Winnie the Pooh

THUMBPRINT TREE

My friend contacted me about a Winnie the Pooh themed baby shower for a baby with a nursery of the same theme.  She had this great idea for a thumbprint tree for the shower... 

Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree!

Thumbprint trees are a great alternative to a guest book at showers, weddings and birthday parties!

Instead of signing a book, guests dip their thumbs in green ink and stamp the canvas.  Their thumbprints look like leaves for the tree!   When the ink dries, the guest signs his or her name over their new leaf.

I can't wait to see what this thumbprint tree looks like with all of its leaves!

CUSTOM PAINTING

That same week, another friend contacted me about a custom painting for a pre-teen who loves 

Winnie the Pooh, but is getting older and her tastes in decor are maturing.  

She wanted a painting that will offer some encouraging words that can also grow with her through the years.  

She found this quote by Christopher Robin that every child growing up deserves to know and hear,

and even better, it's perfect for a fan of Winnie the Pooh!

Under the Sea Thumbprint "Coral Reef"

Thumbprint Trees are a hot item to have at baby showers and are quickly replacing the traditional guest book.  Using a green stamp pad, guests use their thumbprints to make leaves on a bare tree and then sign their names on top of the leaves when they dry.  At the end of the shower, the Mommy can frame the canvas and add it as a special, personalized touch to the baby's nursery.  (Check out the "Thumbprint Tree" link to the left to see different trees made by Kidspired Creations.)

But, what do you do if a tree would just look really out of place in the baby's nursery, yet you love the concept of the thumbprint tree?  You think outside of the box!

That's exactly what I had to do when I was presented with the idea of making a Thumbprint "Coral Reef" for an Under the Sea themed shower to complement a baby girl's nursery with the same theme.  I'm not going to lie, I had NO idea how to even attempt to paint a coral reef/tree for thumbprints, so I was a bit intimidated by this request.  However, I absolutely LOVE how it turned out and cannot wait to see it hanging in Baby Starlee's nursery!!!  Instead of the thumbprints making leaves for a tree, the thumbprints were turned into FISH that swim around the reef! 

After all the thumbprints and signatures dried, tails and fins were added to the prints to make them look like fish - my mother and sister-in-law's idea, not mine, so I cannot take credit for it.  And since I was not able to make the shower myself, my sister-in-law added the finishing touches (and some sparkle) to the fish!  I think it turned out fabulous!!!

Speaking of fabulous, the shower looked AMAZING!!!  My mother and sister-in-law are truly talented when it comes to decorating and even catering showers, banquets, birthday parties, and other events.  Here are just a few pictures:

The sign-in table

The cake from La Baguette, decorated by my sister-in-law (Caruso's Catering)

Lollipop Starfish displayed in "coral" made by melting sugar!

Sugar Coral!!!

Jellyfish paper lanterns hung over the centerpieces

Sign-in table for the thumbprint coral reef

Gift table.  I LOVE the jellyfish paper lanterns!!!

ScrapBlue - Crop for a Cure

Last week I received an e-mail from an extraordinary woman whose husband is a survivor of prostate cancer.  She started a 501c3 organization called ScrapBlue to raise money and awareness for the Chattanooga, TN Prostate Cancer Walk.  ScrapBlue hosts the "Crop for a Cure" event where women come together for a full day of scrapbooking!  Sounds like my kind of fundraiser! 

In her e-mail, she asked if I would be willing to donate a Kidspired Creation to "Crop for a Cure" to be raffled off.  I feel so honored to have received this e-mail from someone whom I have never met, but who is using her talents to raise money for such a great cause!

I decided to donate a Baby Shower Thumbprint Tree Kit.  The kit includes a hand-painted bare tree, two stamp pads (dark and light green), Sharpie fine-tipped pens, sticky notes for to practice thumbprints on, and a sheet of tips and helpful hints to making a perfect thumbprint tree... all together, a $30 value!

Click here if you would like to make a donation to ScrapBlue to help raise money for the Chattanooga Prostate Cancer Walk.  Become a fan of ScrapBlue on Facebook!

Good luck with your SOLD OUT event this weekend, Rosemary!  Great job!

The Enchanted Nursery

UPDATE to the UPDATE:  ABIGAIL HAS ARRIVED!  We left Oklahoma on Monday and she arrived less than 48 hours later.  Figures.  But thanks to modern technology, we have been able to Skype with her on both days of her existence so far!  She is so cute and snuggly and I cannot WAIT until July 4th weekend so we can get as many snuggles in as possible!!!


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UPDATE:  Still no baby, but the nursery is finished!!!  Scroll below to see the finished product!!!

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Tick...tock...tick...tock... Less than 5 weeks until the arrival of my niece, Abigail!  Aunt Casey is just so excited... and lots of cuteness comes from Aunt Casey's excitement!

My sister-in-law Kristen's best friend has written an amazing 5-book fantasy series that is set in a beautiful enchanted forest-type place.  Though this series is unpublished, I have had the privilege of reading it and it is now at the top of my favorites!  Since first reading the books, Kristen has dreamed of making this fantasy-world a reality in her baby's nursery!

I will be helping her create this "Enchanted Nursery" and I will share the details on my blog.  I will also share how I made or altered some of my special finds so that you can get inspired to create your own!  Kristen and her husband Darin are in the process of building a new house, so it will be a long process before we can get to the fun part of painting the nursery, but here's a sneek peek of all of the fun that I have been busy creating!

Thumbprint Tree for Abby's Baby Shower

 At the baby shower, guests will use a green ink pad to stamp their thumbprint in the tree branches to create "leaves" and then write their names with a black pen inside the thumbprint.

Baby Doll Cradle

I found this cradle at a consignment sale and just couldn't pass it up!  For just $14 it is in mint condition!  

I bought curly Q letters from Hobby Lobby and with a little bit of pastel paint and some wood glue, they look like they were made for the cradle!

Be careful, because these letters are very brittle.  I actually broke the lowercase 'a' and had to glue it back together before gluing it to the cradle.  Shhh don't tell Kristen.

Wall Letters

 I found this super fun "Moss Cloth" at Hobby Lobby.  It is sold in sheets, backed by paper, and is flattened to make it super easy to glue onto letters. This definitely inspired the "enchanted forest" letters for Abigail.  I turned the moss paper-side up and put the letters face-down on the paper.  I then traced the letters so I could cut out the perfect shape of the letter.  I then used wood glue to glue the paper backing to the front of the letter and painted around it.  

On the same aisle as the moss, I found these butterflies and bumble bees that are connected to a thin wire. The wire made it really easy to stick them into the moss.  For the B, G and L, I removed the wire and used wood glue to glue the insect down.

 Bedding:

Kristen wanted bedding that coordinates with the nursery, not a nursery that coordinates with the bedding.  The difference?  Some people choose the bedroom theme based on what the bedding looks like, and with all of the adorable bedding choices out there, it's super easy to do that!  Kristen, however, wanted an enchanted forest theme, but wanted a more simple bedding that would just look good inside of the enchanted forest.  She didn't want all the focus of the nursery to be on the bedding.

 I found this adorable, yet simple, Green Dragonfly Dreams bedding by JoJo Designs, that will coordinate PERFECTLY with all of the pastels in the room, is the PERFECT shade of green to coordinate with Kristen's favorite pink and beige tones, and will add a cute touch to the room without drawing the eye straight to the crib.  Sweet, sophisticated, simple and special, indeed.

Decorative Hooks

When I see something cute that I think would look super awesome in the nursery, I take a picture with my phone and text it to Kristen.  She then texts me with a "yes" or "no"... and I can usually tell by the number of exclamation points how much she really likes it.  These mushroom hooks got an, "I love it!!!" within seconds.  

You may recognize these same curly Q letters from the cradle above.  I decided to put Abby's initials on these since she'll have her full name in various places around the room.  

Mobile

My mother-in-law made a mobile out of flowers, butterflies, and glittery pearls and hung them from the center of the room.

Framed Art

The thumbprint tree and "Ivywild" (see my post about The Flute Keeper)

 

Lighting

This lamp has been in the family for years and it has a new place in Abby's nursery.

"Moon Flies" from the book, The Flute Keeper

Wall Art

Darin wanted a duck, so I made him "enchanted ducks."

Kristen and Abby ducks

The finished tree.

"Forever Yours."

The Reveal...