Another great site for unique baby and toddler clothes!

I happened upon a great little site this week Coco Bonbons. I am in love with they way they combine bright colors and cute patterns with simple styles. I love this lady bug romper that is currently on sale for 18.50. What a steal!

They also have the cutest little dress that I wish I would have found in time for Adeline's butterfly themed birthday party.

For boys I love these octopus overalls
They have a ton of summer items on sale so be sure to check out Coco Bonbons soon!

Hand Picked Pumpkin - Adorable Custom Baby Clothing

I love anything that can be customized so I was thrilled to find Hand Picked Pumpkin . This great site features baby clothing in soft knit fabric that is easy for babies and toddlers to move around in. All their items are high quality and made in the USA. The best part is that everything is customizable. You select the colors and trim for your outfit. The fabric patterns they have are colorful and modern.



I love that you can create that perfect one of a kind outfit for your little one. Visit Hand Picked Pumpkin to view all their complete line of custom baby clothing!

New Halloween photo card designs!

I know it is only July but before you know it summer will be over and it will be time to start thinking of Halloween. To prepare I added four new designs to our Halloween photo card collection at AddieKate.com.

The new designs for this year are bright and modern. I aimed to capture the fun spirit of Halloween. Most of the new Halloween card designs feature multiple photos. It is just two hard to pick just one photo sometimes! Especially when your little one is just cute as can be in their Costume. Below are two of our new cards in the Halloween gallery.


Visit Addie Kate Creations to view the entire collection!

Speaking of Halloween make sure to check back in early August for our featured Costume of the week.

Maddie's beach themed first birthday party

Addie's little friend Maddie turned one last month and her creative mom threw her the cutest beach themed birthday party. She chose bright colors for the palate which turned out so festive and fun.

Her cakes were absolutely adorable. For the main cake she had a flip flop cake that fit the beach theme perfectly. The smash cake was a little beach ball. Both were just fabulous.



For favors she filled up beach pails with various goodies. What a great do it yourself favor idea!


If Maddie's party has you inspired to plan a beach themed party of your own here are a few resources to get you started.

For tableware Celebrate express has a couple of options. I love their Flip-Flop Fun pattern. The polka dots make this theme even more festive. They also offer Beach Ball tableware.

Sophie's Favors has fun Flip Flop Coasters that are great for decor or as a favor. They also offer these flip flop floating candles.

Lastly don't forget to visit Addie Kate Creation's Invitation gallery to find the perfect invitation to compliment your beach theme.

Great site for potty training supplies!

My daughter started to show interest in potty training about 3 months ago so we have been gradually working with her. She does great at home as long as she is "diaper free". If she is wearing a pull-up there is probably about a 50% success rate. I think our main issue is she uses the pull-up for when she dosen't want to stop what she is doing. I have heard from many parents it is best to go cold turkey right into big girl panties but I am a bit hesitant.

While scouring the internet for tips I found this great site Potty Training Concepts . It is really helpful to have a complete resource for potty training needs. The site allows for customer reviews which I have found very helpful.

My current plan of attack is to order these 2 in 1 Waterproof Potty Training Pants . Hopefully they will help with the pull-up issue but still provide me a little peace of mind about accidents.

If these don't help my next plan will be to order the Potty Train in One Day System. I have heard great things about the potty train in one day method but thought Addie was a bit to young to start with that. If she isn't trained soon though I will be checking it out.

Wish Addie luck with completeing this milestone. Please feel free to share your own potty trainig tips in the comment section!

A few new Big Sister and Big Brother T-shirt designs

Maybe it is because of all the recent pregnancy news in my circle of friends but for some reason I just can't stop designing big sister and big brother shirts.

I added a few designs that are customized for 2009 and some girly flowered matching big sis and lil sis designs. I also have added an option to customize your child's shirt with their name. Check out all the new additions here.

It's Addie's birthday!!

Well my baby is officially two today! The old cliche that time goes by too fast is so true! When she wakes up for the day I plan on dressing her up in her birthday girl T-shirt and heading out for some fun activities.

Happy birthday Addie!!!

Adeline's butterfly themed 2nd birthday party

Yesterday we celebrated Adeline's 2nd birthday with a butterfly themed bash. Addie is just getting over strep throat and was a tad bit cranky but after the festivities got started we had a great time.

For invitations I used a double sided invitation very similar to the garden party invitation on my site.
For decorations I purchased inexpensive paper lanterns and butterfly and dragonfly decorations from a local craft store. I also hung ribbon and some smaller lanterns from the curtain rods.


For food I ordered finger sandwhiches from a local tea room and served potato salad, fruit and spinich salad as sides. I served them on the Mod Butterfly tableware from celebrate express. For desert we had bright colored cupcakes and ice cream. Typically Addie is a big fan of sweets but she wasn't too into it yesterday.


Finally, the favors for the little girls were little butterfly wings and for the boys I had stuffed aligator toys. Here is Addie's friend Maddie modeling her wings.


We had a great time celbrating yesterday with family and friends. We feel very blessed that Addie has such wonderful people in her life.

Personalized Party Favors and Gifts

I am sucker for all things personalized. Growing up with a name that is a little bit uncommon I could never find anything with my name on it. I am so glad that my daughter is growing up in the age of the Internet and won't have that same problem.

I stumbled upon mybambino and was impressed by their wide selection of personalized items. I really loved their personalized party favor section. They have a variety of favors for every price range and also offer volume discounts. My favorite idea for a first or second party is the personalized sippy cup.
It isn't always easy to find a favor when most of the children at your party will be under three and this fits the bill perfectly.

In addition to favors mybambino offers gifts for children, adults and even pets. They are a great one stop shop for all things personalized!

Modern mommy jewelry

I thought the day would never come where I would find mommy jewelry that I would actually want to wear. I love the idea of having a piece of jewelry to remind me of my little one all the time, but the style of these types of pieces usually makes me run in the other direction.

Well that has changed now that I have found BlissLiving . They have a huge selection of mommy jewelry that is simple and modern. My favorite is this two toned necklace

They really do have something for everyone in their wide selection. Now I just need to think of an occasion for my husband to purchase one for me. Mother's day is too far away!

BlissLiving also offers great diaper bags, room decor and unique toys. Currently they offer free shipping on orders of 99 dollars or more with code FreeShip. Make sure to visit BlissLiving soon!

Give a unique birthday gift with a personalized story book

I have many friends that have yet to enter into the crazy world of parenting and they often ask me for gift ideas when attending children's birthday parties.

I usually recommend a personalized story book. Adeline received one from a friend for her first birthday and it is beautiful. Now that she is older she loves having a book with her name in it.

ABC Personalized Storybooks offers two different options for personalized books. Their "my birthday surprise" book comes in a version for older kids (3-7) or for toddlers 1-3.


They also offer an array of other personalized products such as Cd's, place mats and sippy cups.

Another great company that offers personalized books is Mama Bebe & Co.. The book Addie recieved for her birthday is feautured on this site.

If you are looking for a unique gift make sure to stop by ABC Personalized Storybooks or Mama Bebe & Co..

Great new boutique for hand made baby items

A good friend of mine just recently opened a new online store, little love boutique. She has been sewing for years and I am so happy that she has decided to turn her hobby into a business.

I personally cannot get enough of her bows. They are so adorbale and have held up so much better than the other bows I have purchased elsewhere. I love that you can pick corresponding fabrics for the bows.

I also can't wait to purchase one of her adorable tutus for my little girl.
They are just perfect for dress up, birthdays or photo shoots.


In addition to her tutus, and bows she also offers nursing covers and diaper and wipes cases. Everything is hand made and she offers great modern fabric choices.

Make sure to visit little love boutique soon!

New Invitation designs added to AddieKate.com

Recently I have done several custom photo card designs for a few new birthday party themes.

I designed a fun cupcake themed invitation that featured four photographs. I love the way my client incorporated the cupcake theme in the photo.




I liked the modern layout so much that I used it as inspiration when another client requested a pirate themed photo invitation. Again I love how the theme is incorporated in the photo.



Lastly I designed a custom bumblebee photo invitation. The idea of having your child holding numbers to spell out their age is just precious!


All of these invitations have been added to my invitation gallery that you can view here.

New Big Sister and Big Brother T-shirt design

I recently created a custom invitation in a bumblebee theme. The bee graphic I designed for the invite was so fun that I decided to use it in a big brother and big sister t-shirt design for my cafe press shop. Feel free to check it out!

Adorable Butterfly themed favors

My daughter's second birthday is in less than two weeks and I am putting the final touches on her butterfly themed party. I had not originally planned on giving out favors but now that I have found Designed 2B Sweet I may have to change my mind.

I am in love with these mini-butterfly planters


I am crossing my fingers that I can get them here in time for her party.

Whatever your party theme Designed 2B Sweet has great favors and supplies to match. I wish I had found them sooner!

Another Deal!

Cafe press just posted that they are offering free shipping on orders of 65 dollars or more with code FREESUMMER. You can redeem it through my shop, trendy tots, through the cafe press main site, or a combination of the two. Happy shopping!

Deal Alert!

I love a good sale so you can imagine how giddy I was when I saw that one of my favorite boutiques, The Land of Nod, is having a summer sale. I think I will be purchasing the animal noises puzzle as part of Addie's birthday gift.

They have some great bedding on sale as well if you are expecting a new addition.

The Land of Nod Sale is running through 7.16.08.

Don't miss your chance to pick up some great deals on their unique merchandise!

Lily's Minnie Mouse Party

Adorable little Lily's mommy sent me the cutest photos from her minnie mouse themed first birthday party. Everything was perfectly coordinated and so well done.

Here are some of my favorite ideas from her party.

To commerate Lily's first year she put together this great collage of snapshots of Lily from each month. What a great way to show how much your little one has grown over their first year! It is a great keepsake as well.

Another fun touch was the cooler of beer appropriately labeled "Cheers to Alli and Mike for surviving their first year of parenting"!

I love the notion of celebrateing mom and dad on the first birthday. Making it through the first year is quite the accomplishment!

The final touches that really brought the party together were the cakes. They were both so well done. I especially love Lily's little smash cake.

If you are inspired by these great party ideas start with celebrate express for great Minnie Mouse themed supplies.

Also don't forget to visit Addie Kate Creations for your perfect custom invitation!

Adorable room decor at the frog and the princess baby boutique.

I have been meaning to update my daughter's room for ages but just haven't had the time to get to it. Well I just might be motivated to get back on track now that I have found The Frog and The Princess baby boutique.

This online store is filled with so many adorable products I don't know where to start. Addie's nursery is mostly frogs, butterflies, dragonflies and other little critters. I found these and fell in love



I think I will start with these and later check out some of their adorable bedding when Addie is ready for her big girl bed.

I have a feeling this site may be dangerous!

Adorable cupcake party ideas for your little sweetie!

Our cupcake invitation at Addiekate.com has been such a big seller that I thought I would check out what was out there to bring this adorable theme to life.

A friend of mine shared some great photos from her daughter's cupcake first birthday party so I'll start with some of the adorable ideas from her bash.

One of my favorite ideas from her party was the decorate your own cupcake bar. What a great activity that you can set up and guests can do at their leisure. Below is a picture of the bar and one of the finished cupcakes.



What is a first birthday party without a smash cake? This is probably the cutest one I have ever seen





Sur la table offers a great cupcake mold if this scrumptios looking cake has you inspiried.


Once you have slected an invitation your next stop can be celebrate express. They have cupcake party supplies galore! Plates, party favors, hats piñatas, you name it and they probably have it. Their cupcake decorations are available in both a boy and girl color scheme. I would recommend looking into some of their kits such as the
Girl's Lil' Cupcake Birthday Basic Pack



Once you throw your perfect cupcake party you will need to thank your guests right? I was so inspired by all the cupcake cuteness that I created this cupcake thank you card available through my café press shop

There are so many great ideas out there for a fun cupcake themed party! Feel free to share any of yours in the comments section below!

Dance baby dance!

I started my daughter in music classes about a month ago and she has been having a blast! Almost every night after dinner she has been asking to "sing" and "dance". I usually turn on the music channels that our cable provides and try to find something suitable. Well that just usually leads to frustration quickly.

To remedy this and make sure we could continue our evening dance parties I went looking for toddler appropriate CDs. I found some great ones at the land of nod and the best thing is they offer free shipping on all CDs for kids .

I am hoping my daughter finds some new favorites to rock out to on these albums!

I also purchased a great little set of instruments for her. It was supposed to be a birthday present but I just couldn't wait to give them to her. So far her favorite is the triangle.

It is so fun to watch Addie develop her love for music. It seems she learns more words to her favorite songs everyday.

If your toddler has a favorite cd or musical toy feel free to share it in the comments section!

Looking back on Adeline's first birthday luau

For my first post I thought I would start by reminiscing a little about my daughter’s first birthday party. She is turning two in a few weeks and it feels like we were celebrating her first birthday just yesterday.


Since Adeline is a summer baby we decided a luau party would be perfect. I set the tone with a luau themed invitation. I found a grass skirt for her to wear in the picture and I loved how they turned out. For decorations I used mainly bright orange, yellow pink and green accented with fun luau themed table ware. For table cloths I found straw beach mats and dusted them with fun luau themed glitter. And cute little "luau duckies". I had no problem finding Luau Party Supplies



For refreshments we served food from a local Hawaiian BBQ. We also had the baker that made our wedding cake do her birthday cake.
I had originally planned on making pink lemonade cupcakes but at the last minute I remembered that I am hopeless when it comes to baking and ordered her cake. Since I waited until the last minute I couldn't do a custom luau themed cake but her cake turned out delicious none the less. For Addie’s smash cake I made a non-dairy and egg and gluten free cake due to her milk sensitivity at the time. I took apart a lei to decorate it with. Here is her cake and a picture of her enjoying it!

Celebrating Addie’s first year was such a blast. I can’t wait to celebrate her 2nd birthday in a few weeks with a butterfly themed bash! Stay tuned for details!