I have been loving paper lanterns and this was the first time I used them. I made the banner with fun paper and my new Cricut--what a great machine! There is a closer picture of the start of the banner so you can see it better--it said "McKenley is Here!". I showed you the diaper cake last week but here it is in its official place at the shower. The Baby sign was just something fun that I did because I couldn't stop playing with my Cricut! That sign with the shadow letters took me like 10 minutes? Is this a Cricut commercial? Sorry! The cake was made in Sebring and was gorgeous and tasted great!
This was fun and simple--guess the amount of pacifiers! It's hard to see here but these are the cute decorative pacis that you can buy at Michaels or party stores. It was fun to not only announce the winners but to also see how low and how high some people guessed!
This is a gift that our Aunt Harriet has given us for every single baby! I should have taken one out for a better picture but they are imprinted disposable diapers with the baby's name on it--cute!!
What a fun shower and great celebration! Every baby is a miracle and every baby comes (hopefully!) from dreams and anticipation but there is just something special about the reward you get when the path of adoption is added into this process. She is a little miracle for her parents and big brother (who thinks his little brother will come in "another week") and I'm so proud to be a new Aunt! 
Even my coffee bar got some fun candles!
I am co-hosting a baby shower this weekend for my new niece! It is not in my home and I am taking what I am doing out of town and mingling it in with another person's decor and style. I hope I won't scare her because I have lots of stuff to take! I'll post pictures next week but wanted to share my diaper cake! The shower theme is brown and pink so I went with that, of course! Yes, it is 100% diapers, except the center which is bottles.
Here is my newest project! This homeowner is very busy with multiple businesses and 2 children. They just completed an addition to the back of their home in order to gain space! This room is right off their entry and she is a bit overwhelmed, can you tell? I am reorganizing this space as well as setting up the new Play Room. Most importantly, I am merging things together from many different areas to create true "homes" for all items and am creating systems to better manage her busy life! She is very intelligent and juggles more than most and just needs an organized environment and rules to follow in order to maintain a Pretty Neat space! 
Here is the bar. I used a basic black bowl and glued the halloween trim to it. All the labels were made with basic scrapbook paper and ribbons that I found. Using halloween inspired sticker letters would have been expensive and time consuming. An easy solution is to download cool fonts instead. All the fonts I used were free. I didn't take a good picture of the wine covers I made but they were quite cute too and are in the background of the bar.
This is the cosmo with Dry Ice and it was so much fun! Dry Ice has several rules that you can easily find online if you want to try it one day. As long as you follow the safety guidelines, it's a blast and really made the bar creepy and cool! The ice popped and bubbled in the ladel.
Yes, gross. That's the point. Isn't it fun? You can see I set it up with some shot glasses but I didn't think anyone would actually drink it so I didn't put out a serving piece. One person wanted to try it and he said it wasn't that bad! Note that if you do a fun gooey shot like this, it's all about the container. This in a shallow glass or colored item would not have looked great--it needed something pretty to make it look all the more creepy!
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This is the sandwich I made. It is just crossaint dough wrapped around ham and provolone. Easy but fun! I also made adorable eyeballs for dessert for the kids that were SO easy but I didn't take a picture!
I LOVE crafting things for holidays so stay tuned--it offically is the season! I'm also working on TWO baby showers this month and will have lots of fun with those as well!
My something "neat" item is next. This large corner behind the door needed something and these baskets were a housewarming gift from my friend Amy! We are in a rural 'swampy' area and have a pool so it is filled with bug spray and sunscreen along with lotions and, or course, TP! 
She bought coordinating straight valances for the long window that matched the bedding which I could NOT live with so I asked her to give me just one of them and let me alter it and add drapes and she let me do my thing! That is a favorite trick of mine--altering something simple off the shelf that lacks in 'umph' and make it unique while adding some style!
Master Bathroom
This bathroom is large and quite unique with the tub in the middle of the room and had great 'bones' but was just non descript with the tan walls next to the tan tile. I edited their accessories, added pops of color and created display areas for the things that they needed on the counters. The phrase on the mirror raises your eye and really makes you see how large the bathroom is, though this was VERY hard to photograph with all the reflecting mirrors.
Here are a few areas in the bathroom that helped create big changes. One thing that I LOVE about the homeowners is they have things they truly love and like to see that hold personal value when others would perhaps put them away if they didn't fit into the room. One of those things is a clay tube of toothpaste and toothbrush that the husband made when he was little! It was on his counter so I put up a shelf in an empty area so it had a worthy home. And I love how it looks so great with the paint, which I wish I could say I thought of but I didn't, it just worked! This shelf needs another item which I will figure out on another day.
Guest Bathroom
They owned the beach inspired pictures so I used those and added a few accessories to tie in and look at how easy this change was!
Bar/Pool Room
This room was set up but didn't have much personality. We wanted it moody, relaxed and a great room for parties! ! This paint is SO dark that I couldn't get a good photo of the entire room so below the before and after are two pictures close up where you can see the shimmer and true tone of the wall--GORGEOUS!!!
The bar cabinet was full of alcohol and couldn't be closed so I found the shelves at Pottery Barn and they helped enable us to organize and close the doors. The shelf display can be changed out to focus on a different theme or even drink motif! I used what they had for now but plan to talk to them more about what they love to really personalize this for them. Here are a few ideas to use as a display:
The ideas are endless!!
Dining Room
This is right off of the bar so we chose to paint a niche to tie into the room and I also had to add shades to the chandelier to complete this area! There is also an entry area that we painted green and another bathroom that is also green and an office area that was painted brown but this post is getting long enough!
I enjoyed this week so much and love that they didn't see it as it was being done so they can fully feel the transformation when they walk in. It was a TON of work and their house was a MESS during this process between painters as well as myself working in the same space so I'm glad they were gone for that reason too! I wish all my clients would vacation for a week and let me take over as I think it is a rewarding process for everyone!
