It seems everyone in my family is getting married lately, which means I get to throw lots of parties!  Over the weekend I hosted a Bridal Shower for my cousin Amanda.  Her wedding colors are black, white and green, so I thought I would make that the theme of the shower.  Since I already have black and white wallpaper, I was two thirds of the way there without buying anything.  I found myself inspired by the shades of green in some of my favorite vegetables: brussel sprouts, broccoli, artichokes and basil, so I made arrangements out of them.  Last night I roasted the brussel sprouts, and I plan to cook up the rest of the vegetables throughout the week.  I think I was able to waste a lot less with these edible arrangements. 

Drinks were easy, I just bought everything with green labels: Sparkling cider, Limeade and Lambrusco.  Sliced some limes, added a vintage ice bucket, black and white vintage tray and a pitcher of water. 

All my aunts brought a dish and I provided the fixings for sandwiches.  To make it interesting I put the spreads in recycled glass jars with handwritten labels to make it seem like they were homemade...haha.  I did make the pesto mayo, but that is pretty easy. 

Pesto from Trader Joe's + Mayo = Pesto Mayo

 

 I used my trusty bulletin board for a little creative activity.  Using the program Poladroid, I transformed some photos of the happy couple to look like polaroids.  I had a little sign that told guests to help Amanda finish her photo album by writing captions on the pictures. 

I had to get creative with favors once again.  Considering that it is the holiday season, I put together a gift wrap station.  Each guest got a bag to fill with pre-cut rolls of vintage wallpaper, old photos and tags made from vintage book pages.  In the front I had spools of vintage ribbon and string and allowed guests to cut them to their desired lengths. 

It was a great day!  I hope everyone enjoyed themselves!

Salvage Style Bridal Shower

On Saturday I hosted a Bridal Shower for my dear cousin Joan.  She is marrying the love of her life early next month.  I have been busy making her a veil and necklace as well as planning this shower.  I had so much fun coming up with all the little details.  Sadly, I forgot to take a photo of the food table, oh well.  Everything I do seems to take on a vintage, diy theme, and this shower was no exception.

 

I ordered a vanilla buttercream cake from Sweet and Saucy Shop in Long Beach and decorated it with three tiny glass vases holding daisies and a handful of raspberries.

 

More tiny glass vases (mostly vintage 1 oz. liquor bottles with labels removed) with single flowers.  I added the "Joan Loves Keith") with little hang tags that I hand stamped.

 

 I created a little corner where people could write well wishes or notes of advice to the bride-to-be.

 The vintage typewriter holds a note written from the groom to his soon to be wife.

Instead of traditional favors, I filled a vintage cart with hand decorated vintage clutches, headbands and jewelry for the attendees to choose from.   Simple white paper bags to hold the goodies were stamped with "Thank you".

In place of games, we did a design challenge, a la Project Runway.  I showed everyone a vintage clutch purse that the bride would be wearing to her rehearsal dinner.   Each guest received a drawing of the clutch purse in which they had to decorate with a variety of vintage ribbon, buttons, etc.  The bride chose a winner whose design I will replicate on the clutch for the bride in time for the big event.

 The game was a hit!  Here are just a few of the designs.

 Me and Joan remembering our youth. :)

Being a mom is nothing like I thought...

but wonderful nonetheless!  This last year has been a challenging one.  I find myself constantly trying to figure out what the heck I was thinking when I thought "I'll have a baby and stay home while trying to run my business, it will be perfect!"  Well, it's not perfect, but it's my life and I love it in all of it craziness!  As much I wish I had more time to pursue MY goals, I am so thankful that I have a little partner in my duties.  Yes, she makes things harder and take longer, but I feel like we are a team.  When I say "ok, we have to take some pictures of the clothes," Ruby quickly crawls over and points at my camera case.  When I make jewelry, she always want to try it on and carry it around.  It was a lot more lonely working by myself than it is now.  I love being Ruby's mom and I wouldn't trade it for anything, not even more time.

Yesterday we had a nice Mother's day at our home.  I prepared some simple "girlie" treats and we enjoyed a lot of laughter.  It was very special to share Mother's Day with my Mom because I look up to her so much and I love that we can relate in this new way.  I thought a lot about my mom's mom yesterday, she is no longer with us, but I feel like we were able to honor her.  We used her china for the appetizers and I made my mom a necklace out of a little medal her mom had received in the 60's for being the Auxilary Club President.  She really liked it.  My hubby cooked dinner and it was delicious.  I made some vanilla cupcakes with blackberry whipped cream frosting and served sorbet for dessert.  It was a wonderful day!

Come one, come all!

Last weekend I threw a big first b-day bash for my precious little girl. This was a bit of a challenge considering my commitment to not buying anything new (besides food). I started with some vintage circus inspiration and went from there...





I collected old sheets and fabric from the thrift stores and trims from an estate sale.



I made a circus tent backdrop with sheets and trim. Flag was made from a vintage wallpaper sample book from the 70's I bought at an estate sale years ago.



I put fabric backing on vintage frames and printed circus font letters on paper I already had for a bday sign. You can find the free font here.



Vintage Fisher Price circus train from my grandparents house, popcorn boxes I found in my pantry and filled with caramel corn, a vintage circus book I had and animal cracker boxes for favors (they're edible, so I figured they were ok to buy).





Little vintage trunks and suitcases made for good platforms.



After inquiring at several bakeries about a custom fondant cake and finding out that they were hundreds of dollars, I decided to make my own. This was a crazy project and took me almost a whole day, but I think it turned out pretty cute. I had to use 9 inch cake pans for all the layers because I could not buy a 6 inch pan or find anyone to borrow one from, this made it more difficult, but it is amazing what you can do with what you have. I am really learning that the solution to things isn't always buying something new. I topped it with an elephant toy and candle. For some tips on working with fondant, click here.



I made flag banners from a variety of vintage fabrics and stapled them to twine. Actually, I cannot take credit for this, my sweet Camille made these, what would I do without her?!!





Our little family. :)



First birthday cake...mmm, delicious!

What's Cookin?

This baked salmon recipe from Martha Stewart made me feel like a professional chef. It was pretty easy to make and looked so gourmet! If I make it again, I will use a little less dill and add garlic.

I went to a birthday party for my dear friend Laura on Saturday. I loved the lights and lovely decorations. My amazing husband stayed home with the baby so that I could celebrate and she could sleep. Thank you babe, I love you so much!

Farmer's Market Bounty

I am so thrilled, yesterday I finally made it to the farmer's market in downtown Long Beach. Since my schedule is always dictated by a certain little person, this was a joyous occasion! And...drum roll please...I bought a new camera! After many unpleasant experiences with various point and shoots, I decided I must get an SLR. I am still learning how to use it, but even the pictures I take on the fully automatic settings are ridiculously better than ones on my old camera. I have a feeling that this is going to make me a less irritable person. There is nothing like seeing something beautiful and actually being able to capture it on camera. YAY!!!!


I can't wait to make delicious food from all these fresh fruits and vegetables.

Raspberries are my favorite fruit and possibly my favorite food. These are the most delicious I have tasted in a long time, the way they are supposed to taste, but rarely do.

Several dinners will include asparagus this week.

Mmmm...Cherries!

You never need a reason for a a tea party...

...or should I say, any reason is a good reason. My dear friend Camille came over for tea Monday and this is what I fixed. I love Greek food, it never gets old.


Here's the recipe for the most delicious Greek Salad:

SALAD:
romaine lettuce
cucumbers, peeled and sliced
grape tomatoes, halved
feta cheese, crumbled
kalamata olives, halved
red onion, chopped

DRESSING:
equal parts red wine vinegar and olive oil (i used 4 tablespoons for these two salads)
dried oregano (1 tsp)
garlic (i love garlic, so i used several cloves, but you can use just one)
salt and pepper to taste


I always use different amounts of things and just throw stuff in when I cook, so if you are a strict recipe follower this may not before you. Seriously though, this might be a good opportunity to break the rules, it would be hard to mess this one up. If you are making this as a side to a main course, omit the lettuce and it's even more delicious!

As for the Spanakopita, I bought it at Trader Joe's, I haven't ventured into the world of cooking with philo dough yet.

I LOVE Tea Parties!

Yesterday, I had two dear girlfriends over for tea. I didn't have time to go to the store, so scrambled around the kitchen to see what I could serve. I made three types of tea sandwiches:

olive - I just spread some olive tapenade from trader joe's onto whole grain bread
cucumber and cream cheese - cream cheese on either side, cucumber in the middle
egg salad - hard boiled eggs, mayonnaise, tsp of dijon, pinch of salt and pepper

I filled in with:
blueberry muffin mix - I always keep easy mixes around for an emergency
nectarines and bananas
carrots and hummus

You don't have to spend a lot of money to have a nice tea party. If you go to a tea house, you can except to pay upwards of $25 a person. I hosted this tea for less than $10. The key is not to buy a lot of ingredients that you wouldn't otherwise use and try to incorporate items that you already have on hand.