Recent Decor and DIY updates for Chateau C'est La Vie

Hi friends! It has been almost a year since I last shared a decor related post and thought it would be fun to share some pictures of  a few recent changes I have made to some of the rooms in our humble abode - chateau c'est la vie - as well as some creative table-scape ideas I put together using affordable items I already had and inexpensive supermarket florals.

 The result is elegant and chic but as always,  affordable and budget-friendly. Enjoy!


Since Fall 2016 is most definitely in the air and my in-laws were coming over for dinner, decided to put together a Fall inspired tablescape with bold colors, some items I already had in storage and super-market flowers.  I love the way it turned out and so did they!  This was the perfect setting to serve my wine and mushroom gravy pot roast over garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes and my pear and cranberry salad. Got rave reviews all around!

These leaf motif napkin holders were originally a dark forest green when I  purchased them from a  Micheal's clearance bin.  They were a good quality metal, I just painted them white with craft paint and for only $4 for four of them, (bit of a tongue twister there) they turned out to be a deal I couldn't beat. The white chargers I also purchased for sale during the winter time at the off season clearance section. Always great to check out clearance sections during the off season for great deals!

Had some left-over flowers from the bundle I purchased at the super-market, so I added them to other areas of my kitchen to add a little Fall color pop to those areas as well.  Like my DIY chalkboard? I used an old outdated glass and frame and some chalkboard paint to create this. I love how I can change up the wording depending on my mood. .Bon Appetit Mon Amis!

Date night at home is some of our favorite moments. For this special night with the hubby, I decorated the table with an intimate setting for two. Plates on clearance from Marshalls Home Goods, DIY fabric napkins, bird motif on clearance from a Micheals bin, Costco roses, and used a good bottle of wine as part of the centerpiece. Dinner was a shrimp scampi over linguine, the hubs was a happy man!

The best way to brighten, soften and romanticize a room, is to add beautiful fresh flowers as I did here in our living room, I used the bottom of a lovely glass apothecary jar gifted to me by my sister, as the vase. Adore the combination of these lovely flowers with the stack of vintage books and my little ceramic bird I painted white (was originally brown.)  A Vignette like this in the middle of a cold winter day, is the perfect pick me up.

And finally, in  our extra bedroom which serves as a multi-purpose room (man cave, office, guest room) we swapped out the ol' futon there that  had received quite a bit of love over the years, for a functional but stylish sectional sleeper with extra storage. It works perfectly in here with the cooler toned color scheme of blues,grays and that pop of yellow.  Went to pick it up at our local IKEA, we were glad we had waited till this year,as there was a $100 less price difference from last year.  For those interested, here is the link to purchase this great sectional - FRIHETEN Sectional Sleeper.

And those are all the decor updates for now. (Please note all these pictures were taken by my phone camera, so excuse the quality.)

I will be sharing more decor and DIY updates soon. I have many upcoming projects I want to tackle for 2017 so please stay tuned!


xoxo,

Ly

A "Tweetie Bird" Inspired Baby Shower

The last couple of months I have ardently been working behind-the-scenes on a client event that is near and dear to my heart for many reasons. My friend and  lovely mother-to-be Rocio, asked me to plan a baby shower that would be a celebration of love, happiness and joy and an opportunity for all her family and friends to get together and celebrate, it was to be unique, elegant and timeless...

I immediately began brainstorming a color scheme, a concept, working on all the numerous details that makes an event a success, and came up with the following inspiration board:

I chose a fun, modern, yet classic color scheme that was a little unexpected twist for a Baby Boy: yellow/grey/white/black. When it came to concept, the inspiration actually came from Rocio's own real-life tweetie bird aptly named "tweetie" who till now had held the honorary title of the "baby boy" of the house. Needless to say she fell in love with the idea of the little yellow winged fellow appearing as the main motif for this party...And so after many months of painting, crafting, creating and planning. the inspiration board came to life as seen below, a collage of the day of event pictures.

Day of Event Pictures 

(click to enlarge)

The Invitations

The invitations - like most of the components of this event - were 100% hand-made.  I purchased craft paper in the colors of choice and began tracing and cutting out nesting birds. I then decided that I would hand-paint the tree branches and type the party information cutting out an oblong "nest" shape. The final touches were some floral embellishments and a little unique flair with a painted chevron pattern on the birdies perch, as a nod to the chevron fabric that would later be used in the table-scapes. To package them I chose something a little different from the typical envelopes and slid the invites into white paper bags I had trimmed with decorative scissors and tied with twine. I asked Rocio's daughter to help me and she was the most gracious worker bee cutting, painting and stuffing along me.  Needless to say the invites were quite the hit!:

Centerpieces/Table-Scapes

When it came to the table-scapes, I knew right off the bat that I would go the DIY route and make my own modified runners. This I did with the help of a good pair of scissors, a hem tape and a good iron.

The end result made me very happy!!! I used the remaining fabric as a cover for the head table. 

As for the centerpieces, as soon as I laid my eyes on these mobiles from IKEA, I knew we had found the ideal centerpieces. Those that took home the centerpieces would later have the ability to hang them from any corner of their home and have a "tweetie" of their own.

For the head table (where Rocio, her hubby and her daughter Ashley sat) I chose a simple vase with the most gorgeous yellow roses, I adore how they bloomed in time for the event.  To add a special touch, I purchased a decorative frame from a craft store and painted it the perfect shade of "canary" yellow and added some silver candle holders to flank the table. Simple yet elegant.

(My trusty paint and brushes. I used these four little guys for almost every single DIY project for this event.)

The Sweets/Cake/Gifts Station

For this  area the concept of DIY took on a whole new level. In order to add unique personal touches that can't be purchased in a store and save money, I painstakingly painted and designed every single one of the little birds, birds nest, cages, bird houses, etc. I'm not complaining, this process was art class all over again and I loved it:) 

I decided to add some interesting decorative patterns on my "birds" with colored dots, stripes and even some chevron pattern, what, you've never seen a little chevron bird in real life? :)

For the "sweets" I purchased yummy candies in a variety of flavors and styles that all shared the same yellow color scheme. I ordered piña colada taffies, organic honey candies, Godiva white chocolate truffles and lemon drops. To add another fun element for the younger guests, I prepared little white bags of buttered popcorn with a mini butterfingers chocolate bar inside. I also provided a neat pile of of empty white bags for everyone to help themselves to the sweets.

To label each section/station of the room I DIYed  these cute little bird signs that I printed and cut out of craft paper and  glued to a skewer stick. I made about five of these to be used throughout the party. 

                                                         

The Favor/Frame Table 

The entrance table greeted  guests with framed portraits of the gorgeous glowing preggo with memorable portraits from her fantastic maternity shoot here, as well as hosted the favors. Favors were glass trinkets filled with almond "eggs" and a gray and white  favor tags I created  from scraps of the craft paper used for the invites. 

When guests first entered, they were greeted by this DIY sign I created to welcome everyone and let them know of the seating assignments. I painted the frame and used left over craft paper to create the charming sign.

Last but definitely not least was the gorgeous venue we chose. The Chandelier Banquet Hall Ballroom provided the ideal elegant backdrop for this special event. They provided the waiter staff, the delicious and plentiful food, the linens (I selected in yellow and gray to match the color scheme) and even the strawberry-short-cake filled cake for the event. Highly recommended!

This baby shower turned out to be an immense success, the new parents-to-be were over the  moon with happiness, and I couldn't be happier for them.... They enjoyed their special night to the fullest...

and so did everyone else:)

If your looking for creative, capable and always affordable party planning advice, or need a detailed-oriented Day-of-Coordinator, look no further. Please email me to cestlavie.events@gmail.com, or message me to my Facebook Page and we can get started planning an unforgettable event night of your own!

Stay tuned, plenty more projects coming to the blog. Recent Photo Shoots and updates on our renovation projects to the humble abode. 

xoxo,

Ly