Easter Lunch

Last weekend was so busy, but we spent so much time with family, which made it great.  I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.  We spent ours with my in-laws this year and although the holiday has passed, I have to show you the lunch that my mom-in-law put on for all of us — there is so much inspiration to share!  🙂

Tables View

There were quite a few people at the lunch, and also included were two kiddos, so plenty of seating was needed.  This is one of the covered areas of their outdoor space, and there is usually some nest seating here.  My in-laws changed the ‘room’ around to accommodate two tables, and have the lounge seating nearby the dining tables for extended hanging out.  Isn’t that farmhouse table amazing?

Long Table Place Setting

This was what the place setting looked like for the long table.  I love that my mom-in-law used these paper plates as chargers, and had white heavy-duty plastic plates up at the buffet line for food.  The ‘silverware’ is also plastic, but it fooled me until I picked it up.  😉  Some of the placemats were ruffled, like this one, and others were made out of the same material but were flat.  And how cute is the napkin and napkin ring?  Those napkin rings make an appearance each Easter, and she tucked in a couple of sticks, plus the flower, which has a sticky back.

Long Table Centerpiece

The centerpiece was amazing for this table.  A moss runner started the layering process, and then more moss was added for even more texture.  Eggs, the sticky flowers, bunnies, birds nests, moss-covered sticks, an egg crate, and a birdcage with roses cut from the backyard created this gorgeous Springy centerpiece.

Round Table

This was the other dining table that guests could use out on the patio.  I really liked the rug layered underneath!  Made it feel nice and cozy.  😉

Round Table Place Setting

I love this place setting, too — different napkins, a gingham bow, green ribbon, and a sticky flower.  🙂

Round Table Centerpiece

Aren’t those lettuce “leaves” cool?  I love them paired with the flower in the center.  Cute little egg cups and a porcelain bunny, plus matching gingham ribbon complete the centerpiece.

Fireplace Decor

Food 1

The meal that we had was Greek-inspired, so there was lamb, pita, hummus, cucumber salad, orzo salad, tzatziki, olives…  And then there was also ham, potato salad, and coleslaw.  Some of the food had little labels listing what the dishes were, and the stands for the labels were tiny faux wood tree stumps — ridiculously cute!

Drink Station

There was also a drink station, with a large tub of glass water bottles, ice bucket, cups and faux bois straws, iced tea, and my favorite thing — stickers so that we could put our initials on our cup to keep track of it.

Dessert Table

Mini Cheesecakes

Inside there was a dessert table FILLED with treats.  Jordan almonds, M&M’s, peanut butter eggs, carrot cake, and mini cheesecakes.  No one could choose so we all pretty much had a little bit of everything.  😉

Grey and Me

My mom-in-law seriously outdid herself.  It was such a beautiful day surrounded by all the people we love, and she really made it extra special with all of the time that she took to make it so amazing.  I hope you had a beautiful Easter, too!

Spring Sunday Brunch

First let me just say that we are so blessed with two amazing families.  To have family at our house is the most incredible gift, and not one that we take for granted.  It feels so special to be making memories in our first house.  The emotional aspect of that is not lost on us — we worked so hard for this, and our families had such a huge part that they played by supporting us to create opportunities for this to happen for us.  Being homeowners is so huge for us…to the point that little annoyances like a slightly overgrown lawn or a bunch of dirty dishes after an elaborate meal for just the two of us raises reactions like, I’m so glad I have a lawn to MOW! – My husband, and We’re so blessed to be having dinner in our HOUSE!  Can you believe we have a HOUSE?! — the dishes aren’t even noticed.  We truly feel just completely overwhelmed at this point with our blessings.  Our cups are overflowing, and we’re taking opportunities all day long to give the glory to God and thank Him for all of this.

To have our families at our house, to putter and nest, to fill our house with flowers and plants, to cozy up on the sofa together and watch movies, to occasionally have a pizza night in our pajamas… It’s a wonderful time.  🙂

So we invited our family for a Spring brunch, and we wanted to make it fun and festive.  I made this egg casserole (so good), my mom-in-law made some lemon danish-type treats and a cinnamon roll French toast bake, and my sis-in-law brought this awesome fruit salad with blackberries, grapes, mandarin oranges, etc. — delicious.  All yummy stuff.  🙂

Cadbury Snacks 1

Cadbury Snacks 2

Trail Mix Snack

Tabletop snacks included mini Cadbury eggs which are ridiculously addicting, and Trader Joe’s trail mix because it is seriously my favorite.

Spring Flowers

Orchid

Not like our living room needed any more plants but I found the hydrangeas and the mini orchid at TJ’s and fell in love.

Coffee Station

Espresso

Coffee

I set up a coffee bar on a table in our kitchen — that way everyone could get what they needed and I just stayed in charge of refilling the coffee pot.  😉

Mason Jars and Straws

Juice Station

We had cranberry and orange juice at the ready and my in-laws brought over a bottle of champagne for mimosas.  The straws were a little too long when I bought them so I just snipped the ends so that they would fit inside of the mason jars at a good height.

Table

A blog that I love, A Thoughtful Place, was where I first saw the idea of using wrapping paper as a table runner.  LOVE that idea so much and I’ve done it once before for a birthday party.  It’s inexpensive and easy clean-up.  It’s also fun to use that as a starting point for the table design.  I decided to go with gold accents and those blue flowers were a Target Dollar Spot find.  They have adhesive backs so I just stuck them where I wanted them and was able to save them for another purpose — they’re in a craft bin now.

Beads

Which brings me to the beads.  🙂 These were my Gramma’s, and I’ve used them here, too.  I’ve been missing her a lot lately and these beads remind me of her.  She loved to decorate and make spaces pretty, and she made everything special.  She was a beautiful entertainer and I can still remember her putting fresh mint in lemonade and letting me pull the leaves from the stems.  Having this little pop of red added a splash of personality to the table — and reminded me of her wild and free personality that I loved so much.

Linked up on The Chronicles of Home

10 Free Spring Printables For the Season

Printables are an awesome way to add a thoughtful touch of the season into your space, and all you need is a printer and some paper!  Enjoy this round-up of 10 free Spring printables, and for lots of other free printables, head to my Pinterest page here.  Happy Tuesday!

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A Sparkle of Genius

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On Sutton Place

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I Should Be Mopping the Floor

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Landeelu

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Live Laugh Rowe

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Double the Batch

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Bless’er House

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Paper Trail Design

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Maison de Pax

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Lia Griffith

Drapery Update & Spring House Tour

Happy Monday to you!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  🙂

Last week, Grey and I went to Ikea, which is what prompted this post.  After moving in back in November and then getting settled, the house projects kind of came to a lull, and we were craving the feeling of getting things done around here again.  We decided we’re going to start tackling some things when the budget allows, and we made a list (my favorite thing).  Something that was high on my priority list was getting window treatments for the living room.  I had been fine with the room but the harsh lines of the windows really started bothering me.  We also have a sliding glass door off the kitchen where we had hung drapes back when we moved in, but the rod was bowing in the center because it is such a long window and we didn’t grab a bracket when we were at Ikea.  They were still functional, but I really didn’t like the way they looked — and like pretty much everyone in America, Ikea is not exactly close to our house, so taking a trip there is a little bit more involved than running to Target.

So we headed out to Ikea, snacks in tow, and Greyson navigated the crowds while I followed him with a deer in the headlights expression that I wear only when I am visually overwhelmed and frantically searching for the nearest exit.  We grabbed the drapes and rods, ended up picking up a Tobias chair on a whim, and a $2 hotdog special because we’re fancy like that.

Kitchen Drapes Just Hung

With the center bracket in place, we were back in business.  We added another panel on each side of the window for fullness — I wanted these to look really luxurious!  I’m still undecided on whether or not to hem these.  Part of me likes the casual puddles, and another part of me wants them more tailored.  And another part of me is just lazy, lol.

Naked Window

Naked Window 2

These were our naked windows.  See how that wall just needed something?  Not art, but something.  Our windows have nice wood blinds on them so we’re fortunate in that regard, but I am thinking that at some point I would like to add molding around all of the windows in our house.

Spring Kitchen

I stopped into Trader Joe’s for some flowers (and trail mix – because they have the BEST trail mix evah!) and these tulips were calling my name.  They’re pink perfection!

Living Room Drapes 1

Here are the drapes!  And the Tobias chair which is surprisingly comfortable and kind of bouncy, too.  This room is on the small side so while I originally thought that I was going to go with an Eames-style rocking chair in this space, I am thinking I will save that for the office.  The negative space in this room serves it really well.

Living Room Drapes 2

Because the windows were each very close to the sides of their respective walls, I didn’t want to make the window look smaller by flanking each window with panels.  Instead, we opted for side panels but have the rod hanging across the entire window so that we can pull them shut if we want to.  Again, each window has two drapery panels for fullness.  One per side looked too whimpy so I sent my husband on another voyage to Ikea the following day  to pick up a couple more.  Isn’t he the sweetest?

Bunny Banner Vignette

Banner Close Up

I’ve got a Pinterest board full of Spring ideas but I’m opting for simple this year with fresh flowers, greenery, and cleanliness!  This is the most festive thing I’ve put up and I got it in the Target Dollar Spot last year.  It lived on my in-laws’ mantel last Easter.

Sofa With Table

We got this black and white striped blanket at Ikea, too, and I’m loving the contrast with the rest of the room.  Which got me thinking…should I add some sort of contrasting banding to the drapes?  Should I paint my interior doors black?  This blanket has me all kinds of befuddled now!

Sofa Vignette

Pillows Close Up

I’m just a tiny bit craving new accent pillows (really the floral ones are the ones I’m thinking I want to update).  Shhh…don’t tell my husband!  Those pillows have moved around a lot in this house already — they used to live on our bed.

Coffee Table

That’s a fake HomeGoods plant and I’m really loving having festive cocktail napkins around lately.  It’s the little things…

Spring Pillow

Happy Spring to you!  Thanks for indulging me in such a photo-heavy post!  🙂

Spring Vignettes

Earlier this month, I talked about Spring as a feeling.  Zoning in on that further, is there anything more lovely than a seasonal vignette?  Greenery, flowers, and white + blue ceramics, that’s all you need for Spring.  Sharing some of my favorite Spring vignettes today — Enjoy!

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Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles

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House Beautiful

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Cottages & Gardens

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Craftberry Bush

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Abby Capalbo

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Marcus Design

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Mark D. Sikes

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Mark D. Sikes

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Luxe

Spring As a Feeling

Living in Arizona, a place that doesn’t really have four specific seasons, I find that the older I get, seasons are felt more inwardly for me rather than outwardly.  I see things that give me a sense that Spring is either coming, or it is here.  I smell things, I think of things, I have ambitions to declutter and reorganize…  I notice things at the start of each new season.  Being present makes you do that.  Spring is special in Arizona because we really just get a few blissful weeks of perfect weather before we head straight into Summer, which, lets be honest, is extremely hot here but also makes me happy in its own way.  So it’s this time of year when I really need to be attuned to things, make the most of this beauty, really revel in it.

There have been many ‘firsts’ since November when we moved into our new house.  This is our first Spring and we are dreaming up ways we are going to give our yard some more functionality, adding some fresh greenery to the house, and meanwhile I’m over here going I’ve gotta tackle that hall closet. 😉 . We all have a closet like that.

These are wonderful, blessed times for us.  We’re trying to live in the moment and savor every minute!

Thinking of Spring as a feeling, these are some photos to represent what Spring feels like to me…

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Vogue

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Mark D. Sikes

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Original Source Unknown

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Daisy and the Fox

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Mark D. Sikes

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Original Source Unknown

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John B. Murray Architect

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Vogue

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Jennifer Bunsa Design Studio

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Eclectic Trends

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Tine K Home

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Home Bunch

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Elle Decor

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MyDomaine

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Architectural Digest

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Sunday Suppers

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Original Source Unknown

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Elle Decor

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Architectural Digest

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Dot + Pop Interiors Instagram

Simple Valentine’s Day Decorations on a Budget

Good morning to you, and happy Monday!  Well, it seems that with an awesome new job comes an awesome new schedule, which is somewhat different than I’ve been accustomed to in recent years.  I am loving my new position and the designer I am working for, and I’m feeling more inspired than I have in so long.  I meant to get this post up last week, or really the week before (lol), but we all know how that goes.  So today, almost an entire week after Valentine’s Day has passed, I’m showing you my Valentine’s Day decor.  😉

We’re new homeowners, and with that, of course, comes a tight budget.  I shopped the Target Dollar Spot every time I went, grabbing things for a few dollars here, a few dollars there.  I started doing this as soon as the Valentine’s Day things started to appear, which was really right after Christmas!  I thought of it as replacing my coffee budget with little Target treats.  And so, little by little, our house became a cute little V-Day decorated space.

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I have a whole Pinterest board of printables, but do you think I’ve ever used one?!  No!  This was the easiest thing and it added a really sweet layer to the decorations.  I just switched out the print that is usually in the gold frame for this ‘love’ printable.  It took about five minutes and one sliced finger because man, that glass is sharp.

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 This is the printable I used, although yours will probably come out differently because I’m guessing that you are not currently running out of printer ink!  I like it, though.  It still looks like a watercolor and it’s a simple design.  It makes me happy.

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 This garland also makes me happy.  I’m always up for a good pom-pom detail.  This is kind of dumb, but it took me a long time to figure out how to hang this up.  Mostly because we tried tape, but the finish on the mirror started to come off.  So, that was a no.  I ended up just tucking the ends behind the mirror.  This made my husband very happy.

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 This is our little kitchen table vignette.  The mirror was a hand-me-down from my Aunt Lulu and the geometric sculpture was a HomeGoods find a few weeks ago.  I’m not really sure what I’m going to do with it yet, but this worked short-term!  These blocks have fallen over about a hundred times since I made this little creation.  Don’t tell my husband but it’s secretly been hilarious hearing him knock it over because he always carefully and perfectly places the crystals where they originally were and it’s kind of the cutest thing ever.

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Hey, that’s our wedding menu!  My brother illustrated this for us and for Christmas a couple of years ago, he preserved the chalkboard so that it would be permanent.  Best gift ever.  I just added a couple of garlands because they were too adorable to pass up!

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 This was the first little scene I added to our house for the holiday, and it’s my favorite because those beads were my Gramma’s.  🙂  Looking at them makes me happy and I thought they added just that little something that the pedestal needed. 

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This little pillow was good for tiny tiffs and arguments.  Grey and I each had moments when we held it up to one another and every time it made us laugh.  It served an important purpose besides looking cute!

How do you decorate for Valentine’s Day? 

The Best Easy DIY Valentine’s Day Wreath Ideas

Good morning and happy Monday to you!  I hope you all had a great weekend.

Our house has been decorated for Valentine’s Day for the last few weeks so I have a bunch of fun things to share, but I thought that I would start out with this super simple and festive wreath I made…all in about 15 minutes.

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 Aren’t grapevine wreaths the easiest?!  All you need are the “ingredients” and then you just get to sticking!  I purchased everything from JoAnn’s since I had a coupon, and all I needed was one stem each for the flowers.  The little banner was on sale and I knew I wanted something like that to show off hearts or a Valentine’s Day saying on the wreath.

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I think that grapevine wreaths are awesome because if you’re not set on saving the exact wreath for the next year, you can just take everything out and use it for the next season.  There is no hot gluing required, you just need to use wire cutters to cut the faux blooms to the right size and then you just stick ’em in until they feel secure.  The banner was very long but I cut off just what I needed and tied it to the grapevine wreath.

Seeing this on my front door when I drive up to our house makes me happy.  🙂  I thought I would round up some other fun wreath ideas in case you felt like tackling a little DIY project!

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Original Source Unknown

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I Heart Naptime

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Fynes Designs

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Rustic Romance Crafts

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Country Prim

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The DIY Mommy

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Our Sentiments

What is your favorite material to craft a festive wreath with?