~poor girls flower arrangement~

 The flowers on my table last week:

Recognize the tall vase?

Maybe the water marks at the top will give

you a clue.....it was our former

gold fish high rise (click here for a reminder).

As I'm sure you've guessed by now-the goldfish died.

The water marks at the top of my gigantic vase

will always be a reminder of the one and only

pet I ever allowed the kids to have.

 Mint, chives and the white puff ball again.

This will be the last of the puff balls this year.

Which is a shame because I love them.

I used this old bottle and apothecary jar to display

the simple little flowers and greens. 

This has actually been my favorite centerpiece

yet this year. I love the color combo along with 

the glass and visible water. 

 I wish you could smell the mint thru

your computer. It is simply DIVINE.

Not sure yet what I'll do for this week. 

We are in between blooms right now.

Iris are shriveling and the roses aren't ready to be cut.

I'll have to get creative. 

Ooh......I love a challenge. 

~simple flower arrangement~

 To me, nothing says "life" like flowers do.

I love to have fresh flowers in my house and

am lucky enough to get them for FREE all summer.

My husband is a wonderful gardener and he 

lovingly picks and arranges bouquets for me

all summer long. He may be losing his title this 

summer as "arranger" because I am really starting 

to enjoy it myself. Each week I have been 

picking and arranging flowers to bring into my house. 

Here's what I did last week:

 

A simple three part arrangement for my kitchen table.

Lavender, green and white.

Iris, chives, mint and white puff balls (??? that's what we call it).

Simple beauty.

I smiled each time I looked at it. 

 I challenge you this week to recognize the 

BEAUTY in the simple things....

it doesn't have to be big to be magnificent!

~baby shower brunch~

Last Saturday I had a little get-together 

for a good friend who's 

pregnant with her 2nd baby.

Because it's her 2nd baby and another boy,

she didn't want another baby shower.

However, I was able to talk her into an

intimate little brunch, celebrating her 

and her soon to arrive baby :)

At first I was thinking I would do fancy and

pretty. I had all sorts of great ideas but as

the time got closer, I decided to go with

a bright, cheery and youthful decor instead.

 A good friend of ours made these cute place
setting cards with her new Silhouette machine....
JEALOUS! Aren't they adorable?
I made the holder with a couple blocks
from my kids' toy stash. I just glued them together
and attached a clothes pin to the back with
a dab of hot glue.

 I made these jars filled with goodies 
for each lady to take home with her. 
A small mason jar adorned with fabric scraps
and a baby's safety pin. I found the 
cute safety pins at the dollar store.
They were filled with brownie bites and 
chocolate dipped macaroons. 

 I used all my plain white plates for the
settings and I realized once I got the table
set up that I didn't have any more for the 
3-tiered tray I was going to put the food on.
I had to do a little improv....
I took some colored tissue paper I had on 
hand and covered the plates (that didn't match)
before placing the food on them. It ended up 
looking alright once I got the food on the trays.

I can't believe I forgot to take pics of the food!
I served quiche, hash-brown casserole, croissants,
carrot cake-cream cheese filled muffins and fruit. 

For the table decorations I used bright colored
toys from my kids :) cheap and easy. 

 

I made these fabric scrap covered styrofoam balls

and attached them to a dowel to put in with 

the flowers. I liked the simplistic statement 

they made incorporated with the white tulips. 

 I used my plain white table ware for the settings

and topped each plate off with an individual little 

fruit cup. I used fabric scraps I had on hand

for ALL of these things.

 I got this book and had each guest sign it
with a personalized message. LOVED this idea
instead of signing a guest book.

 

For the finishing touches on the window behind

the table I put these ADORABLE medallions

made by my friend and her famous 

Silhouette machine. Have I mentioned how

badly I want to get my hands on one of them? 

 To make the bunting strung across the window,
I went to the dollar store and got a colorful kids book.
The book was Dumbo. I used
the pages to make the bunting and I didn't feel
so badly about ripping up a perfectly good book
because it was only a dollar. The illustrations
and colors were exactly what I had in mind 
when I envisioned the project initially.

 It ended up being exactly what we
intended when we planned it.....
small, intimate, laid back and celebratory. 
We missed you ladies who couldn't be with us
(you know who you are).
Megan-thank you so much for your help with 
the decorations.....they were PERFECT!

Congrats Adrianne and Dom!
We can't wait to meet the little fella. 

Linking up with Kojo Designs
and
Positively Splendid 

~My Christmas table~

Last week I hosted a couple different Christmas brunches.

I love setting a pretty table. 

If it was realistic I would for every meal but

with two little kids we're lucky some days just

to have a meal prepared and on the table at dinner time....

let alone a pretty table setting to accompany it.

The first brunch was with a couple of my girlfriends.

Have a look:

 For the place setting cards I personalized each one

with different pictures of the three of us.

I wrote notes to each of them on the back of the cards.

I got these little bulbs that hold them at Michael's a

couple years ago. They were a dollar for 2 of them. 

The little boxes next to their plates are holding 

the zipper bracelets that I made for them.

 The vases I filled with red bulbs that a good friend gave to me.

I love the look of a vase filled with bulbs like this.

 The set of bulbs she gave me has heart shaped bulbs

too that I use on Valentines Day (you'll see).

 I served mini quiches baked in green peppers.

Not much to look at but they are DEEELISH!

I'm going to be putting a recipe for those up

here next week. I also served sliced and grilled

portobello mushrooms, fruit and danish.

And let us not forget the most important part.....

MIMOSAS! 

I even wrote a little note to myself.

Two days later we had our annual Christmas brunch with

some good friends of ours.

I didn't go as fancy this time because we had

kids involved. 

 For this I mixed and matched with two different 

sets of tableware. My plain white set and my Christmas set.

 I made these little stocking silverware cozies 

years and years ago for our first Christmas brunch with them.

Each of them are different and I have to chuckle when

I think of that first year and how far my 

table settings have come since then.

For the place card settings I used the pine cones again.

Remember them from my Thanksgiving table? 

These have proven to come in very handy.

I'm thinking of dressing the table nice and serving

a nice dinner for New Year's Day with my little family.

I think maybe we'll start a new tradition with it.

It will give us a good opportunity to discuss

the year passed, the year before us and the

resolutions we may or may not have.

Do you make New Year's resolutions?

Don't forget....January is going to be my

"Make momma a priority" month.

Throughout the month I am going to be posting

changes I am making to make my life more

balanced and make myself a priority too. 

You will see:

wardrobe issues and ideas,

recipes,

beauty tips,

deep thoughts,

tutorials

and

maybe even a fun little giveaway :)....

maybe.

hmm-I wonder what it could be.