But these can!
With the holidays approaching, make sure you put your fruit to work. It’s a great departure from the average centerpiece.
11.03.11
Not Every Fruit Can Make a Great Centerpiece.
Category Archives: florals
09.27.11
Lou’s Room: The Reveal.
Bit by bit, we have been working on Lou’s big girl room since last spring. And I am proud to finally show all of you the finished product.
In between work, kids and blogging, we built the room, step by step. It all started with a plan.
Unfortunately, the fabric for the curtains has been discontinued. It is a P. Kaufman fabric. The Pattern is Camelot and the color is Lake.
We were able to repurpose the bed skirt from the crib to make the bed skirt and borders for the throw pillows. The sconces were on sale at Restoration Hardware.
Corrine Marlowe painted the stripes on the ceiling in the same Melon Shine paint that I used on the bed.
I kept the Little Castle glider from the nursery because I love it so much. The store that I bought it from (that has since gone out of business) allowed me to customize it with my own fabrics. The little chair was a gift that Mom brought back from Rhode Island when she found out I was pregnant with E.
Luckily our changing table was convertible. The mirror was a originally a butterfly picture that I scored on clearance at Home Goods. I painted it Pear Green.
I knew exactly what I wanted for the chandelier… the problem is that it didn’t exist.
Then I found Lindsey at Simply Salvage, who worked tirelessly on this baby. Poor Lindsey had no idea what she got herself into with me. This took over 4,000 hand painted beads. She painted them Bird’s Egg to match the walls.
My little Lou Lou Bug simply adores her room. When it was finally done she stayed in there for hours. While in another room, I heard her talking to herself saying “This is a dream come true!!! I love my room. I love my chandelier… I love my pink bed… I love my special lights (that would be the sconces.)…. I love my flowers.. ” Yada, yada, yada. It warmed my heart. And that my friends, made it all worth it. She has slept in her room every night since.
Photos by Ryann Colleen Photography
09.22.11
One Truly Outrageous Party.
Last weekend we celebrated E’s 6th birthday. There were a few mishaps and threatening skies, but the weather held out and the party was a ball.
Happiest Birthday to our baby girl. We had so much fun. Now that her party is over, her sister has already started campaigning for her birthday party (in May.)
Party Styling- Krista Salmon
Photography- James Woo
Invitations- Krista Salmon
Cake Topper- Tastefully Treated
Cupcakes and Cookies-2 Sweets
Cupcake Wrappers- Scraptags
Floral Design- Krista Salmon
Pinata- Birchangel
Guitar Picks- Steve Clayton
Disco Balls- Party Depot
Gloves + Pins +Tatoos + Flower Pails- Michaels
Sunglasses + Michael Jackson Gloves + Microphones- Windy City Novelties
Reusable Goody Bags- Papermart
Materials for Backstage Passes- Staples
06.03.11
Fresh From The Garden.
I love to keep fresh flowers in our home. It’s such a treat for me. Flowers make me happy. Look at what I plucked from the garden last week! The aroma that filled my family room was nothing short of devine.
Sadly now, my Peonies are gone for the season… I can’t wait until August when my Pee Gee Hydrangeas are in full bloom!
05.16.11
Lou’s Tinker Bell Party
A few weeks ago, I clued you all in on the theme of Lou’s third birthday party.
Courtesy of my friend and neighbor, Amber of Little Moon Photography, we have some amazing pictures to share…
My friend Kristy Patterson of Sweet Nothings worked meticulously on the candy table. Those of you who know me, know how obsessive I am over the details. Kristy is just as detail-oriented and was open to all of my crazy ideas. She was an absolute pleasure to work with.
I just love how everything turned out!
I created the tags in MS Word, and all of the glitter ribbon is from Michaels. The backboard fabric is from Heather Bailey.
Once again, Kristy Stone of Tastefully Treated hit a home run with the cake… Kristy is someone who understands and tolerates my OCD. After I decided I wanted a log slice for a cake stand, she went to several different mill yards in the area to find just the right one. She’s a genius!
Many of you had questions on the flowers… I actually special ordered them from Wegmans. I looked a little weathered (you’ll see below) as I was up until 3 am doing the arrangements. So worth it!
The fairies in jars were made from Christmas ornaments, Ikea Rajtan jars, fishing wire and wooden toadstools. The rainbow circles were cut from glitter paper.
The tablecloths were made in this green linen, and sewn by Windows by Melissa . One thing to note.. the linen wasn’t easy to iron. Please excuse my mismatched valance (next on the list to be replaced…)
The large toadstools are from Pier 1.
The Ninja-like fairies on the mantle are from Target. On Friday night as I was arranging them, I called Mike over to take a look (mature, I know) because of the not-so-lady-like positions that they were in. I tried my best to give them some decorum.
We had a mean game of Pixie Tag. I bought the “Pixie Dust” here.
As you can see, someone finally got her Imperial Trellis shades hung in the kitchen… I love them! The wreaths, wood chips and moss rocks are from Save On Crafts.
The goody bags are from Michael’s. I created the iron-ons in Word.
The Peter Pan hats are from Good’s Place, the fairy wings, wands, swords and tutus are from Designed2BSweet.
The moon bounce was a surprise from her Daddy. He was so proud that he found a TINKER BELL moon bounce. It was priceless, when she saw it in the backyard, she gasped and grabbed his hand. I think I may have seen a little tear well up in his eye.
Everyone had a ball, including Bailey.
The kids loved playing Fairy Freeze Dance.
Lou kept thanking us saying “this is the best birthday party ever.”
A week later, our house still sparkles with Pixie dust, I think a little will always remain, but it will always remind of us the magical party that we had for our sweet little Anna Lou.
05.11.11
Intaglios.
Last week I received the latest Ballard Designs Catalog and my jaw almost dropped when I saw this wall of cameos. These little pictures are selling for $299 PER picture! The timing couldn’t have been more perfect because I just finished a wall of 18 for under $200. And here’s how….
I am notorious for buying items for my next big project and storing them for months if not years before I get to it. But let’s be honest, with two kids, a full time job and this little blog– I don’t get a lot of spare time for crafting. That being said, I bought these intaglios over a year ago for the wall in my dining room. Well, bit by bit, I worked on this project and was able to finish just in time before Lou’s party. Here are the results:
Here’s the cost break down:
Here’s the how-to:
18 Frames…..
I actually made mine without the glass. The intaglios were thicker than I expected, so the frames weren’t thick enough for the glass.
Some spray paint….
Presto-chango:
I bought this fabric at G-Street Fabrics thinking I’d use the velvet side… but I couldn’t get rid of these darn lines…
So, I decided to use the reverse side, which I now love… it looks like linen, but it’s much more substantial.
I traced all 18 backboards (fabric backside up) and cut them out.
I used my little craft glue gun to glue the fabric to the cardboard. One note– make sure to pull the fabric tight to each corner and cut off the excess. The fabric will stretch.
Then I glued on the intaglios and voila!
Now, with all of that procrastination, the hardest part was actually hanging them. Thanks to my Pops, who painstakingly hung all 18. Because the frames were incredibly cheap, the hooks were not evenly attached, so we used double sided velcro tape, which allows me to rearrange them as I choose.
I am so happy with the results!
Tutorials are not my thing– but I hope you enjoyed it… Please send me pictures if any of you decide to do your own wall of intaglios!
UPDATE:
03.09.11
Martha and the Beach.
Upon our suggestion, our next door neighbors jetted off to Beaches, Turks and Caicos this week. (Can you say JEALOUS?) Which got me thinking about what wonderful memories we’ve had there. Last year, Mike and E surprised me with a little “Wedding” where we renewed our vows. What a great day we had. Those two planned the whole thing, and I was shocked at how well-planned and elegant everything was. Then I realized that they got by with a little help from the Queen of Crafts.
Beaches is now partnering up with Martha Stewart Weddings. It’s like a wedding in a box, but one that even this “Type A” could go for. There are six wedding packages to choose from, or you can customize. I am super impressed with the stylish options that they have for weddings- and all you have to do is show up.
Bon Voyage!
