It’s been a couple of months since Munchkin’s first birthday and I’m finally getting around to sharing with you the Invitation Suite I designed for it. I created an Invitation and Thank You Notelet with matching envelopes and a Wrapping Paper/ Envelope Insert. The Geometric Bee Gift Box I created can be found here.
They’d make a really cute invite for many events, not just a first birthday. Or as personalised stationery.
It’s exceedingly easy to do. I’ve included both PDF and JPG files of all of the items. So you can either print off all the PDF files and write your text in by hand, or pull the JPG files into your favourite editing software to add your preferred text. Then print and cut them out, do a little assembly work and your done!
I decorated both the inside of my envelopes and my invitations with faux gold leaf to add a little something special.
I also printed the Wrapping paper/ Envelope Insert print on the reverse of my Thank you Envelope so it had the honeycomb print on the inside.
And whilst I ran out of time to make all of my Invitation Envelopes, I’ve included them in the suite for you. They’re lined with the Wrapping paper/ Envelope Insert print and also decorated with a little faux gold leaf.
Spending a little time adding the gold leaf really make the invites sparkle! The little bees were the most fiddly and time consuming, but I’m really happy with how they turned out. Read more
Note; this blog mainly consists of ramblings about the past year with Munchkin and motherhood. The photos are a sneak peek of our recent celebration of Munchkin’s first birthday. I’ll have more photos, templates, recipes and tutorials to share in the coming weeks.
I can’t believe that at this time just last year I was desperately trying to sleep and failing. I was due to be induced the following morning. After 12 very long days of regular contractions that just weren’t strong enough, the doctor decided enough was enough. Munchkin was coming out, one way or the other.
Late that night, DM and I had a discussion about what we hoped our bundle, of what then felt like all elbows and knees doing the hokey pokey in a very confined space, would be like.
A year in, and I can say she’s everything we hoped for and a little bit more. She’s generous, loving, independent, strong, social, gentle but no pushover, scarily intelligent and just because she’s ours, perfect.
It hasn’t been an easy year. My fitness, sanity and health has taken something of a beating due to iron deficiency, sleep deprivation and adjusting my life expectations to my new reality.
Breastfeeding and getting our little one to thrive took about four stressful weeks to work out. There were what seemed like endless days as my butt became one with the couch as Munchkin fed every hour threatening my dwindling sanity.
Our marriage feels stronger, as it feels it has now been forged by fire. The fire of months of colic and walking paths around the dining table, our hearts breaking as we tried anything and everything to soothe our tiny, sweet bundle.
But it’s also been the most amazing year of my life.
I never dreamed I could want to do nothing but stare at my baby for days on end… and I did. I’ve experienced the seemingly indescribable joy of seeing my little one accomplish something and look at me with pride as she’s just learned to roll over, clap her hands, say “Mum”, stand up, bottom shuffle or get a spoon into her mouth and not her nose, ear or forehead.
I’ve loved living in this little nest we’ve made. My priorities and goals have shifted in ways I never dreamed would be possible. I thought Motherhood and I would be a tough fit and avoided it for as long as possible. It turns out I’m not as terrible at it as I feared. I love it.
And through all of this DM has worked tirelessly, both at his job and then when he got home. He’s perfected cooking and has made dinner more times than I. He can cook some of “my recipes” better than I can now! He’s been home most of the time to give Munchkin her bath (and me a few quiet moments alone). He’s rocked, soothed, fed, bathed, read, played, chatted and revelled in fatherhood. He’s done an excellent job. Frequently, in the early days, he’d arrive home, take the screaming Munchkin, soothe some of my frazzled feathers, make me a cup of tea and take over. Definitely not the easiest year!
And, in amongst all of this, he’s almost completed a thesis.
I have no idea how he has done it. My admiration, pride in and love for DM is limitless.
All of this needed to be celebrated. So we invited our nearest and dearest in Lausanne and threw a party to celebrate the amazing miracle that is Munchkin’s first year.
I got to making, designing, baking, crocheting, adding faux gold foil to invites, making packaging, trying my hand at floristry and stocking up on champagne.
I’ll share patterns, templates, recipes and the rest with you in the upcoming weeks.
I’m so happy with the result! It seems worthy of what feels to us, and I’m sure to all parents, the gorgeous accomplishment of a lifetime. And we’ve only just begun!
All the amazing photography in this post is by the fantastically talented Hayley Hay
I’ve been messing around with paper. I’m not sure exactly why I decided to make paper tea cups, but inspiration hit over the holidays and I couldn’t find one online. Hence the gauntlet was thrown down! I had to make one. It took me a lot longer than I anticipated. But I’m ecstatic with the results! This is by far and away my favourite template/ tutorial so far. AND I’ve got another version of it almost ready to upload next week.
These would be perfect as use for cupcakes, biscuits, little presents, used as gift boxes or just as gorgeous packaging. Paint them, embroider them, bedazzle them… The options are endless! I created a lid template so it becomes a very usable gift box but I had a lightening bolt moment last night and I’m now sure I’ve worked out how to make a lid that sits inside the cup so that the pretty outer lines of the tea cup aren’t ruined. I’ll include it with the other version of the tea cup that I’ll upload next week.
In only 11 sleeps Christmas is here! My husband and I are staying in Switzerland this year and so I’ve been able to let myself go a little crazy in the decoration department. In part because we’re not going to be spending it with our family and we still want it to feel special!
I didn’t want to spend a lot of money but wanted a big statement piece over the dining table, I had decided to hang a series of small Christmas tree’s upside down over the table (we’ve 5 quite hefty hooks in the ceiling for just such decorating purposes). But DM pooh-poohed the idea. Read more
Just look at these gorgeous creations! They’re the result of my first kids atelier. I held a 2 hour class for 3 children and their respective mothers. Each child decorated and filled their own advent calendars. Their mothers assembled their calendars as well as filling and decorating them. I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I know I did! Read more
