Welcoming Baby Ruby...

One of my oldest and dearest friends is due with her first child in June. Heather and I have known each other since kindergarden so I couldn't be happier for her and her husband Blair.  This past weekend, three of my girlfriends and I threw a baby shower for them and we had so much fun putting it all together that I just had to put up a post about it.  It was a blast collaborating with them on this party and we were all so happy with the way it turned out.  The Southern theme was darling (a nod back to Heather's Oklahoma roots) and every detail, from the colored pom poms to the dessert bar, came together perfectly!

These pom poms were super easy to make and looked great over the dessert bar. You can find a tutorial here: Casa Sugar

For desserts, we had a sweet potato pie & a pecan pie (from the Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook) plus a buttermilk pie (a family recipe) and red velvet cupcakes.

The slow cooker pulled pork samis went great with the mint julips (also from the Lee Brother's Southern Cookbook).

What's more southern than deviled eggs, pimento cheese spread and cucumber finger sandwiches? Yum!

For beverages, we had flavored lemonades (strawberry, ginger and mint) as well as delicious homeade mint julips.

The paper yellow striped paper straws and pink polka dot cupcake liners came from Sur La Table.

Party favors were homeade cookies tucked in these darling gift bags.

Kim put together a darling "onesie station" where we all made custom onesies for Heather to take home. The pre-cut fabric scraps (in lots of fun shapes and colors!) adhered easily with fabric glue.  Baby Ruby is going to be one stylish kid. :)

With the left over fabric, Kim created this darling banner to hang on the mantle.

Here's the soon-to-be parents opening gifts. :)

Heatehr (center) pictured here with the hosts of the party (left to right) - Nikki J, Nikki T, Kim and me!

A Simple Fix

Bedside table lamps frustrate me. The ones I tend to like are always ridiculously overpriced and those in my budget seem to be just plain ugly.  I also to change up our bedroom often enough that I don't really feel like spending so much money on something that I might want to toss in the near future.  So when in doubt (and on a budget), I DIY.  :) I knew I wanted something between modern and shabby chic and searched high and low for something I could transform into exactly what I was envisioning. I finally had some luck at the Alameda Antiques Fair, an amazing once-a-week flea market in the East Bay that is full of treasures galore.  After considering several old lamps (and passing most of them up due to faulty aged wiring that would require some cash to fix), I stumbled upon a perfect pair iron candle sticks for $5.  They were hollow on the inside so I was able to easily run some wiring (which I had from our old lamps) through them.  I used black chalk board paint, which I already had, for the bases as I wanted a nice flat look. For the lamps shades (which were also left over from before), I found a few yards of scrap fabric at my favorite upholstery store (Satin Moon on Clement Street) for $15 and even had a little left over to make a few pillows.  All in all, the total cost to redo these 2 lamps was $20!  Totally worth it and I am so happy with how they turned out.