Category — Holidays + Parties

Ah, what a weekend! Temperatures soared to almost 30 degrees and it felt more like August than the first weekend in May! No complaints here…we soaked it up as much as we could. My youngest came down with a bad cold at some point (really not fair to be sick when it’s so beautiful out!) but sitting in a kiddie pool eating popsicles can do wonders! I got some much needed gardening in as well as some much needed rest. I’m actually feeling pretty caught up (minus the 3 loads of laundry I put off folding all weekend) and am relatively ready for the busy week ahead. What about you? How did you enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures? Mother’s Day is next weekend and with three kids under 10, my expectations are never high but it always feels great to receive handmade tidbits, made with love…

Cartolina + Rifle Paper Co. cards at Spruce Collective

Better Homes + Gardens

Hitch Design

Parcel Post

Urban Outfitters via DesignLoveFest

The Paper Mama

Furbish

Quill + Fox

Isn’t that floral monogram especially lovely? It would be such a pretty DIY for a wedding or birthday party and looks relatively easy to make, bonus! Sometimes I think the best gift for busy moms “in the thick of it” is time alone. I can literally count the days that I’ve spent alone inside my house over the last ten years, strange right? But those rare quiet moments (without chores, cooking, driving around or other to-do’s) are such a treat. How will you be showing the special mama(s) in your life that you care? Enjoy this sun-filled Monday…how will we ever get any work done?!

How is your week going so far? Mine’s been pretty good, although I feel like I could use a life coach trying to balance it all  some days. Or maybe I just need a good housekeeper. Now that’s a good dream to work towards! Do you ever feel like you’re just running in circles juggling all of your hats but not making any real steps forward? Lately I’ve started focussing on what I have accomplished each day rather than what I haven’t. It’s much more encouraging that way, wouldn’t you agree?

As promised last post, here are some more pretty images from the shoot I recently styled with my partners at Spruce Collective. Photographed by Mikaela Ruth, we had so much fun displaying our collection of Trove Vintage Rentals for our new Bohemian-inspired look book…

Trove Vintage Rentals for Spruce Collective. Photos by Mikaela Ruth.

Trove Vintage Rentals for Spruce Collective. Photos by Mikaela Ruth.

Trove Vintage Rentals for Spruce Collective. Photos by Mikaela Ruth.

Trove Vintage Rentals for Spruce Collective. Photos by Mikaela Ruth.

And just in case you thought we were all sipping champagne behind the scenes, um no, it was far from glamourous. How many Spruce Girls does it take to set up a backdrop, you might ask? Four, apparently! But we gained a new fan, well at least Mikaela did. This handsome fellow couldn’t keep his eyes off of her (or maybe it was the desserts?) and he actually showed his pearly whites for me when I pulled out my phone. No Photoshop, scout’s honour!

So, there’s a good taste of our vintage rentals for you and I posted more on Monday, in case you missed them (click here). You can see more over at our Trove website (click here) or pop by Spruce Collective to see them in person. Enjoy the rest of your day and I’ll be back to chat on Friday :)

Admittedly, aside from Christmas, I’m not big on seasonal decorating for individual holidays and I give myself a shiny gold star if we actually get around to dying eggs at Easter. But after seeing the following eggshell succulent planters over at Le Robin’s Nest, I could very well change my tune! I managed to find even more egg-celent (sorry!) Easter-inspired DIY’s that step outside the food colouring box and thought I’d share some of my faves with you today…

Le Robin’s Nest

Joy Ever After

HomeLife

Stylizimo

Design*Sponge

Rook No. 17

The Sweetest Occasion

Rifle Paper Co.

Do you celebrate Easter? If so, do you decorate your entire house or stick to dying eggs? We’ll be spending the long weekend with family, heading off to church (it’s been far too long!) and setting up egg hunts for the kiddos. I’ll be enjoying some extra days off but will share some gorgeous pics from our last shop photo shoot when I’m back next Wednesday. Happy Easter and/or Happy Long Weekend!

The monumental rainfall appears to have ceased temporarily (knock on wood!) and the sun has come out to join us, just in time for the weekend! The Spruce girls and I are putting together a Summer look-book for Trove Vintage Rentals next week so I’ve had flowers on the brain. We’re off to a local barn with our photographer this morning to scout it out as a venue for the shoot…fingers crossed that it will be the perfect rustic space! One of our lovely consigners, Kari of Confetti Floral Design, dropped off several stunning bouquets yesterday and I just had to share a little glimpse with you…

Confetti Floral Design at Spruce Collective

Ahh, Spring in all her glory, right? With blooms on the brain, here are some other beauties that brightened my week…

First Snow Fall

DesignLoveFest

Santa Barbara Chic

Bonnie & Bell

Green Wedding Shoes. Photo by Katie Pritchard.

Perpetually Chic DIY Garland Tutorial

We’re off to Vancouver this afternoon for a weekend of family fun and we’re all pretty stoked to get out of dodge! We’ve got trips planned to the aquarium (for the kids) and The Museum of Anthropology (for us), with lots of beach time and people watching mixed in between. What are your plans? Hopefully they include lots of warm-ish sunshine! Enjoy :)

As promised, I’m here to share some pretty pics and DIY’s from Sadie’s seventh birthday party that we hosted at Spruce last Friday. She’s been planning her crafty party in the workshop for months and it was so cute watching all the four-seven year olds trying to be ladylike in such a grownup space :) Because our back room is already so pretty, I didn’t even think about actual party decorations until about an hour before the kiddos arrived…whoops! But lucky for me there were plenty of creative supplies on hand! I rolled out a kraft paper runner for the tea party table and painted it with as many sweet sounding words starting with S that I could think of. Then I “borrowed” some goodies from around the shop (Jessica made the heart/string art and Monica strung the vintage doilies), brought in some fresh flowers and ordered child-sized High Tea from Tracycakes. I think it turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself…

Another last minute decision was our DIY craft. Sadie and I had originally thought we’d try making polymer clay bead necklaces (like these) but without an oven at the store, I thought it might prove too tricky. We then decided to pick up terra cotta pots from the Dollar Store for her friends to paint until we started setting up for the tea party with our stash of mismatched cups and saucers…light bulb! We’ve got a number of Pebeo Porcelaine paint pens on hand from past classes and we have a wide variety of permanent markers, which also work great on porcelain. I happened to find some strong multi-purpose glue in the storage room that is strong enough for ceramic and had already purchased spring bulbs and divided them up into smaller pieces. So basically, it cost me the price of the plants…win win! It didn’t take long for Sadie and her 7 friends to get busy…

Step 1: Draw directly onto the teacup and saucer with Pebeo pens or permanent marker. Images will be much more durable if baked in the oven, according to instructions, but I wasn’t too worried about  things being dishwasher safe for this craft. This is Lilah’s saucer below ;)

Step 2: Use a minimal amount of ceramic-strength glue to affix teacup to saucer. Press firmly and let dry for one hour, or according to instructions.

3. After glue has dried, plant spring bulbs or other flowers gently in teacup. Lightly water.

4. Top with a gold critter of your choice! These ones were ones that I spray painted gold for a past terrarium class…love the hippo!

And voila! A messy but fun little party craft perfect for kids and adults alike! Pretty cute, right? Most importantly, the birthday girl was happy as could be!