love and lion

July 22, 2014

NO SEW DIY CAFE CURTAINS

Hey friends! Today, I have a super easy cafe curtain tutorial for you! I apologize in advance for the lighting on these pics. Shooting a window is not the easiest for me. One of two home projects I will be sharing tutorials on. My husband and I have been redoing our kitchen for the last couple of months. It has been a long process, and we are 80% finished. I can’t wait to share our final reveal. In the meantime, I figured I could show you how I treated our ONE window that we have in our actual kitchen. We originally had blinds that were way too bulky in the window, but they just had to go. This DIY is super easy, makes such an impact and we are both in love with the way it looks. The best part is that it involves NO SEWING! Not even stitch witchery type “sewing”.

I simply purchased a cafe rod and curtain rings from Target ( maybe $10 total). I then went on a hunt for some great napkins or even tea towels of some sort. I wanted something with a pattern, but still neutral in the coloring. I found these lovelies on sale at Anthropologie. No need to look any further!

So, grab your supplies…..

Start with ironing your napkins first to ensure that they lay properly.

Place your clips (spaced how you would like) across your napkin. I used 4 clips on each napkin.

String them onto the cafe rod!

Hang your cafe rod ( about 3/4 of the way high for my window) until you get your desired look.

Voila!

BTW, we are currently working on a concrete countertop for our island. Say a little prayer…. we are not professionals over here. YouTube and Pinterest have been our kitchen remodeling teachers. Big shout out to all of you who have ~~screwed this up and lived to tell us what NOT to do~~ gone before us.

Happy Tuesday!!

-J

July 14, 2014

PREPARING A GUEST ROOM

Is there really anything better than walking into a hotel room ( or whatever kind of accommodations you have made) when on vacation or a business trip of some sort? Clean sheets, fresh towels, beautiful flowers….. I die for them all! A hotel room, with a beach cottage feel, is exactly what my husband and I wanted our guest room to feel like for friends and family that come to stay with us. Whether it be for a night or a couple of days, I still prep the same.

Our dear friends, who are also newlyweds, came to stay with us for a night after a party we all attended near our home this past weekend. The sole reason we have a house with more rooms than we need is to be able to open our home up to people. It is a passion of ours to be able to bless people that way. When they ask, we say “yes!” I took some time to shoot the room to show how I set up for these occasions.

Everything in this room ( excluding the duvet cover and sheet set) has either been handmade, or purchased at an extreme discount!! You can completely make a beautiful space on a dime.

We tend to call this room our “California room”. California is a special place to us because it is where my husband is from, and also where we were married. I found “vintage” San Francisco prints at Goodwill and framed them with clearanced Target frames that I spray painted white. The wooden San Diego print was a gift from my husband. Also, the chair was a thrift find that I spray painted and covered in fabric during our first year of marriage….. 7 years ago.

I love keeping a pen and pad by the bed. Most of my thoughts come to me at night, so I assume the same for my guests I suppose. Ha! Lamp, table and golden crab were clearance finds from Target.

Sconces were handmade by my dad. Love them!

We made our headboard using a drop cloth from Lowe’s.

The navy and ivory Pottery Barn pillows were given to us along with a couch that was given to us when we first moved into this house by some super sweet friends. We have held on to them and I added the duvet, sheet set and ikat pillows (clearance find) from Target.

I handmade a little monogram tag and attached it to a fresh bottle of water for our guests when they arrived. Saves them from making a trip downstairs, especially in the middle of the night if they get thirsty. My husband handmade this console table with hairpin legs from hairpinlegs.com and a piece of wood from Lowe’s.

A little gold dish for jewelry, coins or any other pocket items…

End table was a $30 clearance find at a furniture store several years ago.

Magazines are always a good thing to have stacked up!

Shell from Target (clearance)

Curtains are old ( and quite short for my taste) clearance finds from West Elm, but they still work for now, and I have always loved the subtle pattern on them.

Hope this inspires you to create a little oasis for yourself or your guests somewhere in your home.

Sweet Dreams!

-J

July 11, 2014

MY GO-TO YELLOW CAKE RECIPE

This cake is m-o-i-s-t, slightly dense but light, buttery, and absolutely delicious. The frosting is my friend, Lori’s, go-to vanilla frosting. It’s sweet but not disgustingly so. Nice and fluffy. I’ve also used cream cheese frosting and it’s perfect and not too sweet. So simple, very few ingredients, in fact I bet you have all of the ingredients in your kitchen right now!

Scroll down for the recipe. Make sure to read the notes!

NOTES:

*If you want your cake to taste fresh and delicious, use fresh and delicious ingredients. I know that sounds like common sense- but seriously- use GOOD and real (read: expensive) vanilla extract, use the best butter, eggs, milk, etc. It truly makes a difference.

*UNDER BAKE this cake. My rule of thumb is set the timer 5-10 minutes under what the recipe says and keep testing every 2-3 minutes. The cake should be firm with a little JIGGLE when you gently shake the pan. It will KEEP COOKING in the pan!! Put a knife in the middle and it should come out with crumbs on it- NOT clean. Clean means you probably over baked it. But still eat it. Obviously.

RECIPE:

GO-TO YELLOW CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp

2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs, room temp

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk (you can sub half or all with buttermilk- YUM)

2 tbsp good vanilla extract

Milk soak: 1/4 cup milk + 1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Butter and flour pans (I used 2- 9″ rounds).

3. Sift dry ingredients and set aside.

4. Beat butter for 3 minutes. Add sugar and beat another 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat thoroughly.

5. Add flour mixture on lowest speed one cup at a time, alternating with milk. End with the flour mixture. Add vanilla and mix well. Pour into prepared cake pans.

6. Bake about 20 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs. DO NOT over bake- the secret to the yummiest cakes! The cake should jiggle a tiny bit in the middle.

7. Cool in pans on wire rack for 5 minutes only, then flip out on wire rack and cool completely.

8. Mix milk soak together and brush over the surface of the cake before frosting.

*adapted from THIS recipe

VANILLA FROSTING

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp

1/4 tsp salt

1 (32 oz) package powdered sugar

6-7 tbsp milk

1 tbsp good vanilla extract

1. Beat butter and salt on medium speed 1-2 minutes until creamy

2. Gradually add powdered sugar alternating with milk at low speed til blended and smooth

3. Mix in vanilla and food coloring if adding. Whip until desired fluffiness.

*adapted from Southern Living Magazine

Moral of the story: bake a cake for no reason.

-L

July 9, 2014

HOUSE WARMING IDEAS – FREE PRINTABLES

Our awesome friends, Drew and Kelly, just moved from New York to Nashville this month (everyone’s doing it, come on!), and I wanted to give them something special to welcome them to the South. If you need something easy and thoughtful, I designed some housewarming notes for recommendations around town to fill out. (Scroll down for download link.)

You could go all out and do a big basket of goodies with it, share homemade cookies, or just give something simple but much appreciated like a bottle of wine.

I ended up getting Drew and Kelly THIS AHeirloom Tennessee cutting board I’m obsessed with! You can get a star, heart, or home shape on the city where you live. The perfect welcome to the state. They have states, countries, custom items, and I’m drooling over these gorgeous geo cutting boards.

One of my fav house warming baskets/bucket I did for friends moving from California to Nashville: healthy snacks, homemade granola, yummy smelling soap, and a subscription to Nashville Magazine.

I also baked them healthy vegan banana bread (recipe here) – SERIOUSLY delicious! I knoooooow it’s healthy and vegan, but for real… it’s insanely m-o-i-s-t and delish! Plus I added bittersweet chocolate chips, so how bad could it be?

(Normally I like to bake yummy fatty cookies, but if you couldn’t tell… these people are health nuts!)

I wrapped the banana bread in saran wrap first, then wrapped that in a recycled paper grocery bag and tied with twine.

Download the housewarming notes HERE and HERE.

Welcome to Nashville, y’all!

I can type that… just not say it. That’s the midwesterner in me!

-L

July 3, 2014

FAMILY PHOTO SHOOT – WHAT TO WEAR

We had a little family reunion on my husband’s side of the family in St. Louis- so fun! Magic House, Butterfly house, lots of outdoor play- if anyone needs ideas for kiddos in St. Louis, please email me. So much great stuff to do. I grew up in St. Louis, but going back there with littles is a whole new ballgame.

We had all eight little cousies together and needed to document it! We wanted our outfits to be coordinating, NOT matching, which I think is key in planning family photo shoots. We went with the color scheme of chambray, navy, white, and yellow in different patterns and textures. I love mixing stripes with plaid with solids…to the horror of our photographer! But I think it really worked. If you mix patterns and shades, it looks a little more natural than being totally matchy matchy. Since each family lives in different cities, I did all of our shopping online to make it easy – Gap, J.Crew, and Zara.

A classic.

I hope this helps give you ideas for your own family portraits!

-L

Photographs by Spoonful of Sugar Photography

June 30, 2014

# MyVegasStyle CHALLENGE

Happy Monday lovelies!! We have been dreaming of a vacay getaway…. like errday! Toddlers will do that to you, ya know? Anyway, when Vegas.com approached us about putting together several looks for a day at Aria Resort & Casino, we jumped at the chance. It is fun to dream a little, right?

One of my favorite places to go is Vegas! The last time we were in town, we enjoyed lunch at Aria, and fell in looooove with the property. How could you not? We promised ourselves that the next time we came back… we would stay there! One thing I love most about Vegas is that anything goes! I mean that in a fashion sense personally ( get your minds out of the gutter ladies). Leah and I love a good lounge at the pool, lunches that involve wine, aaaaaaand amazing dance parties. Here are 3 looks that you would catch us wearing if this dream of living it up in Vegas were to become reality.

swimsuit / kaftan / sunnies / flip flops / necklace / tote / hat / sunscreen

Comments: So in love with Seafolly kaftans!! Sunscreen is a MUST!

playsuit / cuff / watch / handbag / sandal / polish

Comments: In love with peach everything! White manis are summer perfection!

lipstick / heels / LBD / earrings / lashes / clutch

Comments: My husband loves the LBD look for when we go out at night, and I fell in LOVE with this piece because it is classy enough for dinner, but sexy enough for dancing at the club. I gotta add my little pop of color with a bright, summery clutch. Don’t forget your fake lashes…. seriously…. don’t forget em!

Hope you had fun daydreaming with us today!

XO!

June 27, 2014

CUSTOM CAMP TATTOOS FOR THE WHOLE CABIN

My sweet niece and nephew are at sleep away camp, and I wanted to send them something fun that they could share with their whole cabin. Can’t send food (which is always my first thought). Boo. I had just done tattoo favors for the construction birthday party we threw, so I thought… tattoos! For everyone! And wouldn’t it be cool if it said their cabin name? How would I accomplish that? I googled it. Turns out it can be done, it just takes a little time and effort.

I did these “camo” style ones for my nephew Steven and pennant flags for Julia.

Friendships are permanent, these tattoos are temporary. True.

Check out these BFF’s here- our little Love & Lion babies!

HERE is the paper I used. If you DON’T have time and effort, we’re selling them in our ETSY SHOP, and we’ll do all the work for you! Just let us know the color and cabin number, and we’ll package it up and send it right to your little camper. Most likely with a Harry Potter stamp because… ya know.

We’re going to be listing more our craftiness and some of our gently used party decor we’ve used over the years in our Etsy Shop soon… woohoo!!

Make your campers happy campers HERE!

-L

AND WHAT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR….

The winner of our Solly Baby / Mama and Little Giveaway is……………………

Courtney Nestor!

Congrats, you lucky duck!! Email us at loveandlion@gmail.com to claim your stylish goodies! Thank you to everyone for entering! Thank you SO much for the time and effort you took and for your constant support in our little blog-venture!

June 26, 2014

RYAN AND CHRISTY’S RUSTIC WEDDING : PART TWO

After the beautiful ( super emotional …. I am a crier) ceremony ended, we headed to the reception space. It was held in an absolutely gorgeous barn. Guests enjoyed a little cocktail hour which also included a nacho bar. The bride loves her nachos! Great way to keep those tummies full while they get their drink on, haha!

There was a taco buffet set up on the bottom level of the barn. DEEEEELICIOUS, and so festive!

I had so much fun doing these tables. I had two men ( wedding guests who offered to help set up that morning) channeling their inner florist. It was amazing, and I was so grateful! Christy wanted 3-4 brass candle sticks on each table and beautiful greenery intertwined throughout them. Super simple and elegant. We topped each table off with a few light pink and cream roses to accommodate their color story. I used live moss to add a little something extra to the bridal party/family tables. My favorite touch by far. I didn’t get a picture of it, but I also filled window boxes along the side of the barn with the moss as well. It is such an inexpensive way to make such an impact. So classy and so natural, which is exactly what we were going for.

Our sweet friend, Lori (aaaand her dear hubby), spent the ENTIRE morning assembling these napkins with a letters to their guests with cream ribbon. She worked her little heart out you guys!! These were placed on each place setting. Since the catering was done buffet style, Christy opted for these to make the impact of “plates” if you will. Such a beautiful letter written to share their hearts and express gratitude to their guests.

The dessert table was filled with mostly homemade goods and then some yummy treats from Whole Foods. The dessert table was devoured in no time!! We used custom made tree trunk cake stands, brass pieces and glass to make all of the treats look pretty.

Homemade cobbler and “strawberry shortcakes”….. oh my gawwwwwsh!

A friend of the couple made this stunning gluten – free cake for the big day! Look at those brass pinwheel cake toppers!!! Love! We simple wrapped the cake in live moss and a few roses.

While the reception was going on upstairs, guests were encouraged to come downstairs and take photos in the photo booth. The props were so fun, and you also were able to leave a video for the happy couple before your little photo session started. Then, the photo booth operator printed out photo strips for each guest….. one for them to keep, and the other to place into a book for the newlyweds.

These people can dance….. alllllll night long!

The lovely sparkler goodbye. Never gets old to me. Then, they rode off into the night on their motorcycle. (yes, I say “their” because it is no longer JUST Ryan’s bike, right?) hehe.

I am sorry, but I have to add some more photos (just because). You don’t mind, right?

Thanks for reading!! Ryan and Christy….. I was so honored to be a part of this day ( both as help and as a guest). You are both such special, giving, serving, genuine and loving people….. and oh so much fun! Wishing you all the happiness this world could possibly give you!

-J

You can see part ONE of Ryan and Christy’s wedding HERE

Photos by: Kristin Sweeting Photography

June 25, 2014

RYAN AND CHRISTY’S RUSTIC WEDDING

I am so excited to feature this wedding on the blog this week you guys!! I was asked to style the wedding of our dear friends back in April, and it was so much fun. Even if Ryan and Christy weren’t dear dear friends of mine and my husband’s, I STILL would have jumped at the chance because they are incredible people who also have great style already. They are just cool without trying, ya know?

In talking to the newly engaged couple, they had very clear visions of what they wanted. My job was to just make it come to life. The ladies on Christy’s side of the family had lots of their own creative juices flowing, so I felt like I got to come in and just “touch up” and add to what was already beautiful. The term “rustic chic” is very overused, but that is what we were going for, haha! Lots of brass, peaches and creams, navy and other natural looking textiles. The most important thing to the couple was that they married in the middle of a “forrest”. They wanted nothing but trees and guests attending the ceremony. It was a genius idea, and made the entire ceremony so captivating.

There are so many beautiful pictures to share, that I decided to break this feature up into two posts! So, I guess you will just have to check back tomorrow to see how this beautiful day unfolded.

The couple decided to use Nashville postcards for people to write on as their guestbook.

Christy (along with friends and fam) were on the hunt for months leading up to the wedding looking for brass containers and candlesticks ( which you will see more of tomorrow….eeeeek)!

We decided to use old cigar boxes that the groom had on hand to present the groomsmen with their ties and a pre-wedding cigar.

Isn’t that backdrop stunning? We think so!

Beautiful photos by: Kristin Sweeting Photography

See part TWO of Ryan and Christy’s wedding HERE

June 24, 2014

FINN’S CONSTRUCTION PARTY

There’s nothing we love more than throwing a party, and this time we were so excited to design a construction-themed party for sweet Finn’s second birthday. He (like so many little dudes) is obsessed with diggers and trucks, so naturally, his mom came up with a construction theme. We wanted to keep the look simple and modern like we do for our own parties, so we took out orange and kept the main colors kraft, black, and yellow.

To direct guests into the house, we set up a detour sign and lined the walkway with cones HERE. We bought a raw wood saw horse at Home Depot and painted the legs in black for that “dipped” look.

Here’s the birthday boy, Finn! Isn’t he gorgeous?

FOOD & DRINKS:

Because we peer pressured Finn’s parents to serve their guests alcohol at their kid’s party like WE do…

a “Site Managers Only” sign was needed!

The “road” backdrop in all of these shots is just black wrapping paper with yellow card stock lines stuck on with double stick tape.

FAVORS:

Teeny toy trucks HERE.

We found these goofy tool tattoos at Hobby Lobby! A little stereotypical… but fun, right?

Teeny treat bags HERE.

~~Toddler crack~~ bubbles from the dollar store.

Construction hats HERE.

Dirt Pops AKA jumbo marshmallows dipped in white chocolate candy melts, rolled in crushed graham crackers. SO GOOD you guys. You can display these bad boys in extra graham cracker crumbs.

Tip: dip the lollipop sticks in the candy melts FIRST, push that into the marshmallow and let dry- this will secure the marshmallow to the stick. Then you can dip the marshmallows in candy melts, shake off extra chocolate, and roll in the crumbs. You can keep these frozen for a week or so before the event.

We packaged the goodies up in THESE boxes and personalized them for each child.

FUN & GAMES:

We made the photo booth by simply painting a flattened cardboard box!

Photo booth props: We hot glued the paper props we made to dowels, vest HERE, hats HERE.

Finn’s big sis, Annie.

Awwww yeah, every little boy’s fantasy, every parent’s nightmare. Finn’s parents are troopers!

The kids ate lunch picnic-style on tarps because… duh.

Happy Birthday, Finn! We had so much fun dreaming up your construction party and hope you got your fill of digging, dirt, and sweet treats!

June 23, 2014

GIVEAWAY! SOLLY BABY / MAMA & LITTLE (CLOSED)

We are constantly amazed by you, readers, for supporting us, reading every little post, following us on social media, liking, commenting, and just being totally sweet in general. To celebrate YOU….

It’s giveaway time again! Any mamas or soon-to-be mamas out there? Two of our FAV lifesavers / sanity savers are Solly Baby Wraps and Mama & Little teething jewelry. I personally could not get through the day without these products.

Max wants to be held a lot and having a very busy 3-year-old doesn’t really allow me to do that all the time. Baby wearing is not only super convenient, but it’s also super important in establishing that bond between mama and baby. I’m not sure how I’d get anything done without wearing Max…dishes, laundry, dinner, the list goes on! Here’s what I love about SOLLY BABY: The wrap is light weight, so you can wear this running errands from store to store and just tuck baby in when you’re in need. It’s stylish and most importantly comfy for mom and baby. I also love that Solly Baby donates $1 of each wrap to Every Mother Counts. Read more about it HERE. Elle is now the mama of three and created the Solly Baby wrap out of need when she had her second child. Head on over to her instagram feed to see her gorgeous family and a whole army of Solly Baby fans!

I am SO grateful to have found Mama and Little teething jewelry. It’s a (fashionable) life saver! I’ve had other teething jewelry before but the beads would always pull my hair out every time I moved or the baby pulled the necklace- OUCH! Also, the styles were not very exciting. Mama & Little jewelry is genius in that there’s a silk cord by the clasp so as not to pull your hair out. Also- have you ever seen those geo beads before on a teething necklace? So. Freaking. Rad. Max is teething (without even having a tooth yet), and he’s also very A.D.D. when drinking his bottle. The Teresa necklace is the perfect distraction for Max while I feed him. He loves to feel each bead and look at the bright colors. Also the perfect height to entertain him when wearing him! I layer it with my Olivia teething necklace because I’m matchy like that and Max just chomps on it- he really goes to town. He also loves my Deila necklace and it happens to go with everything. All of the jewelry is of course completely safe for your little. Read more about it HERE. Arleene created her line of teething jewelry for her sweet little son, Archer. Check out her instagram feed… super excited for her new styles and shapes coming out soon!

Here’s my (not so little) Maxie!

I’m currently coveting all of the black and white pieces:

Want to own these ridiculously stylish and functional baby goodies?

TO ENTER:

1. Visit SOLLY BABY and MAMA & LITTLE and comment on this post what your favorite colors/products are from both sites. If you’re on your phone/ipad, you MUST be using the WEB version in order comment on our blog. For some reason Blogger doesn’t support comments on the mobile version! Just scroll down to the bottom of the home page and click “view web version”

2. Follow all three of us on instagram: @sollybabywrap, @mamaandlittle, @loveandlion if your account is private, please comment on our instagram (@loveandlion) that you did so.

Thassit!

GIVEAWAY DEETS:

*Winner will receive the Teresa Teething Necklace in Mermaid by Mama & Little AND

one Solly Baby wrap in the color of your choice

*Contest ends Thursday June 26th at midnight PST

*Winner will be announced Friday, June 27 right here on the blog

Good luck, friends! Your life will be so much easier and way more stylish!

June 20, 2014

FASHION FRIDAY!

It’s Friday!!! Totally throwing my hands up in the air like I just don’t care…. and spilling my cocktail while doing so. Leah and I are wrapping up party details, and helping a sweet mama set up for her son’s special day on this lovely Friday evening. We can’t wait to share details on za bloog next week! We worked hard this week, and I think we are both ready for a little relaxation.

Anyway, I had my lovely husband shoot one of my favorite looks right now! He was able to come off of the road today for a couple of hours, so I showered, and did my hair (btw, when it is 95 degrees out, creating a bun is considered “doing your hair”)….. ya know… stuff you maybe DON’T do when your man is gone. No? Must be just Leah and I. I wanted to look nice for a lunch out with him and the little, so I went for the super comfy boyfriend jeans ($20 bucks!) and a new top I also picked up at Forever 21. I personally loved the idea of a black cami underneath the white. If you are bold, and want to go there….rock the black bra. Not this girl! I don’t want all of the old southern women staring me down at the local mexican restaurant.

I paired it with an old clutch and strappy wedges from last summer, but I am really loving this pair right now… drool! Also, I have been rocking my gold hoops almost everyday! They are super lightweight, and go with everything. I can’t find them online, but any pair would do. My go to Michael Kors watch is on repeat as well. I know everyone has these watches it seems, but I sure do love them! They don’t break the bank, and they are practical and stylish. Mine is not available anymore, but this one is stunning.

Still love love loving my bright pink lip (NARS in Schiap). I only do a super thin liner and mascara when I do the bold lip. I hate feeling too “overdone”

SIDENOTE: I read an article the other day about things you should give up at 27. It made me laugh, which I loved, but among those things was Forever21 and Urban Outfitters. I am sorry, but I just can’t. I seriously think you can shop ANYWHERE as long as you are picking out the right things for your body and lifestyle.

Enjoy your weekend ladies!! We are so grateful for your readership and support…. can’t say it enough.

XO!