A SHABBY CHIC PRINCESS BIRTHDAY PARTY

Back before the CRAZY first quarter of my year (go here to see what I'm talking about), I was asked by my dear friend, Denise, to help plan her daughter's Seventh Birthday party.

With laptop in hand, we met one morning at a local coffee shop, and started scouring Pinterest for ideas.  We only had about a week and a half to pull this off, so we tried to keep it as simple as possible.  Once we had a plan, and had gone shopping for supplies, we divided up tasks and got to work.  

If I don't say so myself, I think it all turned out Beautifully.  And Princess Maggie had a Shabby Chic Princess Seventh Birthday she will never forget.

This is how crazy my friend is... right after we met, and had a game plan of the decorating scheme, she decided that her red hutch in the dining room, wasn't going to go with all the party decor.  So what did she do?  She painted it, along with the dining room chairs!!  Crazy, right?!!

Now on to the party details...

We strung pearls from the chandelier...

She had the pink ticking fabric bunting, and I had some leftover burlap, so we took her bunting apart, and I revamped it with some burlap bunting and mini clothespins.

She already had the letters, so I made some fabric, felt and tissue paper flowers and embellished them.

We found this chipboard crown at Hobby Lobby, so her and Maggie "blinged" it up with some silver glitter.

Same with the number Seven.  Then I made the Subway Art with my Cricut.  And for a little extra dazzle, I glued some pearlized sequins to the letters.

We also found these chipboard castles, which also got the glittered treatment.  They dressed up the hutch and adorned some of the chairs.

We had seen the tulle skirt idea on Pinterest, and it was one of her favorites.  So we were inspired to use that same detail on the hutch, and then finished it off with an adorable pink rag rosette trim that we found, also at Hobby Lobby.

The back of the slipcovered chairs were adorned with pink tulle bows and a little castle bling.

The food, we made simple, and kept it to finger food - fruit, candy, popcorn, and castle shaped jelly sandwiches.  We had seen the popcorn cones on Pinterest, so I tried my hand at recreating that detail.

I already had the drink dispenser, that I purchased for my son's birthday party, so we used that to serve, of course, pink lemonade.

I think my most favorite detail of the whole party, was how the drinks were served.  I just love the little faceted jelly jars with the pink striped paper straws that Denise found online.  But of ourse, I had to embellish them with some jute twine and paper crowns.

To entertain the party goers, we had two activities for them to enjoy.  First, they could decorate a hand mirror.  Denise found the unfinished wood mirrors at HL, which she spray painted pink.  Then we had all kinds of jewels that they could glue on.

It was a huge hit!!

Then we had a nail painting station... and if you know me at all, I couldn't just have polish and remover sitting there, I had to dress it all up.  So I used a white picture frame as a tray (with a little pink paper collage under the glass), and a small cake stand to hold the polish.  Voila!  Isn't it pretty?

What little girl doesn't love painting their nails?

As party souvenirs, we had two things for the girls.  First, what princess is complete without her amazing hat?  Sadly, none of them really wanted to wear one :(

And then, they all took home one of these adorable frames, which they could fill, once they received their Thank You notes...

...with a Party Photo Booth Portrait, taken by Denise.  We set up this little vignette down in Denise's studio, using just some kraft paper and pink streamers.

Rather than a cake, Denise made these yummy cupcakes, which we displayed in this cute stainless stand we got at HL.  She decorated them with pink frosting and edible pearls.  Then I embellished them with the crown toppers.

I think the Birthday girl enjoyed them!

What an Amazing Afternoon with 14 little Princesses, who all had Fun!!

Thank you to my friend for allowing me to be a part of her little girl's special day.

Here are links to some of our Inspiration...

Once Upon a Time
Brown Paper, String and Princesses

QUIRKY PATIO LIGHTING

After seeing these on Pinterest, I thought... "I can do that".  This shop sells them for $15, but I had some leftover Mason jars from my Hillbilly Wineglasses, and I knew I could get some spoons at Goodwill for a Quarter a piece.  Definitely cheaper than $15 a pop.  They were using theirs as planters, but I thought I could make cute little votive holders for my little patio area.

I found three different spoons, and then with the help of my neighbor's vice, some pliers, a hammer, and some significant muscle, I created three Spoon Hooks.  My hubbs was kind enough to drill the holes and attach them to the trees for me.

 

I used white beans inside the jars to stabilize the votives, and some 18 gauge wire to create the hanging loops.

I keep the lids on the jars when the candles aren't lit to keep the rain out.  They add a quirky and creative touch to my little patio.

A COLORFUL, CHOCOLATEY THANK YOU

 Today is "Teacher Appreciation Day", so to honor and thank Luke's teachers, this is what we put together for them.

Like pretty much everything else I do, I found this on Pinterest.

 I don't have a color printer, so I had to hand write the "colored" words.

Just a little something...

For two very Special ladies

NEW PENDANT LIGHT

Since moving into our new house last month, I have HATED the fact that there is no light over the kitchen sink. I'm old (well, older). I need light to see what I'm doing. But a few months ago, while perusing Pinterest, there were a few things I had pinned that could help with this lighting problem.

So, after seeing this for Inspiration and then this tutorial, I was determined to make my own.

I didn't really follow the tutorial, since I was using a new jar, but I got the gist of it. I cut a hole in the lid with a box cutter, after punching a bunch of holes with a nail. Then I used a light kit that I had from Ikea.

I found the plant holder at a flea market. I had hoped to find an old rusty one, but this works just fine.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!! And, it provides a TON of lighting for me when I am working at the sink.

So Easy! So Cheap! So Cute! So Functional!!