Banana

Recently, I had the privilege of spending a wonderful girl's day in NYC with my mom and my aunt.  It included an informative bus tour, some walking/shopping on 5th Avenue, great dinner with our 'celebrity spotting' of Wes Moore, and the brilliant Broadway musical, Promises Promises (based on the old movie, which is totally worth seeing, The Apartment).

I loved every inch of the Banana Republic on 5th Ave...check out the art deco stairwell...

And the branch - OH MY, the branch.  I am a horrible accessorizer (can that be a word?), so I really don't have much at all that is worth displaying, but seeing this makes me want to display what I do have on a pretty branch...

The cutest mule you'll ever see.

My dad surprised all of us on Christmas morning with the cutest Army mule you will ever see (okay, besides Sean that is).

I wanted to get some better photos of the mule when we got home, but he suffered a little injury in one of the parades that Sean and Paddy were having with little Glory and the mule.  We will be attempting to fix him soon!

Here he is without his back legs...

I wish my dad could crank these out quickly - I bet there are lots of West Point families that would enjoy a cute mule like this one...

Speaking of mules, we went to the Army/Navy game on Saturday night, and Paddy would squeal so loudly every time he spotted the mule.  So cute. 

Paddy is one...decor

How pathetic is it that I am just posting this now?  It took me this long to have enough patience to upload these pics to blogger :)

In keeping with the 'keep cost down' theme, I really tried to use things that we already had for Paddy's 1st birthday (that was in NOVEMBER!)...

Banner Flags to drape on front of table - I cut the flags out of fabric scraps that I had and fabric glued them to this grosgrain ribbon. 

Large Balloons...I had ordered these for my maternity pictures, and then used another one for Paddy's photo shoot with Shea Halliburton.  I had three left.  I had planned to get them filled with helium, but because that is so expensive, I decided to copy an idea I had seen - probably on Party Perfect...and just string them across/above the food table.

Clipboards...I ordered 5x7 pics of some of my favorite pictures throughout the year from Walmart, and then taped them to cardstock and hung on the clipboards.

Flag toothpicks...I contemplated getting special sticks that would be longer than toothpicks, but decided that I couldn't beat free toothpicks and free fabric.  One night, I just sat down for a while and cut lots of fabric and then just fabric glued the pieces onto the toothpicks.  I would use these for the sausage cheese balls and carrot cake cupcakes.

Food tags...I designed these in PPT and then used double stick tape to stick these onto lollipop sticks.

Cake pop display...I needed a way to display the cake pops and the large chocolate covered marshmallows.  I wanted to have some on the food table and also have some cake pops near the door since these were pulling double duty...they were a dessert during the party, but they were also a 'favor'.  I ended up buying two 10 lb bags of sugar and filled my cylindrical hurricanes.  I picked sugar b/c I knew that I could use it after the party, so it wouldn't go to waste.

Splurge...I am such a straw girl.  I usually have one Diet Coke (usu. caff free) a day, and it is always with a straw.  I have been really wanting a reason to order these paper straws.  Since I had to pay the shipping, I figured I better get some blue, red and gray ones while I was at it :)

Games & Prizes - I have such fond memories of the little games that we would play at our birthday parties growing up.  My mom was a champ and took on the game responsibility and set up bozo buckets with the help of the Thompsons (thanks, again :)) as well as a clothes pin drop into a glass jar.  We were thankful that it was a beautiful day, so the older kids were able to be outside to play games.  I bought some gum and candy to match the color scheme.

 

 Party Hat - I wasn't very good at making this, but I just bought a sheet of 12x12 scrapbook paper and added some ribbon to the top, and it stayed on for all of 2.2 seconds...

Happy 1st Birthday, Paddy Man - what a fun day!  Thanks again to my friend, Jennyjo, for snapping most of these pics!

Mirror, decided.

This poor mirror has been through so much...since the last post about the mirror, I have tried navy and finally landed on gold leafing it.

I sprayed some other mirrors gold this weekend, and I was disappointed with how they turned out, so I was nervous about gold leafing.  However, the finish/color/texture is so much different and better than the spray paint.

To gold leaf this, I first sanded the mirror.  Then, I applied a metal leafing adhesive.  I let it 'dry' for 45 minutes, and then it will be tacky...ready for the super delicate gold leaf sheets.  I applied the gold leaf...I would love to see an expert do this because I am clearly not one.  I had SO many spots to retouch.  Wine and some streaming Netflix movies helped :)  There were some spots that I had missed with the adhesive.  I went back over the missed spots with adhesive, let is 'dry' or get tacky, and then I applied more gold leaf.  Once I had finished the retouching, I applied two coats of sealer.  You can buy all these supplies at Michael's for less than $15.

I am enjoying the results...it is fun to have a finish that is different from my standard painting option. I think it brings a nice pop of color and a bit of glam, which I felt like the room needed.  


 So, here are the stages of the mirror again...

When it arrived in the mail...

Painted white and in the downstairs teeny bath where it just didn't look right...

Then, the mirror stayed white for a few more days and had a test drive in the living room.  I really liked the location, but the white mirror faded into the gray owl walls.

I had a small sample paint of Rich Navy by Glidden.  I did a horrible job, but slapped one thin coat of paint on the mirror to see if I might like navy.  I think this could be nice looking - but I already have too much going on in the room, as it is, so I opted to gold leaf.

And...here is the final verdict.  (At least until I get tired of it :))

this pictures makes it look brighter than it is in person...

Girl time

For Isabella's birthday, we decided it might be fun to have her over to hang out with us, have some girl time, and do something fun together.  We let her 'design' her own day from some suggestions we had, and she picked to have lunch with me, go to Michael's to pick out a craft, then have her friend over to our house to do the selected craft project, then have dinner and a sleepover with us.

It was so fun trying to get a few things ready to make the day feel special for Isabella.  She wanted brownies as her 'cake', so I just baked some brownies in cake pans and topped with ganache...

And set the table with my most feminine things - my mismatched teacups, delicate glasses that Krissy got me years and years ago, my silver candy server, and the napkin holders that hold fresh flowers (which I failed to get in time for the playdate!).

 
It was such a pleasure to have Isabella over for the day and have some great quality time with her - and A&T, too!  I mean what can be bad about a day with tacos for lunch, brownie cake in the afternoon, tacos again for dinner, and more brownie cake to follow?  We capped it off with the Crow family joining us for breakfast the next morning.  Fun times.  We feel so blessed to be at the same place as our dear friends.

Haircut

So, the fiddle leaf fig tree finally got a hair cut.  My new fiddle leaf fig expert friend, Al, helped me with all my questions about the tree.  We moved it to the far corner of our dining room - not the ideal spot for it...but he is honestly SO big, we don't have a perfect spot for him in this room.  But...this will do :)  I gave him a trim, and are going to hope for the best.

Before - this actually doesn't even do justice to just how big and unruly he was!

The tree also got a new pretty basket - this one is the Basay basket from Crate and Barrel - half the price of the PB look alike.  

And some sheet moss too...this came in a bag instead of getting it fresh b/c I haven't found anywhere that carries the fresh stuff.

All the cuttings are providing my 'fresh' greenery fix.  It may not be fresh flowers, but this will do - and maybe they will root if I am lucky!

I hope the tree likes its new home :)

The indecisive mirror.

We received this stunning mirror from my aunt for Christmas....

The mirror was bigger than I had thought it was, and I wanted to find the perfect spot for it in the house.  First, I thought I was not going to use this in our downstairs bath, so I went ahead and painted three other inexpensive mirrors to arrange on that wall.  But then, I decided that maybe it would be good in the bathroom.  So, I painted the black mirror white, and my patient husband hung it for me. After all that, I wasn't convinced it was in the right spot.

In the meantime, I finally moved the fiddle leaf fig tree from the middle of the room where it served as our Christmas tree, and I realized that the mirror might be a perfect fit for that wall.  HOWEVER, the now white mirror doesn't stand out enough against our gray owl walls. 

SOOOO...I am contemplating gold leafing the mirror.  Have you ever gold leafed?  I silver leafed once when I made this for my brother, and I made quite a mess.  I guess I am in the mood for gold - I am brainstorming another gold project.

I will update you as the craziness continues.

The mirror in the guest bath.  Two mirrors that I adore, but they compete against each other.

In the living room.  I like the location...now I have to figure out the right color for the mirror so that it pops.

Who is truly the indecisive one?  The mirror, or me? :)

This just makes me realize that I sometimes just need to slow down and think through more options before trying to rush to a conclusion.

Fruit Crates

I had been on a fruit crate kick lately.  I had seen some pictures of fruit crates on casters and I thought it would be fun to find a few crates, nail them together and put them on casters to serve as a bookshelf for Paddy.

Oh happy day...while we were at home over Christmas, I made my regular trip to Wise Penny in Wheaton (the awesome thrift store that my mom volunteers at), and I found three crates, already nailed together, ready to go.  The store had been using it as a display case, but they said they would sell it for $8.  DONE.  It wasn't PERFECT, but for the price, it was.  The top one is smaller than the bottom two crates, and the inside of the middle crate was painted white...I wish it was still the natural wood.

My dad and I picked up some casters at Home Depot, and he very kindly put them on for me.  Sean was able to fit this into the car to get it home - hooray!

The shelf:

Casters...

The best part of this project is that Paddy is going for his books so much more often than he did when I had them in big baskets on the floor.

Hmmm...which book should I pick? (this is currently one of my favorite gestures of Paddy's)

this one will be good...

Boston, re-done.

A while back, I posted about our Boston print by our friend, Ari Hauben.  We were excited to get it framed when we moved into our house.  I did have it framed, but it didn't turn out how I had seen it in my mind.

Ari had written us a message at the bottom, so we definitely wanted that to show (through this process I learned that artists always sign prints in pencil...I never knew that!).

The message...

 
However, I wanted a matching white border around the other three sides as well.

I had it framed at the craft store on post, and the manager could not have been more kind or accomodating.  She wanted to make sure I loved it.  I waited a long time (way too long) before bringing it back in.  I tried and tried to live with it, but I just couldn't.  It is that little tick inside me that needs symmetry...I just had to have it.  I got it back recently, and we are smitten.

Before: 

After:

I love how you can still see the 'depth' of the piece even though it is a print, not the original.

There is one small 'love' stencil on the print.  LOVE.  Can you imagine making all these stencils?  Ari made this piece with lots of layers...newspapers, paint, stencils - and probably lots of other things that I am not even aware of.

Thanks again, Ari.  We love it!

High Flying

Loving this vintage metal airplane that my parent's got Paddy for Christmas.  My mom and I found it at an antique store in Cold Spring.  Sean did a great job hanging it - I love how it looks like it is just soaring around the sky...