You need a bit of Inspiration... Every Now & Zen

I chose an Asian inspired baby shower for this month's spa party theme. Usually, each Spa Party of the Month series is broken up into 3 posts. Touch, where I describe the spa treatments & set the stage; Taste which details foods that would be appropriate for the given theme, and Sight  which provides decor suggestions. Every now and again I'll also throw in a Sounds post where I'll present a playlist inspired by the theme, but I haven't done that ever since the demise of my beloved Imeem.

Well this month, I just can't seem to contain myself to only those posts. There is a wealth of inspiration on the web for Asian-inspired parties and I just had to share two of my favorites. Of course I could have incorporated elements of these parties in the upcoming decor post, BUT I think that both of these parties are well worth you viewing the whole thing. 

First up is an Asian-inspired baby shower thrown for/by Joanna, over at the blog Lotus Haus. Though I'll give you a sneak preview below, I encourage you to visit her blog for all of the details and symbolism that made this shower so wonderful. Joanna has a knack for combining "global, modern & sustainable style", with marvelous results. If you think her Asian baby shower is cute, I'd suggest checking out the Lebanese inspired shower as well.

Before I jump into the next party, I wanted to share two DIY projects that I spotted elsewhere on Joanna's blog a chinese take out floral arrangement & an adorable way to package paper fortune cookies;  which would also work well with a variety of other fortune cookies that I'll share later both edible and inedible.

 Photos: Joanna Dyckhoff, Lotus Haus Creative Services

This second feature is care of Brides.com, who did a wonderful job of fusing elements from a variety of Asian countries in their East Meets Guest wedding reception. I love the florals and use of color.

Photos: Brides.com

Now, if you read the spa party of the month post you'll realize that the treatment I chose to focus on this go-'round is manicures. BUT, if you were to have an Asian-inspired spa party with facials the napkin styling by Social Couture would be a great way to present guests face/hand towels and chopsticks, which they can use to create a bun to keep hair out of their faces (assuming they have long hair), checkout this e-how tute on creating fancy beaded chopsticks just for this purpose.  While your at it, try picturing that lovely and vibrant low bouquet from the East Meets Guest interspersed with some facial size bath poufs...could be interesting. 

Photos:(l-r) Photobucket user Lunalovegood_photos,Social Couture, 

Brides.com, Bathtime Goodies

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Spa Party of the Month: ...Every Now & Zen Baby Sprinkle

Spring is finally on it's way and one thing that Spring is good for is tea parties. For this month's Spa Party of the Month, I figured I'd share some ideas for an Asian/tea themed baby shower (Because even mommies deserve a bit of pampering Every Now & Zen). I think this shower is perfect for a mom who already has at least one kid under the belt. Opinions vary on whether to hold baby showers after the first baby, but I say go for it! I think that these type of showers or "sprinkles" are the perfect opportunity to focus less on the gifts and more on having a nice event for the mom-to-be to celebrate the impending addition to her family, and an excuse to get together with women who will encourage and support mom through this additional chapter in her life.

Getting Comfy

In many Asian cultures it is traditional not to wear shoes inside the home. Taking off ones' shoes also helps you get comfy and in a spa-like mood. Wouldn't it be fun to have an assortment of Japanese tabi socks available for guest to slip on upon entering.

Photo: Sock Dreams

If you really want to get into the theme, ask guests to bring a kimono robe to change into once they arrive.

Treatment

2010 is the Year of the Tiger so this baby may be one that the ladies can't wait to "get their paws on". Since mothers of newborns are often concerned about germs, washing/sanitizing ones hands before even winking at the baby is Rule #1. Therfore, manicures should be the treatment of the day.

I'd suggest DIYing it with help. Look for a eco-friendly nail technician who is willing to come out and walk guests through "greening" thier nail care routine. She can introduce a variety of eco-friendly products that allow moms-to-be to pamper themselves without feeling their are going to pass out from the noxious fumes regularly associated with nail care. For tips on what types of products are appropriate, see my Green Manicure for Earth Day post from last year.

Give your manicures a some Asian flair by having guests soak thier fingers in tea cups filled partially with bath tea, which can be poured warm from a kettle. Follow the soak with an exfoliating scrub like the Bamboo & Black Sesame Body Rub from Bella Lucce's Asian Indulgences collection, kumquat scented solid sugar cubes by Naid (love these!) or create a scrub of your own using this recipe from Bella Sugar:

Chinese Sesame Ginger Scrub

1. Chop about an inch of fresh ginger root into pieces, use a coffee grinder to chop it finely.
2. In a bowl, add in 1 tbsp. of ginseng powder, one-and-a-half tbsp. of sugar, four tbsp. of sesame oil, 1 tbsp. of rose-hip oil, five drops of myrrh, and five drops of mandarin essential oil. Mix it together with the ground ginger. (Myrrh is not reccommended for use by pregnant women)

For a nice "twist" offer mandarin scented oshibori towels for guest to use when removing their scrubs. What is oshibori you ask??

An oshibori (おしぼり or お絞り?) or hot towel in English is a wet hand towel offered to customers in places such as restaurants or bars in Japan and in Japanese restaurants worldwide. -wikipedia

Kick your oshibori up a notch by trying out some "origami".

Photo: Oshiboriart.com

Presents/Activities

Though gifts may not be the central focus of a "sprinkle", the mom-to-be will inevitably recieve some gifts. Encourage guest to wrap their gifts using the Japanese art of Furoshiki, known as Bojagi in Korea. No need to buy a special cloth, try wrapping the gifts in a baby blanket. Here is an example from YouTube of how this wrapping style works.

For more tutorials visit bobowrap.com, or check out this guide produced by Japan's Ministry of the Environment.

In addition to reducing the wrapping paper waste, these cloths can lend themselves to some fun shower games, like a Baby-Gami (swaddling) relay, or a Furoshiki fashion show. There are some great videos on how to make furoshiki handbags here, here and here.

In the next post in the series, I'll be sharing what food works well for this theme.

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K.I.S.S- Grab Your Napkins & Get Craftin'

One of my "signature features" on this blog is K.I.S.S which stands for Keep It Simple Soiree. It's the segment where I get to take a step back from the spa portion of parties and just present simple, usually D.I.Y ways to step up your party game and present guests with those little details that make your party stand out. A few posts back, I mentioned how impressed I was with some of the things that paper crafters manage to come up with. Anybody planning a party would do well to take a gander at Splitcoast Stampers website because these ladies can do wonders with a piece of cardstock/scrapbooking paper.
Today I came across another tutorial which is just perfect for the party planner novice or professional... Felted Cardstock. This technique uses plastic wrap to fuse a dinner napkin to a piece of plain cardstock. You can use your new cardstock for a variety of party projects including cupcake wrappers, toppers, confetti, gift boxes, signage, etc.  Signs created with this technique would be great for labeling items on your buffet, drink area or candy/dessert bar, where the coordinating napkins are presented of course. In the tutorial she uses white cardstock, but a colored cardstock could also be used if the backside will also be visible.  The image below is an example of how she used the technique to create the base for a thank you card, the card is durable but retains the texture of the napkin.

Image: Splitcoast Stampers, Lydia Fiedler

We always have the 12 7/8 in x 15 5/8 in guest towels available in our bathroom when hosting guests, which of course is a perfect tie-in if your having a spa party.

Check out the  video tutorial  or written tutorial created by Lydia Fiedler. Have fun trying this one yourself... signing off now to go a-hunting for some napkins around the house.

Update: I've actually gotten a chance to try this technique and it works pretty well. The initial step of separating the printed part of the napkin from the back it the most tedious part, and you do have to be careful not to tear the napkin. That being said, using a coordinating cardstock instead of white can help to mask those little tears that do occur. Here are my results... in the first photo I showed the full piece of coverd cardstock along with the cardstock I used for the backing and the original napkins. The second pic shows some cutouts I did to experiment, a square piece, a cupcake wrapper, and some circles that could be used for various things (the 2 in circles are perfect for cupcake toppers). These are napkins we had laying around that my mom picked out, I'd love to try the technique with more modern/hip napkins with stripes or geometric shapes rather than a floral print. Overall, it came out nice though, I was concerned that when I cut it for projects the 2 layers would begin to separate but that didn't happen. Next I may try making a box of some sort to see how it holds up to scoring and folding.

If you try this and post it on your blog be sure to leave me a link I'd love to see the results.


Happy Crafting :)

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Real Party: Pancakes & Pearls

When I  first spotted the invite for "Pancakes & Pearls" on P is for Party, I was eager to see how the party would come together. The photos did not disappoint, what a wonderfully cute way to celebrate a 4th birthday. I'm sure all the girls enjoyed their mini spa day. I've posted a few  pictures here, but be sure to visit P is for Party for more photos and a list of vendors.

The Invite designed by Hayle Hardcastle

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