Happy Bastille Day!

Bastille Day always brings me happy memories of summer travels in France and sitting on the banks of La Maine River to watch the amazing fireworks display at the Chateau d'Angers.

Mini Travel Tuesday!

I'm so close to being done with my marketing certificate... I'm on the 6th course out of 7! It's been fascinating and I've learned a lot, but I can't wait to have more time to focus on blogging again! In our course discussions this week, we've been talking about introducing products to the international market. It made me think of when I was in the UK (exactly 6 years ago!!!) and without my Mountain Dew, I had to switch to Fanta Orange. I bought a bottle from a street vendor and got a Russian version instead! I wanted to bring it home, but alas, there was absolutely no room in my luggage!

Fun memories!

-Robin

Creative, Personalized Cake Topper Options

I am so, so excited for this post. I've got some fun things in the works and I can't wait to share them with you all.

Up until recently, cake toppers weren't something that I'd thought about a whole lot. But after painting an adorable pair of peg people cake toppers for my own someday wedding, I thought, "hey, this is really fun, I'd like to make more of these." So the wheels in my head started turning on how to start making this a potential product for my shop. Around the same time, Patience Brewster contacted me about collaborating to show you all some awesome options for cake toppers. So now my head is full of all things cake topper-related (haha) and I can't wait to show my readers some creative options!

Not so long ago, it was really hard to find any kind of cake topper that reflected who you are as a couple, especially if you're a person/people of color, a same-sex couple, or even just wanting something a little different. Thankfully, that's changing and there are so many more options these days. Instead of a traditional one piece cake topper, I love "cake toppers" that are separate pieces, allowing couples to chose different figures representing their personalities, physical features, and gender.

Hand-painted Peg People Cake Toppers

I'm so excited to debut this new item for my shop! These adorable peg people are completely customizable: hair color, skin tone, eye color, clothing, veils, and gender.

You can also go with tall and short, like I've done here or both tall/both short. Or if you've got children you want to include, the parents can be tall and the kids short. All kinds of families and couples should be able to have cake toppers that reflect themselves!

These are the cake toppers that I made for my wedding, using blank peg people from Dandelionland. She makes some of the most adorable personalized wooden cake toppers.

I'll give them clothes when we get a closer to an actual wedding date and know what we're wearing!

Ornaments as Cake Toppers

I don't know that I would have thought of this right off the bat on my own, but after talking with the folks at Patience Brewster, it got me thinking about what awesome cake toppers ornaments can make. It's the same general idea, choose two separate pieces that represent you individually as a couple and bring them together as one awesome cake topper!

Patience Brewster makes whimsical ornaments based on her drawings. So cute and playful!

Here are some of my favorite combinations of ornaments for cake toppers...

Boy/Girl of the same kind of animal (or Girl/Girl, Boy/Boy)

Two different kinds of animals that represent you each individually.

How about some cute little elves?!

A New Rug for the Living Room

When I got my house 3 years ago, I bought a new rug for the living room from Rugs USA. It's great quality and I got it for an insanely low price (I think it was about $125). I still love this rug and it's a great striped pattern, but I've been noticing lately my living room is a little too bright and energetic for where I'm at in life right now... I'd really like something a little more soothing. I think the floors have a lot to do with this. My wood floors have a very strong red-orange undertone and fairly bold grain pattern. I'd love to change them out someday, but that definitely won't be happening anytime soon. Sadly, I think my beautiful rug also contributes to how visually busy the space feels. So, right now, I'm dreaming of something a little more sedate for my living room rug.

My living room, as it looks now.

I'd love to get another rug from Rugs USA, since I really love the prices, quality, and selection...

This is the rug that I really like. It got great reviews, but they say it's a little silvery. Not sure that a metallic will help my problem...

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day! I put together some Red, White, and Blue wedding inspiration for the occasion! Summer's around the corner-- already here in Florida, let's be real-- and red, white, and blue would be an awesome summer wedding color scheme, especially for July.

All images via Pinterest. Check out my board for all sources.

Patriotic pretty things and weekend fun times are all well and good, but let's not forget the real reason for Memorial Day, to remember those who gave their lives for our sakes!

Updates

I'm a blogging slacker. Like I've said in most of my last posts, I've been so busy lately that I haven't been keeping up with the blog as much as I'd like. I'm taking my marketing courses and doing a lot of new training at my day job. I've also been busy getting this beauty out to a bride-to-be who's using it for an engagement shoot:

I love that idea of using an alternative bouquet for an engagement shoot!


We also got to go on a little mini-getaway when I got a surprise day off from work! That was nice and much needed. We stayed in Ellenton, FL and did a few things around town in Bradenton (where I grew up!)... it was a really a nice little break. We also went to The Dali Museum in St Petersburg to see the Dali & da Vinci exhibit (going on through July 26). Bonus... on Thursday nights, it's only $10 a person to get in! If you've never been to The Dali Museum, you need to go... just the building itself is worth the trip!

Atrium of the Dali Museum, photo by me.

Sixties wedding dresses that are totally on trend

Did anyone else see this post on Buzzfeed? I looked through it because I love old photos and retro fashion, but as I was scrolling through, what stuck out to to me was how many of the brides were wearing trends that are super popular right now (and not just the "vintage" trend).

Short Dresses

I love Say Yes to the Dress and fairly often, there's a mama on there freaking out because her daughter wants to wear a short dress instead of a long traditional dress. Haha, well, this is 50 years ago, look at all the short dresses! So many!

via Buzzfeed

via Buzzfeed

via Buzzfeed

via Buzzfeed

via Buzzfeed

Wedding Dresses with Color

Wedding dresses that aren't all white or ivory are a huge trend right now. So many people want a white wedding dress because they're traditional. Even though it's no secret that that "tradition" only goes back less than 200 years to the wedding of Queen Victoria, even in the 60s, there were wedding dresses in colors besides white.  

via Buzzfeed

I mean, how awesome is her light blue wedding dress?!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOUSE!

I absolutely can not believe that I closed on my house THREE YEARS ago this week. Time really does fly. 

I'd been house hunting for about three years before that, so finally finding a house and closing after all that time felt pretty crazy. I wanted to get most of the interior painting and cleaning done before I moved in, so I didn't actually end up living here until Bastille Day (I'm a Francophile, what can I say) of 2012. 

We've done a lot of work and it's changed so much, but there's still a lot more to be done! I don't live here alone anymore either... that's a nice change :) I gather my house likes B too, because he's accomplished more around this place in his few months of residency than I did in years!

I got a cake to celebrate. Buying a house is a big milestone that is worth celebrating to me!

In honor of my house's birthday, here are a few more photos of the interior! We'll be updating the kitchen soon (thank God) and I can't wait to do make even more improvements around here. We've done a LOT on the sunporch/office/craft room area, but none of it is particularly photo-ready, so I'll spare y'all's eyes for now.

My dark grey almost black bathroom. I think it works well with the original yellow tile.

View into our bedroom. I love my ceilings.

Ravenclaw felt banner that B and I made hanging from the door knob. I need to do a DIY tutorial on that.