Lovely Flowers and More

This lovely bouquet from Style Me Pretty is beautiful by itself, but has strands of pink beads laying beside it that adds so much more loveliness.

Aren't the colors so beautiful - soft and lovely pinks and whites.

I found some more lovely flower arrangements at Green Wedding Shoes
I love the addition of fruits (figs, pomegranates, pears, peaches, and the berries of course).  I Really Do Love This Look!

These colors are awesome, the place setting is wonderful ...

Of course I love the bottles ...

The drinks are even lovely aren't they!!!
I don't know what their drink is, but I would love this look with a Cran-Raspberry juice.  I'd love the look and the taste with those fresh berries.

And the cake is great ...

And this swing is awesome too ...

 Gorgeous!!!

I've pinned a few other bouquets and arrangements on my Pinterest Board - Flowers, Bouquets ..., - take a look if you'd like.

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Blue Beverage

I was looking for a blue punch a while ago and found a few recipes, (see Turquoise Lemonade) but here is one I just saw - from Toni Spilsbury that looks good.

 

It might not be the perfect time of year for blue punch, but if you do a blue Christmas, it might be just right.

 

 

 

When I was wanting the blue lemonade a while ago I was looking for the little packages of Kool-Aid powder in blue and couldn't find it, even online.  This recipe uses the premixed gallon of juice - maybe I can find that easier!?!?!?!

 

 

 

I think I'll try this someday!

 

 

Red White Blue - Good Eats!

I may have posted something like this before, but if not, this is from tipjunkie

 

 

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How about some stars and stripes for treats?
These are cute cookies from Design Sprinkle



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This beautiful white drink from I Heart Naptime would be perfect on any summer day, but the white makes it perfect for the 4th of July - pop in a red and/or blue straw for a perfect look with a perfect taste.



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Turquoise Lemonade

 

Hello Naomi had a cute Peter Rabbit themed party with this fun turquoise/aqua lemonade.
 I love the soft soothing color of the drink and
I love the cute little glass bottles.



I wanted to know more about each - the bottles and the drink - so I went looking.

Here is what I found -

The bottles are little Italian nectar bottles - sold in Australia.
This photo is from Sweet Style Blog



Here are a few places I have seen these bottles:
Jus de Pommeraie
Imprintables
Santa Vittoria

These are a similar look from Amazon

FYI -
Before I knew about the nectar bottles above I purchased Frappuccino just so I could have some cute little bottles - I dumped the contents, removed the label, and washed the bottles, just for the bottles.
Costco often has them on sale for less than a dollar a bottle and you can't buy empty bottles for that price.

The Yoga bottles at Amazon are less than a dollar each until you pay shipping on them, but maybe they sell them in stores around here somewhere.   I haven't looked!

 I sprayed the outside of the lids black and have used them a few times.  They are fun!

 

The drink - the turquoise drink in those cute little bottles is hand squeezed lemonade with a drop of blue coloring.  The yellow of the lemonade mixed with the blue made such a refreshing color.
That sounds easy enough to make almost any color of lemonade.  Hmmm!  What party color might I be using in the future?

 

I also found a blue lemonade drink recipe from  Bee in Our Bonnet
 

 

and
Cooks.com has a couple yummy sounding recipes for blue punch here and here,
but they don't show the colors. 

 

 

Table Cloths

In the previous post about Pantries I showed this awesome tablecloth storage.

I don't know if I like the storage idea or the lace tablecloths best.  Both are awesome!

 

 

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Here is another way to store table cloths.  I have seen this done before and have tried it myself, but don't continue doing it because I don't have the closet space for it.  I don't have this many table cloths either.  This closet from The Tablescaper looks lovely, and the other side of this closet is full of table cloths too.

 

 

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Here is most of what I own. 

Not as beautiful or as easy to get to as the table cloths on the rolls.

Not as many or as nicely stored as the table cloths on the hangers.

They are however kept in zipper bags or clear boxes to keep them together and away from dust.  (That doesn't help with the wrinkles tough.) 

 

 

Most of the table cloths I own are for our round tables.  I have two sizes of white and one size of ivory (about 9 each size).   The things on the floor are top sheets that can be used for table cloths or for buntings some day.

 

I do have a few cloths (and valances) that fit nicely in a drawer.

 

 

 I love to use pieces of fabric, dyed flour sack dish cloths, or cloth napkins over the white cloths to add the color.

So I store them in a similar manner to the cloths.

 

 

Assorted pink fabric squares are stored in a box with other décor I used for the Valentine Dinner Dance décor here.  I know right where they are when I want them.

 

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So, that's how I store table cloths - wanna see how I use them?

 

I  used black squares over white for our 3rd son's wedding in November 2008. 

(This was only days after our room was finished, so there is nothing on the walls in that back corner at that time.  I promise that it is full today.) 
 

It isn't visible in the photo, but the black is sheer fabric with white dots.  It's very lovely.
Then the runner is another strip of fabric (raw edges).

 

I love these candle chandeliers too, but the photos just don't show how beautiful this tablescape was.

 

 

I used this black fabric again for a graduation luncheon here.

 

  The dyed flour sack dish cloths were most recently used for a farewell here. 

 

They worked great for our extended family Thanksgiving gathering here.

 

Colored napkins work great too, I used them here.

 

For this wedding luncheon, for son #4 in 2010, we just used 12x12 paper squares and it was just what we needed - hard to see in this photo, but look closely. 

 

FYI - These water bottles turned out so cute, I wish I had a close-up photo of them on the tables.  I took the label off the water bottle, wrapped and tied a sheer ribbon around them and added beads to the bow area.  I had one left over, so I put it on a bottle I have.
 

 

and here are some green beads I have left over from those we used with the green ribbon.



 

 Burlap runners and doilies were used in the wedding for son #5, in  August 2011.

 

The same assorted pink fabric squares used for our Valentine Dinner Dance here, were used again for a dinner when our 6th grandchild was blessed. 
I didn't get a finished photo, but we scattered some salt water taffy around the tissue poms before the guests came.  (The poms were also used at the Valentine event.)

 

 Well, that's my table cloths, unless you count the quilts I use on tables for cloths, but that's another story.

 

 

Valentine Stuff

This is a really cute look

 

 

Find a photo tutorial at Smart School House

 

Pink hot cocoa is something I've never seen, but I have seen white hot cocoa and adding food coloring to that would make the pink color ..., so cute for a Valentine drink, especially if it doesn't warm up much by then.

 

In her comments below her post we also learn that the strawberry milk mix could be used for a different flavor.  I've never tried warming that up, but maybe it's good ?

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Here is another drink for Valentines Day - Mini Red Velvet Milk Shakes from Pizzazzerie



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This is a great looking refreshment too!
Raspberry Cheesecake Mousse recipe for two from Love Raw




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How about a pink cookie with a chocolate kiss? 
Cherry Chocolate Kisses recipe from The Curvy Carrot




 

Christmas Stuff

What I like in this photo from A Thoughtful Place is the garland against the fireplace - snowflakes and bulbs in Christmas colors. I guess that's not all I like, but that is one thing I like.

 

 

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 a paper tree from Organized Clutter

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I don't know how you get these to stay standing, but it's a very clever idea -
cocoa in a cup an ornament bulb
from Poca Cosa



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These are a very fun idea - cute shapes for bark - from Happy Hour Projects



I do love Craisin Pistachio Bark - and it would be fun in these shapes.



a recipe card I made for my sons and daughters

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Christmas Stuff

LilyBean's Paperie shows how to make this darling, bright and cheery Whimsical Christmas Tree decor



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This Cute Owl Bag/Wrap is a sweet thing since owls seem to be the in thing right now.

Found on Tales of a Trophy Wife

Make these big bags from grocery sacks for wrapping gifts or make them from small lunch sacks for favors.

 

 

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Dress up your drinks with buttons and a scarf like these from The TomKat Studio

(and don't forget the cute straws)

 

 

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 Bend a name and wrap it.  Use it on the top of a package.
Learn how at Consumer Crafts

 

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Fun cover up for a lamp from May Days - I'd really like to see this done.
FYI- I first saw this on My Repurposed Life



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Cocomotion!

It's Show and Tell Time!

This is not a paid advertisement - it's just a review of one of my favorite things.

This in one of those things that I am grateful for, simply because it makes hot chocolate ..., in a simple way.

Cocomotion, by Mr. Coffee ...
At the touch of a button, it mixes and heats hot chocolate for you ...

... and I love hot chocolate to help warm me up on a cold day.
Tis the Season!

These were very hard to find, but eventually (a year after I wanted them) I did find them (on Amazon of course) and gave them to our married children for Christmas, maybe last year or???  My memory doesn't serve me well sometimes. ;)   If you can find them at Wal-Mart they are supposed to be cheaper there ... if they ever have them in stock.