We have a winner for our $100 Shopping Spree Giveaway! Drumroll, please . . . . and the winner is . . . Tamara McDonald of Dallas, Texas! Tamara’s name was drawn from all those who participated by posting a comment about the cards they enjoyed finding on CardsDirect.com.

Tamara posted the following, “I would get holiday cards! I send out about 150 every year, so this would be a great help!”

The comments touched on just about every card category offered on the site. Many favored our new line of birth announcements with comments like, “There are so many cute birth announcements it is hard to choose! My sweet baby boy is a week old today and I’d love to send out the Centered Photo Birth Announcement PC5660.”

Others liked our Recycled Cards- “Luv the Vines Growing Recycled Thank You Card. Has the girly scrolling vines and a retro vibe.”

Photo Cards had a strong following too. “Love the Wildlife Print Photo Card to use for so many different occasions.”

And, as with Tamara, others are excited about our new line of Holiday Cards. “I love cards and I love giving fun and unique cards. I would love to send out some of those cute Christmas cards this year! :)”

Go to www.hostessblog.com and type CardsDirect in the Search box to see all the entries and watch this CardsDirect.com/blog for future Surprise Giveaways! Congratulations, Tamara!

Your gift will certainly be the hit of any baby shower when you walk in with a diaper cake! Or, consider a diaper cake as the party centerpiece if you are the host. For those unfamiliar with this unique present, a cake is fashioned out of baby diapers. What new mom wouldn’t be pleased to receive those! Think tiered wedding cake. The “cake” can then be decorated as little or as much as your budget will allow with baby accessories. The presentation is delightful and practical. Here are directions for “baking” a diaper cake.

Begin by deciding how many tiers you would like the cake to be. Three is the norm and you should plan on using approximately 50 disposable diapers for a cake of this size. Of course you can expand to one like this monster that was constructed using over 350 diapers!

For transporting, use a piece of cardboard for the base. Dress it up by wrapping it in paper. Use the baby shower invitation as a nameplate. Roll each diaper individually and secure it with a rubber band or piece of yarn. Use a paper towel tube for the center and stand the rolled diapers up around it. Hold everything in place with a piece of ribbon or yarn tied securely to hold all the diapers together. Add another ring of rolled diapers around this one and again hold them in place with ribbon or yarn. Repeat until you have the bottom layer the diameter you need.

Next, add a separate tier, repeating this same process as outlined above until this diameter is right. Then, for a 3-layer cake, make your top tier.

To hide your securing yard or ribbon, wrap a wide piece of ribbon around each tier. Lovely just like this, you can now add decorations to your heart’s content or leave it simple. You can add a matching huge ribbon bow on the very top or even use artificial flowers as decorations.

The most fun though is decorating with baby accessories. Baby bibs, pacifiers, stuffed animals, teething rings, rattles, you name it! Attach whatever you want with ribbon or rubber band them on. The fun is that these not only add interest and color, but will be useful as well.

Maybe you would like to make this a joint gift and invite friends to help you put it together. This is one shower gift sure to delight!

You’re expecting a baby! Congratulations! Now comes the fun part, decorating the nursery!

It is not necessary to know if you’re having a boy or a girl to select a pleasant theme for your newborns domain. Many are classic, like lambs, birds, and farm animals or popular licensed characters. Maybe you have a favorite from your childhood that would carry the tradition forward.

Choose a paint color that fits the theme and is soft and pleasant. Decorate by adding stenciled designs or freehand illustrations. Use an opaque projector to trace over designs if you’re not artistically inclined.

Add basic baby furniture like a crib, changing table, chest of drawers and a rocking chair. You can find these are resale shops or online. Add a fresh coat of paint and you’re ready to go. Don’t worry if everything isn’t matching as some of the most charming rooms are filled with mismatched furniture.

Sew your own bedding and window treatments or ask for help from friends or family members. Or, shop sales for that perfect complement to your design theme.

For a finishing touch, add a personalized wall decal of your new baby’s name and a framed copy of your new baby birth announcement. Browse websites for inspiration and enjoy the do it yourself experience! Better get started though as once your new baby arrives you will have your hands full!

The birth of our new line of personalized Baby Birth Announcements is off to a great start and we, as parents of this new category, couldn’t be prouder! We’re also having great fun looking at the adorable baby pictures being submitted.

This is Angelo. Isn’t he adorable?!

I have been looking at baby birth announcements and baby shower invitations see the tradition of pink for girls and blue for boys is still quite popular. Of course, you can still get both in more neutral colors like yellow and green, but pink and blue seem to rule the majority or available designs. Which left me to wonder, how did this designation originate?

It is widely reported that pink for girls and blue for boys has not always been the case. In fact, quite the opposite was used prior to World War II. Back then, pink, a derivative of the strong color red, was associated with boys as early as 1918.

“There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.” [Ladies Home Journal, June, 1918]

Christian belief also held that girls were more associated with blue as that was the color worn by the Virgin Mary.

The color reversal began in Europe in the 1930’s and traveled to the US where World War II contributed to the reversal in thinking. Military uniforms were primarily blue so blue became more associated with males. At the same time, German’s used a system of symbols and colors to code those in their concentration camps. The yellow Star of David is best known but pink triangles were also used to identify men with more feminine traits. Also in the 1940’s, a “Think pink” marketing slogan widely encouraged women to embrace their femininity, with helpful pointers on how to become the perfect housewife.

So, for your new baby’s birth announcements or baby shower invitations, use pink or blue or pick a gender neutral color in between. After all, in this day and age you probably know the gender before the baby is even born, but that would be a subject for a future blog.