her to print and iron onto the shirt. I think it turned out pretty fantastic!

Chocolate cake and cupcakes galore! This giant "5" cake with snakes and grass all around is perfect for a 5 year old BOY's camping party! And the cupcake toppers are the perfect touch to those yummy looking cupcakes!

The display table was packed with all sorts of goodies, with matching printable tags... the perfect way to tie everything in together!

And finally, check out this creative idea for a fun camping game... A scavenger hunt! Kristin asked me to design a list for her to add to these kraft bags for each little guest to check off as they find! I'm sure this crowd of 5 year old boys went nuts for this!

And there you have it... another {printable} camping party success! I just LOVE receiving photos from all the customers who find different ways to use the same printables! Soon, I'll be back from maternity leave, and can't wait to be customizing more of these parties for YOUR little ones! :)

To remind you... here is the invite & party decor packages I offer in my etsy shop {when its open!}. To request some of the custom items, like Lauren or Kristin did {like scavenger hunt list, t-shirt logo, square table cards, etc} just convo me when ordering!

Camping Party :: Printable Burlap & Red Invite :: $15

Camping Party :: Printable Burlap & Red Decor Package :: $20

Take a peek at Kristin's blog, featuring her son's party in full! What a fun mama she must be... she made Keaton such a special day!

Birthday Bling Necklace Tag

One of my favorite repeat customers came to me with another great custom design request! Her daughter's birthday was the day after St. Patrick's Day, and she had to send her off to school with a b-day treat, so they came up with a St. Paddy's/B-day combo deal! Check out the "birthday bling" EJ gave each classmate...

I have a fun job, don't I? :) EJ's mama and I came up with the idea to have a favor tag fold over these fun shamrock necklaces. So, I designed it, and mama Heather printed and assembled! Great work Heather! It looks like EJ was very pleased, as, I'm sure, her classmates were too!

Maternity Leave... here I come!

So! I had this whole other blog post written about how I was going to slowly wean "out of business" in this last month of my pregnancy to prepare for maternity leave, starting with taking away printed product from my shop {like stationery and onesie stickers} and then stop taking you-print orders {like invitations and printable parties} and I just selected all and DELETED it! On purpose! This mama is goin' on "Maternity Leave"... NOW! :P

source: etsy

The idea of just closing my shop, whammo, just like that puts me into the cold sweats and itchy hives! What about my customers? What about the people who are in dire need of my St. Patrick's Day Printable Party that they saw featured on Hostess with the Mostess? This is some real world problems people! Or... I wouldn't want a 7 year old to miss out on a seriously cute camping party or an adorably preppy newborn not to have their first year documented with my seersucker onesie stickers!

Okay, I hope you can detect the sarcasm in my writing, I know I know, not the end of the world, but this IS my business and my passion, so it is hard for me to just put it on hold! And then I calmed down {well, for all my friends out there who know the real psychotic nellie, you know that meant lots of tears, and lots of motivation by my mom and hubby} and thought, the world is not going to end because my shop is on HOLD! :)

source: etsy

I realized I wanted to spend this last month {maybe less... hopefully not longer!} preparing for baby #2! And a lot of that preparation means spending good-ol-one-on-one-quality-time with my first born and favorite little guy, Finley Jack!

photo by {tsj}photography

That's my guy when he was a newbie. Makes my hormonal pregnant heart melt! This is it for us as a team of two! Our lives will be forever changed in just a few short weeks, so, I want to put 100% focus on him right now!

So, I'm just taking a little breaksie from the etsy shop! I'll still be posting to the blog with projects I've worked on, family updates and other fun stuff, but I've got to close up shop now to tie up loose ends. As I was telling my mom tonight, "I don't want to be in labor thinking about the customers I left stranded wondering where their Willy Wonka Invites are!" ;P

Thanks for understanding! I hope you will all return to my shop when it re-opens after I've settled in to life as a mommy-of-two! I feel so blessed for the business I have had for this year my shop has been open and look forward to seeing where it will go in the future!

30th Birthday Favors

This past weekend was a little Leis family overload, as we had a party for my hubby's 30th and my friend's threw me a baby "sprinkle"! We celebrated my hubby's b-day at the Lakefront Brewery, in downtown Milwaukee, and couldn't have asked for a better environment for such an event! You hear "brewery" and think it's just for adults, but it was an all out family fish fry with a sweet polka band playing roll out the barrell and other very-Germany tunes, so kids were SO welcomed and had a blast helping Matthew bring in the big 3-0!

Here's what I made for each guest... I put cupcakes in small kraft boxes, wrapped with a personalized label, and tied together with bakers twine. And yes, you SO need a custom wooden fork to eat your cupcake, so don't get sassy about that {like some of my guest's enjoyed teasing me about}!

I was a psychotic, 8-month pregnant, lunatic hostess who didn't take any pics of the party, so I had to snap these posed pics of the cupcake favors above and these favors & party hats I made for the kids, below. Each little one got their own star sunnies, kazoo and party hat with personalized tags! It was so fun to see the kids sportin' these fun goodies!

It was a fun time, my hubby and I felt very spoiled by the amazing friends and family in our lives and we are excited for this next chapter... 30's bringing in baby #2 soon! :)

Contact me if you're interested in any of these party printables!

Mustache Valentine

I had a very fun customer ask me to create a custom valentine photo card using an idea she found on... you guessed it... pinterest! Take a peek at this idea for giving the gift of a felt mustache applique! :)

 How cute is it to have the little guy wearing an actual fake 'stache under the felt one! Love it! I have a feeling this guy's classmates and friends are going to love wearing these little treasures over candy any day!

Since Valentine's Day is tomorrow, and I'm showing off this idea a little late, I don't have this bad boy in my shop. But, if you think you can DIY this in time for Heart Day, contact me and I'll set up a listing for you to order the digital photo card from for $13!

Happy V-day!

Kid's Valentine Trading Cards

With a couple custom requests to turn my 5x7 Valentine Photo Cards into school trading valentine's for their kiddos, I decided to add a cute and fun selection to my shop! Check out these printable, 3.5x5, personalized photo trading valentines for YOUR little munchkin!

Click here to order this pink & red chevron Valentine's Day Trading Card...

Click here to order this hearts & smooch Valentine's Day Trading Card... 

 Click here to order this pink & red polka dot Valentine's Day Trading Card...

 Click here to order one of these diagonal striped Valentine's Day Trading Card...

Happy Heart Day to all the school-aged sweethearts out there!

And some more... Holiday Photo Cards

I've been loving all the custom orders for holiday photo cards this year! Click here to order your own custom design to express your style and send something in the mail that's completely unique! Or, check out some of the custom creations I came up with for some of my fun clients and contact me to order one of the designs below for $13!

All photos and names have been changed from the original orders to not spoil anyone's fun of sending out a completely unique holiday card this year! So, if you recognize a face above, this is NOT their holiday card and those are NOT their names! :P 

You've still got time to order, and remember, I can print for you! Don't think you're going to "get it together" before the holiday... Let me custom design a "New Year's" card! :) {We've all been there!}

More Holiday Photo Card Designs

I've been having fun recently coming up with new designs for holiday cards! I'm not including these in my etsy shop, but if you're interested in ordering one of the cards below, contact me and I'll set up a custom listing to order from! The price for the digital file to print on your own is $13, and these include complimentary color changes!

 

Like I mentioned above... feel free to change the colors to match your photo or your tastes!

How cute is it to have your holiday card colors match your family photos! The cards above and below both may not seem all that "holiday colorish", but combined with the photo and some jolly text, it works perfectly! {and for all you readers who know the family above, don't worry, that is NOT the card they chose to send out! haha!}

Check out my other holiday photo cards available in my etsy shop HERE! I'll continue to show off more designs as I make them! Remember, I'm always available for custom designs!

"stache"ing all the way... hey!

I recently designed a custom holiday card for a very fun family! This customer came to me with pics of her fam all wearing fake paper mustaches. All the rave, these days! You can get them all over at Etsy, like these. AND she came to me with a great catch-phrase... "stache-ing all the way!". So cute! I came up with a modern design to match her requests and wanted to share with all of you! Because I don't want to spoil her fun of sending out such fun cards this year, I have swapped out the family photo and changed their names! You never know if any of her recipients read this thing, right?

You can purchase your own fun mustache-themed holiday card here!

Holiday Photo Cards!

Well, my shop has been officially Holiday-ized ... I've added new Holiday Photo Cards and Address Labels to choose from! Have fun selecting a card that suits your family perfectly. From classic reds & greens to modern pool & fuchsia to a quirky school-lined-paper design, I've got something for everyone! And, take a peek at my special offer at the bottom if you still haven't found what you're looking for!

candy cane stripe holiday photo card :: order here!

pool & pink holiday photo card :: order here!

large chevron holiday photo card {avail. in multiple colors} :: order here!

polkadot ornament holiday photo cards {avail. in multiple colors} :: order here!

small chevron holiday photo cards {avail. in multiple colors} :: order here!

small chevron holiday photo address labels {avail. in multiple colors} :: order here!

ribbon wrapped holiday photo card :: order here!

school days holiday photo card :: order here!

vintage stripe holiday photo card :: order here!

Can't find a card that defines YOU and your fam perfectly? Order from my Custom Design listing and work directly with me to create the perfect card for you!

custom holiday photo card design :: order here!

I look forward to seeing all of your adorable family photos and customizing YOUR holiday photo card this year! And keep an eye out in my shop for more additions to my holiday listings.

Fridays with Fin :: Shark Birthday Party!

Our little "Shark Fin" turned TWO last week! We had such a fun birthday celebration for him. I knew I wanted a shark themed party, basically, since last halloween, when he went as a shark...

Beware, I'm using "Fridays with Fin" to talk about our little guy's recent birthday party... but, mostly to shamelessly promote the shark-party printables added to my shop!!

I didn't want the party to be a scary-bad boy-blood red-shark-theme, but rather, cute-fun-lovable- "sharkie"-theme! So, I went with pool and orange for the colors and a non-intimidating shark motif. I sent the invites, with a printable envelope label "warning" the guests to open at their own risk! 

Once the invites were out, the other details came along easily! I had SO much fun finding cute pieces to match the color pallet and shark theme. Check out these favors... mini orange pails {adorn with personalized stickers} held a clear bag with a pool colored lollipop, shark squirt-toy and shark bubbles {wrapped in a printable label!}.

Guests were welcomed with custom printable signs and balloons...

Along with printable signs on the outside, I had a "happy birthday" banner hanging from our mantle and a banner saying "FIN" tied to Finley's high chair.

Our dining room table was used as my "display table" for bright orange flowers, an orange-filled vase, gumballs, lollipops, suckers, shark cookies and shark-fin cupcakes! The table wasn't complete until I used orange polka-dot gift wrap, cut down as place mats, with a cute printable tag at each setting.

I stole was inspired by Martha Stewart's Shark Cupcakes for the dessert. I used orange foam sheets and cut them into shark fins, popped them on top of pool-frosted-cupcakes, and finished them off with printable cupcake wraps! I did see that you can buy fondant fins, so if you want your fins to be edible, there IS a way!

Just in case your guests ever question whether they are eating "pasta salad" or "potato salad", you've gotta have personalized food label tent cards to help clarify! Yes, this is where my family and friends always poke fun at me, but its not about what the label says, really, is it!? Its about what it does, visually! ;)

I added some extra flair to the water bottles as well, with personalized water bottle wraps. Such a simple way to tie the colors and theme into another piece of the party!

And once I spotted these adorable mandarin izze pops and orange striped paper straws, I knew it was a detail I couldn't say no to! Who cares that not one person like the taste of them, right?! ;) Oh, and that shark cookie that so perfectly matches the party colors... made by my mama! :)

Okay, so I labeled anything I could get my hands on... down to the napkins, pails and vases. Again, necessary? No. Darling? Yes.

Here's some random final details from the party!

 All in all, I think the party was a success! The true test? A HAPPY Shark!

And happy parents!

Want to throw a shark party on your own? Check out the printable invitations and printables decorations in my etsy shop!