PRINCESS & PIRATE PARTY FAVORS + DIY PRINCESS CROWNS

Soooooo, when I meant that I would share a more detailed post of the party favors from Amara's 3rd birthday party on Monday...... yeah, I meant NEXT Tuesday! Yikes! So sorry for the delay. We are really trying to get back to our first love around here..... blogging. However, our Etsy shop has definitely taken up a lot of our time. We are so grateful, and we are loving it, but we also love sharing things with our readers on here so much!!

Ok, so here are the detailed photos of the party favors....

Everything for the pirate favor boxes was purchased at Party City. 

 Except for the tattoos of course! Check out our Etsy shop for customized tattoos for your next event!!

 I found all of these goodies at Party City as well. The little camera was quite the hit!! I made the wands using dowels, ribbon, and watercolor paper! So easy!! I just traced a star out with a cookie cutter and painted them purple and hot glued them to the dowel.

Below is a little tutorial on how I created the princess crowns...

 Cut your lace strips into the size that you want. I just wrapped it into the size circle I wanted, then measured each strip.

 Completely submerge each lace strip into the stiffener.

 Blot off the excess on both sides and lay on a plastic bag so that they can dry partially.

 Once they start stiffening up, hang them on a "drying line" so they can completely dry on both sides.

 Let your little help! Take a sponge brush and dab each side until the lace strip is completely covered in your paint color of choice.

 We opted for metallic gold, silver and purple.

 Wrap around and glue!

Voila! The last step ( which I failed to photograph.... I was in party mode) is to glue them to a headband , or even a hair clip. We also ended up glueing a couple of "gemstones" on each of them. 

Enjoy!

OPEN SHELVING: STYLED

Hey friends! How was your weekend? My daughter and I hit the road this weekend with my husband, and although we traveled to an extremely ( miserably) hot place, I was just happy to not have to have our little family separated for those two days. I don't get to travel with him often.... well, like ever actually. So, I usually jump at the chance when there is room on the bus for me and the little.

It has been a pretty quiet Monday for us. We are tying up ALL loose ends on this kitchen this week, and we truly are almost done. I know I have been claiming that for a while now. When you are doing all of the work yourself while juggling a toddler and life in general, it all goes sooooo much slower than you could have ever planned. I am not complaining though! 

I took some time today (nap time) to finally style the open shelving in my kitchen. Up til now, I have just been accumulating dishes and throwing things up there without actually arranging and putting the final touches on everything. I knew I wanted lots of neutrals, with maybe a touch or two of color. 

I moved my rubber spatulas to a vase near my mixer for easy access while prepping baked goods. I am just faking it really, but I love the way it looks to have a little "baking station"

Most of my big plates were in the dishwasher when I shot these photos... oops! I found these recycled water glasses from a local general store here in Nashville called Whites Mercantile. It is a must visit if you are ever in town!

 I finally framed a water color print that I made LAST Thanksgiving.....oh, for our VERY FIRST post. Crazy!!

 Unfortunately, the colors and designs of some of my cookbooks that I love did not go with my kitchen color palette. I took off the cover to my Joy of Cooking book, which had bright red and navy on it, and it revealed this beautiful white and gold perfection! Then, I wrapped another cookbook of mine (which was bright yellow) in a charcoal floral wrapping paper. The three books look a little more cohesive sitting up there now.

CAKE DECORATING PARTY

Today, we are "flashing back" to an absolutely perfect cake decorating party! My dear friend, Sally, threw her daughter, Kate, a sweet (pun very much intended) soiree for her birthday. Sally is so creative, thoughtful and just plain fun! She thought of all of the little details without over doing it, which we can TOTALLY appreciate. As a matter of fact, Leah and I were just talking about how inspirational a photo of a simple banner, cute cake topper, and a beautifully wrapped gift are to us. We definitely love a big party with details that most people may not even notice, but it really is about the few simple touches that can really make a party. That is how we feel about this party...... simplicity makes it stunning.

Sally's garage is party play area.... part garage. She decided to decorate a small space in there to accommodate a few party guests. Icing + Kids can equal a bit of a mess, so it made sense. We just adore Sally's love of color and pattern.

 Something about this tray of icing tubes makes us smile!

Sally embroidered the name of each guest onto their own personal apron.

Don't you want to just lick eat every. single. cupcake?

Milk glasses with colorful striped straws never get old.

Thanks for sharing this with us Sally!! I know you had just as much fun as those kids. 

Happy Friday everyone.... we sure are ready for the weekend!

NO SEW DIY CAFE CURTAINS

Hey friends! Today, I have a super easy cafe curtain tutorial for you! I apologize in advance for the lighting on these pics. Shooting a window is not the easiest for me. One of two home projects I will be sharing tutorials on. My husband and I have been redoing our kitchen for the last couple of months. It has been a long process, and we are 80% finished. I can't wait to share our final reveal. In the meantime, I figured I could show you how I treated our ONE window that we have in our actual kitchen. We originally had blinds that were way too bulky in the window, but they just had to go. This DIY is super easy, makes such an impact and we are both in love with the way it looks. The best part is that it involves NO SEWING! Not even stitch witchery type "sewing". 

I simply purchased a cafe rod and curtain rings from Target ( maybe $10 total). I then went on a hunt for some great napkins or even tea towels of some sort. I wanted something with a pattern, but still neutral in the coloring. I found these lovelies on sale at Anthropologie. No need to look any further!

So, grab your supplies.....

Start with ironing your napkins first to ensure that they lay properly. 

Place your clips (spaced how you would like) across your napkin. I used 4 clips on each napkin.

 String them onto the cafe rod!

 Hang your cafe rod ( about 3/4 of the way high for my window) until you get your desired look. 

Voila!

BTW, we are currently working on a concrete countertop for our island. Say a little prayer.... we are not professionals over here. YouTube and Pinterest have been our kitchen remodeling teachers. Big shout out to all of you who have screwed this up and lived to tell us what NOT to do gone before us. 

Happy Tuesday!!

-J