Dylan's Beachy Baby Shower

Loooooved the theme & color this baby shower I attended for a friend, Christina...and her 3rd baby on the way, Dylan. It was coral & beach-y with accents of burlap - just beautiful!  So of course when asked to do a diaper cake for the shower, I was SO excited...

This is definitely one of my favs to date, and was the tallest as well...being 5 tiers, compared to the typical 3 (and occasional 4):

front & back (with headbands & burp clothes pinned on)

The simplicity of the burlap table runners, sprinkled with seashells & starfish and a vase of beach sand was so perfect!! They even had adorrrable SAND-DOLLAR cookies!! love love love

The 4-tiered cupcake stand was handmade by the hostess' fiance - which turned out friggin AHmazing...next time I needs something like that, I will be callin him up to place an order for sure!!

So excited to meet Miss Dylan Gray - great name!!

CfC Summer Order Recap

Here are some highlights from a few "Custom from Calista" orders over the past couple months!

Elephant applique & name shirts perfect for this trio of brothers

"Little Golden Book" themed diaper cake to coordinate with the baby shower

This special "Book Worm" onesie is perfect for parents who are avid readers

1st Birthday Onesie & matching Party Hat...pink & teal is such a great color combo!

The owner of this little onesie arrived just before Independence Day 2013... perfect attire thanks to his mamma!

Photo credit: Andrea Fuller Photography

Faux 'dog tag' necklace onesie, perfect for the below newborn photo shoot:

Photo credit: Andrea Fuller Photography

This handsome man finally fits into the onesie (and clipon bowtie) I gifted him at THIS awesome baby shower!

a fun 'ice cream' applique bib to match this cutie's 1st birthday party invitation

another faux 'dog tag' necklace onesie - this time pink & girly!

Lynn's Baby Shower

Yesterday we celebrated another baby girl on the way, Raya {love this name} and mommy-to-be, Lynn. It was a gorgeous baby shower, decorated in pink, white & black...with amazing little desserts and incredible finger foods like homemade turkey meat balls and the yummmmiest homemade roasted bell pepper tomato soup cups with grilled cheese. We were greeted with unseasonably warm, 85 degree SD weather, so the champagne helped keep us cool ;-)

The diaper cake Amanda & I made for Lynn

Lynn is an all-star superwoman - we first met when James & I had a meeting with her to become our wedding planner back in 2007. I don't know what I would've done without her helping to make sure our special day went smoothly...she was a perfect fit for us. She is organized, fashionable, extremely detail-oriented and thorough. All the qualities I LOVE in a person/planner/friend, haha! After that, I referred her to my sister-in-law Amanda and another one of our friends, Kate - to help plan their weddings as well.

Lynn holding the door as we made our 'grand entrance'!

Lynn also referred us to Tim to marry us (DJ/Officiant)...and it was Tim that recommended a beautiful song for our wedding party to walk down the aisle to: "Now We Are Free" by Lisa Gerrard...the theme song to Gladiator. We never would've even thought or considered it, until he played it for us during a meeting and we fell in love with it immediately!

Tim officiating

Years later, Lynn & Tim eventually started dating, married in 2010 and are now due to have baby girl Raya Grace in April.

Thanks for having us at your beautiful shower Lynn...we're so happy for you & Tim and cannot wait to meet your little bundle of joy!! xoxo

Round #2 - Niki's Baby "Sprinkle"

Today my sister & I attended a baby sprinkle (for the 2nd & subsequent children) for our good friend Niki - her 1st shower was held almost exactly 2 years ago for little baby Pierce...cannot believe her 2nd (daughter this time!!) will be here soon...late March.

This time instead of crazy hosting duties, we got to relax as guests...in Niki's cousin's FABulous home in La Costa....indulging in some delish brunch-style food. I'm partial to baby girls, obvs...so I loved all the pink accents and decor. The name is still not yet decided, so Baby R it is for now ;-)

We did another diaper cake this time as well, and had so much fun with it! I knew her theme was black/white damask, with accents of pink and a bit of green...so naturally her 'cake' had to coordinate! We found the 'princess' sign, then added a big "R" with pink polka dots to tie it together. I found some adorable sparkly pink shoes and a pink rubber ducky to top it as well with the usual big flower.

 

Lastly, I added in a little round fabric flower hair clip, and this adorable black/pink polka dot skinny headband...love!

I also made her a matching wooden frame - made from a piece of damask print scrapbook paper, lotsa mod podge and a pink yo-yo flower:

We had such a fun day catching up with old friends and celebrating another baby...can't wait to meet her!! Love ya Niki!

Recent CfC Orders!

Just wanted to share my recently completed CfC orders...love them all SO much!

Onesies for 3 separate new babies:
Burp Cloths for a brand new baby (love how closely this fabric matches their nursery theme - green damask):

Safari-theme sets of burp cloths & onesies:

And finally, a 4-tiered, brown/blue diaper cake - love!

Wish I could do this stuff ALL the time!

Pretty Lamb Diaper Cake

Loving the new diaper cake I just made for a co-worker to take to a baby shower tomorrow. The soft cream/baby pink colors are so pretty, floral & feminine - hope the mamma-to-be loves it like I do!

Blue/Brown Diaper Cake

Absolutely love this cake - it's simple & the colors are so rich. In my opinion, anything looks fabulous with a deep chocolate brown! Kapri's bedroom colors were pink/brown, my wedding (& my sister-in-law's) was green/brown - as is my bedroom...haha, AND actually so is my downstairs bathroom, LOL!


Anyway...I made this fab cake for a friend to gift to another mutual friend a few weeks ago for her baby 'sprinkle' (the 2nd child's "shower"). I was going to paint the wooden E-L-I (Elijah for short) letters, but then saw this fun scrapbook paper. So I cut it to match each letter & secured it on with a few layers of Mod Podge.

I'm a big fan of hydrangeas - obviously - so that made a great top to the cake.

Doesn't it look lovely as the focal point at this baby 'sprinkle'?! These turn out so beautiful that usually the mommas don't want to take them apart! Luckily I plan ahead & typically use size 3 diapers in my diaper cakes, so that they CAN keep them in tact for a few months for extra nursery decor. ;-)

Can't wait to meet you Baby Eli!

Nic's Pooh-Themed Baby Shower

Sunday we celebrated our good friend/co-worker, Nic, & her lil baby to be. No one knows whether it's a boy or a girl...and the suspense is killing me!! I have NO idea which it could be - ps, I hate calling it, an IT!! Anyway, it was a gorgeous day - a little too warm, especially since we were on the water in Point Loma...I think it was just a bit humid or something...but we survived!

We arrived a bit on the later side, but that was due in part to me living forever away from this location, and picking up 2 other ladies. We also had very precious cargo to safetly drive down - a FABulous Classic Pooh themed diaper cake! Isn't it adorbs??

She'd given me a ton of classic Pooh cotton fabric she'd found, and asked me to come up with whatever I could to use it up. So on the bottom tier, there are 4 blocks that spell out "POOH" - those I cut from a long piece of plywood (I had extra on hand from the ABC blocks I did earlier this year)...then I cut out little squares of her fabric & mod podge'd them on each side.

Finally, I painted the wooden letters a light yellow color & glued them on the front - I LOVE these little blocks!

After we got settled in & said our hellos, we snacked on some yummy croissant sandwhiches, chips, homemade potato salad & fruit salad, yummm! Then we gathered in to watch Nic open gifts - of course I couldn't wait til she got to mine ;-)  Of course in addition to the cake, I made her a few other things. I found some adorrrrrrable, super old school, double classic Pooh iron-ons:

So I put those on a few onesies, then reinforced them by sewing along the borders (should've taken pics of them...grrrr). I put 2 on the top & bottom tiers of the cake as well...on the front of the ribbon, so she can use those later if she wants.

Then I was also inspired by some first hand/foot print frames I saw online...but I thought to myself..."psshhh, I can make those!!" And so I did - wish I would've done this for Kapri's 'prints', but I swear I wasn't creative then...or maybe I was just lazy, HA!

How fun is this diaper cake?! The cake topper little guy, is a soft teether toy I found online - the bottom/feet are soft rubber, and the middle of him is crinkly & loud...then the tags for one hand - which all babies love!. Then I found a cute wipes case, which is sorta holding the pooh teether toy up a bit! Also in the back, are 2 burp cloths that I also made with the fabric Nic gave me to play with. Can't wait to meet baby Reding!! Love ya Nic!! xoxo

2 lucky little ladies!

This past Sunday, I was honored to attend a baby shower for a dear friend Christi. I met her when I first started my position with my current job...she's always been such a positive, happy person and just a  joy to be around. Christi's been blogging about her journey over at "Anything 4 U Baby" and was also featured in a San Diego Examiner infertility article just 8 short months ago. She & her husband have been through SO much, more than I can fathom...but I'm SO happy to report that she's been blessed, after many struggles, with TWIN baby girls...due in just a few months!! These little girls may not know it yet, but they've got a great set of parents, ready to devote their lives to love & nurture them to the fullest!

My SIL, Amanda, & I decided to make her a massive, 4-tiered diaper cake for this very special & much anticipated day. We'd never done one like this before, so it was a challenge...but we pulled it off rather well I'd say!

We love our DCC nights (diaper cake central) - I think the wine, cheese & crackers helps fuel some creativity, haha! For the base, we used 3 pieces of poster board, taped together, then wrapped it up in some ivory fabric. The whole cake has approximately 300 diapers - which they will definitely need with 2 little ones! We hand-painted the "A" & "W" in their nursery colors and found coordinating flowers to match. I'm so proud of this cake...made for one deserving & incredible mother-to-be!

Love you Christi!!! Cannot WAIT to meet little A&W!  xoxoxo

Ballerina Beauty

My sister came over last night to help collaborate on a diaper cake for her boyfriend's cousin, who's due mid-February. Her baby shower is this weekend and she & her guests are gonna be impressed. They better be! Heck, I'm impressed with our work on this one...I LOVE it. Her theme for baby girl Blaine is pink, black & white...ballerinas, pearls, white roses...very chic. So we had to come up with something that was fabulous & classy & perfect!

Hard at work...

The initials B.K.W. are those of not only her baby, but also those of her father who recently passed - so we knew that had to be a main focal point of the cake. That whole plaque is hand-painted from top to bottom & even has a cute pink ribbon on the back, so she can hang it up in the baby's room later on.

We found little ballerina decals/stickers at Michael's and just stumbled upon some great ideas through the night. The crown on top of the 'B' is too cute...reminds us of "Queen B" (Blair) from Gossip Girl - damn I love that show. Anyway...we definitely spent a lot of time on the small details on this one, more so than previous cakes I believe. That's what makes these so special - the time & personalization put into each masterpiece. This is more than just diapers people!!

**Side note to DIAPER MAKERS...can you please just make PLAIN WHITE diapers in ALL sizes??!! Is that really too much to ask? You'd think it'd be cheaper to make/sell too - I personally, could care less about what Disney character is on the front/back (nevermind those god awful 'jean' diapers, ick!). I know that Pampers Swaddlers come in mostly all white - which is great, but I don't prefer to make diaper cakes with small (newborn/size 1) diapers. I'd rather use size 3's, so that the cake can stay intact for a bit longer before the new parents have to rip it apart in desperation for more diapers! haha...anyway...plain white diapers PAHHlease. It looks soooo much better for diaper cakes. Thanks.**

I also made some adorrrable burp cloths - with coordinating pink/black/white polka dots, too cute!

 

Lastly, here are some fun pics using my new camera's timer, haha, fun stuff:

Sisters being silly...but stoked on our design!