Sophia's Sweet Shoppe

I was beyond excited to help my best friend plan her daughter's first birthday party!  Finally!  A girly party! :)  Now don't get me wrong, I would've helped even if she had a boy, but I get to do plenty of decorating for boys. ;) 

Jess lives in Oklahoma, so we did most of the planning online.  She already knew that she wanted to do a Sweet Shoppe theme, so then we just had to decide on a color scheme.  We narrowed it down to black, white, and pink pretty quickly and got started!

Here's a shot of the full dessert buffet. :)

 

 

The cupcakes were from Sam's Club and were delicious!  The cupcake stand came from Michael's.

I designed the labels and had them printed at Office Max and we made the sugar cookies ourselves. :)

 



 

We also made the rice krispy pops, which were scrumptious as well!  The cupcake liners came from Walmart.

 

The favors were kettle corn that we drizzled with milk chocolate and white chocolate.  The favor tags featured the birthday girl and said, "It was so sweet of you to celebrate with me!"  They were printed at Office Max and the favor bags came from Walmart.

 

The ombre rosette cake was beautiful and delicious!  It was made by Amber of Bone's Bags & Cakes by Design.

 

We had a great turnout for the party despite the snow, and most importantly, everyone had a great time!  I loved being able to help with such an important day, and best of all, I was able to spend some quality time with my best friend! :)

 

Stay tuned because I have an exciting giveway to announce tomorrow!

 

 

It's a Big Boy Room!

Planes, trains, and cars, oh my!  Blake's getting a big boy room!  When I designed his nursery, I kept everything very simple and classic.  At two years old, Blake has many things he loves, so I wanted to incorporate those into his new room.  He actually sat right beside me and helped me design this inspiration board.  He LOVES the alphabet print, clock, transportation prints, car pillow, truck night light, and roadway rug. 

 

As always, we're on a tight budget, but I think we'll be able to create a fun and functional space for our little guy who is so full of life!  And I actually convinced my hubby to take me to Ikea next week!  Woo hoo! ;)

Designer Inspired

 

I love designer fashion, jewelry, home decor, you know name it!  And then there's reality.  I'm a stay-at-home mom with two kids.  We buy diapers and wipes.  We pay for college classes and books.  We have a mortgage and a car payment.  Like most people, we live on a budget.  And, honestly, I don't think I could spend $1,000 on a purse anyway. :)  However, what I love to do is draw inspiration from high-end designers and brands.  When we found out we were expecting, I started browsing Serena and Lily, Restoration Hardware Baby and Child, and Pottery Barns Kids for ideas.  I came across this room from Serena and Lily.

 

 

 

 

I loved the navy and white stripes with the grass green accent color.  I felt like it was a great crisp, clean look that was all-boy. :)  So, I totaled the cost of the bedding for the Serena and Lily room.  Just the bedding - duvet, pillows, sheets, etc.  This price does not include any furniture or decor.  And the grand total for this look was $836.  Gorgeous, but waaay out of our budget! :)

 

 

 

 

And this is a shot of Cole's Serena and Lily inspired nursery.  For the fabric backdrop, I found this rugby stripe shower curtain at Target for $15!  I ordered the letters from an Etsy seller and painted them with Serena and Lily paint in Grass green (Serena and Lily paint sample, $6).  For the pennant banner, I ordered free fabric swatches from Serena and Lily and bought the other fabrics at Hancock for $3.  I ordered the crib sheet from Serena and Lily when they were having a 40% off Nursery event, and the crib skirt was another DIY project ($6).  For the green accent pillow, I covered a pillow I already had with an old cable-knit sweater I didn't wear anymore (FREE)!  So, the grand total for all of Cole's bedding and crib wall decor came to $97! :) 

 

 

 

 

Although I couldn't afford to order all of the items straight from Serena and Lily, I was able to create a similar look for a fraction of the cost.  I'd say our motto around here is design on a dime, but it's actually pretty on a penny! :)

 

Do you guys have any awesome tips for creating high-end looks for less?

Yes, Master! (Bedroom, that is!)

 

Here's the very first before picture of our master bedroom before we moved in! :) 

 

 

 

You can see the crazy changes this room has gone through here. 

 

 

And here's the design board I put together for our new space!

 

 

We are slowly getting there, and I can't wait to share the 'before' and 'after, after, after' pics! ;)

 

What do you guys think?  Color overload or much improved? :)

 

 

 

 

 

Cole's Navy and Green Nursery

Cole is two months old today, and I'm just now sharing his nursery!  Better late than never, right? ;)  This room was done on a major budget and with the thought that we would be trying to sell our home soon.  With this in mind, we opted to paint the nursery a neutral color instead of navy blue, and also did a removable accent wall instead of painting stripes.  Of course, now that we know we'll be here a while, I'm kicking myself for not painting it navy!  Oh well, we're pretty happy with the way it turned out anyway. :) 

All photos by Brandi Hunsicker of Immeasurable Moments Photography

Like her page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/immeasurablemoments.

{THE DETAILS}

Crib - Carter's Lifetime Convertible Crib

Crib Sheet - Grass Trellis by Serena and Lily

Bed Skirt - DIY using Blake's crib skirt and adding ribbon from Hancock Fabrics as a border ($6 total)

Pennant Banner - DIY using ribbon, Serena and Lily fabric samples, and fabric form Hancock Fabrics ($4 total)

Striped Accent Wall - DIY using particle board from Lowe's cut to size ($5) covered with a Blue Rugby Stripe shower curtain from Target ($15)

Letters above Crib - Etsy seller going gaga, painted Serena and Lily's Grass Green, sample size ($6)

Brothers print - Etsy seller Nella Designs

Jesus Loves Me Print - DIY using Microsoft Publisher

Airplane - Walmart craft section ($1), hand painted

White frames - Michael's

Chevron baskets - Target

Birth announcement - Shutterfly

Paint - Benjamin Moore Silver Fox

Total Cost (not including items I reused from Blake's nursery such as the crib and rocker) - $167

Cole's Nursery Sneak Peek

So, I know it's been a while since I last posted, but I've been a little busy! ;)  I'm absolutely loving being a mommy to our little boys!  They are both just too sweet for words!  Blake turned two today, and his little personality is out in full force now!  He is such a fun, happy little guy!  Cole is six weeks old now, and is a very calm, easy-going baby who loves to sleep and eat!  These two little men bring so much joy to our lives!  I could literally write a book about how much I love my boys, but I'll stop here for now. ;)  Anyway,  I have a few pictures of the nursery from our recent photo session that I thought I'd share with you.  Brandi from Immeasurable Moments Photography (be sure to check her out) always does such an amazing job!  Needless to say, her pictures of the nursery are way better than mine, so those are the ones I'm sharing. :) 

One of the most exciting things about this project is that I spent less than $200 total on his nursery!  $167 to be exact! :)  My frugal (nice word for cheap) husband was very pleased with that fact. ;)

I'll be doing a post soon with all of the pictures and details! :)  But for now, I'm off to bed!  I need to get my rest because I'm exercising tomorrow.  After all, shopping is cardio, right? ;)