Burp Cloth Wreath.

Wreaths are such a cute baby shower gift because they add to the decor and the new mommy can take it with them to the hospital to hang on their door. This wreath is, again, the sailor theme of the baby shower we planned for baby Ridge and his mommy. Plus, once it's all said and done, she can actually use the burp cloths. This is a great gift for shower, hospital and home.

Sorry for the floppy picture...everyone couldn't keep their hands off of it!

Cute & Custom Gift.

This was a wonderful idea that a friend (Emily) created for the baby shower I attended last week. Custom to the theme and colors of our friend's new little girl's room. She grabbed a photo frame from Hobby Lobby, painted the front green - leaving the sides the original color, pink. She attached the ribbon and princess pin to the top with hot glue. She even customized the gift bag, by removing the twine handles and replacing with the same ribbon used on the frame. Just had to pass this along - very cute idea!

Gift Wrapping: Baby Shower

Baby showers are always fun - a great way to bond with with friends as they make a new journey into parenthood. It is also a great way to learn all kinds of stuff that you didn't ever want to know about your friends - and for me (someone without little ones) - scare the crap out of me every wanting to have kids. Eke. Presentation is always fun with gifts, so below is a great idea for how to put together a baby shower gift with little effort.

After gathering all the registry list, I started hunting for things big and small, bulky and filler gifts to make my basket. Target has everything Valentine's Day on sale, so finding a great, and inexpensive basket was easy. I came home and layed everything out on the floor.


First, I stuffed the bottom of my basket with tissue paper in order to have the gifts sit up a little higher and not get lost.

Start with the largest piece and set it right in the middle.
Then start filling in with the smaller items.

Add a bow and card, and you have an easy and fun way to present your gift to the mom-to-be.

Making Last Minute Gifts Look Not So Last Minute.

Photo: MarthaStewart.com

We've all be there. The last of the gifts have been bought but you still need to wrap them! (They usually end up in a gift bag with bright red and green tissue paper stuffed on top.) It's not hard to make your gifts look like you spent a lot of time on them - inside and out. And who better to show us all the possibilities for any occasion than Martha Stewart her self. Here's a little photo montage for inspiration.

I truly like this the image above - doilies are so inexpensive but look at the whimsy it brings to this package. And you don't even have to tie a bow! Pretty much anything you grab to put on a package as a bow or garnish to make a gift look that much more special. Yarn, pipe cleaners, left over ribbon, fabric from the $1 bin. I am a big believer in real ribbon for gifts. I looks much more personal. And if that is all you add to your wrapping, then it's a big step!

With a little planning and some creativity, we can all wrap like Martha. Enjoy your last minute shopping!

Boys will be Boys

Recently, my husband and I were invited by his company on a little reward trip to San Antonio, TX. It was our first time there, and it was great! Love the city. But let me tell you...it was hot. Like 105 degrees hot. Everyday. Would love to go back in early spring or late fall so we could enjoy the outdoors a little more.

Anyway...I wanted to thank the general manager's of the company for their generous offer...which was a PAID trip for 5 days. It was a welcomed vacation and fun to spend time with friends and co-workers. Guys are so hard to buy thank you gifts for, so I thought we would bring back a little TX BBQ souvenir for them... Stubb's BBQ sauce is made in TX, so I decided to send them the sauce and our favorite recipe for wings. This is how it turned out! Just in time for football season and tailgate party's.

An Apple a Day

As a Marketing Director, I frequently get tasked to take on a fun project (as opposed to the not so fun ones). Since we are a health-based company, we can't just send candy or chocolates. So, a few weeks ago a created an apple basket for our sales team to send to potential clients. It got great responses!