Cheers to the weekend – and not just any weekend…it’s Labor Day weekend!  This means that most of us will be enjoying the day off on Monday, which means a three day weekend of fun in the sun, relaxation and family picnics and gatherings with friends!  So many of us work at 40+ hour week – we hope that you enjoy your day off on Monday!  Put the laptop down, let the phone calls go to voice mail and leave work at work that day, as we all celebrate those who make economic contributions daily.

Labor Day seems to mark the end of summer heat, fun in the sun and the vacation season.  The kids are likely already head-first into their first week of school, and you’re probably starting to think about those upcoming holidays in the autumn and winter season, be it Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Before you dive into the holiday season, take a moment to reflect upon the amazing summer we’ve all had, how great it is that you have a job, and how much greater it is to have the day off on Monday!!

Take a little inspiration from below and spruce up your Labor Day extravaganza!

Are you a proud Mitt Romney fan or are you a strong Barack Obama fan?  It seems like political talk is all over the news, commercials the radio and facebook these days…and the word on the streets seems to be pretty black and white with which views people are agreeing with.  We’re not sticking to one particular side over the other, but we support all of the campaigners and their supporters and encourage you to get out there to vote when the day comes!

In light of the Labor Day holiday this weekend, I felt it appropriate to share with our readers our newest update to our patriotic party invitation line.  We have now introduced brand new political invitations to help you prepare for the November 6th elections, whether you are spreading the word about voting, promoting a particular candidate or simply celebrating the amazing country we all live in.

Inside the political invitation collection you’ll see iconic hues of red, white and blue, which are accenting designs with ribbons, stars and stripes.  We have casual patriotic invitations as well as formal pocket political invitations which feature star printed pocket designs and satin red and white ribbons.  Celebrate your political party with classic donkey democratic and elephant republican themed invitations, as well as our vintage election celebration invitation which gives off that old Uncle Sam feeling.

Take a sneak peek of our political invitations below and begin doing your research!  The election is just three months away!

Congratulations…you’re expecting!!  It’s an exciting time for any parent-to-be…how on earth will you be able to keep it a secret from your family members and friends?  And…just how long should you wait before you spread the news?

The most common amount of time to wait before announcing is 10 to 12 weeks, in other words, the end of the first trimester.  This is most common with first time pregnancies, if the couple prefers to keep the pregnancy private in case of a tragic event of a loss.  After the first trimester, the risk of a tragic miscarriage drops significantly, typically making it safe to make your announcement.  For parents who are not first-timers, or for those who simply just can’t wait to spread the news, some couples will only wait a few weeks before announcing.  Also, it may be hard to hide your big secret from friends, especially if you have morning sickness, have gained weight or are passing up the wine on a dinner out with friends.  Pregnancy may read all over your happy face!

When you are ready to share your ultra-exciting news, what are some new, fun and creative ways to announce you’re expecting?  I found some really cool ideas for announcing your pregnancy, and just had to share!

The Pea In The Pod - Perfect for announcing a pregnancy early-on, hand out a pea pod to family and friends when at your next party or when at work, and then make a quick announcement…”There’s a reason why you’re all holding a pea pod today!  This is how big my baby is right now!”

The Facebook Announcement - We all know facebook is great for spreading news!  Announce your pregnancy to all of your 400 facebook friends with a fun photo or posting.  Ideas?  Take a picture of your pregnancy test window, the kind that says “pregnant” on the screen.  Say nothing else, and you’ll be sure to get the conversation going!  Another idea?  My sister-in-law and her husband had an amazing sign made that they posted with their initials, reading “J + K +1″.   Want something a bit more blunt?  Post a photograph from your first sonogram!

Send Out a Pregnancy Announcement via Mail - You announce your marriage via mail, why not announce your pregnancy?  Choose a digital photo pregnancy announcement and upload a photograph from your first sonogram to announce your expecting!  Your friends, family and co-workers will think it’s another party invitation in the mail, but will be so excited to see that you’re expecting!  Expect the calls to start rolling in!

Holiday Pregnancy Announcement - Did you just find out you’re pregnant and the holidays are right around the corner?  Have all of your family open their gift from you at the same time and give out onesies that say “My Auntie loves me”, “My Grandma is the best” or “I love my Uncle”.  They’ll get the picture and soon you’ll be surrounded by tears of joy! Another holiday idea?  When trimming the tree with your family, give a small gift bag to your parents or family member and say you’re giving them an extra ornament to hang on the tree.  Give them a pair of knit booties with the ties strung together.

Office Humor - Ready to share the news with your co-workers? Come to work one day wearing a “pea in the pod” t-shirt or put “It’s a baby” cookies in the office break room.  Watch as everyone runs around trying to figure out who did the baking!  I once worked at an office with a pregnant co-worker who came in after her first ultrasound with a ribbon tied around the waist of her dress.  If it was blue we knew it was a boy and if it was pink we knew it was a girl.

Need help choosing a color scheme or theme for your wedding?  Choosing your wedding colors may seem like something easy to do, however some brides and grooms find it very difficult to narrow down a wedding theme or wedding colors, or find colors that both the bride and the groom like collectively together.

One of the larger trends in the wedding world over the past few years is a peacock themed wedding.  You may be thinking, a peacock?  That’ an odd bird for a wedding theme, no pun intended!  However, a peacock themed wedding lends itself to an absolutely striking color palette of hues that create a beautiful backdrop for your big day.  Perfect for fall weddings, a peacock themed wedding offers bright, bold colors featuring deep turquoise blue, plum or purple and also shades of green.  Accentuate these deep and dark colors with antique or classic gold to really make your event elegant.  If feathers are your thing, you can incorporate your wedding colors with an actual peacock feather accent, whether it is by peacock feather chair decorations at the end of your ceremony aisle, a peacock feathered hair piece for the bride, a peacock feathered detail on your wedding cake or a gorgeous table centerpiece with a feather holding the base of your vase.

One of our high-end wedding vendors, Checkerboard, has a line of wedding invitations that was created collectively with BRIDES magazine, which offers bold color choices and wedding themes, with contemporary paper styles, prints and colors. The invitation in the upper left corner of the blog has inspired me today for this blog and wedding theme. It is the Pluma Invitation with Swiss Envelope, (and peacock envelope liner), by Checkerboard.  This entire collection, which features two invitation styles, a save the date card, informal note, menu card and response card, incorporates the peacock wedding theme in a classy theme of stocks and colors, however offering bold contemporary accents with it’s ensemble pieces.  The feather on this card is printed in striking gold thermography, which is raised on the paper.  Add a plum, purple or green ink to offset the gold feather, and create your peacock wedding theme.

Below I compiled a gorgeous block of peacock wedding theme items to help inspire you and your unique wedding theme.  From the brides shoes and garter, you’ll see this gorgeous theme come to life with hues of deep blue, turquoise, teal, gold, brown and purple.  I chose a black bridesmaids dress which features a peacock feather across the bodice, along with a coordinating wedding gown with a feather sweetheart neckline, by St. Patrick.  The flower girl dress shown is actually from the wonderful handmade website, Etsy, in which this amazing vendor creates tulle dresses, which are just adorable for your little flower girl, (and something tells me she will LOVE it too)!  I chose an elegant and dimly set reception hall with dark teal table linens and gold place settings for a rich organic look.  The triple tiered wedding cake in the bottom left corner features a seamless white cake wrapped with teal ribbon edges.  Feeling inspired?  Share your thoughts and ideas with us and we might just feature your wedding on our next wedding inspiration blog!

Need a little bright inspiration to jump start your Monday?  Chevron stripes are the IN pattern nowadays, in case you haven’t noticed.  They’re vibrant, funky, modern and fresh, and exactly what you’ll need when you’re planning a party for your teen daughter.

We took a spin on Modern Posh’s Bright Party Digital Photo invitation to create a vibrant, fun and trendy teen party theme, which would be perfect for a Quinceanera, Sweet 16 party or a teen birthday party.  I chose this party invitation because I love the sample digital photo of the girl at the bottom of the card, which reminds me of all the facebook pictures you see teens posting nowadays, with that punk-rock cool attitude look, which are typically self-portraits.  Why not take this card and turn it into your daughter’s starting point for her posh party?!

Get inspired by the colors in your party invitation and let that spin into an entire party theme, from the birthday girl’s party dress and shoes to her party favor bags, tags and even the cake or cake pop treats at the end of your event!  Decorate your party scene with a coordinating chevron stripe party tablecloth or table runner and pick a few vibrant accent colors to make your table pop!

Got any great ideas for a teen or tween party that rocks?  Share your thoughts and ideas or email us with your amazing party theme, and we can feature your daughter and her party on our blog!

Guess who has a new vendor on their website today?!?!  WE DO, WE DO!  Ever since we began talking with the amazing folks over at Modern Posh, I have been so excited to go through their product line and share it with our dedicated readers and shoppers.

One of the coolest things about our new vendor is that Modern Posh is different than any other vendor we carry on our website…their color combinations are vibrant, modern and catch your eye even with the smallest glance.  Their style of products are designed specifically with the fashion-forward posh consumer in mind.  Modern posh uses this stylistic approach with a combination of contemporary font and typography to create a modern approach to each product line.

Where can you find Modern Posh on our website?  You’ll find hundreds of brand new designs in many of our current collections from everyday events with birthday, kid parties and cocktail events to our baby and kids collection with party invitations, baby shower invitations and birth announcements.  Get festive with their holiday collection which features holiday invitations and photo greeting cards, as well as their bridal collection which covers everything from a save the date card to your bridal shower invitations, wedding invitations and reply sets.  Their stationery collection has to be one of my favorites too with matching note cards, calling cards, stickers, thank you notes, bag tags and notepads.

One of the great things about the Modern Posh collection is that you’ll find coordinating colors, designs and patterns in each collection so that you can create an entire matching ensemble in a trendy, vibrant and “posh” way.  Their most popular patterns feature colorful chevron stripes, large polka dots, bubbles and coffee rings, vibrant scalloped frames, diamond quilt patterns and large contemporary monogrammed initials.  Each card is not only personalized on the front, but also comes with a decorated back so that no matter what way you hold your invitation or stationery card, you have a full-on posh piece!  Modern Posh even has a “diva” line of stationery and invitations which features sketched women doing what they do best and wearing what they wear best with couture poses, outfits and expressions.

Ready for the Modern Posh experience?  Below is a small capture of the amazing products you’ll see in the new Modern Posh collection!  We can’t wait to see what they come out with next!

It’s a jungle out there!  Lately it seems like wherever you look, you’ll see animal print patterns on your daily items, be it on a bed comforter, a folder for school, your child’s car seat, a new top from Express or maybe even your stationery!  But why has this animalistic print become so popular lately?

I think animal print gives off a feeling of confidence – sort of primal feel that says we’re independent, fun, outgoing and well, WILD!  It’s no wonder that so many of the products that sell well on our website are themed with animal print.  So are you someone who likes to show off her zebra stripes, a tall giraffe print girl, a lovely leopard print fanatic or more of a combination of the three?  It seems like animal print fans tend to lean toward one kind of animal print over the others, and for me, it’s the classic, mysterious and wild zebra print stripes, (in black and pink, of course)!

So how exactly can you reflect your independent and wild side while personalizing your world?  I am excited to say that we have incorporated animal print into many of our products, from self-inking zebra print stamps to animal print party invitations, stationery, acrylic hosting trays, desk planners, coasters, animal print iPad cases, personalized place mats, license plates, mugs, cutting boards and more!

Our animal print party invitations are most popular for sweet 16 party invitations as well as teen and adult party invitations for ages 13 and up.  Some of our most popular 50th and 60th birthday party invitations have leopard print borders, just to show that your wild side can’t be tamed, just because you’re a year older!  We’ve even seen animal print be incorporated into baby shower invitations and wedding invitations, believe it or not!

Check out some of our wild and outgoing animal print products and turn your world into a jungle with one of our customized animalistic print items!

Every kid, pre-teen and teen loves a good sleepover party…girl talk, music, dancing, games, secrets, talking about boys, popcorn, movies AND staying up all night…What could be better?  I remember watching my big sister go to her friends slumber parties as a child and just counting down the years until I was old enough to attend or have my own sleepover party.  Once your child gets to their pre-teen years, they’re bound to begin asking you to help them plan the perfect sleepover event!

When planning your slumber party, be sure to set the number of guests that you’d like to attend, (for parents, be sure not to invite more guests than you’re comfortable having in your home).  We typically say 2-8 guests is appropriate, besides the birthday girl.  When your guests arrive, be sure to go over your house rules so that each child knows what to expect in your household.  The computer may be off-limits, a little brother’s room or master bedroom may be off-limits for hide and seek type games, and you may want to set a “must be asleep by” time if the children are young.  Be sure to also keep in mind that a child may become homesick and may need to call home or go home in the middle of the night, which is okay.  Let the kids know that they can come to you if they are ever lonely, scared or worried, no matter what time of night.

Next up for planning – games and fun!  Some of the most popular sleepover games have to be put the kiss on the poster, (Justin Bieber is always a favorite), makeup / makeovers, dress-up, flashlight tag, hot potato nail polish (circle different bottles of nailpolish and when the music stops you paint one toe with the color in hand until all toes are painted), scavenger hunts, MASH or hide and seek.  You can also do the traditional sleepover tricks that we all love to love and hate like placing someone’s hand in warm water when they’re sleeping, put shaving cream in someones hand and tickle their face with a feather or play light as a feather, stiff as a board, (you remember that one, right??).

Be sure to have lots of movies and snacks on hand, from popcorn to ice cream, pretzels, soda, pizza or cupcakes – you’ll make sure nobody goes to sleep hungry!  You may also want to plan a nice breakfast for the morning after the sleepover, so that everyone has eaten before pick-up.  Pancakes and bacon are always a kid-favorite!

Below you can check out some of our favorite slumber party invitations and sleepover party invitations that are sure to set the scene for your child’s sleepover party, whether it’s their first slumber party or if they’re an old pro!  Our sleepover party invites are trendy, fun an vibrant, just like your pre-teen!  Choose from a variety of designs with sleepover girls in their bedtime gear, pizza slices, iPods, popcorn, sleeping bags, nail polish, soda and teddy bears.  Take a look below and create the PERFECT sleepover for your little girl!

That spooky time of year is creeping up on us again!  My co-worker and I were just saying how we couldn’t believe it was August 21st already, this morning.  My how 2012 has flown by – pretty soon it will be time to start looking for Christmas gifts and order holiday greeting cards!

Speaking of holiday greeting cards, how long has it been since you’ve reached out to a family member, friend or neighbor to keep in touch and update them with family news?  For some it may be a few months and for others it may even be since last Christmas season!  At Invitationbox.com, we feel like any holiday can be a great reason to send out a holiday greeting to family and friends – it’s a great way to stay friendly, spirited and fun AND keep in touch with those you care about the most!

Our newest Halloween photo cards are by Noteworthy Collections, to which we are adding six new designs to our collection this year, just in time for the Halloween season.  Three of those designs, like the one to our left, feature four of your favorite family photographs, which is great for showcasing photos of the kids during the fall season, or throughout the year thus far.  Switch it up with a black background and a jack-o-lantern, an orange background with a black bat or a lime green background with a white funny ghost.

Other designs feature dark modern backgrounds with colorful eye-catching letters greeting your guests with “candy corn kisses”, and one large photograph at the bottom, which are available in black or charcoal.  We also have a patterned greeting card which features some non-traditional Halloween bats with gingham and polka dot patterns.

Remember that some of our old holiday photo greeting cards are goodies and are super spooky, fun and Halloween-chic with traditional and modern Halloween themes with witches, spiders, bats, skeletons, pumpkins, candy, stars and polka dots.  Check out some of our newest designs below and spread the love during the Halloween season – a little love, a little spook and a fall season filled with treats, not tricks!

Sometimes it feels like I’m always on the run, doing ten things at the same time – whether it’s grabbing a pop tart and running out the door so that I make it to work on time, rushing the kids off to multiple sports practices or trying to finish a long-term project for school or work.  Let’s face it, we live in a society where multi-tasking is a daily job, and even when we take a moment to relax, we’re still brainstorming the next day’s activities, the grocery list for tonight or how we can better manage our finances.

If there’s one thing that helps me stay focused and organized throughout my busy family life and career, it’s making lists and writing everything down.  If I write something down, there’s no way I can forget it, and it’s like one little extra step to engrave the task or list for the day into my brain.  Jotting down your lists, thoughts, goals and notes is a great way to organize and pull your life together, but doing it on a boring old white piece of paper doesn’t exactly make life exciting.

Noteworthy Collections has come out with a fun personalized notepad update, which has introduced over 100 different designs to our notepad collection.  This way, when you’re making a list for the day or the grocery store, jotting down notes while in a meeting, writing a note to the kids for after school or to the babysitter, you’re actually enjoying it!  Each notepad is vibrant, modern and personalized just for you so that you can show off that unique personality at home, the office or wherever it is that you do what you do!

Each notepad features 150 loose sheets of paper which neatly fit inside a clear, durable, acrylic holder for safe keeping.  Personalize each pad with your name, company title, contact information or your monogrammed initial(s).  The newest designs feature feminine patters with damask prints, polka dots, pinched frames, floral patterns, funky stripes, animal print and more.  We also have new designs for men featuring nautical themes, patriotic stripes, bold stripes, pinstripes and houndstooth patterns.

Personalize your world with one of these brand new personalized notepads from Noteworthy Collections!