When I was in high school, Stef and I used to harmonize to the song "Goin' to the Chapel". And now she really is going the chapel! I loved working with Stef and Alex on their wedding invites. I only wish I could be there because they are going to have an evening full of great music.

For months I had an idea brewing for our holiday card. We moved and had a baby in the same year so I thought it might be a great idea to combine everything into one. I decided to hand letter most of the card and then chose images from my Instagram account. And of course with the craziness of the holidays, I took forever to decide on where to print them. I really thought they needed to be letterpressed so I worked with Rowley Press again. I can never say enough good things about working with Leland! I'm really happy with these and was so happy that they (finally) made it to our friends' and families' homes!

One of my main goals when I plan parties for my kids is to make sure the party really fits their little personalities.  Rilo has recently become "obsessed with gum"...her words, not mine!  Sometimes I'm mortified because it's often the first thing she asks for upon seeing someone.  So the gumball idea worked!  I used the tubes of gum balls from Kara's Party Ideas as the color inspiration.  I liked the rainbow color theme because Rilo says that every color is her absolute favorite.  She can't pick just one to save her life!
 
I also used the gumball tubes as inspiration for the invitations.  I used the colorful dots all throughout the invites and party.  I cut out a little bit of honeycomb paper to make a popup "gumball" when you opened up the invite.  Then I put them in a bright pink envelope, sealed it with rainbow washi tape and then placed it in a small red box.  And just for added flair, I threw in a few gum balls in the box.  More tape, a tag and some string and they were finished!
 

 
I'm not much of cake maker or decorator so I asked The Mighty Baker to make the cake and macarons for me.  The salted caramel buttercream filling was SO good.  I'm still eating that delicious cake...it's worth not losing that baby weight.  I wanted to keep this party pretty simple, so I ordered some 5" honeycombs, and filled a few glass jars with gum balls and called it good!
 

I created a gum ball craft with dot paints and pom pom balls and a few of the kids played Pin the Gum on the Gumball Machine.

For the food, I had circle shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids, and a build your own sandwich bar for the adults.  Rainbow goldfish, veggie chips and a rainbow fruit and veggie platter rounded out the food.  We sang happy birthday and had cake and ice cream!
 

 
Thanks to Kayti from @thebeyoutybureau for this cute photo of Rilo blowing our her candles!
 

I sent the guests home with a gumball tube and a goodie bag with a mini colored pencil set, Hi chews and little smiley face stickers!

I loved this little party and most importantly my Rilo Jane loved it too!  Here is my big 4 year old, in all her cheesy smile glory!

 
Sources:

Cake and macarons- The Mighty Baker

Plates, cups, straws, favor bags, confetti balloon- Shop Sweet Lulu

Gumball tubes, party hats and other party favors-Kara's Party Ideas

Honeycomb paper- Devra Party Corp

5" Honeycomb Tissue Circles- Factory Direct Party

We haven't had family photos since Yan took photos of us when Rilo was just over a year old.  I can't believe I let that much time go by!  Yan came to our house before Christmas, so we could capture Arden while she was still little.  I love every single one of these images.  They just feel like "us".  I told Yan, she better be planning on taking photos when she's old, because she's the only one for me.  She is magic!

I found these great pirate patches in packs of 4 in the party section of Target. Rilo loves to dress up lately and has loved Jake and the Neverland Pirates so I felt like this worked!

You can download this file below!  You can cut out little notches so you can wrap the elastic around twice, or just use wash tape on the backside!

My little boy Collier is turning 2 next week!  Since he was 4 months old, he has loved to jump.  He'd jump on your lap, on the floor and in his jumper toy.  When he's upset, we tell him to jump it out.  And when he's excited, well he jumps then too!  So it only felt fitting that we have a jump party for his second birthday!  I wanted to do an interactive invitation, with an image of Collier jumping around.  It took 2 prototypes until I was able  to get something to work, but here's what I came up with!

If you want to see a video of it in action, you can find me on Instagram (@collectedblog). And contact me if you'd like to work together on a project: bri@collectedblog.com!

When my dear friend Margo asked me about designing woodland themed wedding invitations, I immediately got excited.  What better way to say "we're getting married in a forest" than by printing the actual invite on wood!?  We also created a map and a special details insert.  Since they were having a very intimate wedding, they asked that the guests dress in their colors, as they were all honorary wedding party members.  We added a fun little color wheel to guide the guests in the right direction.  My favorite addition was not my idea (it was actually the groom's!).  Margo and Brock included a different polaroid for each guest!  Congrats Margo and Brock!

Sara and Kevin decided to have a honey themed wedding.  I've known Sara for many years and she really is the epitome of sweet, so the theme was especially fitting.  I loved this pretty color palette and nod to the honey bee.  Congrats Sara and Kevin!

My dear friend threw her sweet little girl an "Audrey in Onederland" themed 1st birthday party. Janelle and Audrey are the cutest girly pair, so we included pinks, florals and girly touches. I'm hoping to share some details from the party...there were banners and food labels and a little month-by-month matching game!