A Spooky Wedding Shower

Bradley’s cousin will be getting married at the end of December, so I helped throw a wedding shower for the couple recently.  They love halloween, and since the shower was at the end of October, we decided to merge the two for a spooky shower theme.

I had most of the decorations already, since my normal Halloween decor involves lots of black and silver.  In the foyer, we put out favor bags with the couple’s favorite candies inside.

I put paper bat silhouettes in all of the lampshades in the living room.

I was able to reuse the potions bottles I had made for a Harry Potter baby shower as a centerpiece on the breakfast table.

I cut up a felt spider web placemat to add to the corners of the doorway leading into the living room.

On the gift table is the cute corsage my co-hostess made for the guest of honor.

I found this banner at Target and used a chalk marker to add MR & MRS to it.  I felt like we needed something to bridge the gap between it feeling like a halloween party versus a wedding shower.

Some mini skulls nestled in creepy cloth.

My co-hostess made this to hang on the front door.

For the food table, I found a spider web table cloth at Big Lots and layered it over a silver tablecloth for contrast.  The paper bats were flying across the window in the background.

I made Pecan Pie Muffins with a Maple Buttercream Frosting and grape salad.

I also made bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese.

My co-hostess made these hilarious vampire donuts and some apples with toffee dip.

Our other co-hostess made the monster green punch.

I think everyone had a good time and the couple got some great gifts to start off their new life  together.

Cane Chairs

 

I finally found two great little petite chairs for the front of our living room.  I’ve been searching for a pair of Lewittes caned wingback chairs for over a year, but not having much luck.  I had a saved Craigslist search and these popped up in the next town over, so I decided to go for it.

Before:

The burgundy fabric was not going to work for me and the padding was a little flat, so I decided to try having something reupholstered for the first time.  The recovering of the chairs cost seven times what the chairs themselves cost, but I am so pleased with how they turned out.  The upholsterer added padding to the seat and back cushions, and even made the back of the seat cushions follow the curve of the back of the chairs.

I chose a fabric by Richloom – Olson Cement.  It is a nice putty color in a subtle herringbone pattern.

I love the caning, and with a little Restor-A-Finish on the wood, I think they will clean up really nicely.  The size is perfect for under the front windows in the living room and they don’t block traffic in and out of the room.  The best thing about them is they are good short-people chairs.  I (at 5’3″) can sit all the way back in the chair and the front of the seat hits the back of my knees with my feet flat on the floor.

Lil’ Peanut Baby Shower

We have another baby on his way in the family.  I helped with a baby shower to celebrate William’s pending arrival earlier this month.  We took a cue from his nursery and themed it Lil’ Peanut/ Elephants.  The colors were grey and light blue.  My inspiration board can be found here.

We held the shower at a church.  They already had wreaths on the entry doors, so I added a couple of paper fans to them.

For the gift table, I hung my blue tablecloths from a photo backdrop stand and added paper accordion balls to the top.

We served finger foods and blue punch.  The menu included fruit and veggies, cheese and crackers, hot chicken salad, meatballs, ham and swiss sliders, animal crackers with funfetti dip and cupcakes topped with nutter butters.  I made the garland for the table using my Silhouette to cut elephants and circles.  Then I strung them on white thread (my sewing machine was acting up).

On the tables, my co-hosts added baby’s breath to blue Ball jars and tucked elephant picks in to continue the theme.  Guests could also snack on peanuts that were in galvanized buckets on the tables.

The mom- and dad-to-be received a lot of great gifts for baby William!

These dipped nutter butter favors made by my co-host were absolutely adorable.  The perfect finishing touch!

 

Holiday House Tour 2016

I only made a few changes to our Christmas decorations this year.  I think the biggest impact change was to the exterior of our house.  I purchased some bows for our window wreaths and it really made them pop on the house this year.

2016-christmas-exterior 2016-christmas-wreath

I also added a few new porch decorations.  There was a vintage sled that we got from Bradley’s grandparents and a bucket with “snowballs” in it.  I added two golden resin deer next to the door as well.

2016-christmas-porch-1 2016-christmas-porch-2

On our dining table, I added a simple red and white table runner that I had picked up at the end of the season last year.  My thanksgiving cactus is blooming like crazy for me this year.

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On the mantle, I used the Willow Tree nativity from Bradley’s grandparents again, but to help everything feel less washed out, I added a cute Merry Christmas banner that Target was carrying this year.

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Our biggest change inside was moving the tree from the foyer to the front window in the living room.  I bought new floral picks to use as the tree topper this year.

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I got to go to the aquarium this month and do the penguin and sea otter experiences, so I picked up this ornament while I was there.
2016-aquarium-ornament

Harry Potter Baby Shower

My cousin and his wife are having a baby boy later this year and are decorating the nursery with a Harry Potter theme.  My other cousins and I threw them a baby shower last weekend using the same theme.  I dug out some halloween decorations I already had and made a few new things specifically for the theme.

At the front door, I created a brick wall using an XL twin sheet and a large sponge.  I hung it from a photo backdrop stand and cut it down the middle so that guests could enter the party through the “wall”.  I made the Platform 9 3/4 sign using a chalkboard sign I found in Target’s dollar spot and numbers cut out using my Silhouette machine.

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On the breakfast table, I created a Defense against the Dark Arts vignette.

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Our version of a Patronus next to the Dark Arts table.

patronus I made a mobile with flying skeleton keys.  The keys and mobile came from Amazon and the wings were cut using my Silhouette. key-mobile flying-keys

A welcome banner over the fireplace in Ravenclaw colors.hp-banner

Potion bottles filled the mantle.  I found the labels on Groopdealz and the bottles came from various stores – Target, Hobby Lobby and Goodwill.potions

The owl lamp and cage were borrowed from the nursery.owl-cage

A plush owl perched on the mantle.hp-owl

The food table full of Harry Potter-inspired snacks.hp-food-table basilisk-eggsfelix-felicisquidditch-quiche sprouts-veggies butterbeer-cupcakes

Chocolate Frogschocolate-frogs

Our family loves these cream puffs, so I put an edible gold dust on them to turn them into snitches.  The wings aren’t pretty, but they are made from melted white chocolate bark.

snitches wandsBertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans
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butterbeer
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The Sorting Hat gift area.gift-sorting My cousin made the most awesome Hogwarts Express diaper cake with black and red onesies.
hogwarts-express The Dementor’s Kiss-away goodie bags next to the front door for guests.dementors-kiss

The mom-to-be opening gifts.  I put together a baseball themed gift, with a Braves onesie, a crocheted baseball cap, and little navy shoes with baseball patterned toes.  I used a baseball easter basket as the gift bag.  hp-gift