The air is crisp and the leaves will start falling soon. Ok, they are already falling in some parts of the country and the air has been crisp for some time now! But here in Dallas, today is the first day we have experienced a cool and crisp 55 degree morning. The kids even had to wear light jackets and sweaters!

As this season is rapidly approaching, Halloween is out everywhere! So I thought is was appropriate to create some Halloween party decor items. I think the items came out so fun!

• Monday, September 27, 2010

Happy Halloween!!

The air is crisp and the leaves will start falling soon. Ok, they are already falling in some parts of the country and the air has been crisp for some time now! But here in Dallas, today is the first day we have experienced a cool and crisp 55 degree morning. The kids even had to wear light jackets and sweaters!

As this season is rapidly approaching, Halloween is out everywhere! So I thought is was appropriate to create some Halloween party decor items. I think the items came out so fun!

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I am so excited!! Today I officially launched my handcrafted party decor business - BellaGrey Designs!!! I am still putting some final touches on both my blog & facebook page, but if you see anything at either one of these sites you would like to purchase, please complete the information form at the bottom of my blog, which also includes my pricing. Or leave me a comment on my facebook page or email me at Jennifer@BellaGreyDesigns.com.

You can order custom party items to coordinate with your colors and theme, however, due to copyright issues I can't use licensed characters. But you can always use the characters in other ways for your party. Thanks for visiting my blog!! Have a great day!

• Thursday, September 23, 2010

BellaGrey Designs is born!

I am so excited!! Today I officially launched my handcrafted party decor business - BellaGrey Designs!!! I am still putting some final touches on both my blog & facebook page, but if you see anything at either one of these sites you would like to purchase, please complete the information form at the bottom of my blog, which also includes my pricing. Or leave me a comment on my facebook page or email me at Jennifer@BellaGreyDesigns.com.

You can order custom party items to coordinate with your colors and theme, however, due to copyright issues I can't use licensed characters. But you can always use the characters in other ways for your party. Thanks for visiting my blog!! Have a great day!

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I was asked by a wonderful friend of mine to help make her daughter's 'Pinkalicious' birthday party be even more fabulous. She had already come up with several ideas and she needed help implementing them and making them come to life. This is where I came in. I created her banner, goody bag labels and tissue pom poms. We draped the dessert table in the kitchen with light pink tulle to make it look like a canopy, we hung all the pom poms (8 in the kitchen; 6 along the banister and 3 on the railing going upstairs). We tied hot pink bows on the kitchen drapes and attached pink flower clips. She has this fabulous silver fork and spoon set hanging on her wall next to her kitchen table, so we couldn't resist, we tied pink bows on them too! Everywhere we looked there was PINK!!!!

The party was a success!! And the girls had so much fun. Each of them were dressed in pink - of course!! Too cute! My friend had pink everywhere - it was great! She even had a cute cupcake pinata to match the pinkalicious theme.

Thank you so much for allowing me to help make your daughter's party be even more fabulous!!

Please leave a comment - I would love to hear from you.

• Monday, September 20, 2010

A Super Pinkalicious Party

I was asked by a wonderful friend of mine to help make her daughter's 'Pinkalicious' birthday party be even more fabulous. She had already come up with several ideas and she needed help implementing them and making them come to life. This is where I came in. I created her banner, goody bag labels and tissue pom poms. We draped the dessert table in the kitchen with light pink tulle to make it look like a canopy, we hung all the pom poms (8 in the kitchen; 6 along the banister and 3 on the railing going upstairs). We tied hot pink bows on the kitchen drapes and attached pink flower clips. She has this fabulous silver fork and spoon set hanging on her wall next to her kitchen table, so we couldn't resist, we tied pink bows on them too! Everywhere we looked there was PINK!!!!

The party was a success!! And the girls had so much fun. Each of them were dressed in pink - of course!! Too cute! My friend had pink everywhere - it was great! She even had a cute cupcake pinata to match the pinkalicious theme.

Thank you so much for allowing me to help make your daughter's party be even more fabulous!!

Please leave a comment - I would love to hear from you.

Read more »

This past weekend, I helped host a baby shower for a dear friend of mine and I wanted to share her story and some of the photos with you. She is having her second little girl and I am sure she will be just as adorable as her first daughter. My dear friend had a rough time with the birth of her first child, over two years ago. She battled with both pre and postpartum depression. It started about four to five weeks prior to her giving birth and lasted approximately ten to twelve weeks afterwards. I watched a dear sweet, vivacious, spunky friend go into a deep depression and turn into someone no one knew, not even herself. She didn't even look or sound like herself. I knew she needed me, if nothing more than to just be there for her. She knew she could call me and I would do what I could to help her get through it. You see, I too, experienced six weeks of depression following the birth of my daughter. I often felt like the walls of our house were closing in on me. Then one day, I just decided 'it's time to stop feeling sorry for yourself and get out for a morning walk', so that is just what I did, everyday, for about six weeks. Sometimes I didn't want to go back home, but I did. I tried to keep myself busy until my wonderful husband came home from work. We talked at great length about what I was feeling, but unlike my friend who got professional help, I did not. I struggled for six long weeks, but I am very happy to say, the depression lifted and I was able to be a good loving mommy to my daughter. I now have two beautiful children whom I absolutely love and adore. Very few people know this little fact about me, until today, when I decided to write about it in my blog to share with you my family, friends and the rest of the world. It is not something to be ashamed of, many women and families go through this type of depression everyday.

My friend's anxiety and depression grew worse with each passing day, finally her OB decided to induce her five days earlier than her due date. This beautiful baby girl was born. She is now two years old and cute as could be with a great, loving, caring, fabulous mommy - that loves her so much. My friend finally returned to her 'old' self and I am glad to have her spunk back. Congratulations to one of the greatest mommies ever!! I am so super excited to be part of your life and to watch your children grow up. I can't wait to meet the newest member of your family!!!!

My friend has decided to help other women and their families that have gone through or are going through pre or postpartum depression, please refer anyone you may know to her website Wings for Wellness.

Thank you for reading her story and looking at her baby shower pictures.  It was an honor to create and make all the party decorations and I was very pleased to receive compliments on my work. If you like the cupcake toppers or favor tags you see here, please fill out the information form at the bottom of my blog. I hope you will share your comments. If you would like the instructions to make the candy pacifiers please let me know. Have a fabulous day!!

• Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Baby Shower

This past weekend, I helped host a baby shower for a dear friend of mine and I wanted to share her story and some of the photos with you. She is having her second little girl and I am sure she will be just as adorable as her first daughter. My dear friend had a rough time with the birth of her first child, over two years ago. She battled with both pre and postpartum depression. It started about four to five weeks prior to her giving birth and lasted approximately ten to twelve weeks afterwards. I watched a dear sweet, vivacious, spunky friend go into a deep depression and turn into someone no one knew, not even herself. She didn't even look or sound like herself. I knew she needed me, if nothing more than to just be there for her. She knew she could call me and I would do what I could to help her get through it. You see, I too, experienced six weeks of depression following the birth of my daughter. I often felt like the walls of our house were closing in on me. Then one day, I just decided 'it's time to stop feeling sorry for yourself and get out for a morning walk', so that is just what I did, everyday, for about six weeks. Sometimes I didn't want to go back home, but I did. I tried to keep myself busy until my wonderful husband came home from work. We talked at great length about what I was feeling, but unlike my friend who got professional help, I did not. I struggled for six long weeks, but I am very happy to say, the depression lifted and I was able to be a good loving mommy to my daughter. I now have two beautiful children whom I absolutely love and adore. Very few people know this little fact about me, until today, when I decided to write about it in my blog to share with you my family, friends and the rest of the world. It is not something to be ashamed of, many women and families go through this type of depression everyday.

My friend's anxiety and depression grew worse with each passing day, finally her OB decided to induce her five days earlier than her due date. This beautiful baby girl was born. She is now two years old and cute as could be with a great, loving, caring, fabulous mommy - that loves her so much. My friend finally returned to her 'old' self and I am glad to have her spunk back. Congratulations to one of the greatest mommies ever!! I am so super excited to be part of your life and to watch your children grow up. I can't wait to meet the newest member of your family!!!!

My friend has decided to help other women and their families that have gone through or are going through pre or postpartum depression, please refer anyone you may know to her website Wings for Wellness.

Thank you for reading her story and looking at her baby shower pictures.  It was an honor to create and make all the party decorations and I was very pleased to receive compliments on my work. If you like the cupcake toppers or favor tags you see here, please fill out the information form at the bottom of my blog. I hope you will share your comments. If you would like the instructions to make the candy pacifiers please let me know. Have a fabulous day!!

Read more »

For my son's 1st birthday we had a 'Big XII' birthday party, since he was turning the big 12 months old!! My husband came up with the clever idea, so I really can't take all the credit. Although, I wish I could because it was so great!! I searched many websites to come up with several ideas for the party. But in the end, I tapped into my creative juices and let them flow.  I wanted my son to represent all the 'Big XII' football schools, so I made him a t-shirt with all the schools on it, made flags of each school for his football field cake and made t-shirt cookies, which I decorated in the colors of the 'Big XII' football conference. My husband stayed up all night to complete the 'football field'. We bought the turf at Home Depot and he created the yard lines and end zones to duplicate a real field.  We asked the children and parents to dress in their favorite 'Big XII' football team colors. We had a lot of fun with this theme and the parents thought it was great. We had pom poms for the kids to play with and play footballs to throw. I borrowed a table from our Mother's Day Out program so the kids could sit at a child level table to eat cake & ice cream. This worked out great. I bought authentic felt pennants which represented each 'Big XII' school and hung them around the arch of our kitchen. I placed a mini football helmet of each school around the food table. I think everyone had fun. Please, share your thoughts with me in the comments section.

• Sunday, September 05, 2010

The Big XII party

For my son's 1st birthday we had a 'Big XII' birthday party, since he was turning the big 12 months old!! My husband came up with the clever idea, so I really can't take all the credit. Although, I wish I could because it was so great!! I searched many websites to come up with several ideas for the party. But in the end, I tapped into my creative juices and let them flow.  I wanted my son to represent all the 'Big XII' football schools, so I made him a t-shirt with all the schools on it, made flags of each school for his football field cake and made t-shirt cookies, which I decorated in the colors of the 'Big XII' football conference. My husband stayed up all night to complete the 'football field'. We bought the turf at Home Depot and he created the yard lines and end zones to duplicate a real field.  We asked the children and parents to dress in their favorite 'Big XII' football team colors. We had a lot of fun with this theme and the parents thought it was great. We had pom poms for the kids to play with and play footballs to throw. I borrowed a table from our Mother's Day Out program so the kids could sit at a child level table to eat cake & ice cream. This worked out great. I bought authentic felt pennants which represented each 'Big XII' school and hung them around the arch of our kitchen. I placed a mini football helmet of each school around the food table. I think everyone had fun. Please, share your thoughts with me in the comments section.

Read more »

Hello!!! I love to host parties as well as plan them, so it is only natural that I would want to share with you, some of the parties I have thrown for my children.  Most recently I threw my daughter a 'Fairy' party. It came out really cute and I was so excited at the results!!! I was inspired by so many wonderful sites I visited on the web, here are just a few I was inspired by: http://www.hostesswiththemostess.com/, http://www.amyatlas.com/, http://www.butterflycraze.com/, http://www.thetomkatstudio.com/, http://www.thecelebrationshoppe.com/ and so many more. I made most of the decorations myself. Like the paper pom poms which hung above our windows and in the loft;  the butterfly garland, which was placed over the fireplace and around the dessert table; the 'welcome to fairyland' sign and 'Tinks workshop'. I made the cupcake toppers which matched the colors of the party. I also made the meringue cookies. 

As well as the food description tags. I thought that was a fun little detail. I decorated the tree with butterflies I purchased at Hobby Lobby.  I embellished the 'fairy dust' goody bags with 'Wish' tags and mini wands. The girls loved this detail. I bought the wings and halos from http://www.haloheaven.com/. I did embellish the wings so they were more 'fairy-like'. I had so much fun planning her party and making it come to fruition. The look in her eyes was one I will never forget. She said the morning of the party, when she woke up, "this really is a fairyland mommy!!" Such sweet words made it all worth it.  I will have to blog about my son's 'Big XII' party, as that deserves a post all by itself.  I hope you will enjoy my blog and please post comments - I would love to hear from you!!! Have a Wonderful Day!! If you would like the recipe for the meringue cookies just email me!!

• Wednesday, September 01, 2010

The Fairy party

Hello!!! I love to host parties as well as plan them, so it is only natural that I would want to share with you, some of the parties I have thrown for my children.  Most recently I threw my daughter a 'Fairy' party. It came out really cute and I was so excited at the results!!! I was inspired by so many wonderful sites I visited on the web, here are just a few I was inspired by: http://www.hostesswiththemostess.com/, http://www.amyatlas.com/, http://www.butterflycraze.com/, http://www.thetomkatstudio.com/, http://www.thecelebrationshoppe.com/ and so many more. I made most of the decorations myself. Like the paper pom poms which hung above our windows and in the loft;  the butterfly garland, which was placed over the fireplace and around the dessert table; the 'welcome to fairyland' sign and 'Tinks workshop'. I made the cupcake toppers which matched the colors of the party. I also made the meringue cookies. 

As well as the food description tags. I thought that was a fun little detail. I decorated the tree with butterflies I purchased at Hobby Lobby.  I embellished the 'fairy dust' goody bags with 'Wish' tags and mini wands. The girls loved this detail. I bought the wings and halos from http://www.haloheaven.com/. I did embellish the wings so they were more 'fairy-like'. I had so much fun planning her party and making it come to fruition. The look in her eyes was one I will never forget. She said the morning of the party, when she woke up, "this really is a fairyland mommy!!" Such sweet words made it all worth it.  I will have to blog about my son's 'Big XII' party, as that deserves a post all by itself.  I hope you will enjoy my blog and please post comments - I would love to hear from you!!! Have a Wonderful Day!! If you would like the recipe for the meringue cookies just email me!!

Read more »