Crafts

Lisa Leonard Designs /// Giveaway

0 · Jul 24, 2012 · 218 Comments

A little back story on this weeks giveaway… I have been madly in LOVE with Lisa Leonard for years! I found her online shop Lisa Leonard Designs years ago and followed her blog not too long after that. This gal has STYLE!

Every birthday, anniversary, Christmas… you name it, I would send an email to my husband with my Lisa Leonard wish list for the holiday and he, in grand style… WOULD TOTALLY IGNORE IT! What does a girl need to do? I just couldn't buy one of her fantastic necklaces for myself, so I did the next best thing and bought one of her pennant banners for a spring wreath that I made last year...

whipperberry spring wreath /// lisa leonard designs pennant banner

Finally, Lisa contacted me herself and asked if I would like to host a Lisa Leonard Designs giveaway {and of course I needed to take a necklace for a test drive as well.} Ummmmmm, YES!!!! Finally, finally I have a Lisa Leonard creation of my very own to wear everyday!!

Here is the necklace that I selected to test out…

It's the Hand Stamped Sterling Single Tag Necklace. I've been a fan of this necklace for sometime and loved the idea of coming up with a word or saying for this handmade necklace. I decided on GRAND REVE for my necklace which is French for Grand Dream. I love that it isn't something that people can easily read so it's a hidden treasure close to my heart. The quality of the necklace is phenomenal. You can tell that Lisa and her crew use only the best materials for their creations and have a real attention to detail. It is truly a piece that I will love for years to come. It's simple. It's classic. It's beautiful.

Here are some more necklaces from Lisa Leonard Designs…

ampersand necklace /// love proclaimed necklace /// you are loved necklace /// tiny twig necklace

Here are some of the bracelets in Lisa's Shop…

love is my anchor /// molded heart /// thin sterling cuff

And then there are the fun little odds and ends that I just ADORE!! I especially love the cake toppers that Lisa hand makes…

happy birthday /// celebrate /// mr. & mrs.

You also have to stop by Lisa's blog… she shares her amazing style, her love of family, and her love of photography and travel. I ADORE it!!

Lisa has generously offered a $60 credit to Lisa Leonard Designs for one of you… my favorite friends!! All you have to do is follow the steps in the Rafflecopter widget to enter the giveaway. {This is open to anyone with a shipping address within the United States.}

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I can't wait to see what you guys fall in love with in Lisa's shop!!

Little Bug Baby Shower /// Food Elements

229 · Jul 23, 2012 · 11 Comments

I finally have a minute to share about the Tasty Treats from the Little Bug Baby Shower that I threw last month for my friend Sarah…

I’ve broken the post down into three sections in order to cover the different food stations that we had for the party along with an introduction to our Little Bug #1!

Velata Chocolate Stations

When I am hosting a party one of my things is to keep the food simple, yet fun. For this party, Kristin and I decided that we wanted to set-up several Velata stations around the party area with several tasty treats to dip in the lovely Velata chocolate.

Get Your Own Velata Here

If you haven’t tried Velata you need to! It’s the easiest way to set-up and fabulous fondue party. The warmer is designed just like a Scentsy warmer with a few modifications for the chocolate. You also have four different and fabulous Velata chocolates to choose from; milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and caramel milk. I ADORE the caramel milk flavor. They all go well with fruit, marshmallows, pound cake, pretzels… basically anything that you would like dipped in chocolate… Potato chips perhaps!

We had four different stations for people to gather around and it was perfect for this type of event!!

The Appetizer, Cupcake & Drink Stations

Another way to keep things easy when throwing a party is to ASK FOR HELP! Kristin and I asked a handful of people to provide appetizers for the shower. We also gave them the trays we wanted them to use so that they would match the decor for the party. Here is a sample of what my friend Christene brought…

You can check out Christene’s Taco Bites recipe at her blog ChristeneHouston.com.

I had a bit of a scare the morning of the shower… I had ordered a stunning French macron tree from a local bakery and they texted me early that morning saying that the macrons didn’t turn out. You can ask my sweet husband… I went into a bit of a TOTAL MELT DOWN when that text came through. That was going to be a major element to the design of one of the tables!

I took a deep breath and started to think. I wanted to find something that stayed true to the color scheme for the event. I came up with NOTHIN’! I thought I would head on over to Wal-Mart to pick up a few last minute party supplies and then my sweet party planning angel guided me to the bakery section. Now keep in mind, I’m a Target girl, not a huge fan of Wal-mart but it was the most convenient store at the time. While I was walking through the bakery section I found these…

Super cute cupcakes that totally matched my color scheme!!! Ahhhhhhhhh, thank you party guardian angel! They worked perfect… crisis adverted. This was a great lesson for me, always have a back-up plan.

For the drinks we created a ombre drink station with colors that matched the shower as well. We used flavored waters rather than super high sugar punches to keep things light. Kristin and I floated fruit in the drink dispensers so that people could tell what flavor the drink was; lemons for lemon water, raspberries and lemons for raspberry lemon water, strawberries for strawberry water and oranges for orange water.

Dip Dyed Plates and Skewers

I’m sure you’ve all been there when planning a party… You have a clear vision, but your vision doesn’t quite meet your budget. That is the story of my life! I wanted to have bamboo plates with the trendy wood forks and spoons but the cost was a little too high with everything else we were buying for the shower. I found myself sitting in front of the paper plate section of Target trying to figure out what to do. I was already planning on dying skewers for the Velata stations and then it hit me… Why can’t I dye plates as well!

I used a Chinette-type plate that is more durable than your typical paper plate, but also not covered in a coating that would prevent the dye from soaking through. To dye the plates I filled a large bowl with water and about three tablespoons of food coloring…

Then I dipped one side of the plate in one color and then let it dry in the oven set to 200 degrees for 5-8 minutes. Once it was dried I dipped the other side in a second color over lapping the two colors to create a fun ombre effect. I also stamped the plates with a fabulous stamp of two little bugs that I found from Four Things by KKP on Etsy.

I did the same things with the skewers. I placed the skewers in the bowl let it sit for a few minutes. Then I removed them from the bowl and placed them on a paper towel-lined baking sheet and placed it in the 200-degree oven and let them dry for about 20 minutes. Both the plates and the skewers really added to the overall effect of the party.

Little Bug #1

Kristin and all our friends had so much fun putting this shower together for Sarah.

It’s so fun watching Jason and Sarah’s dreams come true with these two cute little bugs. Here is little bug #1…

Sweet little Jade… and I can’t wait to introduce little bug #2 Ruby, sometime in October!!

The Great Pinterest Hunt /// Winners

0 · Jul 23, 2012 · 5 Comments

We knew the day would come… The Great Pinterest Hunt has come to a close {for now.} On behalf of all of the fabulous blogs involved, WhipperBerry, I Heart Naptime, Craftaholics Anonymous, Ucreate, Tatertots & Jell-o, Inspired by Charm, I Heart Organizing and Chef in Training, we thank you all so much for joining in on all the fun! We also want to thank our sponsors; The Original Scrapbox, Blendtec, Kaboo & Riley Blake for helping us make this event EXTRA special.

We have several winners to announce for each of the giveaway. Each winner will be contacted by email and will have 24 hours to claim their prize. If we don't hear from you we will select another winner randomly via Rafflecopter. Here are the lucky winners of The Great Pinterest Hunt…

Congrats to all of our winners and we can't wait to go hunting again soon!!

Friday Flair Features /// July 20th Edition

4 · Jul 22, 2012 · 8 Comments

Catching up on Friday Flair features today! Here are all the fun posts that caught my eye during this last week's Friday Flair!!

Orange Chocolate Chip Pancakes /// No. 2 Pencil

Coffee Filter Flower Bridal Shower Decor /// Christina's Adventures

Art Party Invite /// Makeoodle

S'more Gift Idea /// A Pumpkin & a Princess

Indian Inlay Stenciled Table /// Domestic Imperfection

Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes /// Shugary Sweets

House Number Sign /// Alberberry Hill

Basil & Corn Cakes with tomato Avocado Salsa /// A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

DIY Sunburst Spoon Mirror /// Lemon Drop Shop

Chicken Pasta Salad Recipe /// Cleverly Inspired

Hot Crab Dip /// Will Cook for Smiles

French Crepes /// Yummy Healthy Easy

Peg Doll Palls /// Like a Pretty Petunia

How fun are all of those? LOVE everyone's creativity! Can't wait to see what you are working on for this week!

Friday Flair Features /// July 13th Edition

1 · Jul 22, 2012 · 6 Comments

You will all have to forgive me… I'm a week late posting these features. With EVO and The Great Pinterest Hunt, I've been a little busy. I finally have a moment to go through Friday Flair from two weeks ago, and here are some of the goodies that caught my eye!