stars – Elizabeth Smillie

a storybook themed baby shower, part 1

August 31, 2016 Elizabeth Smillie

A while back we had the privilege of welcoming a new nephew into the family, and we celebrated with a storybook themed baby shower! His mama loves reading, so we thought a party filled with children’s books would be a perfect way to welcome the little man to the world.
Babies and books – love them both! Since this was a storybook themed baby shower was for a baby boy, I used lots of neutrals (“vintagey” colors), whites and blues, and scattered stars and vintage books about liberally – and I think it all came together beautifully.We split up the hostessing duties a bit – I got to hostess at our home and provide the decor and drinks, my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law took care of the food.
Most of the decor were things that I either already had, we had in the shop and tweaked a little, free printable from Pinterest or that I made just for the occasion {children’s book page pinwheels and pennant “BABY” banner! And an adorable table runner from vintage children’s book pages, too – so cute.}We went with a simple color scheme – white, light {and a little dark} blue, kraft brown and vintage papers. The colors were a perfect backdrop for the children’s books, and played well together. :) I used a mix of vintage and new(er) linens, a variety of mixed metals and some wild grasses instead of of flowers. Stacks of vintage books (of course!) in brown and blues came into play, too.
I was delighted with how my table runner turned out! My mom has a knack for finding gorgeous old children’s books, some of which are sadly too worn to be enjoyed by our children. I used the pages with colored illustrations, arranged the pages a few times until I was happy with how the colors looked together, and secured them in placed with some double-sided tape. Super cute! (it was inspired by this table runner)One of the details I loved adding to this party were the framed storybook quotes and artwork. I found several through Pinterest, and a few through a basic web search – all were free, and when placed in frames I already had, made a fun addition to the shower. And the new mama enjoyed keeping a few for the little guy, too!

Stay tuned for more party photos, including more decor, the super darling and delicious food (all storybook themed!) and the guest of honor!

shop items featured:

customer love – American theme party!

June 3, 2015 Elizabeth Smillie

Sometimes your custom order requests are just the little extra “push” we need to create a new product, and sometimes we end up loving the new thing so much that we carry it full time in our shop.

This a story of one of those things. :) We started offering our Hanging Paper Stars {see them here} about 3 years ago, and found that many of you really enjoy using them for your events and in your homes! However, because they are large and a bit fragile, they have been a total bear to ship, and the shipping fees can be a bit high. So, John and I have talked on and off about creating a DIY Kit version of the stars with the idea that you would be able to purchase all of the materials needed, all of them pre-folded so that you would only need to assemble them {meaning, very little skill required!}. But life was busy, the shop was growing quickly, and it was something that kept getting set aside for “when things slow down”. Until – someone in Australia emailed to ask about possibly getting 12-20 of the white stars!

She was in charge of her corporate Christmas party, and they wanted to have an American theme to it – and have a bunch of our stars hanging from the ceiling! We knew that shipping that many of the stars to Australia {a location where shipping fees from the US were already high} would cost an enormous amount, and realized that this was the push we needed to finally get the kits made.

The gal sent us these photos to share after the event, and it looks like it was a terrific party! She also used our Red, White and Blue Stars Garlands in custom 60 foot lengths to string across the space, bunches of our Red, White and Blue Star Dessert Toppers in little glass vases as centerpieces on the tables and our Star Cupcake Picks in Patriotic Colors to top the desserts – it all came together so well!
So there you have it! An idea that was stuck in the concept phase for far too long was brought to life {and now is a top seller! you can find them here} by a customer’s special request. You guys really are what keep our little shop going, in so many ways!

Do you have photos that you’d like to share? If so, you can either email them to me at elizabeth@pltmarket.com or tag them with #thepathlesstraveledmarket on Instagram – we’d all love to see your ideas! Also, I often send “thank you” coupons to the lovelies who let me share their photos with you – so if you’re looking for a coupon for your next order, sharing photos is a great way to get a discount!

Items featured:

Large Folded Hanging Paper Stars

DIY Hanging Origami Star Kits

Red, White and Blue Stars Garlands

Red, White and Blue Large Stars Garlands

Red, White and Blue Star Dessert Toppers

Star Cupcake Picks in Patriotic Colors

our Nordstrom adventure

February 24, 2015 Elizabeth Smillie

I’ve had a bit of a love affair with Nordstrom ever since I was a small girl. My grandma used to take me there for lunch every summer when I visited her, and I have wonderful memories of the man playing the piano on the first floor, the gorgeous displays, and the amazing floor to ceiling mirrors in the ladies room {seriously, I would LOVE to have a dressing room/closet that looks just like it someday!}. These days I limit my love to mostly window shopping, and about once a year hitting Nordstrom Rack for a pair of shoes …. but I still love that store.

So, last summer I received an email from a guy who was setting up a photo shoot, and he needed 40+ of our large Origami Hanging Stars in shades of pink, and he wanted to make sure we’d be able to get them to the shoot location on the specified date, etc. Yep, that was no problem at all, and I went through all the steps of getting his custom listing prepared for him. Then he ordered, and I found out from the address that the stars were for a Nordstrom photo shoot! *squeals*

November catalog, page 24

Once I stopped squealing we got the stars ready, boxed up {18 huge boxes – they filled our family room} and dropped off with FedEx. We heard the stars arrived safely and that they were enjoyed, and then waited. And waited. Months later, we found out our stars were for their winter catalogs and ad campaign{!}, and they were gorgeous and perfect.

November, page 17 (and also in an email!)November, page 9

Now we can add “featured in Nordstrom” to our list of media features – definitely a dream come true for me!

Photos of our stars in this post were taken by Missy Reno and associates for Nordstrom

a Labor Day sale!

August 30, 2013 Elizabeth Smillie

Happy Labor Day! I’ve been planning on sharing our summer decor for … all summer {best intentions, eh?} and realized that if I was ever going to, now was the time! After Ian’s Car themed birthday, I was loving the “Americana” feel of all the party decorations, and decided to go with it as a summer theme. :) After I took down the cars and birthday banner, I added a few more things from years past and from the shop, moving them around a bit over the course of the summer. The Large Book Star Garland is surprisingly durable! I’ve had it draped on our shelf for 3 months now, and there’s only been one incident with a tear {and that one was my fault – not the kids ;)}. It eases nicely into Autumn, too! And the Red, White and Blue Star Cake Garland has been a fun pop of color in my little pot of dried boxwood, and looked sweet with the patriotic colored candles.
I made the embellished lanterns from a Martha Stewart tutorial a few years ago, and was happy to see that they had survived the time in storage {a.k.a. a file box in the closet that I had forgotten about}. To finish off our “dining room” area, I draped a Red, White and Blue Large Star Garland over the top of our curtains and hung a large Navy Star on either end.Star dessert toppers aren’t just for desserts! They add such a fun touch to just about anything, and I’ve really been enjoying having a cluster of red, white and blue stars in a pewter vase on the shelf by our front door. {“love” print from Recipe For Crazy}

Do you have any plans for the long weekend? My husband actually gets Labor Day off this year {perhaps the first time since we’ve been married – yay!} and we’re hoping to get a few house projects done. Growing up, my dad used to remind us that one of the best ways to celebrate the American worker was to be an American worker – and then tell us what the project for the day was! :) It didn’t used to be too much fun {except we always had a wonderful barbecue at then end of the day – mmm!}, but now that there’s the possibility that I could have a freshly painted bedroom? It sounds great!

And, not to leave you without a special sale for the Labor Day weekend {maybe a perfect time to stock up on decor and dessert toppers for fall celebrations?}, I have a coupon code for you! Use code LABORDAY20 for 20% off of any order in between now and midnight Monday!

I hope you all have a blessed, relaxing weekend <3

customer love – children’s room edition

August 16, 2013 Elizabeth Smillie

Well friends, it’s Friday again – which means that it’s customer love time, and today I have a children’s room edition to share!

Last month a mama contacted me regarding a custom version of my new Large Hanging Stars – she was creating a whimsical woodland bedroom for her little guy, and was looking for stars in shades of white, yellow, gold, and some soft blues.

Some of the artwork in his room is from the Wheatfield, Winnie the Pooh, Babar, Good Night Moon and other art based on favorite classic children’s books by Shannon Presti and Vicki Freeman, and she was hoping to finish off the “play” corner with some sweet ceiling decor that reflects the whimsy and wonder in the pieces. After some emailing back and forth, I think we came up with a perfect fit for her growing boy:

And here’s how they look in his room!

Isn’t it just lovely?! I love how she played on the “starry” theme for him, bringing a feel of wonder and adventure to his room. She says that her little loves them, too, and keeps calling them “his stars” – isn’t that darling?

The playful fox fold-up play tent is from SnailCandy on Etsy, and the artwork she chose from the Wheatfield can be found here and here {I LOVE Katie’s work! In fact, if you look carefully around our home, you can spot an example in almost every room :)}. If you’d like to create something similar, you can find the large 12″ size stars in my shop here, and I’ll be adding the smaller 9″ and 6″ sizes soon. :)

Thank you so much for letting me share this, Nancy – I really love how the space turned out!!!

Have you entered the giveaway for a gift card to the shop yet? If you haven’t, don’t delay! :)

artwork images are by Katie Daisy from the Wheatfield

customer love – movie party edition!

August 8, 2013 Elizabeth Smillie

Today I’m thrilled to be able to share another customer love post with you – and this time it’s a movie party edition! Dawn ordered one of our darling dessert garlands in yellow and white, and used it to top this amazing Kit Kat candy cake:

Dawn says: “We have a Random Movie Club that has been meeting every month for 15 years. I made this Kit Kat Cake for the anniversary this year. It’s a dark chocolate cake with brownie frosting. With the candy all over it, it seemed like the perfect “movie” snack cake and I thought the glittery star topper added the perfect “Hollywood” touch!” I do too – isn’t it just perfect? Great job, Dawn!

p.s. I often send “thank you” coupons to the lovelies who let me share their photos with you – so if you’re looking for a coupon for your next order, sharing photos is a great way to get a discount!

little bits of life

August 3, 2013 Elizabeth Smillie

It’s about time for an Instagram update on the little bits of our life, don’t you think?

{If you’d like to follow along, I’m @pltmarket on Instagram <3} coming soon to the shop – strawberry shortcake toppers! and the yummy, yummy left overs from taking the photos – taking your own photos can be hard, but the side effects are worth it :)I experimented with custom dying some doilies for a peach colored version of my doily garland – love how they turned out! And I’m thinking of adding something similar to the shop – thoughts?
this darling keeps getting sweeter! This last month Olivia was working on cutting teeth {and especially needy for her mama!} and we’ve been experimenting with new foods for her. She loves just about everything so far!Have you seen the recipe for liquid sidewalk chalk that’s been going around Pinterest? It’s really simple {just 1 part corn starch to 1 part water, and add food color to achieve desired colors} and has been hugely enjoyed by our kiddos.

How gorgeous are these?! My in-laws have some massive hydrangea bushes, and I’ve been given permission to trim to my heart’s content :) Oh my, do these ever feed my soul!
Baby girl, just layin’ around. And being adorable {of course} and melting my heart. And deciding to abandon her pacifier in favor of her thumb. No biggie {what?! No more binky?!}

A bride ordered a large batch of custom cake toppers, one set of which was made of these gorgeous cake flags. Love how they turned out!More adorableness <3 {and it’s a video}Custom stamped cupcake toppers! A customer requested the pink heart toppers stamped with “BABY” and they were so darling {by the way, did you know that any of my toppers can be customized? Just ask for details if you’re interested :)}Have you seen the darling polka dot paper stars that I have in my Etsy shop? A few days ago a custom inquired about getting the dots in custom colors, and I was able to find them! They’ll be so sweet in her nursery :) Zinnias from our yard – I know you’ve heard me say it over and over, but I love my flowers. Who was it who said “the earth laughs in flowers”? Few things brighten my day like their fresh loveliness {of course, snuggles from my husband and babies are pretty high up on the list, too}! Mmm, prepping to make lemon sorbet – it was amazingly delicious, by the way!

And lastly, have you met Kellie from Lemondime? She hostessing a wonderful craft weekend {Craft Liberation!} soon, and I got to contribute some goodies to their swag bags! It looks so amazing, and I’d love to go – since I can’t though, my special little gifts will :)

There you have it – another peek in to our life. It’s kind of fun to see it all compressed together!

Do you have an Instagram account? I’d love to connect and “meet” you!

Cars themed birthday party on the Path Less Traveled

the Cars party

July 29, 2013 Elizabeth Smillie

Ah, the last installment of the Cars party – and the last one of {what turned into being} the series!

It was such a fun, relaxed type of party. We kept it pretty low key {as far as three-year-old’s parties go} and kept the guests to just family. Ian loved showing his cousin how to use the car track that John made and “do racin’!” We listened to the Beach Boys channel on Pandora, and the younger guests played “pass the Parcel” and had a small water fight {it happened to be raining during part of the party, so why not get wetter, right?}. Ian absolutely adored the Cars cake, and it was the sweetest thing ever to see how excited he was to stand in the middle of us all, soaking up the love and attention as we sang “Happy Birthday” to him! :)

He received some of the sweetest things – and even got his very first tool bag {with real tools!}. Isn’t it amazing how much delight kids can get out of a simple gift?

Here’s the sneak peek, part one and part two of the party {since I have apparently made it into a mini series :)} The balloon garland tutorial is here, and the party supplies that I didn’t already have, make or use from my shop are from the Dollar Tree.

And that wraps up Ian’s Cars themed birthday! There are so many other things that I could add, but I think I might have said enough :) Do you have any tips for throwing a kid’s birthday party? What are some of your favorite games?

I’m hoping to have a sweet party-themed How Tuesday for you tomorrow. In other news … the Facebook fan page is getting close to 200 fans! As soon as we reach 200 I’ll have a giveaway {hint: the prize is going to be sparkly!} for a brand new, yet to be released shop item. Share the fun with your friends to get us there even faster :D

Cars themed party on the Path Less Traveled

the Cars party! {part two}

July 25, 2013 Elizabeth Smillie

Ah, the best laid plans! I started out the week planning to share all sorts of birthday ideas with you lovelies, and then … a {most precious and adorable} teething baby {who wanted to be held all night}, kids with colds who needed their mama and somehow my {sleep deprived, foggy and semi incoherent} thoughts just didn’t make onto the blog. But now, the little are better, I’m more rested and ready to share!

Anyone ready for part two of the Cars party? {looking for part one? or the sneak peek? You can find them here and here}

I had seen a super fun pool-noodle turned car race track on Pinterest, and picked up a noodle at the Dollar store when I was getting the a few other things for the party {side note – the Dollar Tree is an excellent source for streamers, cake plates, napkins, mylar balloons and plastic tables cloths!}, and it turned out to be a bit too small for the cars {but perfect for marbles}. John improvised and made a track using a large piece of cardboard, and it turned out even better for Ian, since most of cars are bigger than Matchbox size :) The kiddos loved hurling the cars down the “track”, racing to catch them at the bottom and then running back to the top to do it again. Ian was soooo tickled with his Cars cake from Sam’s Club! And with the stickers and temporary tattoos that we used as party favors :)the indoor eating area – at lunch time {the birthday boy requested corn dogs for lunch}

The balloon garland was so fun – and easy! – to make! You can find the tutorial that I made for it here. And do you see the “road” style table cloth? It was another thing that I had found on Pinterest, and super simple to make happen. Just cut a black plastic cloth in half the long way and then attach 1″ x 6″ strips of yellow construction paper down the middle using double sided tape.view of our dining room from the front of our house – I love the added dimension and pop of color that the red and blue paper stars added!from the kitchen toward the dining room – there were fire engines on the shelf under the photo wall and presents on the piano
another one of the Lightning McQueen printouts

The outdoor eating area, with another “road” style table cloth. I used a bunch of red and white streamers and red and white paper stars to bring a party feel to the tent, and they were so lovely as they swayed in the evening breeze :)

So there you have part two – I’ll be sharing the rest of the party soon!

xoxo

the Cars party!

July 22, 2013 Elizabeth Smillie

Part one of the Cars party, here we come! Do you remember the sneak peak of Ian’s party that I shared? Here’s the {beginning of} the rest of it :)

If you remember, here’s the Pinterest board that I used to brainstorm party ideas for the Cars/fire engine/mechanic/Americana birthday that Ian asked for. There were sooo many amazing ideas that would have been fun to make happen, and John and I managed to pull off a few … and Ian was more than thrilled with the result!

a pre-party shot of the snack/dessert table that was one of the focal points of our indoor decor {note the absence of the drinks and other cold items :)}
I used a piece of burlap from my fabric stash {stashes of goodies like this come in super handy when pulling together parties on a budget!} to cover the table and rounded up all the galvanized bins that I could find to hold snacks and add some height to the spread.The wall signs were inspired by this Radiator Springs party and this “Route 3” party – all done free hand by moi while the birthday boy was taking his pre-party nap :)The Red, White and Blue Stars Garland added the perfect bit of color and texture to the front of the table, don’t you think?the snacks and goodies included watermelon, nuts, chips and salsa, pretzels, carrot sticks and dip, Chex mix, S’mores {the vintage blue Ball jars are perfect for serving and displaying goodies like this!}, and a variety of cold drinks {including this punch which is delicious and really easy!}.Do you see the little cars and tools scattered across the table? Ian got quite a kick when he realized that I had used some of his favorite toys for his party decorations {he’s such a sweetheart!!!}
the Tow Mater sign – Ian is still holding onto this! He has it in his room now next to his bed. From a distance you can hardly tell that I whipped it out using a sheet of cardboard, a foam brush and some white acrylic paint. ;)I made the Lightning McQueen sign using a free printable that I found here and some red construction paper – it turned out so cute that I ended up making several to scatter around the party!

So, there you have it – part one of the Cars party!

This is going to be a birthday themed week here on the blog! Today the world is welcoming a new royal baby {congratulations, William and Kate! And blessings upon the newest successor the British throne! <3 } and later this week my husband and three of his brothers will be having birthdays. Imagine the amount of cake that we’ll be eating! {not that I’m complaining at all!} How do you and your family celebrate birthdays? Do you have any special traditions?

Elizabeth Smillie

The Path Less Traveled

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