Jude's Big Top Birthday!

Saturday was Jude's first birthday party, and what a fun little fête it was!

We served fresh popcorn in vintage style popcorn boxes, sugar cookies frosted with royal icing (so fun to paint!)  and delicious cupcakes with chocolate frosting with little flags made from ribbon and satay sticks - classic birthday treats!

The cake was a yellow cake with buttercream frosting, with a cute little banner (it's been a hot trend this year, and I couldn't help myself - so perfect for the circus theme!) And how perfect were these napkins?  I found them (as well as stripey straws, paper fringe and more) at a super adorable little shop called Shop Sweet Lulu!

We provided clown noses, for those who didn't happen to have any appropriate circus attire on hand...

...or who just happen to look ridiculously cute in one...

We made these charming birthday hats out of pom poms, ruffly paper trim, stickers and poster board - so fun!

One of Jude's birthday presents was this amazing Schylling baby piano that Sabrina picked up at the super marvelous shop  Paxton Gate's Curiosities for Kids which was a big hit at the party - she brought over hers too so we could have dueling pianos...

Jude, striking a pose...

One of Jude's friends, the ever charming Miss Eva, arrived dressed as a tiger!  How apropos, given the presence of this Ring 'o' Fire - hilarious!

We painted an upside down flower pot to look like a circus pedestal - a perfect place to pose this vintage Dumbo doll and his strong man friend...and I made simple striped slip covers for our ottomans to transform our living room into an instant big top!

Now, a great party is all about enthusiastic guests:  Sabrina's son James, seemingly unperturbed by his amusing head wear and sporting a natty suit!  Quite the sartorial splendor!

Darling Hugo, who's half French, looking very adorable as a tiny French clown!

Our friends Jillian and Toast of Because We Can, came in hilarious cowboy attire...(props to Jillian for staying up 'til the wee hours the night before decorating cookies!)

The whole family, getting our circus on...

Alas, the birthday boy was a little less than enthusiastic about sporting a birthday hat!

Sabrina and her son Alex, having a jolly time! (How could you not, while double fisting kazoos??)

The party reached it's peak with an all kazoo birthday salute!

Happy Birthday, Jude!

We'll be posting tutorials for the Ring of Fire, Pennants, Circus Sugar Cookies, the cake topper and more, all week, so stay tuned!

Photos by Jillian!

Introducing Lucky Fridays!

We're delighted to announce a new weekly feature: Lucky Fridays! Each Friday, we'll feature one of our letterpress cards. Then we'll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we'll announce the winners on the following Friday!

Design: Oompah Band

Artist: Esther Aarts

Inspiration: Tahoe Swiss Chalet restaurant; Swiss Oompah bands,  Lowly Worm, Esther's fabulous retro illustrations

Send it to: Your best drinking buddy, nephew who is learning to play the recorder (gateway to any number of crazy, erm, AWESOME, instruments), anyone who plays the flugelhorn or tuba.

Our favorite detail: The musicians' curly chins

Ideas we scrapped for this one: Dutch milkmaid milking a flower-garland & bell-bedecked cow: "Happy Birthday! Milk it for all it's worth!"  Erm, might conjure up image of cow's udder...

Why letterpress? Makes it feel like an heirloom you found in your Swiss uncle's attic, next to his size 56XXL lederhosen.

Photo credit:  Alan Morrison via Just Brass

Remember, post a comment and check back next Friday to see if you won!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is a message we can all take to heart. xo

Silly Buddy Bowties

Ah, sophisticated and stylish dog neckwear is a rare bird, s0 check out these sassy bow ties from Silly Buddy!

They'd be perfect for dog wedding attire - what a handsome ring bearer this little fellow would make!

A lovely selection available here.

Via Decor8

Jude Turns 1!!

Eunice's little boy, Jude, is turning 1! Check out these super cute invitations she designed for his circus themed party...

Stay tuned for photos of the party itself!  There are rumors of clown noses and a ring of (felt) fire for the babies to crawl through - feats of daring, ahoy!

Jennifer Behr for Anthropologie / BHLDN

We thought that this fab head band  looked familiar!  Turns out, our great friend Jennifer Behr, has a few pieces in the new Anthropologie collection, like this one, originally designed for Eunice's wedding!

Now we are even more excited to see BHLDN given that Jenn is the queen of fabulous hair accoutrements!

Are You Serious?? Anthro for Wedding...

Anthropologie is launching a new wedding line called BHLDN on February 14th! For reals!

Wedding dresses, bridesmaids dresses, amazing sparkly shoes and more!  Needless to say, we are breathless with anticipation (and for those of us who are already married, a wee bit of jealousy!)

See more here!

Oh, Audrey...

So inspiring...

Lovely DIY Cake Stands!

Check out these lovely cake stands that you (yes, you!) can make with just a teeny bit of effort!

We love how sweet, yet modern, they look...

They're from table legs, plywood, and dollhouse trim!

We found these on You Are My Fave and the tutorial can be found in Bee in Our Bonnet...

Dana Tanamachi for Weddings!

We posted on the amazing Dana Tanamachi a little while ago, but we had to bring her up again, because (drum roll please!) she is available to do custom lettering on  anything covered in chalkboard paint - i.e. a totally amazing something something for your wedding!  How amazing would having something like the above be?  Amazing! Cover a sheet of plywood with chalkboard paint and voila! a genius thing for your décor and a fab keepsake!  We could also imagine seriously cool backdrop for the ceremony or a photo booth...We are giddy; oh the possibilities...

This rant a continuation of a rant on 100 Layer Cake...

Handmade Weddings!

We are SUPER excited to report that our new book, Handmade Weddings, created with the extra fabulous Shana Faust, is here!!

The book includes over 50 delightful (if we do say so ourselves! ) projects designed to inspire, whether your look is modern classic or retro homespun along with lots of guidance on choosing a look, sourcing materials, and working out timelines.

Better yet, 100 Layer Cake is giving away 5 copies (as we speak!) to lucky readers as well as a discount on the book!

Here's the cute trailer for the book! Woot! (very excited!)

Figural Cameos

Figural cameos is an advertising technique in which the text is placed within the shape of the product that it is advertising. We are especially drawn to the return addresses (we are a stationery company after all!). See more here.

Via Miss Moss

Unique Housewares at Pot + Pantry

A good friend of Hello!Lucky, Donna Wageman,  just got a write-up in the SF Chronicle on her charming new shop, Pot + Pantry,  in Noe Valley. Such a cute little store— we had to share!

So if you're in SF, wandering in the Castro/Noe/Mission area, check it out. Or make it a destination!

Or check out her website.  Pot + Pantry also sells Sightglass coffee (a new Hello!Lucky favorite!) and is sure to have all manner of unique gifts for the vintage-minded among you.

Via SF Chronicle. Photos by Michael Macor.

All Tomorrow's Parties

Hello!Lucky wishes you a happy and prosperous 2011 and offers the following advice to help the wish come true:

Surround yourself with friends.

Dress appropriately to the occasion.

Share a cup of kindness with elders.

Share another cup of kindness with your peers.

Have a BALL!

Photos via Photography News.

Vintage Mexican Wedding Dresses

For rustic elegance for a southwestern wedding, or a beach destination wedding, we think these 50's and 60's vintage Mexican wedding dresses are muy lovely.

Found this on Ruffled.  Sadly, it sold a while back on Etsy. Maybe there are others like it just waiting to be found in closets and estate sales?

Or how about this genuine 50's article. Just look at the detailing below! Methinks we're on a bit of a lace kick!

Found this dress here.

We have a new southwestern wedding invitation design coming out soon, a southwest skyline, similar to our Desert Skyline holiday card.  Keep your eyes peeled for our new design launch, just around the corner. We're super excited!

Our Mi Amor and Malaga designs might also suit a southwestern style fete or fiesta.  Or for beach destination weddings, our Visit Hawaii is easily adapted to other shoreline locales with a simple text customization.

Thinking warm thoughts on chilly day, and wishing warm weather your way!

We Heart Vintage Lace

Are there others out there who have a fabric collecting compulsion? We do, admittedly. We wonder if we could figure out how to make stuff like this:

How about this lace medallion? Absolutely gorgeous! Can you imagine how people used to craft these by hand?

And how about this swiss lace? Swoon! So sweet and simple.

And this one looks like something a Klimt lady would wear— wild!:

We'll put learning lace crochet techniques on our To-Do List. ; ) But in the meantime I wonder what sorts of amazing things we could make out of these?!  All found on AntiqueFabric.com.  You should visit before we buy them out!

For lovers of lace imagining a lace-filled wedding, remember our lovely Vintage Lace save the date design.

Ivy & Aster

These ethereal dresses from Ivy & Aster are stunning! We are also loving the botanical print background....wouldn't that make a pretty backdrop for a  photo booth?

Via Ruby Press.

Happy Feet!

Chilly winter days have reignited our mini-obsession with  Collègien slippers from France...

How can your feet not be (warm and) happy in these puppies?

Mark Shaw Fashion Photography

For a Friday fix of vintage fashion, view this jaw dropping collection of photos; we found them here. Some may be familiar to all you fashionistas and photo aficionados, but we know they'll never get old. Here's a few to whet your appetite:

Would love to have this for the holiday party, no?

Or maybe this...

And we would love to wear this any day.

Enjoy all your holiday get-togethers and festivities this weekend!

whichgoose

Maryland based Etsy seller whichgoose makes such lovely items....of course they would be beautiful at a wedding, but what about for a glamorous holiday party as well?!

Via Elephantine.