We were finally able to celebrate Em's March birthday last week so, of course, her annually requested fresh fruit watermelon cake was in order. 

We went with a rectangular shape this year to change things up because you know I always like to push the creative boundaries and challenge myself to come up with something new.

However, I can't take the credit for the finished cake this year. I only helped with some final shaping of the watermelon base before Em and her friend worked together to add all of the other fruit. It turned out beautiful. I love the attention to detail with the placement of fruit varieties...especially how they used the sliced strawberries in alternating rows to finish off the top of the cake. 

If you've never tried your hand at making a fresh fruit watermelon cake I hope this post inspires you. (see the step-by-step linked below)

They are the prettiest and yummiest guilt-free whole food cake and hits the mark on everyone's dietary restrictions, unless you can't eat fruit, since it's dairy-free, gluten-free, grain-free, processed sugar-free, nut-free, vegan and my favorite...whole30 approved. 

When we slice it up for family, we usually have whipped cream for those that want it. (for the vegan and dairy-free people, you can also serve it with the canned almond whipped cream or coconut whipped cream varieties found in the refrigerated section of your local grocery stores).

PIN IT FOR LATER <-- click here

PS - Let's stay cozy + connected in-between posts...find me on Instagram for daily inspiration. Psst - If you aren't already following along you've been missing out...

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED THIS WEEK OVER ON INSTAGRAM - sure hope you're already following along --> @pnpflowers on Instagram

• DIY Kitchen Sink Scrub
• 50+ Days of being makeup-free, hair product-free + heat styling tool-free
• Cuban Chicken and more dinner ideas!


PSS -  Subscribe here to have new blog posts delivered right to your inbox.

..........

OTHER BLOG POSTS YOU MAY ENJOY:

The fresh fruit cake that started it all <-- we've come a long way. Lol
Step-by-Step Fresh Fruit Watermelon Cake
16th Birthday Fresh Fruit Cake + Cakelets
15th Birthday Fresh Fruit Cake - with pomegranate


KEEPING IT REAL
COVID-19 social distancing was the reason for the delay in being able to celebrate with Em.
A wonderful visit from her and a her friend last week helped make it happen. She actually thought she was just coming up for a visit...the whole time I was scheming to surprise her with a belated 21st birthday celebration! We even got her with silly string - also a family birthday tradition. *wink*

LiFE | Summer 2018 (Video)

Summer ends officially on September 22nd.
That's only two days from now and, as usual, my mind is not wanting to bend in that direction.
It's the whole one foot in the boat and one foot on the shore mindset - loving both summer and fall with the added dimension of not being well-versed in letting go or saying goodbye.

Summer was the backdrop for a few milestones for my girls. We celebrated Ema graduating high school, high-fived Clara for being on the UCF Dean's list at the completion of her Junior year, and supported Ella's choice to walk away from gymnastics.

We grew tomatoes, rode scooters in the summer rain, drew sidewalk chalk towns together, walked on the beach, ate cotton candy, lost my sunglasses in the ocean waves, made homemade strawberry shortcake, invited friends over for playdates, enjoyed BFF sleepovers, lavished in pool days, among other fun things.

There was also one thing in particular I'm so happy we made time for this year.
We enjoyed a "Girl's Camping/RVing" experience with my mom at Salt Springs this summer.
In fact, it's one of the very first things we did which helped kick off our summer on the right foot.

Here's a visual diary I created of our time together...
(and mom...if you're reading this...I'm sorry...for that one part in the video). *covering eyes*

So yes, our summer may not have been filled with lush vacations and jet-setting around the world but our days, and more importantly, our hearts, were spilling over with adventure and fun.

They say forever is made up of the nows...so perhaps we really can have a "forever summer" because we certainly filled it with a lot of "nows" I will always remember.

With that said...I think it's time for me to do some letting go...

xoxo my sweet friends!!

Jess

KEEPiNG iT REAL

I rolled my ankle stepping out of the RV on the first day of our camping trip. *laughing*

I fell on the ground and had dirt and grass all over me while Ella and my mom looked on in disbelief. 

I laughed so hard and could NOT believe I had done that while also holding back tears from the pain.

It swelled up immediately and I thought I had broken it. 

I put on a brave face, iced it every day and medicated myself with some Advil.

Thankfully I didn't break it and was still able to enjoy the rest of our time together.

BUT...it did take a solid two months for me to feel comfortable putting full weight on my ankle again.

(which has now exacerbated into lower back + foot pain because of my body overcompensating for it). *eyeroll*

LIFE | Easter 2016

Hope you all had a fantastic Easter weekend!

Thought I'd share some photos I took from Easter day...

I have to say, this was one of the most relaxing Easter Sundays to date.
Ella wore the dress she wore for the Daddy Daughter Dance and did her egg hunting in the morning, we went to church and then returned home for a relaxing day which included coloring eggs. I usually color the eggs prior to Easter Sunday but I like how we ended up doing them as part of our Easter celebration this year - I think I may be keeping this tradition.

Funny Easter Story:
Ella discovered her dad's shoes by the front door on Easter morning.
After careful investigation, Ella ran into our room and informed us the Easter bunny had worn her dad's shoes to bring the Easter baskets inside the house. The clues that led her to this conclusion:
1. Her dad never leaves his shoes at the front door, so clearly someone else wore them. *wink*
2. There was dirt left on the carpet in the foyer, from the shoe-wearing Easter Bunny of course.
3. There were remnants of white hair left behind on the carpet as well. Clearly rabbit fur although it looked strikingly similar to our dog's white hair.
4. The Easter baskets were left right inside the front door this year instead of the usual spot...the front porch. The Easter Bunny obviously did not want to leave the baskets outside since it'd been raining for a couple of days. Nothing to do with Mom forgetting to handle some last minute preparations.

So cute, right?

Stay tuned for the fun details I'll be sharing about Ema's 17th birthday cake.
AND I'm gearing up this week to finally share the photos from the Alice in ONEderland themed first birthday dessert table I created back in December! *wink*

See you back here tomorrow for "Let's Talk Tuesday"!

KEEPiNG iT REAL
I didn't decorate at all this year for Easter.  *frown*
Between me finally feeling somewhat normal after being sick since the end of January, J developing the flu last weekend and the girls being on Spring Break this past week leading up to Easter...I simply had no energy or desire to do much of anything except survive the daily routine of things and try to make Spring Break as fun as possible.

Ella, Ema and I were the only ones that gathered for the egg coloring Sunday afternoon and we tried some of those q-tip egg coloring sticks this year. (a bit messy but fun to make polka dots with..and what part of coloring eggs isn't messy anyway.) *wink*

Oh! And the ham dinner I cooked for Easter dinner was a complete disaster.
It didn't cook long enough so the green beans and potatoes weren't done.
Then I decided to serve some bread we'd had earlier in the week as a filler and of course...it was a little stale. Perfect to go with the underdone crunchy green beans and potatoes. Ha!
Oh well. We ate it anyway...

LET'S TALK TUESDAY | No. 8 :: Party Inspiration + Ideas

Very excited to be meeting up with a friend today for lunch...
but equally excited to be spending a few minutes this morning with YOU for our weekly "Let's Talk Tuesday".

By the way - you all are blowing me away with your fun questions! I hope you are getting as much out of our "LTT" meet-ups as I am!!

Q: I've been following your blog for what seems like forever and your party ideas are always so clever. They always seem to be "on trend" while always being a little different from the masses. I'm curious about your process for coming up with ideas. I like to plan parties for my kids and I will help on occasion with a baby shower when family or friends ask. It's coming up with the party theme that always has me a little stumped in the beginning. Of course Pinterest is always a great source of inspiration. Is that the same for you? Or do you have a specific approach for figuring it all out? Thanks Jessica. Loving your LTT posts and thankful to have you take time to answer my question. Nancy B.

A: This question really made me think. First of all, this may or may not work for some of you, but I stay away from Pinterest when I'm formulating my ideas for a party because I don't want to be influenced by what's already out there. I really try to create unique party ideas and if the concept isn't new, I at least try to make it my own. That being said, once my theme has been picked and I've got a basic concept and direction, THEN I'll head on over to Pinterest for inspiration.

Funny piece of trivia:  Pinterest didn't even exist when I first started party planning for my kiddos and it wasn't around when I started my blog seven years ago either. *laughing*

Anyway, I'd first have to say that my brain operates from a "theme" perspective - if that even makes sense. I have always felt the most "creative" when I first have a firm foundation or theme to jumpstart from. This applies to organizing a women's luncheon or dinner, decorating my children's rooms, designing a church cookbook, creating a Valentine's Day classroom exchange idea, and of course...hosting and styling a party. Give me a solid theme and that's when my creative ideas kick into high gear! 

Arriving at said theme can come from a number of things:
1. favorite things of the person being celebrated.
2. Pantone's color of the year and seasonal palettes.
3. Cute new party accessories I'd like to use/try.
4. the season in which the party is being held.
5. specific requests from the person being honored.

Let me give you a few specific examples of how the process unfolded for a few of the parties I've hosted over the years...I think this will be the most helpful way to explain my process.

LEMONADE AND SUNSHINE  PARTY

When I hosted the "Lemonade and Sunshine" themed double birthday for Clara and Emalyn SIX YEARS AGO, they were both celebrating milestone birthdays. Clara was crossing over into "teen hood" as she was turning thirteen and Ema was turning double digits for the first time with her tenth birthday.

Clara was smack dab in the middle of adolescence and she was getting really good at giving me attitude about anything and everything and she did NOT want a party. On the other hand, Emalyn was kind of caught in the middle.  She was being heavily influenced listening to her older sister gripe about a birthday party and yet I know she was quietly excited at the thought of getting to celebrate with her older sister...whom she idolized.  (and still does to this day, by the way). *wink*

So, needless to say, I had a little bit of "sweet and sour" going on in our house at the time.  The "Lemonade" portion of the party theme was born out of wanting to represent Clara and her mix of emotions as a brand new teenager, and "Sunshine" was the epitome of everything Ema was as she approached her tenth birthday...a girl with a sweet spirit, big heart and wonderful sense of humor. *grin* Combine the two and you've got a great mix and a darling party theme. Besides that, the theme also allowed me to create something that felt a little more "fancy and grown up" for Clara while still having a whimsical feel for Ema.

CLASSIC RED BALL BIRTHDAY

When I started planning Ella's 2nd birthday, I just went down the list of the things she was excited about at the time. At the top of that list was her infatuation with inflatable balls. Each time we'd be at a store, she immediately gravitated towards those big ball cages that held all of the play balls. She absolutely LOVED them. 

I went with the classic red ball instead of a beach ball theme because Ella has a Fall birthday. Inflatable balls...let alone beach balls...were not easy to come by. Besides that, I liked the simplicity of the color scheme and it made for an adorable invitation and even more adorable dessert table selections! *wink*

BUBBLES BABY SHOWER :: SHE'S ABOUT TO POP

SIX YEARS AGO,  (man time flies), I was approached by a friend who was hosting a baby shower for one of her best friends. She'd already decided she wanted to do a "She's About to Pop" theme and although it was a new-to-me theme at the time, I quickly realized as I began researching, the concept wasn't really all that new. I really like to try to make my party themes original. So, my challenge became to find a way to make this party stand out and be something that hadn't been done before. 

That's when I came up with the idea of making "bubbles" the focus instead of the popular balloons, popcorn and bubble gum concepts I kept seeing everywhere. On top of that, the mom-to-be was very modern and on-trend so I immediately referenced the hot Pantone colors of the season at the time and built the party elements and details around those.

So there you go...just a few examples of the method to my madness with regards to party planning.

I hope you've been inspired and PLEASE...keep sending in your questions!! I love answering them.

By the way...you can find more details about each party mentioned today under the "My Work" tab at the top of the blog. (along with other party ideas and themes). 

RANDOM GIRL TALK

1. Super excited about this new book arriving tomorrow!

2. Newest song added to my playlist - and what Ella is considering using for her talent show music. 

3. Latest crushes on Instagram: Jessica Wasserman and Brittany York

4. My doctor recommended I look into a neti pot after my third visit to her last week. So, while looking at them at my local Health Basket, I left with THIS instead, on the recommendation of one of the employees there. I've been using it on myself as well as Ella since she caught a cold last week too. Anyone else use either? 

5. A friend of mine was telling me about how her sister has tried StitchFix and loves it! Anyone else use an online personal stylist? I'm seriously considering joining. There are a couple of other similar services: Keaton Row, Tog + Porter, Stylit, The Refinery and I'm certain there are more out there.  Here's a helpful article comparing StitchFix, Keaton Row and Tog + Porter - just in case you are interested. 

And if you've tried ANY of them - I'd love to know what you think.

xoxo my friends!!

KEEPiNG iT REAL

To this day, the Lemonade and Sunshine party that Clara absolutely wanted nothing to do with ended up being one of my most popular parties - and was even featured in a magazine publication all the way in Italy. 

LET'S TALK TUESDAY | No. 2 :: Book Club, App + Paint Color

Brrrr! It's another cold winter day here in Florida my friends!!
(currently 39º - high of only 55º). That's cold for this Florida girl.

Let's warm up together with our "Let's Talk Tuesday" No. 2 today. (click here if you missed No. 1 and find out more about the inspiration behind the NEW LTT blog series here on Pen + Paper Flowers if you missed the original announcement).

I have another set of fun questions I'm excited to answer today.
I'm just loving this little bit of time we are carving out each week to connect for a few minutes on a very real level - like friends meeting up over coffee or hot cocoa!


QUESTION #1:
Q: I loved the Book Club you were doing last year but I haven't seen any updated posts in awhile. What happened? Am I missing something? - Maria B.

A: Oh my! I'm embarrassed to admit this but the truth is...life is what happened. After going strong from January until August, I missed posting in September...and then October and before I knew it, it'd been three months and there was no way to catch up at that point.

The good news is, I've been brainstorming some ideas to update the PNPF Book Club to make it a little more simple...a bit LESS complicated. How about I skip the "review" part of things, which was the original concept of the Book Club, and just do a quick list of my current reads every month? What do you think? BTW: Here's one for you: "Whatever You Are, Be a Good One" by Chronicle Books. (Clara gave it to me for Christmas).

QUESTION #2:
I just love the inspirational thoughts you share on Instagram and I'm wondering if there's a specific app you use to create them? I think it might be the Rhonna Designs app but I thought I'd just ask.  - Amanda G.

My favorite app to use is called Phonto. It's SUPER easy and allows me the flexibility I prefer for manipulating fonts and letters. I actually just select the "plain image" option and then select the blank white square to add my wording. That's it. Now, having said that, I do love using the Rhonna Design
App when I want to add some cute design elements. And of course, I'm always using my favorite design program, Adobe Illustrator, for designs as well.


QUESTION #3:
Q: I just love your simple style - both with your designs and some of the images I've seen of your home decor. You'd mentioned awhile ago that you were in the middle of deciding on a paint color for your master bedroom. I'm in the middle of a master bedroom makeover and I'm curious as to what color you ended up choosing. Natalie P.

That's so funny you asked about this because I was at the paint store just YESTERDAY having a gallon mixed up to test out on the master bedroom. I never did paint the master as previously mentioned a year or so ago because I still wasn't convinced of the colors I'd chosen and I just sat on them. In fact, I've still got paint swatches on the walls and I just keep adding to them any time I'm inspired by a color I see on Pinterest or social media and any color recommendations from family and friends.

I'm not sure why, but I've been really stumped with what to do or what direction I want to go in for that room. I can't tell you how many "this is the one" moments I've had with paint colors only to sit on it for a few days and then change my mind altogether. (what is that?) Grrr. So...in keeping with my One Little Word (LESS)...I'm doing less second guessing, less procrastination and I will be moving forward..with confidence by the way...with the custom paint color I had mixed yesterday!

It's a color of happenstance because it was two different leftover paint colors Emalyn decided to mix together on a whim when she re-painted her bedroom a few months ago. Can you believe that? I LOVE the color she ended up with (shown on the top paint stick) so I had it custom matched and then used 50% of the formula for a lighter/brighter hue in the master bedroom. (bottom paint stick). And...yes, it's another creamy white neutral. My mom is SO rolling her eyes right now. And maybe you are too!? *blushing*

I'll share before and after pics soon! For now, I wanted to share a photo of the final Behr paint formula I'm using in the master bedroom, just in case you want to run right out and try it yourself!! 
Let's call the custom color: Happenstance.

Okay, and one more thing...
Have any of you seen the SureSwatch™ sheets? I noticed them for the first time at the Home Depot paint counter yesterday while waiting for my paint to be mixed. The concept sounds pretty cool - but I left without paying the $3 for one sheet. Now after having watched the how-to SureSwatch™ paint and SureSwatch™ Primer Decider videos online to learn more, I'm even more curious about whether or not they'd really work and if they'd be worth it? If you've used them I'd love to know what you think!! And if you haven't, would you consider using them?

Was that fun? Feeling a little more connected? I know I am.
Until next week friends...keep your questions coming!!

DIFFERENT WAYS TO SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS
1. Email me directly: pnpflowersinc AT gmail DOT com
2. Leave a question on my Instagram feed anytime.
3. Leave it as a comment here on the blog.
If you ever have any issues at all being able to leave a comment on my blog, please email me directly to let me know so I can figure out how to resolve it for you: pnpflowersinc AT gmail DOT com

xoxo!!

KEEPiNG iT REAL
I thought it'd only been a little over a year ago that I started putting different paint swatches on the walls in the master bedroom but when I went back to look at the original post about choosing a paint color I realized it was from August of 2013! Oh my goodness. That's just ridiculous. Now I'm embarrassed. See!! I've REALLY been stuck. For too long. Here's to LESS procrastination! *blushing*

HOME | Entryway Photo Art

Yes, it's true...I might not have very many Christmas decorations up around my house just yet...
despite being about two weeks away from the big day!!

I did, however, put something else up this week that is near + dear to my heart and that will add a very special touch to our home this holiday season and far beyond that...

Three new 24x36 photo canvases from Shutterfly of all three of my girls

I've been wanting to do something like this for some time now and finally made it happen using Shutterfly's "Design-A-Wall" feature. It really made the entire process super easy - from selecting the right photos, creating the perfect layout as well as physically hanging the art on the wall.

Since I've been dreaming of oversized artwork of my girls for some time now, I knew I wanted to go BIG and fill as much of the wall in our entry as I possibly could. I was looking for a high-impact result and I got it!! I think color photos would've been really pretty too but I chose to go with black and white because of the timelessness they evoke. 

Want to know how easy it was to make this happen?

PICK THE PHOTOS
Even though I toyed with the idea of using photos of the girls when they were each two years old,  (how fun would that be?), I ultimately decided it was more important to make sure I selected photos of each girl that had similar backgrounds and lighting since they would be grouped together. I narrowed it down to a few of each girl from our Christmas Photo Shoot last year.

PICK THE ART MATERIAL 

Now all I had to do was decide which art material I wanted the photos to be printed on.
There are six different options to choose from on the Shutterfly website - see below. I admit choosing the art material was a little tough because the wood and metal artwork sounds WAY cool but I ended up selecting a more tradional option - canvas. It's easier on the wallet and they are light as a feather which makes hanging them even easier.

PICK THE PHOTO ARRANGEMENT
Shutterfly offers quite an array of pre-arranged photo layout templates to pick from. I measured the wall in the foyer where my artwork would be hanging to narrow down the selections based on what would work best in my space. I went with the 78x36 Layout - see below.

UPLOAD YOUR PHOTOS
Next, I uploaded the photos I'd previously decided on to the Shutterfly website and inserted them into the template.

CROP PHOTOS 

In order to give a more cohesive flow to the photos I selected, I had to crop Ema and Clara's photos so their faces filled up more of the frame/canvas. Notice how it looks as if Clara is tall and Ema is short in the original upload and layout? (see above).

This was super easy to fix by just clicking on the photo I wanted to crop which then took me to an editing window where I created a box around the area I wanted to zoom in on. (There are other editing tools to choose from as well like adding a filter, removing red eye and even rotating the image if you need to).

Isn't that a lot more balanced now after having cropped both Clara and Ema's pictures? (see below)

ADD TO CART + PLACE ORDER
With my photos uploaded and cropped, I just pushed "Add to Cart" and placed my order.

Notice the little exclamation marks in the upper left of each photo? That's a warning from Shutterfly that the resolution on my images may not be high enough for a good quality print. I personally ignored the warning and went ahead and placed the order - hoping it would all turn out all right - and they still printed beautifully! (tossing the confetti)

DISPLAY THE ARTWORK

When the order shipped, there was a handy dandy paper template that was sent separately which also included "Easy Hang Guide"instructions and a small level in a tiny envelope. (see all three below)

I unrolled the paper template right on the dirty floor of the foyer and just followed the written instructions.

Keeping It Real Disclaimer
I was too lazy and too focused on getting these canvases hung to bother moving the pot of wilted mums belonging to Clara or our dog's tennis ball from the photo. 
And all of that junk on the right is spilling out of my studio. 
This is real life folks.

First thing the directions mention is to attach the self-adhesive level to the paper template in the "PLACE LEVEL HERE" spot at the top. So I did just that.

With the level on my paper template, I grabbed some painter's tape and a ladder and managed to hang it up on the wall all by myself since no one else was home. (I recommend enlisting the help of someone if you are hanging something this wide because it would be a lot easier to manage). *wink*

At first I used some cheap painter's tape to attach it to the wall. I somehow managed to get it straight after a few adjustments, a lot of up and down on the ladder and a little huffing + puffing wishing one of the girls was home to help. I even considered putting off the project until someone got home but I was too stubborn + excited and wanted to get it hung up to surprise everyone. Besides all of that, I really wanted to prove to all of you that you could really do this project all on your own.

I stepped off the ladder and because I used the cheap painter's tape...this started to happen. (see below) Oh heck no! After all of that "up and down and back and forth" business, eyeing the level and getting it just right, I found myself repeating the process all over again. So frustrating.

So then I reached for a wider (and higher quality) painter's tape I had here at the house and went to town by applying double strips of tape to all of four corners of the paper template. This was a much better call and I should've just done that in the first place.

Once the paper template seemed nice and level and was positioned on the wall exactly where I felt the photos should be, (and was hanging securely this time),  I referenced the key at the bottom of the template to determine where to place the holes to mark the wall for hanging.

Since I have canvas prints, spot "A" was where I needed to push a nail through the paper. There were 3 "spot A's" because I was hanging three different canvases.

After I made 3 holes in the wall, I took down the paper template I had just worked so hard to hang and proceeded to hang up each canvas using one nail. (the canvases come with a mounting bracket you hammer into the back of the canvas frame - easy). And Voila!! They are up!!

They look awesome and it really was easy - and they were level!!  So important!!
I pushed the antique church pew back into it's position and just added a couple of items to make it seem a little more decorated - just so I could get a final photo to post here. *wink*

And if you are thinking the canvases seem pretty high up on the wall, you are right. And there were two thoughts behind this decision:

1. I wanted to make sure I was adding more height to this space by placing them closer to the ceiling and eliminating a lot of empty space above the photos.

2. My goal is to add some wood work to this entry eventually, perhaps in the form of wainscoting or maybe even some faux shiplap? If I go with the wainscoting, I want it to be pretty high up so that it would be taller than church pew.

I am so happy with how this Shutterfly project turned out.
I love that when someone walks into our home now, they will immediately see the three most beautiful + important things in my life.

If you've been toying around with the idea of creating a space in your home with some high impact visuals of your family, I would highly recommend using Shutterfly to help you create the perfect space.

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THIS IS A SPONSORED POST BY SHUTTERFLY.  

PEN +  PAPER FLOWERS HAS RECEIVED COMPENSATION AND/OR PRODUCTS 

IN EXCHANGE FOR SHARING...BUT FRIENDS…AS ALWAYS...

ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN + I ONLY SHARE PRODUCTS + IDEAS  I LOVE + ADORE.

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KEEPiNG iT REAL
Of course, now that I've got some beautiful artwork hung up in the entryway, now I'm forced to have to add a new rug, perhaps paint the inside of the front doors, replace the light fixture and add a little more charm to the space. *wink*

I am fully aware that decorating a home is a life-long project. I giggle to myself when I hear people express their desires to finally be "done" with a specific space they've been working on. Really? Because being "done" never really happens for me. I LOVE changing things up too much to ever think something will ever be final or permanent. Anyone else like that?