Fab * Blog by InvitationConsultants.com

Little Artist's Contest! ENDS: Tuesday, 11/24 at Noon, EST

Are you a parent who has the joy of collecting your child's adorable artwork throughout the year with few places to display it? The fridge can only hold so many drawings, so we've created Little Artist's Cards as a way to share your child's awesome creations with family and friends. The cards have a space for your child's drawing or painting and a space for a photo of the little artist. We  would love to see some of your favorite pieces of art- so send us a photo or scan of your child's drawing before November 24th, 2009 and you will be entered to win 25 FREE Little Artist's Cards. See above for more information on how to enter.

Here's the small print:
1. All entries must be received by noon EST on Tuesday, November 24th to be considered.
2. One entry per person, please. Any additional entries after the first will not be considered.
3. Winner will be contacted by email by 4:00 EST on Tuesday, November 24th with instructions on redeeming prize.
4. Prize is valued at $60.00 and shipping or any additional cards or accessories are not included.

Thanksgiving Traditions | What's Yours?

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I find myself getting very excited for another huge, delicious dinner with my family and friends. In preparation for eating galore with no qualms about it and lounging with the people I love most, I have put together a few of my favorite Thanksgiving Day traditions.

Family & Friends. Of course we all love being around the ones we love for the holidays. For my Thanksgivings, I am usually with my mom's parents and her side of the family. The photo at the top left is from a Thanksgiving dinner we had couple years ago. Not a ton of people, but just right.

Macy's Day Parade/Football. At some point in the chaos of everyone greeting, catching up, cooking, and munching, the TV will be turned on and the parade or football is a sure pick. Although... it will most likely be muted as my Papa can't stand the TV.

Before Dinner Prayer/After Dinner Joke. Before everyone digs into all the delicious food, everyone stands around the table holding hands while a prayer is said in thanks. After dinner, while all the food is settling, someone will inevitably ask Papa to tell his traditional Thanksgiving day joke. This joke is by no means the funniest thing you'll ever hear, but the reason we all love it, is because at the end of this G-rated joke that involves a lizard, a turtle, and a rabbit, there's a bad word, and hearing Papa say this word just cracks everyone up. He'll say it slowly and deliberately, and we all listen intently, waiting for him to say it, and at the the end there will be a huge outburst of laughter.

Black Friday Shopping. Usually, the day after Thanksgiving, my mom and I will wake up a little early and grab the newspaper to check for any great deals. It's mostly the search through the paper that we enjoy over a nice cup of coffee and some breakfast. Then, as everyone else starts waking up, we'll recruit a few people who may want  to join in on the day of shopping.

I've also selected a few of my favorite Thanksgiving cards and invites. These colorful invites are perfect for fall. And, if you have children, the Little Artist cards are a great way to show off any of the masterpieces your child brings home from school!

So what are your favorite Thanksgiving Day traditions? Any out-of-the-ordinary routines that you and your family look forward to on Thanksgiving? Let me know! Best wishes for a great holiday!

Image Credits:

Parade balloon, shopping bags, football game. 

Invitations/Cards

A Time for Thanks, Cornucopia, Autumn Swirls, Oak, Autumn Art.

{Wednesday Trendsday} Holiday Fun from A to Z

One day last week I received the Pottery Barn holiday catalog, The Ballard Design holiday catalog, and a new Serena and Lilly catalog. It was home inspiration overload but I didn't mind! My favorite item after examining all three holiday collections is the ceramic Alphabet Ornaments from Ballard Designs. Coming in at a second favorite was the Spruce Alphabet Wreath. They are so adorable and they appeal directly to my bookworm sense of style.

These cuties popped up on blogs quicker than I could catch and were featured on the adorable Ohdeedoh by Apartment Therapy blog, among others. Now it seems letters and monograms are likely to appear throughout holiday decor this season. I think it's a sweet trend and has a hint of tradition, which I love! The trend extends easily to invitations and is featured on the monogrammed wreath invitation and ornament invitation above. 

In the spirit of holiday decor, let me know in a comment below- what is your favorite holiday decoration of all time, and will you be putting it up this year? I'll go first! My favorite holiday decoration is a Lenox plate my grandmother had engraved for my first Christmas with my husband. It will definitely be placed on our dining table this year!

Martini Party: Stir One Up Quickly

Martini Parties are hot especially at this time of year. So stir something up. Here are a few tips for having a stellar martini party on the fly with not much time to plan, it's really just about getting friends together. First send the martini party invitations!

Be creative

Create a martini menu with everything but the kitchen sink. But here's the trick, find items you have in your home to use, in order to keep down the cost. Hopefully you have cranberry juice, other juices, fruits, olives and maybe pumpkin at this time of year. Research seasonal martinis for that fall and holiday feel.

Be thoughtful

If you have non-drinkers and pregnant friends coming, be prepared. Consider dessert martinis, like milk in a martini glass with a chocolate cookie as a garnish. And get creative with juices by simply placing pineapple juice in a martini glass with several small fruits as garnish on a toothpick.

Feed them too

Serving only alcohol may not be the healthiest thing, so use more martini glasses and serve small hors d'oeuvres and mini desserts in these chic glasses. For example, mini chocolates and marshmallows fit in perfectly. A spoonful of hors d'oeuvres fit in these glasses well, like salmon mousse on a small toast point, tomato salsa, and mini arugula salad with walnuts also fit in well and are light bites.

Pretty simple! Now all you have to do is practice saying, "Would you like that shaken or stirred?"

Martini Season, Martini Pop Art, Pumpkin Martini, Vesper Martini made famous by James Bond, dessert in martini, Virgin martinis, Cheap and Dirty Martini.

A Halloween Birthday Bash! Vampires Welcome...

I can hardly contain my excitement anymore, Halloween is TOMORROW! Woo hoo! My friend Carly and I were born a week apart (me on October 24th, and Carly on Halloween itself, lucky girl!), so we often celebrate our birthdays together with a night on the town or a joint shin dig. This year, we are going all out for the party, celebrating a year of big accomplishments and good times. Just to gush for my friend for a moment- this year, Carly got admitted into a masters program in Molecular Medicine. If that's not something to celebrate on your b-day, I don't know what is!

So, on to the party details! I am a huge fan of True Blood. In case you're not familiar, True Blood is a vampire show on HBO. Some may say it's Twilight for grown-ups. I was determined to have a True Blood party and I have incorporated some vampire related elements into the party decor in addition to creepy skull and crown motifs.  I gathered a lot of inspiration from Hostess Blog's Twilight themed party posts, and I even plan on making these vampire martini's and vampire bottle labels.

Last night, I set out a lot of the party materials so I can be ready set to celebrate, and not have any last minute stress. Some of my favorite details are featured above from left to right:

{Fabulous Flashback} It's a Jolly Holiday with a Mary Poppins Tea Party!

'Tis the season to snuggle up with your sweetie, cozy up by the fire, and watch classic movies that remind us of why it is so wonderful to be young at heart and imaginative. This week's post pulls from an old favorite of mine...Mary Poppins! A lot of my friends poke fun at me (and some join in my love) because I adore timeless musicals, Disney movies, and other classic flicks filmed before my time. My parents always exposed me to these films, which I'm certainly grateful for, but there are those that weren't acquainted with classics such as Mary Poppins. So if you're totally confused right now with my favorite-movie-rant, let me expand your imagination with a Mary Poppins Tea Party! If you already familiar with Disney's cinematic genius, you'll find this post "practically perfect in every way!"

A Mary Poppins Tea Party is ideal for a young girl's birthday party or a leisurely ladies day out. With the holidays just around the corner (can you believe it's already almost November?), we've tailored this party to have a festive flair. The caramel apple imagery and adorable tablescape seen above is courtesy of the Party Wishes blog. She has literally pinpointed every detail of the movie and incorporated them into the party's theme. Some favorite ideas are:

• have everyone wear Mary Poppins inspired hats: (perhaps the white tie around the neck number tickles your fancy, or you'd like to be a little more casual with a plain black one adorned with little flowers)
• provide artful activities such as kite decorating (to fly to the highest height of course) and sidewalk chalk (to jump into their drawings)
• play games such as "Tuppins Toss" or "A Spoon Full of Sugar" relay
• set up a photo shoot with a carousel horse

Some other ideas we came up with are:

Halloween at Invitation Consultants

 

 

We take Halloween very seriously at Invitation Consultants. We had a delicious breakfast, performances, costume contest and our annual Parade around the office park, so everyone could enjoy our Halloween costumes. We had Lady Gaga, Kanye West and Flight of the Conchords present! Happy Halloween!

Announcing Pet Christmas Cards

Pets are the highlights of our life. Man's best friend. So many of my friends have asked me about sending Christmas cards with their pet's photos this year. I didn't realize just how sought after these holiday cards were. So we started designing a few. I have to admit the idea is genius, who wouldn't want to show off their sweet poodle or cuddly cat?

I wish we had a small dog but I am allergic so I can only live vicariously through my friends when I go to visit their house. The innate lovable qualities of pets are beautiful. So even though I am not a pet owner I can imagine all of the beauty that they bring to your lives.

Check out: LaLaDoggy has great pet trends, also check out pet fashion to dress your pets in for their photo shoot. I love these outfits! Purrfect Holiday and Happy Howlidays are my favorite cards!

{Corporate Holiday Cards} The Office

Last night, NBC brought together one of the sweetest TV couples of all time in a prime time wedding of awkward proportions. I have (and maybe you have too) been watching Jim and Pam do the proverbial office relationship dance since 2005 holding my breath for the day the two would be happy.Yesterday was that day.

At IC, we've often wondered if any of our corporate clients are anything like The Office crew, but I'm thinking ours are a little cooler, and a little less likely to embarrass each other. One of my favorite moments of last night's episode was seeing the whole Office staff dancing down the aisles, an homage to the YouTube JK Wedding Dance sensation. It was nice to see the staff come together to celebrate Jim & Pam, despite all of the trouble and humiliating moments they've dealt them in the past. It's with that spirit that they remind me of our Funny Owls card from our corporate holiday card collection. It's a little strange, a little cute, and very funny. I've assigned each of the little guys a character from the Office, and I think the most fitting would be Dwight- the slightly angry looking owl in the tie.

Did you watch the Jim + Pam wedding last night? If so, what did you think? 

Office images: Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski in Entertainment Weekly, The Office cast and logo.

{Wednesday Trendsday} Halloween Costume Edition

I can't begin to tell you how important Halloween is at Invitation Consultants. We take it seriously as the silliest holiday of the year. We wear costumes, do performances, munch on candy, and have a parade around the surrounding offices. The costumes are supposed to be a surprise and in the past we've had Borat, Sarah Palin and John McCain, Wilma and Betty from the Flintstones, Lenny Kravitz, Marilyn Monroe, cats, bunnies, ballerinas, and so many others. I can't reveal what I'm going to be this year, because it's a secret, and because I have no clue! That's why today's trendsday focuses on stylish celebrity costumes, fun Halloween party invitations, and some of the top Halloween costumes I think you'll see in 2009.

Top 2009 Halloween Costumes:

Vampires and Ladies who Love Vampires- It's unavoidable. With the success and popularity of Twilight, and True Blood you are likely to see more than one fanger around town. I prefer Sookie & Bill to Bella & Edward, but any vampire will do this year.

Beloved Children's Characters- Classic story books turned films like Where the Wild Things Are and Alice in Wonderland have already begun attracting buzz. Max or Alice would be fabulous costumes for your little one while the Queen of Hearts (see how cute Teri Hatcher looks above!) and an actual Wild Thing would be fun for an adult.

Classic Decade Related Costumes- Although I'm not a fan of The Hills, Lauren Conrad's flapper costume is pretty sweet. Pick a decade, any decade, and you can't go wrong. Especially with a hippie costume from the 60's honoring the 40th anniversary of Woodstock.

Let me know: what are you going to be for Halloween? Check in with us on 10/30 for a look at what each of the IC staff members come dressed as.

All celebrity images found here.