Vivienne's Baptism: Chic on the Cheap

We baptized my daughter, Vivienne, last month and threw a reception afterwards. I had fun planning it, but it wasn't without constraints. So here is what I was working with: as inexpensive as I could without compromising elegance, as easy as I could make it without having to hire a troop of staff to do it for me. With those goals in mind I set out to give my daughter a sweet an elegant party.
I found a cute little hall in downtown Kirkland called Heritage Hall that only charged $60 an hour - how perfect!! That way I didn't need to clean my house from top to bottom or rent tables and chairs to be brought in. And it was simply adorable. I ended up renting table clothes which cost about the same as the hall rental, but if I compromised on those, the tables would have looked pretty shabby and would have ruined my whole asthetic. Fine. I will bite it on that one. Then I wanted table runners to dress up the tables since my flowers were going to be minimal. I came up with the idea to by burlap since it is SUPER cheap and then I cut the width in three to maximize my yardage and then my mother-in-law did a quick stitch one inch in and then we frayed them to give a casual finish to them. It only cost $22 for nine table runners!! I also was resourceful with our local farmers market and talked to one of the flower vendors. He gave me his card to call him a day or two before the event and I could go out there to get as many flowers as I wanted. I spent $120 for soft pink peonies that were to die for. If I went to a florist I would have been charged up the wazoo!

Next was food which could have been a huge production to do on my own or hugely expensive to have it all catered. I decided to have mini sliders catered and found a local catering company that allowed me to just do the sliders (The Catering Company). They were fantastic. I then bought large bags of fancy Kettle chips and dressed them up in wax paper baggies tied with some hemp string. Super cheap, yet fun and elegant looking! The rest of the food I kept to just simple finger munchies, like feta, olives, marinated cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas and strawberries with lime curd and sweet sour cream. And for dessert everyone loves mini cupcakes and there is less guilt involved if it's mini, right?

Also to save money, I did the invitations myself and printed them at home. Everything turned out wonderfully and thankfully despite not having an afternoon nap, Vivienne was an angel all day and was flirting with the guests. One of the things I like most about throwing a party is how creative I can be to make it look as inviting fun and elegant without just throwing money here and there to do so.

I've included a few photos of the invite, tables and one of my daughter.

Nothing Twisted About Modern Twist

A good friend of mine gave me these wonderful coasters for Christmas from Modern Twist and I had seen them before and liked them. Since I have had these coasters I have fell more in love with them. They are the most practical, yet are super stylish. The fact that they are rubber, means they won't scratch any surfaces or be ruined by any water. And to boot, if you look on their website, they have some fabulous placematts and drinkware accessories that would make fantastic little gifts.

Jewelry Doesn't Grow on Trees...or Does it?

Wow! It has been a loooong while since I last posted a blog! My daughter was born January 8th and since then I have been playing Mom and trying to figure out how to be a parent. Things are starting to get back to a "new normal" and I am itching to get back in to the swing of things.

I had this tree sculpture since before my daughter was born, but it was antique gold with a dark wood base. I wanted it to be white to showcase the jewelry I planned to hang on it. Months later my husband graciously painted it white for me and it looks soooo much better! I have seen the idea before in various places and looked for a tree sculpture I liked, but they were all so pricey. I came across the one in the photo at Target and knew that I could easily change it to my exact liking without too much effort. It's a great way to show off your favorite jewelry and also dress up your vanity or dresser.

DIY: Magnetic Chalkboard

When designing the nursery, the room already had a niche in the wall meant to have a built in desk. My husband built a simple white desk with floating cabinets on either side. I wanted to use the space to it's fullest and so I thought about creating a pin board for the backsplash. Then as the thought process evolved we thought of placing a chalkboard there instead as long as it was magnetic so you can place photos or whatever little girls like to display.

It was a simple solution and to help guide us along, I found this guideline from good ol' Martha Stewart. We found some metal from the local metal yard and they cut it to size. Then with a little chalkboard spray paint we had a custom backsplash that is both functional and adds some contrast to the all white desk. When our little tike gets older she will be able to place all her treasured memories and photos there as well as draw and write messages.

Branching Out: Branch Curtain Rod

I feel like I have been saying this frequently lately, but it has been a while since my last post. With the holidays and the baby just around the corner, I feel like I either haven't had the time or the will to keep up with new posts. I am now on my maternity leave and in the waiting game so I really shouldn't have an excuse at least for a few days until the little one arrives.

I have pretty much finished her nursery and am just thrilled with it, but I am refraining to post pictures of it in it's entirety until my husband finishes the shelves that are to go above her chalkboard/desk area. He has been promising to do it for weeks now, but I have a hunch that he procrastinating because he doesn't want to put holes in the wallpaper. That aside, now on to my original reason to be posting.

I wrote a while back about a company that sells all kinds of branches and loved their stuff, but was disappointed that I had to buy five branches when I just needed the one. My husband is the master at finding anything online and so he found a random florist in Wisconsin that would send us a white birch branch at any length and pick the straightest one they had for $25. Not too shabby for a curtain rod. When it arrived in the mail, it was perfect (see above). I love the extra little unexpected touch that the branch brings to her nursery as well as the warmth. I found the linen textured curtains for a song at Cost Plus World Market for just $15 a panel. A steal!! I have a lot of favorite elements to her room, but I hope you like this one as much as I do! More to come!

Coco Stylewood Baby Lounger: Rockin' Baby

I have been hesitant to purchase all of the baby items and paraphernalia out there just because others say "you must have this". Partly because I know that all these things haven't been around forever and somehow our parents seemed to manage without, and also, a lot of the baby gear these days is motorized and doesn't allow baby's to figure things out for themselves or do things for themselves. With that said, one thing I did decide I wanted to have for our baby was a rocker or a lounger to be able to free up my hands for a few while I am in the kitchen cooking, but still have her near by. We ordered the Coco Stylewood baby Lounger by Bloom and it arrive in the mail last week. It's beautiful!

During my bouncer search I was again disappointed by the choices out there because of all the self motorized rocking. I came across a few that fit the bill, but my favorite by far was the Coco lounger. It's beautiful enough to leave in our living room even when your baby is not rockin' out in their stylish lounger. We got ours from Babystyle (30% off thank goodness) in the henna brown and natural, but for more color options, you can find them at Baby Geared.

Viva Terra: A Little Bird Told Me

These bird vases are just too sweet. I was lucky enough to stumble across them on a recent trip to Victoria BC at a local garden store (I can't remember the name) just before the holiday season and picked up a few as gifts for friends. But for those not around Victoria, I have seen them on the Viva Terra website for some time and have always been tempted to order them. They are a nice little gift for that special someone.

Garnet Hill: A Stocking for Your Stuff

Well, Thanksgiving is officially over and the holiday season has begun. This is one of my favorite times of year when we get to curl up by the fire with a good book and hot chocolate and not feel guilty for laying low. And I love Christmas decorations, especially stockings. I was looking for a new stocking for our little peanut who is quickly on her way. I found these online at Garnet Hill and instantly loved them! One of the more important criteria in my book is the size. None of this wimpy stocking size - you need to be able to pack them full! I also like the heirloom quality they have. I got the one with the ruffles since I know this little one will be a girl and then I ordered one more in the snowflake pattern for peanut #2 in the future.

Happy Holidays!