I threw my sister-in-law a baby shower this past Saturday.  I have a little niece on the way, so she requested a pink and brown theme.  I did not want to just pick up those horrid decorations from the party store, so I had to do a little thinking as to how to pull this off.  I have never been in charge of shower design and I have definitely never thrown a baby shower!  I had some ideas in mind, but the execution happened on a whim and with some prayer.

I bought these inexpensive vases (in 2 heights) at Michael’s and wrapped them in various ribbon from Walmart.  I taped the ribbon on since I planned to give them to guests to take home afterwards.  The stuffed lion is from Home Goods.  This display was on the corner of the bar and the mirrored version (with stuffed giraffe) was on the opposite corner.  I forgot my camera that day and am limited to the pictures I snapped with my iPhone to send my husband.

There were 4 rectangular tables which I covered with brown plastic table cloths from Party City (they were a whole $2!).  I then put either a hot pink or light pink “runner” made with another plastic table cloth that was folded (or not completely unfolded).  I knew I wanted this look and it was so incredibly easy to get.  I feared I would have to trim table cloths, so I bought a few extras.

For the flowers I followed a simple rule: either all one bloom or all one color.  I also made sure all of the leaves were removed from the stem and that the blooms sat just nicely above the rim.  I don’t like filler flowers, mixed bouquets, or long stems… but that’s just my personal taste.  I used some shorter vases also from Michael’s, wrapped in a single strand of ribbon and alternated between hot pink flowers on the pale pink runners and light pink flowers on the hot pink runners.  My flower philosophy goes something like this… I am no botanist, I don’t know what 75% of them are named, but I know what looks good.  The hot pink/white baby’s breath things I have never seen before, but I loved.  They really looked great paired with the light pink daisies.  All of the flowers came from the “build your own bouquet” section of my local supermarket.  They were 3 bouquets for $10.

Overall I was very happy with how everything turned out, despite the fact that I have no photos of the gift table.  The caterer even contributed these adorable menu signs for the buffet….

I gave most of the vases to guests at the end of the shower, but the lower ones would be a great storage solution for a little girl’s hair accessories, jewelry, etc…especially with some fun ribbon attached!

We have been chaotic the past few months and I haven’t had a chance to post anything we’ve done. I’m hoping to get this thing up and running for good very soon!

One of my posting hurdles is that we have yet to find our memory card readers in the packed-last-minute boxes. What good is a house transformation blog with no pictures?! I hope to dig them out shortly..or succumb and buy new ones.

Anywho, most of my time the next two weeks will be consumed with throwing a baby shower for my sister-in-law. Pictures of that will be coming, but
for now I’ll share this awesome nursery I saw while browsing for shower games at thebump.com. They’re having a nursery decor contest and this entry immediately caught my eye…

There are more pictures here…..http://www.thebump.com/contests/Our-Real-Nursery/story/153540/dr-seuss-nursery-for-charlie

It is just so unbelievably original, something no one else will ever have and most importantly, it’s fun! Sure everyone these days wants the classy, well designed baby’s room, but I think the black and white polka dots give the right amount of style. Theme rooms can sometimes be anything but stylish, but this one strikes a perfect balance of trendy and kid friendly.

Oh and I almost forgot my favorite part! The characters were hand painted by a family member, which I consider to be priceless. No mass produced item can capture the creativity and love that goes into making artwork. More about that at a later date!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am completely in love with my pets.  In May 2008, I suddenly lost the 2 year old love of my life, Sunny.  He was a bright orange lovable fluff of a former stray kitten, and one of the greatest living things I have ever encountered.

Ever since I met him, I have a new appreciation for the color orange.  I feel like if I put a little touch of it here or there, it is a little tribute to him and has a secret meaning to me.  It all started with our wedding favors, for which we made a donation in Sunny’s honor, but were originally going to give some homemade cookies for our guests to go home with.  We decided that bright orange M&Ms would be a more fitting tribute, though our color scheme was purple and green.

I tend to favor cool color schemes… I never wear red, orange, pink or yellow because they just aren’t flattering on me.  I was once told that how people dress tells a lot about how they decorate their house.  I guess this tends to be true for me as well!  But I’ve decided that in my outdoor space or even in my landscaping, I want to throw in some bright orange for Sunny.  My brother has kindly given us a large yellow umbrella of his that I fell in love with last summer.  I’ve been wanting to take my favorite color, purple, it’s compliment, orange and some yellow and make a playful, yet classy outdoor setting.

Leave it to Crate & Barrel to read my mind.  They recently added some new outdoor furniture to their website, including accents.  I was delighted to see this entire set up…

These items are a part of the Ventura outdoor collection.  The outdoor sofa is $1899 and the pillows range from $29.95-$39.95.  I love this particular style of furniture and have always wanted a dark wicker style with bright accents.  The price is quite hefty, though we’re not thinking of creating an outdoor space for this summer.  I’m hoping to maybe pick up the pillows and search Target and Walmart for furniture knock offs.  Crate & Barrel outlets also offer some great deals on items that were previously in stores.

Whenever we manage to afford an outdoor space, I’m hoping it is beautiful in color, happy and lovable, just like my Sunny was.  Though not everyone who sits on it will know the happiness the color orange brings, it will be another way to make my house a home and feel like Sunny was able to move with us.

I recently fell in love with this tissue box from Walmart…

If I had a daughter, I would be all over this.  I love the color scheme- it’s a mix of grays, purples, browns and creams that somehow looks wonderful together.  The graphic is simple yet so modern and sophisticated, with that little hint of whimsy that I think would be great for a kid’s room.  So often, people assume a little girl’s room has to be pink to be girly.  A little outside the box thinking could make a really unique room.

Looking at this pattern reminded me of some prints I bought from Ikea for our condo about a year ago.  They were different variations of a simple pattern….

Unfortunately, they are no longer available from Ikea’s website for me to link.  I paired them with a frame similar to this simple matted Fjallsta frame.

I’m not sure of the size of the frames I have, they are currently in a storage unit with the other 90% of my belongings.  But I would say they were about a 10″x10″ square.  I then hung 3 of the prints on top of one another and placed them on a long narrow wall space we had. I absolutely loved them and plan on hanging them again in our new house.

I am wondering if there are other variations of this tissue box scheme.  But even on it’s own or the same image multiplied by 3, it would look great with a cream colored mat and a dark brown frame.  Using a mats and great frames arranged in multiples can make even the most ordinary image into a piece of art.  Why not get artwork for the price of a tissue box!