Happy Easter

I don't care if/how you celebrate, I want to wish you all a Happy Easter! Hope it's full of family, friends, brunch, egg hunts, bunnies, and all around good fun. Yay spring!

Bon Appetit: Cocktail Recipes

I've been so busy this past year with the floral design side of my business, and my new blogging job with Paper Muse Press that I've put off sharing lots of the work I've been doing.  Hard to believe it's been a year already working with the wonderful folks at Paper Muse Press, it's flown by so quickly.  I thought I'd make a point of sharing some of my favorite posts here on Handmaker of Things.  I love cocktails, mixing up traditional ingredients, but adding a little splash of something here and there to spice things up.  Here's a few recipes I created for Paper Muse Press.

Nothing says cheers to the New Year like champagne, but this isn't your typical glass of bubbly.  I've been having a love affair with ginger in cocktails the last few years and discovered Morris Kitchen's Ginger Simple Syrup back in the fall of 2012.  I thought adding a splash, plus some cranberry would make a delightful way to ring in 2013.  Find the Cranberry Ginger Champagne Cocktail recipe here.

White Sangria is definitely a party favorite of mine, because it's so easy to make in a larger batch.  Like it's darker counterpart, traditional sangria, it incorporates fruit and wine.  However for this recipe you use peaches, nectarines, and plums, and white wine of course.  Find the Peach and Nectarine White Sangria recipe here.

Warmer weather is just around the corner, and what's more refreshing than sipping a cold cocktail on the porch on a hot summer day?  I created a flavored vodka and lemonade bar, with fresh fruit garnish.  Add a bit of mint for some extra refreshment, and ta-dah, the perfect summer cocktail!  Find the Lemonade and Vodka bar recipe here.  

Cheers - Emily

 

My husband and I live in a charming neighborhood in Kansas City, along with our two dachshunds, Hazel and Ollie, and Flynn the beagle.  It's an area filled with older houses, and lots of history.  My husband actually grew up in this house, and we purchased it from his parents.  Ever since we have been working to make it our own, including lots of painting, DIY projects, and a few renovations (well pretty major renovations actually).  However the house still has many of it's original fixtures, and trim, which gives it tons of character.  It just turned 100 this year on March 13th!

 

We absolutely love this house, and sharing all the projects we work on to make it a home.  

Besides being a handmaker of things, I'm also a blog-o-holic.  I have always loved writing, and when I first discovered blogging four years ago it was love at first post.  Along with Handmaker of Things I write and create content for two other blogs.  

 

Middle of the Map Weddings is exactly what it sounds like, a wedding inspiration blog with a focus on the middle of the map (or the midwest).  As a professional in the wedding industry I am always looking at other vendors work, blogs, and magazines for inspiration.  Many blogs focus on weddings from the east or west coast, and I saw a need to showcase the amazing talents we have right here all over the midwest.  Middle of the Map weddings engagements, real weddings, DIY projects, and vendor resources from beautiful events right here in the heartland.

 

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Paper Muse Press is a retail stationary company that will be launching it's website in Spring 2013.  Their focus is on quality, well designed, personalized stationary for all occasions.  I was lucky enough to begin writing and creating content for their blog in Spring 2012.  The blog focuses on being creative in everyday life with DIY projects, home decor, recipes, holiday and entertaining ideas, and more.  It's a place for inspiration of all sorts, and it helps me stay creative every single day!

 

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Besides writing these two blogs I'm also the admin. of the Kansas City group KC Blogger Meetup.  Jeanee Duvall of the business, and blog Dirty Laundry, asked me to join her in creating a group where bloggers here in Kansas City could get to know each other offline.  We've built a great community of bloggers, and have meetups about once a month to get to know each other, share ideas, offer support, and network.  

 

Real Weddings: Sarah and Drew at River Market Event Place in Kansas City

Sarah and Drew's wedding was one we almost didn't get to be a part of.  Due to their work schedules the date got moved around a few times, and fortunately they chose July, a month that's not crazy popular for weddings.  I'm so thrilled that they did, because it was such a fun event to be a part of and I wouldn't have wanted to miss out.  Bright beautiful blues, corals, and oranges with just a touch of green and peach were the main colors of the day.  The flowers that came in for their event couldn't have been more perfect, a lovely eclectic mix of colors and textures.  We also got to use our ever popular grey and white linens.  I'll take a good chevron any day of the week.  I also created custom bowties for Sarah's ring bearers, and floral crowns for her beautiful flower girls.  Their reception was at River Market Event Place, and the photos are courtesy of the ever talented Morgan of Cornerstone Photography.

Thanks you so much to Sarah and Drew for letting us be part of your day, we loved working with you guys!

xo ~ Em

Photos by Cornerstone Photography and emmy-ray

Bouquets were a colroful mix of blue hydrangea and delphinium, orange dahlias, daisy fever few, thistle, coral spray roses, and one of my very favorite flowers of the year, free spirit roses.  

Textural, colorful boutonniers with coral spray roses, blue delphinium, thistle, and green hypericum. 

The floral crowns were made up of orange dahlias, coral spray roses, blue delphinium, and just a bit of green hypericum berry.  

It was crazy hot, so the bridesmaids and Sarah kept their bouquets in the mason jars we use for delivery so they wouldn't wilt during the outdoor ceremony.  A quirky and fun touch to their event!

At River Market Event Place they have magnet strips in the wood wall, perfec for creating fun installations.  We created magnetic flowers, and hung bud vases all along the wall for a unique focal point behind the head table.  

Real Weddings: Hilary and Andre, Californos in Kansas City.

I'd just like to start by saying Hilary and Andre are brave.  Why you may ask?  Well, here in the midwest the summers are HOT, and this past summer was extra warm.  When Hilary told me they were planning to get married in July, my first thought was, you're crazy girl.  However despite the heat their day turned out beautiful.  I can honestly say that their color combination was totally unique, unlike any wedding trend we've worked with many times before.  Bold plum, hot orange, soft peach, and touches of lime green, with tiny hints of yellow.  Bold colors, which as you know are our favorite!  We got to work at one of our very favorite KC venues, Californos, and our flowers were captured beautifully by Carter Photography.  Thanks for choosing us Hilary and Andre, we loved being part of your day! 

xo ~ Emily

All photos by Carter Photography and emmy-ray.

Both the bridal and bridesmaids bouquets contained burgundy dahlias, white hydrangea, orange ranunculus, fever few, purple and peach stock, and beautiful bright green cymbidium orchids.  To make her bouquet extra special Hilary also had large purple throated cymbidiums, so gorgeous!  A collar of seeded eucalyptus added texture and interest to each bouquet.  

The boutonnieres were made up of orange ranunculus, plum mums, yellow fever few, and a bit of seeded eucalyptus.  Each was wrapped in beautiful raw silk ribbon from Midori.  

Cory and Josh's Kansas Real Wedding, June 2012

Cory was one of the most laid back brides I've ever worked with.  We started planning her wedding while she was out of town, exchanging e-mails and inspiration, and then I sent her a proposal without ever meeting her in person.  She wanted something fun, and just a touch rustic/wildflowery to match the surroundings of her wedding in Olathe, Kansas.  Bright sunshine yellow and a bit of ivory were the perfect compliment to the teal blue accents that ran throughout her event.  Like Cory the reception space was decorated in a laid back manner, and we used our vintage screen as a backdrop for her outdoor ceremony. Pictures by C R Photography, and emmy-ray.  

And a rare peek behind the scenes into our Jeep loaded up with all the floral goodies, and my lovely assistant/mom.  

Thanks so much for having us Cory and Josh!  

xo ~ Emily