Vintage Camping Theme Baby Shower

I have been super neglect in updating events!

I've gotten re-married, had a triple birthday and all kind of crazy stuff!

But while I haven't gotten to those, though I will, I couldn't stop myself from sharing this stunning baby shower I helped plan recently with the loveliest group of ladies ever.

Savannah and I are kindred spirits. Our crazy similar personalities and red hair endear us to each other and we have endless hours of laughter whenever we are together.

So, when she told us she was expecting her second... a party had to be planned.

One thing I truly love about Texas is that they throw a baby shower for every baby you have.
Cause every baby is important!!

I was blessed to work with our group's resident Baby Shower guru Claire (cause she's a beast at pretty much everything she does) and we took Savannah's adorable theme and ran with it.

Starting with this invite we made:

The theme was so charming. She had chosen shades of grey and lime green. She and her husband are big hikers and love the outdoors so it was a super natural choice for their first little boy.

I kept a lot of my Christmas decorations out like fake trees, pinecones and I hit up Hobby Lobby and got beautiful greenery pieces for under a $1.

Because I live in a new development they are always cutting down trees so I snagged a few logs and had my husband cut me a few stumps because what says vintage camping like random pieces of wood everywhere?

Check it out.
It was a blast and we were blessed to work with so many amazing ladies who knew how to cook (cause I don't) and I think Savannah was pleased to pieces!

That pile of wood and ax was added by my husband. He said it was 'manly'.

We found the vintage prints online and printed them out. I made those onsies with a super easy screen printing technique you can see here.

My lovely friend Claire made those adorable Levi blocks! 

These were crazy good Maple Bacon Cupcakes our friend Jamie made. 

My lovely friend Amy made these cookies and there may or may not have been a fight in my house for the leftovers...

I actually made these Smores Brownies and they were a huge hit. The recipe is here. Make them and you will be a rockstar.

Pigs in a blanket, Breakfast Casserole, Apple Turnovers and some fruit and veggies and it was a delicious morning. 

Savannah's sisters came up with all the games and activities for the shower. Guess the Poopy was a great hit but since I was just barely pregnant the sight kind of made me ill but it was awesome. 

Then they had a Decorate the onsie station and that was a huge success.

Here are all the lovely ladies I had a the pleasure to work with and for (being the adorable pregnant lady in the middle). We were missing Jamie in this photo but it was such a delight. Love them!

And Savannah made off with all my design art and decorations. ;) 

Super successful Baby Shower indeed. 

God Bless and Much Love,

 Jessica

Ethan's Paper Airplane Party: 1st Birthday

It's here! It's here!

My sweet good lookin baby has turned ONE!

We had a flying good time with a Paper Airplane theme to match his nursery I half-decorated long ago before we moved to Texas.

Check out some of the highlights and be sure to remember the image of him in a bowtie forever in your brain because... it's the cutest thing ever. Ever.

Some great lookin men. 

There are a ton of great airplane themed parties out there on the internet so I was able to gleam some great inspiration but there were a lot of options and routes I could have gone.

Since the party was over Memorial Day weekend we knew it wouldn't be too big so we scaled down some grand ideas to some basics. Scaling down doesn't mean it still doesn't look awesome!

It's always great to have a plan and work on it.

When I have a party to plan I start weeks out and draw everything out in my McCarty Designs book.

I do this for many reasons:

1. So I can remember my ideas

2. Make decisions

3. Make sure I can explain my ideas to others for their help. 

Even though I have a Organizational Communication Degree I don't always communicate my ideas super well so drawing them out has helped my husband's engineer brain perfectly. 

Especially since I can be super picky with what I want and have things look. My poor parents and in-laws can tell you that for a fact as they have lovingly helped me plan parties over the years. 

Having help is what pulls off a party. Sure, I could do it all on my own... but it wouldn't look as great and I certainly would not be in a party mood to enjoy it! 

 After everyone had some grub they moved outside to have a bit of fun.

We had a paper airplane station where they could build their own planes than fly them in our test flight zone.

While I love me some Kraft paper... I learned a great lesson that day. 

Perhaps using brown Kraft Paper on a brown fence isn't a great idea. Oops... ;) 

My mom lovingly drew this cute little airplane for a Pin the Propellar on the Airplane game.

Than we had some Giant Jenga Action for the adults.

It was a great time and it feels like it flew by way too fast!

Happy 1st Birthday my Sweetheart. 
You are a fantastic adventure. 

God Bless and Much Love,

 Jessica

Double Surprise Birthday Bash: Duck Dynasty Style

It's been awhile but some sweet husbands suddenly thought...

"Yea, Jessica could plan our wives a party."

Yes. Yes I could. 

When we moved to Texas we were un-beliveably blessed to meet some of the most fantastic people on Earth. They have accepted us lovingly into their lives and we have found our heart falling deeply for this Big Ole State and much of that has to do with them.

So, when two of my lovely ladies needed a Birthday Party... It was time to dust off McCarty Designs and get some party juices flowing!

After exchanging some e-mails with their amazing Hub's we decided the best route to go was full out
Duck Dynasty. 

Once that was decided I called up my new friend Hollie whose Hubby was an avid Hunter and well... the rest is one kickin Cajun Party:

My redonkulously amazing mother was in town and made this kicken sign complete with bullet holes! 

She wasn't sure why she wrote what she did on there but we hoped it made sense to all Duck Dynasty fans.

You can't have a good Southern Party without having some Great Grub. We feasted on Pulled Pig Sandwiches, slaw, potatoes, beans, jello salad and the cutest Camo Cupcakes this side of the Mississippi!

 

Shout out to Brittany for making beans, Caron for Jello Salad and Potatoes and some awesome little cupcakes made by our sweet Hollie. I have some awesome friends. 

We had two cakes waiting for our birthday girls now all that was left... 

was getting our beards on.

SURPRISE!!!!

Happy Birthday Lovlies. 

And as my new friends have quickly learned about me... it isn't a McCarty Party without some games.

We had these cute posters hung around the room for everyone to write their favorite things about our two birthday girls:

                               

One of the best games of the night was when I gave the Birthday Girl's Hubby's some (cheap) toilet paper and allowed them to pick 3 teammates to help them "Dress up their Gal's."

With much yelling at me about the "crappiness" of said toilet paper it was still a huge hit giving them time to make some quite amazing outfits. The stories that went along with the outfits had us rolling with tears... If I could figure out how to post a video on this blog and I HAD the video... I would totally give you the 4 Minute Aquatic Craziness that spouted from Jason Fite's mouth in regards to his wife's mermaid ensemble. It was epic.

Lastly, while I know my friends had a fantastic time... Bryan and I are truly the blessed ones to know all of these amazing peeps.

Happy Birthday Sarah and Megan! 

You are super loved. 

God Bless and Much Love,

 Jessica