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Welcome! I'm Victoria. This blog is filled with my love for the art of merrymaking, pretty things to craft and one festive magazine. Here's more about me...
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a birthday unlist

04.19.11 Posted in adult parties, birthdays, brightness, design, editorial shoots, events, Favorite, summer parties by Victoria

What do you want to do before turning thirty? Did you have a big list or a simple one? After seeing many friends make their 30 by 30 or life lists, I was a bit overwhelmed with the prospect. Giving myself more boxes to check just isn’t my thing these days, instead we made an “unlist”.

Matt and I jotted down a list of the things we’ve learned so far. A list of funny, wise, honest, and helpful lessons that have compiled over the past thirty years.

We wrote them on scraps of fabric and are planning to add to them each year in hopes that one day we will be able to pass down the wisdom of our good choices and our faulty ones. “Steak should only be turned once” a very helpful lesson learned. “Dance in the rain, it’s okay to get wet” a fun mantra we have adapted to our life. “Always check the oil in your car” a much more costly lesson.

As a part of our thirtieth birthday celebration, we tied all these lessons together onto a bunch of balloons, grabbed the cake we would later blow out and celebrated all that it means to have lived, learned and enjoyed the many boxes already checked throughout our quickly fleeting twenties.

Photography by Carly Taylor.

PS. The rest of the celebration… Invites, our match stick candle, curly cue confetti & a summer float bar.

blessings.


sneak peak 30th

04.11.11 Posted in birthdays, design by Victoria

I awoke this morning coming off a weekend filled with festive birthday fun and glad to be in my thirties! On top of our time celebrating, we also had the sweet gift of a photo session by Carly Taylor. It ended up being quite an exciting afternoon; this photo was shot right before one of the funniest moments of my life. More to come soon…. It’s good to be thirty.

PS. Thanks for all the sweet birthday wishes and love.

blessings.


weekend revelries | it’s my birthday

04.08.11 Posted in design, weekend by Victoria

Playing a bit of hooky and spending most of the day out frolicking with the husband. We are both turning 30 this weekend and the photo above is a snapshot of what I am hoping for- bright, simple and fun. Looking forward to a weekend of celebrating together, then with our family and a few very close friends.

Photo by Studio Toogood.

Other revelries of note of this week; a rooftop dinner, a mac and cheese bar, the worlds largest xylophone and scrumptious looking doughnut holes.

PS. Last year Matt and I snuck away together (it was great!).


reason to celebrate | thirty

04.08.11 Posted in birthdays, design, reasons by Victoria


A beautifully simple thirty, hooray! Hosted by Amy Blessing of BBB craft.

blessings.

 


jr. librarian party

03.24.11 Posted in birthdays, design, favors, kid parties, party by Victoria

I spotted this Jr. librarian party that Celeste threw for her daughter and it looks perfectly adorable. She describes the party as, “loads of nerdy fun!”. Each child received a freezer stenciled canvas library bag as a favor and they played great games like, walk around the room with a book on your head. I love finding fresh party concepts that aren’t too cheesy for older kids.

Photos and concept by On hand + Modern.

PS. If you’d like to freezer stencil your own tote favors, Liz has a great tutorial.

blessings.


a unicorn party

02.22.11 Posted in birthdays, design, events, kid parties, party, spring parties by Victoria

The magical, make believe world of child’s mind can lend itself to the most enchanting of parties. Unicorns prancing around a living room floor, for example, transport us back to the days of dress up, knights and the whimsical world of a princess.

Carly, photographer extraordinaire, who you see around here often, has a baby girl who just turned one. To celebrate she threw a unicorn and tutu party, with loads of amazing details. It was a fabulously fun party to conceptualize with Carly. Sadly, the day of, a bridge closure prevented me from attending, but she did an amazing job styling and photographing it to share with you!

I lieu of birthday hats paper unicorn cones were made, the children adored a chance to pretend as they romped about the room wearing them. We found the perfect metallic unicorn balloon, which floated along with pretty paper poms above the tables.

The dessert table featured a rainbow cake made by Nichole, designed specifically in the pretty color palette. Taffy, rock candy and other goodies were offered to keep things sweet.

Ice cream cones dipped in white chocolate and made to look like horns were the perfect favors for guests. Wrapped up with gold they became a sweet treat to take home.

Thank for for sharing these beautiful party photos Carly!

blessings.


reason to celebrate | Walden

02.16.11 Posted in design, party, reasons by Victoria

A party based on the book Walden, by Henry David Thoreau is the perfect match for an evening revelry. Plus bunting that may kill!

Photo and concept by Hearblack for Nathan’s birthday I assume.

blessings.


mirror backed dessert

02.02.11 Posted in birthdays, design, Events, kid parties by Victoria

A two year old birthday would surely not be complete without the addition of a few chosen sweets! The Storybook dessert bar I styled flowed right into the rest of the space, backed by a large horizontal mirror to show off the fabric ruffled streamers draping across the ceiling. Mirrors are a classic interior design trick, they can also be the perfect fix for a table backdrop when there is a pretty little something to be shown across the room.

Our sweets were inspired by the two year old palette and included chocolate raspberry pudding, brownies, cake and individual truffle boxes. Two simple matching cakes were made special with handcrafted birthday candles, perfect for a bit of party sparkle. The cakes were set out on stands I created from spray painted plastic dinnerware which turned out to be a festive and economical solution for pretty cake stands.

My favorite detail of the dessert table was the written fabric flag design. I cut up an old sheet, ironed and glued the sides behind and enlisted the help of a teacher friend to write in classic book phrases only adjusted to fit our day. They lent a good dose of texture to the table and incorporated our theme in a jovial way.

Photography by Carly Taylor see the rest of the party here.

PS. We still had a whole bag of those white meringues left after the party, they are so pretty in photos but no one seems to like them- take note!

blessings.


A storybook spread

01.25.11 Posted in birthdays, design, kid parties, party by Victoria

The storybook snacks from our recent birthday party were laid out on an extra long and skinny table filled with cheeses, vegetables and the most scrumptious looking nibbles. I envisioned a spread sophisticated yet playful, like it could have stood right in the midst of a favorite classic.

Storybook flags popped out of the cheese selection in the most whimsical of ways. Vegetables looked appealing to all ages standing up in sparkly metallic glasses and fruit almost peeled rested in dishes of cinnamon and sugar. The lamp was one of my favorite pieces from the day. An ugly thrift store find, it was painted a deep plum and topped with a bulb I hand-antiqued using copper glass paint.

The cheese boards were backed with cut-out silhouettes of from storybook pages. Big print/felt flowers, along with stacks of floating vintage books stood behind the long food table, encouraging each guest to find beautiful value in our favorite old books. The sweetest little girl asking for more food was a good sign to me that a kids party spread need not be filled with gummies and fishes to make them happy!

All photos by Carly Taylor

PS. Party part one here. More to come!

blessings.