Pepper Design Blog

{Vintage Carnival} Inspiration

Designed to offer a vintage spin on a carnival-themed celebration {bright colors, pinwheels, paper rosettes, ribbons…} this party is full of inspiring ideas. The very first thing that caught my eye was the bright pastel colors that adorn everything from the handmade ribbon table runners to the swinging two-sided paper rosettes.

Chris over at Celebrations At Home featured this beautiful Style Me Pretty photoshoot a while back and I loved every detail.

The dessert table is beautiful, and simple treats such as popcorn cones, store bought cookies (just add the custom icing) and covered apples make a delicious spread.

Personalized carnival invites pull the theme together, as do the white ceramic animals and the vintage decor that’s casually mixed in.

The above easy ribbon runner and set of handmade rosettes tops the list for favorite details. I created a similar backdrop and table decor out of paper pinwheels/rosettes for this vintage nesting shower and loved the result – they’re very easy to whip up and always look great!

Shoot designed by Moira Events with photography by Tangerine Tree Photography.

Soft Pastels: the Life of the Party

A bit of August party inspiration coming your way… pinks, corals & oranges make the perfect backdrop for a shower or tea party and I LOVE love the upside down poms (turned flowers) hanging over the top of this table. How creative! Can you imagine sitting beneath with the flower blooms swinging gently above?

Oh sweet summer nights.

Bouganvilla, sweet peas, garden roses and boxes of ripe peaches make the perfect centerpiece. Handmade soap {scented similarly?} wrapped in scrapbooking paper works well for a great favor. I love the simple menus and the floral napkins (so easy to diy) – pictured very top.

And here’s another option with plenty of peonies in birch vases – how delicious does that grapefruit mimosa look? Details such as the drink tags help to personalize a bigger party.

Hope you have a few reasons to throw some fun summer celebrations before fall finds us! Images from A Diary of Lovely.

Handmade Crepe Paper Rose Centerpieces

I have always loved beautiful, perfectly round flower balls or ‘lollipop’ centerpieces. There’s something playful and fun about the classically elegant design and they’re super easy to put together.

I did a diy project a while back for a colorful dessert table with carnations and floral foam, and for our wedding created hanging floral versions above the pool out of hot glue and fake flowers plucked from their stems.

And then I found this lovely version at Grey Grey Designs, they were created by Danielle at Homespun with Heart out of twisted crepe paper, a bit of hot glue and foam balls.

The tutorial from start to finish can be found here. It’s amazing what can be made with a bit of paper and some creative time!

Beautiful! Perfect for a little girl’s room, dinner party, wedding or shower. Danielle has done a fantastic job and I can’t wait to try it out.

Inspiration and top images by Country Living, InStyle Magazine,  Martha Stewart Living and Creative Productions.

DIY: Teacup Candlesticks

This idea is so clever! I can’t wait for my next shabby chic tea party opportunity to try it out. It’s a bit similar to these DIY cakestands but with teacups for beautiful votive holders.

Disney of Ruffles & Stuff, who to my sadness wrote her last post just recently, shared this creative idea in June. I will miss her beautiful talent! But the blog is still alive so we can continue to meander through it every once in a while for inspiration. Hope she’s enjoying much more mummyhood time now.

Candlesticks are great thrift finds and it would be easy to adhere a teacup to each with a bit of epoxy or super glue. I fill my teacup votives (shown here in this vintage shower scape) with rice to keep the wax from settling at the bottom of the cup.