Bird Cages

Here is a look at the latest addition to my etsy shop...

Details:

Size:  11x14 (set of 3)

Materials:  Acrylic on Canvas

Check out Elizabeth Lauren on Etsy here!

With whimsy~

Whimsy Words: 7

Image from den10studio

4th of July Freebies!!!

It's not too late to put the finishing touches on your Fourth of July get together!

Check out these fabulous 4th of July Freebies...

Freebie #1:  Tweedle Dee Designs has everything you need to create a fun get together (cupcake toppers, water bottle covers, banners, invites, ever a little something extra for drinking straws)

Image and Freebie via Tweedle Dee Designs

Freebie #2:  Subway art from eighteen25

Image and Freebie via eighteen25

Freebie #3:  "Red Hot" treat tags and cupcake toppers from The Crafting Chicks

Image and freebie via The Crafting Chicks

Image and Freebie via The Crafting Chicks

Freebie #4:  Red, White, and Blue Pinwheel printable from Martha Stewart

Image and Freebie via Martha Stewart

Freebie #5:  America Banner from At Second Street

Image and Freebie via at Second street

Freebie #6:  A variety of 4th of July coloring pages for your little ones from primarygames.com

image and Freebie via primarygames.com

Have a happy 4th!!!

With whimsy~

P is for Party

Recently, a good friend of mine, Leslie, created a Perfect Party for her little one's 5th Birthday.

Take a look!

The Theme:  

• The Letter ~P~

The Color Scheme:

• Pink & Purple

The Invitation:

• Leslie found a great custom designer, 505 design+paperie, via Etsy.  

Location:  

• The Birthday Girl's Backyard

The Decorations:

• All of the Party decorations were in the pink and purple color scheme with a touch of Princess.
• Pink and Purple Pom Poms (click here for an easy tutorial) added Pops of color through out the Party.  
• Pink and Purple Birthday Banner via 505 Design+Paperie
• Pink and Purple Princess labels for the food and favor table via 505 Design+Paperie

Cupcake Topper & Printable food Label images from here

The Attire:

• The guests were asked to wear their favorite Pajamas. 
• As we arrived the kids entered a Pink & Purple Photo Booth to take a themed pic as Pirates and Princesses.

The Activities:

• All of the activities started with, of course, the letter P.
• (Pony Races, Puzzles, Painting Puppies, Pouncing in a Princesses Palace, and a Pinata filled with Putty, Playdough, Puppy stickers, and Pencils )

The Food:

• Snacks: Pretzles, Potatoe chips, Pirates Booty, Popcorn, Cheese Puffs
• Drinks: Pour your own Potion (Kool Aid singles in a variety of flavors could be added to the guests water bottles)

Lunch:  

• Pizza & Pineapple

The Dessert:

• Yummy Pink and Purple cupcakes and a Princess themed Birthday Cake.

The Favors:

• The kiddos filled their Party bags with a Plethora of treats at the letter ~P~ candy bar!!

What was included in the Letter P candy bar?

• Peanut Butter Cups
• Pop Rocks
• Pixy Stix
• Popcorn Balls - Find the recipe here
• Peppermints
• Peanut Butter MMs
• Peppermint Patties
• Pink and Purple Peeps
• Tootsie Pops

The favor table decor was also accented with Pink and Purple mini Pinwheels!   

(Is there anything Leslie didn't think of?!)

Props to Leslie for Putting together this Particularly Perfect ~P~ themed Party!!!

Thanks for sharing your party with us Leslie!

With whimsy~

A shared room...

Here is a look at my latest completed custom order:

The specifics:

• This order was unique in that it was for a brother(2 1/2 yrs.) and sister(5 yrs.) that will soon be sharing a room.  
• Boys bedding: Circo's Sport Quilt Set
• Girls bedding:  Circo's Happy Flower Bedding Collection - Purple
• Wall color: soft green.
• The client knew that she wanted the two pieces of art to coordinate while displaying each child's own individual interests.
• Nicholas' interests: sports, superheros, cars, planes, and trains.
• Alexis' interests: princesses, butterflies, fairies, and flowers.  Favorite color:  dark purple.

Here are the sketch options that were created:

• In all of the sketches I focused on dark blue and dark purple as the primary colors
• I used a light baby blue in both pieces in order to add unity between the two paintings.

My client chose sketch #2, but wanted to change the layout from vertical to horizontal.

Here is a look at the finished paintings:

These paintings will easily grow with Alexis and Nicholas through out the years.

With whimsy~

Whimsy Words: 6

Image from here

With whimsy~

featured party!!!

I am thrilled to announce that M's construction themed 2nd Birthday party was discovered by babylifestyles.com and is their current featured 'real' party'!!!

Babylifestyles.com is an awesome place to find tons of inspiration for children's birthday parties, nursery decor, the latest in hollywood's parenting news. Check them out!!!

Check out M's 'Real Party' feature here.

A big thank you to Tara, the editor from babylifestyles.com,  for discovering my blog and wanting to feature M's fun Birthday party!  What an honor!!!

I "dig" babylifestyles.com!

With whimsy~

family portrait

The summer fun jar:  'Let's DO'
The activity chosen at random:  Make a family portrait 

My busy little bee:

The finished family portrait:

(GG will probably be disappointed at how "un-fancy" she was drawn. Sorry, GG... ;)   )

C is LOVING the summer fun jars!

I am loving the power of them and how happy they make my little one on long summer days.

With whimsy~

You ROCK, Pops!

Hope everyone had an awesome Father's day!  I know we sure did!  It was a day filled with a delicious breakfast shared with tons of family from near and far,  a lazy afternoon, Texas barbecue, and cupcakes!

This year we decided to make a fun home-made gift for Pops. (C and M's grandfather, my Daddio)

Pops LOVES dominoes and has a few sets; some old, some new, some from cool destinations he has traveled to, some given as gifts.....  but no domino sets for an outside area or even home-made.  Light bulb!

Here is how to make rock dominoes:

Materials Needed: 

• River Rocks (Michael's or Hobby Lobby)
• white paint pen

How many dominoes are in a full double six domino set?

• 28

Need a visual?

• click here

C and I referenced this full set of dominoes while making Pops' set.

Here is a look at how the home-made set that C made for Pops turned out:

The process...

The full set...

The presentation...

The dominoes were given in a galvanized bucket to keep on the back porch with a special message attached: You 'ROCK' Pops! (get it? Cheesy, I know..... But SO cute, right?)

Also included with the dominoes was a personalized rock that said : Love, C and M, 2011 (you know, for memories sake.)

These are not only a creative and heartfelt gift for Father's day, but would be perfect on any occasion for that special guy in your life.  

With whimsy~

paper-bag flowers

Recently, a group of my favorite people got together for a potluck backyard barbecue.
I brought the ice cream sundae bar and the decorations. :)


The decorations:  Paper-bag flowers

They were super easy to make and added a fun POP of color.

Want to make them?

Materials needed:

• Colored paper-bags ( I found mine at HEB in the party section)
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Double sided tape
• Ribbon

The tutorial:  


Click here to see the easy tutorial by marthastewart.com.


Try them... your guests will love them!!!


With whimsy~

little birdies

My 'Little Birdies' paintings have been one of the most popular designs so far.

They are inspired by the Pottery Barn Kid's Hayley Nursery Bedding.

You can currently find an 11x14 set in my Etsy Shop.



Want to purchase these paintings?  click here.

Want them, but need them in a different size?  Just contact me here to start your custom order.



The Inspiration:

Image from here

With whimsy~

Whimsy Words: 5

Image from here

Want to purchase this print from The Ink Society via Etsy?  click here

With whimsy~

Mama Like: Coverplay

Ok, so if this product existed when C and M were infants I truly missed out.

Product:  Coverplay
Where can you find it?  :  All over the place (amazon, babiesrus, etc.)




How awesome is this product?


A slip cover for portable play yards, love it.

Why do I love it?

It's perfect for travel...

There were so many times that we traveled to hotels where I found myself completely grossed out by the hotel's pack n play crib options.  You never know where that crib had been... (no offense to the sweet, clean, and healthy baby that had the crib before us), but come on... you all know what I am talking about.  ;)

Oh yeah, and it comes with it's own travel case.  Perfect!

It's stylin'.......

If you are one that uses a pack and play every day in your own home, the coverplay is a great way to hide any crazy baby-ish pattern.  I love the all white soft cover seen above.

It's washable.......

Yes, washable!!!  How much easier is it to toss the coverplay in the wash rather than trying to figure out how to clean the pack n play.  Soooo much easier, right?


Love this product!

With whimsy~

Fruit Pizza

The Jar:  'LET'S EAT':
The treat chosen at random:  FRUIT PIZZA

Let's get started:

1. Gather ingredients:  Pizza Stone (or cookie sheet), sugar cookie dough, 8 oz. cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, fruit (C chose blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, & peaches), apple jelly.
2. Spread sugar cookie dough out into one large round disc.  Bake at your specific recipe's directions. Let cool completely.
3. Make the frosting:  Mix together one 8 oz. package of cream cheese (room temp. works best),       1 cup powdered sugar, & 1 tsp vanilla. (refrigerate until ready for use)
4. Slice fruit.

      5.  Spread cream cheese frosting onto cooled cookie crust.

      6.  Arrange sliced fruit on top.  After fruit is arranged on pizza, glaze with apple jelly (optional).

           To glaze:  Stir apple jelly well and drizzle (or brush) over fruit.  

      7.  Take in all of it's beauty!  Slice and serve.

      8.  Enjoy!   mmmmm mmmmm.

Wasn't that easy?

C enjoyed this cooking experiment so much!  (M enjoyed eating it.) 

Such a great way to get your little ones in the kitchen.  

With whimsy~

Chevr'on' my mind

I am borderline obsessed with anything CHEVRON!.  chevron rugs, chevron textiles, chevron wall details, chevron artwork.  You name it I love it....

What is chevron?:   V shaped or zig zag pattern 
(cousin to the herringbone)

Image from here

Here is a look at some creative nursery designs and details that showcase my favorite pattern:

Image via  Carousel Designs

Image via Charm Home

Image via House Thirty-Six

Image via Midwest Magnolia

Image via  Somewhere Splendid

Image via The Farmer Family

Image via Our Humble Abowed

A few more "grown up" chevron inspirations:

Image Source:

1. black/white chevron chair

2. chevron kitchen

3. chevron painting

4. chevron table runner

With whimsy~

Ladybugs

This order was created for a sweet friend of mine, G.  She was going to be hosting a baby shower and was looking for the perfect gift to give the new Mommy-to-be, as well as table decor for the actual shower.
G knew that she like my style of children's paintings, specifically my little birdies set. She wanted similar paintings that incorporated ladybugs in order to better coordinate with the crib bedding .
(Circo Ladybug's Paradise bedding collection).

The Inspiration:

The Sketch Options:

(G chose sketch # 2)

The Finished Paintings:

I loved how these turned out!

G displayed the artwork at the baby shower by placing them on small easels upon the serving table.  (What a great idea! )

With whimsy~