{Fabulous Friday Giveaway} $100 Shop Credit to Banner Boutique!

UPDATE!!

We have a winner!!
And she is....

COMMENT #45 - ANDREA!!
Andrea said:  Love the Dainty White flower headband from their shop!!
I love Banner Boutique! Great giveaway!

Congratulations Andrea!  Please contact me at toni@thetomkatstudio.com to claim your prize!




photo courtesy of sierra studios photography

Happy Friday TomKat readers!
It's Toni here with this week's Fabulous Friday Giveaway!
Don't you love Fridays?

I'm pleased to introduce you to Banner Boutique! Lindsay Banner is the owner and creator of Banner Boutique, and she makes the most exquisite headbands! One thing that I love about her pieces is that many of the flowers can be used as pins to be worn on sweaters, purses and belts. The possibilities are endless! Aren't they gorgeous?

photos courtesy of andrea burns photography

You may recognize one of her pieces from our Halloween Glam photo shoot! Lindsay sent us some samples of her fabulous hair accessories for review, and the gorgeous purple flower with rhinestones was a perfect focal point for Kim's dessert table!

photo courtesy of laura winslow photography

Banner Boutique has partnered with us to offer one of our lucky readers a $100 Shop Credit!

Who wants to WIN? Here is how to enter:

1) Take a look at all of the fantastic creations at Banner Boutique, and tell us which one is your favorite.

2) Become a fan of Banner Boutique on Facebook and leave her some TomKat love.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry. And, remember, if you are commenting as anonymous, please leave your contact info!

Winner will be chosen on Wednesday, September 23, 2010 at 11:00pm (MST). Any entries received after this time will not be considered. Open to US residents only. Winner will be chosen using random.org

***As a bonus to our readers, Banner Boutique is offering a FREE Surprise Headband for all orders of at least $30 (before shipping) that are placed during the giveaway period! Fantastic! Just enter the promo code  "TomKat" in the Notes to Seller section.  Time to start some holiday shopping!***

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{Sweet Customers} Adorable Little Birdie Baby Shower for Twin Boys!

This adorable shower was in honor of my childhood best friend, in New York. We reconnected last year via Facebook and now she is a loyal follower of The TomKat Studio! She asked me to create a "Little Birdie" boy twin design for her baby shower invitations and cupcake toppers!
It turns out she is quite creative and crafty herself and she took a ton of inspiration from my blog and used it for her baby shower!
She did an incredible job on all of the birdie details!
I hope you enjoy this....
Little Birdie Twin Boy Baby Shower! Details from the guest of honor:
Door Prizes: Frames inspired by the extremely talented Kim at The TomKat Studio! Thanks again for doing all that you do! You are truly a creative inspiration! Centerpieces: Idea came from this Project Nursery post - I substituted paint cans with these already decorated cans from Christmas Tree Shop. I used die cut birds on various scrapbook papers from "kotibeth" on etsy. Put them back-to-back on lollipop sticks and had a mama and two babies in each can (secured with florist oasis, and covered in crinkled paper.) We added two blue balloons to each can to make the centerpieces look bigger and add more color underneath the tent.

Coconut Cupcakes: Recipe from The Barefoot Contessa's Cookbook. Combined the recipe with Martha's Nesting Baby Blue-Bird Cupcake design with a cream-cheese frosting. After trying many ideas for making birds that would hold up outside for a couple of hours (firm frosting, blue jordan almonds, Gumdrops), I ended up creating the birds out of vanilla cake pops, inspired by Bakerella! They worked out perfectly & were delicious!

Blue Cupcakes: Also were Coconut cupcakes, but I used a firmer Decorator's Buttercream Frosting recipe from Epicurious for these. Cupcakes were garnished with TomKat Studio's adorable cupcake toppers & sprinkles! Invitations: Custom designed by The TomKat Studio! Totally adorable, and received lots of wonderful feedback on how great they were!

Thank you for sharing your shower with us, Margie!
I hope it was worth the wait! {the very long wait}
Your twins are adorable!
XOXO, Kimmi

{Project Nursery} My Favorite Blankies (& Babies)!

Good morning, friends!

I just finished up my latest post for Project Nursery!
Read about my own blankie obsession, my kids' favorites and check out my favorite "brand" blankies and Etsy finds!
Tell us about your baby/child's blankets!
We'd love to hear your stories!

What do you think of my "matching" newborn baby photos
with their favorite blankies ~ Barefoot Buddies?
Aren't they sweet?

Please hop over to my Project Nursery post and let me know if you enjoyed it!

For sources for all blankies above, visit the PN post for links!

Photography: Looking forward to meeting.....

....this sweet baby today..... ....and seeing her sweet mommy, too!
{Gorgeous photos by Vicki Lynn Photography}

See more HERE on Vicki's blog!
Check out Vicki's website HERE!

Project Nursery: Le Papier Studio Review (by Me!)

I am a BIG fan of Le Papier Studio, ever since my dear friend, Meredith sent me a personalized silhouette print of my little ones created by owner/designer, Vana! I wrote this post about her work a couple months ago! Vana & I twitter friends, and she sent me one of her new silhouette glass pendant necklaces to review for Project Nursery! It is really adorable and my post went live today! I had a great time looking through all of her fabulous products on her Etsy shop to choose my favorites for the post (above!)

Hop on over to read my review & give us some comment love! :)

Chicky Bella Boutique Closing - Go Quick!

My favorite local baby/children's boutique is closing, or rather "re-inventing" itself. Lisa, the sweet shop owner of Chicky Bella has decided to close the shop and instead, host several trunk shows each month and also sell from her online store. Honestly, in this economic environment, Lisa should be given kudos for keeping the store open this long. So many other boutiques in the area have come and gone so quickly!

Everything in the store is 60% off! Hurry!

I always keep an eye out for good baby gifts, because someone is always getting pregnant around here! Today I picked up a couple gorgeous, soft blankets by Miss Muffet (I want to keep one for myself!) and one by Little Giraffe. I also picked up a couple adorable pearl bracelets for little girls by Saucy Designs. I grabbed a pair of adorable plaid khaki shorts for Tommy and I also got this amazing canvas for Kate's room for only $40 (retail $140)! See it here!

So, hurry over for the best selection ASAP!

Don't worry, Lisa's fabulous offerings will be available in her new location, and I also may be hosting a trunk show with her soon!

Sneak Peek: Little Birdie Twin Boys Baby Shower!

As I mentioned previously, my childhood best friend, Margie is pregnant with twin boys! We recently reconnected on Facebook, and she discovered my new creative venture! She hired me to design the invitations and cupcake toppers for her "Little Birdie" twin boy themed baby shower, and she took it from there! She just sent me some fabulous photos of all the details and I will be sharing them here, as soon as I can get them all downloaded! You are in for some crafty, creative fun! She also wrote up all of the sources for everything she made, including recipes....so stay tuned!



Also, I hope she doesn't mind, but I stole this self-portrait she took of herself from her flickr page! Isn't it amazing? She's 16 weeks preggo with twins in this shot.

Invitations: Pickles & Ice Cream Baby Shower!

I recently created this "Pickles & Ice Cream" baby shower invitation for a new customer! She sent me this inspiration board to give me an idea of the colors/style she was looking for!


She was really excited about the design, and I'm looking forward to creating all of her additional shower items (cupcake toppers, banner, tags, labels!) with this theme! I will share more photos when everything is complete!

Project Nursery: Inky Binky Baby Giveaway!

Project Nursery just posted a GIVEAWAY that I coordinated for a local friend of a friend, who creates beautiful baby products! Audrey's company is called, Inky Binky Baby and she offers a wide variety of fabulous handmade items! When I saw this wipes case, I fell in love and knew that the word needed to be spread about Inky Binky Baby!

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY HERE!

VISIT INKY BINKY BABY HERE!

Good luck!

~Kim

Project Nursery: The Modern Baby Co. Giveaway!

Pop on over to Project Nursery and enter win a FABULOUS baby blanket from The Modern Baby Co.! Contest ends April 3rd, so head on over and enter! Keep it for yourself, or it would make a fab gift for a baby shower!

Isn't that photo AMAZING? The perfect pink wall color, the modern chair, the white curtain with pompoms? Oh, I forgot to mention, the beautiful, sweet sleeping baby?! Fabulous marketing guys!

CLICK HERE to go ENTER NOW!

{photo courtesy of The Modern Baby Co.}

Baby Shower Idea: Divas & Diapers

Looking for a fresh idea for a Baby Shower? Last fall, I hosted an evening soiree baby shower for my best friend, Kristi. A friend of mine, Kelly had told me about a baby shower she planned a few years ago themed "Divas & Diapers" and I had always wanted to use that theme. It fit perfectly, considering our little group of girlfriends are dubbed the "Domestic Divas." We were also celebrating the upcoming wedding of another Diva with drinks out after the shower, so I coordinated the invitations and mailed together if the guest was invited to both.

In the invitations, the guests were encouraged to all wear black. The guests of honor were given boas to wear (pink for momma, white for bride). Since it was an evening event, I tried to create a warm, romantic feel with lots of candles and soft lighting. It was fun to create something different than the usual baby shower brunch (although I do love those too!) We snacked on yummy appetizers (courtesy of the other Divas), and delicious desserts including my favorite, cupcakes. A classic champagne sherbet punch was served to drink.

{photos by live.love.photography}

I created a game, "Famous Divas" that was really easy to make. I downloaded photos (from google images) of real divas (singers, actresses, etc). I converted them all to black and white, and printed them out at about 4x6 size. At the party, I went around and taped a "Diva" to each guests' back. The goal was to figure out WHO your diva was. Each guest could only ask ONE yes or no question about their diva from EACH of the other guests. The first and last guests to figure out who their diva was, won a prize. For the prizes, I gave girly gifts like makeup cases & crystal pill boxes.

For favors, I found fabulous votive candle holders at Ikea. They were in packs of 5, and about $4/pack. They varied in design with clear/pink/white/black, so they were perfect for this party. Ikea also had a perfect variety pack of pink votives to fill them. I put them in cellophane bags and tied with black ribbon and a Thank You tag.

Need invitations or more ideas for a DIVA baby shower or bachelorette? Email me!

For more on the party CLICK HERE

Boutique: Chicky Bella Birthday Bash!

My favorite local baby/kid boutique, Chicky Bella is celebrating it's 2nd birthday tomorrow! They are offering great promotions, discounts and even giving away a coveted Petunia Pickle Bottom Touring Tote (as well as other prizes!) I'm happy that Lisa, the owner has kept the store up and running, when so many boutiques are going out of business! Congrats, Lisa!

Chicky Bella is located in the Gilbert Town Center, south of Warner, off Gilbert Road. They carry a great selection of baby, kids & maternity items! I just bought an adorable children's apron there for a birthday gift, and it was a hit!

You can also visit the Chicky Bella online store at http://www.chickybella.com/!