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Christmas Gift Tags Download

Happy Friday, friends! I’ve got one more holiday download coming your way before the weekend. The immensely talented Mrs. Limestone of Brooklyn Limestone is treating us to the prettiest Christmas gift tags today, all featuring snippets of lyrics from beloved holiday carols. You can print these on cardstock or label paper and then hole punch or adhere right to your Christmas packages. I cut mine out with fun scissors with different edges for a little extra fun.

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Download your Christmas gift tags and start wrapping!

{Design by Sonicstef Design. Photos by Cyd Converse for The Sweetest Occasion.}

A Gift Wrapping Party

When Becca of the fabulous blog Birthday Girl sent over this amazing party I almost fell out of my seat. This is genius! Becca teamed up with Michele of Cakewalk Baking and hosted a glorious gift wrapping party complete with a gift wrap buffet featuring pretty wraps, ribbon and embellishments. Loads of festive wintery treats made this party a true celebration of the holiday season. Read on for more from Becca!

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“Wrapping holiday gifts can be a boring chore, often amounting to hours spent on the floor in a sprawl of presents, cursing from the paper cuts and somehow always running out of tape. (Or is that just me?) Now turn that chore into a party, and you’ve got something much more fun and festive. It’s hard to feel frustrated when you’re sipping a cup of hot cocoa, sharing supplies and creative wrapping ideas among friends.

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Last weekend, myself and Michele of Cakewalk Baking joined forces in a collaborative effort to bring this idea to life. We put a new spin on the dessert table by creating a gift wrap buffet of papers, ribbons, tags and accessories, complete with a paper cake! We chose a fresh winter color palette of blue, green, rose and silver, and I purchased the paper goods from Paper Source to make sure the patterns complimented one another. Embellishments included baking twine, cupcake liner flowers, glitter letters, happy tape, antique keys, small mushrooms, metallic markers and a variety of colorful gift tags.

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Michele did all the baking and outdid herself with a gorgeous selection of ginger cookies, fudge, white chocolate peppermint cupcakes, and melt in your mouth butter toffee. (Be sure to check out her blog in the next few days for some of these delicious recipes!) The cake stands and vintage holiday decorations are all part of her enviable personal collection, too. In addition to the sweet treats, we offered an assortment of seasonal beverages including hot apple cider, cocoa and a delicious champagne cocktail – guaranteed to get anyone in the holiday spirit. I created the homemade sea salt & rosemary almonds, packaged in glass jars to take home as favors. The wreath on the tag was a free download from Nonpareil Magazine, and I incorporated my own holiday layout and crafted the tags using a circle cutter.

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It was a perfect December afternoon, and aside from an unfortunate shortage of scissors, a good time was had by all. Perhaps more importantly, we all went home with an item checked off that big holiday to-do list!”

I told you this was genius. Thank you so much for sharing, Becca! I will definitely be stealing this idea in the future.

{Photos by Birthday Girl.}

The Sweetest Occasion in Nonpareil Magazine

At long last I am excited to tell you about the latest issue of Nonpareil Magazine where The Sweetest Occasion is featured! The ladies at Nonpareil asked a handful of bloggers to provide the inspiration for this issue and then asked each blogger’s dream team of vendors to create an editorial shoot inspired by that blogger’s personal style. I chose a team of Upstate New York wedding vendors – Rebecca Ashby of The Pink Orange, Alisha Clark of Clark + Walker Studio, Kris Ann Elario of Fleurtacious Designs and Katie O’Malley of Katie O Weddings and Events. I love these ladies – they are all incredibly talented and some of the coolest people I know and the vision they came up with is a spot on reflection of my personal style. Pop over to Nonpareil Magazine and check it out! Of course, I won’t leave you hanging – here’s a little sneak peak of what’s in store for you…

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A big thank you to Maddy and Jess of Nonpareil Magazine for including me in this amazing issue! xoxo

{Photos by Clark + Walker Studio.}

Hostess Gift Holiday Downloads

Good morning, friends! As promised, I’m back with another great holiday download today, this one from one of my BFFs (and new mommy as of yesterday morning) Carolynn of Two Brunettes. The holiday party season really gets cranking this weekend so Carolynn dreamed up an adorable hostess gift card and the cutest Santa gift tags perfect for a bottle of wine to bring along with you. Print on cardstock, then hole punch and tie with twine or print on label paper and adhere it right to the wine bottle. Cute and whimsical, these Christmas designs are one of my favorites yet!

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Download hostess gift cards + Santa gift tags for your upcoming Christmas parties!

{Design by Two Brunettes. Photos by Cyd Converse for The Sweetest Occasion.}

Anjali + Matthew’s Savannah Wedding

I love it when readers send me photos of their wedding and cite The Sweetest Occasion as a source of inspiration, so I was really happy to hear from Anjali and have her share her lovely wedding. But I have to say, what I love most about Anjali and Matthew’s wedding is the sweet romance and intimacy of their seventeen person celebration. Yup. Seventeen people. This Chicago couple traveled with a small group of their nearest and dearest to Savannah, a city they love, and celebrated with a traditional church wedding followed by dinner at the Mansion on Forsyth Park. She wore a gorgeous Monique Lhuillier dress and carried a stunning bouquet, and they had photos taken in Forsyth Park. This wedding was all of the love and none of the fuss and I just can’t get enough.

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Aren’t these two just so gorgeous together? Congratulations, Anjali and Matthew, and thank you for sharing!

Vendors -

Photographer: Jessica Purvis Photography
Venue: Mansion on Forsyth Park
Dress: Monique Lhuillier, style Monet
Groom’s suit: Hugo Boss
Tie: Calvin Klein
Veil: Erin Lindsay Janish
Shoes: J.Crew with embellishments from B.Poetic
Flowers: Garden on the Square
Cake: Sheri’s Edible Designs
Hair/makeup: The Red Headed Bride

{Photos by Jessica Purvis Photography.}

A Christmas Collection

I’ve been collecting a lot of pretty Christmas ideas on Pinterest and thought I’d share a sampling of the shiny things that I am loving right now. If you’re like me and you’re still working on Christmas decorating, baking and crafting, consider this an extra dose of inspiration. I am definitely digging holiday decor that is a little sparkly, a bit time worn and charmingly homespun because it reminds me of all the things Christmas should be – magical, happy, full of tradition, and alive with carefree laughter and joy.

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Row 1: sparkly house, DIY snowmen, sugary star cookies
Row 2: winter wonderland ornament, Christmas tree, snowy tree
Row 3: mantle, joy, cookie cutters
Row 4: berries, wreath, vintage ornaments
Row 5: Christmas treats, sugar cookies, snowy wreath

A Holiday Tablescape

With layered red and white linens and simple natural touches, this pretty holiday tablescape is right up my alley. It’s elegant with refined yet casual details like little sprigs of evergreen and twine with a single jingle bell as napkin rings. This would be really lovely for an upcoming holiday dinner party or make a sweet, festive scene for Christmas morning breakfast. Elements of this tablescape were sourced inexpensively from Pier 1 – check out the details on Restored Style.

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{Photos from Restored Style.}

Cookie Swap Recipe Cards Download

Hello and happy Monday! I want to jump start the week with the next holiday download, which was actually due last week, but my schedule got the best of me so here it is! (Stay tuned for more downloads throughout the week, too!) I know this is the time in the holiday season when lots of people are baking cookies, attending cookie swaps, and putting together platters of goodies so I’m excited to have these cute recipe cards from Kelly Maron of Paper Stories today. These would also be great to send along with a tray of baked goods as a hostess gift, too.

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Download your recipe cards and get baking!

{Design by Paper Stories. Photos by Cyd Converse for The Sweetest Occasion.}

Happy Friday!

Hello hello! It has been a crazy busy week for me (even crazier than usual!) as I prepare for the Boxcar Press Open Studio tomorrow. If you happen to be in the Syracuse area (or even a short drive away) you should definitely come check it out! Come for shop tours, printing demonstrations, free giveaways, a little holiday shopping featuring Smock, refreshments and more. Letterpress lovers of all ages are welcome – we’ll have lots of fun activities for kids, too! I would love to meet you so please come see us and say hi. In the meantime, I have hardly had time to read any blogs this week so I don’t have any link love to share, but check out a little tour of Boxcar’s newly expanded print shop when you have a chance. (It’s really cool.)  I’ve got lots of lovely stuff on deck for next week so have a great weekend and happy Friday!

invitation-interiorI am an employee of Boxcar Press/Bella Figura/Smock.
Read more about The Sweetest Occasion’s editorial policies.

Happy + Sweet Birthday Party Ideas

It’s time to switch it up a bit from holiday coverage because today I am loving these fresh and sweet birthday party ideas from Hello Naomi. Pastel cakes and treats, cookies and sweets are perfectly paired with cute party invitations from Imprintables. This would also be great inspiration for a baby shower, wouldn’t it? I adore a simple, pretty cake on a classic white cake stand and dainty flower lollipops are just adorable. Cupcake, anyone?

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{Photos from Hello Naomi.}