A Very Merry Unbirthday to You!

Well, I guess you can't really call this an "Unbirthday," but it definitely wasn't a birthday party. Then again, it wasn't a baby shower either.

I have been wanting to make an "Ombre" cake since I first saw it on Pinterest!
So happy with the way it turned out!

You see, this is my sister's third child, but it's her first little girl. I guess you could call what we had a "Baby Sprinkle." These are all the rage now. Since Brooke had lots of little boy stuff but nothing for a little girl, we thought it would be fun to have a super girly tea party so we could "sprinkle" her with love and goodies for her newest addition!

These were so much fun to create! I am glad I had canvases on hand! :) 

I feel like our apartment just works really well for a "Mad Hatter" Tea Party. 

Mom, the flowers were PERFECT!
(and by the way, Evan does not want them to die! He keeps watering them!)

This type of party embodies everything I love about little girls. We had tea sets all around, pink and green decorations, flowers everywhere, tiny tea sandwiches, cupcakes and a VERY pink cake!

AND I GOT TO BUY GIRL CLOTHES!

Ok. Slight confession here: Evan bought the clothes. I was so busy the week leading up to the sprinkle that I didn't have time to go by and pick up what I wanted to get my new little niece, Lila Brynn. I didn't go before this week because I knew Carter's was about to start their massive baby sale! I just love that place. Anyway, the morning of the shower, as I was putting the finishing touches on the bar back, Evan went to Carter's. Alone. And he picked out the cutest darn things ever. We are so in trouble if we ever end up having girls. 

This is my favorite thing Evan picked up! 

Brooke's friends got her some of the cutest things too!! :)

Monograms are so cute!

Almost too cute to use!

Precious little dresses! Girls are so much fun!

Mom found the pink chenille horse at the Yellow Daisy Festival!
It was made from old bedspreads! How neat!

While he was running errands for me, I was cleaning, organizing and decorating. My absolute best friend in the world (and I'm not just saying that so she'll come over and clean again, but I also would never refuse her if she offered that!!), Genesis, came over a little early to help. My mom also showed up and brought all the yummy goodies she and my Aunt Holly had prepared. We had yummy fruit salad, pasta salad, cucumber sandwiches and the tastiest punch I've ever had! I could never have gotten everything done in time if it hadn't been for them!

I used the fabric for Lila Brynn's nursery as my inspiration for the invites!

Mom did SUCH a great job with these banners!
I am wondering if I can use them again...

Brooke LOVES pasta salad! Mom and Holly made the yummiest I've ever had!

Confession: I did not make these. Evan bought them.
Sometimes convenience trumps creativity! 

Genesis made the lemon squares and I made the cake (of course!) and we had such a lovely set-up. We were so happy to have all Brooke's close friends and the ladies of the family!

I didn't make these either. That goes out to Gen! 

Ashley, our cousin-in-law, had her very own Lyla just 3 weeks ago.
She looks pretty amazing already! Way to set the bar WAY too high, Ashley.
(note: I will NOT look this good that early...sorry, babe.)

My best friend, my awesome sister and probably the world's best Aunt!
I am so lucky to have such wonderful women in my life!

You've always got to have an "eating" shot. This is proof they enjoyed themselves!

As always, I couldn't have done all of this without you, Gen!

The beautiful guest of honor! You do NOT look 8 months along!!

I won't bore you with all of the nitty gritty details! If you want details, I'll give them to you! Thank you to everyone who helped and I loved celebrating this exciting new addition to our family! :) 

Again, I must say, I cannot believe you are 8 months along.
P.S. Mom and Holly made this awesome headpiece for Brooke to wear at the shower
and for Lila Brynn to wear when she plays dress up! Sweet!

Lila Brynn, we cannot wait to meet you! 

One Man's Trash...

Is our awesome new dining room!!! I know it's been a hot minute since I blogged last, but we've been extremely busy. You know, the Olympics have been going on. Now, we don't have cable, but I've been super pumped about it at work and I've been spending a lot of time decorating there. I'll be sure to upload pics of that later. 

But, while I've been extremely busy at work, Evan and I have also been really busy at home! See, we have this really awesome friend, Genesis, whose dad had this awesome table. I had seen this thing on Pinterest...

Check out the AWESOME Blog this came from

So I decided I wanted to replicate it. But I couldn't find the same stencil. Or anything close to it. But I also wasn't willing to wait for something I ordered online to come in. Ever get that bug in your butt about finishing a project IMMEDIATELY? That's me every single time I get an idea...

Anyway, I went to Michael's and found a Martha Stewart stencil. And then I stared at it...and tried to figure out how I wanted to lay it all out. And I stared at it for over an hour...

And then I decided I might want to sand it before I got a headache from trying to figure out how to lay everything out. Cali decided to help. By licking the sandpaper. Have I mentioned that she's not very bright?

And then I started to paint. And that took forever. I mean, like...FOREVER. Evan actually went out, had drinks with his friend, Jeff, and came home before I was even close to being done.

Now, Ashley from Domestic Imperfection stained over her paisley table. Since our table had been previously stained or treated or something, I decided that I was just going to varnish over ours. I have yet to do this. I got too impatient and wanted to put it all back together. And use it. I'll get to it eventually.

But I did manage to paint the legs and the bottom lip of the table.

Evan did varnish them while I was at work. It took forever for them to dry. But the table looks really great!

After that was done, I really wanted to use the table...but we had no chairs. But THEN, Gen's awesome mom had these chairs she didn't want anymore! So I gladly took them off her hands! 

Now...they didn't exactly match our decor. And they had a nice layer of dirt on them. So I scrubbed them clean and took the covers off the pads. Mercedes was VERY happy with the "lilypads" we had sitting in the living room for a few days. 

We had friends coming over for dinner last night and I had a day off...so naturally, I repainted them and recovered them. It was a really busy day! 

Now, Gen's mom only had 5 of these chairs. We really need a 6th one. If you happen to have this EXACT SAME chair, please message me! I know the chances are slim, but it would really be great! 

Here's the finished product...our dining room is really coming together! 

And this adorable bird cupcake dish is courtesy of my amazing mother-in-law!
Red velvet cupcakes courtesy of me. :) 

Once we get the bar built in the back, we'll be all set! Can't wait to show everyone the finished product!!

Oh, and here is our newly-built Cali area. I love having all of her stuff in one place!

I promise she has more toys than this...she just doesn't put them away. Ever. 

Thanks to Ben and Phyllis for her adorable Georgia bowls! We all love them!