Girls Night

This pat weekend I got together with an amazing friend that I’ve known since the first day of High School. It was fun to do some shopping and catch up over burgers and fries.

We did some people watching (and there’s A LOT to talk about in this mall), some updating on her upcoming wedding preparations and of course talked about our ex-boyfriends, you know…the usual girl talk 😀

We went to Johnny Rockets for some guilt-free burgers, fries and chocolate milkshake. Doesn’t it seem that when you’re sharing “bad” food with a close friend it feels like it almost doesn’t count as “bad”…that it’s justified? Hehehe, maybe it’s just me 😀

And of course I got to try on her beautiful, HUGE engagement ring…aahhh, so pretty on my short stubby fingers hehehe.

Like the coral color on my nails? It’s Essie of course. Speaking of nail polish, I must share with you what a nail polish freak she is…just look at her bag!!

I think it has to be like 5 lbs heavy! She has every color imaginable, just look at those corals, pink and blues…!!! I swear I think I could paint my nails a different color combination every week for a year and still have options left. I love having her as a friend 😛

Spending time with this old friend reminds me of this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”

I love being able to be silly, crazy and 100% myself with her.

Lesson of the day: Don’t take your friends for granted, nurture your friendships the same way you would a relationship.  Everyone needs special love and attention.

Much love, Elisa.

More Pinwheel!!

I came across some pinwheels sold by Crate & Barrel which I thought were just darling (and surprisingly inexpensive) but that prompted me to go on the hunt for some great DIY tutorials. To be completely honest I’ve never made one myself, they’ve just never really called my attention as a fun purposeful project or party theme (unless it’s for Fourth of July.) So on my hunt around Pinterest I was surprised to find so many beautiful pinwheel projects for so many different occasions. Conclusion: I’ve changed my mind about them, I love them now! Here are some of the awesome projects I’ve found so far…

Pinwheel Wreath

This pinwheel wreath is just adorable and very simple to make. It’s perfect for Spring and Summer depending on the colors. I think I’m going to modify this for a summer nautical theme and add some deep blues and reds…and stripes of course. Love stripes.

Pinwheel wreath from Neverland Nook

Pinwheel Wall Art

This one is just adorable and they look perfect frame along with these other cutie works of art. The pinwheels are made of felt and the bling bling in the middle is a vintage earring which can get from any thrift store. This would be a very easy DIY project where all you’d need is an old frame, old earrings and spray paint and a glue gun.  Head on over to Allison’s for a step by step. (by the way, looove her blog!)

Gift Topper

How about this gift topper designed by Patti Milazzo on fiskars.com. Next time you find your gift a little on the boring side just whip up one of these and spruce up the look. I’ve found that people appreciate the wrapping as muchand sometimes more) than the gift itself. A beautiful wrapping shows you took time and care about making that person smile. BTW…have you been to fiskars.com? It’s pretty cool and they have a neat project gallery.

gift topper designed by Patti Milazzo

Pinwheel Stationary

Looks like I’m not the only one that has the Pinwheel revelation. I just had to laugh while reading Kimberly’s  blog post “Seriously, you need a pinwheel right now. They are amazing. I have discovered if you add a pinwheel to anything, it suddenly becomes epically awesome. Have a piece of paper? Put a pinwheel on it! Have an ugly, plain wall? Put a pinwheel on it!” Just made me want to sing “if you liked it then you should ‘a put a ring on it”… But really, she has some beautiful pictures of her pinwheel stationary project.

Make your own cards

Giant Pinwheel

These giant pinwheels would be great for summer parties. I can just imagine the kids running around with them. These playful pinwheels were featured in the December 2008 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine. You can download the Flower Pinwheel pattern here.

Giant pinwheels...yes please, thank you!

Back to School Pinwheel

I think this is one of my favorite pinwheel DIYs, simply because I love vintage maps and travel themes. This would be a beautiful “back to school” little gift for teachers (better than an apple) or inspiration for a Back-to-School party. Guess what the best news is…you can just buy these on Etsy! The store owner is Betsy Ryan Hany and her store, Elizabeth St, is just darling.

Back to school

You can also buy this super cute Cake Topper from Pickled Parlor

Cake topper

…and since we’re getting into the party mood, let’s talk about Place Settings…

How cute are these???

Where did I come from? Who made me?

Farm Wedding Place Settings

…and here is another amazing example. These wedding pictures are to die for. I agree that “burlap table runners, mason jar vases and chalkboard signs are just a few of the details that made this wedding stand out”. Check out the rest of these southern country wedding  pictures here.

Pinwheel place settings

Baby Shower Favor Gift Boxes

Lastly but not least…you have to see this baby shower…A-MA-ZING! And the best part is that anyone can set up this beauty of a party, I swear! You can do it! Just keep in mind details like the flowers in the glass vases, lace cupcake toppers and rock candy keep it fresh and elegant. The most important trick to making your table a perfect 10 is keeping it perfectly simple.  Even though this table is your typical pink and white, the reason it looks elegant and not trite is that they stick to ONLY pink and white.

pink baby shower party favor topper

Photos are originally from Eat Drink Pretty.

As you can see the table is mostly white with pops of pink and details of green.

There aren’t any other patterns involved or competing colors.

Don’t you just want to have a baby now? hehe 🙂

OK, lovies…hope you enjoyed these as much as me. I hope I have inspired you to try making some fun loving pinwheels.

Elisa
Live.Play.Love

Giant Crepe Paper Flowers From Honestly…WTF

I’m sure by now everyone has seen these beautiful giant crepe paper flowers from Honestly…WTF (love those girls!!) but I just had to post about them! I am absolutely in love with these colors. I myself have never worked with sheets of crepe paper, only the small rolls we use for party streamers, and now I can’t wait to get my hands on some of these and try out my own projects.

Here is a quick rundown of the steps to make these beauties for for details head on over to Honestly…wtf.

WOW….can’t wait to make some of these myself.

They get their crepe paper from their “favorite (and the ultimate) boutique for creative inspiration, Castles In The Air” which is online so everyone can go buy some crepe paper and start making flowers. There’s no excuse…start making them!!

Share your pictures…I promise to share mine 🙂

Toodles, lovies! Have a beautiful Thursday!

-Elisa

Green With Envy

St. Patrick’s day s coming up and in honor of this day that turns everything from cookies to beer green I’d like to share are some beautiful GREEN arrangements.

Green is not really a color that jumps out at me as a common favorite color BUT green is all around us and it is vital in our lives…everything that is good for you is green! One of my favorites elements in an arrangement is moss and I am absolutely obsessed with succulents. But that will be another post. 

Here are the flowers…

Don’t you just want to hug this last one? It reminds me of Dr. Seuss 😀

This weekend I will attempt to make a green arrangement. I already dyed some paper in different shades of green as well as some light yellowish green hues. I’m really excited to make this green arrangement since it’s not a common color to find in flowers. I post some pictures as soon as I have them.

Toodles!

❤ Elisa 

Thrifty Nifty Shop

I couldn’t resist from returning to Flamingo Plaza this weekend. I have no idea why I went back…I didn’t really “have” to buy anything BUT there were so many amazing little items I just had to have! So I followed my own tips from my Thrift Finds post, gave myself a budget of $35.00 (that was all the cash-back Walgreens would give me, hehe) and on my way I went to find more treasures.

Red White and Blue Thrift Store

While I was browsing it came to me…I’m going to make a new Etsy shop where I can sell these awesome thrift store items!! This way I will give people who don’t have access to a thrift store the opportunity to still own some vintage treasures AND I still get to shop…YEY!!!

However now that I was shopping for other people I suddenly became more “price conscious” (a.k.a: stingy :P) I started noticing that some items were really overpriced and honestly I even felt a little insulted. It was obvious to me whoever was pricing these items had no idea what they were doing.

So when picking out items I asked myself these questions:
– Am I getting a good deal?
– Is this item functional?
– Is this item of good quality?
– How does this item fit into today’s modern home?
– Would I buy this item for myself?

Sadly I had to leave some pretty awesome (although the more expensive ones) behind. There was a bronze birdhouse that was really old and actually functional that I had to leave behind and I was so bummed about it. I imagined this in an modern home on some design books next to some bright pink flowers on the sofa side table…ahhhh, dreamy. BUT, I figured I’d open shop with the less expensive items and if I had a positive response then I’ll step up my game for the next shopping trip 🙂

So, without further ado…here is the new Nifty Thrifty Shop and here are some of the items for sale:

Two Vintage Avon Ruby Red Glass Cape Cod Pattern Berry/dessert Bowls Dinnerware

White flower vases for eggs - perfect for easter

Vintage Milk Glass round vase (Wedding Milk Glass -Wedding Decor -Shabby and Chic -Pedestals)

Vintage real brass candelabra

Vintage silver-tone embossed jewelry box

Steel party tray with wooden handle, three compartment

I hope people like the items that I have picked out and that someone is able to bring some of these treasures into their home.

O.K…have a happy week, lovies…keep it cool till next weekend 😉

Elisa

Flower Curtain

I’m so excited!! I received a request to make a flower curtain from a buyer on Etsy. I’ve been wanting to make some wedding related flower products to offer on Etsy and post about in the blog. So I’ll keep you posted on my flower curtain project. Here is a picture of the inspiration for the flower curtain as well as some other lovely wedding pictures.

Flower balls...these would also look beautiful hanging

Cupcake toppers

I have been dying to make cupcake toppers but haven’t tackled that project yet…maybe next weekend? If only I could somehow buy some time…sigh.

A-DO-RA-BLE!!!!

I can’t wait to make these…aren’t they just beautiful!!!

Isn’t this such a beautiful way to spruce up any food display. You can serve cake, cupcakes, desserts, ANYTHING and make it look just FAB!

Speechless

I just adore this cake! This is the most elegant, sweetest creation. And the most amazing part is that you can just use a regular, white ‘ol cake and dress it up in beauty and elegance.

Etherial

Flower crown…next weekend, for sure. Iv’e been putting this off for way too long now.

So there you go. I hope you enjoyed looking at these pictures as much as I did. My mind just wanders into idea dream land when I see these.

You can also follow me on Pinterest for more fun ideas and inpiration.

And check out my store on Etsy, Live.Play.Love

Have a beautiful weekend, lovies!

Elisa

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these pictures. They all came from Pinterest.

Share the awesomeness

What a beautiful and whimsical wedding. This playful mix of “simply romantic” and “carefree fun” is such an inspiration.