Baby LifestylesSummer 2013 Magazine

Baby LifestylesLAUREN HALPERIN

Publisher, Creative Director

TARA STEINLEManaging Editor

ELLEN FELDMAN, BETH MERANContributing Editors

LOLA STEEVENSSales Director

AUSTIN “Mr. Z” RAPPAPORTWebsite Architect

MICHAEL GUSTMANS.E.O. Management

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Baby Lifestyles is published bi-monthly by Baby Lifestyles, LLC. All contents ©2012 Baby Lifestyles, LLC. All rights reserved.

On the Cover

What little lady wouldn’t want to grow

up in a room this pretty Check out

the rest of Lexi’s nursery on page 30.

Baby Lifestyles

PAGE 110 PAGE 124 PAGE 144

PAGE 57 PAGE 45 PAGE 48

PAGE 8 PAGE 135 PAGE 40

CONTENTS

June-July 2013

Gender Reveal Central!

Lauren Kapeluck

We’ve featured several of Lauren’s parties before. This

time we’re showing off her owlthemed gender reveal party for

twins.

Amanda Howard

Amanda takes us out to the ballgame with this baseball themedbaby shower, which matched herfun-filled maternity photography.

The Art of Making a Baby

Elena shows off all things wonderful about her daughter

Alexis on her blog and was awesome enough to share Lexi’spurple princess nursery with us.

Marci Gerlach

Marci knows a thing or two aboutflowers and how to mix and

match much more than roses fora floral dispaly that dazzles.Check out this tea party she

decorated for her assistant Jenon page 144.

Kansas Pitts

Kansas brought us a newbornphotography shoot set on the

beach as the sun was lighting upthe sky with colors. It’s the

perfect set of photographs tostart the summer season.

Serena Swan

It isn’t often we get to celebratebaby’s biggets religious

milestones. Serena lets us experience Jackson’s christening

as if we were there.

We Heart Contributors

Amber Sublett

Nautical parties are always invogue for the summer. Ambergives us a glimpse of nauticalmaternity photography with a

mom and dad who are ready tosail away with happiness for

baby.

Kylee Ann

Ava is a source of inspiration forher parents. This beautiful littlegirl was photographed smiling

and adding sunshine in the wakeof family strife.

Jessica Veltri

What’s cuter than a little manturning two? How about a littleguy playing with little animals?Jessica shot a fun-filled petting

zoo, farm-themed birthday party.Check it out on page 135.

Heaven Sent

Baby Boy

Styled by Lauren Halperin and Kristina Olsen

Photography by Lauren Halperin

Christi Johnson designed her son Nicholas’ blue and white babynursery with a classic little prince in mind. The baby nursery fromthe Steve Martin movie Father of the Bride II also provided a magicalmoment. “When Franc opens the door and says, “Welcome to BabyLand,” that’s exactly what I wanted when I opened the door to mynursery.”

Choosing the paint was the most difficult part of decorating this room.“To get the perfect shade of light blue, the paint chip must look gray.It took ten paint samples to find the right color before deciding onSherwin Williams North Star 6246.”

Where the Prince Sleeps

By Christi Johnson

The two Tiffany & Co. baby rattles are some of Christi’s favorite keep-sakes. “The barbell my husband gave me when we decided to haveour first child and the Man in the Moon rattle my husband gave mewhen our first son was born. The Air Force Build-A-Bear is also veryspecial as it is always a reminder of my baby brother who serves ourcountry in the United States Air Force and was deployed most of lastyear to Afghanistan - he is now home and safe!” Christi also has abaseball bat with hooks that she hangs baby clothes on which wasin her brother’s nursery. “I also have some of my brother’s babyshoes and some of my baby clothes used as decoration in thenursery. My grandmother has passed away and she collected littleceramic bears and I also have a few of those in the nursery.”

Finding the bedding was a bit of a challenge. Christi ordered it fromEtsy and picked the fabrics from small samples, which was difficultto do. She knew she wanted minky dot for the sheet and inner partof the bumper and is glad it worked out! “I love that his name ismonogrammed on the bumpers.”

Her favorite part of the nursery is a letter that Christi’s little boy gaveher to give to his new little brother. “It is so special because I neverasked him to write a letter to his little brother; he came up with thisidea all on his own. The letter is now framed and hung in the nursery.I love his 1st grade handwriting, spelling of words and his importantthoughts from big brother to little brother – so very special.”

Looking at as many nursery photos as possible is what really helpedChristi and her mother decide on the theme of the nursery. “It ismuch easier to have a good idea of what you really like and wantand then you are able to begin the fun process of decorating thenursery of your dreams.” And if that doesn’t help, rent a good movie!

Crib – Pottery Barn Larkin CribBedding - EtsyDresser- Craigslist findChair – Home-goods

Chandelier – Pottery Barn MiaChandelierLamps – KirklandsGiraffe – Amazon, Melissa &Doug

Baby Ava Marie was born five weeks premature. Shortly after shewas born her 11-year-old sister was diagnosed with cancer.

Between the trips to hospitals and doctors offices for her oldersister, the first six months of Ava's life were not a typical newborn’slife. Despite the trials and tribulations that Ava's family is currentlyfacing, Ava brings light and joy into their lives. This shoot was put

together to remember the beauty in such a tragic time.

Photography by Kylee Maughan

Vintage Glamour Nursery

By Bobbi Petersen

The Purple Prin

By Elena of The Art

ncess Palace

of Making a Baby

The room Elena designed for daughter Alexis is the smallestin the house and because of the size, she was concerned thatshe wouldn’t be able to decorate it the way she wanted. "I amnot great with styling or design, I am not crafty and we didn’thave a huge budget. But I feel that we were able to do exactlywhat I had envisioned with only a few minor concessions."

While the chair is the only item in Alexi's nursery Elena feelsdoesn’t completely match, it was the result of the scales tippingto sacrifice comfort over price. “This was a good middle of theroad rocker/recliner that is insanely comfortable.”

The beautiful striped purple crib skirt and bows were made byElena's sister who lives in Russia. "She did an amazing job,considering she’s not a seamstress and went off of our meas-urements. We opted for no bumpers, even though I had a verycute one in mind, and an organic muslin crib sheet along witha Naturepedic mattress."

Elena debated buying children’s canvas art for the room orframing her own photography. She went with the frames andis happy about it because it allwos her to switch out photoswhen she gets an itch for a chance, or when Alexis grows andshe takes more photographs of her.

The dresser was a old craigslist dresser that Elena had refin-ished. "Yes, I am aware the handles are upside down. No, itwasn’t on purpose. But since the dresser is old, the only craftything I managed to accomplish was lining the drawers withpretty purple and white fabric that I ordered online."

It took nearly to her due date For Elena to find a chandelierthat both she and her husband liked. She didn’t want it to lookcheap with plastic crystals and anything with real crystals waseither too big or over the top. This one came in black and wasexactly what she needed after a spray paint makeover. Thereare two mobiles over the crib. One is a wispy soft and cute onefor looks and for when Alexis is a bit older to be interested indelicate things, and another developmental crib mobile madeout of black, white and red plastic shapes that encouragebaby’s visual development. Needless to say, Alexis loves it asmuch as she does her black and white board.

Paint: Zero VOC Olympic Paintin Iris IsleMirror: Rooms To Go DisneyPrincess MirrorLamp: Shade from Layla Grace,base from Ebay painted white.Owl: Red EnvelopeFlower vase: vase and flowersfrom Michael’s, cut and arrangedby me.Frame: a gift from ex-neighbors. Dresser: an old craigslist dresserand night stand refinished.(bought for $150, refinished for$500)Drawer Liners: Made using foamboard from Michael’s, cut to size.Fabric ordered online.Chandalier: Overstock.com

Butterly mobile over the chang-ing table: AmazonOwl & Bird Mobile: MagicalWhimsy Etsy shop Black and White Mobile: Man-hattan ToyBlack and White Board: Amazonfrom Manhattan ToyCanvas: Easy Canvas PrintCrown: HomeDecorators.comSparkle statue: ZulilyFramed Photos: Frames fromMichael’s, photos taken by meprinted at Bay Photo LabRecliner/Rocker: Matter BrothersRug: TargetShades: JCPenney (supercheap solution, but not cordless)Shelves: HomeDecorators.com

Take Her Out

to the Ball Game

Baby Shower

Photography by

Amanda Howard

Photography by Kevin Neilson-Hall

Guess Who

is Having Two

Gender Reveal

Styling by Lauren Kapeluck

Elegant Reveal

Photography by Tessa Rice

It’s a boy!

Nautical Maternity Photography

Photography by Amber Sublett

Summer Days

Photography by Kansas Pitts

Photo by Stella + Chris Poore of Mon Petit Studio

Photography Showcase

Photo by Amy Williams

Photos by Danielle Vander Leun

Photo by Martha Sachser

Photos by Melody Hood of Innamorata

Photo by Melissa Avey

Photos by Heather Hart

Photo by Julie Boucher

Photo by Rebecca Fournie of Luna B ella Photography

Photo by Renee Boccasile

Photo by Alexandra Wallace

Photo by CMMS Studios

Photo by Cherlyn Wagner

Jackson’sChristeningBy Serena Swan

Celebrating By Jess

with a Carnival ica Hinson

You are My Angel

Photography by Kelly Lewis

Circus Celebration

by : Cheryl Nguyen

Getting to Know Ewe

While Turning Two!

By Jessica Veltri

Tea Time ShowerStyling by

Entwined Design

Having a baby is a special time to celebrate and a babyshower is a fun way to involve your friends and family in thejoy of your new little bundle of joy. Jennifer Evans decided tohave an intimate sprinkle for this event because this was hersecond child. Since she was having a girl this time, she andher mother thought it would be fun to do something super girlyand what could be more girly than an all ladies tea party!

The invitation was something Jennifer adored and was veryproud of since she husband and her designed and created it.“We made it in the shape of a tea pot which opened revealingthe details of the date and time of the party inside. It was madeout of craft style cardstock. The front had a pink and white pat-tern, a hand cut bright pink rose and green leaf and an outlinein a slightly darker shade of the base pink. The inside hadwhite cardstock with invitation wording printed in pink andgreen on a pink base. We made the menu as a matchingcreamer bowl to the tea pot. So it was created out of the samepatterned cardstock with a hand cut bright pink rose and greenleaf with a slightly darker shade outline. The lid of the creamerpulled up revealing the menu which was on white cardstockand printed in pink and green.”

They also created a personalized pennant banner that readTea Time that was hung above the dessert area. The bannerwas created from champagne and pink glitter cardstock withchampagne lettering and tea cup hung with white ribbon. “Wehave started a paper goods store on Etsy that we are makinghand crafted goods such as these. Being able to create themfor something for our own kids makes it even more fun andspecial to us.”

After deciding on the tea party theme, Jennifer met with Marcifrom Entwined Design who developed an incredible and cre-ative event design and floral décor that incorporated variousshades of pink and white turning it into an elegant and highclass affair. The floral centerpieces included pink and whiteroses, ranunculus, tulips, garden roses, stock flowers andwere held in white tea cups, saucers and plates to completethe look. The teetering look of the floral centerpieces and theelegant design of the overall event were magnificent and theguests continuously complimented them both.

Along with the exquisite centerpieces, the tables held tea cups and

saucers for the guests to drink from for the party which were also used

as their personal favor. “When choosing the color palette, we actually

based it off of the tea cup favors. They had a plaid pattern on the bot-

tom, which incorporated a light pink, a darker pink and white, and then

pink roses on the top part. So using the different shades of pink and

white from the plaid seemed like a perfect palette for an extremely girly

tea party. Plus we had a little help from the creative Marci in envisioning

the way the color palette would look.”

All the food was made by Laurie Hocker and Denise Lee, the future

grandmas. “My mother has always been a good baker but she wanted

to take the classes so that when she had grandkids one day she could

make birthday cakes for them which is lucky for me since she is incred-

ibly talented at the decorating part too.” Her mom made all the desserts

including cherry cupcakes adorned with fondant flowers, raspberry

macaroons and coconut cake pops decorated with crystallized sugar

as well as the bacon wrapped dates. Her husband’s mom made three

different kinds of finger sandwiches, scones, Waldorf salad and mini

quiches. There were various flavors of tea with sugar and cream and

a raspberry sorbet punch to drink.

“One of my favorite things that happened at the shower was that my

father and grandfather who were not attending the girly shindig ended

up running a small daycare out of the back room for any mom who

had to bring their kids to the shower. It was quite unexpected for them

as they were planning on going out for the day and leaving the women

to their fun. It made it easier to play the games and enjoy each others'

company with them in the other room playing games and eating all

the sugar they could get their hands on. The men didn’t even com-

plain saying that the kids behaved very well which I think was helped

with the bribery of cookies, cake pops and cupcakes.”