The Florida Girl

𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕪𝕝𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕘𝕖𝕣 • 𝕞𝕠𝕞 • 𝕙𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕣 • 𝕗𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕠𝕟

you’re ONE in a million

How do you design a party without a theme? You use your kid’s face, that’s how!

Get ready for the most dreamy & sophisticated yet kid-friendly party consisting of a color pallet of soft creams, buttery tones and warm brown accented with a fun blue-teal pop of color. Custom handmade details like the welcome sign, hanging backdrop, “one year of Bodhi” sign, handwritten acrylic food signage, & party favors are what create the special & personalized touches.

Our son, Bodhi is ONE in a million. I snapped a picture of him lying in our bed holding his feet when he was 7 months old and KNEW that picture would be the inspiration that drove all of the details of his 1st birthday party. My goal was to have a sophisticated & kid-friendly party that everyone would swoon over.

I recently attended an event at Bluebell hq and was blown away. I immediately determined I wanted to have the party in their space. It was the perfect blank canvas for me to create the my dream 1st birthday for our son!

Food is life, am I right? Just check out this spread! It was seriously a dream come true!

Although design is my passion and career and I love having my hand in all aspects of the event, the reality of it is, I also know I can’t do it all. This allows me to collaborate with some of the most talented people and brands to help me bring my vision to life.

My biggest tip to start planning as early as possible. When I began planning nearly 5 months ahead, some thought I was crazy, but if you pace yourself and spread it out a little at a time, the small details (which create the “WOW FACTOR” at the event) seem less daunting. Getting such an early start also allows me to stay organized, reach out to brands I want to collaborate with, and be sure all of the individual items are going to flow together.

Concept, Design, Styling, & Photography: Jen Feliciano, The Florida Girl (www.florida-girl.com) @the_floridagirl (www.instagram/thefloridagirl.com)

Event Space: Bluebell hq (www.bluebellhq.com)

Balloon Garland: Aquarelle (www.instagram/aquarelle.com)

Charcuterie Spread: Apricot & Olive (www.instagram/apricotandolive.com)

Round Acrylic Sign & Drink Stirrers: Floral Dust (www.floraldust.com)

Acrylic Sign at Photo Backdrop: Modern Birch Co. (www.modernbirchco.com)

Floral Design: Jen Feliciano, The Florida Girl (www.florida-girl.com) @the_floridagirl (www.instagram/thefloridagirl.com)

Roses: Grace Rose Farm (www.gracerosefarm.com)

Paper Tableware for kids table & dessert table: Oh Happy Day Party Shop (www.shop.ohhappyday.com)

Cake: Sugar & Bloom Cakes (www.sugarandbloomcakes.squarespace.com)

Cookies: Sugar Cookies by Anne (www.etsy.com/shop/sugarcookiesbyanne)

Key Lime Pies: Key Lime to Happiness (www.keylimetohappiness.com)

Donuts: Dandee Donut Factory  (www.dandeedonuts.com) & Donut Bragger (www.donutbragger.com)

Kids Sensory Dough Kits: MamaMaliDough (www.etsy.com/shop/mamamalidough)

Knit Dolls: Cuddle and Kind (www.cuddleandkind.com)

Ain’t life peachy

Mother’s Day is fast approaching and even though the country is mostly on lock-down from the Coronavirus, I wouldn’t let this holiday go by without doing even something small…and pretty! I am starting with a little bar cart set up to prepare for the at-home brunch we shall have the day of!

If you couldn’t tell from the title, the color scheme and theme is “just peachy”. Peach was a great start but I had to throw in some soft blush and pale lavender too, because, why not? Well, really, I was inspired to add those colors after Grace Rose Farm so generously gifted me two dozen gorgeous organic heirloom roses! These roses are seriously some of the most fragrant flowers I have ever smelled, not to mention, look how beautifully they fluff up and bloom!

You may be thinking “Eeeeeek, I don’t have a cute bar cart like that!” Don’t worry… you can always set something like this up on the kitchen counter, a dining table or a console table! PS, IF you ARE looking for an amazing bar cart and happen to like this one, here is the link to mine shown here! (Check out these alternate options here & here).

Most all of the adorable tableware and accessories are from, the one and only, Target! I absolutely love shopping in the bullseye section (AKA the dollar spot). I snag things there all the time! You never know when you want to do a little impromptu brunch or party. I have linked the party goods here! Check out the plates, napkins, cups, silverware, water pitcher & cakestand! Additional napkins here and here as well as the peachy plates!

One of my favorite home accessories is this 18″ wide Rettle Kraft Paper Roller. I recently purchased the decorative accessory shelf and a roll of white paper to keep things light and airy and to coordinate with my new White GE Cafe Refrigerator (which has been my dream since completing our home remodel!) Next on the purchase list is the matching Oven–Microwave combo and Dishwasher.

The only thing left to do now is planning the brunch menu, come up with a signature cocktail (for mom), and a mocktail recipe for my 6-month pregnant self! Stay tuned for that blog, coming soon!

Pop-Colored Nutcracker Christmas

Grab a cup of hot cocoa or coffee and enjoy our home tour featuring the most joyous pop-color themed Nutcracker holiday decor. To say I was elated to be a part of this year’s Design Council 2019: Holiday Style Stars with Treetopia is a bit of an understatement! Christmas is not only my favorite holiday, but it’s also the birth month to my daughter, Hendrix. She is the color in our life, so it is only fitting we decorate and prep for her second birthday that’s fast approaching. Last year I specifically wanted to have her party be Berry Sweet (but not holiday-themed). This year, we changed gears and it is gun-ho Sugarplum fairyland!

This year Treetopia is hosting their 8th Secret Santa Giveaway where one winner AND their friend will each win 1 Treetopia tree of their choice! The giveaway runs from Nov 17-28, 2019. Be sure to enter HERE!

These gorgeous Treetopia Frozen Fir Flocked Artifical Christmas Trees were gifted to us and are the perfect showstoppers and canvases for our pop-color Nutcracker theme.

And, as if it couldn’t get any sweeter, Treetopia sent us the coordinating Winter White Artificial Christmas Wreath and Garland. I automatically knew I wanted to hang the garland over the chalkboard at the coffee/hot cocoa bar, and it is perfect!

These gorgeous shots are just the tip of the winter wonderland iceberg. Stay tuned for more details to be revealed in the upcoming birthday blog post.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the other creative Holiday Style Stars to see how they implemented other fun Treetopia products and accessories!

I am already scoping out the Treetopia website for other fun colored trees for future projects!

Colorful Christmas Trees

Green Christmas Trees

Wreaths and Garlands

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.