Monday, September 24, 2012

Jewel-Tone Moroccan-Inspired Shower for Baby Girl Young

Amanda is a mommy of bold colors and graphic and simple flourishes. And so when she told me "no pastels for my little girl; I want bright jewel colors," I wasn't surprised. And I's smiling on the inside, knowing how fun a shower would be in all those glorious, rich colors. She peppered her Pinterest Nursery board with gold metallic filagree lamps and painted furniture that would make any little girl ooh and aah and feel like a magical genie in a bottle.

Co-worker Jenn (aslo Amanda's best friend) and I hosted the shower, preceded by several craft days. Our shower invitations were a nod to what was to come.

One truism that rang clear for this shower is that you shouldn't pass up something you see promise in just because you can't think of an immediate need for it. This was the case with three items featured here. The first, this ceramic elephant. I wasn't crazy about the blue and white, but the little critter just said "take me home and you'll find a place for me." And she found the perfect home. First, to grace the buffet table at the shower, holding pretzel rolls for the lunch. And then home to the nursery, perhaps as a side table for next to the rocking chair. I love when my finds turn into something spectacular (if I must say so myself). With a dress-up of paint, gold fabric tassel trim, cut-up gold paper doilies, teal blue jewels, and silk flowers, any little girl would find this pachyderm as much a buddy as she would Babar or Dumbo.


We forwent the fresh flowers in favor of brightly colored fake ones. It worked.


On the cake table, we took a Publix cake (white cake with raspberry filling 
and a cream cheese icing iced in an even spread) and gave it a gold elephant topper 
(bought plastic animals and spray painted them gold for the cake and to use as other decor). 
The tabletops got draped with saris. Lots of feather butterflies adorned the floral arrangements.

The two balls of flowers next to the cake are simply styrofoam balls covered in silk flowers 
and set upon jewel-colored spray-painted candlesticks.


For the door, these dollar store wings made the perfect statement that this shower is all about the girl. 
I took a styrofoam ball and cut it in half, glued it to the wings, covered it in flowers, 
then added a ribbon at the bottom and one at the top as the hanger. 
This went home with the mommy, another pretty piece for the nursery.


And of course, big brother Bryce got a little sumthin to remind him that he's special.


With Fall in the air, and the need to make the front porch look nice, 
I opted to get my pumpkins early and then decorate them in what I call "Cinderella Coach" chic.


My Eiffel Tower that I use to showcase framed pictures 
has forever been relegated to a behind-the-sofa table. 
I put it on a lazy susan and gave it a place of prominence on my coffee table. 
It really is too pretty to not be center stage.


Here's Jenn making her famous take on the Chopped Salad 
from Atlanta's Chops Lobster Bar Restaurant.
And the kitchen chalkboard got a new message for the guests!



The chair below is one Jenn found at a dumpster and gave to me. 
We call it the dwarf chair. It's legs are super short. It sets in front of my fireplace 
and is the perfect height for stoking the fire. 
Anytime we have a large group hanging out in the living room, 
the dwarf chair is usually fought over.

In the lower right image, even Gideon's Cynthia Rowley dog bed dons the jewel-tone colors.


Jenn and I took our two craft days to make the below gifts for Baby Young. 
The first are the animal clothing hooks. Purchased plastic animals got cut in half and adhered to painted wood plaques and backed with sawtooth hangers.


I talked about not passing up an item and reference the elephant above. 
The second were these two mirrors I found at a thrift store. 
I thought Harleigh might like them for her college room and planned on doing something with them. They were plain white plastic frames with the center mirrors. 
Nothing ever came of the project and they were forever taking up room in my garage. 
When Amanda mentioned wanting to put a big mirror above her changing table, 
these two became a great repurpose project. 
With gold paint, they will make quite a statement in the nursery.  
They have hangers on the back, but Jenn and I added ribbon to each corner on the back 
that can be tied in a bow on a nail above each mirror.


And the third repurposed item is the below pagoda type thingie. 
A guy at the office was cleaning out his house in preparation for a move 
and brought a bunch of stuff in to give away. This was one of the things. 
No one wanted it and he kept saying, "Dawn, are you sure you can't do something with this?" 
Well, I took it, and I made something. 
With a little paint to showcase the flowers on it (that match the cloth napkins — these, too, repurposed from Jenn's wedding shower), it became quite the statement piece.


And, of course, for a shower where the guests are creative, 
we forgo the games and get right to the crafting. 
We'd done the blocks for Molly's shower, and I wanted to do something similar, so opted for small canvases. Ripped easily from a bolt I've had forever, each was put onto a piece of foam core, secured with binder clips, and gessoed. When the guests were done painting (and these are only some of the 26 letters of the alphabet below), they were hung by gold-spray-painted mini clothespins to dry. 
Amanda will have the canvases and clothespins to hang 
any way she'd like (she can spell out words, change them out, lots of options).


Lots of paint and wine. Is there any other way to craft? 
And you can see Jessie in the background Instagramming the project. 

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