Amy Merrick Floral Designs

These floral designs by Amy Merrick are absolutely beautiful.  I mean they are the most gorgeous arrangements I've ever seen.  How could you not fall in love the color palettes, rustic beauty and delicate blooms in every arrangement?  In case you couldn't tell, I am a huge fan of Amy's work.  She owns her own floral design and styling studio in Brooklyn, New York.  Her name may not be familiar to you, but her work probably is.  She has done styling for Anthropologie , BHLDN and she is the author of the weekly "Living In," column over at Design*Sponge .  You can also keep up with Amy's work through her blog, An Apple A Day.   Enjoy some of these gorgeous arrangements in the pictures below.  -blessings, Britany 

Photo Courtesy:
All photos from Amy Merrick's website 
Styling photos by David Meredith, taken from Amy Merrick's Website 

DIY Favor Bags

Hi everyone, today I'm sharing these DIY favor bags.  I came up with the idea last week when my husband wanted to take treats to some of his clients and I didn't have bags to put them in.  I made them using brown painter's paper and my sewing machine.  I was so happy with the result that I thought I would share an improved version here on the blog. The best part is that they are simple and cost effective to make.  

You'll need: roll of brown painter's paper, scrapbook paper, double-sided tape, sewing machine & a gift tag

Step 1: Cut a piece of brown paper 17" x 6.5" and a piece of scrap book paper 9.5" x 6.5"
Step 2: Fold the bottom of the brown paper up to form a pocket.  Leave a flap that will fold over to close your bag.

Step 3 & 4: Use the double-sided tape to secure the scrap book paper to the flap and to the back of your bag.

Step 5: Run the bag through your sewing machine to close up the sides and attach your tag.  I sewed mine with a straight stitch all the way up the sides and across the bottom of the flap.

Step 6: Stuff your bag with goodies and close it with double-sided tape or small pieces of velcro.  

Color from A-Z: Yellow

Okay, so it's no secret that I love the color yellow. If you've been following the "Decorating with Color" series you've probably noticed my obsession with the color.  I've already given my product choices for decorating with yellow when I featured the colors Daffodil  and Lemon.  Yellow is just so versatile and can be paired with many other colors.  You can decorate with lighter shades of yellow or more bold patterns in brighter hues to make a statement.  So since I've covered some of my other favorite yellow choices, I've decided to feature items all from Etsy today.  I am an Etsy shop owner and I love having the opportunity to support fellow artists by featuring their work here on the blog.  I can't promise I won't feature any more yellowy goodness here on the blog, but I'll try to feature other colors too.  I hope you enjoy today's picks.  -blessings, Brittany 

1. Ceramic Pig Planter by fruitflypie 2. Designer Custom Curtains by 20DaisyStreet 3. Pair of Yellow Ceramic Lamps by havasmoak 4. Antique Yellow Chair by metrosofa 5. Mid Century Modern Side Table by theTurquoiseIris 6. Duralee Pouf Ottoman  by madebyzigzag 7. Pillow Cover by madebyzigzag 8. Ceramic Coasters by mayagencic


Photo Courtesy:
Title photo from House to Home UK 

29th Birthday Celebration

Last month my husband and I hosted my brother-in-law's 29th birthday celebration.  There were a lot of people invited and I knew the inside of our house would not be able to accomodate everyone, so I created this outdoor seating area, image above. We've also been really busy rennovating the inside of our home and we haven't quite started on the outside yet so we made these large fabric walls to make the space seem more intimate and to hide the unfinished areas of our yard. 

The images above are close up shots of some of the decorations.  We planned this whole party in a week, so I needed easy decorations that I could put together quickly.  I themed the party around the dry/sarcastic sense of humor of my brother-in-law and printed and framed various phrases to put around the house.  I also reused some pom-poms and tissue paper decorations from Alicia's Baby Shower.  I made the garland for the mantle and used brown paper from the painter's section at my local hardware store for the table runner.   I also enlarged and printed photos in black & white to match the gray and black color palette of the party.  

The images above are some close up shots of the fabric walls we created.  My husband built the frames using scrap wood we had left over from another project and we purchased sheets from the thrift store to hang inside them. We were able to paint the designs on the sheets in one evening. I was really pleased with the result.  

I also setup a Root Beer Bar, image above top left, for people to sample various brands and flavors of root beer from all over the country.  I created a menu listing the name of each root beer, where it was brewed and some key ingredients in each to help people choose one to sample.  Additionally, we had a s'more station, image above bottom right, based on this idea from Pinterest.  

We also made a photo booth for people to take pictures.  I made the mustache props and the hats and bow ties were downloaded from here at Oh Happy Day blog.  

The image above is my brother-in-law Josiah.  Overall, I think his birthday party went really well and everyone had a great time.  I hope you enjoyed these ideas and hopefully you can use some for your next party.  Have a great day! -blessings, Brittany 

Fashion & Furnishings

If you love the beige & black color combo and the curvy lines of this sweet handbag by Ruche, decorate with this mid-century modern chair from Raven Wares on ebay.

Uncommons Boutique

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter , you've probably seen several posts about the Uncommons Boutique that just opened here in Southern California.  The lovely ladies from Uncommons contacted me in April through my Etsy shop about selling some of  my stuff in their new store and I was over the moon with excitment.  I was so flattered that they wanted to carry some of my products and when they told me they wanted the shop to be a  "living Etsy,"  I was in.  The boutique is so cute and I love that the ladies at Uncommons are making handmade and vintage items more readily available for the community.  If you live here in Southern California, you should definitely check it out.  The shop houses vintage items and work from several local artists.  They are even beginning to host community craft nights.  The first craft night is this Sunday, May 20th from 4pm-6pm and they still have a limited number of reservations available.  For more information about the craft nights or Uncommons Boutique, visit their website , Facebook page or follow them on Twitter .  The pictures below are some of my favorite items by local artists.  Have a great weekend! -blessings, Brittany 

image above left: "The Getaway Place," by Adam Russ

  image above right: By Fred Blood Photography

image above left: Crocheted toys by Danielle English

  image above right: Artwork by Di Murray

images above: Artwork by A3.  I especially love the painting pictured on the right.  

images above: A Handcrafted Home products on sale

image above: Flyer for the Community Craft Night this weekend.

image below: Map to Uncommons

DIY Fringe Tissue Paper Letters

Happy Thursday friends!  I can't believe another week has almost come to an end.  It seems that the weeks are passing so quickly.  Today I am sharing a DIY project to make your own fringe lettering like the ones I made for a baby shower .  These letters are really very simple to make and they can be used for any celebration.  I hope you enjoy this tutorial I put together just for you.  -blessings, Brittany 

Supplies: foam board, tissue paper, printed letters (to use as a stencil), double-sided tape and scissors

Step 1: Choose a font for your lettering and print them from your computer.  Cut out your stencil and trace it on to your foam board.  

Step 2: Trace your foam letter onto your tissue paper and cut the letter out of the tissue paper. 

Step 3: Use the double-sided tape to affix the tissue paper letter to the front of the foam letter.  This will help cover all of the white parts of your letter when you start attaching the fringed pieces.

Step 4: Cut the tissue paper into strips. 

Step 5: Cut fringe into the strips of tissue paper.
Step 6: Start attaching the fringed strips of tissue paper to the letter using the double-sided tape.

Step 7: Continue covering the letter with the fringed pieces until the entire letter is covered. 

The image above is an example of how I used fringed letters for a baby shower.  Thanks again for stopping by.