Saying hello & answering some questions

11.21.16-

Hello, friends!  It's been a while to say the least, not even sure if there are any of you out there that still follow along {If so I'd love to hear from you, leave a comment & say hi!}  Just finished up another successful, busy & fabulous Hive this weekend.  I've been thinking about some questions that I was asked several times by my clients, new shoppers & friends.  It's been on my mind & I wanted to get down to the bottom of it so I could answer correctly.  

-A few of my favorite things I created for The Holiday Hive this year. Glad they all went off to new homes- 

During the show I was asked a couple of questions that I thought I better answer.  

#1-  "How long have you been doing The Hive?"  I would always think, guess & then say maybe 5-6 years, I wasn't quite sure.  So I came to the blog to get the for sure answer.   {Glad I was better about updating this back in the early days of my business so I can look back, remember & smile at all that has been done & what has grown over the years.}  I had to go back waaaaaaaay to February 2010 to find my answer & pictures of the very 1st ever Hive.  I have always done shows of just my H&H things but the 1st ever invite other creative friends, 3 vendors to be exact,  to sell along with me came in 2010.  So The Hive is going on almost 7 years.  Think I better come up with a fun little celebration for it in 2017, don't you think?  It's also the anniversary for this blog of mine, too. Definitely need to celebrate some how. 

- Enjoyed looking at this spot for 3 days.  Of coarse some of my H&H board signs, loved my friend Janet's awesome snowflakes, the AmAZiNG floral displays that 3Dotters brought {I had to keep this one for me!}  & the fabulous rustic stars my Dad made.  Loved how it looked tucked into my vintage pop crate with bags of yummy candy. -

Fun to be asked this question so much this weekend & get to have my very good friend {best supporter of H&H from day 1}  Nicolle here to help me cashier all the way from Boise, Idaho.  It was neat to look back at my blog post about the 1st Hive & find a picture of her & I those 6 years ago.

-I think we look good even 7 years later!-

Glad The Hive began all those years ago & the opportunity I've had to host it over the years.  Amazing to see how it has grown & what it has become today.  For all the many vendors who have participated over the years {maybe that's my next thing is to go back & look at everyone that has come over the years}  & for the many, many sweet friends & associations I've been able to gain over the years through hosting this event 3 times a year.  

Question #2-  "How did you do that?" "Did you make those?"  "Where did you get them, I love it!" 

My garlands!!  If you know me, read the blog, follow me on Instagram or have been to a Hive you know that I like to decorate & make it a real event to come too.  Garlands are a fun, easy way to decorate & make a big statement.  I always put them up above my island & out front under The Hive sign to welcome everyone to the show.  

-Always excited to see what this area looks like all set up for The Hive every time. Always different & unique for each show.-

I wanted to create a mini Winter Wonderland this time around for The Holiday Hive so I came up with some garlands to put together & hang up.  So easy to make but I do have a few pointers & info.!  

Balloon Garland- Ok, I LOVE this!  When I saw it posted on the Instagram feed, @ohhappyday I fell head over heels.  What's a party without balloons & garlands- put them together & GENIUS!!  

I got on their website & purchased a pack. {The balloons I got were the 6 inch size} Each balloon has a little tail on the other end so you actually link/tie them together to create the garland.  

- I tied little yarn tassels to the ends for a little bit more charm & effect, like this garland needed it but I thought it looked cute!
You can purchase them here- http://shop.ohhappyday.com/search?type=product&q=quicklink

The rest were easy DIY garlands, these really made me feel like a kid again. Like I was back in elementary school during art time.  I had a blast making them! 

Silver Pipe cleaner Garland- Buy a pack of pipe cleaners, any color.  For the smaller chain, I cut the pipe cleaners in half & simply formed a loop & twisted the ends.  The larger chain was just a normal sized pipe cleaner. 

Marshmallow Garland- So fun, a little sticky but would I do it all again, absolutely!  If I made more, which I'm sure I will, I would let them sit out longer for sure before I even attempted to stitch them together.  Open up a bag of big marshmallows, spread them out on a sheet cake pan, let sit for at least 4-5 days {the 1st attempt I did on the 2nd day still way too sticky!} get a long strong needle, thread a strong twine through it {make sure needle has a big enough eye} & simply start threading through the marshmallow.  Might be a little gooey inside even though the marshmallow shell is tough,  if too sticky wait another day or two.  

Pom Pom Garland- Had a pom pom maker so I just put my girls to work as they sat & watched TV a few times.  They enjoyed making them & I enjoyed tying them together on a string of sparkly bakers twine. 

So glad I was asked the question & spent some time today researching, finding the answer & going through old blog posts, walking down memory lane & being inspired along the way too.  

Paper Chain- You can't go wrong with this stand by.  Classic & timeless, not to mention super simple to do!  

Wishing you all the happiest of Holidays ahead.   Hope to take the time to get on here to chat & share with you more often.  It's just so gosh darn easy to just share things on my phone but I really do miss this form of communication.  I'll try to do better. 

{M}    

The Holiday Hive!

11.15.16- 

What's coming up!  Hope to see you there, it's going to be a festive filled show.  So excited to have 10 amazing vendors, along with H&H, in The Hive.  

{M}elissa 

Back to School mantel

8.31.16-

It's that time of year again!  Time to sharpen the pencils, pack the back packs & get new shoes.  This year has been a little different in our house this year.  2 headed off to their 1st year of high school & 1 headed off to her 1st year of college.  Not going to lie, it's been a little tough for this Momma this year.  Hard to see your kids growing up but at the same time, very exciting too.   So as I thought about the theme/message I wanted them to take with them into this new school year it came to me one day while I was listening to music.  

Thank you Lin Manuel Miranda & the Hamilton soundtrack.  Please tell me you've heard it.  If not, get it, you won't regret it! {The link is to the clean version, that's what I ordered. It takes out a few of swear words}  I especially love it with my History major back ground but you don't have to love history to appreciate the music & the story of the life of Alexander Hamilton.  Listen to it, it will change your life for the better!  

We got the soundtrack a few months ago & have been listening to it Non-Stop {a song actually in Act. 1}  & I love that the girls find themselves singing the songs through the day as they are in class, not just in History I might add, that they hear a word & it triggers their brain & they start thinking of the lyrics to the songs of Hamilton.  So fun to know the impact that music can have.  

Back to my Back to School theme- it came to me when I was listening to, My Shot {If I had to pick one song, & that's tough, that I love the best it would be this one}  it encompassed everything I wanted my girls to take with them as they venture into new horizons this school year.  New schools, new friends to make & new opportunities to seize.  

If you haven't heard Hamilton, here is a you tube link to the 1st thing I ever saw/heard about this phenomenon called Hamilton.  It was from when the cast was invited to the White House to preform.  I love watching it & seeing each performers personality & how passionate they are about what they are singing. Especially Lin Manuel Miranda, ALexander Hamilton,  I can't imagine the thrill of singing something you wrote & being surrounded by a cast singing the words you wrote.  Amazing!  Such a powerful song, with a great message.  

Fun to look around my house & see what would fall into the Hamilton theme I had going on.  Of coarse I love to use old books in my decor anytime.  They are great to stack, create levels & add visual interest.  This book cover stood out to me because it reminded me of a song in Hamilton where George Washington is sining to Hamilton & saying, "History has it's eyes on you."  The eyes of the world was certainly on our nation during that time.  Liked how it tied in. 

 A book about American Government certainly ties into the theme too.  Liked the navy blue color, very revolutionary.  I like to look for books that have great color, spines & art work.  The thing about books is that they are usually relatively inexpensive to buy.  I think all of these I've featured on the mantel have been bought for just a few dollars each. 

-Another great book, The what ever child should know Library, titled, Heroes.  Thought the founding fathers certainly fell under that category.- 

 Books just add such great color & interest to any kind of display. Give them a try next time you decorate, I think you'll be hooked.  

If you read my blog, follow my Instagram {@hollyhocksandhoneybees} You know I am pretty smitten with anything that is vintage & that means trophies.  So I thought it would be fun to throw these into the mix of this mantel.  Goes with the theme of working hard, achieving goals, being a part of a team.  I grabbed all the ones that I've bought over the years as well as a few that my hubby & I earned in our younger years.  If you have old trophies, get them out, show them off be proud of what they represent. 

-Brought back fun memories of serving on the student council in my Jr. High. Trying out for that, which was scary at the time, but glad I didn't throw away my shot to be involved in the school.-  

-Hubby earned this at a summer basketball camp, I guess that's where my girls get their great shooting skills from.-

 The underlining theme in the song, My Shot, is to rise up.  Rise up when things get hard, rise up when it's time to take a stand & inspire others around you to do the same.  Fun that this is written on a lit up light box {@mycinemalightbox} because it creates a great glow in the evening & early morning hours when we are all in our family room.  Makes it stand out in a special way.  Not to mention catching a sparkle off of all the gold trophies surrounding the sign.

 -You can never have too many trophies around right?  I don't think so, the more the better.-   

Hope this mantel & home decor has inspired you to decorate your home for this special time of year.  Certainly something to celebrate & enjoy seeing motivating, inspiring & powerful sayings around as your students are coming & going every day.  

Hope everyone in your home has a great school year!! 

{M} 

Tis' the season, almost, Sale!

7.19.16- 

Thanks for your ORDERs!! Happy to start to get to work on these for you all. 

Hello. Already looking ahead to & planning The Fall/Holiday Hives.  They'll both "bee" here before I know it.   

I'm listing a few of my always popular H&H things for pre-sale so that you are guaranteed to get them, if you've been wanting some for awhile, here is your chance!  I'm offering them at a discounted price for a limited time only! 

*Items will be marked back to their regular prices for purchase at The Hive.  

Items will be pre-paid for & available for pick up ONLY at either The Fall {Sept. 15-17th} or The Holiday Hive {Nov. 17-19th} By pre- ordering it is guaranteeing that you get your hands on some for sure! 

-You have until Tuesday, July 26th. to place your order.-

ORDERS CLOSED!! 

Also, please note that as with everything I create each item will be unique & one of a kind.  Even though they look alike, each item will be slightly different, that's just how I like to do things.  That being said when you pick up at either of The Hives, you'll have a bunch to look through & choose which one you like best. 

Thanks, so much.  Hope you have a wonderful rest of the Summer.  See you at The Fall Hive Sept. 15-17th, it's going to be a fantastic show.  Fall is my favorite! 

Thanks I appreciate you & look forward to creating things for you.  Remember orders need to be placed by the 26th. 

{M}

I Scream, You Scream!

7.16.16- 

Do you know it's National Ice Cream day tomorrow?  A perfect reason to throw a SuNDAE party.  Sharing all the fun details & photos from an ice cream bar I held a few years ago.  Hope it inspires you to do something sweet tomorrow to celebrate. 

Ice Cream Sundae Bar party using my gigantic industrial sized muffin pan. I love giving new life to vintage finds.  Fills me with such JoY! 

Have you ever seen such a thing before?

{If you ever come across a giant muffin pan, grab it!  Fun times & great uses ahead I'm sure}   

  

-Got these adorable ice cream cups & spoons at Orson Gygi's in SLC.  The perfect touch to the Ice Cream party- 

When I bought this pan a few months ago I wasn't quite sure what to use it for but came up with this yummy idea one afternoon. I started brain storming of all the treats, toppings & sweets to fill up each compartment of the pan with.  The perfect things to send any bowl of ice cream over the top 

{sprinkles- of coarse, crushed oreos, butterfingers, M&M's, toasted coconut, gummy bears, cashews & the quintessential sundae topper a cherry for on top.. just to name a few}

-Photo credit, Mountain Light Photography, Courtney Wallin-

Once every compartment was full all I needed to add was a gallon of Ice Cream & some cute kiddos willing to come over & start creating yummy masterpieces. 

-Photo credit, Mountain Light Photography, Courtney Wallin-

Just look at those cute faces! I think somebody was really excited to start digging into all that sweet stuff! 

 {It must have been the gummy bears..or just the sight of SUGAR!} 

A shout-out to these girls awesome Mom for taking such great pictures of our fun night in the backyard. 

 Thanks, Courtney! 

{see more of her amazing food pics on the Delish my Dish blog} 

-Photo credit, Mountain Light Photography, Courtney Wallin- 

The colorful, filled to the brim, organized tin in the center of the table ready for the party to start.  Trust me, it didn't stay looking this neat very long. 

Fun sitting back & watching what each kid went for. Lots of expected combinations & some pretty unique ones too.  But every last drop of ice cream was gone in their cups, you can bet on that! 

-Photo credit, Mountain Light Photography, Courtney Wallin- 

-Photo credit, Mountain Light Photography, Courtney Wallin- 

Can't get enough of the darling pics of the tray holding all the ingredients for the ice cream sundaes.  Salty, sweet, gooey, crunchy & of coarse all yummy! 

                                                                                         These 2 girls held still long enough for me to get a picture of their sundaes before they started chopping down. What patience!  

{Thanks A & M} 

Of coarse no Ice Cream Sundae is complete without smothering the top with a delicious, hot, gooey sauce so I'm sharing a fabulous recipe for Chocolate Sauce with a SPiCY kick.  This stuff is so good & goes perfectly with chopped up almonds & lots of toasted coconut 

{Can you guess what kind of sundae I made?} 

*-----------------------------------*

Spicy Chocolate Sauce 

Combine: 3/4 C. Semi-Sweet chocolate chips

1/4 C. butter

1/2 tsp. ground chili pepper 

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon in a sauce pan & warm up.  

Cook until butter is melted & chocolate is smooth. Gradually add 1-5ounce can of evaporated milk {2/3 C.} Stir frequently & bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, boil gently over low heat for 6 minutes.  Remove from heat, cool slightly & serve immediately so it's quite warm. Drizzle over vanilla ice cream & ENjoY! 

*----------------------------------*

Oh, my goodness that sauce is amazing.  yuM! So simple to make & so glorious. Give it a try, I'm sure it will be a staple for all your ice cream sundae's from now on. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

{M} 

I have seen the Light!

7.12.16- 

 I love light!  When we designed our home on Lilac Lane we specifically told our architects that we wanted lots & lots of windows for natural light.  There is just something refreshing & invigorating about light.  It's the first thing I do every morning is walk around our home, open the blinds, shutters & let the morning light & the new day into our home.  Such a great way to wake up! 

Along with natural light I have grown to love lamps.  I like to turn them on at night, especially, when I don't want all the lights on.  There is just something so homey & comforting with just a soft glow of light.  We are big believers around here in dimmer switches & accent lighting when it starts to get late. Kind of a symbol to start shutting it down & unwinding for the day.  Our girls probably don't appreciate it as much anymore now that they are teenagers & want to stay out late every night.  This Momma is not a night owl so their new hours are kind of getting hard to adjust too.  Let's just say the soft glow of lights is happening later & usually staying on much longer than they used to.  Oh, boy- give me strength! 

Thrilled that my twin girls room was featured by Shutterfly, along with 74 other brilliant lighting ideas.  It is fun to be a part of so many great design & decorating ideas.  

Things I love most about this light are- 

1-  I bought it at The Hive {the boutique I host in our home} from my friend & vendor Jen from 3DottersVintage.  

Her husband made it & I snagged it up!  

2-  That we connected it to the closet light switch so that they're weren't any messing cords seen.  

3-  It's the perfect thing to switch one when the girls go down to get ready for bed.  Enough light to do what they need to without turning on the harsh bright overhead light. 

-I spy Olly! This is one of his favorite spots to hang out.- 

You can read more about their super-secret bedroom makeover here.  It was such a fun project to work on with my hubby & totally surprise the girls on their 13th birthday.  

Hope this idea & others on the link inspire you to bring in some light into your home is a great way. 

{M} 

Summer Hive- recap!

7.6.16- 

Hope you all had a terrific 4th of July weekend.  Whew.... I'm still trying to catch up & recover from all the fun events the last couple of weeks.  Wanted to share with you all, in case you couldn't make it, a little bit about The Summer Hive.  Every Hive is always so fun to plan & prepare for.  Each is unique & exciting in it's own way.  The Summer one was no exception.  

-These adorable cement letters were made & given to me by my sweet friend & vendor, EmeryAveDesigns.  I just love them!- 

One thing that makes each Hive special is the variety of vendors that participate.  Vendors are invited to come to the show, some I find on my own & some reach out to me.  I like to match up which vendors & their products would go great with the season we are in & other vendors that are participating.  Since The Hives are held in my home there are a limited number of vendors that participate.  Just like it that way.  Here is a peek of the vendors from this time. 
{P.S.  you can look up any of these on Instagram by their names} 

-Cute kid & adult tee-shirts by QT & Co.filled up the wire rack display - 

-Cuteness! Fabric washi tape from LemonyStitch.  She showed multiple ways how you can use this fun stuff.  CAUTION- it's addicting once you start, you're going to want to washi tape everything! -

-Simplicity at it's best & prettiest!  Cement creations from EmeryAveDesigns- 

-I LOVED this saying!  Sums up Summertime pretty well, don't you think? These darling things were made by TiffMade.  She is so great when it comes to pairing patterns & fabric together.- 

-Money collecting jars, adorable! Maybe I need to ask her to make me a special one for furniture, antiquing or Waco or bust collection jars ;) - 

-Fun frames  & big display pieces by JWilkins, always love to see what she brings - 

-The MOST gorgeous jewelry by Voulez Jewelry. I mean so sparkly, classy & timeless.  I adore her things & love having her in The Hive. - 

-Fabulous wooden signs & stacking hexagons, I need to place an order because they all SOLD OUT, from ChalkboardBlue.  

Of coarse there was some H&H as well.  I had a blast putting together bright, happy colors to celebrate Summer.  I'm always happy to know that my stuff goes home to new homes that love it as much as I like making it all.  The shop shelves are empty now, time to start preparing for the next one.  Fall will "bee" here before I know it! 

It's always great to decorate the outside to welcome everyone into our home. I like to always pull great vintage goods from 3Dotters & other vendors to complete the look.  

I held an Early Bee Event, the night before The Hive officially opened this year.  The money raised from ticket sales went to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.  A foundation dedicated to funding children's cancer research.  Thought it would be a sweet deserving case to give the profits to.  I asked my friends from DelishMyDish to help out by giving everyone something yummy to much on while they shopped & let me tell you, their M&M cookies were a hit!  Be sure to follow them on Instagram for lots of tasty recipes your family will love! 

-So, so good!  My family was glad there were a few left over after the event.  Wanted to just give some sweetness to all those who bought tickets & gave to such a great case!- 

Of coarse if you are supporting a case with lemonade in the title, you better have some wet your whistle lemonade on hand to give out.  {Served in a vintage cooler too!} Found these 2 great flavors at the grocery store in our town, I've seen them other places before too.  So keep a look out for them.  *the Nesbitt's honey lemonade is delish! 

-Just had a take a pic of this.  This happy guy found a nook to sit at to enjoy his lemonade, cookie & a vintage book he picked up off the front porch from 3Dotters to read while his Mom shopped. How cute is that!  The book went home with him, he liked it so much.  This is the stuff that makes me happy & keep doing The Hive over & over again.  Little neighborhood shoppers are my favorite!- 


That was fun to sit down & type up.  Sometimes I get so busy with all the "To-do" things that I forget to take a second & share with you all.  As always, there are things that went well, things to rethink, change & make better.  That's one thing I always like to do after each Hive.  Reflect, refocus & of coarse start dreaming about the next one.

Have a great day!

{M}