Simple as 1-2-3: August 2014

Having a baptism is an important time in a babies life! We were blessed and honored to have a few bloggy/etsy friends help and celebrate with us! It was a beautiful day with great food and people!!

Introducing Zoey Blue Designs:

Hello Everyone! My name is Gwin and I am a graphic designer…well amongst other things. I recently became a new mom to my beautiful daughter Zoey, whom is the inspiration for everything I do. I am also a neurotic wife, photographer, over-caffeinated crafter, painter, baker, expert bow and tutu maker and most recently small business owner. I love to create, so you will usually find me consumed by projects that require imagination and creativity.

I was born a designer. My earliest memories are of scribbling different colored shapes on a page trying to make them look perfect, while my mom watched from afar baffled… I was four. A geometry teacher once told me that while math wasn’t my strong suit, my eye for the placement of geometric shapes was unlike anything she had ever seen. She recommended that I look into design, and so I did. In high school, I found my design niche amongst the yearbook crew and I spent countless of hours teaching myself Photoshop and Pagemaker (now InDesign) while constructing the yearbook pages. Soon after graduation, I began dabbling in design work for product catalogs, advertisements, band flyers and friends’ album covers. I’ve been mostly self-taught, but I have taken several art and design courses in college. In 2011, I began designing digital party invitations & supplies, which I have found to be a fun way to express myself while helping others create the parties they dream of.

As for when I’m not designing, I love spending time with my family. I enjoy watching my daughter grow and discover the world around her, so most of my hobbies of late revolve around her. I am also a bit of a crazy cat lady and all around animal lover. Some of my favorite things are cool autumn days, the wonderful world of Disney, watching tons of TV shows (currently watching 28 of them), drinking pumpkin spice lattes, listening to music (preferably Rob Thomas and the boys of Matchbox Twenty), baking, shopping at Target & IKEA, crafting (thank you pinterest!) and playing computer games with the hubby.

She made me these beautiful invitations for me!!

This listing is for a printable digital file. YOU are responsible for printing.
You will receive a high quality 300 DPI JPG file (PDF available upon request). You can download it and then send it to your favorite photo lab or print shop. You can also use the file to print on your home printer.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ZoeyBlueDesigns?section_id=14753917

She was wonderful to work with and is extremely talented!! She sells everything from invitations to birthday printables! It was a pleasure to work with her and I would recommend everyone to stop by her shop!!

Introducing The Lovely Memories:

Thank you for visiting my store. I create unique lovely party favors, accessories, centerpieces, personalized invitations, bottle labels, birthdays door signs, personalized birthday banners, favor tags, thank you cards, customized party printable and decorations for all your special events including …Weddings, Bridal Shower, Birthdays, kids birthdays, Quinceanera, Sweet Sixteen, Baptism, Graduations, Anniversary's, First Birthday and many more occasions.

Check out our Facebook page and become a fan!
http://www.facebook.com/TheLovelyMemories

She made these adorable labels for me! I used them as confetti on the table but they can be used for the bottom of hershey kisses as well! The 2-inch round labels are perfect party favors they can be used as stickers or cupcake toppers or gift tags. These labels can be punched with a 2" round punch. You will receive a 8.5 x 11 sheet Printable File with 15 circles you may print as many sheets as you like. Stop by her shop and check her out!!

Introducing A Party With Paper:

We Specialize in Printing and Personalized Paper Goods. Ready to use for your special Event.
Please place your orders sooner then later. ( Our Turnaround time is 2 weeks )
If you need a rush order please convo us. We will try our best to accommodate your request.
( Fees apply) Package of 5 Items or more 25.00
3 or 4 Items 15.00
1 or 2 Items 10.00 Please understand that if you place an order and fees apply. YOUR ORDER WILL NOT BE PROCESS TILL FEE IS PAID. YOU CAN PURCHASE the fees at he A LA CARTE section.
Orders are shipped out according to your (Event Date),
not the date you placed your order. If you would like your order shipped sooner please let us know , Once you purchase items, put in your request in notes to seller.

INVITATIONS: Proof are sent 24-48 hours of receiving the order ( does not include weekends) if you place your order Friday, Saturday or Sunday, You will get the proof
on Monday or Tuesday. THEY WILL SHIP 3 DAYS AFTER APPROVAL.
When you place an order with invitations included, Invites will go out first the rest will follow as schedule on your invoice.

Have a look at our shop: Convo us with the items you'd like and the theme you are interested in.
We'll create a custom listing with your specific party decor for you to purchase.
Always happy to completely customize your order

It takes time to create a custom listing, Please only ask to create a custom listing if you are ready to purchase, as we only leave custom listing up for 3 HRS. We are here to answer all your questions before you make YOUR FINAL decision for your special event.

Please convo us if you have any question-:)

We would love to help create that perfect party for your special event.
Don't see the theme you're looking for in our shop? Convo us, let us design something
for your special event.

Everything you need for a one of a kind event:

*Happy Birthday Banner
*12 Month Banner with Tags
*12 Month Tags
* Name Banner
*Age & Name Banner
*High Chair Banner
* Favor Tags
* Cupcake Toppers
* Invitations
* Thank You Notes
* Centerpieces
* Confetti
*Welcome Door Signs
*Baby Shower Items
*water bottle labels
* food tents( Blank)
and lots more..........

We customize items TO COORDINATE WITH YOUR THEME AND COLORS.
(Fees Apply)

Please just convo us and let us know your specifics needs!
Thank you for stopping by- looking forward to working with you :-)

She made these beautiful centerpieces for me!! These Centerpieces are perfect to decorate table and Great for your flower arrangements, and honor the Baptized baby-Christening-First Communion- Confirmation and more!!!!!

She has coordinating items:

Invitations
Thank You Notes
God Bless Banner
Name Banner
Favor Tags
Cupcake Toppers
Water Labels
Food Tents (Blank) and More

The Centerpieces are printed on high quality, heavy-weight 110 lb. cardstock and decorated with ribbon. Ribbon may vary but will always coordinate.

The centerpieces are handmade and beautiful ! She made these for me and I was simply amazed by them!! She was wonderful to work with and extremely precise! I put them into mason jars and decorated them to be perfect for Addison's big day!!

Check her out on pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/domson/birthday-ideas/

We had some yummy deserts and food! We had everything from ziti, to mac and cheese to wings! The desserts were endless from cake to cookies and cream puffs! Everything was delicious!!

Having family and friends around was amazing! It was a beautiful day for a beautiful little baby!

Addison had a beautiful day and was gorgeous! We couldn't have asked for a better day!!

It is as Simple as 1-2-3!

An easy how to make baby food! This will be pretty receptive so bare with me! I would recommend trying to use frozen baby food purée within 6 weeks. When you are ready to feed your baby you can either defrost your baby food in the fridge over night or you can reheat for 45 seconds to a minute in the microwave at full power, and then allow to cool before serving to my baby!

The older your baby gets the more you can do! You can add spices and mix and match foods to expand your babies pallet, see the last recipe below for an example of this!

No one wants a picky eater!!

Ok enough talking! Here is what you need to do!

1. Take whatever veggie you want and peel it if it needs to be peeled (like carrots)

2. Wash it !  

3. Roughly chop item if it needs to be chopped (like carrots)

 4. Place veggie in steamer basket over saucepan filled with 1 inch of water over medium-high to high heat and steam about 15 minutes or until fork tender (fork tender = poke fork into vegetable and it comes right back out). 

5. Next, puree item adding enough of the steaming liquid to come to a good consistency.

I was eye bowling it. Make sure it is the constancy that you are looking for depending on how old your baby is, thinner for younger babies and thicker for the older babies. I can always thin it with water, breast milk, or formula. If it is a first food, purée until very smooth.

Here are string beans from our garden!

Wash and cut ends!

Steam and then add to blender:

Puree:

Fill ice cube tray and flash freeze for about 3-4 hours until hard.

Place in a ziplock bag and label!

For squash I just placed the entire squash in a pot with the water over the squash. Boil until you can pierce it with a fork, about 15 minutes. After you puree it you can add it to an ice cube tray or snack bag zip lock bags! These lay flat in your freezer so you can just stack them! Just another way to freeze baby food!