Fall has become one of my favorite seasons. Growing up in Hawaii, I never had the opportunity to experience anything but warm weather. That is why I really appreciate and love the bright reds and oranges that seem to color every leaf during this time of the year. It’s also the reason why I’m dedicating this week’s inspiration board to the fall season. 

Photo Credits: Fall arrangement taken inside of the Westin in San Francisco. Warm Leaves Thanksgiving Greeting Card. Quick Place Card, Martha Stewart. Pottery Barn Twig Bowl. Crate and Barrel Metal Maple Leaf Ornaments. Better Home & Garden Forest Scene.

One Halloween when I was a child, I carried around a plastic pumpkin basket and wore a Strawberry Shortcake costume.  I remember feeling hot from the mask I wore and thinking that the container was too small.  In fact, it was so small that we had to keep emptying the candy out in a plastic bag.  But nowadays there are so many adorable and more practical trick or treat bags to get this year.  Here are a few that I found and fell in love with.  Now, if only I could return to Trick or Treating as an adult!

The Trick or Treating Orange Jack pail from Amazon.com, looks a lot like the one I carried around during Halloween as a kid, but check out these more modern alternatives such as the Candy Wrapper Buckets from Martha Stewart and Pottery Barn’s Puffy Treat Bags:

Make your Halloween Party a big hit with these spooky, creepy and cool ideas in this week’s Inspiration Board!

Great pumpkins, candy cauldron, and a platter of glittered skeletal parts are sure to make your Halloween party unique. Check out MarthaStewart.com for information on how to make these creepy crafts.

Familyfun.com has a variety of delicious recipes to feed those monstrous appetites! Just look at those Sweet Scarecrows, PB & J Jack-O-Lanterns and Melon brains!

Call them over for a good time with these adorable Halloween Party Invitations!

Instead of the traditional guest sign-in, why not do something different and give out blank note cards to have guests fill in their favorite recipes? A great idea would be to ask other mothers for their homemade baby food recipes. Then, either send them the cards early for them to bring to the new mom’s big day or bring them to her shower. Each guest copies down the recipes with their name. That way mom can bring back something from the shower that will last a lifetime!

If your guests are clueless about cooking, give them a list of links to search for recipes. Check out Wholesomebabyfood.com for recipes like Sweet Potato and Pumpkin baby food! Or serve pear puree with recipes from Simplybabyfoodrecipes.com. We’re never disappointed by whatever Martha Stewart does. Check out her recipe for homemade baby food.

Then, just choose your card!

Today’s inspiration board comes from Tiny Prints adorable Jungle Safari Baby Shower Invitations. Serve animal cupcakes in towel form from Towel bakery, and the real ones from Fancy Flours. The Animal Adventure bedding set by Just Born is from the Baby Super Mall. Those adorable wall hangings are from Target, and the monkey stuffed animal is from Gap. And, as always, Martha Stewart doesn’t disappoint with the monkey themed cake and cups!

What are baby book showers?

They are the latest shower theme trend. Guests bring their favorite children’s books as gifts so that the mother will have ample books to read to her child. This would also be a great idea for a child’s first birthday. Here is a list of things you can do to make her baby book shower even more fun and memorable.

1) Give her gift tags to stick on each book with the baby’s name on it.

2) Serve alphabet cake. These cakes are from Martha Stewart and Family Fun.

3) Requests that guests bring their favorite picture books for the new mom.

4) Have guests sign this photo guest book by Adesso.

5) Give out handmade book favors like these from Martha Stewart, or send them home with store bought ones like these adorable favors from Favor Creative.

From cupcake lip gloss to peas and carrots cupcakes, these are definitely not your ordinary cupcakes. Here are some unique ideas for a birthday party or baby shower theme filled with cupcakes and everything sweet.

\

1) Cupcake lip gloss from Wedding Things. 2) Fuzzy Pink Baby Cupcake Hat from Etsy. 3) Cupcake plates from Target. 4) TV dinner cupcakes (peas and carrots) from Martha Stewart 5) Pizza cupcake from the Hello Cupcake Book. 6) Popcorn cupcake from Family Fun. 7) Bubbly Bear Birthday Party Invitations from Tiny Prints. Jessie Steele Children’s Cupcakes apron from Sas Cupcakes.