In case you missed it: Weekly Wrap-Up

How was your week?  Last weekend was pretty eventful, so I ended up slacking on Monday and Tuesday, but I needed it!  Here's what happened at least for half of the week.

Sunday Rewind: A hanging photo centerpiece.
Monday: Nuthin'.
Tuesday: Still nuthin'.

Wednesday: A coastal inspired Mother's Day Brunch.
Thursday: Patriotic project inspiration for Memorial weekend.
Friday: An easy Ombre Globe make over.

Hope you're having a great weekend!


about Vivienne Wagner

An easy ombre globe.

I love this little globe I picked up at a yard sale a few years ago.  I have transformed it a couple of times over.  It's had two Halloween make-overs and been repainted for Valentine's Day.  I have another project coming up, but in the meantime, I got a wild hair and decided to do a quick ombre treatment.

 

It's pretty fun, right?  I like that it's kind of beachy and that I can just paint over it and make it something else.

I started out by painting over the heart and text from the Valentine's Day globe. I just used a basic spray primer and grabbed 4 graduated shades of blue acrylic paint.  Fortunately, globes come with latitude lines.  These make great guidelines for painting the stripes of color.  I started in the middle (um, at the equator)  and then worked my way out from there, blending the colors as I went along.  Not. Rocket. Science.

Easy, fun and best of all, can be painted over the very second I get bored with it.

Scary Places Globe                                              Ribbon Globe                                             Valentine's Day Globe

Do you have a globe...?  Whatcha gonna do with it?

  about Vivienne Wagner

Some quick and easy Patriotic Projects. Just in time for Memorial Weekend.

As we are gearing up for Memorial Weekend (and current projects that I have in the works are not finished) I thought I'd share a couple of my previous Patriotic Projects.  Each one is a tutorial, just follow the link.

Land of the Free Because of the Brave artwork tutorial

Old Glory Spray Paint Artwork

Upcycled Patriotic Jars

Oh, and if you're planning a simple BBQ, here are 3 great recipes for revving up a plain hot dog.

Three fresh ideas to top off your hot dogs.

What are your plans for Memorial Day Weekend?  We're going camping!

about Vivienne Wagner

Mother's Day Brunch Wrap Up 2013

We had our annual Mother's Day Brunch on Sunday.  I did not get too wild and crazy with the decor... nothing hanging from the ceiling... just a simple, coastal theme and color palette.

 

It all started out with these paper napkins that I turned into invitations.  That was the jumping off point for everything.

The coastal tablescape was super easy to do.  A turquoise blue urn filled with white hydrangeas, fountain grass and my DIY faux red coral. I also took a potted succulent, wrapped it with rope and stuck that in there too.  Add some shells and starfish, and you have a pretty easy centerpiece.  The "table runner" it's all sitting on?  Simple roll up blinds.  I pulled off the hardware mechanisms and laid two of them end to end.  Easy, and at $3 a blind (picked up at a garage sale) super affordable!

I used my Mother's Day Typography Artwork to set up a little bar area for Bloody Marys, champagne and Mimosas. (And sparkling juice for our younger peeps.)

I like to be able to do a lot of the fun stuff, a little bit of prep for cooking, but then Handsome Hubby takes over everything else the day of the brunch.  Well.  Almost everything.

I can't help it.

We make our baked eggs in a polenta crust, make ahead stuffed French Toast, and HH makes chicken fried steak with homemade country gravy.

We set up a buffet line then we all eat out on the patio.  This year, Conner expressed love for his momma by pointing out that one of the green onions on his baked egg in the polenta crust was in the shape of a heart.

He is such a cheese ball sometimes!
They had me in stitches with their homemade cards and a "poster" they made for me, which took a page from their dad's playbook, mimicking his framed artwork and mat filled with inside jokes and memories.

Grant drew me a family portrait, and one of my favorite sayings on the poster was "one man's trash is another mom's project..."

Mitch was with his mom for Mother's Day, and he got me a lovely charm bracelet with peace/Beatles themed charms when he came back to our house on Monday.

It was a great day, and I love spending time with family and friends.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!
Click here to check out Mother's Day Brunch around here in 2012, 2011 and 2010 and a big round up of fabulous brunch recipes here.

 
about Vivienne Wagner

Sunday Rewind: A Hanging Photo Centerpiece

Happy Sunday and Happy Mother's Day!
Today for Sunday Rewind I wanted to share the centerpiece I created for last year's Mother's Day Brunch.  This could work for all kinds of different occasions.

Click here for the full tutorial on how to make this.

about Vivienne Wagner

In case you missed it: Weekly Wrap-Up

Hello everyone!  Hope you had a great week and are enjoying your weekend!  Here's what happened around the blog this week.

Sunday Rewind: A trip to the Orange County Swap Meet. (Fabulous people watching!)
Monday: Easy DIY candle holders made from jars and paper napkins.
Tuesday: MommyJuice.  A silly name... a serious wine.

Wednesday: Yummy, one minute appetizer: Goat Cheese & Marinara
Thursday: An easy method to "antique" distressed art pieces.
Friday: Making faux red "coral" from sticks and paint.

Hope you have a fabulous weekend, and Happy Mother's Day to the moms out there.


about Vivienne Wagner

Faux Red Coral made from sticks & spray paint.

Summer is coming and the seasonal tide of coastal decor is starting to pull at me.  I have previously made faux starfish and red and white coral out of salt dough, and today I am going to show you another super easy way to make a faux red coral.  Want the secret ingredient?  Sticks.

 

You know I loves me some sticks and spray paint projects!  This involves both.

Gather a bunch of sticks that are sort of bendy and gnarled, then spray paint them with red paint.  You're painting sticks... it's fine to use the el-cheap-o spray paint on this project.  Next, grab some red and orange acrylic paint  (I like Martha's) use 1 part red to 3 parts orange and then add a little water to thin it out.

Paint/drip the coral colored paint wash all over the sticks.  I find it easiest to spray paint them flat, then flip them over and do the other side, but to hold them while applying the paint wash.  It doesn't have to be perfectly even coverage.

Here is an example of real red coral. It's had a shiny gloss applied to it, but the shape looks pretty similar to sticks and branches, don't you think?

source

Now for this, I certainly could make this nice and glossy, but I decided to leave it as is and will incorporate my faux "coral" into my Mother's Day Brunch decor.  Remember my invitations and candle holders using the paper napkins?  This is a continuation of that color scheme.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and I especially like the price.  Which is, you know, free.  What do you think?  Do you use coastal elements in your home?

By the way, I have a great round up of more than 40 Brunch Recipes from some fabulous cooks and bloggers.  It's not too late to put together a great breakfast treat for Mom.

Check it out for Mother's Day, but there are some wonderful recipes in there that would be great for bridal and baby showers too.


about Vivienne Wagner