Crafty Wednesday {Holiday Market}

Saturday my friend Rachael and I hosted our 6th annual Holiday Market at our friend Stephanie’s kitchen design studio.   We invite all of our crafty friends to take over a kitchen and sell their crafts and holiday food items.  Admission the the Holiday Market was a canned food item for the local elementary schools’ backpack program.    We had so any people come and visit with us and shop that day. It was such a fun day!!!

We served champagne and cookies both were a big hit!

Here are Rachael and I before the Market started.  We are thrilled with how much our little Holiday Market has grown.  The first couple of years we held it at her house.  Now we get about 400 people that come through each year-it is just amazing!!

My friend Sabrina and I make similar stuff so we share a kitchen.  We got matching aprons this year to be extra festive! 

Stephanie,Sabrina and Rachael and I.

Here are some pics of some crafts Sabrina and I made. I had turquoise blue tags made at Vistaprint for the stuff that I made.  I loved making all my crafts this year but I am SO done with crafts for a while. I honestly don't know how people do more than one craft show a year.  It is SO much work. I always love our Holiday Market but I'm also glad when it's over!

Rachael always makes candles and body care products.  She always has a beautiful booth.  I just love the white candle holders that she used this year. 

Here are some pictures of things our other friends made.  We had wreaths, jewelry, succulent arrangements and so much more.  I just love the variety that we have at our Holiday Market.

It was a great day and I already have some ideas for what I'm going to make next year!

Happy Wednesday!
xoxo

Crafty Wednesday {September craft night}

I own a small craft business called Branch and Bloom with my best friend Rachael.  Once a month we host a craft class and teach people how to do a craft.  We took a couple of months off for the summer and we had our first craft class of the fall last week.  For our September craft night we hosted a private craft class for our dear friend Faith and some of our friends.  Faith really wanted to do an organization station so we worked hard to come up with something that would be simple and fun for our friends to do.  

This is what we came up with.  We provided each person with a 2 foot x 2 foot board, chalkboard paint, ribbon, jute, and corkboard tiles.  We had everything set up when everyone came in for the class.  We set up each person with their own little station.  

Here is the birthday girl hard at work on her craft. 

 The first step we had people do was to paint their board with chalkboard paint. Some people wanted their board completely covered with chalkboard paint, some people used painters tape and taped off sections of their board.  We wanted people to use their creativitiy and make this project their own.  It was neat seeing all of the designs that everyone came up with.

After their chalkboard dried then they add on the corkboard circles.  The circles were a big hit! 

The most important things for us at our Craft Nights is that 1.everyone  leaves with a completed craft and 2. everyone has a good time.  Faith's birthday craft was so fun!  Everyone had a good time and everyone left with their own organization station.  If you would like a craft class for a birthday party please let us know!

Happy Wednesday!  Now that things have calmed down for me I hope Crafty Wednesday posts every week so check back.

xoxo

Weekend Top 8

I'm counting Thursday and Friday in our weekend because honestly the last four days have been a blur!  Here's a look at what we've been up to lately....

1.   Last Wednesday we closed on our rental house so G and I have been over there almost every day since cleaning, cutting down overgrown trees and shrubs and trying to make a plan of attack.  We are hoping to get it powerwashed this week so we can start painting the exterior (it really needs it!!)

2.  Speaking of G...we celebrated him all day yesterday for Father's Day!  He's a great Dad and I am so thankful for him every single day.  

3.  We had our monthly craft class on Thursday night for Branch and Bloom.  We did vodka infusions and we decorated shot glasses.    I will do a full post on the infusions we did for my Crafty Wednesday this week.  We hosted this event at a bar/restaurant in our town and it was so fun!  This was our last craft class for the summer.  We are taking a couple of months off to be with our families and our classes will start again in September.

4.  I hosted all the people that do my same job (working with fraternities and sororities) for a one day conference on Friday.   Most of them came in Thursday night so we met for a late dinner and ice cream after my craft class.  I love catching up with these ladies every year and sharing ideas, resources, etc.  

5. My friend Rachael and I did a flower arrangement on Friday afternoon for the annual Art in Bloom floral/art exhibit in our town.  We have done an arrangement every year for the past few years and we always love the challenge of matching up an artists piece with flowers. This year was especially challenging because we chose a macabre piece involving skulls and a crow. 

 I got to meet the artist who did the piece on Friday night and he was really nice and so thrilled that we choose his artwork.  He didn't think anyone would because it wasn't a "pretty" piece.   BTW, the artist got second place in the art show for his art pieces sadly we did not place in Art and Bloom this year.

6.  High school graduation is Saturday for all the schools around us.  Everyone here has big graduation parties to celebrate their high school graduation.  We went to our first party last weekend and the rest are spread out over the next two weekends.  They are always fun to go to and it's always fun to see the kids that we have known since they were little graduate from high school.   Here is a picture of me and some other Moms from the graduation party last weekend. 

7.  I love going to the farmers market on Saturday's in the summer.  They always have the best stuff!  Last Saturday I got a little bouquet of flowers (Ava made the ceramic vase in her ceramics class) and some vegetables to make roasted vegetables for a party we went to on Sunday.  

8.  Sunday my friend Sabrina had us over for a a Father's Day cookout.  It was a beautiful day and we spent the afternoon swimming and being outside in the sunshine.  It was a fabulous day!!  Here is a picture of the Moms by the pool. 

I hope you had a fabulous weekend!!

Xoxo

Crafty Wednesday {Sugar Scrubs}

Last Friday we had our monthly craft night for Branch and Bloom.  This month we made sugar scrubs.  They were a big hit and I'm going to show you step by step how to make your own organic sugar scrubs.  In our class we made 3 different kinds and we put our scrubs in 8 ounce canning jars.   My friend Rachael is the sugar scrub queen and she taught the class.  I helped her and took pictures for our Facebook page.  

We always like to set up the room before everyone gets there. We like each person to have their own supplies in front of them and an instruction list so they can do the craft at home.

Usually we have about 20 people at our Craft Nights however this one was a little smaller and we had 10 people come this month.  10 was perfect for our Sugar Scrubs though because they were messy!  People had the instructions when they sat down and they got right to work making their scrubs. 

Everyone had a great time working on their scrubs.  

We always take a picture after our class with our participants and their finished projects.  I love this little tradition of ours!

Ok here are the recipes for the three scrubs.  We made a...

Lavender and Rosemary Foot scrub
Coffee and Cinnamon cellulite reducing scrub
Lemon and Mint Body Polish

Lavender and Rosemary foot scrub
1.25 cup organic cane sugar
.25 cup avocado oil
8-10 drops lavender essential oil
1-2 drops rosemary oil
pinch of dried lavender
mix well  and store in mason jar

Coffee and Cinnamon cellulite reducing scrub
1 cup brown sugar
.25 cup coffee
.25 cup coconut oil
1 T cinnamon
mix well and store in mason jar

Lemon and Mint body polish
1.25 cup mix (organic cane sugar and ultra fine cane sugar)
1/4 cup avacado oil
8-10 drops lemon essential oil
1-2 drops mint essential oil
dash dried mint
dash lemon zest

If you try making these let me know which one is your favorite.  My personal favorite is the lemon and mint body polish.  A lot of people in our class like the coffee and cinnamon one.  

Happy Wednesday!
Xoxo 

Friday Favorites

Today is the best day of the week! It's Friday and I am joining with Andrea, Erika, and Narci to share my Friday favorites from this week.  This week FLEW by   Tonight I have my monthly craft class for Branch and Bloom and tomorrow is graduation at the College where G and I work!  We are both going to be working at the graduation ceremonies.  I just love seeing our graduates and their families.  It's such a happy day.   Saturday night I am going to a birthday dinner for my friend T and on Saturday G, Ava and I are going to Mother's Day brunch.  It should be a great weekend!

1.  I took Ava to the doctor's office yesterday and we stopped by the annual art show at the hospital. All of the artwork from the elementary schools and the high school are displayed for about a month at the hospital.  We always went every year to see B and A's artwork.  Since Ava is taking a ceramics class in high school her art work was there this year.  It was fun to see her piece.

2.  We have been working hard packing and cleaning this week because next week we move into our summer house.  It's not fancy it's just a little white ranch house that we bought last year but we love it!  During the school year we have college students that live there.  Our plan is to clean it out and move in next week.  Eventually G and I will move to our little white ranch house full time.  

3.  We are also in the process of buying this house to update/paint and we will use this house as a rental house.  This house has two-two bedroom apartments (one upstairs and one downstairs) .  This house looks like a wreck now but hopefully by the end of the summer we will have it in tip top shape to rent out.  Funny story-we owned this house and sold it in 2006. I wanted to get out of the rental house business when our kids were younger because we were so busy with them now that they are grown we are  getting back in it.

4.  Next weekend I am going on a trip to Washington DC with my girlfriends to see the LA Dodgers play the Nationals.  My friend V's nephew is on the Dodgers team and I am so excited to watch him play again.  We went last year to Cleveland to watch him play.  This year we are going to watch two games and do some sightseeing in DC.  I can't wait!!

5.  Tonight is our May craft night for Branch and Bloom.  We are going to be making three DIY sugar scrubs!  My friend Rachael is a sugar scrub queen so she is teaching the class.  I am looking forward to learning how to make them. 

6.  Last year I got this chalkboard letter kit and I really want to get it out and start learning how do draw on all my chalkboards.  I usually have my friend Stephanie write on my chalkboards for me but I want to learn how to do it myself.

That's my Friday favorites for this week.  I hope you have a great weekend!
xoxo

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday friends!   This week FLEW by we had something going on every night and I am looking forward to the weekend so we can relax a bit. Today I’m linking up to share my Friday Favorites.  Today I am linking up with Andrea, Narci and Erika to show you my Friday favorites.  

1.  Last weekend we went to Long Island to watch our girl play in a basketball tournament with her AAU team.  Her teammates are from schools all over our area.  It was fun getting to know them a little bit better and it was nice to be together as a family for the weekend.  Her team went 4-0 in the tournament!  

2.  Last Friday Rachael and I had our monthly craft night for our business Branch and Bloom.  We made these cute chalkboard planters.  Our craft night was also a fundraiser for our local library.  We were able to raise $120 for the library st our craft night.  They are going to use the money to buy pillows for the kids who come to story time.

3. The Botany club on the campus where I work sold plants and succulents as a fundraiser this week. I couldn’t resist and bought a pot of succulent hen and chicks I planted them and think they add a little touch of spring to our house.  We desperately need spring btw, it has SNOWED every day this week. 😫😫

4.  Graig and I went to see the movie Chappaquiddick on Wednesday.  I love history and I love the Kennedy family so I thought this would be an interesting movie to watch. The accident happened in 1969 and I didn’t know much about it before the movie.   The movie was  based on the facts surrounding the accident and the aftermath of it.  It was very interesting to watch the family dynamics in this movie and the power that Joe Kennedy held over his youngest son. 

That's it for me this week.  I hope you have a fabulous weekend!! 
Xoxo