Daddy’s Little Caddy Baby Shower

I’ve been kind of busy and haven’t had the chance to post final baby shower photos! The event was beautiful and everyone had a great time! Mommy-to-be was gorgeous and glowing! I am so happy that I got to be a part of the event and help out. It took a small army of helpers to pull it off and everything came together like a perfect puzzle.

I made these vanilla cake pops with white candy coating. Wilton’s golf ball candy mold was the perfect size for the pops. I love that the impressions came out so well. As for the stand, I made that as well! You can see the details for that project here.

I got so many compliments on the diaper golf bag. I love the way it came together and actually looks like a golf bag! It looked HUGE sitting on my kitchen table, but it was the perfect size for the centerpiece of the large dining room. My diaper golf bag “tutorial” to come…

I was so excited to see how the table linens and everything were going to look with all the other decorations. I didn’t know what the table linens or flowers were going to be until I got to the house. I guess all great minds think alike, everything matched perfectly!

The flowers were purchased from the Flower Mart in Downtown LA. We arranged cut and arranged them in the morning and added the flags once we put them on the tables. I like the pebbles at the bottom of the vase and the addition of the golf balls… it’s the perfect kind of water hazard!

The shower was a success!! It was slam dunk! Hole-in-One! Touchdown and all that Jazz!

Wedding Style: Mint & Orange

I got married…again!  I only do it once every ten years.

The first time we got married it was in Japan and it was just us and our Japanese translators.  Well, we finally got around to getting married in our church and celebrating with our family.

This all came together fairly quickly so I tried to keep it simple and as inexpensive as a wedding ceremony could be.  I’m a DIY kind of girl so I did a lot myself.

I’ll start with the flowers.  And they start with Succulents.  I knew that I wanted succulents.  What I didn’t know was that they aren’t cheap.  But, while hunting for Easter eggs at my Grandmother’s house I found that she had several beautiful succulent plants.  She was gracious enough to give me one and it was enough to give me 24 favors and 6 centerpieces.

Having that one plant saved me A LOT!  I priced the individual succulents  for the 24 favors and the cheapest plants I could find (at Home Depot) were $2 each!

I found the metallic pots at a wholesale flower store for $6 each, where  I also purchased glass candle holders for $8/dozen and painted them silver for the favors.  The ranunculus, roses and mums I literally found late at night at Trader Joe’s!

I was also able to save on the cake by ordering a 9 inch round and decorating it with [faux] succulents myself.  That cake was placed on the table for everyone to see.

The second cake was just a sheet cake that was kept in the kitchen, ultimately cut and served to guests. This helped me avoid the “wedding surcharge.”

Be sure to check back to see more!

Shop Local: Nurseries

Last Friday we stopped by the nursery in town to pick up a few plants for the “sand box” we call a yard. I don’t know much about desert plants, but I do know that the plants I have in my yard wouldn’t survive out here. When you don’t know what to do, ask the experts!

The local nursery is awesome! These people really know what they are talking about. I’ve shopped MANY times at the big box stores and you’re lucky if you get help from someone who really knows what they are talking about. Let’s be honest, you’ll be lucky if you find someone to talk to at all! Anyways, local nurseries know about the types of plants that grow well in your area. They will also know what types of soil you have and they really feel your pain when you tell them you have issues with soil drainage.

I also found that local nurseries have a large selection and the plants seem to be treated with TLC.

During this specific trip, we were in search of a purple flowering plant that we already have growing out here. I’m no plant expert, so purple flowering plant was the only description we had, and a photo I took on the iPad. We described the plant and showed the photo, the nursery owner knew exactly which plant it was and informed us that they won’t get those in until the summer. I guess we’ll be going back again soon!

I love that the nursery clearly labels the plants. I always found it important to read the labels on plants so I know what to expect and what the plant needs. Sometimes, I feel like the label is so generic that it can be on any plant in the store. At this nursery, they give so much information! It is so helpful!

The kids enjoy exploring the nursery and smelling the flowers. We had a very productive day at the nursery!

Flower Power

I am thrilled that its warm enough outside for me to enjoy our flowers again! I love that we have such a wide variety of flowering plants! I’m so grateful that they are still around and I haven’t killed them yet. Maybe I have a greenish thumb after all! Enjoy the flowers!

Here are some more…

This little gem show up every year now, we figured them for dead two Springs ago.

These remind me of Dr. Seuss’ truffula trees.

I never thought these would stick around…they were so weak looking after we planted them. Now, they are 5 times the size and growing strong!

My favorite color! I honestly don’t even remember buying and planting these! We have gone though quite a few flowers before finding out what will grow in our clay-like soil.

How fun are these “Joey Paws”?

These yellow buds are from one of our drought tolerant plants…we have more than a few of these because I don’t always remember to water.

Welcome Spring

This photo was a “before” from last year…

Happy Spring everyone! I’m mostly looking forward to my trees not being naked anymore! I miss the green leaves and colorful flowers! I’ve been doing some more gardening in preparation for Spring, so far we are looking great!

This is the “after” of our yard project…

We’ve been getting into gardening a little over the last year, I am proud to announce that not ALL the plants have been replaced! If you want to refresh your memory, this is the backyard planter here, and this is our front yard planter here. Some, you know, aren’t supposed to last forever, others we had a change of heart and sent them packing. Can you believe that they are coming back from the great beyond? We got rid of our unruly poppy plant midway through last year and it is back with a vengeance! I have poppy plants in four different spots now!

This is the “now” photo of what the yard almost a year later…we’ve come a LONG way!

Floral Cake Pops

Its been a while and now its seems I’m on a cake pop binge.  These cake pops would have probably been better if they were a little smaller, but once I got into it I couldn’t turn back.  There was a baby counting on me to hurry up.

I made regular white cake pops and sprinkled them with yellow sugar before they set.  For the petals, I purchased a pack of matching cupcake papers in two sizes.  (They were in the dollar bin at Michael’s…Score!)  I took two of the larger cupcake papers and cut them in to petal shapes and off set them.  Then I simply placed the smaller cupcake paper in the center.  Using an X-acto knife, I cut a small X shape in the center and pushed the stick through.

I wrapped each with a treat bag and closed it with washi tape.

These make a cute little thank you gift, perhaps…

April Showers bring May Flowers

When the rain finally cleared out of here, we completed our landscaping project. We started out at Home Depot early. We left with two large carts full of plants and supplies. We got many comments from others on the size of our project which gave us some doubt if we would be able to finish in a day.

We weeded, then planted many different flowering bushes, including jasmines! I love the smell of jasmine!

Anyone else have spring gardening plans?

Floral Fashions

This week, my mother-in-law gave me some old fabric she had in the back of her closet. In the bag was this pretty floral fabric that is fitting for Spring. I decided to make a light weight tank with it. I pulled out this pretty lace tank as a guide for size and fit. I cut around, sewed the seams and finished! It was a pretty simple design and didn’t take long to whip up. I can’t wait to wear it! Hoppy Spring Everyone!

Flower Power

I have had an empty flower bed since we moved into our house two summers ago. It never really bothered me before, I never knew what to put in it. It’s a partial sun location and I couldn’t find any plants that I liked that much to put there. Also, I’m lazy. I said it! Yard work is LAME! 

It became apparent that something had to be planted there. My 17 month old son LOVES dirt! He’s such a boy! This flower bed became his favorite play spot. After chasing him away, numerous times, it was decided something had to be done.

Last Saturday, I planted new flowers in the flower bed as little boy repellant. So far, it’s successful! No more dirt throwing/eating! Now the ultimate test.. can I keep the flowers alive? That is to be determined…