The Florida Girl

𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕪𝕝𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕘𝕖𝕣 • 𝕞𝕠𝕞 • 𝕙𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕣 • 𝕗𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕠𝕟

Archives for October 2019

Celebrate the Details

I wanted to write a quick blog post to share all the little but mighty & meaningful details from Hendrix’s “One Is Berry Sweet” 1st Birthday. I can’t believe it took me almost a year to finally get this blog post out. SMH. In fairness, I did cover a few details from it in my “2019, I am coming for you” blog post. Perhaps I am also just finally getting to it because I have been consumed with wrapping up details of the Halloween Boo Crew party we are about to host and are just starting to plan her 2nd birthday, so parties are fresh on my mind? Who knows. Either way, I hope you enjoy and get some creative inspo for your next event or party!

How ironic was it that my jammies matched the color theme? My coffee bar chalkboard is one of my favorite ways to add a personal touch to my events. Here I am erasing away and the party hasn’t even started. I accidentally wrote in her birth weight and height, not her measurements from one year old. Whoops!

Now, that’s better and more like it! This “milestone” chalk art was a great way for me to document several of her favorite things & accomplishments from her first year.

While were are here, can we just appreciate the photos of all of the sweets below? All which were made from scratch by her Nana and, yours truly. The mini homemade apple pies are my grandma’s secret family recipe & were given as the party favor for our guests, along with the cupcakes.

My husband and I had a red velvet wedding cake and there is a ton of meaning to that flavor so we wanted to have it for Hendrix’s birthday (not to mention they were the perfect color & coordinated with her berry theme).

This gorgeous cake came out of a bunch of chaos, and I love it. It was my first time making a “naked” cake and I’d say it came out stunning, wouldn’t you? The addition of fresh flowers and berries added the perfect dainty feminine touch I was looking for.

The elegant paper plates (yes they are paper) came from one of my favorite tableware sources, Sophistiplate. I knew I wanted to set the table for the party but didn’t want to be trapped for hours doing dishes afterwards. After-all, isn’t brunch best when you can pig out and then veg on the couch?

One of, if not my favorite, decorative accessories for a party is flowers. I know they may not be the cheapest and you may not feel like you have the “know-how” to arrange them, but I promise you, Pinterest is your friend and is great for inspiration. I always choose monochromatic tones and use LOTS of greenery to enhance the arrangements. I also love to use different styles of vases and vary the height of them to add dimension.

Sweet touches like printable gift bag tags, banners, and welcome signs are a great way to keep a cohesive theme going throughout the party space. Check out these relatively generic gift bags that I added tags to. In addition, I enlarged a version of the birthday invitation and mounted it in an acrylic standing frame on the favor table, which doubled as a welcome table in the foyer.

You might have thought after hearing how much I love flowers that they were they way to my heart (and although very close) food is really the way! Ha! In order to hold the guests over until brunch, we served a simple charcuterie board filled with tons of delicious cheeses, fresh meat, & scrumptious fruit.

A mimosa and juice bar is never a good idea at brunch (said no one ever)! We had several bottles of champagne for the guests to chose from… even a non-alcoholic version from Ready to Pop. Add fresh fruit, a few different juice types, some flowers, balloons, and decor and you’ll have the perfect setup that will draw everyone in and keep them coming back for more!

Cake time! Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Hendrix. Happy Birthday to you!

I used our Rettel Craft Paper Roller as a big family birthday card. Each person signed her a wish and we are saving it for her to read one day.

One of my best tips of advice is get all of the kids and “necessary” (aka the pictures you want to look relatively put together and pretty) out of the way BEFORE the party starts. As seen here… I am still in my jammies trying to get Hendrix to smile, and failing miserably.

Eventually she warmed up some and we got some pretty cute pictures I’d say! This girl melts and warms my heart all in one!

Balloon garlands are probably one of the most economical decorative accessory you can get to make the biggest impact for photos. They are brilliant for backdrops!

Photography: Crystal Swass of Blue Anchor Love Photography

Party Styling & Decor: Yours Truly @the_floridagirl

Sweets: Nana and Moi

Custom Gift Bag Tags, Birthday Invitations, Floral Signs, “One is Sweet” Banner, “Eat”, “Drink”, “Be Sweet” Banners, and Floral Signs: Shauna @stayinghomesawyer

Let’s chalk it up!

Quick little back story on me. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. I was nearly about to graduate when my hubby and I decided to build a home in Orlando. It wasn’t until then that I found my passion for design. Once we started making the finish selections for our home I started to really feel confident and an had an “itch” to go back to school and follow my heart to explore the right side of my brain. So I did. I have been a nationally certified Kitchen & Bath Designer for almost 15 years. Please note, I am also a Martha Stewart crafting wannabe and dreamer so this space makes for the perfect outlet for all of my creative juices (or coffee) to flow! My love (aka need) for coffee and our realization that we needed more storage in the home inspired this coffee bar space. It was once our dining room and is now what I call our reading coffee parlour. Yeah, I am fancy. It’s basically our coffee bar and library! LOL

I tried so hard to find the first two chalkboard designs I drew when we built this space and I am missing those two. The very first one said “Welcome Home” and the second was an “F” for our last name with a simple twig leaf looking wreath around it. Soon after, Fall rolled in and this was my first big attempt at a more intricate design. I will say, I never imagined I could get this detailed but it was fun. I get most of my inspiration from Pinterest. I seriously try not to duplicate anyone’s exact design, but rather use a few parts of several designs to create one new look!

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year and one of my favorite holidays. Especially now that my daughter’s birthday is so close! This was my first chalk art with color! It makes such a huge impact. It was also the first time I used white to shade on top of the color to create lots of dimension! This is one of my favorite boards!

Next up, love month! I can’t remember if I left up the Christmas drawing until February but I wouldn’t doubt it! I am that much of a procrastinator! I have always loved the phrase “I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck” so that is what inspired this love bird chalk art!

My second love behind coffee is flowers! Spring and flowers go hand in hand so that is what inspired this drawing! Another vibrant and colorful one in the books!

Now that I am going down the calendar of chalkboard art, I realize I am also missing a summer drawing I did. It was a super cool palm tree and ocean wave! Wow, I wish that picture would wash up somewhere because I loved that one! My hubby even got in on this design and helped add texture to the palm leaves! Trees are his thaaaaaang! He grew up trimming huge trees with his dad!

On to Florida Fall again! This year it was allllll about pumpkins. This design was also another new one for me! I practiced layering and creating lots of design elements that peeked in and out of each other and lots of shading for dimension again! Lots!

After Fall comes that special time of year! December! I squeezed in this holiday board until our HUGE celebration…

Our daughter, Hendrix, turned one! This little creation was special for her and deserves some extra sweet love!

I am for sure this time that her birthday design remained on the board until the next big event I threw! That would be the Galentine’s Day brunch I hosted for my closest girlfriends! It was a day full of love, sweets and lots of pink. If you want to see a time-lapse video of this little creation head to my @the_floridagirl Instagram highlight reel called “time-lapse” to see this and a few other cool drawings!

That’s it for now. It has been some time since the February Galentine’s Day design but have been super busy! I am gearing up for Hendrix’s Boo Crew Halloween event in a few weeks so check back for more details on what was drawn! Also, check out the “Spooktacular Fun” blog post for some cute Halloween decor ideas that will go into that party!

Spooktacular Fun

This festive tent set up is revving up our excitement for the Boo Crew Halloween party we have planned in just a few weeks. Several of these pieces will be sprinkled into that party. In the mean time, check out how adorable they came out and how we have transformed some basic Halloween decor into something spooktacular!

We hit up the dollar store for these plastic skeletons and spiders. We also snagged some styrofoam headstones but I will be honest, they shriveled up after attempting to spray paint them. Ultimately we got new ones from Walmart (4 for about $7 versus 4 for $4 – so not too bad) and they held up so much better!

With a few cans of colorful spray paint these blah headstones, skeletons, spiders and some dollar store plastic cups were transformed in just a few minutes. Voila! You can create a brand new custom look if you simply remove the base of the plastic cup and spray paint them a fun color! I went with black in this case because I plan to tie hot pink name tags around the stem of the glasses for each boo crew guest.

Between now and the party, I will be plotting what to draw on my coffee bar chalkboard, Hendrix surely will continue to play hide and seek in the tent, and these little bits of decor will remain out for everyone’s enjoyment. Stay tuned for more details coming in the blog post after the party! Oh, and be sure to check out my “Let’s chalk it up” blog post for chalk art inspo.

The Champ of Tampa

This past weekend we drove to Tampa, Florida to visit family and had the most memorable time! From enjoying a fun family night full of scrumptious food & fabulous music on the lawn of Sparkman Wharf, and taking the dolphin tour on The Little Toot Dolphin Adventure in Clearwater, Florida, we thought we had experienced it all. Then we heard about the Oxford Exchange in downtown Tampa. Let me just tell you…it is a MUST. The ambiance, the decor, the food and oh my gosh…the DRINKS! Do I have your attention yet?

Que The Champagne Bar. Heaven on Earth… but only right here in Florida! How lucky are we? I am a sucker for a great cocktail, but I really love one when it is created with this amount of beauty & intention. I mean, just look at this stunning setting. (PS. I can’t believe I was this lucky to enjoy the bar in their grand opening week.) If you haven’t gone yet, I PROMISE, it will NOT disappoint! They serve a very well thought out menu comprised of champagne, sparkling wine and rosé. Oh, and, eh hem, might I add the space makes for the most gorgeous Instagram backdrops and blog photos. (PPS. now I need a bar like this in my home.)

Oh, and did I tell you I am slightly obsessed with beautiful stationary too! The Champagne Bar teamed up with the renowned Rifle Paper Co. when creating their menus. Check out the mouthwatering selections below. I enjoy the sweeter side of my pallet so I went with the bartender’s suggestion of the Rifle Paper Co. Punch. How fitting, right?

Remember the stunning photo ops and backdrops…here’s a little taste (see what I did there) of what you can expect.

Check out this little cute blogger influencer in training!

Did you think I was going to leave out the yummy pictures of the crafted cocktail I got? Savor on these!

And every responsible drinker has a designated driver! That would be why my hubby ordered up a cortado from Buddy Brew Coffee at the Oxford Exchange.

Photography: Yours truly (@the_floridagirl)

You’re a gem

Happy 1st Day of October! This year is flying by and I hope you are ready for all the fun Fall and Halloween ideas that are coming to The Florida Girl blog!

I am so excited to talk about this last minute party with you today! About a month ago, I was right in the middle of the design stages for several clients, while at the same time putting together two separate events, when my husband came to me with an idea. He asked me if I could throw together a party to honor the important and influential women in his life. I knew how important this was for him, so of course I said YES! The whole idea was to spoil them with food, drinks, and in-home massages. By the ‘ohhs’ and ‘ahhhs’ from them, I’d say it was a huge success!

I got so excited when I found Harlow & Grey, I fell in love with all the prettiness and I am sure you will too! As soon as I saw the Blanc collection I knew it was the one I wanted to use as the base for my inspiration for the entire event. It’s the perfect collection if you are looking for neutral sophisticated tableware. Plus, you can’t go wrong with white & marble!

The biggest inspiration for this event was obviously the Blanc tableware they carry. In addition to those goodies, I really wanted to focus on a neutral pallet with hints of fall tones. After all, it wasn’t even October yet (and we live in Florida) so I didn’t want to go pumpkin crazy. The best and easiest way to do that was by incorporating greenery, white flowers, small white pumpkins and hints of fall colors in the food served.

I also layered white place mats, rattan chargers, and white dining plates with the paper goods to give it a very high end look! It was the perfect idea to add texture to the table setting.

If you are familiar with my style and parties, you know I always love to have coordinating desserts to perfectly match the party decor. I reached out to a local baker, Marci. She is the owner and head baker of Confetti Confections. She is amazingly talented with her creations and the cookies taste delicious!

I was sure to get the ladies excited with the scrumptious charcuterie trays I put together! If you are looking to create one of your own, don’t be overwhelmed. Just pick 3-4 of your favorite cheeses, a few types of fruit, some fresh honeycomb, nuts and crackers!

Styling & Photography : Yours truly, moi! @the_floridagirl

Modern Party Tableware: Harlow and Grey

Wood Cutlery: Harlow and Grey

Custom Gem Cookies: Confetti Confections

Flowers: Purchased at Whole Foods, arranged by me!