Mother's Day Brunch

We had such a lovely Mother's Day Brunch this weekend.  My mom felt loved and honored and I had so much fun pulling it together!

I created the electronic invitation using the website Canva.  I used my mom's favorite flower - the peony - as the inspiration for the entire brunch.

I shopped two Goodwills and Paramount Antique Mall for vintage plates.  I wanted them to be all different, but to coordinate and to fall in line with the theme of pink peonies.  I had SO much fun hunting for these!

At Goodwill I also picked up a vase for the flowers, a tablecloth and cloth napkins. 

(All for around $5.00)  

I searched the internet for a unique way of folding the napkins and came up with this rose.

I ordered souffles and pastries from Panera - have you guys used the rapid pick up before?  It was amazing.  I had time to look online and pick what I wanted.  I picked the location and time I wanted it ready.  I placed the order and paid online earlier in the week.  Then on Saturday morning, I walked in the store, saw my order on a shelf right inside the door and picked it up and walked out. It could not have been easier!  The souffles were amazing.

The pastries were amazing too.

We had mimosas (you can't have a special occasion brunch without them) and coffee.

Henry and Nami

One of my favorite things about the day - the peonies.  My mom and I both love them.  Early in the week I started thinking that I don't know anyone with bushes I can cut from.  A flower shop would charge a fortune.  So then I had the idea that maybe the farmer's market that is open every Saturday would have some.  I looked at the vendor profiles online and found one vendor, Prairie Earth, that sold plants and had some pictures of peonies, so I decided to email the owner and ask if they sold cut peonies.  He responded that they only sold peony plants but he could cut a dozen and bring them to the market for me and quoted a very fair price.  I was so thankful - it was perfect!

We missed my sister Jordan and her family, but other than that it was a perfect day! 

Lyndi, Debbie, Laura

Preschool Art

Last week my 4-year old neice stayed with me and in between the park, zoo, Chuck E.Cheeses, Zootopia movie, etc. it was nice to be able to pull some craft supplies for simple craft projects. 

For this one, I grabbed colorful copy paper, a hole punch, modpodge and a Popsicle stick. We talked about colors, sorted colors and counted colors.  

This one I found on Pinterest:

Rainbow fish stamped with celery. 

(My sister Laura planned an even cooler kite craft!)

It was such a fun blessing to have Hadley with us for the week!

Bedroom Spring Cleaning

I've spent the last few weeks spring cleaning my bedroom.  It was getting piled up and driving me crazy.  My first step was to make a list of everything that was bothering me and divide it into manageable steps.  I ended up with 18 steps and I've completed 10 so far.  One thing on my list was to style my dresser.  I thought it would help motivate me to add something fun in the midst of sort socks, sort jewelry, sort sweaters, etc.  So here are the pictures I've been pinning on Pinterest as inspiration.

March Photo Challenge

To celebrate my birthday month, I decided I wanted to do a photo challenge.  I looked for an already designed challenge, but didn't find many specific to March 2016, so I created my own!

Here are my photos from March:

 

 

 

I had a lot of fun doing this challenge!  If you want to get in on the fun -

I created an April 2016 Photo  Challenge!

 

Easter Table

 My inspiration for our Easter table décor started here ↓↓↓

 

When shopping at IKEA a few weekends ago, I found this little tin and plant for a great deal and it was the only thing not on my list that I bought.  It reminded me of something Joanna Gaines would decorate with.  <shout out Fixer Upper!!>

 This bunny salt/pepper shaker from Target was my other inspiration ↑↑↑

I decided to put one at each place setting as a favor.

 

In keeping with my clean rustic look, I decided on a white table cloth (from Dollar Tree) and a burlap table runner (a scrap of burlap fabric I already had).

 

I also had little succulents from Dollar Tree that I added to the mix.

 

I knew I wanted one more element, so I searched paper bunny and found this guest blog by Peabody & Sassafras for a paper bunny and knew it was perfect!  It even gives you the pdf template!!

 

Then, I needed the perfect paper.  I thought about watercolor painting paper, but thought I'd see what Michael's had to offer.  I found a paper that was exactly what I was looking for and pulled the whole look together.

 

The paper bunnies turned out great!!

 

 

I added lavender napkins from Target, white plates and a rice krispie nest for each person! 

 

 

Our lunch was really delicious and it was a lovely, relaxing family dinner.

 

I hope your family had a lovely Easter as well!

This is my adooooooorable nephew Henry!!

Shamrock Watercolor

Today I had the inspiration to make a shamrock watercolor to decorate for upcoming St. Patrick's Day - I think it's extra special this year because that's when my nephew is due to be born!  

First I cut a piece of watercolor paper to the size I wanted, that would fit on this clipboard on my mantle.

Then I found a pattern via clip art in Microsoft Word. 

Then I cut out the shamrock and used the rest of the page as a guide to paint inside of.

I taped down the pattern over the blank page.

Then I brushed water over the area I wanted to paint.

Then I began painting, using all the green colors in my palette.  

  

Then I let it dry for a few hours.

Then I took off the pattern and saw that the water had bled under the pattern some, but I still really liked the effect.

I hope it brings luck!