Asha's Awesome 21st Birthday!

My baby sister, who graduated from high school on what seemed like only yesterday, has turned 21!  Growing up... we never really celebrated birthday's, due to financial constraints, so I wanted to make this day very, very special for her.  So, I drove 3.5 hours with centerpieces, candles, cutely {is this a word?} wrapped gifts and a custom birthday cake in tow.  

I wanted this to be a surprise for her as I was sure that she was only expecting the normal gifts and a card from me via snail mail due to my new job and extremely demanding travel schedule.  However, it is often said that love is measured by sacrifice and I wanted to show my love toward my precious little sister by making some major sacrifices in order to join her in celebrating her 21st birthday.

Enjoy the photogs that follow as they highlight the night that we celebrated my little sister entering into the world of  womanhood.  Enjoy!

Happy 21st Birthday Asha!

This is the cake that added 30 minutes to my normal travel time... I just wanted to make sure that it arrrived in a single piece and not crumbles!  It was beautiful and fitting for the occassion.  We received tons of compliments on it. 

I truly enjoyed bringing this night together for my sister.  If I could do it all again... I would.... only bigger and better!  I love you Asha!  May the blessings of the Lord continue to overtake you in this year!



Buggin' Out!

I told you all how behind I was in my blog post and just to prove it here is a post about my goddaughter McKenzie's 2nd Birthday Party. Since her birthday was on Valentine's day, we decided to go with a love bug/lady bug theme... She doesn't look really happy in this photo because I caught her a little off guard... However, I love the serious look!

Now this one is more McKenzie... in full effect... See what I mean? ANTM I think we have a winner... LOL!
If I had been going in sequential order; I would have put these photos first... but at any rate here are the invitations created by yours truly.... Are they just too cute?


I just love these... Take note of the love bug on the return address area and the {love stamp}....

And what about a close up of the cake..... just darling...

And last but not least, a group shot of the birthday party gang! We had a blast!

This year I have hosted several "milestone" birthday parties... Stay tuned for more...

Up next.... a {Foxy and Forty Birthday Bash}!

A Golden Celebration: How it All Came Together

After all the centerpiece mock-ups and the like... I could not wait to see how everything would come together in the end. It took my cousin and I nearly four hours to set up because we could not find any tape :P! Bummer!

So without any further delay; here is how it all came together in the end...

:::::The centerpieces:::::

::::Life is Sweet; Take a Treat:::::

:::::The Favors:::::

:::::The Head Table::::

And before I wrap this up, I will leave you with the theme for my mother's 50th Birthday Celebration. It was printed on the invitations, programs and inspiration cards.

“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”

~ Oprah Winfrey

A Golden Celebration: The Gold Rush

Do you remember this post? Well, the time has come for me to recap my mother's 50th birthday celebration. My oldest brother and I had been discussing and planning this event for almost a year. We were elated to see how it all came together in the end... and the look. on. our. mother's. face. was. priceless!!! {I have yet to receive the professional photogs}

First off, our vision was to have everything dripping in gold, crystals and pearls. Yes, we were caught in the gold rush! LOL! Truthfully, our mother is a single parent and we wanted this day to be very elegant and beautiful. She has never been married and so we took the concept of 50th wedding anniversary, which is considered as the golden anniversary, and used it create a golden celebration for our mother. We wanted this day to be one of the most memorable experiences of her life!

::::::::::And here is how it all begin::::::::::

As you may remember, I :::swoon::: when I see crystal trees and every time I get the opportunity to use them in my decor... I take full advantage :}! I really did not realize how difficult it was to find leafless tree branches in the summer. It took me almost two weeks to collect these. Thank God for pruning and grooming! Here are how the trees looked before the gold rush:

And here they are shortly after...better...but they still need a little more work to become ::swoon:: worthy...

Hmmm....that's more like....

Next up are the baskets... I purchased these at Hobby Lobby for 10 cents each during a 90% off sale. Can I say major score?

Here they are before the gold rush:

And after {sorry for the very, very bad pic}:

These were used to hold gift tags for the money tree as seen in the picture below. They turned out really, really cute if I must say so myself!

Up next.... how it all came together!!!

A Golden Celebration: The Center Pieces

This stunning eco-friendly and budget friendly beauty served as my inspiration for the one of the centerpieces. I saw it on Bridal Bliss who drew her inspiration from Project Wedding. You see, inspiration can be contagious... LOL...

::::So here is the original::::

::::And here is my take::::

Materials Used:

• Gold Silk Flowers (http://www.efavormart.com/silkrose.aspx for $14.99 for 84/pk)


• White Flowers (http://www.efavormart.com/silkrose.aspx for $14.99 for 84/pk)


• Gold Scrapbook Paper (http://www.onceuponascrap.com/ for $0.75 cents per sheets for 2 sheets)


• White Rhinestone Ribbon (http://hobbylobby.com/ for $1.00 per roll for 1 roll)


• Crystal Strand ( http://hobbylobby.com/ for $1.00 per pack of 2; 3 packs purchased)


• 7½" Glass Cylindar Vase (http://www.dollartree.com/floral-decor/202/index.catfor $1,00 each; purchased 12 total)


• Styrofoam Ball (http://hobbylobby.com/ for $3.99 per ball; purchased 3 balls & cut in half)

Have you drawn inspiration from a fellow blogger? How didi it turn out/

A Golden Celebration: The Guest Book

I wanted the guest at my mother's party to leave their mark at her celebration – with style! Guest books are a wonderful tradition and one that will be treasured for years to come; and I wanted my mother to have one that she would treasure for years to come... I found this beauty at Trees and Trends for around $5.00...

My mother said that once the party was over, she used this {beauty} to contact her friends, family and loved ones to call and thank them for taking part in one of the most memorable moments in her life.

A Golden Celebration: The Stationary

I love crafty goodness and when it came to creating the stationary for my mother's birthday; I was in creative heaven. {if there is such a thing}

I will spare you the all the details... But I will let the pictures speak for themselves...

::::The Invitation::::

::::The Program::::

::::An Open View::::

::::The Menu::::

::::The Inspiration Card::::

Okay, this is a little off the subject... But how do you like my shot of the menu? Any seasoned photographers out there? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated...

Happy Birthday Diamond!!!

To My God Daughter on Her 1st Birthday

The day I was asked

if I would feel blessed

to accept responsibility

of a life time request.

My heart was overwhelmed
with a loving sensation,

and I accepted this query

without hesitation.

Of loving you unconditionally

and help guide you through life,

to show you the direction

of spiritual light.

To be your strength in hard times

and stand proud when you subdue,

the obstacles that life

decides to throw you.

And to you, my angel

I promise this.

Because without you,

as your godmother,

I couldn't exist.

© Rebecca L. Martell

I love you Diamond! You will shine brighter and brighter as the years go by. You are brilliant and your worth on the earth is greater than any semi-precious stone! Go forth... and because you are a {Diamond} you will always shine!

Princess Diamond's Invites

Here are the invites that I created for Diamond's Fairies and Butterflies themed birthday party. I am so excited about how they turned out. The card stock is from the Martha Stewart polka dot collection and I added the butterfly embellishments. I purchased those from Hobby Lobby last week while they were having a 50% off sale on their scrapbooking stickers... Can I say... SCORE!

So without any further adieu....







What you think.... Am I a good {fairy} godmother?

Celebrations for {Two}

Did I ever mention that I {love} planning events? Well, just in case I didn't I would like to now....... Bloggers and Lurkers..... M'Shonta {loves} her some event planning. And this weekend... I will not be around.... I will be in planning paradise.

On Saturday, my god daughter "Claire" turns 1. She will be sharing her birthday with her big brother who will be turning "6." {She was born on Valentine's Day and he was born on the 19th of February. The color scheme for this party will be pink and red and the cake will be half princess and half basketball. I will post pics of the cake later; I am very interested to see how it will turn out.

On Sunday, we will have a couple's blessing at church. A couple's blessing is very similar to a couple's wedding shower, but it is a more spiritual and formal. They are often given prior to the wedding, but in this particular case this couple were recently wedded in a very private ceremony.

Here is my tentative program for the celebration:

**** Opening
**** "His" Story
**** "Her" Story
**** Bestowing a Blessing Upon the Couple {Pastor and First Lady, Mother and Father,
other married couple's in congregation}
**** Dinner
**** Wishing Tree/ Toast
**** Closing Remarks

I also want this poem to make a debut at the couple's blessing...

A Couple’s Blessing

John and Jill may God bless and keep you, may the sun of many days and years shine upon you, may the love you have for one another grow and hold you close.
May the good true light within you guide your way together. May your dreams come true and when they don’t may new dreams arise.
And long, long years from now, may you look at one another and be able to say, ‘Because of you I have become the person I longed to be’.

I think that is enough for now... I will post photos when I return!

Until next time...

M'Shonta

It's My Birthday...or it was... December 22nd!

Monday was my birthday and I am so happy to be {let's say} 25 again!!! A year or so ago Adrienne, whose blog I have been reading faithfully for the past 2 1/2 years, did a post about 30 things that she wanted to do before she turned 30. You can find her blog at www.adrienneslittleworld.typepad.com. {{{Warning: It can be addictive! She such a creative and talented young lady}}}.

Since I have ummm about 5 more years to work on that one, I think that I will do one as well.... Are you ready??? Well, you will have to wait... I lost my list!!! Until then I will leave you with these photos from a luncheon that I had with some friends at Surin of Thailand in Mountain Brook. It was so good to catch up with these ladies!!! Oh, how I miss those college years!

The Three Diva's.....


And the Birthday Girl!


I welcome 2009 and all the wonderful things that await me... especially my destiny!