Mums for the Moms!

I know it's been forever and a day since I last posted but life happens!

We recently threw a baby shower for our good friends Brooke and Dee who are expecting a baby boy very soon! We came up with this great and fun idea of doing Mums for the Moms! Tina made Dee a beautiful mum by hand!

Then in lieu of cards everyone brought their favorite childhood book. It was really funny and brought back a lot of memories at Barnes and Noble looking through these books!

Tina made the book basket by adding grosgrain ribbon to some storage boxes. They turned out really cute!

I used old Animal Cracker tins that I saved from the garbage can for the flower arranging and the blue's and reds looked great!

I also stuck in some pin wheels to all of the vases, they were cute! (Ignore the Gin bottle in the background, we didn't break into that for this party, ha!)

We also made a baby clothesline, which was so adorable on the fireplace mantle. There were little socks hanging in between the onesies.

Group Shot: (From left to right, Tina- made the Mum, Ali- hosted at her house, Dee-pretty pregnant lady pictured in the middle, Nikki- hostess, then me, and Brooke- new momma to be, far right) were very happy and loved everything! I think it was a success!

Baby Showers!

I was just looking through all my picasa album and finding pictures from a couple of years ago of a baby shower I threw with Jessica for my friend Lindy. Im looking at these now because Im throwing another one in March and I need some inspiration!

We did a "clothes line" of onesies spelling out REESE, Lindy's baby daughter's name.

We also did milk glass vases filled with tulips throughout the house.

There was plenty of food, desserts, and pink lemonade on hand:

We asked all of the shower guests to bring a baby photo of themselves. We then put them on a board with a cooresponding number for people to guess from the shower guests which baby photo was theirs.

(Hint: I'm # 8!)

I think I've got some inspiration now for the next baby shower!!!

Jenna's Wedding Part 2

Let's continue the wedding convo!

Jenna had a great collection of clear glass vases. Mostly cylindrical and different heights, also very green! She purchased these moss covered rocks, grass leaves, and river rocks to make a really pretty contrast to the bright pink gerbera daisies she planned on using. We came up with the idea of floating the moss rocks and gerbera daisies above the river rocks. We also spun a layer of the bright green grass leaves beneath the moss rocks. So the day of my duties included setting up the center pieces, guest book table and cake table.

The center pieces turned out really pretty with so many layers of color:

She also had some goldy brown tulle that I tussled (is that a word? It's the only one I can come up with right now.) on the center of the table to create these little "nests" for the pillar candles and vases.

Jenna wrapped each pillar candle with the shards of grass leaves to give them some visual interest and tied it back in with the vase.

Once I had all of those done I was out of the cylindrical vases, so I called in for reinforcement from the Mother Hoarder of them all... my mom. She brought me three extra vases, two of which I used on the head table.

They weren't exactly the cylinder shape of the others so I sort of disguised them with the tulle. It worked somehow and was a pretty compliment to the sprig of orchids in the middle.

I wanted to keep the orchids in tact because they made a bold statement in the center of the head table.  I floated the moss rocks and sunk the river rocks to make the stem stand straight. I also added a wooden V (for the newly married couple's last name), that I painted black under the center orchid vase. Barely noticeable to anyone but Jenna and Tom, which was the point!

Jenna and Tom were so appreciative and I kept telling them, "Don't thank me! I just love doing it!"

6 Dollar Halloween Happy Hour

For my moms birthday and for Halloween we decided to have a Happy Hour instead of a full blown party. I was determined not to spend over $10 on decorations because my mom already has so many decorations and the party was at her house. So at Wal-Mart I found some cute and cheap favors and decorations.

I bought favor spider rings for $2, stretchy skulls for $2, and a windsock for $2.

I thought they would look cute in martini glasses for everyone to grab as a favor on their way into the party.

We had a great time, and I didn't spend over $10 on favors or decorations!

Onesie Flower Pot

For Lindy's Sprinkle I grew some onesies! Not really, I did buy a set of five onesies like these cuties:

and then folded them like this:

Then in half again like this:

Then I rolled it from one end to create a "rose" shape and held it tight with a rubber band:

Then, I used chopsticks that I painted green as the stems and stuck them in a orange flower pot filled with styrofoam and moss at all different heights:

To cover the rubber bands I tied on some white rick rack that I had:

(Ummmm if you are sober this picture is clear.. Guess I'm wasted.)

I also then added some faux greenery.. is that taboo?

Nothing this cute could be taboo, could it?

I added some grosgrain ribbon as "leaves" for the onsie rose petals.

Then I wrapped it all up with some ribbon to make it a presentable gift! I had to use iridescent cellophane because I ran out of clear. Man, fake greenery, rubberbands, and now iridescent cellophane? What am I turning into, my mother?? Just kidding Mom, love you!

I added a sweet little gift tag with a Congrats stamp and a glittery "It's a boy!" trinket that I found at Home Goods and then this painted lady was ready to go out for a Sprinkle!

Lindy said it was too pretty to unwrap!! But when she does she will find some cute newborn boy onesies, so cute and practical!

Have y'all seen those diaper cakes? Hummm another cute practical present idea.. I may have to save that one for a future Sprinkle.

Let me know if you have made one before and I'll need a thorough tutorial with that as well, thanks!

Sprinkle Sprinkle, Little Star!

We threw Lindy a Sprinkle last Sunday at Mattito's. A Sprinkle is traditionally thrown for the second baby since the mom already has most of the supplies left over from the first. So, this gathering was because we wanted to celebrate the arrival of the second baby. We decided that brunch and a bottomless mimosa was the perfect idea! (Drinks for the un-pregnant ladies, that is.) Well, we kept this affair small and intimate; as intimate as you can be at a big, busy restaurant during a crazy brunch rush with bottomless mimosas! So, on the eve of the shower, I thought we should have something to signify that we were there all together. I had a bunch of left over fabric courtesy of Alison and started putting together these fabric corsages.

I started with this cute flowery fabric:

I cut a strip, about a foot by four inches, with peking shears.

Then, I made about a half inch folds alternating to create this:

Then I put a staple in perpendicular to hold it all together... Ummm I mean I sewed a stitch with my hand crank sewing machine. Just kidding, I used a stapler.

Then, I pulled the loose ends together and stapled each side closed to form a circle.

And here's the finished look:

I added a large safety pin so they could be worn during the shower.

I also made Lindy a version of her own, sporting a J, in honor of her sweet baby James! (Due in two weeks.)

Here is Amanda showing off my design:

Here is Lindy, the guest and baby of honor showing off their's:

She looks so pretty and glowing. I didn't even plan on matching her's with her dress but somehow it worked! Check out Lindy's blog of Reese Pendley, Lindy's daughter!

I think the Sprinkle was a success and everyone enjoyed the food, the drinks, and of course the company!

Stay tuned for my Sprinkle gift to Lindy: The onesie flower pot.

French Classy Part Trois!

I had a great time planning and working my French Classy Shower, so finally without further adieu this is the conclusion.  Something really funny about the French Classy shower is that most of the people showed up in black and white attire. I dont know if they were trying to match the decor or thats just a popular color combo for showers?

These are the bottles of French Lemonade and Orangeade that started the whole thing!

They looked really pretty and perfect in my white beverage tub from Pottery Barn that I already owned.

We also used a glass decanter that my mom had for self serve water with lemons.

Here is the main dining table of desserts, pre-desserts and flowers:

I used lemonheads and black licorice to give a few more punches of black and yellow.

and post desserts and flowers:

mmmm.. crème brulee and mini éclairs:

Here is the built in buffet, pre-dessert: (the frames are holding the shower invite and the bride and groom's save the date card.)

And post dessert with some added confetti scattered,  (left over from the invites):

 The favor for the shower was some yellow lemon scented handmade soaps that said "Thank You" on them.  I got them from Bubbles N Suds Soap Company on Etsy. They feature all natural soaps and body products! They were easy to work with and shipped me my soaps with a tracking number! Check them out!

We played several games at the shower and one of them was "Can you guess how many Lemonheads Are in The Jar"?

(Leave me a comment with your guess and if you are the first to guess correctly I will email you a surprise!)

See my hobnail milk glass vase in action! It looked so cute with yellow sunflowers. I'm so happy with my $7.50 purchase!

Outside we just did simple vases tied with ribbon on linen covered tables. Those sunflowers were a steal, literally. We parked on the side of the road and cut dozens out of an undeveloped field! I think they look so simple and cute and the color was perfect!

Here is the soon-to-be bride and her mom enjoying margaritas, the company, and the unseasonably cool Texas weather!

Notice the lanterns on the umbrella in the background. They were $1.00 each at Michael's in the perfect shade of sunshine yellow!

This is the departing picture of the night!

 The happy bride Mattie, left, my mom, Karla, center, and Linda, the bride's mom, right.

So my French Classy Shower was a huge sucess and the bride (and her mom) loved it! Most of all I realized I can be creative with items I already own! I used several plates, baskets, trays, and Paris themed items from around my house that really added some sparkle to my shower!