Today’s guest is the talented Caroline who has a must read blog, a jewelry shop that is in its entirety on my wish list and two adorable kids. She’s all around awesome.

hello all!

first, i have to say, i’m very excited to be able to guest post over here on you are my fav. since, it is one of my fav’s!

my name is caroline [pronounced care- o - lean, like gasoline] armelle drake. i’m a jewelry designer, and i blog over at armelle.

melanie asked me to post on whatever topic i’d like today, and i have parties on the brain lately, so i thought i’d do a little post about party planning. and, i love the virtual parties melanie puts together, so i thought i’d try my hand at one.

my almost three year old son is obsessed lately with the 1956 short film, the red balloon. i thought movie would be great inspiration for a party.

so, if i were to throw a “red balloon” themed party. it may look a little something like this.

the invites
for the invitations, it would be darling to take photos of your child holding a giant red balloon.

i did one for my sons circus party last year, and it would be perfect for this “red balloon” theme. i turned the photos into faux poloroids and included them with the invitations.
a red balloon would also be a darling addition to the invitation, packaged up like the one from my little ezra’s circus party invitation.

with the photo, you could also include these darling cards from etsy shop ello there with all the party time and details custom printed on them.

the food
you could serve various types of french food. french pastries, baguette sandwiches, a nice french cheese spread, or even try you hand and these darling red “balloon” sandwiches by crafty rachel. i love how the cherry tomatoes resemble little red balloons.

and, don’t forget the red striped paper straws. because i think every party should have striped paper straws. i found these from the etsy shop, my sweet life, click here.

decorations
a red theme for the decorations is a must. bust, i also liked a mix of red, black, and white.
bunting or garland is always a fav. try putting up some darling homemade bunting out of cute red, black, and white fabric or paper like jennifer from fresh dwelling did for her red balloon party.

and of course, you can’t forget, lots and lots of red balloons.

or, if you are really on a balloon “high” you can order these 3 ft round red balloons i found here.

the party favors
party favors are always fun to put together.
a great idea for a “red balloon” themed party would be to make surprise balls, or in this case, surprise balloons!

the surprise balloons would be similar to the popular surprise balls i’ve seen out there. [a great tutorial can be found here.]
basically, you’ll want to get a plain red balloon, then fill it will candy, or favorite trinkets like toys or anything related to the theme. you can fill it up with treasures, and package it up cute to hand out. then, the children can get their surprise balloons and blow them up to see its contents. and, maybe even have to pop them to get the prize!

well, i hope this helps inspire you for the next party you throw.

thanks for letting me be a part of this fun blog!

until next time and au revoir!

This is clearly a guest post since my last sewing attempt was in seventh grade life skills class when I sewed the two sides of my duffle bag together. Yet, I’m a fan of people who can sew and share their talent. Especially if they live upstairs.

Hello You Are My Fave readers. Are you as jealous as I am of Mel’s fabulous cruise? Good, I’m glad we have a second thing in common.

I’m Katie, Mel’s neighbor from upstairs. And Mel invited me to do a guest post while she’s basking in the sun. Today I’m going to share why sewing is something you may want to learn or expand your skills on. Here goes it:

1. It’s a great way to get something new for less
2. It’s satisfying to create something
3. Sewing can provide a better fit than off the rack clothing
4. You choose the fabric and the pattern
5. You can personalize your item

Yesterday, I finished a wrap around dress that rang me up about $15, plus time. I swapped out the classic collar for a pleated collar, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Some of my favourite patterns are :
Simplicity 2443
Simplicity 2698
McCalls 5752

A few patterns I’m planning on sewing in the next month are:
Simplicity 2587
Simplicity 2668
McCalls 6027
Vogue 1086

I recently updated our living room, very affordably may I add, with simple throw pillows and new curtains that I made. The difference was incredible!

Happy Sewing!

Do you ever run across a blog that whenever you see a new post you say, “Hot dang! Absolutely. I love those things too. This person is me because they’re clearly the coolest.” That is Liz’s blog Say Yes to Hoboken to me. Oh, and she also runs this little diddy – Baby Hank Vintage

One thing I think we all know about Melanie, besides being obsessed with the Olympics, is that any and all bunting is her fav. Although,it’s probably safe to say she has lots of favs. However, I’m guessing bunting ranks high on the long list. So in honor of Melanie, (one of my fav bloggers), I’d like to share with you a little sewing project from a couple months ago that involves bunting. turquoise. stripes.
and rainbows. I know, I KNOW. Cause something that combines all of my favs…is MY fav.

I started with a little turquoise felt that I cut into a bunting-esque shape

sewed is onto two pieces of stripey linen that I had sewed together and then pressed and turned inside out.

Following the shape of the bunting as I was trying to sew the felt on proved to be a real test for my mediocre sewing skills (so don’t look too carefully at the stitch!).

Nice french red ribbon was sewed between the pieces of linen before so that it rolled and tied up nicely together for my 2 year old to carry along, but really I wanted to keep it for myself.

Pretty and functional. Bingo.

First up is Alli who runs a shop of all things happy with the best name ever (hooray is my go to word for all things enthusiastic).

Hello! I’m Alli from hooray. Like many bloggers, I’m obsessed with French things. I wish I could say it’s because I’ve taken romantic trips to Paris or studied the French language, but it’s more like, I read Mireille Guiliano’s books religiously, made macarons once, and think Marion Cotillard (with her French accent) is adorable. So until I actually make it to Paris, here are some favorite French inspirations.

I have some news to share. By the time you read this Ryan and I will be in the Caribbean. Yeah, that’s right, we are taking our honeymoon only 3 1/2 years after we wed. And I couldn’t be happier. I have a week of guests coming up so please make them feel welcome.

If you email me this week, please be patient with my slow reply. Lying on the beach is very time consuming.

Kate and Jordan

Currently googling “lavender farms, Colorado” and scheming yet another party. Hopefully a badminton court will be involved because everybody knows my skills improve when the setting is pretty.

This cute couple rented bikes for their entire wedding party. I have two thoughts about this. First, HOLY AMAZING AWESOME PANTS. Secondly, I would have really liked to see some of my wedding party riding bikes, namely my dad. That will give those of you who know him a good chuckle.

I think I’m going to start an annual celebration for saying goodbye to winter complete with a ceremonial storage of anything wool and the buying of a new twirling dress.

Part 1 and Part 2