I stumbled on the most amazing food blog. The pictures had me craving fruits and food I never saw, didn’t know the names of or how to pronounce. The tumblr’s owner sure has compiled an excellent collection and even has some recipes. The messed up part, I can’t remember the tumblr’s name 
.
My girl Adrienne asked how do you organize mags? I keep mine in two big baskets that sit on the floor in front of my coffee table from pier 1. I started to buy more but don’t want to aide my obsession so yeah. Lol. Come closer. *looks around*… *whispers* don’t tell anyone but I also own tv dinner stands. (Don’t judge as gran’ma bought them for me when I moved on my own 8 years ago). They come really handy. Not for eating but to pile more mags on, the ones I’m currently reading. But they stay in rotation for about 2 months. I eventually cut out or snatch what I want and toss them or give them away.
Alexandra decided to use her lucite table for something other than what she previously used it for. I love all the little detials to make her vanity area a cute spot. here you can read all about it. I also blogged about my admiration for her home before here. Here are some other girlie vanity ideas…
Then leave it to my girl Beth to have me blurting out “girl stop” & “wow”. It happens sometimes moreso with jewelry than interiors but this post had a ton of things I would rock….
Interiors + recipes = Tiffany’s blog. She takes such pretty photography of her process. I LOVE to cook and go to my parents to do so 3x a week. Though I dislike grocery shopping and finding ingredients I’m unfamiliar with, I love trying new recipes. To have pics of the step by step process is important to me & my tastebuds that water after looking. Here is her recipe to espresso chocolate chip brownie cookies. Thank me later…
This pretty image came from Londa’s site. Red is great paired with earth tones like camel…
Betcha you haven’t seen baby furniture like this! Linda finds the most interesting things. Here is where that came from…
Lastly Nicole asked if hotel decor or vacation plays a big factor? I personally strive for affordable especially if I’m only in the hotel to rest my head. That said, it has to be visually pleasing to my eyes. I can’t do dated ugly hotels. It has to be photo worthy. That’s part of the thrill and fun for me when I travel. It’s even why I have a series Hotel Indulgences which I will add to soon. I always like when bloggers do link love posts so figured I’d play copy cat. It shows support to those who give and hopefully you’ll find new blogs you didn’t know about…
In Wisconsin we had a super mild winter which had an impact on our apple orchards so a lot of farms didn’t offer apple picking due to the shortage. I was looking forward to it too since I went last year. But it’s still a great time to bake, cook, drink….and even decorate with the fruit…
When people have fall weddings, especially rustic barn ones, I love to see apples on display. Paired with wine barrels and other woodsy elements like branches, it offers a pretty fall atmosphere…
But you don’t have to have an outdoor wedding. An upscale one inside a hotel is just fine…
My favorite part of fall is caramel apples….and fall colors. You can set up an interactive candy apple bar for a fun end to a party. That can serve as guests’ favors as well for a wedding…
Apple cider stations are another great way for guests to mingle….
I destroyed an apple crisp a few weeks ago. I put it on broil because I was too impatient with it baking. Walked away & four minutes tops….the top layer was charred. I said I enjoy cooking, not baking. But I will master it because it’s just so good.
A Slice of Glam‘s mini apple pies…
{granola ginger baked apples, easy baked apples}
I recently did a Rachael Ray recipe with maple glazed apples, potatoes & sweet onions. I’m very picky but it was good surprisingly. I want to try the above.
Pork chop recipe via the crafty hostess & wing recipe via abc news.
{Images via elements of style, via Orange Tree Wedding Blog, Wedding Bee, WaxWizard.net, exclusive italy weddings, a wedding cake blog, JMS weddings w/ Jonathan Steinberg photography, occassions online, scratchbook weddings, amanda mae events, sughary sweets, gimmie some oven}
I’ve been wanting to make some easy homemade scrubs & it got me thinking of a spa party. This would be fun for little girls, adults, a great girls day/night in or even for a bachelorette as a gift to her bridesmaids or as a time to destress from wedding planning. Regardless of the reason, here are some ideas I would do if I threw a spa party…
Evites: electronic invitations are suitable for this type of party (nothing worse than receiving e-vites for something like a wedding or baby shower but that’s another story :-/ ) In the body, prepare the details as if it’s a spa pamphlet. List the services along with time etc.
A spa party can consist of many things. You can do a mani/pedi station, have a station for facials, a massage party or all of the above. Have a zen like atmosphere. You want serenity, peace and calm so have aromas flowing, leafy plants, tons of white towels (heat them in the dryer before handing out) and robes and comfy slippers. Fluffy pillows and magazines (a variety, gossip, fashion, etc).
You may want to cover chairs with either large white towels or white sheets. If hosting in a dining room, use white pillowcases to cover backs of chairs. This typically works when chairs are without arms. I seen this design tip on Hgtv w/Taniya Nayak who did this trick to prep a tablescape for the holidays. She simply used ribbon to tie around & look formal.Here you can then cover the seat w/white towels to give the room a cohesive look…
Edibles & Drinkables: Serve fruity beverages or teas & champagne on a bar cart or tray with spa waters. Have lemons and limes in a bowl for garnishing.
Finger foods like cheese & crackers, tea sandwiches for guest to snack on. Chocolate covered strawberries or a chocolate fountain with pineapples, bananas and other fruit for dipping would be fun.
I am so glad it’s a holiday because..what else. We’re off work & will feast on good food. One of my favorite seasonal treats is fruit pizza. My cousin would make them for family gatherings and I tried and failed. So the second time I figured I would do cookies vs a whole pizza and that worked out better for me. Now I’m a pro! So displaying them like the above pic is great…
But we can stand to get a wee bit more creative right? Let’s do a fruit pizza bar. How fun! Pier 1 has the most affordable and stylish displays stands and containers for food. Use them Invest in them because you’ll use them over and over and over again…
Another way to style a do-it-yourself fruit pizza display. This can also work for veggie pizzas which is basically the same ingredients with cream cheese, sugar cookies just veggies instead of fruit…
While we’re on bars….ever went somewhere with a champagne bar? Now that’s how you get the party started.
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Any plans for the day? I will be going to a fight party (if you don’t know Professional boxer Floyd Mayweather is getting a cool 30 million tonight…must be nice) anyhoo. Hope you all have a fabulous day sipping margaritas and eating festively…
{via & via with photography by Ali Harper}
One of the best things about entertaining is the food. But not everyone hires a stylist or event planner to set things up. Here are some easy ideas that you can do yourself. Presentation is key. It’s all about elevating different platters of food to create visual interest. The heights help prevent the food spread from seeming, blah and bland. The easiest way to acheive this look is platters and cake stands. You know exactly where to buy them but don’t sleep on the dollar store or thrift stores. Even using candle sticks to elevate plates can create a nice tablescape. Another idea is boxes. Simply wrap them in paper that matches the color scheme of the party or use fabric to cascade over them. I did this when I created the candy buffet for THIS wedding…
{via Style Me Pretty}
Like the backdrop of paper as seen in THIS post. That’s also a very cheap way to create texture. Just go to the Goodwill and buy a few old books. Or ask your grandparents…
Apothecary Jars keeps it fancy even if it’s something very casual like powdered donuts, as seen HERE.
Pier 1 has a lot of white dishes which puts the attention on the food but looks so stylish in the process. French toast sticks dipped in syrup? Pretty brunch idea.
{via}
Here’s some inspiration on how to set those tablescapes & decorate for this weekend’s shindigis. Figured I’d post the Saturday Sunday Shindig today so you can get any last minute things if you need to in advance. If you don’t have a bar cart but have a baby or know someone who does, maybe borrow their changing table and see how you can convert it into a beverage station HERE. It’s all about repurposing what you already own. Signature drinks are the best because you can make pitchers of it and have glasses already filled versus standing around a blender all evening. It allows you time to mingle and actually ENJOY your guests. Imagine Design Blog always has cocktail recipes you can try…
{Rue Mag}
Love the classic plaids up and through the place setting…
Set your walkway a glow with candles…and check out that brick. Love it…
{From the Right Bank}
Spray painting fallen branches is virtually free and brings that nature element into the space…
New Years Eve…a time of new reflection, new beginnings and parties!!! I still love the gold decor that runs wild on this night. Here are some fab party ideas, place settings and tablescapes with the bronze and gold hues. With 2 weeks away, I figured I’ll give yall a head start on some ideas…
This appears to be some neat crafty projects using paper and garland. I hate garland with a passion, it just screams 90s and old Christmas decor but you can always improvise and use it in other ways. On the base of a hat is actually pretty neat…
Cake stands keeps the party favor bags together…
Michael’s and Jo-Ann Fabrics (they should really cut the check as much as I shout them out on this blog) have 3D cardboard letters that one can dip in glitter to match the scheme you’re going with. They literally cost a couple bucks…
A combination of fishing line and metallic wrapping paper can get you a Martha Stewart streamer creation. I actually did this for a client’s wedding once. It turned out pretty nice and the silver paper glimmered beautifully against the dimmed candlelight and chandeliers. See it HERE…
Tie together a bunch of lanterns, paper balls and streamers to create fun ceiling arrangments…
It’s so hot outside & I’m loving every bit of it. Yesterday I went down to watch the fireworks downtown Milwaukee off the lake and it was a great show. They had a new company do thiem this year and you could tell. Just left the lake for a bit now will meet up with my cousins to view fireworks at a park. Hope whatever you do is with good friends.
Just adding straws can make the presentation that much more festive…
Going to have to try this one day…
