movie night

I am so close to showing you pictures of the new nursery...really, I am...but in the meantime, I had a few girlfriends over for a movie night last night and I thought I'd share just a few pics with you. Since my baby's due in less than three weeks, my goal for myself was to have this be as casual and easy as possible. So, I ordered pizzas and had everybody contribute their favorite junk food to the evening. I also held myself back from creating favors and any complicated decor, which turned out to be a good call, because simply trying to get the house clean enough for company just about did me in.


But, because I am who I am, I couldn't help creating invitations and having some sort of theme for decor. I'm sure I spent no more than $15, which was for a couple of tablecloths and paper goods.

I found some black sparkly ting (NO idea how to spell that) in my basement that was left over from another event.


I put the ting in a clear glass vase, anchored with rocks, and borrowed one of my daughter's feather boas from the dress-up clothes - which I then just taped around the vase to create wonderful foofy-ness. (I'm just sure that's a word.)

I found black and white napkins at Ikea which doubled as part of my centerpiece/table runner.

Combined with pink patterned napkins from Home Goods and black and white plates from Target, it created a fun, mismatched (but still coordinated) look.

Since I had one table for food and another for drinks, I found myself in need of a second centerpiece. So, I scrounged around the house and found the bouquet of white and pink flowers my hubby had given me for Valentine's Day. I took it apart and used the hot pink carnations from the bouquet in a vintage water glass for the second table.

I ran out of time and energy to take any pictures of food, but you can picture the scene...your girlfriends from high school...pizza...soda...candy...cookies...and a little Mamma Mia...>sigh<. Pure heaven.

my new favorite book on entertaining

So I was enormously flattered when Wiley Publishing contacted me to see if I'd be interested in an advance review copy of Matthew Mead's new book, Entertaining Simple. Um, hello! This book is so right up my alley. I didn't realize just how much it was, at the time, but now that I've read it, I've fallen in love with it and I'm happy to say that it's a book that I would have actually purchased, had I run across it in the store.

Matthew Mead, stylist guru extraordinaire

Let me explain. The book is based on the premise that it restores sanity to entertaining, without sacrificing style. I love that! The idea that I can entertain in a stylish way - that is also affordable and doesn't take hours and hours or give me a head full of gray hairs - is extremely appealing.

use a wine glass to hold individual servings of nuts!

One of my favorite sections of the book is where Matthew recommends four different ways to use one common household item for entertaining. He'll take a common object that nearly everyone owns, like a wine glass, egg cups, or glass votive holders, and show you four different and innovative ways to use them - either as decor or serving pieces (and often accomplishing both!).

wineglass as a floating candle holder

I'm also really happy about the recipes in the book. It's one thing to include sophisticated recipes in a book on entertaining - it's another thing to make them simple and even give shortcut options, which Matthew includes at the bottom of every recipe. Here's one I definitely want to try (warning, your mouth may start watering at any moment!):

Chocolate Cupcakes With Peanut Butter Filling

These decadent-looking cupcakes are easy to make and more tempting with fresh chocolate ganache.

¹⁄³ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
¾ cup water
¾ cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups creamy peanut butter
Chocolate Ganache (page 206)

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Place liners in two standard 12-cup muffin tins.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until combined. Whisk in the eggs, water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Continue whisking until the batter is completely mixed.
3. Fill each muffin cup with ¼ cup batter. Bake 15 to 17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; then remove from the muffin pans. Cool completely before filling and icing.
4. Fit a pastry bag with a number 20 (small) star tip. Spoon the peanut butter into the bag. Press the tip into the center of a cupcake top; squeeze the bag for 3 seconds to fill the cupcake with about ¾ tablespoon peanut butter. Repeat for each cupcake. Set the bag aside.
5. Using a small knife, remove any excess peanut butter from the cupcake tops. Using an offset spatula, spread ganache over the top of each. Add a flourish to the top by squeezing a bit of peanut butter through the star tip.
Makes 24 cupcakes

Simplify: Begin with cupcakes from your favorite bakery—all you’ll have to do is fill them with peanut butter and frost.

Um, yeah! A few other recipes I'd like to try, which looked simple but a little more sophisticated (okay, a lot more!) than what I usually cook for my family: Carrot-Ginger Soup and Twice-Baked Potato Boats. Don't they just sound so homey and comforting?

Matthew gives great ideas on everything from creative napkin-folding to basic serving dishes that should be in every pantry. He even includes ideas for theme parties (that are not cheesy or over-the-top). I found this book to be quite timely, since there are so many ideas on how to make what you've most likely already got, look more special and do double-duty for a party.

The book is released on October 27 - but if you just can't wait till then - you'd better get over to Restyled Home where Linda is giving away not one, not two, but TWENTY copies of Entertaining Simple! Check out her post for the details. Happy Reading and Happy Entertaining!

Last-Minute Labor Day Ideas

Yummm....check out this Labor Day menu from Hostess With the Mostess...turkey burgers with oven fries. My mouth is watering!

Today feels like fall already in the Pacific Northwest...I made hot apple cider and biscuits this morning...it's just one of those kinds of days. I'll be back with regular posts tomorrow as we start thinking about and celebrating the coming of autumn. For today - try not to "labor" too much - have fun with family and friends! Happy Labor Day!

Vintage Baby Shower

Hi everyone! Sorry I'm posting about this late today. I've been pretty sick recently...it's a long story...let's just say I have endometriosis and it really gives me fits at times. This week has been one of those times. But anyway, I think the shower last night turned out just lovely, and Hannah (mommy of baby Abigail, the guest of honor) seemed really pleased. I'm sure Abigail was quite pleased, too, although she showed it by spitting up on other people but then falling asleep in MY arms, thankyouverymuch.



I realized only today, looking at the pics, that a lot of them turned out much darker than I had thought. So please forgive my lowsy photography! And on to a few details...



Here's the banner I made for Abigail. It was a LOT less labor-intensive to print the letters onto white cardstock, which I then just cut into rectangles, than it was to cut out a letter form, trace it onto patterned cardstock, then cut out the patterned cardstock (like I did here). But, it was still a pretty cute look. I went a little crazy with one of my corner punches and made each corner of the letters elaborate and pretty (of course, you'll have to just take my word for it, because you can't really tell in the photo!). I've decided that banners are one of my favorite ways to pull together a color scheme for a party. I have so much fun finding pretty scrapbook papers to mix and match.


My whole theme for this shower was based on a vintage table cloth I have that is yellow with pink, green, and white on it. (You can sort of see it in the background on several of these photos.) I found pretty pink and green paper plates & napkins, and mixed them with yellow plates and green cups. I prefer the paper goods to not be too matchy-matchy.


Grrr...another dark photo...but you can kind of see the fancy corners on the custom invite I created and then displayed as part of the decor. There are three layers of pretty cardstock, and a couple of different fonts...the primary being French Script.

The hostess, Sarah, made a really refreshing sparkling strawberry lemonade punch (it was like 95 degrees last night, which is super-hot for us Oregonians!) with a really lovely ice ring in it. Scrapbook paper over my Battenburg lace tablecloth adds dimension and color.

Ah, my trusty cupcake stand. How I love you, Cupcake Stand! How I love Crate & Barrel, where I bought you. Heck, how I love cupcakes! It's a regular lovefest, people!

The flowers were all in little white vintage and new pitchers and vases. I chose pink and yellow Gerbera daisies because I wanted something charming, old-fashioned and not fussy-looking. (I almost always buy my flowers at Costco. I get two bunches of them for $17.98 total, and once I split them up they always go pretty far.)

These are the little favors. Pink candles in tiny pink glass goblets. I bought them months ago on clearance at Target, because I thought they would make great baby shower favors. Then, all my friends announced they were having boys. But all's well that ends well, because they fit the theme of this shower perfectly. Each one is tied with a ribbon and decorative tag that reads "Welcome Abigail".

There's my wrinkled tablecloth. Oops. The key is to dazzle people with all your other decor so they don't notice the wrinkles. :-)

Sneak Peek...Vintage Baby Shower

So I thought I'd give you a sneak peak into the baby shower I'm decorating for tonight...this is going to be so fun. It's for a gal named Hannah who's somewhat of a newcomer to our church, and my generous friend Sarah just recently offered to host a baby shower for her. But time is of the essence, because baby Abigail is already here...and pushing 3 1/2 months old! So we gotta get this girl some presents! (This goes to show that a LOT can be accomplished in a week, which is all the time I've had to plan for this...but since I usually procrastinate anyway, I suppose this isn't all that unusual after all!)

Anyway. Here's the custom invite I created. I taped it to this metal picture frame for display at the party...and it helped me photograph it a little better, too...

And some lovely tidbits which are soon to be a banner (oh, I do love a good vintagey banner) and tags for favors...

And, of course, paper plates and cups. And what's that I see in the little Martha Stewart package? Cupcake wrappers? Does anybody here like cupcakes?

They're alright, I guess.

Okay, okay, you got me - I love 'em! But who doesn't?

Stay tuned for more pics later this week after the shower. It's going to be sweet!

Fourth of July Inspiration

So today I've collected a few links from my favorite entertaining sites; they all had fabulous posts recently on decor, food, and drinks for your Fourth of July celebration. Just looking at their photos is inspiring, but be sure to follow the links for more details.

I'm especially fond of the July 4th menu that Rebecca from Tastefully Entertaining put together. YUM!! I thought the Watermelonade and Blueberry Hill Cupcakes sounded particularly scrrrumptious. (Go to Tastefully Entertaining for recipes.)

Here's some lovely red-white-and-blue inspiration from Social Couture, via Hostess with the Mostess blog. Social Couture offers a whole party package where you can purchase everything you see here. It may be a bit late in the game for that now, but I still find lots of DIY inspiration in just looking at the photos. You can find little flags like this at The Dollar Tree (if they're not sold out by now, that is!)

This is Kim's inspiration board from Head of the Table. She put together lots of fabulous links to various projects from good old Martha. (You know, Stewart? She and I are pretty tight - we're on first-name basis.)

Many thanks to these entertaining women for their inspiration this week. BBQ...fireworks...good friends...good food...good company...here we come!

An Easy, Elegant Centerpiece

If you read my e-zine, Feather Your Nest, these images may look familiar to you. (If you don't and you'd like to subscribe for free, go to the right sidebar to sign up!) I wanted to share this idea for a really easy centerpiece that will look like you fussed over it for hours...but of course it took five minutes (which is all I ever seem to have when getting ready to host).

The white runner? It's butcher paper, from my daughter's craft easel. It's a casual look that kind of reminds me of those bistros where the tables are covered with white paper.

Then, I just took three different sizes of square vases. You could use round vases...or square ones...or bowls...just pick three vessels that all have something in common. It could be different sizes and shapes of teapots or water pitchers.

I purchased two bouquets of cut flowers - one of green spider mums, the other of white calla lillies. I simply floated one large bloom in the 4" tall vases. Then, I let the bunch of calla lillies fall casually to the side of one of the tall vases. I arranged the rest of the mums without stems showing above the top of the vase, and voila! A fresh and casually elegant centerpiece for brunch (or whatever occasion you'd like).

"Baby, meet Orange."

I just had to post the details of the baby shower I threw for my sister-in-law on Saturday. It was a lovely day in Portland (finally!) and I think the shower was a big success. After planning this for a while, it was so fun to see it come together.





My inspiration for this shower was this "macaroni pumpkin" crib set from Fawn + Forest that my sister-in-law had already purchased for the little baby boy on the way. She's not into "babyish" stuff and prefers more adult-type decor (in fact, the baby will be sharing their room for the first few months). She is planning to accent with some blue and brown, so I created an invitation and theme around these colors. (I thought I had a photo of the invite, but can't find it. If I remember, I'll just create another one and add it to this post. Sorry!)


I created this flag banner out of four different kinds of scrapbook paper. I chose a slender font, made it like 600 point size (or something like that) printed out the letters onto regular paper, cut them out, traced them onto scrapbook paper, and glued them together. Double-sided tape attached them to the brown grossgrain ribbon.
I loved the fun scrapbook papers I was able to find...a little at Michael's and some online at Paper-Source. This was the main way I was able to tie the three colors together into a theme.Here's some of that cute scrapbook paper again. This time, I wrapped it around square glass vases to make a cute display with white mums and a cute teddy bear (my only baby-ish decor).
Candies in Ikea jars are another great way decorate - in the color palette of the party, but of course!

I created favors using Ball canning jars I got on sale at Target. I spray-painted the lids white (they were gold) and created round labels using printable stickers from Paper-Source (love that place!). Half the jars had Russian tea mix and the other half, dried papaya sticks. (Why? They were orange and inexpensive!) I served iced Russian tea at the shower, too.

Cupcakes - of course. Half chocolate, half vanilla w/ light blue frosting. It's actually really easy to do decorative frosting with the basic Wilton cake decorating kits. Just need a plastic bag and decorative metal tip. (I got mine at Target, of all places!)

Don't you just love scrapbook paper? It even helped personalize these plain kraft gift bags. The little brown box was a prize for the winner of this game...

The guests were good sports and took a Celebrity Baby Names quiz...

And here I am, with the guest of honor. Isn't she cute? She is so chic, and tiny, so cute and so NICE, too. It was a pleasure to put on this event for her and I can't wait to meet my little nephew, due sometime in September. This will be the first baby boy in my husband's entire extended family since my husband himself was born - and he was the only boy in his generation. Yikes! So we're greatly anticipating this little guy's arrival!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed these pics!!

* Edited to add: I posted a pic of the invite I created for this shower on a later post. Check it out here.

Party-Time Tuesday: Setting the table

It's Party-Time Tuesday! Welcome to my third installment in the series. How do you decide whether or not to use paper plates or ceramic ones? Casual or formal? I usually start by answering these three questions:

1. What's my total budget? And what are my priorities with that budget?

2. How many people am I expecting?

3. How formal/casual do I want the event to be?

With smaller, intimate events, I generally go with real plates. Once I start inviting 12 or more, I generally go with paper plates. (I'm not talking weddings here - those are their own animal - I'm talking about any other kind of party.) Either way, plates can function as accessories to your theme, or even as the whole inspiration for the theme.

Ever wondered how many forks you're really supposed to have? And what do you use them all for, anyway? Well, it depends on the kind of event you're hosting. Sarah at Toast and Tables wrote a wonderful post on the proper way to set a table - for everything from a casual lunch to a formal dinner party. She even included "maps" that show you exactly where you should place each item...read her post here for a quick education.

More resources: check out Martha's Party Planning Guide

Image 1: Crate and Barrel Orchid Dinnerware

Images 2 & 3: my (tiny) inspiration boards from www.platesandnapkins.com

Image 3: Toast and Tables blog

Image 4: Martha Stewart Living