The Little Prince First Birthday Party Invitation

Hi everyone! Just a quick housekeeping note before we jump into today’s post: Registration for the Blueprint Model 2018 closes at 11:59 pm TONIGHT! Check out my blog post with all the details from earlier in the week, or go here to register!

We can all agree that The Little Prince is one of our all-time favorite children’s books, yes? I love that artist Kristy Rice of Momental Designs used this beloved book as the inspiration for her son’s first birthday party invitation! If you’re familiar with Kristy’s work, then you know that she always goes the extra mile to create the most special and thoughtful invitations. You’ll just have to read below to see all the details she incoporated into this “The Little Prince” first birthday party invitation – it’s absolutely dreamy!

The Little Prince First Birthday Party Invitations by Momental Designs

From KristyIzzy’s beautiful and unique first birthday invitations were a high art twist on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved children’s story “The Little Prince.” All of the artwork for the stationery was developed in a more detailed and realistic style compared to the original book’s illustrations.

The Little Prince First Birthday Party Invitations by Momental Designs

The Little Prince First Birthday Party Invitations by Momental Designs

Perhaps the most special piece for the whole event was a calligraphy backdrop written by Sarah of Flourish Grace. We wrote a letter to Izzy and gave her the text, so all guests could share in our sentiments to him. Here is what we wrote:

“Dear Isaac our Izzy Wizzy baby guy,

You’ve shown us what it is to live, really live…to love bigger, to trust more, to make time for what matters, to pay attention, to put our phones down, to listen to God more, to love mornings, to marvel… to blow raspberries and let it be the best part of the day. 

Love, Mama and Papa”

The Little Prince First Birthday Party Invitations by Momental Designs

For the invitation itself, we created a custom game board-style box inspired by the Little Prince. At 17 inches by 10 inches, it was even the size of a board game! A spinner asked guests “What will the Little Prince teach today?” and allowed them to indulge in a bit of play as the explored the invitation. Each box had specially sized compartments to hold a copy of the book, a sheet of custom watercolor stickers, and small trinkets inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved words.

The Little Prince First Birthday Party Invitations by Momental Designs

The Little Prince First Birthday Party Invitations by Momental Designs

And we could not send our guests home without special favors! We curated a case full of fun stuff, with the title “A Visual Map and How-to Guide to Seeing with Your Little Kid Eyes.” Each mini suitcase was stuffed with time-honored goodies guaranteed to turn back the hands of time, even just for one afternoon; candy cigarettes, garbage pail kids, balsa wood airplane, bazooka bubble gum, Lip Smackers lip balm, Pop Rocks and a Slinky!

The Little Prince First Birthday Party Invitations by Momental Designs

In the lid a watercolor map was custom fitted, calling out the “steps” to revisiting your childhood fun! To name a few: “Pop some rocks and swig some soda if you’re brave”, and “Read The Little Prince, it’s weird and wonderful and witty, just read it…k?” We really wanted our guests not only to read the book, but to experience the lessons of this classic story in a fun and interactive way, and to take a child-like perspective on life, even just for a few minutes.

The Little Prince First Birthday Party Invitations by Momental Designs

The Little Prince First Birthday Party Invitations by Momental Designs

The Little Prince First Birthday Party Invitations by Momental Designs

Thanks so much Kristy! BTW – you can see Kristy’s whimsical adoption baby shower invitations right here!

Design: Momental Designs

Calligraphy: Flourish Grace

Momental Designs is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of their beautiful work right hereor visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Dolci Momenti Photography

Best of 2017: My Favorite Projects!

Today I’m wrapping up our 2017 recap with a look back at some of my personal favorite posts from 2017! We’ve already covered fun DIY projects, favorite cocktails, sweet baby shower invitations and birth announcements, playful and colorful wedding invitations, and romantic and understated wedding invitations – all of which I absolutely love – but the posts below are a bit more personal in nature. I’m planning to write a bit more about my goals for 2018 next week, but one of those goals is to share more personal content, from conversations about motherhood and family to sharing more behind-the-scenes peeks to exploring more of DC. I used to share way more personal content, before Instagram became the thing it is today and before I had two kids (I honestly have no idea how any of you with 3+ kids manage to stay sane!), and I really miss it! I’ll also be doing a reader survey next week, but if there’s anything in particular that you’d like to see from me this year, please let me know in the comments!

Learn Watercolor Painting with Skillshare

One of my goals for 2017 was to get myself in front of the camera more often, which is DEFINITELY stepping outside of my comfort zone since I’m used to being the one behind the camera. But at the end of the day, it’s just me behind this mighty little blog, and it’s important to show my face more often. I teamed up with photographer Anna Meyer to visit some colorful walls in DC, and I can’t wait to do another installment in 2018!

The Best Walls in DC

Dallas Clayton’s #kindcomments wall at Union Market

The Best Walls in DC

The Best Walls in DC / Photo Credit: Anna Meyer for Oh So Beautiful Paper

2017 was a fairly big and transformative year – I celebrated my 9th blogging anniversary and introduced you to Common Room Studio! So far I’ve shared the design inspiration for Common Room Studio and we hosted our first set of workshops, but I still need to do a full reveal! Stay tuned in 2018. Oh, and if you’re in the DC area, you can sign up for our newsletter right here

Write Your Own Story / Frankie's Girl

9 Years of OSBP + Introducing Common Room Studio! / Image Credit: Frankie’s Girl via Instagram

Common Room Studio Style Board and Color Palette

Design Inspiration for Common Room Studio

On the home front, we shared our backyard makeover and talked about kitchen renovation inspiration! These days, my back yard looks more like a winter wasteland since everything has died back from the freezing temperatures, but I can’t wait until it looks like this again in the spring and summer! Oh, and we may have kickstarted our long-awaited kitchen renovation over the holiday break, so stay tuned for an update on that, too.

A Backyard Makeover in Washington, DC

OSBP at Home: Our Backyard Makeover / Photo Credit: Yetta Reid Photography

Qanuk Interiors Kitchen via House & Home / Photo Credit: Donna Griffith Photography

OSBP at Home: Kitchen Inspiration / Design: Qanūk Interiors / Photo Credit: Donna Griffith for House & Home Kitchens & Baths Fall 2013

That’s it for me this week! Have a wonderful weekend, stay warm, and I’ll see you back here on Monday! xoxo

Best of 2017: Adorable Baby Announcements and Shower Invitations

Aaaah, babies! Even before I became a mom, I loved seeing festive and exuberant baby shower invitations, sweet birth announcements, and even fun birthday party invitations! Let’s take a look back at some of our favorite adorable baby announcements and shower invitations (and one first birthday party invitation!) from the year, from copper foil baby shower invitations to vellum first birthday party invitations!

Copper Foil Star Inspired Baby Shower Invitations by Bourne Paper Co.

Alana of Bourne Paper Co. sent two adorable baby stationery projects in 2017 – first, the invitations for her baby shower! The copper foil stars are the perfect complement to the crisp and clean modern design!

Copper Foil Star Inspired Baby Shower Invitations by Bourne Paper Co.

Copper Foil Star Baby Shower Invitations

And a bit later in the year, Alana shared the sweet birth announcements for her daughter, Peyton – with beautiful calligraphy by Anne Robin and a fun batik-inspired envelope liner!

Sweet and Simple Calligraphy Baby Announcements by Bourne Paper Co. and Anne Robin Calligraphy

Sweet and Simple Calligraphy Baby Announcements by Bourne Paper Co. and Anne Robin Calligraphy

Sweet and Simple Calligraphy Baby Announcements

Can you imagine anything more fun than sprinkle-inspired baby shower invitations?? I love these festive baby shower invitations with a white foil sprinkle pattern from Samantha and Whitney of Gus & Ruby Letterpress!

Festive Confetti-Inspired Baby Shower Invitations by Gus & Ruby Letterpress

Festive Baby Shower Invitations with Foil Sprinkles!

Vellum was one of the biggest trends of 2017 – and I’m expecting we’ll continue to see more of this translucent material in 2018! How lovely is this eucalyptus overlay on these first birthday party invitations from Mint for Hue??

Eucalyptus and Vellum Birthday Party Invitations by Mint for Hue

Eucalyptus and Vellum First Birthday Party Invitations

Looking for more adorable baby stationery? Check out our past baby shower invitation and baby announcement posts right here!

Pink Floral Unicorn Baby Shower Invitations

When your best friend is a stationer you can be certain that your baby shower invitations will be simply amazing! All of this is true (and more!) of these adorable pink floral unicorn baby shower invitations designed by Lana’s Shop. The festive skirt wearing unicorn is adorable and a perfect motif for these invitations. Floral printed vellum and copper wax seals are the perfect finishing touch!

Pink Floral Unicorn Baby Shower Invitations by Lana's Shop

Pink Floral Unicorn Baby Shower Invitations by Lana's Shop

From Lana: Nancy and I have been best friends for 25 years, so when it was time to throw her baby shower, I knew I had to go ALL OUT! My BFF is a girly girl at heart, which made it easy to decide on a direction for the party. From the adorable custom illustrated unicorn, to the milkshake stamps, to the wax seals, we definitely went with all things feminine and sweet to welcome Nancy’s baby girl.

Pink Floral Unicorn Baby Shower Invitations by Lana's Shop

When designing the invitations, I wanted to make sure to strike a balance between cute and sophisticated. Our floral skirt-wearing unicorn gal shared the spotlight with an elegant hand-lettered elegant script for the standout words on the invitation and insert.

Pink Floral Unicorn Baby Shower Invitations by Lana's Shop

Pink Floral Unicorn Baby Shower Invitations by Lana's Shop

Inspired by Baby B’s nursery wallpaper, the floral pattern I illustrated was featured as a border on the insert card as well as on the luxe vellum wrap around that we sealed with a custom gold wax seal. On the insert, we included a message asking guests to bring a book instead of a card. Even though we obviously love cards, we loved this idea so that Nancy and Baby B could get a whole book collection from their loved ones.

Pink Floral Unicorn Baby Shower Invitations by Lana's Shop

Pink Floral Unicorn Baby Shower Invitations by Lana's Shop

Pink Floral Unicorn Baby Shower Invitations by Lana's Shop

For the day of the shower, we rented floral linens from La Tavola to match our vellum wrap. I also designed coordinating game cards and menus for Nancy’s guests and included a packet of seeds at each person’s seat that read, “Life plants the seed… Love makes it grow. Thank you for celebration Baby B.” To tie everything together, we made custom unicorn straw toppers and bought custom “It’s a girl!” pencils from Etsy in pink, of course!

Pink Floral Unicorn Baby Shower Invitations by Lana's Shop

It’s always such a treat to design paper goodies for friends and this shower was SO much fun to put together! Hope it can bring lots of inspiration to others for their own shower sets.

Pink Floral Unicorn Baby Shower Invitations by Lana's Shop

Thanks Lana!

Design: Lana’s Shop

Lana’s Shop is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of her beautiful work right here

Photo Credits: Laura Murray Photography

Envelope Inspiration

I realized that I often share envelope inspiration from the #dailydoseofpaper hashtag on Instagram – but I don’t really share those envelopes here. So today I’m fixing that! It’s such a joy to open up our mailboxes and find a hand addressed envelope – even if you don’t have the skills of a professional calligrapher – among all the bills, junk mail, and catalogues. Any time I see a colorful envelope, I know it’s going to be something good! And even when I’m browsing through envelopes on Instagram, I’m probably more likely to stop and comment on an envelope post than any other type of image. Envelopes jump out at me for different reasons: sometimes it’s color palette, sometimes it’s the gorgeously curated vintage stamps, sometimes it’s the lettering style, or even something else completely. Today I’m definitely noticing a color theme in this round up, from terra cotta envelopes (so obsessed with this color right now) and brown walnut ink to deep navy and dark green. So much pretty!

Envelope Inspiration: White Envelopes with Walnut Ink by Hello Maurelle

Gorgeous walnut ink on handmade paper envelopes – just look at those deckled edges! – by Hello Maurelle

Envelope Inspiration: Terra Cotta Envelopes by Bare Ink Co.

Ooooh copper envelopes with white brush lettering by Bare Ink Co.

Envelope Inspiration: Green Brush Lettered Envelopes by Mary Kate Moon

Gorgeous green brush lettering with floral stamps for these baby shower invitations by Mary Kate Moon

Envelope Inspiration: Navy Blue Envelopes with Lilac Calligraphy by Sincerely Jackie Paper and Alison Vaz Designs

Navy blue and lilac has to be one of my all-time favorite color combinations – and that wax seal! Calligraphy by Alison Vaz Designs with art direction by Sincerely, Jackie Paper

Envelope Inspiration: Black and White Envelopes by Willow Wynn Co.

A modern take on classic black and white from Willow Wynn

Envelope Inspiration: White Envelopes with Blue Ink and Vintage Stamps by Mary Kate Moon

When the postage stamps become artwork by Mary Kate Moon

Envelope Inspiration: Dusty Blue Envelopes by Bare Ink Co.

Loving this gorgeous dusty navy blue with white ink by Bare Ink Co.

Envelope Inspiration: Hunter Green Envelopes by PCO Design Studio

This hunter green is an unusual envelope color choice – and is just so, so stunning – by P + Co. Design Studio

Envelope Inspiration: Navy and Gold Envelopes by Twinkle & Toast

Gold ink on dark blue envelopes is always a good idea – by Twinkle & Toast

What color envelopes are you loving right now???

p.s. Vellum Inspiration and Creative Wedding Menu Ideas