September 17, 2011

Under Construction

Please excuse the disarray, we are in the process of changing things up a bit.
We'll let you know when the dust has settled.

August 29, 2011

Christmas Decorating Elves

Its that time of the year, time to think about the holidays and plan ahead.  Why not make your holidays more enjoyable this year by having some help with your Christmas decorating.

Be your own Holiday Design Director! Ever think how nice it would be having experienced extra hands to help you install your holiday decorations? Ever wonder, how much quicker you could get it all done with just a little extra help? If so, our Holiday Installation services are for you. With Holiday Installers on site to assist you with your holiday decorating you will have more time to spend with family and friends as well as be more relaxed at the beginning of the holiday season.


Our friendly and professional installers will help you get your holiday decorating done in less time with less stress than doing it yourself. Discover the holiday secret of many busy women, their own personal Christmas elves.

Sound Familiar?
"Does it take you a week or more to decorate your house?"

"Do you find yourself exhausted before the holiday season begins?"
"Do you have a large tree that is difficult for you to decorate?"
"Is it hard getting your husband to drag out all the holiday decorations when you want them?"
"Does your office just need an extra set of hands to decorate your tree?"

If you answered yes to any of these questions or you are just remembering how painful doing it all during the holidays is, you need to call today and book your own decorating design team.

How Does It Work?
You give the Christmas Holiday Specialists at CHS Creative Productions a call and let us know what you need help with. We will work with you to determine how many installers you will need and for how long. Its that EASY!

You can also decide if you want to drag everything out and go through it ahead of time ready for the installers or if you want them to drag it all out for you. Either way once your decor is out and ready to go, you instruct the designers on what to put where and how you want it. If you want to mix it up a little bit our installers will be more than happy to offer suggestions on new placement or ways to change your decor from what you usually do.

The installers will come armed with work bags with "tools of the trade" extra lights to purchase should you need more. You provide the ladders, if you don't have ladders we can bring those for an additional fee. We can also come back and take it all down!

It's that easy, call today and check one more thing off your Christmas to do list!

August 24, 2011

Pink Wedding~



A long overdue post from a June wedding.  The wedding ceremony was held at the Richard Nixon Library and the reception was held at the Anaheim White House restaurant.  Both locations were great to work with and very accomodating.  The service at the Anaheim White House is phenomenonal!!! CHS handled the coordination, decor, bridal party florals and the fabulous centerpieces for the wedding.  Frog Prince Paperie created the favor tags, table number signs and signs for the photo booth and cigar table, they came out perfect and matched everything perfectly. A special thank you to Jen of Photojenic for providing me with photos since I was a little busy that afternoon. 


















I hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoy sharing.

June 20, 2011

Designers Challenge


I have been asked to be a judge in the awesome Designers Challenge put together by Ebony of Sparkling Events & Design.  12 ridicoulously talented designers have been asked to put together inspiration tables with ONLY a $100 budget!!!

The Challenge - Plan a party on a budget of $100! Must include tablescape design, favor ideas and of course desserts!


The Theme - Go Green

The Challengers - The entertaining and party GODDESSES....this is a super talented and extraordinary skilled group of individuals!




Mama to 2 extraordinary little guys. I design and create hip + handmade partyware. I am a glitter freak. I worship anything handmade. I hate to cook.

I love a challenge. I hate budgets. I am challenging myself to create some inspiring beauty and DIY dazzle with a lone Benjamin.




I'm a true girly girl so my passion for pretty things grew at a young age. Once I was grown and on my own I found that I loved entertaining and after I had my son I found that I loved children's party decor. I started The Party Muse in 200c and have been having a blast ever since. I'm most looking forward to seeing how creative I can get with the small budget, I LOVE a challenge.






I am a mother of two beautiful blue-eyed girls and wife to a handsome and brilliant man. Love The Day is a place to help find inspiration, ideas and custom designs to love your special day!

I am so beyond excited for this challenge because I believe some of the best parties are those with special homemade touches, inexpensive, and memorable. And I'm excited to show how far one hundred dollars actually goes!



Nancy Pfeifer is at stay-at-home mom. She has been married 10 years. I have 2 gorgeous daughters, ages 5 & 4. I love blogging, obsessed with parties, love glitter, and anything zebra with pink!

A To Zebra Celebrations was opened in Oct 2009 after I had my daughter's zebra party. That's how I came up with the business name. We are all addicted to animal print in this house....lol well....not my hubby, but us girls :) I love anything crafty, unique, out of the ordinary. I could never find the decorations I had in mind for my parties so, I put my hands to work :) People inquired about my crafty things after some websites featured the zebra party and voila!!...I was in business. Blessed!

The one thing that excites me most about this challenge is that I will be able to inspire other mommies/women out there that a gorgeous party can be done on a small budget. They will be able to duplicate my ideas. It will be a stress-free party planning!





Bird's Party is aimed at like-minded people and moms who love to throw a beautiful party but don't have a huge budget.

Our printable parties allow you to create something bespoke for your special events, at affordable prices!

Through our blog we provide creative ways to use them, tutorials, party inspiration, fabulous giveaway (to help make your party budget go even further...) and a Cake it Pretty section for the lovers of DIY, and sweet things!

At the mo, I'm into shabby chic, vintage stuff, so whatever you throw my way, I think I'll be hitting the charity and thrifty stores! ;D






My name is Kori Clark and I am the mother to two hilarious toddlers, two big furbabies, and one amazingly fun business - Paper & Pigtails. I know it's a lot of children, but I like to spread the love. Paper & Pigtails was born in March of 2010 out of my passion for my freelance graphic design career, my children, and invitation design. I love bringing new and fun designs to the printable party world, and can't wait for everything the future holds!

The thing that excites me the MOST about this challenge is the budget! As a mom, I know the need for a budget and as a mom who loves parties, I know how hard it can be to STAY on that budget! I am so thrilled to show a party that is feasible for almost any one to host without taking out a second mortgage!





Little Shindigs is a small kids event planning company is So. Cal. It is also the name of my blog or as I like to think of it, my creative landing place. I am a kids party planner/industry network founder/ new handmade shop owner. My parties are often inspired by vintage or retro themes and my style has been described as clever, resourceful and my favorite to date, "quirky". The thing I am most excited about for this challenge is the mere fact that I was lucky to be included and that this isn't Survivor. :)







Frog Prince Paperie was founded in order to help the DIY party planner add a little kiss of magic to celebrations. We are thrilled to have helped create and inspire birthdays since March 2010 by providing party printables and inspiration for fabulous DIY party styling!

It's very exciting to be a part of this design challenge. There are so many things you can to to create truly fantastic parties with a very small budget, and I'm looking forward to proving it!








My name is Pamela Smerker, I am a 30 something, wife, a mother of 3 and the creative force behind Party Starters. Party Starters creates handmade custom designed part favor boxes and decorations for parties, showers and weddings. I have always enjoyed styling parties not only to celebrate my loved ones milestones, but also to share my ideas and tips with others. I am honored to be chosen as a party stylist for SED's Designer Challenge and look forward to creating a low budget party that will hopefully inspire people that they can do the same.





I “officially” started my business in the fall of 2010 but have been planning parties quite a while for people, plus I have been a graphic designer for 20 years working for various top companies. I was laid off about 6 years ago & have been doing freelance jobs & other things to make ends meet. I LOVE what I do because it’s MY passion, it’s what I went to school for, it’s something I have done my entire life! When I “try” & take a day off, I find myself dreaming up a new idea or the next collection I want to design! I believe in what I do because not only do I provide people with creative designs, I also can provide them with the custom party décor to match. I am an illustrator as well & ONLY do designs that I create from start to finish – I do NOT use clip art or backgrounds – everything you get with me is ORIGINAL and I hope people can appreciate that! I LOVE helping people bring their vision to life through my designs!

I am so looking forward to this challenge because the women that I am alongside with in this challenge are the women whom I respect & have looked up to since finding this virtual world. I look forward to working with them & seeing how we can show the people how to party on a budget & do it well!








Jennifer Sbranti is the Editor-in-Chief of Hostess with the Mostess® (HWTM), a hip and modern party planning resource that she founded with her husband in 2006. HWTM brings creative entertaining ideas to light through an inspirational “how-to” website and popular daily blog. Sbranti’s work has been featured in media outlets such as People, InStyle Weddings, Life&Style,Pregnancy, and Extra! TV, and she has been a featured contributor to several well-respected online communities, including iVillage.com, BHG.com, and RealSimple.com.

I’m really excited to participate in this challenge because of the budget aspect... I think that’s something that will resonate with readers, and it will be fun to push myself to see how far $100 can go!






My name is Doris Driver but my friends call me, Do (like “Do-Re-Mi”). I am married to an amazing artist, my business partner and my best friend, J (aka Jeff). Our home office is based in Skokie, a suburb of Chicago, and I am a Michigan native.


After “retiring” from teaching at the age of 32, I worked full-time as a Corporate Event Planner and part-time as a Hand Calligrapher. In 2000, I opened “Autumn Writings: Digital Calligraphy & Stationery for All Seasons.” Autumn Writings offers Digital Calligraphy—computerized envelope addressing—and handcrafted custom invitations and stationery items.

In July of 2010, we launched a new online division, Piggy Bank Parties, and Oink!, the blog of Piggy Bank Parties. We created Piggy Bank Parties to encompass our dream of combining my passion for designing budget-friendly, themed parties and offering our exclusive hand-illustrated invitations at affordable prices. Oink!, the blog of Piggy Bank Parties, features real and inspiration parties, tutorials, recipes and inspiration for party themes. What I'm most excited about? The end result. I love that at the end of this challenge 12 extraordinary designs with budgets of $100 or less will be featured. An amazing amount of affordable inspiration all in one place! {break for a Happy Dance!}

And last but certainly not LEAST... The Judges:




Carolyn Horten, CHS Creative Productions

Carolyn Horten is the Owner and Creative Director of CHS Creative Productions a full service Event Coordination & Holiday Decorating company that was founded in 1996. Carolyn took her passion for parties and decorating and turned it into a business where she loves to come to work every day. Carolyn has over 20 years experience in coordinating and designing exceptional events and decor for discriminating clients. From over the top events to intimate celebrations, Carolyn excels at creating memories that last a lifetime for her clients and their guests. Carolyn specializes in high end children’s parties.

I’m excited to be judging this challenge because not everyone always has a huge budget and if you are just trying to pull something together with a little money and some time you can make it Fabulous; it’s a true testament to talent and creativity. Some of the best ideas come from being creative on a shoestring and I can’t wait to see what this talented group of ladies comes up with, I know it will be spectacular!!






A lover of parties and entertaining her whole life, Jillian Tohber Leslie left a ten-year career as a Hollywood TV and film writer in 2009 to start Catch My Party, a website for people to share party ideas, tips, and photos. Catch My Party was a dream for Jillian, so watching it turn into a reality has been the most exciting and satisfying creative endeavor she's ever undertaken. A native of Short Hills, New Jersey, Jillian received her BA and MBA from Stanford University. She currently resides in Santa Monica, California, with her husband, David, her daughter, Lainey, and her company mascot, Gertie, a seven-year-old Tibetan Terrier. You can find Jillian on Facebook facebook.com/catchmyparty and Twitter @catchmyparty.

Jillian is excited to judge the Designer's Challenge because she can't wait to see how all these talented party women put together parties on a such a tight budget. Jillian says, "I'm looking forward to seeing all the inspirational and creative ideas. I can't wait to be blown away."






Tanya is the Creative director of Save the Date for Cupcakes~ where you can find inspiration for all things "sweet and fabulous". I am excited to see all of the creative ways to design on a budget!





I have had a passion for event planning and design for many years. I believe that I get my passion for creativity from my mom because she was ALWAYS crafting something when I was growing up. My journey began with scrapbooking. I was scrapbooking when there was nothing but glue, paper and stickers, not all the fancy stuff we have now! In 2010, after brewing this dream for many years, I launched Sparkling Events & Designs with the mission of adding "sparkle" to all types of celebrations!

One of the missions of SED has always been able to show people how they can create a fabulous party on any budget, so I'm extremely excited about this challenge.

And the Final Judge, You!

That's right you all will get to vote on who you think has the best party! These inspirations are for YOU, so you should have a say!

There will be categories and best overall party!






June 16, 2011

Jungle Baby, Baby Shower~

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of hosting a Baby Shower for my "other daughter".  I had the invitations and printables custom designed by Paula of Frog Prince Paperie to match the bedding the Mom to be had chosen.  The design Paula created turned out absolutely adorable and is now available as a full collection here  and here in her Etsy Shop. The baby shower was a last minute switch to my home and as I was knee deep in a wedding for the following weekend, I just tried to make the shower as sweet and easy on all of us as I could.

These adorable fondant cake toppers were custom made by Lynlee of Lynlee's Petite Cakes to match the invitation and printables.  I simply sent her the invitation and she worked her magic creating images that matched the invitation perfectly, they were absolutely adorable. They were the perfect way to dress up a plain white cake.

These adorable and yummy cake pops were also made by Lynlee of Lynlee's Petite Cakes.  This was the first time I had used cake pops or eaten them and they were absolutely delicous.

These fondant cupcake toppers were absolutely amazing, the detail and design were just perfect.  They were just so darn cute I could just look at them all day. The cupcakes were set in custom printable cupcake wrappers.




 For Favors we used this adorable "Thanks for Swinging By" monkey tag and filled it with kisses that were decorated with custom kiss stickers.


We served lunch so we wanted to create a simple place setting for the guests. Since there was no buffet for munching when guests arrived we used these adorable monkey snack cups and filled them with trail mix and placed one at each place setting along with their thank you favor. To define the guests place setting we created placemats very last minute by using white cardstock and sticking a 2" round cut out in the corner of the cardstock. Nothing fancy, but it worked.

 The Tess banner was hung over the drink station and after the shower the Mom to be hung the personalized sign in the babys room.

We used a lot of the full line of printables but unfortunately I didn't get a lot of photos.  You can purchase the full line of printables here.

I can't say enough good things about Paula and Lynlee their execution of my requests was spot on. The printables were perfect and printed wonderfully and all the fondant and cake pops were packaged amazingly not one item was broken.  First Class vendors that I highly recommend.

Paper Goods by Frog Prince Paperie
Fondant Cake & Cupcake Toppers by Lynlee's Petite Cakes
Cake Ball Pops by Lynlee's Petite Cakes