Chocolat Inspired Birthday Dinner

Have you ever seen the movie Chocolat with Johnny Depp? If not, go rent it now! It is one of my favorite movies in this world and recently I've forced everyone I love to watch it. There is this beautiful scene where she has an outdoor dinner party filled with the perfect music and company. I could live in that scene, I swear. 

So after talking about this scene for months, this birthday dinner had to happen. It was thrown together last minute, which I like to imagine would be exactly what Caroline Clairmount would do. I picked up some sunflowers, hauled the record player outside, and made sure there was a lot of food.  We talked and laughed in between candle light for hours. It was a perfect night to bid 25 goodbye. 

This nook behind our garage is going to get a lot of attention this year as the nights come faster and the air gets chilly. I am already itching to have an evening like this again!

Kentucky in Instagram

Kentucky you are a dream. Here's a little recap of some of the fun things we did and saw while taking our annual trip! I'm already missing it!

1. Cotton picking 2. Forever pumpkins 3. Jumping photos, they are the best. 4. More pumpkins. This time from an Amish farm 5. An amazing barn sale full of vintage and handmade. 6. My favorite barn I saw there. 7. Delicious local soda that tastes like Holiday Pepsi. Has anyone had that before?! I miss you HP. That applies to Harry Potter and Holiday Pepsi. 8. Bikes with flowers for the win. 9. Old bridges and a minimal closet outfit

Halloween Crow Wreath

Decorating for Halloween has always been high on my list. I am an October baby (actually tomorrow is my birthday!) and so it's near and dear to my heart. And although I love decorating for Halloween, I never seem to find the right wreath for our door.

That and birds seem to love to build nests in them. Hey guys, can you stop that? Thanks in advance.

Enter this Crow Origami Wreath. It feels a little creepy, and a little modern. So I am down with it all Halloween long. *Also side note, did you know that the comma after and (like- and, blah blah) is called the Oxford comma? I guess a lot of people get super fired up about it because some feel like it's not needed. I always use it because I love the controversy. So welcome to my controversial blog! Actually I just use it because I've always used it. So...

Crow Wreath!

 Supplies, yo.
-Black Ribbon
-White Ribbon
-Scissors
-Floral Picks
-Hot Glue
-Styrofoam Wreath
-Black Paper

I had the floral picks already, but I would say that overall this costs about $15! Which is a steal, I tell you!

I spray painted my wreath before wrapping it with ribbon, just in case something a little white peaked through. But that is totally optional.  All you do is wrap the ribbon around the form while securing it with hot glue.

 I did the same thing with the white ribbon, but spaced it out to get the stripes. You can totally opt out of the white ribbon if you are just going for coverage. I just wanted it to have a little more of a modern look.

Fold yo cranes, or in this case crows! I followed this video to refresh my memory and then just folded them while watching Vampire Diaries and other ridiculous tv shows. This can be a little time consuming, but by breaking it up it doesn't seem so bad. Plus, who doesn't love origami?!

After you have your cranes folded, you can stick the floral picks in them. These are metal so they stab through the paper relatively easy. Then place your cranes on the wreath. Every so often, I would hang my wreath on a door and stand back to make sure I was filling in all the gaps. Leave a small space at the top so you can finish it off with a ribbon to hang it.

There ya go! I would suggest keeping this bad boy inside if you don't have a covered entrance.  I'm in the process of making another one because of our whole french door situation. That and I really do have a thing for origami. Happy folding!

Kentucky

Last Wednesday, we hit the road for adventure. Kentucky style. There was a lot of antiquing, pumpkin picking, and fried green tomatoes. My mom, sister and aunts do this little trip every year and we always come back with big dreams of front porches and the smell of tobacco fields on our clothes.

 I'll be back later this week to share some more fun details and photos! Have a good Monday!!