Handmaker of Things

Eleanor's Geometric Jewel Themed First Birthday Party

This post has been moved. Please find it now on my new baby and kid focused blog, Hazel & Ollie. There I'll be sharing all kinds of inspiration from nursery decor, kids fashion, maternity and new born shoots and more! 

Giveaway Closed: Ticket for The Bloom Academy Spring Workshop!

The winner of the giveaway for The Spring Has Sprung Workshop is Jessica. Congrats Jessica, and thank to all of you that took part in the giveaway, I so appreciate you!

In fact, I'd like to offer a discount, today-Wednesday April 15th. Just enter the code FRIEND10 when buying your workshop ticket and get $10 off. I hope to see all of you on April 19th! 

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What's better than an afternoon of flowers, cocktails, and yummy food? I'll tell you what, a FREE afternoon including all these things. I'm super pumped about The Bloom Academy "Spring Has Sprung" workshop, coming up April 19th. 

I want to giveaway a ticket to one of you. The workshop includes demonstration of basic floral care and arranging, plus you'll get to create your very own arrangement. Our event is hosted in the beautiful River Market Event Place space, and they are also providing cocktails. Delicious appetizers by Moxie Catering, plus meet lots of other creative, fun peeps who love flowers too.

To enter please like The Bloom Academy on Facebook using the Rafflecopter form below, and then share this post on your own Facebook page.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck everyone. The giveaway will end on April 12th at 12:00 am. I can't wait to see who wins! 

xo - Emily

Real Weddings: Nicole and Frank, The Urban Event

This is Nicole and Frank, and I love them. For one thing I loved creating gorgeous, classic florals in beautiful fall hues for their wedding. For another thing, they are family :) Nicole is my cousin, and Frank felt like part of our family long before the got married. For her flowers, Nicole wanted to keep her bouquet classic and white, but with a touch of graphic black to match the rest of their event. The rest of the florals were bright with corals, peaches, oranges, and reds, a little bit modern with a nod to fall. My aunt sewed all the beautiful runners, and the rooftop views at The Urban Event completed their gorgeous reception. Thank you guys for letting us be part of your wonderful wedding! Beautiful photos by Nick Allen Photo. 

xo ~ Emily

We wrapped Nicole's bouquet in a piece of her mom's wedding dress. And below is me awkwardly pinning a boutonniere to Frank's lapel. 

Nicole also had me create this headpiece for her. She brought me a vintage brooch made of gold leaves, and I added the rhinestones and embellishments to spice it up. It perfectly fit their day! I love how the bouquets pop against the black bridesmaids dresses. 

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Geometric Plywood Charger DIY and an Inspiration Shoot

I love coming up with fun, unique ways to spice up a table setting. I've hand sewn runners, place mats, napkins, made table numbers, even embellished silverware. Geometrics are all over the place, especially in home decor, so I wanted to create a DIY project that incorporated them. I chose a fresh, spring/summer color palette of peach, coral, and lime for my inspiration. 

Here's the supplies you'll need to make your chargers:

• Plywood. I got mine at Lowes. I had them cut a piece of their 23.75x23.75 pine plywood into four pieces, so you're left with four 12 inch squares
• A quart of paint. I chose a coral color.
• Contrasting color paint. I used a small bottle of white acrylic paint.
• Paint brush, and detail brush.
• Sanding blocks. One heavier grit, one finer grit. 
• Clear acrylic spray.

Lay your plywood out on a piece of scrap paper, or butcher paper. 

Paint the top, and sides of each square. You can paint the bottom, or optionally, you could leave it unpainted, and paint it a different color for a whole other look.

You may need to do more than one coat depending on your paint color/type, but after your chargers have dried, sand all the edges to knock of any roughness, and give your chargers a nice, slightly worn look. 

Take your contrasting color paint, and detail brush, and begin to paint your geometric designs.

I used a different pattern on each charger to see which one I liked best, but you could of course use the same pattern on all of them. 

The last step is to spray all your chargers with the clear acrylic. This will seal them a little so they will be easier to clean off if they get food, or spills on them. However they are not food safe, so don't use them as food trays. 

I decided to do a little inspiration shoot with mine and style them up for a coral and lime dinner party. 

I used succulents, along with cafe au lait dahlias, garden roses, scabiosa blooms, and other beautiful flowers in peaches, and greens. 

Flowers, I mean, I can't get enough of blooms this beautiful. 

I hope you love this DIY, and use it to spice up your dinner table this spring/summer. It's completely customizable, and the best part is you can re-paint the chargers over and over when you get bored! If you do this project please share with #handmakerofthings or @emmyray on Instagram, I love to see what other people create!

xo ~ Emily

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An Airstream Wedding Inspiration Shoot

I love being a part of people's wedding days. There's something so special about taking part in such an important event. However what I love even more is wedding inspiration shoots. It's when the best professionals in the industry get to run wild with their creativity and make magic. Airstream Lounge KC was looking to capture some images to use for their website, and promotions, and invited me to do some florals. Of course I said yes. The feel was eclectic, in bright, sunny colors. Billy balls, succulents, astilbe, and tons of other beautiful textures. I think the beautiful images by Cornerstone Photography KC perfectly captured the fun vibe we were all going for. Thanks for letting me take part guys! 

xo ~ Emily