For this month’s Pretty Ordinary Friday #105, we’re documenting snapshots of our month. While our pictures may not be the prettiest or the most interesting, we enjoyed each instance and want to remember them! These are the behind-the-scenes, in-between moments – the small peeks that would otherwise be forgotten. Join us as we use this series to scrapbook the unedited, memorable happenings at Lily & Val and what is inspiring our team!
The team says:
1. “Had to snap a pic of this adorable plate at the Commoner Restaurant! Inspiration is everywhere!” – Valerie, Founder and Creative Director
2. “On a whim, Mak and I decided to drive and hour and 45 minutes to our favorite spot- Bedford Springs just for breakfast! The gluten free French toast was worth it! Snapped this pic, turned around and headed home!” – Valerie
3. “We love it at the Omni Bedford Springs so much! Grateful for the time with Mak before our little one arrives.” – Valerie
4. “Had a major antiquing and thrifting win with these adorable pink lamps for baby girl’s room! First I found the bases, but had a hard time finding the right size shade. Then, I happen to find these at Goodwill for $1! They are perfect. Love when things like that happen.” – Valerie
5. “Working on the dessert chalkboard for my baby shower! I haven’t done signage like this in a long time, so it was really fun to draw!” – Valerie
6. “The largest blueberries I’ve ever seen! I’ve been on quite the oatmeal + honey + blueberry kick lately!” – Valerie
7. “The prettiest pastel shades all together from our Baby Collection!” – Valerie
8. “Lots and lots of flower arranging for my baby shower…lots!” – Emily, Creative Coordinator
9. “Spring is just so beautiful!” – Emily
10. “If you have never visited Falling Water…do yourself a favor. Trust me you will go back over and over!” – Emily
11. “More baby shower prep. My dad made this stork from the one I drew for my invitation! We make a good team.” – Emily
12. “BTS our nursery shoot…and last one before babies arrive.”- Emily
13. “Bebe and I always get pics in the car…mostly because I’m bad at keeping up with my journal and use photo dates to remember.”- Emily
14. “Got some cool vintage pieces for the nursery!” – Emily
15. “One of the best things about Pittsburgh? The Gobbleritos from Mad Mex! Think Thanksgiving Dinner in a burrito. They are usually only available around Thanksgiving, but they had them for one day only this April. This is only 1/4 of the entire thing! Such a gluttonous meal, but soooooo delicious!” – Nicole, Operations Manager
16. “For Mother’s Day, I surprised my mom with a mini-makeover. But since it was also my 37th birthday, I had my hair done as well and went a little bold with the color. Loving my purple!” – Nicole
Is it any wonder that our houses look cluttered and messy once little ones come on the scene? So many supplies, and so many toys! The best way to combat this cluttered feeling is to look for toys that are beautiful enough to be left out or displayed in your home. The toys we have collected for this list are beautiful and functional and even handmade!
First on the list had to be these beautiful wooden avocado teether rattle toys. They are so simple and bound to be your baby’s favorite toy!
Have an outdoorsy little one? This adorable fishing set will give them hours of entertainment for years to come. What a great coordination building game!
Sound is so important for baby and early childhood development. A beautiful musical instrument like this wooden xylophone toy is the perfect addition to your little one’s toy collection. Who knows what love of music you will spark in them?!
Last but not least, these beautiful hand crochet baby rattle/teethers are as safe as they are stylish. The organic material will make you happy as you see your little one enjoy these cuties.
I hope you enjoyed this list of some of my favorite beautiful toy finds. It is so wonderful how many options are available from talented makers and creatives across the world for our little ones these days. I hope you find something perfect for yours or for your next gift.
Our Lily & Val Loves Series contains affiliate links. That means a little bit of your purchase through these posts helps us just a little too! This changes nothing about your purchase price, and we are not asked to feature these items. These are just things we carefully pic because we love them and think you will too! Thanks for helping spread the love! xo
To continue all things baby around here with the launch of our new Baby Collection and before my maternity leave, I wanted to share with you some photos from my “sweet as honey” themed baby shower!
It all went so fast and I wish I could do it all again! I’ve thought about this day for so long. It was filled with many of my favorite things- bees & honey, flowers, lace, lots of tea, amber glass, chalkboard signs, and vintage china, but most importantly, my incredible friends and family who made the day amazing and memorable.
Here are some details from the day…
One of my favorite parts was putting together the flower arrangements to go down the center of the long table! I went with faux flowers so I could make them far in advance. Most of the flowers came from Hobby Lobby and Michaels then I arranged them in vintage milk glass compotes, hobnail vases, and a thrifted white teapot.
I just love the look of mismatched china! For the past 6 months or so, my Mom, my friend Dana and I were on the hunt for vintage plates, saucers, and tea cups. It was so much fun to look for these pieces. We found such a pretty array of patterns and I thought they looked really nice on the table, especially with the beautiful amber water glasses that tied it all together!
It was a dreary, rainy Spring day, but we were nice and dry on the porch of Stonehenge Lodge in Acme, PA.
The dessert table spread included pink lemonade, raspberry almond, and banana cream pie cupcakes from Diana’s Heavenly Cupcakes and an assortment of gluten-free cupcakes from Gluuteny. My Mom made white chocolate dipped pretzel rods and pretty lemon raspberry cheesecake bars!
Chalkboard Signs
Of course, I had to have some chalkboard signage! I especially loved drawing the dessert sign because I fell in love with the chalkboard and frame from Michaels. I got a lot of questions on Instagram about what chalk I used to create the sign and how to prevent smudging. My signs were definitely smudge-able since I wanted to reuse the chalkboards in the nursery and I just love the dusty texture vs. a chalk marker. I used my favorite chalk – Crayola White Anti-Dust and was extremely careful transporting the signs.
Little tip: If you are in need of a chalkboard sign that won’t smudge, I would recommend using a chalk marker on the lettering and important parts, but then supplementing with regular chalk to add in some of that dusty texture! For example, you could create outlines of flowers with a chalk marker, but then smudge in some shadows on top with regular chalk. 🙂
The donut hole beehive!! Ahh! Being gluten free, I could not eat these amazing donut holes from Dunkin’ Donuts, but I certainly thought it was the cutest thing! My Mom baked a dome-shaped cake for the base and covered it in icing. Then, she added the donut holes on top and the little icing bumblebees.
The Tea & Coffee Station
You can’t have a tea party with teas, of course, and I went a little crazy with having lots of options! All of the teas were by my favorite, Harney & Sons. Not only do I love their tea, but I am obsessed with the pretty tins they come in!
We had: Hot Cinnamon Spice, English Breakfast, Earl Grey Supreme, Paris, Peppermint Herbal and Vanilla Comoro.
I even used one of their tea tins to create this little extra flower arrangement. (Vanilla Comoro has been a favorite throughout my pregnancy because it is decaf!)
Everyone got to take home a little hexagon jar filled with honey! The tags closely resembled my invitation, which closely resembles this print!
Instead of playing games, I made up these “wishes for Baby McKeehan” cards. After everyone filled them out, we chose random cards to win the flower arrangements from the tables.
The two Grandma’s got to pick their arrangements first though! 🙂
One last detail – my Mom made this adorable honeycomb backdrop! She cut each piece from foam core and spray painted them gold. She is amazing!!!
My sister flew in for the shower too!
What an amazing day. I’m so happy to get to relive it through these beautiful photos from my friend Lindsey Zern Photography. Thank you, Lindsey!
(And you could definitely tell I was inspired by the tea & honey theme in the midst of anticipating my baby shower with these prints we released earlier this Spring!)
Friends, I can’t tell you how excited I am to share the Lily & Val Baby Print & Canvas Collection with you. Creating a nursery collection has always been on my dream list, but when I found out I was expecting a little one myself this past Fall, I knew the time was now. It’s a crazy feeling because this will be the last launch before I take my first break in almost seven years for maternity leave! Ahhh! I can’t wait for you to see everything.
Dreaming up and drawing this collection while carrying my own little baby girl has been such a pleasure and joy. In fact, this collection means a lot to all of us here at L&V because we’ll be welcoming THREE new little ones to the team in 2019. Yep, all three of the women of L&V (myself, Emily our Creative Coordinator, and Nicole our Operations Manager) are also expecting! So to say we have had babies on the brain is an understatement. It’s such an exciting time and definitely makes for fun team meetings! 🙂
On a side note:
Thank you for following along with all the different chapters of L&V. This business and work have always been a piece of my heart. I love creating things that I would want to have and put in my home. Thank you for letting me share it with all of you and coming along for the journey. It means the world!
So…I introduce you to you the new designs…
This sweet woodland print was the very first piece I drew. I wanted it to feel whimsical & fairytale, like a page out of a storybook! I also love the little “deer” play on words. It comes in three colors for a girl, boy, or gender neutral!
I can’t help but get this song stuck in my head every time I see it! The little clementines were so fun to draw. I love the lettering mixed into the illustrations -I just think it’s fun, child-like, and pretty!
Another design with a storybook feel! I love the pencil-sketched partial “tree branch” border and the message.
I’ve had such a thing for gingham lately and there’s something especially cute about this small scale, hand-drawn gingham for baby’s room. But deeper than that, this verse really hits me and I knew I wanted to incorporate it into the collection as well as my own baby’s room.
Earlier this year I read the book “Without Rival” by Lisa Bevere and it was excellent. I wanted to share just a little excerpt from the book. These words were shared with me when I needed to hear them most and I thought maybe there was someone that needed to hear them too…
“You are the only example of you! You are the beginning and the end of you. There is not a designer sample scheduled for mass production. In his lineage, there are no copies, or same, and no equal.
…God uniquely created your DNA and knit your frame in secret so he could surprise the world. He authored how your heart expresses itself; he was the architect of your smile and the melody of your voice; he made all your features with the fondest thoughts of only you in mind. He celebrated along with your parents your first smile and watched with affection your first steps.
Because of his tender, intentional care, there are multiple facets of your life that express and reflect his love uniquely. He wove all these exceptional aspects and specific talents into the package of you, his daughter. He knew each attribute would be expressed best through your feminine form… Marvelously loved one, there is absolutely nothing accidental about you.”
I realize Lisa was speaking to women here, but this truth is for every human being. We are chosen and loved. I can’t get enough of that life-giving message, something we all need to hear.
The look of embroidery really gets me! It’s cozy and cute. Although I can’t embroider myself, I thought I would draw up two designs that would have the same look and feel! I love how fluffy the lambs look in this one.
This one I drew especially for my own tiny miracle…
These next two prints have the cutest vintage feel to them! You guys know I love that pencil sketched texture! The little clothes, soft lettering, pretty border, nursery rhyme….I just can’t get enough of this pair.
Another design inspired by a song! A few months ago, Mak and I put together a playlist for our baby – songs that we want her to know (got all the classics in there like Billy Joel, The Beatles and Queen), but also songs that remind us of her and this precious time in our lives. “Your song” (the Moulin Rouge) version made it on the list and I just love this phrase for a baby’s room so much. Again, we included two color options!
This next print is minimalist, but very detailed when you get up close! With the other illustrated storybook-esque prints, I wanted to also include a simpler, hand lettered design that could work for both a boy or a girl and have that same feel. To me, this looks like it could have been torn out of a children’s fairytale book. And isn’t this quote one of the sweetest for a baby’s room?
Cute blocks in a cute color palette. Another important reminder for the littlest children to the children at heart.
This one is feminine and elegant! Right now I’m in the midst of working on baby girl’s nursery and it has developed into a Parisian theme! I was inspired by the book “Paris in Bloom” by my friend Georgianna Lane.
Lots of flowers, pretty ornate details…I love seeing it all come together! This design will definitely be a part of it!
Fill-In-The-Blank Prints!
Ok, guys! I am SO excited for these.
Create your own custom, heirloom piece of art! They come in four different styles with space to record all your baby’s birth stats, date, location etc. along with two little footprints.
Each style comes in two sizes (8×10 or 11×14). You can see the size difference below. Also, for your peace of mind, two prints are automatically included in your chosen size in the event of a mistake when filling out! It happens!
Any of the birth stat prints will pair beautifully with other prints in the collection for a coordinated display in your nursery.
Thank you again, everyone, for the support! I hope these designs make you smile and warm the spaces of your precious bundles. xoxo
I love this deliciously indulgent Vintage Cheesy Macaroni Recipe from a very old newspaper article. The Retro Pyrex washi was all I needed to bring this yummy recipe spread to life.
Here are some crafting tips from this spread…
Consider using your washi tapes in different ways.
You can always use washi tape as a nice border, but here I used the Pyrex Washi cut apart. The individual baking dish elements were the perfect accent to use throughout the spread.
The Made With Love Washi is also a great option to use as individual pieces for a nice accent.
Since this comfort food recipe is one that has been used in families for years, the Our Family Traditions Stamp was a great addition to the spread. I like to add these to the notes area to specify what I write in that space.
Sometimes you don’t know the specific dates for the memories you have of classic recipes like these. Here I used a little pyrex bowl from the washi tape as an accent before adding some special memories associated with this creamy pasta.
Add some family photos that you associate with the person who taught you the recipe or made it for you. This will make your Keepsake Kitchen Diary a true family heirloom.
I hope you enjoyed these tips and can’t wait to see how you make the pages of the Keepsake Kitchen Diary your own!
If you are hosting a brunch or dinner for some special moms this Mother’s Day, we have some super easy and beautiful ideas for you to make each setting extra special.
Our first idea is to print and use the Monogram Favor Tags in each mom’s monogram to use as a napkin ring. Tape a piece of twine or ribbon that matches your decor to the back of your printed monogram tag. Tie it around your pretty linen napkins and let each guest enjoy this special personalized touch.
To make this idea really pop, add a sprig of florals to your tied napkin ring!
Place a little gift at mom’s place settings with a pretty little Thank You Favor Tag to let mom know how much you appreciate her.
For another special touch, use our printable buffet/place cards to mark each guest of honor’s place at the table. Use Mom’s nickname or some short descriptors for a fun twist on the place card concept.
We chose this style place card because of how the beautiful blush and blue coordinated with our floral color scheme.
Put all these ideas together and you have one gorgeous place setting.
For your table decor, collect a number of small assorted glass vases and various sprigs of florals and greens that you know Mom will love. Place one stem in each vase and stagger them down the center of your table. This will add color and texture in a simple way that will for sure impress your mom! Voila!
Enjoy your time with the special moms you know. Happy Mother’s Day!
The weather is getting warm and sunny here and holidays like Easter and Mother’s Day have us in the mood to host more parties and get togethers with friends and family to celebrate this lovely time of year.
We have gathered together some of our favorite things for entertaining this spring with style and simplicity.
For use with any simple table setting or just around your home, these handmade porcelain votives add the perfect detail.
Paper straws are always a fun addition to the party. We love these very spring appropriate floral paper straws!
This unique 1950’s divided serving dish will be a great conversation piece at your next gathering. Fill with your favorite side dishes or snacks and enjoy!
Vintage Golden tumblers add color and interest to your table that will set your party apart. We love mixing vintage colored glass, especially in honor of all of the colors of spring.
To complete your beautiful table, add some beautiful linens. These floral linens are handmade and lovely for any spring occasion.
So get some special people together for a gathering big or small and celebrate this fresh and beautiful time of year!
There are lots of beautiful things for Mom available from Lily & Val so we thought it might be helpful to give you some ideas for your last minute Mother’s Day gift set ideas. Many of these items fit perfectly into our recipe tins, too! What a beautiful gift packaging idea!
We hope that whatever combo you choose, you find something perfect for the special Moms in your life this Mother’s Day! Enjoy and cherish your moments together and let her know how much she means to you.
The other day Mak and I went for a walk through our neighborhood and I was telling him that although Fall is still my favorite season, a VERY close runner up is Springtime. Each year, seeing the blooms on the trees and all the flowers popping up in flower beds never gets old. The day we make our annual trip to the nursery to fill my own pots and planters is one I look forward to! Spring is a breath of fresh air, but it goes by just as quickly as it comes.
This year, especially with Baby McKeehan, on the way in just a few short weeks, I really want to pause to enjoy the little things -all these tiny details of this special season. I hope this month’s hand-drawn wallpapers remind you to take a pause too. Happy May!
To download for free during the month of May 2019 use coupon code: DDMAY19
We are so excited about our new Keepsake Kitchen Diary Crafting supplies! Having supplies that specifically coordinate with both the classic and the lemon Keepsake Kitchen Diaries takes adding recipes to a whole new level of fun.
(P.S. We have been so overwhelmed with the response to the Keepsake Kitchen Diary, that there are limited numbers for Mother’s Day! Classic Keepsake Kitchen Diary is still available on lilyandval.com. You can find your Lemon Keepsake Kitchen diary at Barnes & Noble or on Amazon)
This recipe for Mini Kiwi Tarts is so fun and perfect for a Mother’s day luncheon, baby or bridal shower, or even a summertime dinner party.
For the Kitchen Diary crafting of this sweet and simple recipe, I was inspired by the colors of the kiwi and the beautiful Lemon themed crafting supplies.
The Keepsake Kitchen Diary has such an organized page layout that gives you plenty of opportunities to add information about your recipes and the memories attached to those flavors and experiences. I especially love to use washi tape to outline some of the special areas or important information for the recipe like the title, directions and notes sections. This helps visually divide your recipe for easy use and just looks pretty!
Since this recipe is “vegetarian friendly” I used a coordinating “Vegetarian” dietary restriction sticker. These stickers are great to add to your index pages and the recipe spreads themselves to help you when you need to find a certain type of recipe in a pinch. This also makes dietary meal planning a cinch with other labels like “gluten free” and “paleo” also available in the pack.
The Weekly Meal Planning Bookmarks are a beautiful and clever way to mark any recipe you would like to use throughout the week. We all try to do meal planning and grocery shopping in an organized way…and usually, struggle to plan ahead. So why not make it a little more fun by matching your bookmarks to your recipe spread motifs?!
It’s wonderful to have these crafting supplies to help organize and decorate each recipe in the special way it deserves. I can’t wait to share more Keepsake Kitchen Diary Crafting ideas with you! Happy Baking!
1. “Had to snap a pic of this adorable plate at the Commoner Restaurant! Inspiration is everywhere!” – Valerie, Founder and Creative Director
4. “Had a major antiquing and thrifting win with these adorable pink lamps for baby girl’s room! First I found the bases, but had a hard time finding the right size shade. Then, I happen to find these at Goodwill for $1! They are perfect. Love when things like that happen.” – Valerie
10. “If you have never visited Falling Water…do yourself a favor. Trust me you will go back over and over!” – Emily
13. “Bebe and I always get pics in the car…mostly because I’m bad at keeping up with my journal and use photo dates to remember.”- Emily
