Category Archives: styling

mother’s day brunch

I hope you all had an amazing mother’s day in the lovely sun. What a stunner of a day it was! Whether it was a brunch, afternoon tea or dinner, however way you celebrated it, I hope it was filled with lots of laughs and yummy food.

I mentioned last week that we were hosting a mother’s day brunch for our family and here are a few photos from Sunday.

This is a really simple table setting that I threw together at the last minute, as unfortunately I didn’t have too much time to go and source anything so really just bought a couple of things to set this up.

The star of the show were these napkins I found at Briscoes. I knew I wanted something floral for mother’s day and just happened to see these while I was in there looking for an electric blanket! The peach and green is so pretty and perfect for mother’s day.

I then went to a local florist and purchased two bunches of carnations, one in a peachy orange and the other in white and split them into 3 vases of different heights that I had at home.

I made the little mother’s day tags, (you can see how here), then tied them to the cutlery.

Isn’t it amazing how beautiful napkins can transform an entire table setting? They are such an inexpensive way to tie some colour in and add some interest to your tables with no effort at all.

photography: taken by myself on an iphone 5

real flowers vs fake flowers

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I made a purchase recently that I think should be opened up for debate… It was quite an expensive purchase for what it was, but if you calculate out the length of the time I would be able to enjoy them, they seem ludicrously cheap.

How do you all feel about real flowers vs. fake ones? I love having flowers in my house, they don’t have to be a big bouquet or anything extravagant, just a small bunch of almost any white flower in the lounge or dining table would light up my day and put a smile on my face. However, it is quite a luxury to have as they only last about a week, and so I have only ever had one bunch in the house at a time due to the cost of them.

Last week, after I shifted around the furniture in my bedroom, I decided that it would be amazing to see flowers on my lowboy by the window. Not only would they be stunning from inside the room, but also you would be able to see it as you drove up the driveway to our house. This was when I decided that maybe fake flowers would be the way to go for the bedroom. Not only would it mean that it wouldn’t cost anymore each week, but also that it would need less maintenance as our bedroom is upstairs.

Here are the photos of the two vases of flowers in my house, one is real and one is fake. Can you guess which is which? Don’t scroll down too far, the answers are below!

Hard to guess right? The real ones were $12 for the bunch and the fake ones were $15 per stem. Definitely on the expensive side, but worth it for how good they look!

These were purchased from a boutique store from Whangamata so definitely a bit more than some others I have seen but I would definitely recommend spending a bit more money if you are wanting to buy the fake ones as you really get what you pay for with these.

One downside is that the fake flowers don’t have the lovely scent of real flowers, but as they are in our bedroom upstairs, we aren’t there for much of the day anyway, so it’s perfect! So what do you think, have I been able to convert you yet?

afternoon tea party

what: afternoon tea party.

who: the family.

when: saturday the 3rd of february at 3pm.

why: baking and eating baking = fun sugar heaven.

how: everyone brought some baked goods for the party.

I created a decorate your own cupcake station which was great fun not only for the kids but also for the adults. It was fun seeing hubby and my dad decorating their own! This would be a great activity to have for a kids birthday party.

I mixed 3 different coloured icing and put it into separate tall glasses. I had mini marshmallows and cupcake toppers for the decorations. To make your own cupcake toppers, have a look at my step by step tutorial. They are super easy!

photography by: inspirewiththis & di
styling by: inspirewiththis

new year’s eve party

We stayed home for new year’s instead of going away this year, as it was our first new year’s in our first home. I’m so excited that I get to say that. Hubby and I decided to have a small dinner party. Even though it was small, I wanted it to be special for our guests. Everything below (except for the balloons) were from things I had around the house.

I LOVE the white helium balloons, they make the room feel so festive and happy! The loose ends of the helium balloons can sometimes look messy – I have popped it into a hurricane and covered the weights with some tissue paper. Now they look like a vase of balloons!

Neutral colour palette with white and kraft (my favourite combination at the moment)!

Just tie anything to your napkin rings for a bit of interest. I used some chipboard kraft stars.

I created some ‘resolution cards’ for my guests for them to either reflect on 2012 or to think about 2013. They were tucked under the cutlery and had prompts on them such as; ‘I was so happy this year when….’ or ‘In 2013, I would like to do more…’ It was a great conversation starter!

Candles create a beautiful warm glow to any table setting for an intimate affair. For a rustic and relaxed feel, I have used some old jars with twine wrapped around the top. You can also use coloured ribbon if you had a colour theme.

Tablecloths are also a quick and easy way to add interest to your tables. If you can’t find what you are after, how about making your own? It can sometimes work out cheaper than a store bought one AND it will be a unique piece. Find some fabric you like in any fabric store and either sew up the edges or leave it raw for a rustic feel.

I found this little block calendar at typo just a few weeks ago, they have some awesome things in there. It’s been sitting in my bookcase since then but as it went perfectly with my white and kraft colour theme, I put it on the table.

It was so much fun putting this all together. Hope there has been a few things in here to inspire you to create a table setting at your next dinner get together. Look around your house for things you can use – it doesn’t have to cost a lot to have a beautiful table setting.