If you are planning a birthday party for your little one, you may not know where to begin. Picking a theme always makes it fun and does help with your planning. Once you choose a theme, picking out things like invitations and paper goods are a lot easier since everything should follow that theme.

A lot of little girls that I know love everything princess. How about having a princess birthday theme complete with outfits her and her friends can play dress up in and a crown for her to wear? There are tons of paper supplies with princess designs on them from napkins to plates. Pottery Barn for kids has an adorable Garden Princess party themed collection. An activity that might be fun is to have everyone make their own princess jewelry that they can take home as favors. Kara’s cupcakes also offers a cupcake decorating kit that kids can have fun with.

Here’s a few of our newest princess inspired invitations that is sure to delight the birthday girl and her friends.

With Father’s Day coming up, I thought I’d provide a little information about this special holiday devoted to all the dads out there. Father’s Day started in the earlier 20th Century actually following the birth of Mother’s Day in order to honor our fathers and forefathers. This special holiday is celebrated around the world on different days. In Thailand, Father’s Day is observed on December 5th and in Italy and Spain on March 19th. In the US, it is recognized on every 3rd Sunday in June which makes Father’s Day occurring on June 15th this year.

Are you ready for this upcoming holiday? Do you know what you’re getting your dad this year? While my presents for my father has ranged from a teddy bear which I gave him as a kid to a horseback riding trip as an adult, I try to have fun finding something different for him every year.

Although I feel that sending a card is the simplest and sometimes the most thoughtful gift, I did surf the web to find the most unique and unusual items out there. I was not disappointed by what I found. Here are the top 3 most interesting gifts that I found this year for Father’s Day!

1) Drivemocion-A round sign stuck to your rear window displays five messages such as a smiley face, a frown and thank you. This is to let drivers behind know how dad’s feeling about them. http://www.au-my.com/product.aspx?lang=English&product_id=1

2) Thumb Wrestling Ring-A toy wrestling ring to place over your fighting thumbs. http://www.wonderfullywacky.com/thumbwrestlingring.htm

3) For the golfer-Personalize cartoons lets dad be the main character and star in an adorable and funny cartoon. http://www.findgift.com/Holidays/Fathers-Day/Humorous/

We can’t talk enough about the 4th of July here at Tiny Prints. Maybe it’s the appeal of all the great summer food, the excitement of watching a beautiful fireworks display, being with people with love or the feeling of patriotism that we get when we dream of this special day. There is obviously a lot of reasons why we love this holiday. Here are our newest designs that pay tribute to the 4th of July!

One of my favorite parenting blogs is The Goody Blog, which is written by the wonderful editors at Parents magazine. This blog is a great resource for new products and tips; and it is a great way to get your daily Parents magazine fix between issues.

Check out some of my favorite posts from the month of May:

-The ManBabies highlighted in the post Who’s Your Daddy are both disturbing and funny -I love to play with my food (yes, still), which is why I loved this post
-First 90210, then New Kids on the Block, and now Fraggle Rock is making a comeback! All I can say is goody!
-These boxes from Pottery Barn are a perfect match to our Chrysanthemum baby shower invitations and thank you cards
-Silhouette prints are classic and traditional. Check out the beautiful necklaces in this post.
-Do your kids hate bath time? If so, then read about the Lil Rinser. This product is genius!

Also, be sure to check out the post on Tiny Prints new line of graduation announcements. A big thanks to Taryn at Parents for thinking of us!

With a flood of baby shower and wedding invitations filling up my mailbox lately, a recent cultural party invitation really stood out. On tomato red paper and with gold letters the invitation announced a “Red Egg and Ginger Party” hosted by my friend’s in-laws. Since I’ve never heard of it before nor have I ever received any invitation like this, I did some research.

A Red Egg and Ginger Party is a Chinese cultural tradition that celebrates a baby’s 1 month birthday. High infant mortality rate was common in China as well as other countries at the time so when a baby turned 1 month old, this meant that they had survived. The event was celebrated and the infant was finally shared with friends and family and named.

Today, parents hold the party when their baby is 1-3 months old. And following tradition, they usually give out eggs that have been dyed red to symbolize happiness and renewal of life. This partly explains the name of the party but where does ginger come in? Well, ginger is supposed to balance out an overtired new mother’s yin and yang with a little heat. Ginger and eggs are both given out at the event.

If you are attending a Red Egg and Ginger party and don’t know what to get. Gifts traditionally given are money in red envelopes or clothing.

If you’re planning a Red Egg and Ginger Party, take a look at some of our invitations on Tiny Prints. And with its red and gold colors, this invitation from Wedding Paper Divas would fit perfectly for this occasion.

Sources: http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa012303a.htm

I’ve been getting a lot of baby registry links these days which are really cool. In a previous entry, I explained that these types of registries are similar to wedding ones. The couple adds things they’ll need to prepare for their baby and friends and family can go directly to sites and stores to find exactly what they want. A few sites such as Myregistry.com and ThethingsIwant.com offer couples the option of choosing items from various companies and online stores at one place. Then of course there are more common online registries for Target and Babies “R” Us with contents specifically from their store.

Regardless of which registry you choose, I’ve heard that the process can be overwhelming. One friend told me how shocking it was to find out just how much stuff a little baby needs. For all of you new mommies and daddies in the same boat, check out this article on Pregnancy.com for advice on how to make shopping for your new baby fun and not overwhelming.

When I think of summer, I think of all the summer’s past and what made each so memorable was the parties! Whether outdoors at a park or beach or indoors at someone’s house, summer parties celebrate everything wonderful about the warm season.

Planning parties can be stressful. Breaking down the steps to planning can help ease the process and even make it fun. So here we go.

1) Location. Think about whether you want to have the parties indoors or outdoors. While having an outside party for summer seems ideal, you also need to think about mosquitoes and other outdoor pests. In addition, finding cover under a tree or putting up a tent are great ways to prevent getting directly in the heat. You might want to pack sunscreen or give them as fun favors to guests.

2) Type of party. Is this going to a birthday party with a specific theme or a casual backyard party with friends? Thinking about who your audience is will be important in choosing what type of theme you have. Kid’s parties can focus on a specific character or favorite color while you may want to throw a 4th of July for friends and family.

3) Choose and send out the invitations. If you have a specific theme in mind you can choose party invitations that match. For example, here is a great design for a 4th of July gathering.

This one is perfect for her summer birthday party.

4) Food and drinks. Since it’s summer you’ll want to incorporate fresh seasonal fruits such as strawberries and watermelons. The type of food and drinks can also be your party theme. Just remember to budget for the amount of people you are expecting and try to stick with it.

5) Have fun! Be as creative as possible and make this the event of the season!

Did you see the season finale of The Office last week? What a great episode! Every Thursday, I love watching Pam & Jim’s relationship develop, but I especially love to watch the chemistry between Angela and Dwight. They are such an odd and quirky couple.

Throughout the season, some of you may have noticed that the camera angles always hid Angela’s belly. Well, that is because they were camouflaging her baby bump! And, Tiny Prints was super excited when Angela (actress, Angela Kinsey) selected Tiny Prints birth announcements to announce the birth of her daughter, Isabel Ruby. Everyone at Tiny Prints wishes Angela & her family all the best!

To view a list of other Tiny Prints celebrity clients - click here.

Summer is getting closer and closer! Today, where I live it’s in the 90’s. For me, this means packing up my winter clothes and taking out all the summer ones. It also explains why I had a sudden urge to splurge and eat an ice cream cone.

Well in honor of one of my favorite seasons, I’ve gathered a bunch of summery designs, ripe and ready for the picking. Enjoy!

We were excited to see that lilsugar.com, one of our favorite online destinations for tips and trends, posted a story about Tiny Prints new line of pregnancy story cards.

I personally love this new line and thinks its a great way to mark the joyous occasion with friends and family with a keepsake that they can treasure throughout the years. What do you think?

To read the post on Lil’Sugar, click here.