DIY Fabric Fringe Bunting

Rachel Moore Photography

I made this pretty silk fringe bunting for a DIY Wedding style shoot awhile back, however it would be perfect for all the upcoming baby showers we are hosting!  It's a simple project that makes a BIG impact.  Buntings, banners, whatever you call 'em - they are a lovely addition to any festive occasion!

DIY Silk Fringe Bunting

Fabric in colors of your choice 

(we chose ivory and champagne)

Scissors

Twine

Hot Glue

1.) Cut fabric into 17 inch squares.  

Then cut each square along diagonal to make 2 triangles.

2.) Lay the hypotenuse of the triangle facing up.  

Cut fringe strips, leaving a 1 inch border along top.

3.) Hot glue the top border of triangle to a long piece of twine,

allowing the fringe to hang  down.

4.)  Continue gluing bunting on twine until your banner is as long 

as you wish!

Hang over dessert tables, gift collections, cribs, kid's rooms, your bed!  Endless options await you!

xo,

Kate

DIY Stamped "EAT" Napkins

These "EAT" napkins are just adorable, and once again, super easy to make.  

DIY Stamped "EAT" Napkins

Plain white cloth napkins

Rubber stamps

ink pad in color of your choice

decorative ribbon

pins or hot glue

1.) Fold the napkin the way you'll want it showing when it's sitting on each plate.

2.) Carefully stamp "E" "A" "T" on the bottom of the napkin.

3.) Tie decorative lace ribbon around the napkin.  Layer it with another contrasting piece of ribbon.

4.)  Secure the ribbon in the back by either using a small pin or by hot gluing it together.

I paired the "EAT" napkins with these seersucker ones to create dimension and interest on the table.  They were a huge hit! So cute - and you can be as creative as you want with these.  Use different color cloth napkins, play around with wording! Options are endless ;-)

xo,

Kate, Kara, and Kacey

Photos by Rachel Moore Photography

FUN news!  Our DIY Bell Send of Wands was featured on The DIY Dreamer!

Go check it out!

Linking to:

The DIY Dreamer

DIY: Bell Send Off Wands

DIY projects are my happy place.  And when I successfully create a project that turns out lovely, yet is super simple to make?! Well call me doubly happy.  These Bell Wands are both lovely and easy to make.  I originally made them to use as Send Off Wands for the happy couple at the end of their wedding party.  However, these wands can be so much more than that! Make them with kids, use them in floral arrangements, spice them up with pretty ribbons for whatever holiday is coming up!

DIY Bell Send-Off Wands

Wooden dowels 

ribbon in colors of your choice,

mini silver jingle bells

OPTIONAL: Paint for dowels

2.)  Cut ribbon to size you want (length of dowel is good) and string on 2 or 3 bells.

3.)  Push bells close together on ribbon. 

4.)  Tie ribbon with bells on dowel.

5.)  Tie on any other ribbons you want to add color.

6.)  Hand out to your kids or guests!

**If you want to paint the wooden dowels to compliment your 

occasion, go right ahead! Do this first before you tie on ribbons.

This is such a fun and whimsical alternative to rice, bubbles, or lavender for a wedding send off.   And it is a great project to do with kids - magic wands anyone?

xo,

Kate

This photo shoot was featured and published on Love and Lavender.

*Professional photos by Rachel Moore Photography

Linking to:

Live Laugh Rowe

1 Dog Woof

Living Well Spending Less

This Silly Girl's Life

The DIY Dreamer

Shabby Nest
Rae Gun Ramblings
I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Huckleberry Love

DIY: Mardi Gras Mask

It's Fat Tuesday, y'all!

Otherwise (and less jarringly) known as Mardi Gras, today is the day to throw caution to the wind! Go ahead and binge, gorg, drink up life's pleasures to your heart's content!  Because Lent starts tomorrow and we throw ourselves into 40 days of restrictions..don't we?

Well, whether you do or you don't, what better way to celebrate Mardi Gras than by making your own Mardi Gras mask?  Legend has it that people wore their masks out on the Tuesday before Lent so they could frolic and play incognito.  This is a really fun, creative project! Options and designs are endless...would be great to do with kids too!

DIY: Mardi Gras Mask

Materials:

Mask

wooden dowels

craft paint and foam brush

glitter

hot glue/gun

clear craft glue

feathers

jewels

ribbons

sequins

generally any sort of bits and baubles you want to make your mask gorgeous!

1.) Paint mask a base color with a small foam brush.  I chose black paint.

2.) Once paint is dry, spread a skim of clear craft clue on mask and sprinkle on glitter.  

Once again, I went with black glitter.

3.) Using your hot glue gun, slowly glue on sequin border.  This is where you can 

start to get creative! use old beads, ribbon, shells, feathers, whatever!

4.) Wrap wooden dowel with ribbon, or paint a color of your choice.  

I wrapped the dowel with gold ribbon - hot glue the end of the ribbon to the dowel, 

wrap all the way down, then glue the bottom end.

5.) Hot glue the dowel to the back of the mask.  I also wrapped a purple ribbon around it.

6.) Attach feathers and jewels and ribbons!  I hot glued them to the back of the mask.

7.)  Tie on butterfly pin.

Viola!!

These would be very pretty and whimsical placed in a floral arrangement on your dining table, too.

 

 

You are free to masquerade, my dear :)

xo

Kate

Don't forget to keep up with SorellaStyles on Instagram! Follow us at:

@sorellastyles

Let's Luau! Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes

So here's how it went down.

Pretty much all of our good friends were at another friend's destination wedding in Hawaii.  For one reason or another, about 3 couples (including me and Billy) weren't able to attend the wedding.  As you can imagine, a serious bout of Instagram envy began.  After all, it was a gorgeous wedding in a stunning locale with an amazing group of friends....Green. With. Envy.

How did we remedy the situation, you ask?  

We threw a luau!  

I mean, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em :-)  Hawaiian themed recipes were on the menu, and I was tasked with dessert.  So I made chocolate cupcakes from scratch and threw chopped macadamia nuts on about half of them.  Add a cocktail umbrella and viola...

I'll luau anytime!

Recipes below:

Cupcake Recipe

Frosting Recipe

PS: Cupcakes are super easy to make and fun to eat at a party!  And you can switch up the "festiveness" based on the occasion: American flags for Memorial Day, mini sparklers for 4th of July....you get the picture!

xo,
Kate

High Tea in Hermosa Beach

A few weeks ago I had a serious yen to head back to London for high tea.  Maybe it's all the royal baby fever, maybe its the bouts of June Gloom we have going on here in LA...either way, I was craving the comfort of remembering a fantastic vacation and the serenity that a little afternoon tea brings to an otherwise typical day.  And a trip all the way back to London feels a little extreme :>)

So instead I decided to "re-create" high tea right here in Hermosa Beach!  Well, its our Southern California-ized version.  

Here's what you need:

**Vintage Tea Cups** 

Collected over the years at various antique stores, flea markets, Gramma and Pop Pop's house!

**Tea spoons**

I absolutely adore these gold plated sets from West Elm..super fun, super fancy, completely unexpected

**Tea and Teapot**

I used the loose leaf Earl Gray tea I purchased from the Tower of London.

Find a similar glass, loose leaf tea pot here.

**Pretty Tray to hold all the goodies**

In London, it's very typical to drink your tea with a little cream and sugar.

The high teas we experienced in London came with all sorts of delicious snacks: Biscuits with jam, scones, little cucumber sandwiches.  For our So Cal version I served this simple Tuscan Salad I shared with y'all a few weeks ago.  See recipe here.

I always find the ritual of making tea to be very soothing and inspiring.  And adding a few easy details (like using vintage teacups and fancy flatware) makes it a fun, festive way to honor a vacation and celebrate summer time.

Cheers to you!

Great Gatsby Inspired Photo Shoot

Are you as excited as we are to see Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan star as Jay and Daisy in the upcoming remake of The Great Gatsby?  Then you'll love this 1920's Speakeasy shoot I designed  in Nashville last year.  There's something alluring about the Prohibition era.  Maybe it's the secrecy, the intrigue, that pull toward something you know you shouldn't be doing.  Either way, the fashion and the fun of the 1920's is what inspired this style shoot.  Imagine this couple tying the knot it an old Speakeasy somewhere - and desperately wanting to cheers each other with a great bottle of champagne!

  In fact, our signature cocktail for this event was a traditional, classic Champagne Cocktail.  See below for recipe... The Peacock Feather Headpiece is a DIY project we created, along with the wine bottle candle centerpiece, and the glitter stirring sticks.  The bride is wearing a custom 1920's inspired gown with black nylons underneath…a little surprise and mystery goes a long way.  The white dinner jacket on the groom is another lovely touch that harkens back to the jazz age.  Feathers and Fire make up the design for the shoot - with lovely handmade and personalized candles to keep this love burning from the 1920's straight through today.

Champagne Cocktail

Sugar cubes

Angostura Bitters

Chilled Champagne

Soak sugar cube with a few splashes of the Bitters.  Drop in the bottom of a champagne glass. Fill slowly with chilled sparkling wine. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Gatsby, here we come!

Vendors:

Photographer:  Mike Wootton Photography (http://woottonphotography.com/index2.php)

Event Design: Kate Coppola Leiva with Wedding 101 (http://www.wedding101.net)

Make Up: Katie Russo Make Up (http://www.katierusso.com/)

Hair: Amber Joy Martin (http://www.amberjoymartin.com/)

Cake: Silver Box Cakes (http://www.silverboxcakes.com/)

Container Candles: Flashpoint Candles (http://www.flashpointcandle.com/)

Invitations: By Heart And Hand (http://www.byheartandhand.com/index.htm)

Jewelry: Kim Wright with Stella and Dot (http://www.stelladot.com/sites/kimwright) 

Dress: Olia Zavozina (http://www.oliazavozina.com/)

Tuxedo: Street Tuxedo (http://www.streettuxedo.com/)

Venue: Durego (www.durego.net)

Champagne Cocktail Party - Bridal Shower

How to...

Throw a Champagne Cocktail Party

We threw this champagne cocktail bridal shower for one of my dearest friends before her wedding.  The location could not have been more stunning - the Montage Hotel in Laguna Beach, CA.  See below for the easy, beautiful do-it-yourself tips and ideas!

Cocktail Bar

   Champagne (Prosecco, Sparkling White Wine is equally fine)

   3 or 4 different Champagne Cocktail Recipes (we chose a Classic Champagne Cocktail, Pimms Royale, Mimosa, and Poinsettia)

   Garnishes and mixers based on recipes chosen.

Food

   Assorted cheeses with crackers and torn up french bread

   Grapes to garnish cheese plates

   Crudite platter

   Pita chips and hummus

Decor

   Scour vintage shops, antique stores, and specialty shops for all different champagne glasses.  Give each guest their own glass to take home with them.

   Candles, candles candles!  My go-to decor.  Tea lights, pillars, tapers, use them all.  We were outside for this party, so we had to be creative in our placement - out of the ocean breeze.

   Silver seashells make gorgeous paper weights.  And real sea shells hold down the drink recipes.

   Wooden Skewer Sticks tied with fun ribbon make festive stirring sticks.

   Undo a pre-made bouquet from a flower store to make a more modern arrangement - place a single stem in each vase.

   Hand tear ribbed card stock, and write down the names of the cheeses - then attach to a wooden skewer and stick in each cheese.

   Write out each recipe for every cocktail you plan to serve.

   Get creative with garnishes:  Berries got poured into wine glasses, vintage cake stands hold cucumber slices and mixers, a martini glass serves up sugar cubes.

Thanksgiving Table: Quotes of Gratitude

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was,

"thank you," 

that would suffice.  

~Meister Eckhart

Thanksgiving.  A day to reflect on all the blessings we have in our lives and be grateful to God who makes it all possible.  It really is such a beautiful holiday - one I wish I lived more consciously every day.

Our Thanksgiving table has always been a fun project that my whole family creates together.  Each year we try to top the year before, or at least come up with something completely different.  But candles and colors aside, it's important to remember why we all come together on Thanksgiving.  Last year we tied quotes of gratitude and thankfulness onto sprigs of rosemary and stems of pears and set one on each plate.  Every quote was different - some funny, some serious, some famous, some unknown.   Each person read their quote out loud during dinner.  It was a lovely way to celebrate the season and be ever mindful of the spirit of Thanksgiving.

Gratitude Quotes

Google "thankfulness quotes", "thanksgiving quotes", 

"Gratitude quotes" or any combination of the above and pick out your favorites. 

Hand write or print out the quotes (in small text) on paper.

Roll up quote in a scroll-like fashion.

Tie scroll onto a sprig of rosemary or a stem of a piece of fruit with colorful ribbon.