A Little of This & That… Renovating, Decorating, DIY Projects & Family
A Little of This & That… Renovating, Decorating, DIY Projects & Family

{Pink & Orange} An Adorable Summer Kid’s Party

TomKat Studio shares some of the most adorable party ideas, and when Kim posted these photos of a recent client’s Pink & Orange Birthday Celebration I wanted to share the beautiful inspiration.

The bright colors are the perfect setting for a summer party this July!

Kristy from F8 Kids Photography threw this bash for her daughter, Alexa’s 2nd birthday. The candy, or dessert bar, is great! Look at all of these vibrant colors – and covering the ceiling (or top of the buffet) in balloons is the perfect trick to draw your eye upwards and to balance out the colors across the decorations.

Some of the details that I love are the oreo pops (what a great take on cake pops), the photo banner and those adorable gerber daisy arrangements.

Too cute – more details and pictures (like the custom lunch box favors) at Kristy’s site.

Personalized Gifts for the Grandparents

Kevin and I had fun coming up with a creative way to share the big news with our family. We decided something personal would be extra special and I made onesies for each of our parents out of iron-on screen transfers and singlets from Target. It was a simple and fun way to share the surprise – but I know each member of the family loved their own onesie and is looking forward to a future grandchild to fill it!

At top, we have my step Dad who is excited to bring a ‘Future Trojan’ into the mix (I graduated from USC), my Mom who owns her own martial arts studio loved her ‘Sifu-Ma’ (Sifu is a term in Gung Fu and a play on Grandma) onesie. My Dad was behind the camera and we missed a shot of the ‘Future Traveler’ onesie.

We celebrated the big announcement with my in-laws while at a family graduation. Here is my wonderful mother-in-law with her ‘Future Michelangelo’ onesie (she’s a fabulous artist), and my father-in-law with his Tour de France’ outfit (a big biker).

We also presented them each with a little visual… I created a postcard-sized note in photoshop with an early sonogram image and a description of what was developing at that moment with their little grandchild.

It was a wonderful way to share the good news!

A New Shade for Our Living Room {+ Discount}

I have always loved a patterned lampshade and I’ve been keeping my eye out for a fabric that would work well with the new living room design. In the past I’ve recovered a few shades for the bedroom and else where and I thought this trick might work well for this room too.

But then I discovered Jeanne McGee, a fabulous etsy artist that hand stamps her own fabric and creates beautiful lampshades from scratch (discount at the end of the post). When I saw this basic but classy print I knew it would be the perfect addition. Not too colorful (I redid this coffee table-to-ottoman in a very colorful print for the room already), not too over powering but definitely complimentary to the feel of the space:

Jeanne and I worked together to find a color that would blend well with the different neutrals in the room:

The finished fabric is beautiful! I’m so impressed with Jeanne’s talent in creating her own prints.

I asked about her process and she let me in on the secret, which essentially starts with a hand carved woodblock or stamp, white or off-white linen fabric or paper, and colorful ink:

Above is the poppy stamp in it’s original form. Below is an example of the ink transfer to the fabric (you can see the stamps all inked up and ready to go in the top image and the finished fabric right below):

After the paper or fabric has dried, Jeanne adheres styrene to the paper or fabric and begins the process of glueing the paper to the lampshade wire frame. This is done by carefully rolling the fabric over the wire and finishing the edges.

When the lampshades are finished, they look like this!

For more shades and handmade garland, check out Jeanne’s shop. I’m excited to share that Jeanne has joined on as a sponsor as well – you can jump out to her site at any time by clicking her lampshade ad to the left. Take advantage of a limited time discount for 20% off by mentioning ‘PDB’ in your Etsy order!

I’m adding my new shade to the living room and can’t wait to share the pictures! Here’s a sneak peek:

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