(Photo courtesy of Martha Stewart.com)

Book Clubs are a great way to enrich our lives, foster exciting conversations about interesting topics and bring people closer together.  Whether you are an Oprah book club member, want to join or start your own book club, this week’s inspiration board, perfect for the holidays, is dedicated to book clubbers like you.

Use this Falling Flowers Gift Tag Stickers to label all of your books or give books to members for the holidays and use these as gift tags. Book Clubber tote and Turning Leaves bookmark would be great to hand out as gifts, favors or prizes to members.

Make it easy on yourself and easy on your guests, but serving up savory and sweet finger foods that are fun and quick to make. Keep guests warm and your conversations hot with Spiced hot chocolate. Quesidillas with chutney and brie add a contemporary twist on ordinary appetizers. They’ll be blown away by this Italian treat, Artichoke Pesto on Ciabatta. Yum!

Besides the usual trick or treating, know of any other fun and unique ways to celebrate Halloween? Well I didn’t either, until I did a little research. Enjoy the fruits of my labor and no matter what you do, here’s hoping you’ll have an awesome Halloween!

1. Budget Travel has come up with Halloween-Themed Hotel deals that start from $59. Travel to Scottsdale, Arizona to visit their Rawhide Western theme park with its annual Doomtown Halloween theme event packed with haunted houses and Halloween decor.

2. Not as inexpensive but loads of fun, Disneyland and Disney World boasts their annual “Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party” which is filled with kid appropriate fun activities like trick or treating in the park, parade and fireworks all in honor of Halloween.

3. Throw your own Halloween party! Serve up ghoulish treats and invite guests to this scary soiree with one of these Halloween party invitations.

My cousin’s baby girl is turning 1 in a few days. When searching for a gift for her, I had a surprisingly difficult time. For one thing, she’s too small for big kids toys and too big for infant things. After scouring the Internet for a week, I finally found some unique gifts for her and maybe for the soon-to-be 1 year old in your life.

1. These adorable T-shirts from Etsy: Happyfamily are perfect for the birthday boy or girl!

2. This adorable hand-knitted hat is perfect for the little monkey in your life. Monkey hat and fruit rattles from Cocoa Crayon.

3. Soft and cuddly for any baby, this little monkey cuddling mat from RedEnvelope is a gift for all ages.

Having a baby shower during Halloween makes the party extra special. Costumes, sweet treats and themed games and invites will help make her shower unique. Here are some ways to celebrate the happy mommy-to-be for a Happy Halloween!

Fun favors for her guests. Send them home with these sweet, sugary treats. Jack O’Lantern shaped sucker rings from Oriental Trading Company,  Dean & Deluca Halloween fudge pops from Gifts.com,  Jack-O-Caramels from WrappedHersheys.com.

Invite them in for a ghastly good time with these Halloween themed Party Invitations.

Serve these ghoulish treats. Orange Jack O’Lanterns with sorbet from Martha Stewart, Mulled Pom Apple Cider FoodNetwork, Candy Jar Treats from Martha Stewart and Wicked Cupcakes from FoodNetwork.

These days, Halloween seems to be synonymous with candy, junk food and tummy aches for kids and grownups alike! While your little ones are out gathering goodies from the neighbors, you can expect to find cupcakes smothered with sticky frosting, stale gummy worms and crushed up cookies at nearly every Halloween party on the block.

This year, dump the junk and use your imagination to come up with healthy alternatives to those boring, old, fat-filled recipes. Try a few of these enchanting ideas to make your party a real scream!

The apple bites, black cat bean dip and vegetable crudites, melon brain and cheese fingers are all from FamilyFun.com. Leave it to Disney to come up with such adorable, tasty and spookily healthy themed party food! The gorgeous apple cider punch comes from All Recipes, and I found the squash soup in a delightful article on NPR’s website about one mom’s crusade against the potential health horrors of Halloween.

If these frightening and fun party ideas make you want to host your own fearsome festivities this year, check out Tiny Prints charming collection of Halloween party invitations and start planning your devilishly delightful haunted house today!

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!

This Baby Bird baby shower theme begins with the bird’s nest favor from Moments of Elegance above. Those adorable mary janes are from Etsy. The bird’s nest cookies are from Martha Stewart. The Little Lad Overalls are from Etsy, and the Sleepy Little Sparrows mobile is from ThisNext. And, finally, the Sweet Chicks Baby Shower Invitation is from Tiny Prints.

A very good friend of mine is eagerly anticipating the start of construction on her master bathroom. She and her husband spent the entire summer shopping for tile, fretting over faucets and searching for the perfect accessories to fill their new space. She’s talked about her redesign plan to everyone from friends and family to coworkers and neighbors, so I recently asked her if she planned to show off the new room even though it is privately tucked away inside her master suite.

An avid fan of HGTV, she already has plans for a redesign reveal party as soon as the construction is complete! By turning her big reveal into a party, she gets to show off her new, custom built bathroom and celebrate an end to the construction chaos that comes along with it.

Her advice for throwing a spectacular redesign reveal party is to make it a casual afternoon affair. Invite anyone who wants to gain inspiration from your remodeling efforts, and then take them on a tour of the new space before moving on to drinks, appetizers and a little redecorating dish. For party invitations, just customize these charming moving announcements (I particularly love the blueprint-inspired one for redesign parties!), and get ready to celebrate your style with a chic soiree!

Summer’s going by fast, so take advantage of the month of August with nonstop celebrations with family and friends. Take a look at my inspiration board for ideas on how to make the summer of ‘08 the best one yet! From Martha Stewart’s corn-on-the-cob cupcakes to a hot dog and fries birthday cake, here are some ways to get creative with the kids this season.

Photos:Top row from Martha Stewart, middle row FamilyFun and Kite Party Birthday Party invitations from Tiny Prints.