I wasn’t originally planning on doing anything to mark this occasion, other than watching, but…the closer the Royal Wedding got the more I thought about being a little girl when Princess Diana got married, and wanted to give my little girls something to remember. So, I had a little fun today coming up with this for the morning!

I started with a some amazing free pintables I found on line.

The bunting is from brides.com, and the “Keep Calm and Marry On” is from The TomKat Studios. I don’t have a colour printer, but I just take them to my local Staples and voila!

I also used some of the free pintables from the Design Editor. I think it’s amazing how all these great sites share their beautiful work for free!

I used some of the pintables on the tea mugs, and some on the champagne flutes for our orange juice.

I also found some fun favours for little girls, and big girls alike! Our very own princess tiaras, and big, beautiful, blue sapphire rings!

For our centre piece, my sweet husband brought me some red sweetheart roses, and I added more of the pintables, with “blue sapphire” embellishments. In keeping with the jewel theme, I found these pretty floating candles too.

On the menu in the morning, along with tea and orange juice, are scones with clotted cream, butter and jam.

We’ll also enjoy some toasted crumpets!

And some fruit, that matches our red and blue colour theme.

Also, for a little sweet treat later, some classic British cookies: shortbread and empire cookies, that I picked up at the British bakery today.

I’m really looking forward to tomorrow morning, and so are two little girls.

Sometimes life isn’t just a party, it’s a ROYAL party! Cheers!

This post is linked up with Decor to Adore’s Royal Wedding Link-up Party, Tea Time Tuesday, Whipperberry, Tatertots and Jello, and Between Naps on the Porch.

I am so excited to finally be seeing some glimpses of warm spring days. On the weekend, I made it to the garden centre for a some pansies. I planted them in some pretty little containers with some pussy willows that I found on my walk (always walk with clippers). I arranged them on my back deck with a few little garden ornaments, my new outdoor rug which is so soft on the feeties, and my much loved muskoka chairs. They were a popular spot on Easter Sunday as Mommies, and Aunties watched little ones play in the yard.

It’s raining today, but you know what they say, “April showers bring May flowers”. Here’s to sunshine and blooms ahead!

Yesterday was Easter and we invited some family and friends over for a wonderful feast! We had 19 guests, tons of amazing food, and a wonderful time together. We had 14 adults to seat for dinner in the dining room, which was a bit of a challenge, but we squeezed in and it was a lot of fun.

It’s always a challenge to put together a coordinated table for that many people, but when you have white dishes to mix and match it makes it a lot easier.

I was inspired by these beautiful blue eggs I found at Dollarama, and used as filler in my spring hurricane vases. I love the robins egg blue colour.

I saw some super cute wire nests at Holiday Haven, with a great tutorial. They made them into necklaces, but I had the idea to make them into napkin rings. It was a fun detail to add, and a great solution when you don’t have 14 of anything that matches -just make your own!

I got my supplies at Michaels; just some wire and these great blue coloured beads to compliment the eggs I used in the hurricane vases with the candles.

I followed the simple tutorial, and had 14 whipped up after a couple hours of TV watching. I strung them onto some pretty satin ribbon, and tied them to white napkins.

My sister, of La Petite Fleur, brought a beautiful centre piece. I love the little butterfly tucked in, and the gorgeous white flowers with a hint of pink. It sure is handy having a sister as a florist!

I love how the table turned out, and I think these nest napkins rings would be great for any spring get-together, or nest themed party.

This post is linked up at Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Skip To My Lou, Between Naps on the Porch, Whipperberry, Tatertots and Jello, and Blue Cricket Design.

Several years ago, we moved into the house we now live in, in the spring. It was the first house that I ever lived in with a fireplace mantel, and the first time I decorated it was for Easter. I remember sitting and looking at it quietly one night, while drinking tea, and feeling such joy and the sense that my new house was beginning to look and feel like a home. The decorations have changed over the years, but the feeling has remained.

The little houses and church were a gift from a friend a few years ago. I was admiring them and waiting for them to come on sale after Easter, and she just went out and got them for me! They inspired me to try my own hand at making glitter houses for Christmas, see how I did here and here. I love the little smiling bunny, and all the pretty pastel colours.

The houses are sitting under a pretty little Easter egg tree. My mom and sister and I made the eggs together one year, and the branches I have to hang them on have some little thorns, which always makes me think of the crown of thorns my saviour wore for me.

On the other side of the trees, are three fluffy little Easter chicks. I love their feathers, and how they tie back to my feather wreath.

I hope you and yours enjoy a blessed Easter together, and that your home reflects your joy.

This post is linked up at Beyond the Picket Fence, Somewhat Simple, Paisley Passions, House of Hepworths, Yesterday on Tuesday, and Whipperberry.

We celebrated Maddie’s birthday on the weekend at Great Wolf Lodge! We have been there a couple of times, and always had a blast, so when the topic of birthday plans came up months ago (you know I love to plan ahead) Maddie decided she’d like to celebrate there. I was a little disappointed (I know I’m crazy) not to get to plan an at-home celebration full of wonderful homemade details, but I did come up with a few ideas to personalize the party.

I decided to work with the Great Wolf Lodge camping and wilderness theme to create a few special details for the party. During dinner, we gave all the kids a “Camp Maddie” hat, and lanyard to wear, instead of party hats. They were so cute.

A friend designed the “Camp Maddie” logo, and I used to tie all the party details together, including decorating the hotel room door. Maddie’s reaction when she saw the door: “wow”. Mommy’s reaction to Maddie’s delight: big smile!

After dinner Maddie handed out the loot bags to her guests. For the kids we made cute bags, with her “Camp Maddie” logo.

Inside we had some colouring pages, printed out from the GWL website, here. We added a bundle of crayons. We also found these great moose pencils, that fit our theme perfectly!

I shared here, the fun moose cookie cutter I found at IKEA. We made moose sugar cookies, and iced them with chocolate icing for the body. For the antlers, I made icing out of maple syrup, and sprinkled with sugar in the raw. The maple flavour was delicious with the chocolate, and fit our theme beautifully.

We also made some simple Smore Pops. Nothing says camping like smores! We dipped some marshmallows in chocolate, and then in crushed graham crackers. I wrapped them in little cello bags, and tied them with a red ribbon.

For the adults, we made a mini-loot bag, with just the cookie and smore pop, cause everyone loves a homemade treat!

We had a wonderful time. There is so much to do at GWL. Of course everyone loved the water park, but the kids also really enjoyed the craft room, and story time. The absolute highlight for the birthday girl though, was going to the kids spa with her girlfriends!

Sometimes, life really is a party!

This post is linked up at Blue Cricket Design.