Category Archives: etc.

Let’s have a Fox Themed Party

September 20, 2013

Olivia is going to be 2 at the end of this month. How did that happen? I thought we just celebrated her 1st birthday? We celebrated her 1st birthday with a Scooter Themed party because she never crawled, she just scooted (this explains it better). This year I couldn’t resist a Fox Themed party. First of all, they are such cute animals, and secondly they are everywhere right now, but also they suit her personality. Olivia is SUPER busy. She’s always an the move and she’s quick and clever like a fox. She’s very curious and is pretty sly about it. She keeps me on my toes. But, I sure do love my little clever fox.

peach tissue ball // fox wrapping paper // peach striped paper straws

diy fox crowns // fox face star cookies instructions

fox dress up // cake pattern instructions // navy, peach, pink and gold tassel garland

I gathered up the best of the best for a foxy party. I chose a peach and navy color palette. The fox wrapping paper was my inspiration for the party and the color palette came right from this gorgeous paper. As usual, I’m sharing is a great mix of DIY ideas, ready made finds, and handmade pieces. I’m loving the fox face star cookies, I think I’ll be enlisting my mom’s help in making those. And the fox dress up mask and mitts are going to make great props for a fun fox fotobooth (sorry couldn’t help myself with that alliteration). Maybe I’ll have the kiddos make their own fox crowns at the party for a little craft.

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It’s Pumpkin Spice Time

September 19, 2013

I’m still in NYC for the Better Homes and Gardens Style Makers Workshop. Today I get to tour the BHG headquarters. I’m really excited. The weather here is FABULOUS and it feels like Fall, ahhhh!

I haven’t even had a PSL (this is what it’s called now) yet at Starbucks. I just don’t think it’s right to have an iced version of it. So, as soon as it cools down in in Cali, I’ll be having one, extra hot. But, so you know that I’m thinking of you still, I’m sharing the best of O+P’s pumpkin spice recipes.

Pumpkin Spice Creme Brulee // Pumpkin Butter // Pumpkin Waffles

Pumpkin Spice Poppycock // Pumpkin Pie Spice // Pumpkin Spice Donut Pops

Pumpkin Spice Scones // Pumpkin Spice Sugar Body Scrub // Pumpkin Apple Muffins

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Finding Adventure

September 17, 2013

Denali playing games in a village in Papua New Guinea // Our Spring Break Trip to Ireland

This Summer we discovered Lassen National Park // Our Family of 4 when we lived in Yemen

Hiking in Sedona, AZ // Dylan on the edge of the Grand Canyon

I’m really excited to share this with you. For the next 4 months I will be sharing with you about the Ford Fiesta Movement. Ford has enlisted over 100 “agents” to take more then 1000 missions with the Fiesta 2014. Each month the agents are given a new theme or mission. This month is ADVENTURE.

Over the next 4 months I will be posting the monthly theme and then sharing with you how I took on that specific mission here on Oleander and Palm.

Adventure is something our family lives for. We love new experiences and seeing new places. Travel is what usually brings us adventure. But I also believe that adventure can be found right at home. I’ve shared that I’m headed to NYC this week. Most of my great adventures happen with Lonnie (my husband) by my side. But, this is a solo adventure, and I’m ready for something new and unexpected to come my way. What adventure should I tackle while in NYC by myself? I’d love to hear your ideas. I’ll be choosing one of the adventures you share and making it come to life. Then next week I’ll share that NYC adventure with all of you.

It’s fun to see everyone’s different approach and idea of what adventure is. This video, from on of the Ford Fiesta Movement agents, was one of my favorites, probably because his idea of adventure is very similar to mine (it involves travel) and I love the city of London.

What does adventure look like to you?

This is a sponsored post and I was compensated for my participation. The opinions expressed are my own.

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DIY Leather Triangle Pin

September 16, 2013

On Friday I shared that I was making new, inexpensive accessories to wear on my trip to NYC. So far I have a Geometric Bead Necklace and this new Leather Triangle Pin to wear.

It just didn’t seem right if I didn’t sport triangles of some sort. I’m essentially going to NYC to promote my “brand” and my blog. And triangles are a big part of my style.

I started with 4 small scraps of leather. I had 3 different colors of leather, dark brown, light brown and a greenish grey. For the forth gold triangle, used the technique from my gilded leather heart hair clip. I made a paper template of a 2″ triangle and just using good scissors, cut out my 4 triangles. Then I glued them together with just a spot of hot glue on the tips of the triangles.

I attached a brooch pin with hot glue to the back of the triangles. And then to give it a nice finished look, I glued on a rectangle of brown felt.

How is was that? And I think I’ll find myself pinning this to jackets and sweaters all season long.

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DIY Geometric Bead Necklace

September 13, 2013

I just made a super easy, kind of a kiddy project, craft today! And I love it. These little chunky geometric necklaces are going to be one of my favorite new accessories. Pair these with a t-shirt and my favorite jeans, and I’m good to go!

I’m heading to NYC on Wednesday! Yes, I am beyond excited, overwhelmed and so grateful. I was invited to attend BHG‘s Style Maker’s Workshop. It really should be the least of my worries, but I’m a little panicked about what to wear. I’m just a dorky, stay-at-home mom. I need to look stylish with what I already own and maybe a couple DIY accessories. So I whipped up a these necklaces for just a couple bucks (each one cost under $2.50). And I’m totally going to wear one in the Big Apple. I’m a crafty, DIY blogger, so this seem like appropriate attire, right?

Each necklace needs just 5 beads (which I found via Kelly of Studio DIY) and about 1 yard of leather cord. I bought beads in both natural and dark stained wood and then I painted a couple random ones with acrylic craft paint. I love the pop of neon pink.

I simply cut the leather cord to to the length I wanted and then double knotted it. I actually used a pair of pliers to pull the knot really tight, so that it wouldn’t slip.

Denali wants a couple of these. This weekend I’ll let her paint some beads her favorite colors. What do you have planned for this weekend? Any projects in the works? I’m going to try to execute a new creative business card to hand out at the BHG event. When I attended Alt in SLC I made fun lavender sachet business cards, I’m not sure if my new idea is that good, but I’m going to try.

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Thrifting Thursday – Leather Hardoy Butterfly Chair

September 12, 2013

I think I might have a chair problem. Eek, I went and bought another chair while I was at my parent’s place this summer (Eureka, CA). Remember the cool orange midcentury chair I bought, well I went to a furniture auction and found another one. Furniture auctions are a lot of fun, but somewhat dangerous.

I knew that this chair was worth bidding on, so I set a price in my head that I was willing to pay. And then in the heat of the moment, I might have kept bidding past my target budget. I went to the auction with my brother Joash and my Dad. The three of us are a bad combo at something like this. We see the potential in anything. And I’m a firm believer that in order to have adventure (and even success) in life, you have to take risks. So, I took a risk and bought this chair. I don’t regret it at all. And I don’t really have a place for it in our tiny house. But, I’m glad it’s mine. And maybe I’ll just resell it. But, for now I own a piece of iconic modern furniture design.

please excuse the bad iphone photo, I will share more detailed images soon

It has beautiful, well loved and worn leather. It has two small areas where the seams are coming apart a bit, so I think I’ll have those repaired. I’m considering taking them to a shoe cobbler to have them stitched. I’m thinking this might be a cost effective way to get this fixed.

If you think I’m totally crazy to buy something like this, you might find this article interesting. The older I get, the more risks in life and in this case design, I want to take. Where’s the fun in being just like everyone else. I like to be unique (which is hard to achieve), but I want people to see what I design and make, and think “I would have never thought of that or put that together”. I think my mother in law is confused by this purchase. She thought it looked Western. But I figure, if Sophia Loren takes photos in butterfly chairs, then maybe this chair will help my cool factor.

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And look at how fabulous this chair looks in Sarah’s living room of Smitten Studio.

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And with an all white living room, the chair is light and airy and doesn’t weigh down the space by being a big bulky piece of furniture.

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What do you think? Is this a chair you would like for your space? Or is it just too out there for your style. Is it a style that I can pull off? And are you a risk taker when it comes to design and home decor?

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Mini Mint Kitchen

September 11, 2013

You may have noticed by now, but I LOVE the color green. I blame it on my red hair, and the fact that my mom always dressed me in green. And I am really drawn to that Jadeite Green shade. It’s kind of called mint right now. But, when we first got married, I inherited a couple jadeite tea cups from my husband’s family. And being the good Martha Stewart fan that I was, my love for jadeite grew more and more. So, I decided that I’d paint Olivia’s little play kitchen minty green.

Well, actually it was Denali’s kitchen that my dad made for her first birthday (that was almost 11 years ago). My two oldest kids played and played with this kitchen. Finally about 4 years ago I moved it to the garage, because I thought they had out grown it. And now Olivia gets her turn with it. But, it needed a fresh coat of paint after all those years.

I pinned this mint kitchen a while ago. I can’t justify painting my cabinets now, while they are still so new. But, let’s pretend I had a second home or a cabin in the woods, believe me, I would definitely have a mint kitchen. So, for now we are going to just go with Olivia’s mini version.

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Here’s what it looked like before.

It was cute, back in the day, but I love this new color combo of green and gold (like my geometric pillow).

I’m kind of a thrower and don’t like to keep a lot of stuff. But, I’m so glad I kept this, even though I didn’t know I was going to have a 3rd baby. We really haven’t bought any new dishes or play food. All of Denali’s stuff really held up. Olivia is having so much fun with this kitchen. This kitchen has probably been all three of my kids favorite toy during their toddler and preschool years.

Don’t you think this new paint job really updates this little kitchen? And are you with me on how fabulous that real mint kitchen is? Would you be brave enough to do something that trendy in you kitchen?

And this little cheeky face was just too cute not to share.

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Geometric Pineapple Print

September 10, 2013

I’ve meant to share this with you for quite awhile now. If you remember a few weeks ago, I was on a pineapple kick. Our Summer trip to Maui inspired on my love for pineapple. I shared a couple recipes, Pineapple Chicken Rice Salad and Pina Colada Frozen Yogurt, I made a pineapple tote and I shared a round up of some Pineapple Pretties.

I know everyone is ready for Fall and are totally done with Summer. But, it still feels like Summer here with weather in the 90’s. And technically we have a couple more weeks until Fall is officially here. So, it’s Summer still here at Oleander and Palm. There will be lots of Fall fun in no time at all.

I made this print especially for my mother in law as a little thank you for our trip to Maui. She does all the organizing to get these family trips put together. We had such a wonderful time and made so many memories. I wanted her to have a little piece of the tropics to remind her of that trip.

I kept the design simple and geometric (of course). Pineapples represent hospitality, so this would also make a great hostess or house warming gift.

I framed it in this beautiful grey weathered wood from Target’s Threshold line.

This 8×10″ Geometric Pineapple Print is available for purchase in my etsy shop. It’s just $5 and is a instant PDF download that can be printed on a home printer or at your favorite local print shop.

I feel a little guilty pushing my own things, but the truth is, it costs to run a blog. And I do offer a lot of free printables here on Oleander and Palm. So, if you like this print and you choose to purchase it, your support is greatly appreciated.

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Floral Doilies and Washi Tape Decorations

September 9, 2013

This weekend I threw a little party for the girls in my daughter’s youth group. It was a little Back-to-School bash. I knew I wanted it to be pretty and totally girly. I’m not really good at over the top girly. I have 3 brothers, so lace and flowers were really not my thing. I wanted this to feel a little more on the shabby chic and feminine side, and I think that was achieved.

We had treats, a little devotional and then a little craft. I had the girls all make their own personalized pencil cases with pom poms.

I did lots of baking this weekend and this is what I served:
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
Mini Cheesecakes topped with Blackberry Curd
Sugar cookies topped with Pink Buttercream
Homemade Vanilla Bean Marshmallows
A mini candy bar
Sparkling Pink Lemonade
Strawberry Milk

I kept the decorations really simple, I used the pom pom bunting from Olivia’s first birthday and I also made a really quick bunting out of some cute floral print doilies that I bought when we were in Ireland (be sure to check out all their fun patterned doilies). And then I used some cute washi tape (from Michael’s) that matched my doilies really well, to decorate the the milk bottles and straws.

I had one of those weekends that I feel like I need another weekend to recover from all the fun. I love to be busy and have projects going, but today, I am feeling pooped and could totally use a nap. I hope you all had a great weekend.

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Thrifting Thursday: A Midcentury Chair in Need of Love

September 5, 2013

Look what I found!!!! Earlier this Summer, when I was at my parent’s place in Northern Cal, I bought this fabulous chair. I found it at my favorite shop in Eureka, Shipwreck.

I have big plans of recovering the cushions. The orange is kind of an itchy worn out fabric. What I REALLY want is some fabulous white or cream fabric with gold dots on it. You already know I’m into gold dots. So far I haven’t found any yet, so if you come across some, please let me know.

It’s got that classic midcentury shape, but it needs a little love.

The seat was just an ugly piece of plywood screwed down in a couple random spots, so I decided to replace that with upholstery webbing. I’m sure the original seat was probably leather, but we decided this would be a good solution. My brother helped me figure out how to stretch the webbing and attach it to the seat. I actually really like how it looks and it’s really comfortable.

Can’t you picture this chair with some great new seat cushions? Hopefully gold polka dots of some sort. Have you had any great thrifting adventures lately? I sure have found so fun things lately. And don’t hate me, but I might be going to the Pasadena Flea Market this Sunday with friends. I can’t wait, all that old junk just gets me so excited.