Party! Party! Party Time. Baby Shower plans

Let's talk parties. Personally, I look for almost any reason to have a party. You got an A? Party! You made the squad? Party! You got a new car? Party! You get the idea. So when I found out that I was pregnant, I was eager to plan my baby shower. You are probably thinking..."shouldn't your hostess be planning that?" she should...but I'm too much of a control freak to ever let that happen. That and my BFF lives in another state, so it really wasn't going to work.
First, I needed a theme. After scouring Pinterest like a fiend, I came to quite a few conclusions. #1-I did not want a traditional baby shower, at least when it came to themes. I wanted something classy, sophisticated, timeless and something that represented me. The second thing I realized was that I have expensive tastes.
So, after searching for a hot minute, I stumbled across this picture:
































































And I knew that I had found my theme. It was perfect.
Next came the perfect place to have the party. Where else but my mother's backyard? After that, much of the details came together and this is what came about. The cake is from a local bakery, Daphne's Bakery here in Mint Hill, NC. It was delicious. A nice white cake with raspberry filling. I got a smaller cake because we also had cupcakes. The original plan was to have a dessert bar, but things came down to the wire and I had to make some sacrifices. I don't think people even notices, since I still had a good chunk of cake left at the end of the day. It took about 2 days to finish it.
Here is the setup for the catering. I had these wonderful plans of making little sandwiches and salad...but in the end, the catering option was much better and I had less to worry about. The lovely table set up that my sister and her kids helped put up. It was a perfect day. Not too hot, with a good breeze coming through.    Here we have the dessert table, with prizes for the games at one end. I really enjoyed the favors. Here's close up of the inspiration for the favors. We put kisses, hard candies and Jordan almonds in the ones we passed out.
The drinks table. My father makes his own wine, so we created a nice sangria with a red wine he made.

The gifts table. I am very blessed to have friends and family who gifted us many wonderful things. This shot was taken before the party started.

Myself and my boyfriend, opening gifts and being celebrated by our family and friends. He was a little shy, not quite knowing what he was supposed to do, but I think he had fun.

This was the photo booth that I put together. To be honest, I forgot about it until after everybody had left, but my family did not disappoint by taking turns using it and posing for some great photos that I can not wait to put in frames.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this recap of our baby shower. It was great party and I loved every minute of it. I can’t wait to plan my daughters 1st birthday.

Some magic in the bedroom

So last week we were talking about my desire to upgrade the bedroom. make it more of a beautiful retreat. I had gone to Ikea and picked up this beauty:

with the intent of putting my spin on it and incorporating it into my scheme. After about an hour or so…or more…I finally had it together. But…it still look like it did in the picture. Not what I was after. So…I got to work. My mother is in the process of redoing her bedroom as well and have picked up a few color samples from our local Sherwin Williams store to test out in the bedroom. I stole borrowed one that I liked which she was not happy with and went to town.
(Tricorn Black)
After about two coats and getting pain all over my feet…this is the end result.

But I wasn’t done there. The knobs were still the untouched wood color and I didn’t like that. So, I had some gold spray paint (We’ll talk about why later) and decided to add some finishing touches
It’s a little hard to see the gold, but it’s there. I’m still not happy with the knobs and I’m debating a trip to Anthropologie to get something more…just more. Maybe some glitz or glam or just a sparkle to catch the eye. I did line the drawers with scented drawer liner, but I forgot to snap that picture.
In the end, I’m happy with the results. I am even thinking of getting another dresser and putting them side by side. You can never have enough storage in the bedroom.
Happy Decorating!
XO

Where all the magic happens…

We are by no means done with the dining room, but I thought I would move to another room that has been getting some of my attention. That would be the bedroom. Let’s start from the beginning shall we…

This was the bedroom when we first moved in. It’s a nice size, large enough to fit a king and one nightstand, though there is that awkward little angle to the side. Not sure why, but hey…what can you do about it. My mission with this room is to get it here:

with the color scheme shown or this color palette:
Any variation of the above is also acceptable. I want this space to be an elegant, stylish, restful retreat. If I could, I would put up chandeliers and long flowing curtains and paint the room a subtle gray. Alas...I can not. But I can dream.


This is where we are at now:

Glamorous aint it? But that’s okay because we are working towards a goal. A nice, beautiful goal. On the road to said goal, I picked up this lovely piece at ikea:
(Tarva series $79.00)
Product dimensions Height: 36 1/4 "
Width: 31 1/8 " / 31 1/8 " Height: 92 cm
Width: 79 cm / 79 cm It’s a nice piece, with good storage and very sturdy. The only problem is that it’s not the right palette for what I want. So…I set about putting my own mark on it and bringing it inline with my vision. Seems simple enough.

Table time…part 2

Let’s get back to the table shall we? Last time we talked, this is where we were at:

Okay, but there were a few dings and scratches that needed to be taken care of. So, my dad rolled the top into his shop and got to work. I wish that I had taken pictures of the shop while he was working, but I seem not have done that. (hmmm…)

Anyways…

It took a bit of elbow grease and being talked out of painting the table either a shiny black or gray to match the chairs…still on the fence about that one to be honest, but in the end, the result was wonderful

The table is not as shiny as it was before which works for me. It was nice but I like this more subdued looked better.

I left the chairs that came with the table the same color as the table and they do work with other chairs. I covered them in the same fabric as the gray chairs, tying them into the scheme nicely. (did I mention that before? I can’t remember)

Not the same but a nice coordination of what I already have.

I took one of the extra chairs from the table and covered in something different to go in the bedroom. (is it just me or do I need to start taking better and more pictures?)

It’s a nice piece to sit and put on your shoes or just lay out clothes for the next day. Perhaps at a later date I’ll get one of those lush club chairs to serve this purpose but for now…I’m liking this addition as well.

And so ends the saga of my table love. I do like the roundess of the table for an apartment dining room. It does not take up a lot of space and is easy enough to accomadate more people if needed. Now, if I could just get more light into the space…I’d be happy.

 

 

Bedroom styling

I’m not sure if I mentioned it earlier or not, but I have been on the hunt for a headboard. I wanted one of those lush, heavily tufted, wingback armed headboards. Something that made a statement and just made the eyes happy to see. I searched high and low and found quite a few pieces that I fell in love with…until I saw the prices.

Not so much in love.

So…I decided to embark on the adventure of making one for myself. I’ve watched all the YouTube videos, seen all the blogs of crafty DIYer’s. I was confident that I could do it.

Why does not one tell you that the longest hardest part if just finding the right fabric!?

Anyways…

After searching high and low,  I found fabric that I could be happy with and proceeded to produce my masterpiece. My mother and I worked diligently on this project for about two days. We tried to rope my dad in, but he was not having it. Oh well

After the addition of some nice sparkly buttons, I think that I did a good job.

pay no attention to the mound of pillows on the bed or the untidiness. I took the picture right after hanging it on the wall and I seem to have lost all my other cook photos of this creation.

If I’m honest, this is not the result I was looking for. I do enjoy, but I think that I may have to bite the bullet and buy what I really want. Either that, or not let my mother help me with it next time. I wanted it more lush than this and my mother was like “Why?”

That should have been a hint, but alas…it was not.

Good find…table time!

So I have two chairs, but no table to sit at. Makes sense right?

Anyways…I was on the hunt for a table. I stalked craigslist, the thrift stores, IKEA…you name it, I was there. I could not find anything. I was very much on the verge of building my own table and doing the whole diy thing. For some reason though…daddy was not into it. Neither was mom. I can’t figure out why…

So I continued the hunt. The reality is that I was on a budget and did not have hundreds of dollars to get what I wanted, so really needed to find a good bargain.

In come my mom and aunt.

I have no idea why, but they happened to stop into a consignment store in the area and found a few options. In the end, I chose this option:

A nice round piece and…three chairs. I had no idea what I was going to do with extra chairs, but the table was just what I wanted.

I did not get close up of the table top, but there were a few scratches on it and the chairs were not in the fabric style that I wanted. It was time for some more TLC.

Chairs…again

I think I have an issue with chairs. I love chairs. I really do. Every time I see a chair in the window or on Pinterest or somewhere…I can’t help but to think of where I want to put…where I could shove it  or if I have enough floor space. It’s just…a real problem.

Last week I showed you some chairs that I’d found by the trash. They were just the style that I wanted and they only took a bit (a lot) of elbow grease, love and dedication. Once my father and I had sanded them down, fixed up the rungs and spray painted them, it was time to find some fabric. This usually takes the longest for any craft that I do that requires fabric. I need the colors and the patterns to be just right. I can not just roll into a store and go “That’s the one!” I have to look at it, admire it, feel something like a spark every time I look at it.

This is what caught my eye. I love the bold pattern and the color of the background. It just seemed to fit with what I wanted in the space. Especially since the room is kinda of dark and we do not get enough light in the space, I needed to keep the colors light enough not to drag the whole space down.

This is what the finished product looks like:

 

I am very pleased with what we accomplished and how things turned out. upholstering didn’t take that long and I even added some extra padding to give the seat some cushion. All in all….very happy.

But…I still didn’t have a table.

That was the next step. ( I know…you can see it in the back. I’m trying to tell a story here.)

Dining room chairs- before

As a recap…this is what we are working towards:

I really like the blue and gray color scheme. It’s calm, cool, sophisticated and elegant.

I am very into the traditional look, not so much a fan of the whole modern thing. It’s too cold and sterile to me. Not that there aren’t elements that I enjoy, but not all over. Traditional is cozy and lived in, as if you have been in the house forever. This look in particular catches my eye because of the colors and the elegance it exudes. I know that I won’t be able to recreate the whole look, but I’m going to get as close as I can.

 

So I found these chairs by the trash

and I just knew that they would be perfect in the space. Of course, I don’t have a table at this point, but I just knew that I would find something to fit. Back to the chairs.

Something about the lines and how good they would look painted a deep gray.

They were originally covered in this dirty green stripe fabric that was just not cutting it and the chairs themselves were covered in cobwebs. Not a good look in the least.

I stripped the seat down to the base and set about getting the chairs into shape. (This is my dad working on the chairs for me. Yay dad!)

They were in pretty bad shape, missing a few rungs and the glue was dried from being outside for a bit (I guess) and just needed a bit of TLC. It took a bit of elbow grease to get the chairs into shape, but well worth it in the end.

Next post…The finished product.