A Fashion Must Have

If Spring has sprung, why does it still feel like Winter? No matter the season, this is a fashion must have. The open front cardigan can be worn in Spring, Summer, Fall, or Winter. It's our favorite cover up! It's comfy and easy to wear. Dress it up with skinny jeans and heels, or down with leggings and Uggs. It looks great over almost anything: tank tops, long sleeves, blouses, sweaters, and even dresses. We love being able to wear a light weight summer top during the cooler months by just throwing a cardigan over it. The cardigan can be paired with funky belts, hats, scarves, chunky or long necklaces, and of course boots! We love that this accessory looks great on any body type and on women of all ages. You can find a great open front cardigan almost anywhere. Prices will vary, from $10 to $100, depending on the location. Mom and I have found some great ones recently at Ross, Marshalls, TJMaxx. They are also available at Target, Forever21, Gap, and Nordstrom. Even the Stars enjoy this fashion must have!

A Decorative St. Patrick's Day Note Tag

For St. Patrick's Day this year, I needed a unique and inexpensive hostess gift. I came up with the idea of using a St. Patrick's Day card to make a decorative note tag to hang on a bottle of wine. I cut the back off of the card and glued the front to a piece of matching scrapbook paper. I trimmed it with decorative scissors and added a gold ribbon to the top for hanging. I wrote a special note on the back and hung it over a bottle of wine.

This decorative note tag could also be used on a bottle of beer, champagne, or Martinelli's cider, or it could be used as a gift tag. After the bottle or gift is opened, the hostess can use the tag as a decoration. It can be hung on a key hook or a door knob.

A Towel Stand With A Twist

We both purchased this small counter towel stand, and have found many wise uses for it!! Mom uses it for hand towels in the kitchen and I use it for headbands and scarves in my bedroom. It can also be used for necklaces and bracelets, hand or tea towels in the bathroom, or even for a couple rolls of toilet paper. We found ours at Ross for a great price, but the stand can also be purchased online at A Touch of Class. If this look doesn't fit in with the interior of your home, you can also find other versions of the towel stand on Amazon or at Bed Bath & Beyond.

A Wise Suggestion: We think this stand would make a great hostess gift with a set of kitchen towels. Mom gave this to my aunt, and has enjoyed giving her holiday towel sets to hang in her kitchen throughout the year.

Let us know if you like this Wise Design idea!!

 

                        

Aly's 24th Birthday

For our first post, we'd like to offer a few ideas from our most recently planned birthday party, which happened to be mine! Mom was thinking of a "Happy Birthday Little Lady" theme with cute red and black ladybugs, but I had a more mature black and white theme in mind. After all I was turning 24, not 2+4!

We think every party theme needs at least four essential items to make it a success; paper goods, invitations, decorations, and a cake!! Here are our four....

Paper Goods: My mom found this great damask print made by Amscan at ShinDigz.com called "Always and Forever." It features a black and white damask pattern, with a pale blue trim and dot accents . The pattern was designed for a wedding or bridal shower, but can also be used for other occasions, like my birthday! We chose the pieces that only had the damask pattern; the cups, cake plates, and small napkins. We paired them with plain black dinner plates and large black napkins . 

Invitations: Since the matching invitations were for another occasion, mom gave me the task of creating my own . I used a black and white damask print for the background and an elegant curl in a matching pale blue. I added black dots to really tie it all together . I then sent them to my local print shop to be printed on card stock . The invitations turned out exactly as I had hoped they would!!

Decorations: Our theme was simple, black, white, and blue, so we thought simple decorations would be best. Some of our decorations were a birthday banner, balloon bouquets, and candy dishes with matching M&M's from Powell's Candy Shoppe. We used martini glasses as our candy dishes which enabled guests to see the colorful candies, and at the same time gave it a fun and festive look!! This was our downscaled version of a candy buffet, which are very popular for almost all occasions. (Check out Candy Buffet Creations to see where we got our inspiration!!) We also used a decorative decanter with an iron stand to serve lemonade. By adding a few drops of food coloring to our lemonade we made it a beautiful blue, which matched everything else perfectly. We then topped it off with a splash of Sprite and lemon slices from my mom's very own lemon tree!!

Cake: My mom ordered my fantastic cake from Baskin Robbins because she knows I love ice cream cake!! She gave them a napkin from the paper goods so that they could do their best to create a design that matched. Most bakeries will do this. It's a great way to show them what colors and patterns you are looking for in your cake design.

Everyone who attended our party seemed to really enjoy themselves, especially me!! Mom and I were extremely satisfied with how our party ideas turned out and we can't wait to plan our next one...My dad's 50th!!!