Thursday

Wow...I can't believe it's only Thursday!

It so seems that it should be Friday...

After two days of Open House

I'm e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d...

But not too tired to admire these pretties...

Simple yet spectacular...

image via Tumblr

Spring Centerpieces

With the weather getting warmer...

Easter on its way...

and Spring entertaining getting ready to hit full speed...

here are a few simple, yet classy, centerpieces

that would look lovely gracing any table...

First up, simple elegance...

But what a statement...

Perhaps you might like to get a little creative

and add some flowers to the fruit...

(I do this quite a bit & it is gorgeous!)...

For Easter, take some dried branches

and add some pretty decorative eggs...
click here for the complete how-to

And now, my most favorite of all...

You and your guests will be swooning!

*A helpful hint...

When you need more than a few dozen flowers,

it is cheaper to place an order for however many

you need rather than to buy them prepackaged...

I usually go to Publix and they are most helpful!

Enjoy!

Images via:

A Brooklyn Limestone in Progress
The Knot
Tip Junkie
Pinterest

DIY Flower Placemat

Might you be looking for inspiration

perhaps for your Easter table?

Something that you can whip together yourself...

Customize your colors...

Impress your guests...

Take a peek at these pretties from A. Party Style...

Just a few necessary ingredients...

And look how easy...

Add a few remaining touches like...

and...

and don't forget...

Add them all together
and you have a beautiful place setting!


For the full how-to click here...


Images:
Flower Placemats via A. Party Style
Plates, silverware, glasses via Pinterest

Spring

We've been having glorious weather

in the big O (Orlando) this week...

Perhaps Spring has come...

Or possibly just for the week...

{image via A Creative Mint}

Flower Pictures

Take a peek at these adorable do it yourself flower pictures...

All you have to do 

is buy some inexpensive frames, 

hot glue the flower to the mat 

and voila'...

How spectacular would this be 

as a backdrop behind a dessert table?

{images & inspiration from Design Dazzle & My Spot:  Home and Garden}

Hey Peeps!

I love putting different elements into my flower vases...

Usually I do fruit...oranges, lemons, limes

it always adds a nice touch...

Lately I have been seeing the flower arrangement with peeps in it...

I must say...

LOVE IT...LOVE IT...LOVE IT!

I mean totally cute...

Mix, Mingle, Glow gives us the steps to make our own...

P.S. - Wouldn't this be an adorable gift too?

Here’s what you need:

7 oz (or about 1/2 a pound) of green jelly beans

10 pink bunny Peeps

1 14oz clear plastic cup

12 yellow gerbera daisies

1 4.5″ square clear vase

Directions:

Set the clear cup in the center of the square vase

(use a glue dot or double stick tape if necessary) .

Pour the green jelly beans evenly around the perimeter of the cup.

Carefully pour water into the cup, filling it about halfway.

(Wait until after you have added the jelly beans to put water in the cup

since they have a tendency to fall into the cup!)

Place the Peeps between the cup and the vase

(3 on two sides, 2 on the other sides)…they will fit perfectly.

Cut your daisies short, with the taller ones in the center.

Of course what makes this fun and easy

is that you can use whatever colored variations

of the jelly beans, Peeps and flowers you’d like.

Couldn’t be easier (took me less than 15 minutes total).

Goosie Girl's Teacher's Birthday - The Day...

Goosie Girl's teacher's birthday (Mrs. Qualls) is today. Goosie Girl and I got up extra early to go and put up a few festive decorations to celebrate Mrs. Qualls' day...

First thing we hung was the personalized flag banner that I made. It's not exactly perfectly straight...oh well...we were in a hurry...and it still looks cute!

We hung this sweet semi-pomendor on her door to welcome her. It's a semi pomendor because I didn't have enough flowers to cover the entire styro square. No worries though...I covered the bottom with tulle, tied with a bow, added the birthday tag and voila...

This was very easy to make. I bought a styro square at the dollar store. Goosie Girl wanted "these" flowers (doesn't exactly match but oh well...), cut the flowers close to the top and stick in the styro. I used straight pins to secure the flowers. When I ran out of flowers, I wrapped the rest of the square with tulle, added the same black & white ribbon I used for the handle and that's it.

This is my favorite...I bought the square vase at Old Time Pottery for $1.99, I picked this flower arrangement out at Publix ($6.99), sliced up one apple (since it's for a teacher...get it? teacher...apples) and placed those along the side of the vase, added the flowers and instant beauty for $10.00. How much would this have cost if you ordered it from a florist?

The flower arrangement & a large party hat (that I also bought at the dollar store. I did well there too, no?) with a personalized birthday tag sitting on her back table.

The other flag banner that I made...I attached it to her white board so the children could appreciate it all day. Goosie Girl said that was a good place to hang it...now Mrs. Qualls couldn't write on the board and that meant less work...we also tied a bouquet of balloons on her overhead for more festivity...

One of the two pans of cupcakes for the celebration this afternoon. Complete with wrappers & personalized toppers.

Whew!

I wanted to make sure Mrs. Qualls knows how much we appreciate her!

Goosie Girl's Teacher's Birthday

For some reason I woke up this morning thinking about Goosie Girl's teacher, Mrs. Qualls', birthday which is November 21st. I started contemplating what I (being the homeroom mom) could do for her special day. An article from my favorite magazine, Southern Lady, came to mind. I went to my bookshelf to fish it out and here's what I came up with as some little treats...

Possibly the best magazine ever!!!

Here's where the article began...

I absolutely adore this tablescape! I was already thinking that I needed to recreate this for her lunch...

A small chalkboard to use as a placemat. I could go to Homegoods and find an inexpensive (and festive) plate, cloth napkin, glass & dessert pedestal to put her lunch on. Maybe from Panera? How sweet would that be? And what teacher wouldn't love being pampered like this?

And maybe this arrangement for her desk? Again, get an inexpensive square vase, line the inside with apple slices (I love this technique), for the teacher, & put in some pretty flowers. Could be an arrangement of different flowers or all the same. But what a lovely statement it makes. I've done this with cranberries in the vase at Christmas and it is beautiful!

I've come to the conclusion that gifts don't have to be expensive to make a statement. It's the attention to detail that people notice and appreciate...

** I hope Mrs. Qualls' doesn't read this! wink, wink **