Party: Crate Paper {Roses}

You know that type of person who relays a story by starting roughly a decade before the actual event? Do you hate it? Well, then you probably should get ready, because I'm about to do just that.  

When I graduated from high school, I had no idea how to cook. So when I entered college, I took a few cooking classes because I figured my future husband wouldn't want to eat Ramen noodles and PB&J's every night (those were my specialties).  

During my first year cooking class, we spent several weeks cake decorating.  At first, I was extremely excited.  I imagined myself creating a beautiful three-tiered cake with fountains of colorful icing and gobs of gorgeous flowers.  Um....wrong. I spent roughly three weeks trying to keep a steady hand, failing, swiping off the frosting, trying again, failing, and swiping of the frosting again.  Talk about frustrating. 

All that history to say that I don't decorate cakes with frosting.  I posted pictures yesterday of Suze's birthday.  Since we didn't want just a sheet cake from Wal-Mart (no offense, Wal-Mart), we went with a cake from Sherry's Bakery, a bakery here in Dunn known for it's scrumptious pastry creations. But you can't just have a plain, white-frosted cake.  You've just found that I detest decorating cakes with frosting, so what else could I do?  Hmmm. 

I thought about ribbon at first, but I didn't have any. So out came the crate paper and the little crate-paper roses were born.  NO FROSTING!!

 

What you'll need: 

• crate paper (any color)
• card stock
• quilting pins (the type with the ball at the end)
• tape

Begin by tightly balling up the crate paper. This will be the center of your flower.  While holding the center with one hand, twirl the crate paper LOOSLY around the center with your other hand.

Secure the end with tape.  Don't worry, it won't show : )

Cute, right?!

 

I didn't want the crate paper to touch the cake (I was afraid it might bleed into the frosting), so I cut out circles of card stock to put behind the roses.  I chose green and it sort of looked like leaves.  To attach it to the cake, I used quilting pins because they are longer than regular pins.  The kind I had just happened to have yellow balls at the end.  Perfect!

Party: of {Colors}

This past Friday, I had the delightful privilege of hosting a party for my good friend, Suze.  It had been quite some time since I had planned a party like this one, so my brain was all abuzz with ideas and inspiration for the special event.  I had a blast making the decoration and, of course, had an amazing time at the party with the birthday girl and her family.

I'm not a huge fan of over-kill decorations.  Simple and sweet is what I prefer.

Because I HATE decorating cakes with actual icing (not patient enough), I used crate paper rosebuds to decorate this cake (which, by the way, I did NOT bake : ) Tutorial to follow at a later post.

Whimsy, color, and bounce all rolled into one.  I will also be posting a tutorial on these adorables.

I've been seeing flag garland all over the place.  Thought I'd make my own.  

I made these out of the only thing I had an abundance of - tissue paper.  It's inexpensive but is also tedious.  I do love how flowy they are, though, and would definitely make more.  Again, I'll "tut" you on these as well.

Had so much fun! When's the next party? : )

Living Craftily Ever After: Headband Giveaway

If you're a fan of getting totally cute and crafty things for free, check out Living Craftily Ever After and enter her giveaway for two adorable headbands.

I know...I love them, too!  So cute! 

B/C there are only so many hours in a day and so many days in a week...

...and because I'm still working on time management, I have decided that I need to limit my posts to just a few per week.  I have been blogging almost every day for the past couple of months and LOVE IT!  But my schedule, my house, and my husband don't.  I had a reality check last week when life got busy, and I had to substitute blogging for things like...cleaning my house...spending time with my husband...preparing for my classes. These are the things that really make my world go 'round and should get first priority.  So I sat down and had a talk with myself.  I said, "Self, take a chill pill." No, I really didn't say that to myself because it's 2011 not 1996.  But I did have a serious conversation with myself about what is really important.  I came up with this conclusion:
 I am NOT a stay at home mom. In fact, I work two jobs that both require outside work.  I have a husband whom I love to spend time with and who needs a lot of attention : )  I have a ginormous house which is my dream home and needs to stay that way (i.e. it needs to stay clean!).  And I also have other various aspects of my life such as church, friends, and family that need a lot of investment, too.  So where does blogging rank among all these?  Not at the top, I can tell you that.  Blogging is a hobby and not a passion.  At least it isn't yet!  And hobbies do not rank highly on my list of priorities.  They are a luxury and should be treated as such.  This is a very round-about way of saying that I will be posting on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and sometimes Saturdays.  Why do I need to inform you of this?  Because I thought you might want to know : )  That's all.

Just a {Jacket} For a Love of Blue and Gray

That's right...I admit it...I love the softer palettes.  You won't see too many banging, bright colors or jazzy prints in my closet.  Believe me, I've tried to sneak them in, but they don't stay for long expect in moderation.  I own my fair share of colorful items, don' get me wrong here.  I don't think my wardrobe dull and BORING.  But I will say that I just love the monochromatic, understated look of grays, blacks, browns, and blues.  

I hate it....can't remember where I saw this.  Just loved it and saved it. oh well.

~sigh~

Tulle

short pleated military jacket

Aryn K.

chambray jacket

Loveappella

striped cardigan

{Cute} for the Day

This makes me smile : )

Let Me Introduce You: {Debussy}

As a musician, it has always been difficult for me to pin point a particular artist or composer whom I would consider to be my favorite.  So many have made great impressions on my life that I halfway think it would be impossible to choose any one above all others. Allow me to introduce to you one of those great men: Claude Debussy.

Many people don't realize that modern-day music has attained many of its inspirations from the classics. Claude Debussy was one of the greatest influential composers of the 20th century. His thought to be radical harmonies have influenced almost every major composer of his time, particularly the music of men such as Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Bela Bartok, Steve Reich and Philip Glass. His influences continued to spill over into the Jazz genre. The famous works of George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Jimmy Giuffre are in many ways characterized by his style.  In a way that touches us today, contemporary soundtrack composers such as John Williams have emulated Debussy's ability to translate his colorful style into an emotional language.  Debussy's music will cause you to close your eyes and BE in the music.  It speaks to you in such a clear and beautiful tone.