Monday, February 20, 2017

2017 Scholarship Gala

Another Scholarship Gala has come and gone!  This year's theme was Mardi Gras and I had so much fun coming up with centerpiece ideas.  To see what I have done in the past, here is my post for 2016 and 2015.
One of these days I will go to New Orleans and I would love to be there during Mardi Gras!  I knew what I wanted to do for my centerpieces, I just had to figure out a way to make them.  To Amazon I went and found these outdoor solar lights that were perfect for my street lamp centerpieces.   
We built the bases for the lamps to slide onto, drilled a hole through the post for the street sign to hang from and I made cute little street signs that looked like they belonged right on Bourbon Street. 
The flowers were donated again and we just asked that they be purple, yellow and green.  The yellow flowers came all bruised and brown but they made good and gave us a whole bunch of different yellow flowers to use.  No two centerpieces were the same! 
I made 46 total centerpieces and the saddest part is, at the end of the night, I threw away all of the flowers.  I kept the lights and will use them again for many other things.  The VIP tables had a set of beads and a mask at each place setting so that people could wear them if they wanted to.  We also served Creole-inspired food, drinks and desserts that were so yummy!
We set up and tore it down in record time!  I left my house at 6:30 in the morning and was home by midnight.  We met our fundraising goal and then some!  And now this awesome team of mine will start planning for next year's gala!  I love my job!

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Sunday, February 12, 2017

Kitchen Makeover Part I

Phase 1 of our kitchen makeover is finally complete!  The cupboards and walls have been painted and as usual, it is amazing what a little paint can do.
I don't necessarily have a theme in my kitchen but I knew that I wanted it to be reminiscent of blue mason jars.  My original idea was a paint color that was a lot lighter than what we ended up with, but I really, really love it! 
Cody has a torn labrum in his shoulder and is having surgery on February 21st so he had no business doing all this work while he is in so much pain.  But when he gets going on something, there is no telling him no! 
He made the ultimate decision on the color of the paint.  It is called Teal Lake from Glidden at Home Depot.  I have always wanted a colored island and now I just need some new barstools! 
A little before and after to see where we started!
I love how my egg sign pops on these newly painted walls.  This is the door to my pantry and it will be staying white. 
This little wall is the perfect spot for my chalkboard and apron collection.   
Our next project will be the counterops and the floors.  I hate having white formica countertops but it is amazing how much better they look since we have painted the whole kitchen. 
I also want to put different lights above the island, something similar to what we have hanging above the sink now. 
This little nook just needs to have the shelves painted.  Here you can see part of my gumball machine collection. 
My parents have cabin fever and came over to visit today.  I somehow talked my dad into hanging my new light while they were here...thanks dad!  This is hanging above my sink and it is from Home Depot. 
The knobs on the cupboards and pulls on the drawers are from Lowe's and they are the perfect finishing touch. 

I love how we were able to match all the metals from our light to our knobs to our towel bar.   
I can't wait to finish this kitchen makover and get new floors, countertops and lights.  But for now, I am so happy with the way it is turning out! 
In other news, I recently got a promotion at work and will be the Special Events Coordinator which means I will be in charge of coordinating all external events (think wedding, galas, etc.) Our own Scholarship Gala is on February 18th and I can't wait to share my centerpieces with you again!

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