Life Happens.....Husby Re-Design :D

Ok, so by now all of you should have a pretty good idea of how important design and decor are to me.  Of how much time, effort and brain power goes into designing our home, holidays and daily life.  Well let me just show you what I woke up to the other day.  I cannot stop laughing!!!

This, my friends, is my bakers cabinet in the kitchen.  I love my bakers cabinet, as it is where I keep all of my cupcakes.  You can read all about my lovely cabinet here.

My Husby is a welder/ pipe-fitter for the UA.  He works very hard at schools, hospitals, nuclear power plants, you name it.  If it has pipes, he can run it, fix it, weld it, whatever you need.  And with his extreme skill, union training and mastery of advanced trigonometry, you know it's going to be perfect!

So what is this picture of exactly?  Husby came home from work, hungry and tired and dropped his blueprints and architect's ruler on top of the cabinet.  But wait a minute, what are those yellow things?  Those are ear plugs. Used ear plugs.  On my cupcake stand.  What. The. Heck?!?!?!

I love my Husby and I cannot stop laughing at this!

We will just call it a Husby Re-Design!

:D :D :D :D

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2014

Fall Decor 2014

Now that fall has arrived, it's time to share some of what I have been up to. Grab a mug of cider and come on in!

Front Porch

This is the extent of my outdoor decorating.  I just don't do a whole lot outside.  For one thing, we live inside :D, so we don't see any of it unless we are coming or going.  For another, everything gets wet, blown around and full of bugs.  

.....Not to mention the family of chipmunks that steal from me.  I am convinced that their den is quite nicely decorated by now, but that's another story.....

So I have this little pumpkin from the garden and a wreath on the door.  I think that is just enough ;)

My Wreaths

The top left is the front door wreath that I made last year.  The rest are hanging at the center of my big windows.  The two red-orange foliage wreaths  are in the living/ dining rooms and the green-orange foliage is in the kitchen.  

I purchased these wreaths at the florist I used to work for a couple of years ago.  When they came in they were priced at $25.  I played the waiting game and managed to snag them at $5 each on clearance.

You could take a foliage wreath like those pictured here and do all kinds of things with it. Pumpkins, fall flowers, ribbon, the choices are endless!  However I choose to leave these plain.  That is because I also have little skeleton wreaths as part of my Halloween decor.  In a couple of weeks when I get out my Halloween, I'll layer the smaller wreaths right on top of these.

A little fall in the kitchen.

A couple of printed dishtowels and a pumpkin cookie cutter at the window help set the tone.  Usually I have a few of my glass jars on the counters in here as well, but right now the extra space is full of baby food, baby food and more baby food!

Dining Table

The place mats I found for .25 each.  There were only two, so I use them in the center of the table as opposed to having them at each place setting.

My milk glass pedestal is filled with faux gourds and is accompanied by a ceramic pumpkin that I found for $1.

I'm not sure what kind of foliage I have in the cylinder vase, but I love the shape and coloring.  I added some buckeyes to weigh the vase down both physically and visually.  Physically they keep the vase from tipping over, and visually it makes more sense.

What do I mean by that?  Well, when decorating it helps to keep in mind how things work in nature.

  For example, when designing flowers in a vase, the buds (or smaller flowers) should be at the top/ edges of the piece with the larger, more developed flowers closer to the center, as that is how plants actually grow.  (A tree is larger and more sturdy at the trunk with smaller branches and leaves at the top).  

Likewise, things don't typically float in nature.  If the large foliage bush was in the cylinder vase alone, it would look top-heavy and incorrect.  The buckeyes add visual weight to the piece making it less confusing and easier for the eye to take in.

So can you ever get away with making something look like it's floating or upside down?  Absolutely!  It just has to be a well executed design in which the atypical placement is part of wow factor.  You can do it, give it a try!

Trifle Bowls Filled With Pumpkins

More pumpkins inside of the cake stands.  

These glass jars filled with miniature green hued gourds and pine cones.  I think the pine cones actually came with something to do with Christmas...potpourri maybe? I already had enough pine cones for that holiday and decided to put them with my fall items.  You would never know they smell like Christmas ;)

Here you can see jars filled with mums, miniature pumpkins and corn cobs and fall berries.  Of course there are more pumpkins!

Faux pumpkins, botanical filled jars and a jar of scarecrows.  Baby Girl loves to play with these scarecrows!  I always make sure to leave it on a shelf that she can reach ;)

Ok, ok, one last picture of things inside of glass!  Here I have more pumpkins, seeded balls, buckeyes, more miniature gourds and a jar of pears.  

Pears are not typically what you think of when you think fall, but the color of these works perfectly.  This is a good example of how things can be used unexpectedly.  Do  you like the item?  Is it the right color or shape?  Then try it, have fun!

My (Formerly) Beaded Pumpkins

When I first put these out, they were heavily beaded.....Then Little Man found them ;)  I came back to a little pile of beads on the shelf.  I'm sure he had lots of fun!

I don't bring anything into the house that can't be played with.   I put out all of these new, fun holiday things every 6-8 weeks, and of course the kiddos want to play with them.  I don't mind a bit.  In fact, that is one of the reasons why I love treasure hunting so much.  When I find things for .25, .50 or $1, who cares if they get 'loved' to death.  It is more important to me that my babies have lots of fun and make good memories.  I think that's much better than living in a museum, and the people living in this house are more important than the objects anyway.

.....I have even been known to allow Baby Girl to use some of my milk glass for her tea parties...gasp!  :D

Curious about 'treasure hunting'?  The blog has taken off this week in both France and Romania, so some of my newer readers may be a bit confused.  You can visit my first treasure hunting post here, or simply click on the treasure hunting tab at the top of the page.  Happy reading!

The Dining Room

Here you can see most everything together.  The only thing not shown are the framed photos I added in afterward.  Family photos in the fall leaves and punkin patch give the room a personal touch.

I hope you enjoyed the fall tour.  Pretty soon it will be time for Halloween and then Thanksgiving, so stay tuned.  Thanks for reading!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2014

Birthday Wrap-Up 2014

Ok, ok, it's time for one more post for Baby Girl's birthday...I can't help it, I love this stuff!

As you know by now, we have a family party one day and then a quiet little celebration on the actual birthday.  Here is what Baby Girl woke up to:

A few pretty pink presents and another cake.  Can you tell she is in to Lalaloopsy?!

She had to eat a healthy meal before the cake and decided brunch was appropriate.  She requested French toast made with cinnamon bread, ham and a fruit smoothie.  It was very yummy! .....She put way more powdered sugar than was necessary on her toast and I pretended not to notice ;)

She gets two birthday cards, one from Mommy and one from Daddy.  We like to each give her one because then we can write our own personal message and it's nice for her scrapbook too. (Okay, Husby had probably never even considered the scrapbook, but still it's nice.  Heeheehee!)

'Actual Birthday' Birthday Cake

This one was funfetti with vanilla icing.  A little blue food coloring (because that is her favorite color) and pink sprinkles topped it off.  Of course there were sprinkles that came with the funfetti icing, but they were not the right color combination ;)  I chose pink instead because it went nicely with her candles and Lalaloopsy character.  This one happens to be Sunny and she comes with a little bird and cow.

The stick candles were actually 'firework' trick candles.  They sparked, sputtered and kept relighting. It was pretty funny to watch her surprise when they re-lit! 

Baby Girl also got a visit from Gramma, Papa and her Mamaw before deciding that she wanted to play at the park.  For dinner she picked Steak N Shake.  I managed to sneak in a photo shoot, everybody was happy.  It was a great day!


How do you design a wonderful birthday for your little ones?

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2014

Summer Photography 2014

I super busy this week working on two weddings at once (and the fall decorating, stepping stone making, photo editing and oh yeah, don't forget Wife and Mommy!)  so I can't devote a lot of time to lengthy blogging  :(  ........But I can share a little bit of eye candy..... 

I love scrap booking, I love playing with my camera and I love photography.  So here are a few photos I have saved on my computer from this summer.  Enjoy!

I left off my watermark and any borders so as not to mar the photos.
You may copy, share and use as you wish.  Happy designing!

....Annnnnd now back to work!!!  :)

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2014

Behind the Scenes: Party Baking 2014

Now that I have shared all about the Strawberry Shortcake birthday party and balloon design, it's time to go a little deeper into the dessert preparations!

Baking Supplies & Decor

I used Devil's Food mix with chocolate icing and red decorating icing to make cupcakes.  

The strawberry mix and strawberry icing were for a large round layer cake and a miniature round layer cake. 

My bake ware and the cake mix instructions.

Bake ware:  I used 2 cupcake pans and lined them with silicone cupcake liners.  I found these at Dollar Tree a few years ago and now have a set of 24 each in red, pink and white.  I love that they make retrieving the cupcakes from the pan easy, are re-usable and add another pop of color to the event.

I also used two sets of round pans,one set that is standard sized and one set that is miniature.  I found the miniature sized pans a few years ago, right before Baby Girl's 1st birthday, when I was treasure hunting.  I like them because I can make her a personalized little cake that matches the larger guest cake.  I just pour a little bit of the batter from the larger cake into these pans and end up with two nice cakes.

Instructions:  I added a pic of these because I don't follow them.  Nope.  Instead I replace the water with milk, replace the oil with melted butter, add an extra egg and set the oven timer for about 5 minutes less than recommended.  I think I learned this from a Paula Deen program but I can't remember for sure.  I can tell you that it makes for really yummy cakes...though they aren't so healthy....:D

Wilton brand decorating icing in red.

I wanted to add a little color to the cupcakes since chocolate brown didn't really fit in with the theme, so I bought this ready-to-go decorating icing.  It is supposed to fit Wilton brand decorating tips, you just screw on the one you wish to use and start decorating.  Do I have Wilton brand decorating tips?  Yes, yes I do.  Did they fit this icing tube?  No, no they did not.  My tips came in a set with a decorating tube 'gun' and apparently there is a different set that you must purchase to fit the ready-to-go icing.  Sheesh!  

Not to worry though, I remembered a trick that I learned from my Mom.  Just fill a sandwich baggy with icing and cut off a bit of the corner.  Then squeeze gently to place your icing the same way you would use a  cake decorators icing bag.  If you haven't done this before you may want to practice a bit first to get a feel for how to hold the bag/ how hard to squeeze.

Chocolate cupcakes!

After adding the red touches of icing, I placed them into a roasting pan and covered them with plastic wrap.  I wanted to place them on my cupcake stand for the party, but needed a way to keep them fresh until then.  I like using a roasting pan because it's easy to get the cupcakes in and out of without smudging the icing.  It's also deep enough to add plastic wrap without the wrap hitting the icing, but shallow enough that I can slide it onto the bottom shelf of the fridge.  We keep an extra fridge in the garage and it gets pretty full in the days leading up to a party!

Another note:  I really like to do as much as I can ahead of time.  It gives me the opportunity to pay attention to all of the details and enjoy the process without being rushed.  Since I have the fridge and freezer space in the garage, I have always done my baking ahead of time.  But, there is one little problem.  Baking yummy treats makes the entire house smell wonderful, and people want to eat them!  So I make a little extra for Husby and Baby Girl to enjoy on baking day.  In fact, that is what the blue plate of cupcakes in the photo was for. 

The cupcakes all set up on the cupcake stand.

You can see how nicely the red silicone wrappers coordinate with the red polka-dots of the napkins.  I added a bit of pink curling ribbon here and there as well as a tag that said 'Devil's Food'.  To make the tag I simply cut the label from the cake mix box, punched a hole and tied it on with more curling ribbon.  I don't know about you, but I like to know what I'm eating.  This is an easy way to let guests know what you have to offer while at the same time adding another decorative touch.

The Mechanics

Pictured here are the two miniature round cakes.  I wanted to show you how they bake up taller in the center, causing an uneven top (maybe due to that extra egg, but the sponginess is worth it!)  Because I stack my cakes and then add decorations to the tops, I need them to be flat.  No big deal, I just take a serrated knife and carefully slice off the tops.  Believe me, nobody complains about this.  In fact somebody is always waiting on the sidelines to see how much gets cut off so that they can 'taste test' the progress ;)

In addition to trimming my cakes when needed, I am also known to cut the dry edges off.  Sometimes when baking, the edge of the cake that touches the pan can get a little crisp.  I want every bite of my cakes to be soft and enjoyable so I use the serrated knife here as well.  It takes a few minutes of time, but the results are worth it!

Baby Girl's Miniature Cake

After using the pink icing, I added a sliced strawberry and a few red sprinkles.  I waited to add the candle because the lid of the cake dome would not fit with the candle in place.

Doesn't the miniature cake dome work out nicely?  You can read more
about how I acquired this mini cake dome here.


 

The Large Strawberry Cake

This cake was decorated to match the miniature cake with pink icing, red sprinkles, sliced strawberries and a couple of Strawberry Shortcake figurines.  I added a little curling ribbon to the top as well as one of my cupcake charms.  I have several of these and found them a few years ago at Wal-Mart during Christmas time.  Most of them I keep packed away with my other kitchen Christmas ornaments (yes, I put up a tree in the kitchen too), but a couple of them I leave hanging on my bakers cabinet year round.  I like seeing them with my other cupcakes and I like to use them as charms for my cake stands.  Want to know more about my cupcake cabinet?  You can see it here.

That's it for the party goodies, hope you enjoyed the post!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2014

Behind the Scenes: Party Balloons 2014

Last week I posted about the Strawberry Shortcake party we had for Baby Girl's 5th birthday.  (You can read more about that here).  As promised, today I will walk you through how I created my balloon bouquets.

Traditionally, balloon bouquets are helium filled and float upright with the ribbons beneath them attached to a weight.  I like to do things a bit differently; I air fill my balloons instead of using helium, and I suspend them upside down from the ceiling instead of floating them...they can't float without the helium of course...;)

There are a couple of reasons why I do this, one is the difference in cost, another is the greater flexibility I have in when I can begin decorating.

Let me explain.  When I worked in a florist shop, we sold plain  solid colored latex helium balloons for $1.25 each.  Mmmhmm.  That's one dollar and twenty-five cents for each balloon, which is only going to float for approximately 24 hours. That means that for this party, where I used 24 balloons, I would have spent $30....on balloons...that would be thrown away within a day...yuck!  Now I could rent a helium tank and fill them myself (which would be a bit cheaper) but that wouldn't change the fact that I would still have to inflate them the day of the party.

And that brings me to my next point.  Helium balloons, when inflated properly,  have a nice sheen, solid coloring and are firm to the touch.  As I said, they float for about 24 hours or so (sometimes longer with additives such as highfloat, a liquid plastic), but do not retain a nice appearance.  Instead they shrink a bit, become soft and look sort of fuzzy.  Not a good look for a spectacular party!  That means I would have to wait until the day of the party to pick them up, struggle to get them into the truck, get them home, untangle them and then decorate.  No thank you! I have tons of things I need to do the day of a party and rushing through my decor is not one of them.  I prefer to take my time and enjoy the process ;)

So what do I do instead?  I wait until the kiddos are asleep the night before and start air pumping my balloons.  I take all the time I need to arrange them (and rearrange them :D) until I am satisfied with the look.  This way they are done, out of the way and last overnight/throughout the party. I spend my time the day of the party working on the last minute details without having to run around, and Baby Girl gets to wake up to a decorated house. Everybody's happy!

Now that you have my every thought regarding balloon inflation (giggle), let's look at some photos....

The tools: 

A couple bags of balloons (pink and red), pink curling ribbon, 

green crepe paper streamers, a Sharpie and an air pump.

First I inflated the balloons and tied on a good length of curling ribbon.  I like to use long pieces of ribbon so that I have plenty of room for adjustment when creating my hanging bouquets.  Any ribbon left over can be curled and left in place, it just adds to the festive look ;)

Next I added a couple of pieces of the crepe paper streamers to serve as strawberry leaves. I just tied them on at the neck of the balloon using the same curling ribbon.

I used a Sharpie to make polka-dot 'seeds'.  I took this photo about halfway through, so the dark spot is close to the camera and the only one visible from this side.
The more faded looking spots are on the other side of the balloon.

Finally, I clustered the balloons together in large bunches of
 red with a few pink tucked in here and there.

And there you have it, and inexpensive and simple way to add balloons to any party.

Hope you enjoyed the post, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2014