"To one who has been long in city pent,
'Tis very sweet to look into the fair
And open face of heaven, -- to breathe a prayer
Full in the smile of the blue firmament."
~ John Keats, Sonnet XIV
Admittedly, Keats probably didn't have our birthday craft fair in mind when he penned the sonnet above. But watching 10 little girls long in the school week pent look into our fair was very sweet, indeed. Here are some of the elements that brought our pink, shabby chic theme together.
Our invitation set the tone for the day, so I displayed it on this bulletin board I picked up at TJ Maxx. I love the soft linen fabric, rustic twine and button details on this piece and hope to find the perfect spot for its permanent display.
Roses from Fresh Market looked pretty displayed in mason jars tied with scraps of ribbon and fabric. I picked up one bouquet of soft pink roses and two bouquets of darker pink spray roses for the party. Sprigs of fresh-cut greenery from our yard filled out each little bouquet.
I usually plan our parties in the dining room, but I keep my sewing machine in the sitting room. So while the boys were out and the girls were cleaning their bedrooms, I switched the dining and sitting rooms for the party. (We have felt pads on the bottom of most pieces, so it was easy to slide our furniture into place.) After all of my parties, it is pretty difficult to surprise my family, but this did make an impression. Take a peek at our dining room turned sitting room for the day.
I have always been curious to see what our dining room would look like as our sitting room. The new space made a great gathering spot for the girls and their moms during the party. And from the sofa we could all admire my father's handiwork. Daddy came down one afternoon last week to install our new chandelier.
The photo above does not do it justice! I will share more details of this purchase when I get some better pictures to showcase the fixture.
So to catch you up, for the party I moved most of our sitting room into the dining room, some of the kitchen into our sitting room, and the dining room into the sitting room, family room, hall and bedroom. Confused? Yeah, my cats were, too. Here is a glimpse into the newly rearranged sitting room.
I pulled a round table from the bay window of the sitting room to the center of the room and covered it with pink floral sheets and a white topper. This gave the little girls a spot to sit and craft. And during their picnic, we mothers sat here to eat our lunch.
Our kitchen buffet gave me a perfect spot for welcoming guests to our craft fair. I dressed up a rustic whitewashed frame from Michaels with a satin bow. I told Mary Ashley we can replace the message with a photo from the party to display in her room.
The buffet gave us the perfect spot to display sweets and pretties.
The oil portrait by Sherrie Hilliard and plates were already hung, so I just centered the buffet beneath the display.
The teapot and platter above were treasures from last fall's Country Living Fair. My best girlfriend, Vonda, gave me the teapot, so I was happy to use it to celebrate with Mary Ashley's best gal pals.
Pretty labels dressed up our Starbucks Frappuccino bottles, and paper-rose embellished name tags kept our bottles straight throughout the party.
I set up craft "booths" in our party space -- one station for each of our three projects. I could not get a photo of the whole room, but here are a few shots of the different areas.
Floral Headbands
Friendship Bracelets
Pretty Totes
I will share project details in upcoming posts.
We have not set our rooms back in order yet, and in the days since the party we girls keep wandering back into our rosy pink sitting room. "I want to have the craft fair again!" Mary Ashley exclaimed as she sifted through a teacup of leftover buttons yesterday.
Although the fair has come and gone, I am thankful that I can relive each precious moment with you here.
We have a full afternoon of craft projects to explore, but first, won't you join us for lunch? Stop in tomorrow for a craft fair picnic.
