Vintage Circus Train Bebe Shower by Sharon Taylor Designs

Venue: Fedora Social House {Historic pub in downtown Sprinfield specializing in cocktails and fondues}

Flowers: The Nest {anemone, hypericum, wildflowers, gooseneck, green button mums, carnations}

Photography:

Janae Hardy Photography

Cupcakes: Amycakes

Other Sweets: Champagne, Fruit Punch w/Sorbet, Dippers w/assorted Fondues.

Highlights: The dessert/gift bar was designed w/the baby's nursery in mind. For the engine of the circus train {so to speak}...The pram was found at a local thrift store. It was in good shape when found, but needed some dressing up. The avocado green paint was chipping. So, Will and I fixed it up by giving it a high gloss black lacquer. Rhinestones were added to the wheels.

It's over one hundred years old and is a Heywood Wakefield, which means it will never lose it's value. The mom to be will use this in the nursery to store all of the baby's diapers next to the baby changing station, that is currently being upcycled.

The circus train is actually a side table that I found at Hobby Lobby. I thought it's lines looked like a caged circus train. Vintage animals were dressed up to come along to this event. They will be my gift to the mom to be. I hope she likes them.

The hippo box is a commissioned art piece made by my sister. The letter "H" will be the first initial of the sweet bebe. Two more darling art boxes have been created for the nursery as well...."B", and "C".

Cupcake toppers: Designed by my daughter, Eleanor Taylor. She was my wonderful assistant that day. Thank you Elle!!

Other Details: Delicious cookies, made by the sister-in-law, Annie, were tied to the circus train as an added twist to the standard dessert bar...the animals and guests gobbled them up in short order! A candy station was set up using an old $5 bookshelf that I painted a crisp white. Paper discs were made from green craft paper found at IPA.

This shower was a lot of fun, but I cannot wait to show you the nursery that is almost finished!

The Emersonmade Giveaway Recipient is Emily B, of Frenchie and Flea...check out her darling blog!! I LOVE it! Thanks to everyone else for participating!

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

xo

sharon

Sneak Peak of a Vintage Circus Train Bebe Shower

Happy Saturday! Here is a sneak peak from the Vintage {Circus Train} Bebe Shower I designed recently.

There are many more images I'll share soon. {Photography by Janae Hardy Photography} Thank you, Janae!!

Don't forget to enter the Emersonmade giveaway posted on Thursday. You have til Sunday night.

xo

Sharon

Friday's Play List: Bits of Red

Happy Friday, dearest ones! For all you new followers who just joined me...Thanks for having a seat on my sofa! This might call for bringing in more sofas!! Which, reminds me, of the last post I talked about my own sofa collection, that's getting a little out of hand. My aunt Debbie, has the same problem of collecting sofas. She has ten children and just as many fun and funky sofas. She's named every one of them. Some that come to mind, "Old Yeller", "Frosted Mini Wheat", "Cookie Monster", that sort of thing. Isn't that kinda funny? Now, all the rest of my family, has taken inspiration from her. Sofas in the Hood..."Cat's Tongue", "Raisinette", "Black Licorice"...anyway, that might be another blog post. I'd love to hear more fun names if you have any? Aren't sofas just like a best friend? They have to be comfy and stylish.

I just love, love, love this sassy room with the red carpet! {image via coco and kelley}The room is a brave mix of classic, vintage, and mod. If you look closely, you can see the beautiful chinoiserie wall paper. And LOVE the brass sconces...{Brass is back, folks!} It adds a nice warm, yet elegant look to the room.
Moving on...the bike image is from Canadian, Tommy Ton of Jak & Jill. His muse is for Vogue is Tavi, {the blog phenomenon}. image via sogni sorrisi, {my new blog crush}.

Lastly, the last image is from one of my photo shoots that I stylized last year. {photography by sesha shannon of convey studio photography}

I'm meeting with two brides today and then hanging with the fam this weekend at some indoor soccer games. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend...and DON't forget the Emersonmade giveaway! You have til Sunday night to enter! Thanks for all your tweets and links, dearest ones!!

I will probably do a weekend post, so please visit!

xo,

sharon

Valen-{not}tiny Giveaway from Emersonmade!!

I'm pinching my Valen-tiny toe right now because it's 10 days til you know what! Actually, I'm blowing kisses to Emersonmade's Valen-tiny toes. Kisses to all of their beautiful and sweet chicken and duckling toes too, that are just uhscampering around on that farm. You know "THAT GIRL", who has all the best of both urban and rural chic-ness that one universe can hold? Well, she, {emersonmade genius} has been so kind to offer a sweet giveaway to one of my lucky little followers out there. Check out the smashing list to choose from that befit ANY day of the year, including V-day.

1. I adore you bouquet

2. The ballet dahlia bouquet pins

3. E.A.T. linens {Set of four}

4. A $50 gift card {wearable too}

If you haven't seen this girl's goods, then get ready to open a book you won't want to put down.

In order to enter here is what you have to do!

- Make sure you are a follower. Either on this blog or through google reader.

-Leave a comment letting me know what you want to look smashingly tylish in!

- If you tweet about this give-away go ahead and enter again.

- If you post about this give-away on your blog do the same and enter again.

Remember anyone can enter!

Make sure you leave your email address with your comment.

This give-away will be open till Sunday, February 7th, midnight EST. Good luck, dearest ones! xo sharon

{Snowy} Sunday Edition #3

Here's what we did yesterday. Jordan Valley Park sledding, McSalty's Pizza, and then a nap. {Julie Blackmon's latest work..."Lost Mitten"}.

I hope you have a PERFECTLY relaxing day today, dearest ones.

xo

sharon

Friday's Eat, Play, LOVE list

Here are some inspiring locals...Eleanor's Cookies. They've been a hit. Last night she received an order for one dozen to be delivered to a ladies book club. Eleanor's inspiration... MISSONI fabrics. We have lots of parties coming up, and I'm also still in the thick of nursery planning. I'm completely drawn to splashes of bold colors, patterns, confetti, flower petals, and mismatched prints right now. This brings me to my dilemma right now... Fabric selections. Do any of you have any favorite fabric sources? I'm open to some new suggestions!

I wish you all could see my sister Millie's house in real life. I go there to grab jolts of colorful happiness {Millie's got a good smattering of great decor ideas} and bits of love from my nieces and nephew, Mabel, Ralph, and Birdie. It's the happiest, most creative place on earth. My pictures don't do it justice, so I'm gonna have to say...more coming up in the next week or so. I promise. {three are pictured here...dollhouse, chalkboard, and the LOVE piano scape}

We're planning on hunkering down for another snow storm today. Sylvie is hooked on vampire weekend music and she requests certain songs be played over and over and over again. I don't mind. She dances cute, and I have several crushes going on with several of those fellas.

Other images via flickr, saipua,sognisorrisi}

Have a fabulous weekend, my dearest ones!

xo

sharon

Tiny Luxuries

Remember the Vday bash I was dreaming of having with ruffles, truffles + vintage perfume bottles w/messages tucked inside? Well, my good friend, Joann, has an amazing collection of vintage perfume bottles in her master bath. Her collection, {pictured here} is what gave me the inspiration for this type of bash. She always has the best luck finding remnants of things that look like they've come from wonderful old castles. She also lives in a castle {a big house out East of town} right now, but is getting ready to downsize to a {cottage} darling revamped old house... in our neighborhood!! She's excited, and I'm so happy to have her closer. For all you locals in the hood...you'll probably see all her beautiful chandeliers going up inside the house on the corner of Cherry and Weller very soon. Give her and her family a warm hello when you see her there in a few weeks. AND, if you'd like to see more of her work and killer treasures, you MUST go visit The Market, in the Brentwood Center. She has a dream world of style in there. {You'll know it when you see it.}

I know this is sorta cheesy, {and not at all like me}. Please don't gag...but what if, instead of sending love notes this Vday to JUST our sweeties, we would send one to our dearest girl friends as well. I have just a few. And Joann is definitely one of them. I love Joann for many reasons. She's always been there for me. Thru thick and thin. But, more than that, she's wise beyond words. She's got more depth than the deep blue sea. I LOVE her made-from-scratch, no nonsense, classy, gutsy, hysterical, and stronger-than-an-ox spirit. And, I love her chandeliers! Yes, I love you, Joann.

So, what about all of you out there...Do you have a special friend like that? Maybe they'd like a sappy, sweet note. Write it out by hand, tie a string around it, and tuck it in a perfume bottle...{Vintage bottles are at The Market}. Go there and buy your friend {or yourself} a tiny luxury and fill it with the simple pleasure of love.

{Images from Vogue, Saipua, Bliss}

Blissful day. Waiting for snow to hit.

xo

sharon