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Baby Registry Guide: Newborn to 5 Month Essentials

I published a baby registry guide post (here) almost two-and-a-half years ago, and I’ve been sharing it with friends ever since. I recently read through it again and realized a lot of links were broken, and that I needed to add new ‘Emi favorites.’

When I first compiled this list, I thought to myself, ‘I need to make a concise list of all essential items for a baby’s first five months.’ Then I listed all of the products we use on a day-to-day basis, and oh-my-gosh – it is quite the opposite of concise. Babies require lots and lots of stuff.

Destiny’s Baby Sprinkle

Baby Sprinkle Girl Creative Shower Real Sprinkles Invitation on Snapshots and My Thoughts by Ailee PetrovicYesterday, I threw one of my best friends, Destiny, a baby sprinkle to celebrate the impending arrival of her sweet baby girl (and also her 25th birthday!). The shower was at Sweet Paris’ CityCentre location, and despite the weather outside being frightful, the atmosphere inside was seriously delightful (ode to one of my favorite Christmas carols). Destiny’s mom flew in from Las Vegas for the shower, and it was so nice getting to celebrate with Baby Thompson’s Nana there too!

We ate crêpes, decorated cupcakes, guessed Baby T’s arrival date, took photos in front of the sprinkle backdrop, watched as Destiny opened one adorable baby item after another, and had wonderful conversations amongst old and new friends. I love baby showers!

Destiny and I met last summer and quickly became good friends. We both have 2.5 year olds, Truman and Isla, who are also best friends, and I love seeing them together, as Isla always lights up when she sees her pal. Destiny is one of the most sweet, considerate, and thoughtful people I’ve ever met, and we wanted to show her how loved and appreciated she is. The group of ladies  at the shower definitely filled the room up! 

There were a lot of talented ladies who helped me pull off the sprinkle, and I’ll start with the invitations, which were created by Papellerie (the same gals who did our wedding suite and Isla’s birthday invitations). I am thrilled with how they turned out – they have sprinkles in them (see video on my Instagram here). 

The gorgeous wedding cake was made by Lisa of Maple & Love, whom gave me all of our incredible travel suggestions when we went to Melbourne. It was a lemon and strawberry cake, and although I don’t eat eggs, I did totally get a bite of the icing – glad I did! 

My Cricut got a good workout, as I used it to create the bottle shapes for the Eos party favors, the ‘Guess Baby Thompson’s Birth Date’ activity and the vinyl shapes for the mylar balloons. I left the heavy duty laser cutting to Monica of Paper Flour Ink, who made wooden boards reading Oh Baby Girl that she covered in sprinkle paper. She is the best!

At a recent party I co-hosted, one of the other gals suggested we order thank you cards and pre-address/stamp the envelopes to help the mama-to-be, and I thought this was such a great idea, so I ordered pretty pink and gold thank you cards from Tiny Prints. I also ordered customized mug from Tiny Prints that read, “Sugar, spice, all things nice – that’s what Baby Thompson is made of” for the tea and coffee. Side note: I’m also obsessing over their gorgeous Holiday cards. We’ve gotten a few in the mail that are Tiny Prints, and I love them!!

My amazing friend Amanda baked cupcakes that were at each place setting, surrounded by colorful sprinkles from Layer Cake Shop. Guests got to decorate them as they wanted, then take them home (because crêpes and cakes made for fully tummies!) in boxes, which had customized birthday stickers, also from Tiny Prints. 

Meredith, the queen of creativity (hello invitation stylist!), helped me to blow up and stick all of the confetti-shaped balloons to the backdrop, which my wonderful mom sewed (Sasha DIYed the PVC pipe stand and Amanda sanded it down! Talk about a team effort!). 

I am seriously so excited to meet sweet baby Thompson. Our oldest babes are already best friends and I know that she and Emi will follow in their siblings/mom’s footsteps. It was such a joyful shower, and I would love to re-live it all over again. She deserves all of the love and attention, as she is one of the most selfless people I know. February cannot come soon enough!     

Baby Sprinkle Girl Creative Shower Real Sprinkles Invitation on Snapshots and My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovicailee_petrovic_161203_l86a7555

2016 Gift Guide for the Little Ones

The second gift guide is for ‘little ones’ (there will be a separate list for baby’s first Christmas!), and I could have included fifty items in this roundup because there are so many cute gift options for toddlers and young kids.

If you’re looking for something educational, this magnetic alphabet book is perfect for kids 2 and older. I’ve ordered it for Isla for Christmas, because she currently loves going over her letters and spelling words aloud (repeating after us, of course). If you’ve got a musical kid in mind, this guitar and this xylophone (or Isla-phone, as my little one calls it) are perfect – reasonably priced and really good quality too.

2016 Gift Guide for the Hostess

I’m kicking off my 2016 holiday gift guide series with suggestions for the hostess-with-the-mostess in your life. Whether it’s the cutest cheese board ever, this adorable mask bottle opener, or this ‘Fancy Another?’ serving tray (in just a few months, I’ll take one two three others!), any party thrower would love to receive these gifts. 

10 Items You Need from The Monogram Shop (Giveaway!)

The first time I ever stepped foot into The Monogram Shop, I knew I had found my match. Everywhere I looked, I saw gorgeous jewelry, monogrammed purses, colorful napkins, witty cards, and adorable baby gifts. I wanted it all.

If I ever need a gift for a baby, friend (male or female) or something special for myself, I head to The Monogram Shop, as I know I’ll be able to find something good. I tend not to leave myself enough time to get something personalized, which is an issue, as I always fall in love with something that needs to be monogrammed. My goal for this year is to be more proactive in buying presents more than just a couple days in advance.

Last week, I went to the store to meet with Leah to discuss some fun party items for Isla’s birthday. I cannot wait to see how they turn out! I also browsed the store, looking at their latest and greatest. If you’ve never been to The Monogram Shop and live in Houston, you’re seriously missing out. I’ve put together a list of ten things that you need from The Monogram Shop, which includes their jewelry, colorful cups, travel accessories and many other pretties.

Monogram-Shop-Giveaway3
The best part of all is that The Monogram Shop is offering one lucky Snapshots & My Thoughts reader a $50 gift card to their store. You don’t have to live in Houston to use it either, as you can order from their website or over the phone. The giveaway ends at 11:59pm on Friday, April 17th. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you visited The Monogram Shop before? If so, what did you think? If you live outside of Houston, is there a similar store in your area? I’d love to hear about it.

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1 Jewelry | Bracelets, necklaces, earrings, etc.DSC_0308The Monogram Shop