Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving!  This is my favorite holiday of the year!  It is a perfect time to get together with family, but without the added pressure of buying gifts.  Truly just a time to gather and be thankful for our loved ones!

How do you celebrate!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kari

My Summer (and first) Mantle - Beach Inspired

My Summer and (first) Mantle

 
I have been absent for some time...we moved, went on vacation, and both my girls are now in school and we are all getting settled.  We moved from our first home built in 2000 to one built in 1957.  I love the character of our "new" home.  I can't wait to share it with you!
 
I am so excited to have my first fireplace!  Here in Phoenix, they are more for show than function.  I would drool with all the fabulous mantle styling I would see on link parties and Pinterest.  I am so excited to share my first MANTLE - My Summer Mantle, with you!
 
My mantle is beach inspired.  A wish to get away from the ever present heat.

We took the girls to the beach this summer.  It was my youngest daughter's first trip to the ocean, and my oldest was a baby so it was a first time again for her.  While there, I picked up another faux coral.  If you saw my Succulent and Shell centerpiece, it was my backdrop.

 

My shell picture used to be in my living room of my old house, and the mirror in our bedroom. 

The blue vase was my great grandmother's.

If you saw my bathroom in my old house, you would recognize my white coral.  And my favorite books make another debut.  First bought for my Grandma's 80th birthday party (for $2.00) I have found they go with any theme!  Here they are at my Easter Décor.

We went to Hunnington Beach and Newport Beach, California this summer.  I collected the drift wood in the jar.  The barnacle was purchased at my favorite store in Laguna Beach.  The gold "coined" plate was used in my St. Patrick's Day Decor Entryway

 

Now time to get ready for Fall!

 

 What do you think about the fireplace color?  it was painted white when we moved in.  I can't decide if it should be a color or not.  My husband likes it white.  It is neutral, but is it too plain?

 

I would love to hear your thoughts!




Linking Up:


 

 

 

 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the cutest birthday theme!

Happy Summer!  I was pinning on Pinterest and got distracted with the cutest party ideas for "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" party theme!

I love this gender neutral theme and would be great for a kid's birthday party or a baby shower.

I just love the bright colors, and the story always brings a smile to my face with all of the beautiful illustrations!

Love this tablescape from Project Nursery

 

 

 

 Cute and easy details Catch My Party - Curtis' 1st B'day

 

 

 

 Food!!  from Cotton Bottom Mama

 

 

Bright and Fun Favors - Catch My Party - Brooklyn's Party

 

 

What's your favorite?

 

 

 

The Style of the Kentucky Derby - HATS!

Today is the Kentucky Derby, and with it are a lot of fun traditions.
 

 

When I was about 14, I went with my family to Churchill Downs where they run the Kentucky Derby.  It wasn't the day of the big race, but we still got to take in the experience of horse racing, mint juleps (I had the non-alcoholic version) and the HATS!
 
I love hats, but sadly this day and age people don't wear hats everyday.  I wish there were more reasons to wear hats.  Today I celebrate the amazing hats and style of the derby!

 

 

 

 

 

Hat Source

 

 

 

Which hat is your favorite?

To get in the spirit, here is the original Mint Julep recipe from the Kentucky Derby Website!

The Early Times Mint Julep Recipe

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• Sprigs of fresh mint
• Crushed ice
• Early Times Kentucky Whisky
• Silver Julep Cups

Make a simple syrup by boiling sugar and water together for five minutes. Cool and place in a covered container with six or eight sprigs of fresh mint, then refrigerate overnight. Make one julep at a time by filling a julep cup with crushed ice, adding one tablespoon mint syrup and two ounces of Early Times Kentucky Whisky. Stir rapidly with a spoon to frost the outside of the cup. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

ENJOY!

Happy Easter! My Spring Entry Table

Happy Easter!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Easter.  It is such a fun time of year with the kids.  My girls love looking for easter eggs around the yard.  When I was a kid we would hide real eggs around the yard.  But, now with plastic eggs it is way more exciting to see what is inside the eggs once you find them. Grandma likes to hide change and candy.  Chocolate doesn't do too well in our warm Arizona climate!

I have dressed up my entry table for Easter, and kept it simple and vintage this year.  I reused some of the elements from my St. Patrick's Day decor.  I also made a wreath that I am really excited about.

 Love these vintage style burlap eggs I found from Hobby Lobby.  And the cute chick I found in the dollar spot for two at Target.

My mother-in-law got me this darling vintage bunny bowl a couple of years ago for Easter.  I love it!  My books make a debut again.  They stay on the table and I just move them around to fit the rest of my decor.  They are perfect and well worth the $2.00 I paid for them at a yard sale!

This jug was on sale from Michael's that I bought months ago, and the plate from Tuesday Morning on clearance. 

I added a spring wreath on my burlap board I bought 50% off at Hobby Lobby!  I think the colors tie everything in and are perfect for Spring!

 I wrapped a Styrofoam wreath I got for .25 and I already used it for my daughter's Safari Party.  I wrapped it with crossgrain ribbon in a rich Tiffany Blue.   

I added a coral pink crossgrain ribbon as a warm accent and two peach puff flowers.  I love the cool and warm together.  I added a vintage inspired ribbon to hang with keys to tie the look together.  This took me only 10 minutes, and I didn't have a plan before I put this together.  I was going to tie knots of cut ribbon, but I decided that was too fussy.  I will do a full tutorial soon, some come back to see!

I would love to hear your thoughts!  Feel free to share links back to your Easter decor, recipes, etc!

Thanks for Hopping by!  Happy Easter!

Happy Spring - My St. Patrick's Day Decor

Happy Spring!  So, I am a little late but wanted to share with you my St. Patrick's Day decor.  Since I don't have a fireplace mantle, and my dining room table is my "design studio" I have been using my entry table to display holiday decor.

I have never decorated for St. Patrick's Day before, but I found a cute "Lucky" shamrock and had to show it off.

 

The rest of the items, I repurposed from items I

bought for various events.

 

 

 

The moss stones were left over from my St. Patrick's Day project from last year.  Placed on a cream and gold plate.

This white wooden crate, I bought for my grandmother's 80th Birthday party.  It still has the fabric strips from her party.  The berries are from my fall decor.  The little pig was from my mother-in-law for Christmas.  (It's my favorite animal.)

I bought these awesome vintage books also for my Grandma's party, for $2.00 total at a yard sale.

This fabulous little burlap tackboard was 50% at Hobby Lobby recently.  I think it is a perfect backdrop to my Lucky shamrock.

Here's me in my new green sweater from Banana Republic.  It was on sale and an additional 40% off that!  Perfect for St. Patty's day.

What's your favorite detail?  Feel free to share your link for your St. Patrick's Day decor!

Here's my St. Patrick's Day decor- 3-minute door hanging from last year.

 

Shabby Apple- Sale Right now!

Loving these gorgeous graphic skirts from Shabby Apple.































Surf's Up Skirt







 
Riptide Skirt


Tiber Skirt

Sneak Peek - St. Patrick's Day Decor and Wardrobe

A sneak peek of my St. Patrick's Day Entry

and me!

 

I found some items around my home to repurpose for St. Patrick's Day decorations. 

I will share with you soon the details.

 

I also had to dress the part.  I found this fun green cardigan at Banana Republic recently.  It was on sale, and they took an additional 40% off!  Love when that happens.

 

My husband (it's not his favorite) asked why don't I save it for St. Patrick's Day.  :)  I love the bright green paired with denim.

 

Before I share the details, do you remember this simple 3 minute project I made last year for St. Patrick's Day?

 

 

 3-Minute St. Patrick's Day Hanging

 

 

See you soon!