In case you missed our wild seaside garden infused with song lyrics and love ‘notes’ on Ruffled, we have been posting all the photos again (see Part I) plus some new additions. This day was filled with romance set on the sunny seashore, and surrounded by a plethora of overgrown twisted trees and a garden of wild flowers…

A “message in a bottle” – The Police, made it’s way into this romantic day…

Cake Table – Another love ‘note’ made an appearance with “How sweet it is to be loved by you” – James Taylor. The table was adorned with a peach cake accented with textured flowers and an antique silver pitcher filled with a wild gathering of peach and rose toned blooms. Also making an appearance were sweet little ants on a log made of gourmet chocolate truffles.

A Book of Love was also propped on the sweets table, with another love ‘note’. “I love it when you read to me and you, you can read me anything. I love it when you sing to me And you, You can sing me anything The book of love is long and boring And written very long ago It’s full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes And things we’re all too young to know But I love it when you give me things And you, You ought to give me wedding rings And I, I love it when you give me things And you, You ought to give me wedding rings” – Peter Gabriel, Book Of Love

Gift for Him: Serenade your sweetheart with this great gift idea: make a piñata out of old music sheets! Really play up the love ‘notes’ theme by having him channel his inner child and hit the piñata until actual love notes flutter to the ground! Love was literally floating in the air with this gift. Handwritten notes like “will you be my valentine?”,  favorite love song lyrics and inside jokes will make this the most personal and thoughtful gift you could give, while allowing your sweetheart to channel his inner child. Ren and Kiptyn could not contain their giggles as he wore a pink velvet blindfold while blindly swinging.

Gift for her: Her heart was fluttering as gave her a key box with a note that said ‘you’ve got the key to my heart – pull here’. At the end of the pink velvet ribbon she found her gift, a gorgeous vintage bracelet.

The texture of Ren’s soft pink hued Alisa Benay gown dreamily resembled the fluttering love ‘notes’ of the delicate pinata.

For dessert Kiptyn was given a bowl of sweet passionate peaches that read “You’re the cutest thing that I ever did see, I really love your peaches want to shake your tree” – Steve Miller Band

Pinata DIY - blow up balloon (the oversized balloons work best), soak newspaper strips in water and glue, then cover the balloon in them. Cut music sheets into squares and curl the ends of them around a pencil (this will give them the curled shape). After the balloon dries, cover it in the cut music sheets. Pop the balloon and cut a small section to fill up with the love ‘notes’. Reattach the cut piece and cover it with the music sheets.

This day truly hit a high note!

Between both posts, how many song lyrics/love ‘notes’ can you count that made an appearance into the day?!

Valentines day is over, but giving gifts for no reason is so much better. Remember our Project 2010: The year of ‘just because’? Well here is another heartfelt project that would be a great addition to the list. Create a handwritten book of song lyrics with sentimental value and illustrations from the soul.

The lyrics of a song are like a time travel machine, they can spur memories and transport you back to moments with the first word.

How sinfully sweet would it be to share your ” little book of lyrics” (via Notebook Doodles) over a stoneware chocolate fondue set? Dip delicious strawberries and marshmallows into the chocolate as you romantically reminisce together…

Do you have any meaningful Project 2010 ideas? We would love to hear them!

Don’t throw away your paper grocery bags! Use them to create a forest of pretty paper palms instead.  Make an eco-friendly and stunning statement at a baby shower, birthday party or fun fete. We placed our swaying African palm next to the dessert buffet at the Safari Luxe baby shower!

INSTRUCTIONS: Eco friendly & cost effective do-it-yourself paper palm tree

  1. Cut leaf shapes out of used brown paper grocery bags
  2. Crumple up the bags as much as possible to give them a weathered and ‘veiny’ look. Let the kids help with this part!
  3. Spray paint the front and the backs of each leaf with a hi-gloss white paint. The paint won’t cover the crumpled parts giving it the weathered and leafy look you’re after.
  4. Starting with a Styrofoam ball as your base (ours was approx 8” diameter) hot glue the leaves around the ball in layers until you’re tree is a full as you want it to be. We started with the larger leaves around the bottom and went with smaller ones at the top.
  5. Poke a hole on the bottom of the Styrofoam ball to insert your tree base. We used a yucca pole (only $6-$12!!) but any other branch or wooden dowel could work as well.

We would love to see a whole forest of these swaying palm trees created, what a statement that would make!

As I rounded the corner into 2010 and my neighborhood corner, I found myself praying to the New Year resolution god…  “Dear New Year Resolution God, with every jogging step onto this pavement I feel the extra weight of those holiday cookies, grandmothers’ fudge and the Sees Candy that is now just a box full of empty wrappers. Help me to check off my long list of resolutions this year… My first one is to…” Suddenly, I realized that there were a lot of ‘me, myself and I’s on that list.

I also realized that my family routinely gets together on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas and that I give gifts and send cards solely on Birthday’s and Holiday’s. So I’ve got a new New Years Resolution list this year and I will be checking it twice! I would like to send a little something to grandma, a good friend or any special someone ‘just because’ they are special and I want to brighten their day. Why does there have to be a Holiday or a reason? What happened to the good ol’ days when we would bake our new neighboors cookies to welcome them into the ‘hood’, and what happened to sending good old fashioned hand written letters?! This year I resolve to become a resolutionary of ‘just because’ (and watch less telly and read more books of course).

Sofie Lawett

This year I will give a beautiful umbrella to somebody so when it’s gloomy and raining outside they will look up and it will brighten their day (via Style Unveiled), I will make and send a card to let someone know how awesome they are (DIY free printable card), and I will bake a special someone these Message-in-a-Cookie Cutters which are perfect way to spell out anything.

I will also go green with my projects and make this stunning bib necklace with vintage pins for a dear friend (and one for myself of course!) I will gather the family to visit junkyards and flea markets to collect old furniture pieces and create a brilliant new one! This project is a four-in-one, upcycling, spending time with the family, creating something gorgeous, and just being creative!

We invite you to become Resolutionary’s with us! ‘Just because’ it will make somebody smile and in return you will smile. What will you do this year for someone ‘just because’? We would love to hear your ideas and would love for you to send in your projects and stories. We will continue to update you on ‘just because’ ideas and our progress with them as well.

Jingle bells, jingle bells…. Dashing through the snow…. Or powdered sugar! We created this Winter Wonderland Dessert table for a jolly holiday party at C St Studio consisting of wedding photographers and designers.

This white winter wonderland dessert table brings the season to life in the most sinfully sweet way. Like a sugar coated forest, this magical dessert table features such delicious delights as red velvet candy cane cakesicles sprinkled with peppermint, fluffy red velvet cake sandwiches and piles of fluffy white snowballs.winter dessert candy bar

Create your own Winter Wonderland Dessert table to make your holiday fete an even more festive feast with these recipes…

Frosty’s Frosted Cookie Sandwiches: Top sugar cookies (or red velvet cookies with white frosting!) with red frosting and sandwich with another cookie to create a yummy red and white sugar cookie sandwich.

Red Velvet Cakesicles: Make your own cakesicles with these super fun delectable treats! We used candy canes as the sticks and sprinkled them with peppermint toppings. We used red velvet to keep in line with the holiday palette.

Santa’s Snowballs: Bake cupcakes in jumbo sized cupcake tins then cover with frosting all over and roll in shaved coconut for a snowy sweet snack.

winter dessert tableLined with a marshmallows tree forest and smiley snowmen, there was plenty of frosting to go around, sure to make Frosty the Snowman proud. Feathery white flower tops and baby’s breath were used to create a delicate floral Christmas tree while milk glass vases also topped with baby’s breath were scattered through out the birch filled forest.

For additional DIY tips on our tissue poms that illuminated our snow filled backdrop, snowball clusters made with textured buttons, and marshmallow tree visit Wedding Chicks to get our inside scoop! This table will be sure to satisfy your guests Christmas Confectionary Cravings!

Photography: Justin Lee Photography

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