Party Planning: Pink and Dotty Baby Shower Decor

One of my oldest and closest friends (we first met when I moved to Michigan for 7th grade!) is having a baby and a group of us are hosting a shower next weekend. We've been busy planning the soiree, so I thought I'd share our plans... then we can see how this all materializes in real life!

We're using primarily pink and green, to match the little girl's first room, and using poka dots throughout to tie everything together. Items in the works are a festive felt garland, spied on the Purl Bee (and I mentioned here) to be hung over the table and swagged across windows and I'll whip together some table runners (using fabric found at Joann's).

I'm most excited to tackle these amazing Carrnation Balls (instructions and picture by Eddie Ross)... I have been waiting for an occassion to try my hand at these ever since I saw Eddie's tutorial, so to be honest the 'dots' theme stemmed from there...

As a takeaway/ favor and to add yummy treats and color, we'll also have a Candy Bar, inspired by the one shown above by Amy Atlas. (If you have never looked at her portfolio, GO! So amazing and beautiful and creative. Seriously swoon-worthy.) And pretty, sugary treats seem just so perfect for welcoming an adorable little girl into the world!

I'm so excited and think it will be such a pretty, festive event - more to come next week with the other plans... and then of course I'll share how it all turns out!

Walk down Memory Lane...

I cannot believe that I started this little blog so long ago ~ my first posts were in November 2007! ~ and while posting has been sporadic at times, its amazing to look back at the different things I've written about... and see how many of the ideas still get me excited.

In case you're new here, I thought you might enjoy a little walk down memory lane to see some of my 'greatest hits'... enjoy!

"Faux Paper" - stenciled entryway

Birthday Banner :: Pugs in Coats

Fabric Flower Tutorials :: Craft Show Booth Design

Valentine Picture Cards

I know that the blog world is already crammed full of valentine-themed items this week, but these photo valentine cards are too cute not to share. Seriously - isnt this adorable?! Originally made here, then also made here, I found them via Apartment Therapy.

Picture from House on Hill Road

Cute for Valentines, but would also be adorable as party favors or for wedding favors or out-of-town baskets... think of the possibilities! 

Picture from 24-7-365

Craft Review: Bath Bombs

Over the holidays my kitchen became a Bath Bomb factory. Seriously... after a good month, J was pretty excited when I finally ended the production line and cleaned up the kitchen.... you can't contain the chaos of creativity! Luckily, he learned long ago not to even bother trying, plus he was able to enjoy the fruits of my labor. :)

There are a ton of tutorials/ recipies out there - the ones I primarily looked at were:

   Not Martha - she has great tips/ tricks

   Instructables

   Martha Stewart (the inspiration for my packaging)

I ended up packaging mine in Canning Jars (found at my local hardware store) - 12 bath bombs fit in each jar. I glued a pretty patterned paper to the inside of the lid, then wrapped a ribbon around the lip and attached the label. Pretty and simple - they were a huge hit!

For anyone looking to make these, my lessons learned:

- The mold I used was found in the candy aisle of my local craft store - it was labeled as meant for brownies, but worked great for this purpose. Having a pliable silicone mold where you could push in the bottoms to release the dry squares was hugely helpful
- I was able to buy Epsom Salts and Baking Soda prettty cheap at Costco, but Citric Acid was harder to find. I found it at Whole Foods (in the vitamins section), but it was pretty expensive... I ended up ordering some from Bramble Berry- now I have more than I could ever use, but I guess that just means there are more bath bombs in my future :)
- Liquid is the devil where these are concerned, so spray very, very, very, very cautiously when wetting the mixture. Many times, I only needed 1-2 light sprays from my water bottle to get the powder damp enough to mold. Once the bombs start expanding (see picture below), the batch is doomed. Sad but true.


- I tried spritzing with water, witch hazel, and/ or glycerin, all in an attempt to limit the fizzing reaction, but they all seemed to react the same for me
- If you're going to be making a lot, I recommend mixing up the dry portion in big batches: you can then just mist a bit at a time, making the molding/ drying portion go pretty quickly

Yikes - this was long! I apparently have lots to say on the subject... hope that you found this useful!

Inspiration Board

For the Blogging Your Way e-course I am currently taking (lead by the fabulous Holly from decor8), I made the following inspiration board for With a Flourish - I hope you like it and would love to know your thoughts!

I love the idea of inspiration boards, putting out to the universe (and yourself!) the things that you want so that they're front-and-center in your mind. I am a habitual magazine clipper, saving ideas I like and items that inspire me, but too often these lay sitting in a box in the basement. It feels good to have these beautiful images up on the wall in front of me as I type!