A Baby Shower

Surprise! Welcome to a baby shower....my very own! Ive been keeping a secret, and now I can finally share! I gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, Contessa Belle Jenkins, via emergency c-section on February 11, 2025. Since she came so early we had to reschedule her shower and the best part being that she could also attend! 

My sister sent out these adorable vintage invitations!

For her big day, Contessa had a darling vintage gown to wear along with a bonnet. I adore the smocking details and the dainty blue flowers mixed among it. This outfit was actually her going home from the hospital outfit, but the day she came home was bitterly cold so we had to find something a bit warmer for her to wear.

Of course she a had to have a pair of dainty pink shoes!

Please excuse my photography on this post. I haven't picked up my camera in well over a year now and I do believe I've lost my skills, I don't even think I edited the below photo!

I didn't want a theme for my shower or tons of decorations. All I wanted was fresh roses, a cake, and of course candlelight!

Contessa had to spend over a week in the Nicu, and during that time her nurses created this banner that they hung up in her room at the hospital. That was the sweetest thing! I think the banner looks so pretty hanging from the dining room mantel along with some sparkling stars.

The very best decorations that I displayed were two drawings that my son did when he was about 4 and 5 years old. The first one is of his 'baby sister". This drawing has hung by a sticker on the door frame in our playroom by our son since the day he drew it, he's almost 12 now. I couldn't bear to take it down, it hurt my heart because I've battled secondary infertility my son's whole life, and yet he never gave up hope on his sister.

Now that she's here, I've framed it and will display it in her room, a reminder for her of how much her big brother loves and believed in her.

This second photo he drew of our whole family, as you can see, Dad is carrying baby girl on his shoulder.

I think these are the most precious keepsakes.

When I was pregnant with Delaine, I was searching for a cake topper for his baby shower, at the time I didn't know what gender he was, so I ordered a boy and a girl topper. I redid both of the toppers with lace, pearls and florals...Here is Contessa's version.

I love the little sleeping baby with the cherub watching over her.

I was feeling sentimental so I brought out the serving set from our wedding 18 years ago, to cut her cake with. I think I'm going to use them for all of the parties, because, "why not?"

The fresh roses made me so happy.

The cake turned out very unusual, lol. I told my sister that I wanted an all cream colored heart cake, but when she went to pick it up, it was brown! We had to laugh! It was done nicely, but just not the correct color, but it tasted good! 

So it wasn't a big deal to me.

We had lots of yummy desserts on  my three tierd tray. Brunch was fresh fruit, quiche, egg salad on croissants, tea sandwhiches along with lemonade punch.

 

I can't believe that I didn't get any photos of Contessa alone in her outfit! I was too busy talking to everyone I guess, so I'll share a photo that I took of her big brother holding her at the shower. One of her Grandma's had already taken off her bonnet.

One of my favorite gifts that Contessa received at her shower was this pretty pearl bracelet from my sister and her family She can wear it now as a baby and when she grows up, its to be clipped to her wedding bouquet. I adore that! I love keepsakes. and I put her bracelet on her right away.

The earrings are a Valentine's Day gift from my husband this year. I decided to wear these the day we brought baby girl home from the hospital, and I wore them again the day of her shower. I hope to pass these along to her when she has a baby of her own, she could even wear them for her baby's shower if she so choses to. The earrings are fresh water pearls and pink sapphires. 

I decided to try my hand at taking photos of the baby with my photography camera on St. Patrick's day.

Babies are much harder to photograph than decor.

She was not having it!

I only had about 10 minutes max because she was not into doing a photo shoot in her bedroom! This is the best I could get. I still think they are sweet photos though!

Thank you for letting me share my baby girl with you today! I will post her birth story soon, so if you are interested in reading that stay tuned! I also want to share her nursery in the next coming months, it's still not all the way finished. Be sure to check my stories on Instagram, I will share more of her on there and probably peeks at her nursery!

-Larissa

Festive Outdoor Christmas Decorations

We don't normally decorate our yard for Christmas, but this year we decided to splurge and just go for it!

I wanted something magical and special and I knew Home Depot's giant 8ft Santa would do the trick!

And of course I couldn't forget his 8 tiny reindeer, plus Rudolph! They are also from Home Depot.

We have gotten so many compliments on this display! I love watching families drive by and seeing seeing them stop in front of the house so the kids can wave at Santa.

I am hoping that these guys will last for many years to come, as they were quite the investment! We are looking for a sleigh to add for next year.

I wish you all a safe and happy holiday! See you in the new Year!

-Larissa

Elegant Cranberry Holiday punch

 Have you ever struggled to find the perfect holiday beverage that would suit both young and old?

Well look no further! I think I may have found the perfect holiday punch!

My family requests this punch for every Thanksgiving and Christmas! The kids love it so much that sometimes I have to make two batches!

You will need only 5 ingredients:

-Cranberry juice ( I use diet)

-Ginger Ale (I use diet)

-Pineapple Juice

-Cranberries

-Limes

I choose to use diet ingredients and it tastes amazing, but feel free to use the regular stuff if you want!

I love how elegant this punch looks on a holiday table. You will feel so fancy when you serve it! At least I do!

   

I wish I could take credit for this delicious recipe, but I found it several years ago online.

You will find the full recipe here.  I hope you give this recipe a try for the holiday season! It looks so beautiful served in a wine glass and so easy to make!

-Larissa

An Old World Bejeweled Christmas Mantel

I have an old beautiful print of a young lady displayed on my mantel and she became the inspiration for my Christmas decorating this year.

The print reminded me of a young Marie Antoinette, so of course I had to bring out a pillow with her image on it.

My tree is new this year, it was gifted to me by King of Christmas. I think it is the nicest tree that I've ever 

owned, and the biggest! 

 

Apparently some of our pets were up for a photo shoot. Here is our black cat named "Little Girl" perched on the arm of the loveseat. Out of all of our pets she is the sweetest. If you are in need of snuggles, she's got you covered!

This little angel is our Pomeranian girl named "Ann Margaret". She is the sassiest girl ever! If I had known she was up for picture posing I would have dressed her in one of her dresses, but she is still adorable no matter what!

I love unique holiday items that are not easily found at box stores, so when I saw these gorgeous bejeweled trees by Martha Stewart at QVC I knew they would be perfect to go along with the lady print.

I love all things Martha Stewart, and she did not disappoint with theses trees!

The little Belsnickle Santa I found at a local shop last year. I've always wanted one, so maybe I will start a collection.

I had taken more photos but somehow I've lost them, but I still hope you enjoyed a peek at our Christmas this year. Do you have your Christmas decor up yet?

-Larissa

Adding old world charm to statues DIY

I adore statues. I feel like they lend a certain charm to a room.

I pick them up wherever I find them. Sometimes that's at thrift or antique stores, and other times I find them at Home Goods or even Hobby Lobby. Whenever I find them for a good price, I most likely bring them home.

I must say, I'm growing quite the collection, I think I have about 16 now. And with that growing collection comes many different shades of colors and bad paint jobs. I was so happy to come across Rox Van Del's  @houseofvandel reel on instagram not to long ago.

    She gave a short tutorial on how she painted her store bought bust to look more "aged". It was so easy and her statue turned out beautifully! I decided to try her technique out myself. 

All you need is these three items.

-Behr paint in "Basswood"

-Sherwin Williams paint "Egg White"

-coffee wash ( I used a watered down dark wax in "antique color")

The small statue below really needed a makeover, I found it for five dollars at a Goodwill store, the paint job was really bad, and it also had a strange flower decal all over it. 

The two busts on the ends were Christmas gifts from my Husband and Son. I love them, but they are just too white in my opinion.

 

I started on this lovely bust first. I bought her years ago from Hobby Lobby. First I gave here two coats of  of the Basswood paint. Look how amazing she already looks with the new color going on!

Once that color is dry, I started painting on Sherwin Williams "Egg White". This second color I painted on messily and almost in a dry brush type of way. I left some areas with the first paint color showing through.

In  DIY reel, the last step was to do a coffee wash all over the statue. I didn't have any coffee, but I did water down some dark wax that I brushed over some of the statues but not all. It's really just your personal preference, I think they look just as beautiful with just the paint alone.

Remember my all white Apollo bust from before? Here he is with his old world patina paint job. 

I love his profile.

I decided to group some of my statues on the mantel to really see the results. I did not paint the Apollo bust on one end  of the mantel (I have two Apollos) and the Artemis statue on the other end. I love their natural patina already and I am delighted with how well the others look grouped beside them.

 This little statue of either Artemis or Aphrodite turned out so well!!! I just love her now. I couldn't remove her floral decal, but the paint went on right over it, and you can't even tell it was ever there.

I'm also very happy with the black Hobby Lobby bust's transformation. So much better! I was very nervous to paint her, but I'm so glad that I did.

I think they all look so nice grouped together now that the patinas are so similar. I love to display my bust collection together each year for Halloween. They are always adorned with venetian masks and a flock of black crows. This year I think the group with look even better with the new paint job.

This bust I just purchased from Home Goods. I didn't like the the areas with the terra cotta paint showing through.

She turned out lovely!

This was such a simple and fun project! I really encourage you to go for it if you have a statue or bust with a paint job you don't love. You honestly can't mess this up.

 

Had to snap a photo of one of my newest roses in the garden. This is Eustacia Vye, a beautiful pink sherbet  colored rose from David Austin roses. I had to pick it because I noticed the Japanese beetles have arrived. They already destroyed  quite a few buds on my Olivia rosebush, so I rescued this bloom before it got ruined.

Thank you so much for visiting! I hope your summer is going well! Ours is just flying by!

-Larissa