baby lifestyles october/november 2011 magazine issue
DESCRIPTION
Baby Lifestyles magazine featuring baby Halloween costume and kid Halloween invitations, breast cancer awareness products and parties, an interview with Chris Nease of Celebrations at Home Blog, Fall baby showers, Thanksgiving tables, National Adoption month and celebrity adoptions. Also featured are a vintage picnic baby shower, a little pumpkin baby shower, hello sunshine party table, baby's first Halloween party, maternity photography and newborn photography, as well as a beautiful under the sea mermaid birthday partyTRANSCRIPT
Baby LifestylesOctober/ November 2011 Magazine
Baby LifestylesLAUREN HALPERINPublisher, Creative Director
TARA STEINLEManaging Editor
ELLEN FELDMAN, BETH MERAN, KIMBERLY MISHContributing Editors
LOLA STEEVENSSales Director
AUSTIN “Mr. Z” RAPPAPORTWebsite Architect
MICHAEL GUSTMANS.E.O. Management
Visit Baby Lifestyles online at www.BabyLifestyles.comfor inspiration, real baby showers, birthday parties, nursery reveals, hot products, news, updats,
contests, giveaways, and more
Would you like to contribute to Baby Lifestyles? Email our editorial staff at [email protected]
Submit your baby shower, birthday party or nursery to Baby Lifestyles at www.BabyLifestyles.com
For information about advertising in Baby Lifestyles Magazine and online,contact Lola Steevens at [email protected]
Follow us on Twitter: @BabyLifestyles1
Baby Lifestyles is published bi-monthly by Baby Lifestyles, LLC. All contents ©2011 Baby Lifestyles, LLC. All rights reserved.
On the CoverThe amazing and talented Jennifer Bishopcreated this rustic elegance baby shower
for a little pumpkin’s arrival.As an expert on event planning, she showsoff this party and a vintage picnic showershe hosted for her best friend. Read aboutthis rustic elegance shower on page 77
CCaann yyoouu ffeeeell tthhee wwiinntteerr cchhiillll iinn tthhee aaiirr??
TThhee BBaabbyy LLiiffeessttyylleesshhoolliiddaayy iissssuuee iiss ccoommiinngg!!CCoonnttaacctt uuss ffoorr ddeettaaiillss!!
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IN EVERY ISSUE7 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR8 HOT PRODUCTS132 LAST CRY
STUFF WE LOVE10 BREAST CANCER PRODUCTS17 DIY HALLOWEEN CAKE BUNTING18 DIY HALLOWEEN WREATH20 TISSUE PAPER POMS
PHOTOGRAPHY56 SLEEPY NEWBORN67 ROAD TRIP MATERNITY
MAKING A DIFFERENCE11 PINK-O-WEEN BREAST CANCERHALLOWEEN PARTY
24 NATIONAL ADOPTION DAY25 TOP 20 CELEBRTING ADOPTIONS
NURSERY REVEALS30 CHLOE’S PINK PALACE34 BROOKLYN’S BOUTIQUE
TRENDSETTER20 LEANNE SHARES AUSTRALIA’S HOT PARTY TRENDS
BEHIND THE DESIGN40 BRATT DECOR’S MARY BAUER
CELEBRATIONS48 HELLOW SUNSHINE58 BABY’S 1ST HALLOWEEN 70 LITTLE MERMAID PARTY 77 RUSTIC ELEGANCE SHOWER 82 FOUNTAINBLEAU BRIS 94 PINK PRINCESS SHOWER100 VINTAGE PICNIC SHOWER 106 THANKSGIVING KIDS TABLE 112 SWEET TART SHOWER
POWER PLAYER120 CELEBRATIONS AT HOME
CONTENTSOctober/ November 2011
PAGE 11 PAGE 30 PAGE 58
PAGE 106 PAGE 120 PAGE 112
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In my neighborhood, Halloween is taken very seriously. All of the children from the area come around to my sub-
division of the community to trick-or-treat… during the daytime… in golf carts. Yes, golf carts. Some of the houses
decorate their lawns minimally, with skulls in the grass, witches dangling from the trees, and spooky figurines that
require either a hefty set of lungs or an air machine to blow up. Others take the occasion quite seriously. They remove
the cars from their garages and create full-effect haunted houses for kids to make their way through if they dare.
Sure, it’s not exactly a ‘holiday’, but it is a great day in the year when parents can get a little silly and kids can get dressed
up. It’s also an amazing excuse to celebrate with friends, and in costume! Whether you decorate your houses in creepy
fashion or in frightening cuteness, admit it, it’s a fun day.
For baby’s first Halloween, it’s the opportunity to leave onesies behind for an evening and dress your baby up in
creative costume couture. You can play on parents’ profession and dress them up as a future doctor/golfer/business
person, etc. or get funny and have them in a car air freshener costume. Baby and toddler costumes can be distinctive
by personality or by favorite Star Wars character. The hot trend this year is parents who dress in theme with their
children. If you decide to be a wicked witch, there’s a Dorothy costume for your baby complete with shiny ruby heeled
slippers. Get into the comic book universe and dress as Iron Man while your little one goes as Captain America.
Halloween is a time to have fun, enjoy yourself and not take yourself to seriously when you get dressed up.
This year, I will either be Rainbow Brite or Wonder Woman, I have not decided yet.
Lauren HalperinPublisher & Creative Director
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Beth Beattie
If you’re wondering what to dofor baby’s first Halloween, it iseasy to find some too-cute
spooky inspiration from Beth’sfriendly ghost party on page 58.
Joriann Maye Keegan
Primarily a photojournalist, this photographer has picked up some party tips along her
picture-taking journey. Followher under the sea to page 70
for this mermaid party.
Paula Biggs
This party printables princesshates when the adults have allthe fun. Check out what she did
to make her daughter’s Thanksgiving kids table be
fun and decorative on page 106.
Jennifer Bishop
This event planner knows how tothrow a baby shower! Whetherits for a client expecting a littlegirl (77), or going above andbeyond for her best friend (page 100), she’s got everyamazing trick in her bag.
Marie Dannettelle
Marie knows how to tickle yoursweet tooth. For the autumnseason, she createed a sweettart baby shower full of all thingsdelicious and fall for when you’reexpecting a little pumpkin or
pecan on page 112.
Courtney Dial
The mind behind Pizzazzerieworked together with team atAnders Ruff to find away to
celebrate Halloween and raisemoney for breast cancer charities at the same time.Sneak a peek at her
Pink-o-ween bash on page 11.
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Melissa Musgrove
With an eye for detail, its no wonder this photographer getscalls from the fabulous and
the famous. She shot this pinkprincess baby shower to
celebrate the arrival of baby Gracie on page 94
Maureen Anders and Adria Ruff
It takes a team like Maureen and Adria of Anders Ruff to come upwith some truly amazing printables. Teamed up with Pizzazzerie’sCourtney Dial, they created the recipe to get glamorous for Hal-loween and raise money for breast cancer charities at the sametime with their Pink-o-ween designs. On page 11, you can see how
they updated their 2010 designs for Halloween 2011.
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TTRRIICCKK OORRTTRREEAATT
Hot 2011 Baby Costumes
YYoouurr IInnvviittaattiioonn ttootthhee MMoonnsstteerr
MMaasshh
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Shopping for Breast Cancer
Something to Chew OnWe all know how much babies love to grab andchew. For that reason, most moms don’t wearjewelry when their children are young. TeethingBling is changing that. Teething jewelry madefrom the same FDA-approved material as mostteething toys, these pretty pendants and ban-gles look great on the adult wearer but are safefor curious babies to handle and chew. EveryOctober they donate 20% of every Think Pinkline sale to the National Breast Cancer Founda-tion. They also encourage their fans to takecare of themselves with regular checkups andmammograms.--Price: $19.10 Visit www.smartmomjewelry.com
Pink at PlayPink is in! The Pretty in Pink™ Collection puts a fresh spin on being girly. Sweet charactersand colors make these adorable toys and geara must have! Inspired by current trends, thePretty in Pink™ collection of products is a funapproach for baby girl! Plus a portion of the proceeds from this collection support breastcancer research and awareness, providing the little girls of today a brighter tomorrow.www.pinkpowermom.com.
Breast Cancer StinksWhether breast milk or homemade baby food,Poo-Pourri is always up for a dirty diaper chal-lenge. They are donating 20% of proceeds ofNo. 2 4oz Before-You-Go Bathroom Spray tohelp raise awareness and support for breastcancer. No. 2 is a sweet smelling air freshenerwith a combination of Mandarin, Bergamot, andorange with hints of peaches and berries leavesa fresh and fruity scent after every flush. Thediscreetly sized two ounce bottle fits easily inpurses, helping users add a dash of class toyour bathroom business. Price: $9.95 www.poopourri.com
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The big trend in party themes is that they are going glam. Why shouldHalloween be any different? While most partiers view October asthe month to get their scary on, graphic goddesses Maureen Andersand Adria Ruff of design firm Anders Ruff teamed up with party princess Courtney Dial of Pizzazzerie for a Halloween party with acause. October marks National Breast Cancer Awareness month and
the trio put together a ppiinnkk--oo--wweeeenn party for an original, sassy and charitable take on a usually dark and gloomy holiday.
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While traditional Halloween colors are the always popular orangeand black, it’s common to see parties spiced up with purple, greenand pink. “So many stores are including multi-colored glitteredskulls, candles, pumpkins, and other Halloween decor in funky col-ors so it's easy to throw a sassy soiree for Halloween this year,”Dial said. Plus pink is such a popular party color that it’s the perfectcomplement to black to make a pink Halloween party.
Halloween is typically seen as a darker holiday, full of spooky masksand kids hyped up on excess sugar. However, Breast Cancerfundraisers are much more light, pink occasions to celebrate life.There is no reason not to blend the two by adding a dash of glitterand sparkle. “I think any time you can raise money for breast can-cer charities and make it fun, it has the possibility of being a suc-cess,” said Anders. “I think more and more adults are havingHalloween parties of their own for themselves and their children
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and so what better way to combine a holiday with a great cause.”A pink-o-ween part does not have to be overdone to set the tone ofa Halloween party. By adding some simply spooky items like spiderwebs, sparkling pumpkins and feather trees, you can convey thetheme of Halloween without crossing the line. “I added in black glit-ter spiders onto all the decorations from candy bowls to candles,”Dial said. “The main fabric for the tablecloth really set the stage fora Halloween theme with the pink glittered spiders on black velvet.”
It took the Anders Ruff team about 15 hours to create the printableset for the Pizzazzerie styled pink-o-ween party. They continue todonate $2 from every purchase of this set to the Susan G. Komenfor the Cure foundation. They’ve also updated the set for 2011 withfresh twists on their fundraising design.
Click Here to purchase the Pinkoween set!
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The updated 2011 Printable PinkoweenDesign Collection Includes 19 FormattedPages. After purchase it is sent to you
via email in PDF format. You will receive:
- 1 Pages of 2" Party Logos (4 designs)- 1 Page of Favor Tags - 1 Pages of Bottle Wraps- 1 Page of Blank Party Labels - 1 Page of Personalized Party Labels - 1 Page of Folding Party Bag Toppers - 1 Square Party Sign - 5 Coordinating Patterned Papers- 1 Page of Party Flags (2 designs)- 1 Wine Wrap- 5 Pages Circle Party Pennants/Signs
CUPCAKES: Got What It Cakes2010 PHOTOGRAPHY: By Kristen Steele Photography
2010 STYLING: Pizzazzerie2011 PHOTOGRAHPY: Anders Ruff2010-2011 PRINTABLES: Anders Ruff
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If you’re in love with cake bunting, you’ll love when it gets creative! This fun Halloween cake bunting banner comes courtesy of To Be Charmed. It’s such a cute way to add a little scary to your Halloween party cake and takes very
little time to make guest scream with delight.
DDoo IItt YYoouurrsseellffHHaalllloowweeeenn CCaakkee BBuunnttiinngg BBaannnneerr
DIRECTIONS:1. Using the Halloween stickers, trace the shapes onto the decorative paper and cut out the shapes.
2. Cut the ribbon and embellish the bamboo skewers.3. With your glue gun, attach the Halloween shapes to the string and attach to the bamboo skewers.
4. Enjoy!
MATERIALS:1. Bamboo skewers2. Halloween stickers 3. Decorative paper4. String5. Ribbon6. Glue gun
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DDoo IItt YYoouurrsseellffHHaappppyy HHaalllloowweeeenn RRiibbbboonn WWrreeaatthh
If you are like Cara of The Picky Apple, then you watch your neighbors go all out with their Halloween lawn decorations at their homes. She was
inspired to decorate her door for Halloween in a happy, cute, fun way with this brightly colored Happy Halloween Ribbon Wreath.
MATERIALS:1. A wreath form (size depends on you)2. Black ribbon – to wrap around your wreath form, about 15 feet should do it
3. Colored ribbons – about 5 feet of each color
4. One inch blocks or beads
5. Styrofoam letters or numbers6. Glitter7. Hot glue gun8. Gorilla glue9. Decoupage Glue (Mod Podge)
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DIRECTIONS:1. Wrap a 12” foamwreath form in wideribbon. Cara used black,pinning it at first andgluing it down with GorillaGlue as she went.
2. Now, let the ribboncutting begin! “You’regoing to need lots and lotsof ribbon,” cautions Cara.“How much will dependon how thick you bunchthe ribbons together andwhether you completelycover the inside andoutside of the wreathinstead of just the front.”
3. Cut ribbons of yourpattern and color choiceinto lengths about four tofive inches in length.
Helpful Tip: use varyingwidths of ribbon. “I wishI had used more wideribbon.”
4. Create loops with theribbons by folding in halfand hot gluing each oneclosed.
5. Fold each ribbon in halfand sew each one closed.If you don't have a sewingmachine, you can hot glueeach one closed.
Helpful Tip: avoid sheerribbon. “Unless you enjoygetting hot glue all overyour fingers.”
6. Once all of yourribbons have dried, it’stime to start gluing yourribbon loops to the wreathform. Separate the part ofthe ribbon below the“seam” you created.
7. Keep adding moreloops to your wreath,placing them at randomangles. By placing themclose together yourwreath will look nice andfull.
Optional Add On: Addletters with pizzazz!
8. Use a coat of modpodge to Styrofoamletters and cover in glitter.
9. Combine letters to spellout word of your choice.For Halloween try,spooky, boo, or treat.
10. Take your one inchblocks or beads and hotglue them to the wreath.This will give your lettersdimension off of thewreath and ribbon. Gluethe glittery letters to theblocks to spell out yourword.
Step 3: cut your ribbons
Step 6: glue ribbons to wreath
Step 10: glue letters to blocks
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Celebrating baby takes place around the world. Whether differentcultural customs or religious ceremonies, babies are taking centerstage when it comes to partying. To see how the hottest trends inthe United States are translating elsewhere in the world, we hoppedaround the globe to the land down under. Leanne Ambrogio is themind behind online party store Sweet Style and creative party blogMrs. A in the Cove. She gave us the skinny on how party trends arebeing modernized and how Australian moms are celebrating with
baby showers and birthday parties with themes.
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What are the hot trends emerging inbaby showers and in children’s partiesin Australia?The gender reveal party seems to bepopular in the US right now so I am surethat trend will follow here in Australia. Iam also seeing a trend to non traditionalthemes – themes that revolve aroundthe birthday boy/girls favourite things –while the traditional princess and pirateparties will always be popular it is greatto see some really quirky themes. Weare also seeing a big move to themeingof the entire party so from the momentyou enter the party zone you really aretransported into party wonderland.Dessert buffet tables are the hottestthing in the United States. When diddessert tables become popular inAustralia?
The trend hit Australia at the beginningof 2010 but it really has become thething to do in 2011. Lots of mums lovegetting creative for their kids parties andthis has added another element. I lovehow a dessert table has created anamazing centerpiece for a party.How do you incorporate desserttables into parties with themes? A dessert table can be incorporated into atheme on all levels. Colour is a big one asit ties everything together and decorationsand props are a fabulous was to extendon the theme. Types of food comes insecond as you can almost have anythingon the table and give it a name that fitswith the theme – for example at the WildAnimal Party I put together we gave anumber of the food items on the table cutenames like possum tails.
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Desserts themselves are also trendy.What is the hottest dessert to have onyour table in Australia?The cake pop is still popular in Aus-tralia—although I am a big fan of thecookie version which I find simpler tomake. Desserts on sticks or in jars arethe big thing now. Cute packaging isalso really popular.How much should an invitationdirect a party in theme and color?An invitation is a huge influence on aparty – it sets the scene for what is tocome and allows you to really extend thetheme from beginning to end. I really en-courage people to decide on their themeand then pick the invitation that bestgoes with it.
What are some of your favorite waysto add spice to party décor?Backdrops and props are a great way toadd something extra to your party – theydon’t have to be things that stand out butthey really help to tie things together. DIY projects in parties make every-thing so much more personal. WhatDIY projects are popular in Australia?I have become a little obsessed withstamping words on cutlery or labels toadd a personalized touch. A little spoonwith the birthday person’s name on itlooks just fabulous and every child lovesto see their name in lights. Other greatDIY projects involve scouting around forgreat backdrops – whether it be a fab-ric/ribbon backdrop or making bunting.
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What are some of your favorite par-ties you have thrown and why? Whatdid you love about each?One of my favourite parties was the Bub-blegum party held earlier this year. Thecolours made the party bright and happyand the bubblegum machine cake as acenterpiece was just amazing. The wildanimal party from earlier this year waslots of fun as well. Having the animals inthe backyard also made this party lots offun. My two year old daughter’s partythis year was a kite party which was justa wonderful theme for the age range.The parties you throw for your girlshave a similar feeling of fun, girlish,delight. How do you capture smiles inparty details?My kids love parties! They just enjoyhaving their friends around and havingthat one day of the year that is all about
them. Involving them in the planning andlead up means that on the day they areso absorbed in the excitement of it allthat smiles just come naturally.What’s the best party planning adviceyou ever got?Don’t leave everything to the last minute.Forward planning makes for a smoothparty day.What tips can you give others lookingto plan parties for their children or forbaby showers?Keep details simple but add specialtouches. You don’t need to go over-board and provide lots of options in thefood department – 4-5 options are plentyto have on a dessert table, but makesure your platter or cake stand is full andinviting. And don’t have too big a guestlist – smaller parties are always better forthe birthday person and their guests.
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Giving a child a strong foundation — a home, a familyto love, and a safe place to grow — is one of life’sgreatest and most generous gifts. Through adoption,both domestic and international, Americans from acrossour country have provided secure environments forchildren who need them, and these families have bene-fited from the joy an adopted child can bring. Thanks totheir nurturing and care, more young people have beenable to realize their potential and lead full, happy lives.This year, we celebrate National Adoption Month to rec-ognize adoption as a positive and powerful force in countless American lives, and to encourage theadoption of children from foster care.
This year on November 19, families, adoption advocates, policymakers, judges and volunteers willcome together and celebrate adoption in communities large and small all across the nation.
National Adoption Day is a national day of celebration of adoptive families and an opportunity forcourts to open their doors and finalize the adoptions of children from foster care. Since 2000, morethan 35,000 children have had their adoptions finalized on National Adoption Day.
As we observe National Adoption Month, we honor the loving embrace of adoptive families and theaffirming role of adoption in the lives of American families and our country. Let us all commit to sup-porting our children in any way that we are able — whether opening our hearts and homes throughadoption, becoming foster parents to provide quality temporary care to children in crisis, supportingfoster and adoptive families in our communities and places of worship, mentoring young people inneed of guidance, or donating time to helping children in need. Working together, we can shape a fu-ture of hope and promise for all of our Nation’s children.
In recent years, many Americans have been discovering adoptionand all its blessings, but for many it remains an untapped
opportunity. Thanks to the efforts of devoted citizens, muchprogress has taken place in finding permanent homes for thousands of children, wonderful children have a great deal
of love to offer their adoptive families.
November 19, 2011 is National
Adoption Day
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In honor of Novemberbeing National AdoptionMonth, we’re listing the top 20 adoptions in Hollywood. The topspot goes to a woman,and it’s not who you
think it is!
Celebrity Adoption # 20 A Hall of Fame FamilyFor his entire 17 year NFL career, Dan Marinoburst into national prominence football recordsalong the way, but it was also during that time thathe started his own family. Marino and his wifeClaire were married in 1985, and together theyhave had four children: Daniel Jr., Michael, Josephand Alexandra. The couple also adopted a Chinesegirl, Niki Lin, in 1998. The adoption took almost ayear to finalize, with Claire spending 10 days inChina before returning to the family's Florida homewith the child. They more recently adopted a 2ndchild from China named Lia. Celebrity Adoption # 19 A Sister Inspired Adoption Always outspoken and honest, Katherine Heigladopted her daughter, Naleigh, with husband JoshKelley. As her sister Meg had been adopted fromKorea, adoption had been a part of her life and apart of her family, so it was how she wanted to starther family. She named her daughter after hermother Nancy and her sister Margaret Leigh.
Celebrity Adoption # 18 If it Makes Her Happy...After a series of failed relationships with famousmen - Eric Clapton, Kid Rock and Lance Armstrong- and having her world rocked with the news thatshe had breast cancer, rocker Sheryl Crow decided
not wait any longer to see if she could find some-one strong enough to be her man before she be-came a mom. In May 2007, she announced thatshe adopted a two-week old baby boy she namedWyatt Steven Crow after her father and her brother. Celebrity Adoption # 17 Momma Don't PreachMany people thought the Queen of Pop went adance step too far when she swept into the Africannation of Malawi to adopt a child. In this nationwhere there are no set adoption laws, Madonnaand husband at the time Guy Ritchie came homewith 13-month-old David Banda, who was living inan orphanage after his mother died of age givingbirth and because his father was too poor to carefor the child. The world cried foul when the boy'sfather, Yohane, claimed not to have understoodwhat he had agreed to when he said ok to theadoption, and Madge was accused of using hercelebrity status to circumvent any and all adoptionlaws. Only when Madonna faced the cameras ofOprah did the media storm die down.
Celebrity Adoption # 16 When Meg Met BabyAfter an epiphany in India, Meg Ryan deemed her-self 'destined to adopt a baby.' Ten years and a tripacross the globe later, it finally happened. Like so
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many adopting parents, Ryan headed to Chinawhen domestic proceedings lagged. Ryan, whoalso has a teenage son, Jack, with former husbandDennis Quaid, said she originally named the babygirl Charlotte, but later changed her name to DaisyTrue.
Celebrity Adoption # 15 Suri's SiblingsOnce upon the time, Tom Cruise was on postersfor Top Gun and he was married to his gorgeousco-star in Days of Thunder, Nicole Kidman. Thepair married in 1990 and adopted two children, Is-abella and Connor, both who had come from im-poverished backgrounds on America's EastCoast. The pair of movie stars became parents tothese dual-citizenship tots, jet setting them backand forth between Hollywood, movie sets, andNicole's home country of Australia. Now it seemsthe only press these older Suri siblings get iswhen Tomkat gets photographed at one of Is-abella's soccer team. Funny, Izzy doesn't seem tobe in any of the shots? Though the famous couplesplit, both Connor and Isabella attending the wed-dings of Tom to Katie Holmes and Nicole Kidmanto Keith Urban.
Celebrity Adoption # 14 Prince Charming Who?If you're tired of waiting around for Mr. Right, it'stime to make your role model Sharon Stone. Thisactress and AIDS activist is the live versions ofSamantha Jones, living proof that a woman canhave it all without a man. The mother of threeadopted sons Roan (born in 200), Laird (born in2005) and Quinn (born in 2006) has been quotedas calling adoption "God's other birth canal."
Celebrity Adoption # 13 No Longer Flying SoloBrothers and Sisters star Calista Flockhart wit-nessed the New Year's Day 2001 birth of her sonLiam and got to hold him for the first time only min-utes later. The child's natural mother, who had fourprevious children met the actress on several occa-sions prior to giving up her son. At 36, Flockhartwas single at the time of the adoption and said itwas the best thing she had ever done. "It reallychanges who you are. It changes your heart," shesaid in an interview with Hello! A year later, shefound a father figure for Liam in eternal heartthrob
Harrison Ford, with whom she still plays happyfamily with.
Celebrity Adoption # 12 Fame Fortune and FamilyAfter landing pivotal parts in The Witches of East-wick, Dangerous Liasons and Batman Returns,Michelle Pfeiffer decided to take on the role of alifetime - mother. Publicly declaring her private lifeempty, she arranged to adopt the fifth child of aNew York nurse who couldn't afford to care for an-other. Weeks later, she met and fell in love withwriter David E. Kelley. The adoption continued asplanned but the christening of Claudia Rose turnedinto a wedding. Brother John Kelley was born ayear later.
Celebrity Adoption # 11 Mature MomAt 50, actress Diane Keaton had roles of a life-time in the Godfather movie trilogy, but she hadsecretly longed for the role of mother. At the ageof 50, Keaton realized that she had missed theboat on marriage and motherhood and turned toadoption to rectify the situation. "I had wanted tobe in a good relationship," Keaton had told Ladies'Home Journal. "Those good relationships that arestrong and substantive never happened for me,and that prolonged my indecisiveness. As shespurred a widespread debate over the maximumage for adoptive parents, Keaton adopted adaughter, Dexter, in 1996 and a son, Duke, in2001. "I was not ready before," Keaton said. "Oneof my former lovers said to me: 'You are a verylate developer.' I think the same applied to moth-erhood."[My children] have given me the mosthumbling, shocking, amazing and defining rela-tionship of my life. I always spent too much timeworrying whether a man loves me but I've foundraising a child the most demanding and humaniz-ing of all loves."
Celebrity Adoption # 10 A Late in Life RefugeEmma Thompson's 'adoption' of a Rwandanrefugee has been an inspirational, yet barely pub-licized, success story. Oscar-winning actressEmma Thompson debuted her 20-year-oldadopted son Tindyebwa Agaba , a former child sol-dier from Rwanda, at Nelson Mandela's 90th birth-day dinner in London. The British actress first met
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Tindy when he was 16, at a Refugee Council partyin London. He had managed to escape a very dif-ficult life, thanks to Care International. Tindy, wholives with Thompson and is in his second year atExeter University, is studying politics and wants tobe a human rights lawyer. Celebrity Adoption # 9 Rosie's KidsAfter exiting her daytime talk show in 2002, RosieO'Donnell decided to publicly announce that shewas gay in order to properly advocate for same-sex adoption rights. O'Donnell adopted her sonParker in 1995, daughter Chelsea in 1997 and an-other son Blake in 1999. Always a fighter, she tookon the plight of a gay couple in Florida who weren'tallowed to adopt the foster children they were rais-ing. Rosie and her wife, Kelli, also have a daugh-ter named Vivienne. Kelli gave birth to "Viv" inNovember 2002.
Celebrity Adoption # 8 Greenlight for FamilySteven Spielberg is almost as prolific a father ashe is a moviemaker. Two of his children areadopted, two come from Spielberg and and wifeKate Capshaw's first marriages, and a further threeare the product of the couple's union, often de-scribed as one of the most enduring in showbusi-ness. Their adopted son, Theo, is anAfrican-American born in 1988. . "We fell in lovewith the child. We didn't fall in love with the face orthe skin color," Spielberg told CNN's Larry King.Daughter Mikaela George was discovered throughthe public adoption agencies in 1996, and bornshortly after that year's Oscars. At that time, Cap-shaw issued a statement saying: "We are sothrilled to welcome Mikaela into our lives, the sixthand final addition to our family." Nine months later,she was eating her words, though: Steven andKate's seventh child, Destry, was born to the cou-ple in December that year.
Celebrity Adoption # 7 A Made for TV SpecialLong before adoption was all the rage, news anchorBarbara Walters brought home a 4-day-old baby girland went back to work the next day. There was nopress about it. There were no magazine covers.There were no paparazzi pictures. Walters had beendesperate to be a mom, but after three miscar-riages, she was told she couldn't bear a child. It was-
n't until more than 30 years later, Walters anddaughter Jackie went live with their story on nationalTV - the ultimate Barbara Walters special.
Celebrity Adoption # 6 The Brangelina BroodToday when you think of celebrity adoption, there'sa good chance that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pittcome to mind. Jolie became a mother when sheadopted her mohawked son Maddox from Cambo-dia in 2002 shortly after Tomb Raider finished film-ing there. Brad Pitt signed on to play father to himand the couple added daughter Zahara fromEthiopia. The couple gave birth to daughter Shilohin 2006 and shortly after added three-year-old Paxfrom Vietnam. Even though the duo recently gavebirth to twins Vivienne and Knox, their plans still in-clude expanding their brood through adoption.Brad has been quoted as wanting enough childrento "form his own country and dominate in WorldCup soccer."
Celebrity Adoption # 5 Say You, Say Me, BabyIf you've ever wondered why reality TV star NicoleRitchie looks nothing like her famous father, here'swhy. Lionel first met Nicole as a child playing tam-bourine onstage at a Prince concert. In 1984, Li-onel and his then wife Brenda informally adoptedthe three year-old daughter of one of their back-stage assistants, who'd previously had a brief flingwith one of his session drummers. Although theyraised her as their own, the adoption was formal-ized in 1990, when Nicole was nine. Today, Nicoleis a successful socialite, television star, and mother to Harlowe Winter Kate Madden.
Celebrity Adoption # 4 The Force is Strong withThis BabyA long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. . .writer/director/producer George Lucas decided itwas time to start a family. He adopted Amanda in1981, with wife Marcia only to become a single fa-ther two years later, when she left him. Lucas de-cided to put his mega-hot post-Star Wars careeron hold in order to add Katie and Jett to his broodin the late 1980s. "I really stopped making moviesso I could raise my kids, and that took 15 years," hesays. Lucas is often introduced at Star Wars con-ventions by one or more of his children, who have
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also made cameos appearances in his films. Asthe father of three adopted children, Lucas is thefounder and chairman of the board of the GeorgeLucas Educational Foundation, which focuses onproject-based learning that stimulates children'spassions and empha-sizes well-preparedteachers to improvestudent learning.
Celebrity Adoption #3 One for the GipperFuture President of theUnited States RonaldReagan married ac-tress Jane Wyman in1940. They had adaughter, Maureen in1941 and adopted ason, Michael in 1945.They divorced in 1948and Reagan remarriedin 1952 to actressNancy Davis. Michael is now a talk show host, witha show syndicated in almost 200 radio stationscoast to coast, Mike feels God wants him to usehis own experiences with adoption, divorce, andbroken homes as a springboard to help others. Hehas also published a book, 'Twice Adopted' on thesubject. At his father's funeral he said "RonaldReagan adopted me into his family 1945. I was achosen one. I was the lucky one. And all of hisyears, he never mentioned that I was adopted ei-ther behind my back or in front of me. I was his son,Michael Edward Reagan."
Celebrity Adoption # 2 Wished Upon a StarIn 1933, after two miscarriages, Lilly Disney gavebirth to Walt Disney's first daughter, Diane. Waltand Lilly wanted more children, but after Diane'sbirth Lilly suffered a third miscarriage. So they de-cided to adopt. In January 1937, two-week-oldSharon Mae Disney came home. Walt and Lillywere delighted. Diane was a bit disappointed thatthis much-anticipated event culminated in the ar-rival of a very uninteresting pile of baby. Walt's roleas father was one of the most important in his life.He treated his daughters with a loving patience,kindness.
Celebrity Adoption # 1 The Original AdoptionActivistYou can't talk about celebrity adopters without talk-ing about Mia Farrow, a mother of 15, 11 of whomare adopted from all corners of the globe. She was
an adoption pioneer,rescuing childrenfrom poverty strickencountries long beforeit was cool to do so.The war in Vietnamled the actress to herfirst adoption, herdaughter Lark. Inshaping her family,Farrow came to anawareness of all theneeds, globally.Amongst heradopted children area Vietnamese warorphan with asthma,a crack-addicted
baby, who was blind, a paraplegic, and a polio vic-tim who had been abandoned at a Calcutta railwaystation. Farrow has been a high profile advocate ofadoption since the 1970s, adopting children frompoverty stricken regions, many of whom weredeemed 'difficult to place' due to biological handi-caps. She adopted three children and has three bi-ological children with Andre Previn. She alsoadopted two children and has one biological childwith Woody Allen.
Farrow is estranged from her adopteddaughter, Soon-Yi Previn since Soon-Yi's mar-riage to Woody Allen. Farrow has said of Soon-Yi:'She was on the streets in Korea when she wascaptured and brought to the state orphanage. Andin a way I can see from her perspective - a verylimited perspective - that she's improved her situ-ation. For a little orphan kid from Korea ... Perhapsshe's not to be blamed.' Despite the turmoiladopted daughter Soon-Yi put her through, Far-row went on to adopt five additional children as asole parent thereafter. Her last adoption was in1995. She is active in agencies that encourageadoption, as evidenced by her involvement withUNICEF. Farrow's adopted daughter Tam Farrowdied in March 2000 at 21.
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Before this room was the nursery itwas a guest room, which was hardlyused! It was decorated with the full sizefour-poster bed from when mom, Dina,was a little girl. There were white cur-tains and the accents were all very vin-tage. It was a very pretty fresh guestroom. Now the nursery is a palace ofpink for her daughter Chloe.
When Dina came across WendiSchoffstall’s room she did for her daugh-ter Claire, she fell in love and knew shehad to make it her own for her daughter.She tracked down the perfect wallpaperfor the room, Graham and Brown’s Ex-otic, which was her biggest indulgence
in creating this pink fantasy. “I loved thewallpaper because it had the greatestimpact and made the greatest state-ment. I wouldn’t have compromised onthe wallpaper. The first thing you seewhen you enter the room is the focuswall with the wallpaper and the crib infront of it and the soft chair with the cur-tains behind it and the accent mirrortable.
Because the wallpaper makessuch a strong impact and the pattern isso distinct, finding the perfect beddingproved to be challenging. “I do love mybedding but may have done somethinga little simpler like plain white with ac-
Photography by Nikki Ryan
Chloe’s Pink Nursery PalaceBy Tara Steinle
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cents of pink and silver. One thing I dolove about the bedding in the skirt. It’svery regal and glamorous and now thatwe have dropped the mattress I have leftthe skirt and just fluffed it making it lookmore glamorous.”
The color combination of pinks,greys, and black came from the wallpa-per. Since the paper is pink and whitewith a silver accent, she did the sur-rounding walls in a shimmery grey color.“I knew I wanted white furniture and theblack punches throughout the room. Ialso knew I wanted a pink and silverdamask bedding, which was the mostdifficult part of the nursery because find-ing bedding to match was not easy!”
Making the project more personalto Dina was the help she received from
her mom in designing the room. “Shedefinitely helps me in everything I do. Iget the vision in my head, share it withher, and together we make it come alive.She was always searching for piecesthat she thought would accent the roomwell. My husband did the painting andthe putting together of the crib and help-ing set up and a friend of ours did thewallpaper.”
“I love the name above her bedand I painted those black and accentedit with black stones. I also love the mirrortable, which came from Target and was agreat find. There is a black mirror that mymom found at Marshalls and it was whiteand I spray-painted it black. The bowholder was a gift made by my cousin andI love it. The tiebacks on the curtains are
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hard to see but they are beautiful. I hadmy seamstress make plain black widetiebacks and then my mom and mefound these awesome brooches fromBlack and White the clothing store. Theyare big black silk bows with a rhinestonebow in the center. Then I pinned thebroche to the tieback that was made andit came out beautiful.”
Dina puts bling in everything shedoes and Chloe’s nursery was no ex-ception, which is why she chose thechandelier with the cascading crystals. “Ialso added the crystals to the letters onher name. Most of the little pictureframes have bling rhinestones on them.The mirrored table I feel adds to theglitzy bling feel of the room and the lampwith the crystal base does too!”
There are now, but it wasn’t in the
nursery the time this picture was taken. Iknow have a beautiful Barbie dressed ina silver wedding gown. It was the Millen-nium Bride Barbie that I got when I grad-uated high school as a gift from myparents. I loved Barbies as a little girl andcollected many Barbies. I didn’t think ofputting it in the room until Christmaswhen we were going through our storageand we found it. It was perfect becauseshe has on a silver dress that is full ofbeads. Most of my Barbie’s are in stor-age because of lack of space to placethem. I’m happy that now they will beable to come out of storage and be dis-played in my little girl’s room and hope-fully she will love them as much as I did.
“I think it has a timeless quality. Ifeel that it can really grow with her. Iwould love to buy her a simple solid col-
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ored down comforter and accent it witha gorgeous full size bed skirt and won-derful pillows. Then instead of hername being on the wall get some Bar-bie silhouette pictures and place thoseabove her bed. I’ve also thought aboutgoing in the direction of accenting withballerinas because I danced for manyyears and loved it. When she is a teenI think the wallpaper could still workand accent it with more glamor photoslike black and white canvases of Au-drey Hepburn.
Dina chose the stencil quote be-cause her daughter Chloe really is amiracle. Dina had tested positive in theblood screening test for Downs Syn-drome. Her doctor assured her that
there were many false positives andsince she was young the chances wereless, however she was still scared. “Mydoctor called me saying that he wantedto send me to Valley Children’s hospitalso they could do a more extensive ul-trasound. They explained our situationto us and our odds of a Down syn-drome baby were 1 in 110. They thendid an ultrasound and said everythinglooked good with the baby so we de-cided not to do the amniotic fluid test.That was the day we found out she wasa girl, which was a week before we hadour scheduled ultrasound to find outher sex. She was born very healthy andwe thank God for our blessings. Shewas a miracle and the stencil fit.”
BBrrooookkllyynn’’ss BBoouuttiiqquuee NNuurrsseerryyBByy TTaarraa SStteeiinnllee
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Before this space belonged to babyBrooklyn, this pretty nursery was asimple guest room with light yellowpaint on the walls. Needless to say,this mom and interior designer, could-n’t wait to get her hands on it. With acolorful and very eclectic personalstyle, Miranda Jordan of PathwaysUnlimited LLC tends to mix vintagemodern, contemporary and transi-tional furniture pieces and acces-sories. “I love retro pieces, so thenursery was a little out of character forme. I knew I wanted something withdelicate, soft curves and a clean,glossy finish to brighten the room.”As a designer, Miranda found that herprofession was her biggest obstacle toovercome. “We are our best friends
and worst enemies when designingfor ourselves. You fight yourself onevery decision, and re-do and re-thinkeverything, until your husband tellsyou to snap out of it and moveonVbut their opinions do make a dif-ference when you find yourself debat-ing for hours on which picture to putwhere!”Other than pops of mauve, the colorscheme was kept gender-neutral. “Wewanted to keep the room in soft andsoothing tones that would work wellfor an infant, but would also growalong with her. I’d say the wall color isa sky blue, a little more feminine thana baby blue color, but still unex-pected.”“I am a very budget-conscious de-
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signer, which drove a lot of my deci-sions. I wanted to use as many itemsas I could that I already owned – suchas the lighting, the rocker, and someartwork. I also wanted to use olderfurniture. I am a firm believer thatolder is better when it comes to furni-ture - they don’t make things like theyused to. I know these pieces will last,not only because they are durable, butbecause the style is timeless and clas-sic and works with really any décor orcolor. Children will inevitably outgrowtheir clothing, so why not save asmuch money as you can by using fur-niture that they won’t?”Furniture placement was pretty muchpre-determined by the locations of the
closets, windows and doors. Weknew we wanted to see the crib – butmore importantly our daughter in it –when we entered the room. So thisleft only one option for placement ofthe long dresser/changing table. We started with the larger furniture –dressers, crib, rocker and bookcase,then moved to the larger accessorieslike the bedding and rug. These itemscreated the base for the design. Fromthese items we selected the paint andthe accent colors of the accessories.The last item to go in the room wasthe DIY mobile which is made of all ofthe colors found in the room to helpreinforce the color scheme and tieeverything together.
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Some of the smaller details are whatgives this room some character.Some of Miranda’s favorites includethe monogram and green butterfliesthat hang on the floating shelf, thewhite ottoman that sits at the end ofthe crib where she sits and watchesBrooklyn while she sleeps, and thegreen accent table, which packs apowerful color punch amongst all ofthe white furniture. The glass knobson the dressers might be Miranda’snursery highlight. “You wouldn’t knowfrom looking at them, but these knobswere actually a brushed aluminum fin-ish when we bought them. I used abronze and copper spray paint to re-finish them to match the existing hard-
ware on the dressers.”Miranda loves the look of sideboardsin dining rooms with lighting and mir-rors and attempted to replicate thelook with the mirror. “Next to the crib,this wall really is a feature with thebead board molding covering the en-tire wall. I wanted something that wasgoing to make an impact, and combi-nation of the green lamps and roundmirror really helped to achieve this.”Although the room looks bright andclean without the rug – I think it helpsto add a little extra pattern, texture,and fun. Anytime you can add some-thing visually engaging for babies, doit! I think it helps to fill the space a lit-tle better visually. I landed on this rug
“Children will inevitably outgrow their clothing,so why not save as much money as you can by
using furniture that they won’t?”
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because it fit my budget, and it in-cluded most of the variations of greenthat are found in accent colors. On the bookcase, there is an antiquebronze framed painting of a womanwith a baby. It was passed down tomy mother from my Great-Grand-mother and has been in her roomsince my brothers and I were born.She gave it to me when I started dec-orating the nursery. Also, the small ac-cent table next to the rocker was givento my husband from his Grandmother.I think it fits the style of this room per-fectly! Ask Miranda what her favorite part ofthe nursery is and the designer’s an-swer might surprise you. In the cornerof the room is a chair that was pur-chased for $25 at Goodwill. She’s hadit for years and uses it to see every-thing in the room as well as to gazeoutside. “With all of the expensiverockers out there, I was glad I wasable to put this to use, and save somemoney.”Designing any room can be over-whelming when you try to plan it allahead of time – when in doubt, selectone piece at a time and build your de-sign. Start with a piece that reallyspeaks to you - whether it is a pieceof furniture, artwork, or accessory –and take it from there. Or if you like toplan – start with an inspiration imageor two in mind, and try to replicate theparts of it that you like.
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Bratt Decor was born out of a love fordesign, excitement about the founders' first babyand a synergy of mind and spirit between husbandand wife Stephen and Mary Bauer. Mary hadalways combined her love of art and design withher marketing background. Stephen was acommercial illustrator with his own successfulbusiness after training in South Africa. In 1995, thecouple were expecting their first child and "weredelirious with the anticipation and excitement thatyour first child brings."
As Mary began to decorate the nursery, shefocused on finding the perfect crib -- the center-piece of the nursery. However, Mary could not findanything that satisfied her vision for baby Bauer.“In 1994 the landscape was all very different,” Maryreflected. “We saw lots of cherry and whitemelamine, in the most boring of designs. We spenta few days shopping around New York City andfound nothing exciting happening in the realm ofnursery design. None of it was working for us.”
Stephen took it upon himself to create theperfect crib. While not trained in design, Mary hadnothing but faith in her husband. “Design runsthrough his blood,” Mary beamed. “Art is who heis and his brain can figure out how to put anythingtogether.” After designing her wedding ring,wedding dress, their country house and a greenheating system, figuring out the components of a cribseemed easy. After an outside consult regardingsafety regulations, Stephen had created the perfectcrib they named the Casablanca Plume, a four-poster, black wrought iron crib topped with a sprayof ostrich feathers.
“I’ve always loved hand bent Frenchwrought iron as a medium, so that’s what wechose, and of course, we had to throw some wildsof Africa in there,” Mary said of her baby’s nursery.“Stephen’s dad drove all around the Karoo, in theSouthern Cape of South Africa, visiting ostrichfarms for us for feathers. Stephen designed andsewed the bedding, which featured a wave style
BBeehhiinndd tthhee DDeessiiggnnss ooff BBrraatttt DDeeccoorrBByy LLaauurreenn HHaallppeerriinn
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bumper, and skirt, all in white, which was perfectagainst the black metal. The room itself, was verysimple, and with a decidedly African theme. Wehad a beautiful bright yellow African hyena maskon the wall, which we picked up from a local artistwhen there, a zebra rub, a chest of drawers inwhite, and a book case, both vintage and hand-painted/distressed white. Stephen painted a skyfrom night to day covering the entire space, andthen, inserted twinkling Christmas lights. Theglow was golden and subtle, a perfect night light.Seventeen years later, I wouldn’t change a thing.”
While many would have been satisfied andstop after creating their own crib, the Bauers sawa business opportunity. Filled with strong entre-preneurial spirits, they recognized the need forthe furniture they envisioned in the baby marketand made up their minds to start a business. “Aswe designed that first crib, we did it with a businessin mind. The plume was a bit out there for mostpeople, so we changed the top from features tosimple iron balls, and it went over very well.”
For a company name, they wanted some-thing that was memorable, didn’t take itself tooseriously, and was all encompassing. Being fromSouth Africa, Stephen had an affinity for Americanslang terms and suggested brat, like a spoiled rot-ten kid. Mary added décor from the Elle Décormagazine she had on her nightstand and an extra“t” in brat to soften what might be seen as nega-
tive. “We love the name, and most people receiveit in the light hearted sense that it was intended.”
As Mary looks back on the early days of herbusiness baby, she finds them magical in hindsight.“We bought a house, got married, had a baby, andstarted a company all in one year. That was a lot ofchange to take in, but maybe it was the sweetnessof all the love in my life, being a bride, having a lit-tle baby, that just sort of cast a glow of wonder andgratitude around everything.” Their reception tothe industry was slow, similar to being the new girlin school, but their unique furniture productsbrought cautious curiosity.
On a trip to New York, almost a year aftershopping there for her dream crib, Mary andStephen had their first “we’ve made it” moment.While window shopping on Madison Avenue, theycame across a store featuring their crib and cradlein a winter wonderland display. “We stood therestaring for a really long time. We felt if we couldmake it there, we could make it anywhere.”
The business has been refined since thatfirst crib but Bratt Decor's spirit of design, innovationand functionality remains unchanged. In additionto their collections of couture cribs, the companyalso manufactures high-quality furnishing for olderchildren such as trundle beds, bookcases, tableand chair sets and desks. In an effort to make fur-niture that will grow with your child from infant totoddler, nearly all Bratt Decor wooden cribs can be
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Design by Infant Interiors
Design by Infant Interiors
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converted to a daybed with a conversion kit. Addi-tionally, all Bratt Decor products are stylish andfunctional so they will look at home in an olderchild's room or anywhere else in the house. “Ourentire line is meant to mixed and matchedtogether.We don’t really design with baby detailing,everything is very sophisticated, so in that sense,yes it transitions easily. We do consider the roomas the child grows, always, because it is a biginvestment and itshould have the qualityand the styling to lastand look great formany years. We madethe decision early tobreak out into nurseryfurniture other thancribs. Because ourdesigns are so unique,people started askingfor case goods tomatch.”
The originalBratt Decor designswere all iron with time-less lines. Versions ofthem still exist or areechoed in the currentcollections. “We de-sign with a timelessquality rather than a trendy one, so they neverreally go out of style. Some of our greatest inspi-rations come from designs dating back hundredsof years. Our style is elegant, timeless, andsophisticated. My style philosophy is simple: sur-round yourself with the highest ideal of yourselfand the world. It should be beautiful, make youfeel special, loved and pampered, and above all,like home.”
Since their emergence in the marketplace,the baby furniture market has been booming withnew entries. Bratt Décor separates themselvesfrom the pack with a style that is uniquely theirs.“When we design, we do it from a personal space.When I say names like Ralph Lauren, Valentinoor Chanel, an image appears, and they are allvery different. That’s authentic design. Every truedesigner should have that essence, to have theirwork stand apart from others and announce theirunique vision to the world.”
Bratt Décor is known for their three quintessentialcollections. The Chelsea Collection, composed ofthree cribs, The Heirloom Collection with two andthe Manhattan Collection with two. Picking a fa-vorite amongst them is like asking Mary to choosewhich child is her favorite, although she does feelsentimentally close to the Casablanca Premiere,which resembles their original crib design. Manydesigns feature iron, which the Bauers love to use
for its elegance,longevity and ability tobe worked The mostpopular crib is the Ve-netian Wrought Ironthree in one crib. “I thinkit’s the most popular be-cause it’s an amazingvalue, and offers threedifferent looks for oneprice. The quality is un-paralleled and the fin-ishes are exquisite. Themost popular collectionis the Chelsea, and Ithink it’s because it’s sodeep, with lots of offer-ings and the antique sil-ver finish is unlikeanything in the market.”After several years in
the market, Mary has learned several valuable les-sons in furniture design. “It is equal parts form andfunction,” she said. “If it looks beautiful but doesn’twork, or works great, but doesn’t look spectacular,all is lost. We spend a lot of time and money onthings unseen, like the quality of screws, anddrawer slides, and curing processes for the wood,as well as the wow factor of the piece.”
With several collections and many designs,each year Bratt Décor reviews what’s happeningboth with their lines and the market. Sometimesthey retire pieces; others get a makeover to updatethe look of a product. And every now and then, theycome up with something brand new. Their latestcrib to hit the market is the J’adore, a smaller scaleoval crib which begins as a cradle and transitionsinto a crib. “It’s wrought iron, lovely, and elegant.We’ve never done round before, and the idea of acrib/cradle combination is brand new as well. It willbe available in gold, silver and white and come
The Plume crib that started it all
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Extra’s Mario Lopez and girlfriend Courtney Mazza brought daughter Gia home to this stunning nursery designed by
Bratt Decor’s Mary Bauer.
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complete with the mattresses. We will offer bed-ding with j’adore, because it’s an unusual size, andwill not fit standard bedding. Our new campaign is‘j’adore Bratt Décor’.”
With each design created, Bratt Décormeets the enormous challenge of keeping up withConsumer ProductSafety rules and reg-ulations as they aremade and as theyevolve. For the past18 months, the CPSCgave crib manufactur-ers a moving target ofstandards to meet.“We’ve been able tocontinue to produce asafe product through-out because webegan this companyfor our own baby, andthe fact that theseproducts hold price-less treasure is neverfar from our minds.We’ve always de-signed beyond theminimum standards.We constantly test,analyze, and keep current with what’s happeningwith our line, other lines, and the standards. Wesaw years ago, that a lot of companies were hav-ing trouble with drop sides, so we made the deci-sion in 2008 to stop producing them, way beforethe CPSC regulated that. And, we’re thrilled thateven after 17 years of making cribs, we’ve neverhad a recall.”
As a mom of two boys, Mary has had fundesigning boy rooms and boy furniture for her ownfamily. But one nursery she loved working on wasfor a client named Eden who was expecting adaughter. The room was both minimal and extrav-agant in the palest shade of pink, and included adripping, crystal chandelier, white flucatti rug, andBratt Décor’s gold Venetian crib in the center of thespace. There was a fantastic piece of art, verymodern and subtle in its coloring on the wall be-hind the crib. “I think I loved it so much because Ireally fell in love with the mom, who was kind andeasy to work with. She gave me free reign in the
room, which I designed after a glass, or three, ofwine and looking through her travel photographs. Ireally felt like I could see inside of her, and make allthat beauty come to life in the room.”
Bratt Décor has become the go-to place forcelebrities to decorate their own nurseries. Nurs-
eries for the chil-dren of KatieHolmes, JenniferLopez, KourtneyK a r d a s h i a n ,Jewel, Spice GirlMel B, MarioLopez, HeidiKlum, Halle Berry,Cake Boss BuddyValastro and ToriSpelling. Open thepages of anycelebrity maga-zine announcing anew baby arrivalon the cover andthere’s a verygood chance ofseeing a BrattDécor design in-side. “It’s hum-bling,” Mary said
of being loved by Hollywood’s elite. “There are alot of great designers out there, doing really finework, so when we are chosen, I am always thrilled,grateful, and a little star struck. These celebritieshave access to the best of everything, and moneyis no object, so when they choose us, I know it’sbecause they really love what we do and that feelsfabulous.”
With no shortage of pregnant celebrities todream about having as a celebrity client, Marywould flip for Beyonce and Jay-Z to have a BrattDécor crib in their nursery. For this power couple,she sees the Chelsea crib in silver. “It is so exqui-site and sexy just like Ms. Knowles!”
“I’m seeing nurseries breaking all the rulesright now, and I love it!” Mary exclaimed about thelatest nursery trends. “People are pairing starkmodern with dripping elegance, and incorporatingantiques with new pieces. There’s a sophisticationof style like never before and a fearlessness that isfresh. My designs come from where I am spiritu-
The cribs in Jennifer Lopez’s twinsluxurious nursery is non other than the Bratt
Decor Casablanca Iron in Venetian Gold.
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ally, emotionally, and aesthetically at any given mo-ment. I believe all of those are affected by theworld at large, so in some senses, trends affectme. Two years ago we brought out the Manhattancollection, which is decidedly free or ornamenta-tion, very clean and crisp and minimal. I thinkeveryone was feeling the desire to simplify! The lat-est crib, J’adore, is a gorgeous jewel of crib, de-signed for smaller spaces, and it says to the world,“Bigger doesn’t mean better”. You can have limit-less luxury in a Manhattan studio!
The past few economic years have beenrough, and as a high-end baby furniture designcompany, Bratt Décor was not immune. Mary tooka hard look at every single thing, and leaned out.She discontinued Bratt Décor products and fin-ishes that weren’t great sellers, reduced their staffand cut back. They smartly introduced a moremoderately priced line, Stephen Bauer Baby.Thefirst collection, Joy, featured a simple iron crib inchanger in white, at a fraction of the cost of ironcribs in the Bratt Decor line. “It’s a fantastic lookthat doesn’t disappoint, and it’s been great for us.”
Today, Mary still works with Stephen side byside every day, an experience she says has been“wonderful and terrible and exhilarating and exas-perating.” Her sons Sebastian and Raiff were borninto the business and have only known Mary as aworking mom. But, there’s never any doubt about
the priority list in their home: kids come first. “Abig factor in starting the company was to allow my-self the flexibility to be available for my children.This company has afforded me that. I can pickthem up from school and then I work from homewhere I can be with them. When the boys weresmall, so was Bratt, and I worked from home withthem constantly under feet. By the time Raiff wentto full time school, Bratt was full time. They’ve sortof grown up together.”
When she looks back on the journey of giv-ing birth to Bratt Décor, Mary thinks about howmuch the company has defined her. “My faith,which has grown so strong, my marriage, my moth-erhood. I know one day this will all be a memoryfor me, but it has been the biggest and best part ofmy life. There’s no way to think about Bratt Decorand separate it from the time when we raised ourkids and had our family all around us. For me suc-cess is being able to pay my bills, feel good aboutwho I am and the work I do, to have the time tostop whatever I’m doing and watch The AnnoyingOrange with my kid, and to have lots and lots ofpeople to love. The best part is knowing that we’vehad a small part in the joy of a new family. I lovethat. I sometimes think I’d love to see all the kidsthat have slept in our cribs in one room and givethem all the biggest hug.”
HelloHello
SunshineSunshineSSttyylleedd bbyy SShhaannaa MMccggaavvoocckk
ooff BBeellvvaa JJuunneeSSttyylleedd bbyy SShhaannaa MMccggaavvoocckk
ooff BBeellvvaa JJuunnee
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Hello Sunshine was chosen as it reflected her cheerful glow andit’s the perfect time for it. Shana designed the printables with a pale yellow damask background and light teal bordering to feel
soft and delicate and not "shout" the bright colors.
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To create the backdrop for thedessert buffet area, it was placed in frontof a sliding door covered with sheerwhite curtains. Thedecorative trellis-typepatterned drapes
perfectly matched theteal used in the
invitation and actedas a great accent.Beautiful wrappingpaper was a luckyfind at Target andwas wrapped around boxes to add depth and
height to the table.
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“I definitely wanted to have a yellow feel without it being too loud,”Shana said. “I decided that a vertical accent runner would capturethat effect very nicely and give it a unique touch.” Apothecaryjars filled with yellow gumball, lemon drop and lemon candies gave a yellow pop and foods were limited to either white, tan oryellow shades. The lemon buffet included emon bars, coconutcake with lemons on top, lemon cupcakes, mini cheesecakes, powdered donuts, cheese and crackers, baguette with dips,
mini cinnamon rolls, and even yellow brownie pops.
Newborn Photography by Chi Pritchard Featuring Baby Stella
BBaabbyy’’ss FFiirrsstt HHaalllloowweeeenn PPaarrttyy
By Beth Beattie
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This baby Halloween partytable featured chalkboards as
placemats with gauzewrapped “mummy” sippycups, pumpkins turned intomonsters and bubbles withcustom stickers to entertain
the little ones.
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The centerpieceswere glass cylindervases decoupagedwith patterned tissue paper andghosts made out of tissue paper hanging onbranches.
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The dessert table was theperfect place to pick somescary treats. Full of one-eyedmonster cupcakes, ghost pretzel sticks, Oreo mummies, three-eyed monster marshmallows
and apple sauce and goldfishfor a healthier option.
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The drink station featuredMummy's sippy cup napkins,B-O-O spelled out withAnthropologie letters, apumpkin punch bowl andstand from Pottery Barn,mason jars with chalkboardcontact paper with mummynames of each child's mom,like Jack's Mummy and
Elsa's Mummy.
And of course, all the kids enjoyed their Halloween
treats!
StylingBeth Beattie Branding, PR
and Events Photography by Alana Harris Invite: Single Handed Studio
Banners: Party StartDesserts: Southern Belles
Cakery
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Maternity Photography by Lydia Takeoka of Lydia Photography
AAnn UUnnddeerr tthhee SSeeaaMMeerrmmaaiidd’’ss
BBiirrtthhddaayy PPaarrttyyPhotography by Jorian Maye Keegan
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The birthday mermaid was dressed in a gorgeous costume designed by her Nanny Gayle and professionally sewn by friend and master seamstressShabbena. It featured an ombre bodice of aqua, green and brown in a
‘mermaid’ cut with a skirt of bright blue that picked up the light like scales.Her custom headband and necklace was fashioned out of ribbon and realhand painted seashells, as was her cute little purse. Once dressed, Kierra headed for Mermaids Cove, and made her way down the sandy
lake shore, finding a starfish and conch shell along the way.
Weeks before this mythical event, tiny invitations were tied with raffia tolittle bags of sand made of brown sugar and candy pearls, filled with
chocolate starfish, beckoning dozens of little mermaids and sea princesto be part of mermaid princess Kierra’s under sea world.
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The party was held at the end of the Pier at Evergrene in Palm Beach Gardens. Guests were welcomed by a giant hand painted sea horse. The girls took their seats at King Triton’s royal under-the-sea table in a tent of aqua silk organza. Giant mylar sea creature balloons hung above
the table as if they were swimming overhead. Table centerpieces featured shells scattered amongst bright seahorses and blue potted
organzas with multi-colored tropical fish.
Royal blue chargers were placed at each setting topped with a seashelllunchbox. Inside, octopus and angel fish-shaped sandwiches along
with a watermelon seahorse were served on a bed of colorful vegetables.The tables center featured, shells scattered among bright plastic
seahorses, and blue potted organza’s, with multi-colored tropical fish.Deep blue chargers, were placed at each setting with a seashell Lunchbox.After lunch the mermaids transformed into water babies and surfer girls and headed for the water park! The most popular activity of the day was the tropical hair braiding by Knot Head. Each girl selected their beads,
hair decorations and was braided to perfection.
The centerpiece of this little mermaid party was the incredible ocean treasure trove of homemade sea-themed yummies. Fish and seahorsegummy pops were displayed in tin buckets filled with brown sugar
resembling sand. Aquarius petit fours, treasure cupcakes, and octopus mini cakes along with aqua-lollies were some of the kids favorites.
Sugar cookies were designed in seashells, seahorses, and swimming fish, along with marshmallow ‘scallops’ and sea critter topped
cupcakes. Swedish fish gummies in a martini glass were the perfect spin on Dr. Seuss’ 1 fish 2 fish red fish.
The showstopper was the mermaid topped three tiered cake. Decoratedwith starfish, sea grass, beautiful swimming fish and sand made of grahamcracker crumbs, it delighted princess Kierra and her fellow merpeople.
decor: cary mckain for camden gardens floral
linens + chargers: atlas party rentalsevergrene site coordinator: Michelle Woytcha
cake: June for gGeenwise bakery by Publix, Palm Beach Gardens
sugar sea creature layons and cookies: Country Kitchen Sweet Art
hair braiding: Knot Head by AliKierra’s mermaid costume: handsewn by Shabbena
Kierra’s accessories: designs by Gayle
seahorse + signage: handpainted by Nanny Gayle
Special thanks: Cary McKain, and mermaid assistants Marisa and Madi
food styling: Joriann for Chris Joriann Photography
WWhheenn RRuussttiicc MMeeeettss EElleeggaannccee::AA NNaattuurraall BBaabbyy SShhoowweerr
By Lauren Halperin
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Amber was expecting a little Pumpkin in autumn and event de-signer Jennifer Bishop created a “rustic elegance” baby shower tocelebrate the arrival of her baby Addison. Beautiful fabric with a mod-ern edge and original thinking allowed her to put a fresh spin on thetraditional fall color spectrum by using peach paired with brown, whiteand a touch of red.
“I define ‘Rustic Elegance’ as a worn feel with a mix of weath-ered and sleek elements,” Bishop said. She gained elegance by usinglace doilies, a modern doily printed fabric, feathers, and hanging crys-tals from tree branches. Mercury glass vases and mini foam pump-kins with pearl strands increased the sparkle factor. She brought outthe rustic feel with a hint of nature. Using textured items like burlap forthe flags, Manzanita branches, weathered bird houses, wrought ironpumpkins and dried flowers created an outdoor environment inside.
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The table setting is where Bishop allowed the mix of rustic andelegance to really shine. “I loved the earthiness of the dried wheatmixed with the shine of the mercury glass vases. I also needed somepumpkins for this fall shower so I mixed them in subtly using differentvariations. The white pumpkins were orange foam ones that I paintedwhite and added pearls. I feel everything had a good balance. Thedoilies against the burlap, the crystals with the dried flower bunches,it was the perfect blend I was trying to accomplish.”
Bishop advises that planners think of height in table designs,especially when working with tall ceilings. “I love Manzanita branchesprimarily because they add height to a space,” Bishop explained. Smartthinking in using silk flowers allowed her the ability to make her floralarrangements ahead of time for this shower. “I’m really not a fan of silkflowers but in the case of the budget set, they worked. After mixing insome dried flowers, the silk ones didn’t bother me so much.”
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Each guest received a home-made Pecan pie tartlet shower favorbaked by the guest of honor’smother in law. The pies were placedin mini pie boxes with a peach paperlining at the bottom which read“thank you thank you thank you”across it. It is a simple detail thatanyone can do using Word andprinting them out at home. “I reallylike favors to be food. You canplease anyone with a favor that theycan eat!” They were the perfectending to this autumn themedshower!
Photography by Jennifer Skog
BBaabbyy BBrriiss aatt theFountainbleau
Hotel
Baby Bris at tthheeFFoouunnttaaiinnbblleeaauu
HHootteell
In the Jewish religion, a britmilah or more commonly called abris, is the religious circumcisionof a baby boy performed on theeighth day of life. As Jewish momsgenerally do not have baby show-ers out of superstitions, the bris isoften their first celebration.
This incredible bris for BabyLevi took place at the Fountain-bleau Hotel in Miami Beach,Florida. It took the special eventsteam of Forever Events 12 hoursof set up time to complete this gor-geous celebration for 320 guests.
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“We wanted to utilize flowers thatwere delicate, sophisticated, yet freshfor a baby event,” said Lisi Korn ofForever Events. for some tables weutilized, hydrangeas, phalenopsis or-chids, and some we had a runnermade out of hundreds of white rosesfinished with garlands of orchids.”The design concept for Baby Levi’sbris was about Jerusalem. White flow-ers and sat atop lacquered tables withblue decorative touches to bring in thecolors of the Israeli flag. To incorpo-rate the capitol, Forever Events cre-ated a cityscape of the city into thearrangements, studying pictures andcustom designing the structures to fin-ish the look.
The team at Jose Graterol De-signs created the cityscape ofJerusalem in clear frosted and whiteacrylic pieces that were inserted intothe floral arrangements. White Roses,White Orchid Leis, White PhalaenopsisOrchids, White Hydrangeas, Blue Hy-drangeas, and real sand were used ininventive ways on the rectangular andround tables to seat the 300 guests in aclean, modern and dramatic fashion.
They also designed all the cus-tom floral trays to hold the 4,800 whiteroses and 2,800 hydrangeas, orchidleis and white phalaenopsis orchids.The table for the yalmulkes features adramatic centerpiece that Jose hasdesigned to showcase the cascadingWhite Orchids.
The showstopper was the dessert buffet table composed of over4,000 pieces of delicious sweets from Miami, New York, Panama andMexico. It included marzipan, chocolate covered pretzels andalmonds, tamarindo ball, meringues, truffles, chocolate covered oreolollipops, rum balls, custom cookies, chocolates balls, polvorosas.
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The religious part ofthe bris was held in thesame room, on a stagewhere a table and chairwere set. Elijah’s chair isa traditional chair wheremyth suggests anywoman who sits in it willbecome pregnant within ayear.
The ceremony back-drop featured an over-sized cityscape of the OldCity of Jerusalem, givingguests the impressionthey were in one of themost holy place for theJewish community, theKotel.
Event Coordination: Forever Events
Decor: Jose Graterol Designs
Photography: Carlos Chatta Photography
Candy: Galies
Ceremony/Reception:Fontainebleau Miami
BBaabbyy SShhoowweerr:: AAnnttiicciippaattiinngg aa PPrriinncceessssBByy LLaauurreenn HHaallppeerriinn aanndd TTaarraa SStteeiinnllee
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The inspiration behind this beautiful baby shower was classic,whimsical girl. Black and white with honeysuckle pink brought the femininityto a day where 17 women came together to welcome baby Grace Louise.
The anemone flower was used in the arrangements, on the cake aswell as on the paper suite. The invitation suite set the tone for this girlishaffair, branding the colors being used and adding in the polka dot theme.The invitations were made to look like a child’s book would be.
The invitation, menu cards and name cards on the chair backs allhad the polka dots and anemone flower with black centers. The cuteanemone flowers on the cake made the whole theme come together. Thecake was carrot cake as it was mom-to-be Isabelle’s favorite.
“I had the florist include white hydrangea, black centered anemone,and ivory coast Lilies. This little flower reminded me of the polka dots weused on the paper products,” said Colette Lopez of La Fete Weddings whichstyled the day. “I had the pleasure of helping Isabelle plan her beautifulwedding in 2007. When I found out she was having a baby, I was honoredto again help make this family occasion a memorable one.”
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Photography Melissa Musgrove Photography
Event styling Colette Lopez of La Fete Weddings
Florals and candlesCamilla Svensson Burns
Invitations and paper goods Tracy Lazaro
Anemone cakeClaudia's Cakery
Linens by Wildflower Linens
A Vintage Picnic Baby ShowerBy Lauren Halperin
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Each event designer JenniferBishop works on, she wants to bespecial for the honoree. But this babyshower wasn’t just for anyone; theguest of honor was her best friend,wedding photographer Jennifer Skog.The road to motherhood was pavedwith speed bumps for Skog. The pairwere actually pregnant at the sametime, but Skog lost her baby.
“Though it was heart wrenchingto watch me go one without her, shenever showed it,” Bishop said. Skogstood by her friend through herpregnancy, shot the birth of herdaughter, helped out when her daugh-ter, Sydney was colicky, and capturedher growing up with beautiful photo-
graphs. “This shower had to beamazing. I’d accept nothing lessand Jen deserved it. It was time tocelebrate that it was finally her turn.”
Skog has donated much of hertime and energy to many of herfriends in both life and their industries.She has photographed their families,children, pregnant bellies, events,portfolio pieces and so much more.She has helped many in capturingspecial moments in their lives aswell as provided vendors with greatimages for their businesses. It wasn’tmuch of surprise that a few friendsfrom the wedding industry wanted tohelp and donate their services for herbaby shower. “Every detail was so
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“Every detail was so well thought out and there were so many personal touches,
I'm just beside myself.”
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well thought out and there were somany personal touches, I'm just be-side myself,” mother-to-be Skog said.
“I’ll admit, when I went on thesite tour for Casa Real, I almostcroaked,” Bishop recalled. “I felt a lotof pressure because I really wantedto make sure that it felt comfortableand intimate. My focus is always tomake the shower something theMom to be will enjoy and not a “baby”theme. This is really the last time it’sall about Mom.” For her best friend,Bishop came up with a vintage picnictheme for the day.
Picnics by definition take placeoutdoors. Bishop used Manzanitabranches and beautiful succulents to
add height to the room and create anEarthy, outdoor feeling. Florist NicoleHa also used rocks around some ofthe branch bases that added anothernatural element. “I just loved seeinglittle bud vases tucked in a cubbiesand unexpected places all throughoutthe shower.” Bishop placed fans withrag tassels at each place setting,giving guests the feel they could fanthemselves as if they were outdoorson a hot summer day. The Manzanitabranches helped with the height ofthe room. “Without them, I think theroom would have felt even bigger.”
“I like to take a typical idea andmake it unexpected,” Bishop said.She put a created a vintage wine
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tasting picnic feel. After meeting withPJ of Milk Glass Vintage Rentals,Bishop decided to set the tables inone long row down the center of theroom, creating a dramatic setting. “Ineeded vintage items to fill up thisroom and not just any old stuff,beautiful vintage finds to support myvintage picnic theme. Her redarmoire was the starting point for mycolor scheme. I then paired it withsome turquoise, brown and creamwhich looked great with the red.”
Bishop wanted to kick the vin-tage vibe off with the invitation. “I hadseen the invite prior to it arriving inmy mailbox but I had not seen theenvelopes. They were such a greatsurprise! Kraft paper envelopes linedwith a beautiful patterned paper.They were adorable.”
With an event designer as theplanner, this shower was packedwith attention to detail everywhereyou looked. The entry table includeda vintage scrapbook setup so guestscould write their well wishes Jen.Bishop aged the pen by wrapping itin burlap and adding a feather. “Italways feels more elegant to feel likeyou’re writing with a quill!”
An old vintage door was usedas the tabletop for the beverage bar.Iced tea, chilled water and old fash-ioned soda pop bottles were avail-able but the big hit was lavender
champagne. “It’s a simple recipe andadds and unexpected twist to anychampagne. When you tilt the glassback and you get a scent of thelavender sprig it’s heavenly. Itdefinitely helped us again, in givingour guests the illusion they were out-doors.”
The food table was set up tolook like it had just been taken out ofa picnic basket. Served buffet style,the menu included chicken saladsliders, tomato basil and mozzarella,cucumber mint tea sandwiches,spinach frittata, green leaf salad, cru-dités, strawberries and homemadepotato chips. “There was no way youcould eat just one of those potatochips!” A vintage crate and suitcaseallowed Bishop to layer the dessertsand dress up the area. An assort-ment of flavored bundt cakes wereset on a tower trimmed with crochetlace and chocolate cupcakes weretopped with champagne frosting andadorned with candied buttons.
The gift opening station was setup like a living room, with a comfort-able chair for Jen to sit in. Her pres-ents spilled out of a turquoise vintagetruck nearby. “We used some of Jen’sdresses from when she was a babyand hung them from vintage hangersto decorate the area. Her childhooddoll also attended the shower and hadfront row view to the gift opening.”
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Bishop used the red armoirewas used for the favor station. Shefilled wooden berry baskets withfresh baked scones, mini jam jarsand fresh berries, tucked woodenspoons in and tied each off with anaqua barber pole twine and a cutelittle tag. The jar lids were wrappedwith the same fabric from the fan tas-sels and tied off with barber poletwine.
“I truly have the most incrediblefamily and set of friends a girl couldever ask for,” Skog said. “There areso many things that I looked forwardto when daydreaming about beingpregnant, and this baby shower wascertainly above and beyond what Iever could have imagined.
Vintage baby shower created by:
EVENT DESIGN Jennifer Bishop DesignPHOTOGRAPHY Jennifer Skog & Robert Andrew Jennifer Skog PhotographyFLORAL DESIGN Nicole Ha Nicole Ha DesignsVINTAGE RENTALS PJ Rude Milk Glass Vintage RentalsEVENT VENUE Alyssia Jones Casa Real at Ruby HillINVITES AND PAPER DETAILS Susanne Wong Cards de LuxeLIGHTING Kevin Dennis Fantasy Sound
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AA KKiidd’’ss TTaabbllee TToo GGiivvee TThhaannkkss FFoorrBByy PPaauullaa BBiiggggss
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When Paula Biggs of Frog Prince Paperie looks at all the fancy tablesout there, she always marvels over the tiniest of details. It’s the host-ess that goes that little extra mile to show their guests how specialthey are that leave the biggest impression. At Paula’s house growingup, Thanksgiving dinner always meant being banished to the dreaded“kid’s table.” We’ve all been there so we know that from a kid’s pointof view, all the fun stuff went on at the decorated adults table.
Now a mom herself, Paula thought about her own little ones and howthey would likely sit at their own kids table to eat their turkey and stuff-ing. After speaking with a few other moms in the same Turkey Daydilemma, she designed a crafty Thanksgiving Day table to occupy thechildren while she cooked and get them excited to have their own lit-tle place to eat.
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An old tablecloth was put on the table and covered with a length ofbrown craft paper. She fringed the ends of the craft paper ala MarthaStewart, then drew rectangles on for placemats.
The kids were later able to color the placemats themselves, a greatactivity to keep them busy. Each child had a special place card madewith their name on it, personalizing their space and making them feelmore important.
Each place setting got a votive filled with crayons and a little match-book-style pack of papers to draw on. She banded them with papernapkin rings topped with an Autumn leaf to make them pretty. The“Tree of Thanks” paper craft doubles as a kid-friendly centerpiece.After cutting everything out and sliding the two tree pieces together,the entire family can write what they are thankful for on each leaf andhang it on the tree. Aside from the fun things to play with on the table,Paula also designed kid-size pies with 5-inch pie pans. Customlabels also made wrapping up the tiny pies to send home with littleguests extra pretty.
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It is really wonderful to see a Thanksgiving table that is warm andinviting for little guests on a day where we celebrate being thankful.Creating this festive environment will make all your guests want to sitat the kids table.
Purchase your Thanksgiving Day kids table supplies at Frog Prince Paperie
Sweet Tart Baby ShowerSweet Tart Baby Shower
Sweet Tart Baby Shower
By Marie Dannettelle of Sweets Indeed
By Marie Dannettelle of Sweets Indeed
Sweet Tart Baby Shower
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Autumn is a fabulous time for family gatherings, comfort food,snuggles and earthy tones. With holiday decorating in full swing, thisis the perfect opportunity to utilize the items in your home décor asinspiration for entertaining. This “sweet little tart” baby shower wasinspired by harvest, leaves and all things related to baking. From eggcartons to tart pans, this dessert station can easily be re-createdusing items found in your own kitchen. It’s all about repurposing! Thisbaby shower will have everyone rubbing their bellies after filling themwith sweet little treats.
Utilize household items for display vessels. Baking pans are perfectto place cupcakes and mini desserts in. Bundt pans turned upsidedown add dimension and are the perfect place for little tart. To addheight to your table, stack bread pans and cake molds. You can alsoplace candy in mixing bowls or measuring cups. A tart pan turnedupside down and placed on stacked mason jars quickly becomes a
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cake stand. Decor can also include items used for baking. Woodenspoons, and other kitchen utensils were incorporated throughout thistablescape and a fabric pennant banner hung happily behind it.
For paper goods, start by choosing your favorite color palette andcollect some scrapbook paper sheets to match. Use a shaped die cutpunch for easy tags and garland making. Garland can be made bylining up your shapes and sewing a line through each one so theyare connected in a long strand. We printed the invitation in the shapeof a pie and added tin foil as the “pan”. Little leaf cut outs add simpledécor and a pop of color where needed.
For desserts, choose comfort foods in mini size. This will give yourguests many options to choose from and won’t break the bank.Whenever I see anything mini I think it’s cute and mini pies, tarts, andcookies are always loved. Tart shells and piecrust can be made from
“This baby shower will have everyone rubbing theirbellies after filling them with sweet little treats.”
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the same recipe and you can add variety in the fillings and toppingsused. For drinks, nothing says cozy like apple cider. I love usingmason jars because they are easy to drink out of and guests can takethem home and repurpose them. Top your drink with whipped creamand garnish with a cinnamon stick for a more sophisticated look.
Your dessert station can also double as a party favor. Simply decoratehalf size egg cartons with Japanese washi tape, twine and a cutehangtag. The packaging is perfect for guests to take their own sweettarts home with them.
Want to turn this Autumn baby shower table into a breakfast babyshower table? By offering scones, biscotti, bagels, cinnamon rolls andmuffins, you’ve turned it into an Our Little Muffin Shower.
Sweet Tart Baby Shower TableCreated by:
Party concept, dessert table design/styling and edibles:
Sweets Indeed
Pennant banner, paper garlandand paper medallion byThe Polkadot Pickle
Photography byThe Pixel Studio
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is the housewhere party inspiration lives.
The queen of this castle is ChristinaNease, combining inspiration andinformation on endless interestingand memorable details for others toincorporate into their celebration.
By Lauren Halperin
Nease has always had anappreciation for entertaining withstyle and beauty. Growing up, shefell in love with how her grand-mother always had a perfectly ap-pointed holiday table with china,silver and cute serving pieces.She knew she inherited the per-fect party gene while she was afreshman in college, investing inher education and in good china
she could entertain properly as agrown up. Dubbed “The PartyGirl” by her friends, she was thego-to gal in her social circle.
“I always went over andabove what they would expect tosee at a party. I would researchrecipes and decorating ideas formonths before an event, andbegan the implementation severalweeks leading up,” Nease said.
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“One of my favorite things is to bethe hostess at my own parties. Ilove to work the room and talk toeach guest; hopping from conver-sation to conversation. As a host-ess I always try to think of all thepossible things the guests willneed, ahead of time and have itset out so they can help them-selves. I don't want to be a wait-ress during theparty so pre-plan-ning is essential.”
C h r i s — a sshe’s known to herfriends—graduatedschool with a de-gree in fashionmerchand is ing .After years and re-tail management,she became an as-sistant buyer for Belk Stores inRichmond, Virginia. She enjoyedthe creative display aspect offashion and retail, laying floorplans out and styling the visualmerchandising. “I think the visualand creative aspect of any indus-try can create cross-over oppor-tunities whether it's fashion, homedecor, entertaining, graphic de-sign, etc. It always comes back to
a basic understanding of color,pattern, composition, balance,and something unique or unex-pected to add interest.” A blessingin disguise came when the Belkbuying office closed, and Neaseand her husband, Chuck, couldfocus on starting their family.
Nease stayed home andgave birth to daughter Jordan and
son Tyler. When heryoungest went off tokindergarten, eightyears had gone byand she knew shewanted to get backto work. A true en-trepreneur, thethought of workingfor someone elsemade her cringe, soshe decided to do
what she loved and what she wasgood at: celebrating at home.
In the beginning she workedsmaller jobs for her friends andput together her party portfolio.Her business was the culminationof years of experience brain-storming, researching, crafting,and creating total party experi-ences for friends. “I feel like I wasstarting a business that I wasn't
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even sure if it had a market - es-pecially in my location. Stylingsmall events and parties was anew concept at that time and itwas tough to know what to chargefor the service.” Her a-ha momentcame when she got her first clientwho was not a friend or a referralthrough a friend. “I realized peo-ple really do need and want helpdesigning their special days.”
“I chose a name that was selfdescriptive and started my blogas a support site to share my styleand point of view.” Long beforethere were blogs, Nease was buy-
ing books and magazines for in-spiration. “I would get an idea fora party and start researchingrecipes and ideas for six months.I always wanted to create a com-plete environment which includeddecor, food, and even music.”She launched her blog threeyears ago, to support her localparty design business. Sincethen, Celebrations at Home Bloghas become a thriving inspirationsite that is a business all its own.
Today, Celebrations at HomeBlog is a combination of inspira-tion, and information. Nease fea-
A pink princess tea party
Photo by Julie Renee Photography
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tures parties that offer endlessideas for readers to incorporateinto their own celebration. A greatresource for recipes, productsand DIY projects, Nease alsoadds helpful tips to guide readerson things they might not havepicked up on by casually glancingat pictures. “I'm a little more ‘en-tertaining’ focused in that I want toencourage people to celebratewith style for any casual weekendgathering as well as special occa-sions.”
While other blogs featureparties with outrageous budgets,
Nease prides herself in promotingparties with ‘real budget’ womenin mind. “At the end of the day Iam a real wife and mother on areal budget. I want to inspirewomen who love to entertain, wholove to tap into their own creativ-ity, and love to produce it them-selves.”
Reaching out to thesewomen has made Nease andCelebrations at Home Blog agreat resource for party tips andadvice. Lisa Theile who runs thesite With Style and Grace foundthe Celebrations at Home Blog
A Moroccan themed baby shower
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purely for the eye candy an din-spiration. “I could and still dospend hours browsing through allthe creative details,” Theile said.The pair was introduced via twit-ter, when Theile thought Neasewas “a blogging celebrity. Thatdidn't change much after I mether. She has an amazing eye fordetail and is able to turn an emptytable into a beautiful and invitingtablescape.”
One thing that sets the Cele-brations at Home Blog apart fromothers is that it specifically high-lights parties that take place athome, be it inside or outside. Forthis reason, each feature has anintimate feel. “I believe entertain-ing at home is one of the mostgenerous things you can do, andis most comfortable for guests aswell. I would much rather spendan evening sitting around thekitchen table with girlfriends anda bottle of wine, than drive to acrowded restaurant. Theacoustics are never good, the set-ting is usually uncomfortable andconfining, and I find them just veryimpersonal.”
The site illustrates every as-pect of parties from signature
cocktails to table settings. “I amso visually driven that I have tosay the styling, especially tablesettings and little details are myfavorite things. Even when itcomes to food presentation I loveto see it displayed or served in in-teresting ways.”
“I think Celebrations At Homefocuses on the entertaining we alldo on a very regular basis....theentertaining that makes the qual-ity of life much sweeter,” said KoriClark of Paper and Pigtails. “Herevents have a homespun qualitythat makes you feel welcome justlooking at them. I am alwaysamazed by the clever projectsand styling she does for parties.She has a keen eye for detail thattruly comes across in her events!”
In her local area of MetroRichmond, VA, Nease’s business,Celebrations at Home Events hastaken off. Her event styling serv-ices for clients include creativedesign, coordination of dessert ta-bles and baked goods, printedpaper items and more for smallercelebrations. She defines her per-sonal party style as eclectic, ap-proachable and on trend withunexpected touches. “I create
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parties that are fun to look at butyou aren't afraid to touch. I'm veryinfluenced by interior decor. I lovethe brainstorming and conceptu-alizing. But when it's all put to-gether and you see a happyhostess and or guest of honor, itis truly heart-warming.”
Her favorite artistic idea atthe moment is using unexpecteditems in interesting ways. “I justfeatured a design that used smallwood planks as a background formenu cards that were nailed rightinto it. These are the kinds ofideas that blow me away and thatI hope to emulate.”
Her favorite trend at the mo-ment is how parties are becomingless about the store-bought sup-plies and more about the DIY. “Iam so happy about this! I'venever been a fan of plastic tablecloths or honeycomb paper deco-rations. To see this whole industryevolve is amazing. There are alsoso many easy DIY projects andprintables you can use that don'trequire the "crafter gene" to com-plete so anyone can make theirparty more custom and personal-ized.”
She’s also ecstatic that baby
showers have become more so-phisticated and less cutesy. “Theyare certainly a celebration of thebaby, but the showers themselvesare geared towards adults. Withthat in mind they are more fo-cused on the mom, which is nice.I like to make references to thebaby in unexpected ways. For in-stance, you can use baby bottlesas vases for flowers or even drinkware for the guests by slipping astraw through the top instead ofthe nipple. These subtle touchesare far more interesting and styl-ish than a paper stork or honey-comb centerpiece. There areplenty of opportunities for "cute"parties once the baby has arrivedand begins having birthdays.”
Nease also urges parents toremember that early birthday par-ties are driven by emotion, notlogic. “Parents know that the littleone won't remember a 50 personbash compared to a small familydinner, but they just ‘have’ to do it!At the end of the day, my personalphilosophy is to keep it simpleuntil you get to milestone num-bers or when the child has specialfriends. But for many parents,they want to go all out every
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Nease styled this celebration for the Richmond Dream Baby Shower contest winner. Nominees for this prize were expectant mothers nominated
by readers and friends who then vote for a deserving recipient.
year.” And heed Nease’s brilliantbirthday party advice: “Do notschedule the party during typicalnap times! Mornings are actuallya great time to have these earlybirthday parties.”
As much as she inspires oth-ers with her unique ideas rangingfrom a fun party themes like herplanes, trains and automobilesbirthday party to original tableideas including crafting snowmenout of baby bottles for a candycoated Christmas party, Neasehas inspired others to jump intothe celebration business.
When Clark was starting her
custom illustration party products,she said it was Nease that gaveher the drive to push forward.“She gave me the feeling thatsomeone thought I may havesomething to say. She had faithin me, which gave me more faithin myself. She has always en-couraged me, complimented mywork, and made me feel valuableas a part of the party world. I cannot express enough gratitude forhow much her initial supporthelped to build my confidence....especially since she didn’t knowme and never had to lend thesupport and kindness that shedid. She is an amazing person,inside and out. She is a beautifulmom who seems to run her blog,business, and family seam-lessly.”
It is with this ease of effortthat Nease applies it to givingback. “I've always liked the ideaof 'giving back' but like so manyother people, I didn't really knowhow to. To find organizations thatare specific to my niche and ex-pertise is amazing. It never feelslike work when you're doing whatyou love and working withfriends.”
An Operation Shower event table
131www.BabyLifestyles.com
Recently, Nease styled ababy shower for the RichmondDream Baby Shower contest win-ner. Nominees for this prize wereexpectant mothers nominated byreaders and friends who then votefor a deserving recipient. The win-ner was a mom named Anne, whowas expecting twin boys. As thewinner, Anne chose a shower in-vitation with a lovely birds-in-a-tree motif, which Nease used toinspire her for the shower. Herfinal party creation included rusticbird houses, Manzanita branches,hand glued flowers on branches,and favors of tiny chocolate birdnests with Jordan almonds actingas eggs.
Another charity where Neasefeels her talents are able to shineis Operation Shower. Nease callsherself fortunate to have met AmyBelle Isle, the Chief Event Plan-ner through their respective partyblogs a few years ago. When aunit-wide shower was planned forPortsmouth, VA and Amy couldn’tmake it, she asked if Nease couldfill in for her. “Of course I said yesand was so impressed with howspecial the organization was, thatI've been showing support and
volunteering my time ever since.”Nease now thinks of herself asthe East Coast Ambassador andhas just finished helping themwith her fifth shower.
The most recent eventNease had the privilege of help-ing out with was in September2011 in Norfolk, VA. This eventwas organized to "shower" ex-pecting women whose husbandswere deployed and serving on theUSS George H.W. Bush (CVN77)and was given a coordinatingnautical "Sea to Shining Sea"theme. Nautical elements wereincorporated throughout, includ-ing the graphic designs, tablecenterpieces, and food anddessert tables.
Nease plans to continue vol-unteering to help out wonderfulorganizations as well as inspiringothers with her creative perspec-tive on fun parties. With the widerange of parties that she hasplanned and shared, she's a greatsource of inspiration for anyevent. And as Lisa Thiele says,“She's only taped into a small partof what she's capable of, just youwait, she's about to shine evenbrighter.”
“The only thing better than chubby baby rollsis chubby baby rolls covered with suds.”