Pretty Paper Please

I was going through pictures on my phone over the weekend and realized I have done quite a few custom banners this summer for birthday parties, baby showers, engagement parties and so on.  They are such a fun and inexpensive way to create a personalized focal point at any event.

{"Chiefs Treats" was used at a fire chief's retirement party}

{One of the first banners I ever made.  Still one of my favorites}

{A preview of banner for a beach themed engagement party.}

{I loved this simple request for a birthday banner.  Not pictured is an add on of pennants with multi-color ice cream cones.}

{This cute cake topper is perfect of the ice-cream lover and mimicked the ice-cream that attached to the banner above}

(This mini banner hung on the high chair while a cute little girl enjoyed her first birthday cake}

Do you have a party coming up that needs a little something special?  Email me at julianne@juliannekelly.com, and I would be happy to create something unique for you. 

In efforts of "Keeping it Real Mondays" I thought I would share how much my sweet puppy loves paper.  Either she was mad at us for leaving her all day, or she really doesn't like Ballard Designs...

Chalkboard Love

If you follow me on Instagram, it is no secret that I LOVE chalkboards.  I love making them, I love writing on them and I love looking at them.  My obsession with chalkboard art began when I helped with a gender reveal party and designed these chalkboards...

I have been asked by several friends to create chalkboard wedding programs, menus and signage and I absolutely love the way they all turned out.  

wedding program and signage

a frame wedding menu

I recently created these little beauties below.  I got the frames at a garage sale, cut and painted my chalkboard backing, and then refinished the frames in CeCe Caldwell's Santa Fe Turquoise and Spring Hill Green.  I wet distressed the frames and used the aging cream to add some additional depth to the colors.  These will be for sale at the Vintage Market at Rusted on Saturday...hope to see you there! 

spring hill green and santa fe turquoise

I absolutely love the way this next fame turned out.  I also used CCCP to refinish it.  I used Destin Gulf Green as my first coat, Smokey Mountain Grey as the second coat and then wet distressed so that both colors show through.  I finished it with dark aging wax.  

destin gulf green and smokey mountain grey

I love chalkboards so much that I even used one to tell our customers at the Antique Mall about CCCP.

This was one of my first drawings and it is still one of my favorites.

I am now taking limited orders for custom chalkboard art, so if you or anyone you know is looking for something unique to add an their event, wedding or home I's love to help! 

The Perfect Gift

For those that have been following along, you probably remember when I launched my Etsy shop back in October.  It has been such a fun little venture, and I love that people all over the US are receiving these personalized glasses as gifts.  When the shop first launched I was receiving a lot of orders for Christmas gifts and hostess gifts.  Now that it is officially "wedding season" I have been getting orders mostly for weddings or bridesmaid/groomsman gifts.  They are absolutely perfect for a bachelorette party, or for the day of the wedding.    

stemless monogrammed wine glass on J. Kelly Events

In addition to what I carry online, I am often asked to create custom orders.  I have had two unique and fun requests that I thought I would share with you.  The first was an anniversary gift for a wine loving wife and a beer loving husband.  My good friend had seen something similar on another website, but the turnaround time was several months.  I absolutely love the way these tree trunk glasses turned out.  I now carry them in the shop.

set of tree trunk beer and wine glasses available here

The second custom order was a wedding gift for a groom that loved whiskey.  The couple's new monogram would have been "SSS" so we chose to do just one single initial.  I love this decanter with the wooden ball stopper, and the stackable glasses.

If you are interested in a custom order I'd love to hear from you.  Email me at jac06r (at) gmail (dot) com or visit my Etsy shop.  

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Happy Friday Ya'll! 

So, everyone knows how much I love to bring life into old furniture by giving it a coat of paint.  Today I wanted to share with you a few pieces of furniture and accessories I have been working on.  If you follow me on Instagram you have seen bits and pieces of these. 

It all started several weeks ago when I purchased some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP).  Lets just say it is my new best friend.  I absolutely hate the sanding and priming process, because it takes days, and projects just seem to go on forever.  ASCP is a complete game changer, because there is no sanding or priming (can I get a hallelujah?)  The flip side is that the paint is not cheap; it is $34.50 a quart.  In my opinion time in money, so the time saved by not having to sand or prime is well worth the price.  Not to mention the paint is full of depth.  ASCP distresses beautifully and then you finish each piece with a coat of clear or dark wax.  The wax will deepen the color a bit and cure the paint. 

Enough about the paint and on to the furniture...

I was given this mirror, and it actually had smaller mirrors attached to the sides that I removed.

Before:    

After:

{ASCP Duck Egg with Clear Wax}

{ASCP Duck Egg with Clear Wax}

{ASCP Duck Egg with Clear Wax}

I am selling the mirror for $150, so if you are in the Jacksonville area and are interested email me at juliannecarrierkelly@gmail.com

The other project I have been working on is a solid Pecan wood table and set of 6 cane back chairs.  The table still needs a coat of wax and the chairs need to be upholstered, but here they are during their face lift...

Before:

During:

{ASCP color Old White}

{ASCP color Old White with distressing}

In this picture the table is still wet, so you cannot really see the color well.  It is a warm grey with streaking through it.  I distressed the edges and it will be getting a coat or two of wax this weekend.

  

{ASCP color: mixed Old White and French Linen}

I will also be selling the table and all 6 chairs once they are completed.  I am torn on what fabric to use on the chairs, because I would love to use something more modern like the ikat below, but I am tempted to go safe and neutral for resale purposes.  What are your thoughts? 

If you are looking for a table and chairs and would like me to custom upholster this set to match your home email me at juliannecarrierkelly@gmail.com.  I will be selling the completed table and 6 chairs for $900. (Price is dependent upon what fabric you choose)

Well that was a little long, but hopefully you stuck around! Have a great weekend! 

{Beau or Bows} Gender Reveal Party

I told you last post that I would be sharing a gender reveal party, and life got a little busy.  We went on a family vacation and I opted to leave my computer at home, so here I am a week and a half later, finally getting around to posting it.  :)

First, let me say this party was SO MUCH FUN to design!  We did not have a lot of time for planning, so my cousin and I planned out the party over a glass of wine and the Victoria's Secret fashion show...I think it's a new recipe for success.  We loved the theme "Beau or Bows" and we wanted to make the colors really pop so we used navy and salmon as our main colors and accented with mint and tan.

Michael (my handy husband) whipped up this a-m-a-zing chalkboard framed with old barn wood.  We used it to display the old wives tale gender predictions and tally the votes.

Each guest wore a bow tie or bow, depending on what they thought the gender would be.  My cousin handmade each of these and then we glued pins on the back of them.  Aren't they adorable?

And now for the dessert table...

Time to cut the cake... It's a....

GIRL!!!!!!

Congrats Taylore and Jay!  We cannot wait to meet your sweet baby girl! 

Resources: Cake by Publix Bakery | Paper goods, cake topper & cupcake toppers by J. Kelly Events | Chalkboards & lettering by J. Kelly Events 

Ready, Set, Random

Where has time gone? Is Thanksgiving really next week? I apologize for my lack of posts, but life has been a little bit crazy.  A little bit of good crazy and a little bit of bad crazy.

This is going to be random, but here is a little update on life via my iPhone pictures...

My little Etsy venture has been going well & I made my first sale over a month ago (along with many others since then).  If you are looking for a great christmas gift, or the perfect hostess gift for all those holiday parties head over to J.KellyEvents. 

{Adding some fun fabric to the back and then it will be posted on the etsy site}

We have some new lighting additions in the house.  The Ikea Ottava Pendant has been sitting on our living room floor for about three months and it is now hanging above the sink.  At the amazing price of $29.99 we could not pass it up & it really adds a nice design element to the kitchen.  It has a little bit of a restoration hardware feel.  I am considering putting an eddison bulb in it, but have not gotten around to it yet.

We found this amazing lantern from an antique store just down the road.  Just a little bit of rewiring and it will be good as new.

For a dose of cuteness this little pup is growing wayyyy to fast.  I swore I would never let my dogs get  in bed with me, but she is just the best little snuggle pup.  

{She takes over Michael's side of the bed when he gets up}

We've had some beautiful weather, and it was absolutely perfect for the Blue Angels show a few weeks back.

We had our first fire and Bailey was thoroughly amused.  She sat and stared the entire night, and only tried to walk into it a few times once.         

We are still getting things put away around here, but I am loving our "new to us" oriental rug.  The round room has proven challenging in finding the perfect furniture layout.  I like everything to be squared and in a round room that is a little difficult.  I am planning on selling the flax colored sofa and replacing it with two chairs and an ottoman.  

We have also been extremely busy in the yard.  The guys that pick up our yard trash must think we have a forest in the back yard because this is about the 5th massive pile that we have left them.  We are hoping to do some planting this weekend.  Yay for new bushes and flowers! 

{Bailey is a lover of leaves and sticks, so she was in heaven}

I Hope I did not loose too many of you in that random post!  Happy Tuesday! 

A Baby Shower

Since my last post Michael & I had a nice little vacation at our family home in the Florida Keys (aka paradise).  It was a wonderful little break from the craziness of our renovation.  I will post more about our trip later, but today I wanted to share some pictures from a baby shower that my mother in law and I hosted for our dear friends.  They are the first ones to have a baby out of our close friends and will be welcoming a sweet little boy into this world early September.  I had so much fun designing & creating all of the decor from invitations to banners & a mason jar filled beverage station.

{invitations I created with my silhouette cameo}

{"sweet sweet baby" banner & tissue pom poms}

{mason jar beverage station}

{cake & utensils in mason jars}

Little baby Stowell we cannot wait to meet you!