Studio 27 - By Jennifer Adams: February 2015

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Winter White Roses (17 Pc Package) 2015

In my head the calendar works like this:

Spring = March, April & May
Summer = June, July & August
Fall = September, October & November
Winter = December, January & February

That means that SPRING will be here Sunday, March 1st!!!
(Yes it does too mean that, shhhh! Heeheehee!)

Since that is only two days away, I thought I better hurry up and share with you this winter white wedding package. Check it out!

White Roses

I constructed this package with these gorgeous white roses. Aren't they lush?!?!

Bridal Bouquet

Bridesmaid's Bouquets

Boutonnieres & Pin-On Corsages

'Toss' Bouquet

The 17 Piece Package

This 17 piece package can be found in my eBay.

Want to see what else is currently available? Check out my eBay store here

I need to go prepare for SPRING now, thanks for stopping by!
:D :D :D

-Jennifer

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Husby & Little Man's 'Actual' Birthday (2015)

It's been nearly a month, but here I am today to share with you the fun we had for our double birthdays! Husby and the Little Man have the same birthday, and this was the first year we got to celebrate (we were a little busy last year) :D

You may recall from earlier posts that while we have a small family party (for the kids) before the birthday, we like to have a little celebration on the actual birthday as well. Scroll on to see what yummy treats were enjoyed and the birthday spread we put together for the Little Man.

Supplies

It was another day in the kitchen for me!

Little Man's cake was made from a blue raspberry mix that I already had in the pantry.

Husby requested a German chocolate cake and sugar cookies. He also asked to have crepes for his birthday breakfast. Those I made from scratch using my Granny's recipe. Husby knows that birthdays are a rare time in which I will forgo the heart healthy diet...he took full advantage!

Blue Raspberry

Little Man's blue cake was topped with colorful sprinkles and festive candles.

I found the set of candles for $1 at Dollar Tree.

The Blue Raspberry cake mix I found marked down at the end of the summer season. Always browse your grocery store's end of season markdown section, you can find all sorts of yummy treats to stock up on. Just check the expiration dates and have fun!

You can click here to read more about the day I found this cake mix and a few other treasures.

Recipe Review: This cake mix and icing combo tastes like a Jolly Rancher candy. It was too sweet for me, but if you are a candy lover it is sure to please!

German Chocolate Cake

Husby likes the Duncan Hines cake mix for his German chocolate cake. It comes with pecan filling that I mix into the cake batter. I also purchase a container of pecan frosting to go with it. The cake is rich enough that it would be fine without frosting, but my sweet-tooth Husby thinks otherwise ;)

Sugar Cookies

Husby likes to have icing for his cookies as well :)

Little Man's Birthday Table

Here you can see the Little Man's birthday spread. He got a card each from Mommy and Daddy and a few gifts in addition to his cake.

One of his gifts was a soft new blanket. Since I finally got the lettering done on his blanket crate, I used it to hold the blanket and his small gifts.

In an upcoming post I'll share the camouflage painting technique I used for the lettering.

You can click here to read about the day I found his blanket crate for $1!

Can you see the bib? It says '1st Birthday Boy', and I used it for some cute photos. Afterward I packed it away with the birthday decor. I like the idea of getting it out each year so much that I even went into Baby Girl's memory box and retrieved hers as well. Sweet memories!

Inside the Crate

Here you can see the Little Man's blue camouflage blanket, a piggy bank and three small gifts from Baby Girl.

We have given each of our children a piggy bank at a young age as a way to encourage saving.
Before he leaves for work in the morning, Husby leaves little piles of pocket change out for the kids to find. I help them divide the money equally and we talk about saving and banking. We also talk about what savings should be used for, and how often things like toys should be purchased. Piggy banks are a great way to start teaching good spending habits!

I am so pleased with Baby Girl and her three little gifts.
When her Gramma took her to McDonald's, Baby Girl saved the book she got in her happy meal. When she went to Aunt Leslie's birthday party, she used the tickets she won from the games to purchase a small note book. And when she was rewarded for good behavior at school, Baby Girl chose a small super hero marker from her classroom's treasure chest. Each of these items she brought home and tucked away to give to her little brother on his first birthday. She did this all on her own, without anyone telling her to. She also wrapped the gifts herself. I am so proud of the thoughtfulness, love and generosity she has demonstrated!

We ended this double birthday day with a nice steak dinner....another Husby choice ;)
It won't be long and the Little Man will be old enough to make requests as well....I'm seeing a lot of double dinners in my future.....:D

That was our celebration, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Valentine's Day (2015)

We had a sweet and simple Valentine holiday last weekend.

Read on to see how we celebrated!

Pretty Valentines

I was all set to purchase Baby Girl store bought Valentines. I was sure she would want Frozen, but she surprised me by deciding to make her own. Yay!

We chose three different pieces of scrapbook paper and I used a cookie cutter to trace the heart shapes (I helped with the cutting too). Baby girl then went to town with her glue stick and some Dollar Tree glitter foam hearts. She had a good time deciding which colored Valentine to give to each classmate, and wrote their names all by herself.

Click here to see how the leftover foam hearts were used for our Valentine Decor.

Valentine Jar

Baby Girl surprised me with this beautiful tissue paper covered canning jar that she made at school. I love it so much! It goes really well with the rest of our Valentine decor :)

Valentine Treats

I put these little gift bags together for Husby and the Kiddos.

The kids each received a tiny box of chocolate.

Baby Girl was delighted to find a lip gloss and alphabet rubber stamps that she could use to practice her writing with.

Little Man enjoyed a set of animal finger puppets.

Husby was gifted with a bag of Ghiradelli chocolate.

You know I like to keep it fun and simple, each of these gifts was put together for $5!

Fun Fact: Little Man's finger puppet set contains an elephant, tiger, monkey, zebra and giraffe and are intended to be used as bath tub toys. I had both kids in the tub and was trying to teach Little Man the correct animal sounds when I picked up the giraffe......what the heck does a giraffe say????

Thanks to a smart phone, I was able to sit with them and Google at the same time. It turns out that adult giraffes don't make noises, but the baby ones do! We found a recording and they thought that was pretty funny :D

Husby Gift Wrap

This Walgreens bag makes me smile more than any fancy paper and bow ever could!

He even double knotted it ;)

Chocolates

My milk glass pedestal bowl is now filled up with Lindor dark chocolate. Husby bought me two bags....I'm pretty sure it's because he plans on 'helping' me eat them..hee hee hee!

Tiny Boxes of Chocolate

These are the miniature chocolate boxes from the kid's gift bags.

Baby Girl is our 'Love Bug' and Little Man is our 'Rock Star' :D

Stained Glass Heart

Baby Girl also received this beautiful stained glass heart from her Papa.
He made this from scratch all on his own. Gorgeous talent!

That was our Valentine's Day, I hope yours was just as sweet!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Crepe Paper Valentine Wreath (2015)

When I was unpacking my Valentine decor this year, I pulled out a heart-shaped wreath form that I had forgotten about. When I bought it (treasure hunting) I envisioned covering it with solid red roses...

..but I ended up finding another wreath that will work much better for that project. So what to do? Well a few days later I was sifting through Pinterest and found a gorgeous crepe paper rose tutorial from Amy at the Idea Room

I knew I had to try it out! Take a look:

Materials

A heart shaped Styrofoam wreath form and a couple of red crepe paper rolls.

The wreath form was a .25 treasure hunting find and the crepe paper rolls are sold 2 for $1 at Dollar tree. Since I only used one roll, this project came in at a total of .75!

You can click here to read more about this treasure hunting find.

Red Heart

The first thing I did was wrap the form in the crepe paper.

I recommend gently stretching the crepe paper to avoid wrinkles, and hot glue was perfect for keeping everything in place.

Rosebuds

The next step was to create several of these adorable crepe paper rosebuds.

Click here to see an excellent tutorial from Amy at the Idea Room

Rosebuds in Place

After making the rosebuds, I glued them into two clusters on the wreath.

And there you have it: an easy, inexpensive project completed in one afternoon.

Simple as that!

The Finished Wreath

Here the wreath is pictured hanging at the front door.

Later I ended up moving it to the dining room window, before finally positioning it on one of my bookshelves. I thought it looked better without the wreath hanger.

On the Shelf

Sometimes you just gotta keep tweaking things until you get them right :)

I hope you enjoyed this how-to post and thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

For more great ideas, visit Amy at the Idea Room by clicking here

Friday, February 13, 2015

Valentine Print Art (2015)

Earlier this week I shared with you my Valentine decor.
You may have noticed my Valentine print art in the background.

(Inspiration for each of these was found on Pinterest)

Dining Room

Click here to read more about my Valentine decor.

Keep scrolling to see my Valentine print art in better detail!

Baby Girl's Print Art

This poster was made with Baby Girl's 3-year-old feet. I used a pencil to lightly trace the letters and then stamped out the V using her cute little tootsies. After the foot prints had dried, I went back with a brush to add in the rest of the letters.

Print's From the Little Man

I made this one last year with the Little Man's 3-week-old baby feet. Like with the poster for Baby Girl, I first used a pencil to trace the design. Then I painted one foot, made a print, cleaned the foot and repeated the process again with the next. Little Man slept through the whole thing ;)

Fast forward and now Baby Girl is 5 and the Little Man is already 1. I'm so glad to have these prints made with their cute little feet!

I'm hoping everyone has a fantastic Valentine's Day this weekend, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Valentine Decor (2015)

It's almost Valentine's Day!
Come on in and see how I like to decorate!

Dining Room

Here is a shot containing most of my Valentine decor.
Keep scrolling to see everything in greater detail.

Red Roses

As some of you may know, I spent 13 years working in a florist shop. Of all the flowers and all the colors, red roses have always been my absolute favorite! But I hated the fact that they last only a few days, especially compared to the expense. I still wanted to have red roses as part of my Valentine decor, so of course I turned to fabric flowers!

I purchased these amazing long-stem red roses from Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago. I can't remember the price, but I do remember that they were half-off. And I also remember that I had a $50 gift card that covered these flowers, greenery and the cupcakes/chocolate cake that you will see in a bit.

I love the fact that these roses look amazingly real (lots of people have been fooled by them), and they stay beautiful the entire month of February. I also like how easy it is to store them away when I switch to spring.

Side Note: Husby used to buy me roses, but once I started working in a florist I kindly suggested that he could stop. After seeing how much a rose actually costs, compared to the retail mark-up, compared to the extra mark-up added for the Valentine holiday, I just couldn't stand it! I guess you could say I became a little jaded over the price discrepancy......

Now he picks me wildflowers during the spring/summer/early fall and I like that a whole lot better :)

Close-Up

Left: Here you can better see the 'jewels' I used as vase filler. I found these red plastic gems while treasure hunting, and knew they would look great as filler for my Valentine vase. I also like the fact that they are pretty heavy because they also keep the vase from tipping over.

Right: I couldn't resist taking a close-up of these gorgeous faux roses!

Sparkly Hearts

I have a lot of sparkly hearts in various sizes. Pictured here are heart shaped ornaments that I purchased on clearance, I think for .25 each.

The red rose bud is actually made of wood and was a gift from the hospital when I had Little Man last year. I got out of the shower and found a food tray and a red rose at my bed. Sweet!

Glass Jars

Here I have a couple of jars containing fabric rose petals and one jar filled with sparkly foam hearts. I have had the petals forever and most likely found them treasure hunting. The foam hearts are left over from Baby Girl's valentine project. She decided that she wanted to make her own valentines for her classmates and we found these hearts at Dollar Tree.

Hats & Hearts

Top: Husby's Aunt Mary & family sent this adorable stocking hat to the Little Man last year. I got to take some really cute pictures of him wearing it. Now that he has outgrown it, it's part of our Valentine decor.

Bottom: I filled a trifle bowl with these plastic conversation hearts. I found them last summer while treasure hunting and while they would make great treat containers, I have been using them for photo props.

Click here to read about the conversation hearts.

Hearts & Chocolate

Another trifle bowl filled with sparkly hearts sits next to a framed print.

I bought a bunch of scrapbooking papers at a yard sale for $1 last summer. Once I got home I found this chocolate print among them. I popped it into an extra photo frame and there you have it, Valentine art!

Glass Jars & A Valentine

These containers are filled with miniature hearts that used to be floral picks. I pulled them off of there sticks and stuck them into jars. Next to them is a framed Valentine that Baby Girl made at her Gramma's house. I love it!

Strawberry Topped Cake

This is a Styrofoam cake that I purchased on eBay a few years ago. It's weird, it's unexpected, it's completely unnecessary, it's totally me! And it was my birthday, so I went for it.

I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but I loved it so very much. Finally the light bulb clicked on and I realized that I could incorporate sweet treats into my Valentine display, and the rest is history!

Chocolate Strawberry Cake

Tadaa! This is the fake cake from Hobby Lobby that I mentioned earlier. Is it not the most wonderful thing you have ever seen? ....No?....Just me?....Hahaha!

Close-Up

You know what the funny thing is? I don't even eat a lot of sweets. I have a blood sugar issue (hypoglycemia) and I have to be careful not to eat a lot of sugar. Otherwise my already high metabolism kicks into overdrive and (ironically) end up with lower blood sugar than before. Then I faint and stuff....fun times! :D

Put a real cake in front of me and I'm like, 'ehhh, no thanks' because I know it will make me sick. I don't even crave it. Put a fake cake in front of me and it's, "Take my money now!!!"

Cupcakes!

These too are faux. Can you stand it? I can't! I just want to hold them all day!

These too are from Hobby lobby

Close-Up

I am determined to either find or make faux chocolates like the ones on top of these cupcakes. I think it would be so cute to have a Valentine box of fake chocolates. And I know some little people who would enjoy playing with it ;)

Heart Wreath

Currently I have this shiny, tinsel-y, red garland heart wreath on the front door. I'm going to be honest and say I don't really love it. It looks a bit too much like Christmas tree garland for my taste.

What I do love is the heavy duty heart-shaped wreath form that it is attached too. It was a .50 treasure hunting find, so I bought it with the intention of re-styling it. I know I want it to contain red fabric roses, but I'm still thinking about the details. For now it hangs on the door as is.

Kitchen Decor

Left: On the counter top I have this ceramic red velvet cake pan and cupcake. The cake pan was a recent treasure hunting find. The cupcake I pulled out of my bakers cabinet.

Click here to read about the cake pan.

Click here to read about the bakers cabinet full of treat inspired decor.

Lovey Ducks

Annnnnd we have a little family of Valentine ducks in the kids bathroom :)

That wraps up my Valentine decor for now. I'll be back with a Valentine wreath how-to, flower photos from a Daddy-Daughter dance, Valentine print art and a post about how we celebrated the Little Man's actual birthday.

Side Note: Valentine's Day means that spring is almost here, and that means that it's getting close to being one year since starting this blog. I can't believe how fast it went. Thanks to each and every one of my readers, all around the globe!

On that note, I hope you enjoyed my sparkly Valentine decor. Thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer