reader question of the week

I am slowly bouncing back from the weekend...here, (finally), is the

reader question of the week:

"Have you ever seen any stylish 'divorce' parties? It's not that I want to celebrate the divorce, but rather that I want to mark a new beginning in a stylish, creative, sophisticated way that might be suitable for adults and children. Part of the celebration will be a housewarming (in Winter), as I'm buying the house from my ex-husband. I need some inspiration and guidance about how this can be done in an uplifting and inspiring way, and not a tacky one. Hope you can help! Thanks! -Rachael"

I love this idea and hope our PP readers can help. To submit your query for reader question of the week, email me at hickspapergoods(at)yahoo(dot)com

gen says...(a modern baby shower)

From Gen:

"I hosted a little baby shower for my dear friend Tarah last week. Tarah is about to have her second child- and she wants to keep the baby's gender a good ole' fashion surprise! So, without any dictated theme, I looked for inspiration that would pull my 'modern baby' shower concept together. I fell in love with one of Sara's invites- the dot stripe invitation had the simplicity, playfulness and upbeat color palette I was looking for. It also coordinated with some great make-up bags (I already had) that I wanted to give as party favors, so it felt meant to be.

Once the concept was determined, the rest seemed to fall into place...I just played off of the color palette of the invite and the idea of mixing assorted dots, stripes, and a few other favorite patterns to bring the party to life.

Of course not all things are planned...and in my last minute, day of the party rush, I decided to add a 'Hello' yellow bird card to the mix as a way of adding a little sweetness to the concept. Of course this unexpected addition, I think, is what pulls it all together, and gave a 'voice' to the party.

The food, I kept very simple and light, since I knew we would to save room for sweets! I made a lovely Canadian-Bacon Strata that was easy to prepare the night before. I paired it with a delicious spinach and lemon salad.

We finished the brunch with a little sugar...of course cupcakes, assorted donuts, and a sweet little mini cake topped with a candle and placed on my favorite green pedestal- which played perfectly off the dot theme! And yes, I couldn't resist matching the beverage choices to my color palette- I just adore the packaging of this Genesis beer.

It was a very sweet afternoon of relaxing with wonderful women...and a perfect way to celebrate such an amazing mom and friend!"

Thanks for sharing another wonderful occasion with us, Gen!

party by post

You are my fave author, Melanie, mailed this 'party' pinåta (sans box!) to her nieces and nephews. It's an awesome idea, however, I've got so many questions. Did she just pop this in the mailbox? Or did her post office really let her mail the hat? If so, how did they affix postage? Isn't silly string considered an explosive of some kind since it is combustible? I can't imagine the guys at my P.O. allowing me to send this in the mail, but now I feel I should at least try. 

...via pink cupcake vintage

shower perfect! (a baby shower for twins)

I'm in love with every single detail of this absolutely perfect shower. I plan on copying each idea in some way in the future! The flags in the rice krispies? Love it. The onesie cookie favors with personalized packaging? Can't get enough of it. The color palette? So sophisticated, yet baby appropriate.

You will not be surprised to know that the hosts are two very talented ladies- one, an art director and stylist for J. Crew, and the other a food stylist for Martha Stewart. I hope you are as inspired by this lovely shower as I am!

A description: 

"The shower was held at Elizabeth in the Nolita area of NYC. They have an amazing back garden with a retractable roof that was so perfect for our springtime luncheon. The food is great there, too! We made a "Double Trouble" garland out of mixed printed fabrics and had cute "Twice as Nice" napkins made. We put together a tonal-colored sweets table with french macaroons, homemade onesie cookies, M&M's, sour peaches, orange tic-tacs and a cake from Billy's Bakery (my fave in NYC). Ashley baked and iced the adorable onesie cookies and we packaged them in celo bags with "We heart Courtney" tags with our mixed prints coming through the hearts (look familiar?). We had two fabric-covered boxes...one said, "Name the babies!" and the other said, "Wishes for the Baby Mama!"...with notecards and pens for the guests' messages. We color copied our printed fabrics (from the garland) onto paper and used them for our toothpick flags that went into the rice crispy treats. We enlarged baby pictures of the expecting Mom and Dad and scattered them throughout the tables. We decorated our vases with our mixed printed fabrics and ribbon."

I would imagine that momma-to-be felt showered with love. Thank you for sharing, guys! This is one of my all-time favorites.

birthday week shoutout

Magchunk recently had a 'birthday week' with lots of fun posts. I was honored to be interviewed as part of her celebration week (along with other blogger fave, Chelsea of Frolic). For all of Maggie's fun finds and interviews, check out her blog!