Gracefully Dunn

Jiney + Greg's Wedding Open Seating Poster

2014-01-09T09:16:00.001-08:00

A couple of months back I created this sign form Jiney + Greg's wedding. They didn't want to assign seating at their reception and were looking for a way to let guest's know.

Ginny's Italian Themed Surprise Party

2014-01-08T09:44:00.001-08:00

The invite to Ginny's Italian themed Surprise Party and the fake invite that she received to Minne's party instead!

MC Spirit Zone!

2014-01-07T08:59:00.001-08:00

A couple of months ago I created this MC Spirit Zone banner for the Get Heeled 5K in honor of the Mary Claire Satterly Foundation.

Serena's Birthday Invite - Mexican Fiesta

2014-01-06T08:17:00.000-08:00

On this super gloomy day I thought I'd post this invite that I did a couple of months ago for a girls get-away in Mexico!

Rachael & Vinny's Beer Garden Themed Engagement Party

2013-06-11T11:59:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are photos from my cousin's Engagement Party this past weekend, my Aunt really took the theme and ran with it!

Set-up during super storm Andrea

The Bride & Groom

Ikea Napkins Yudu Screen Printed with Beer Names

2013-06-10T09:01:00.002-07:00

This past weekend we celebrated Rachael and Vinny's Beer Garden Themed Engagement Party. Below are some pictures of the Ikea Napkins that we screen printed with beer names using my Yudu. It was a beautiful party for two amazing people and I'll share pictures tomorrow!

Treat Bags Using My Yudu!

2013-06-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

After using the iron-on transfer's for Riz's Bachelorette Treat Bags, I thought I'd break out the Yudu and try screen printing directly on the bags. It honestly was a little tougher to do because of the string that ran through the top and the ink ran some times but for those bags that it did work on, they turned out great!

An Amazing Ombre Layer Cake!

2013-06-03T12:24:00.003-07:00

I am a huge fan of the ombre craze and just had to have an Ombre Layer Cake for the Girl's Birthday Party! I'm not a baker, but check out the great cake (along with smash cake for Audrey) that my Aunt made - love the candles too!

Audrey and Avery's Balloon Birthday Party

2013-05-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

For Audrey and Avery's balloon themed birthday party, I was inspired by the numbers tied to the bottom of balloons featured on You Are My Faves. My cousin Sherri from For The Love of Paper used her Cricut machine to cut out hundreds of ones for Audrey and sixes for Avery. The girls just loved the rooms filled with ballooons!

DIY - Giant Balloons with tassels

2013-05-06T09:09:00.002-07:00

With Audrey/ Avery's double birthday around the corner I decided to give making a tassel balloon another try (see my first attempt) - success! Just needed more air!

VH1 Save The Music Sponsor Sheet - Divas

2013-05-02T13:24:00.001-07:00

In between creating things for an engagement, a bridal shower, a bachelorette, a wedding, a double first & sixth birthday and fortieth birthday mexican fiesta I still have my day job over here at VH1 Save The Music. It's a job that I love and one that continually allows me to be creative while raising money for an amazing organization. So I've been working on our 2014 Sponsorship "one-sheets" - first up is Divas and I love it's simplicity and the black and white pictures!

Travel Themed Wedding Program and Cards

2013-04-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

I very much enjoyed making some travel themed collateral for Riz and Elliot's wedding this past weekend. I do love to embrace a theme!

Wedding Totebags

2013-04-29T13:18:00.001-07:00

So my bag making has been on a roll and I might buy the rights to the fonts and open an Etsy store in time for wedding season - thoughts?

Bachelorette Treat Bags!

2013-04-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

I bought these super cute canvas drawstring bags from Paper Mart to make treat bags for my friend's Bachelorette party this past weekend! When I moved I sent my Yudu to go live with my mother and was kicking myself because I wanted to personalize the bags. Luckily I found a couple of packs of Avery Iron On Transfers just lying around the apartment and they seemed to work nicely.

I created and printed my design (don't forget to flip the image)

Then I cut it on and placed it on the bags.

Directions said to iron the transfer for 3 minutes and then I let it sit before peeling off.

The finished products!

I filled them with some candy and random games + props that I found at Urban Outfitters

People seemed to enjoy them (including myself!)

Double Birthday Invites!

2013-04-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that my daughter will be one year old next month! Wow, time really does move quickly! We're in the midst of planning the birthday and Audrey is lucky enough to share her Birthday month with her best cousin Avery! Below is the dual Birthday invite that I created for my two favorite ladies!

Bridal Shower - I failed at my DIY Giant Balloons With Tassels

2013-04-17T11:54:00.002-07:00

Who isn't obsessed with Geronimo Giant Balloons with the tassels? I think I've been talking about them for years.. Well, I thought now would be a nice time to try them out and found a DIY Tutorial on Sweet Thing's Blog.

I went bonkers buying tissue paper, ribbon and silver mylar from Jam Paper and Paper Source and then waited until my husband was away on business and baby was asleep to start making my tassels!

I had purchased 3 foot balloons from Balloonmaniacs.com and had them blown up at clothing store on the Upper West Side for $5 a balloon. So excited a rushed home to attach my tassels and you know what? It weighed the ballooon down. Complete failure! Why hasn't anyone addressed this before? Am I the only one that has failed?

Here is my husband holding up the balloon in an effort to make me feel better - it didn't work.. Does anyone have any feedback?

Bridal Shower - The Flowers

2013-04-16T09:10:00.002-07:00

I found the picture below that would serve as my flower inspiration.

I ordered white roses and green hydrangeas from Global Rose and they were just beautiful! I live in a NYC apartment with a toddler so had to store them in my bathroom!

I made small tight arraignments in my glittered rose bowls.

And added Air Plants that I found at Plant Shed on 96th Street to add a masculine touch!

The finished product!

Bridal Shower - Glitter Vases

2013-04-11T08:33:00.001-07:00

In December I saw this picture on Daily Candy and pinned it for a future event, not knowing what that would be..

Always of fan of decoupage, I took to glittering some rose bowls that I found at my mother's house for my friend's bridal shower!

I just painted on the decoupage and used some thick silver glitter that I bought at Michaels.

The finished product!

Bridal Shower Invites - Some other options!

2013-04-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

Before we decided on a travel theme, below are some of the invites that I made for my friend's bridal shower but that we didn't use!

Travel Themed Bridal Shower - Invites

2013-04-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay! The travel themed invite that I went with is below! I lined aubergine envelopes from Paper Source with their Cavallini World Map Wrapping Paper. What do you think?

Travel Themed Bridal Shower Invites

2013-04-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

I'm a nutcase and spent hours working up different travel themed invites for my friend's co-ed travel themed shower.. Which one do you like best? I'll reveal the one that we choose tomorrow.

Version 1: Bon Voyage

Version 2: Suitcases

Version3: NY State of Mind

Version 4: Airline Ticket

Version 5: Passport Stamps

Version 6: Air Mail

Version 7: Airplane + Calligraphy

Travel Themed Bridal Shower

2013-03-29T09:30:00.003-07:00

This past weekend was a co-ed bridal shower for one of my best friends, who will do anything she can to avoid all things traditional bridal. I think we did a good job at honoring what she wanted and still making it beautiful. Below is the inspiration that I came up with..

Making my own silhouette

2012-10-25T08:30:00.001-07:00

I came across these lovely Silhouettes by Carter Kustera in the last issue of HGTV Magazine and thought I should try and make one myself! I took this profile picture of my daughter Audrey and then used this tutorial I found in Layers Magazine to remove the background and make her a Silhouette in Photoshop. The finished product is below, what do you think?

La Dolce Vita Engagement Party

2012-10-24T08:34:00.003-07:00

I just realized I never shared any photos of my amazing engagement party, thrown oh so many years ago. The theme was La Dolce Vita as my husband and I would be honeymooning in Italy!

DIY Letterpress Inspired Play Table

2012-10-23T07:50:00.001-07:00

Check out this amazing DIY Letterpress table from Wild Ink Press, they started out with a 30″ play table that they purchased from Amazon and it's just terrific! Click for step-by-step instructions.