wedding beauty in newport, ri

May 24, 2016

It has been a very busy time for me. Right after a short trip to the West Coast, I attended a wedding on the East Coast in Newport, RI. On both coasts, my stay was directly on the shore so I was surrounded by all the coastal details I adore!

At the wedding, I was able to see a guy very special to me wed the gal of his dreams. This gal also happens to have amazing taste and their wedding certainly reflected it!

Today I am sharing with you a little bit of the beauty from the evening.

At the couple’s request, photos were not taken at the ceremony or reception, but I did sneak a few photos of the amazing ocean view venue at Castle Hill Inn and a couple of the gorgeous details incorporated into the décor.

I hope you enjoy the photos! You can see a little more Newport on the blog on Friday!

Thank you so much for stopping. Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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coastal party favors

May 10, 2016

Friends, you know how much I embrace a good theme – particularly a coastal one! SO, you can really appreciate today’s post!

I was recently challenged to create Mother’s Day favors for a party celebrating a group of moms on the California coast. Exciting! This is the type of project I love! I am super excited to show you the results of this project!

First, I got a Connecticut artisan to create my vision of a coastal themed, zippered, canvas bag. I wanted to have a really great bag and find something related to my theme to tuck inside to make it extra special.

I had imagined a metallic anchor on the front of the bags, and I got just that! How perfect are these?! And, the anchor printed lining couldn’t be any cuter!

What did I choose to tuck inside these custom creations? I first decided on some candy beach stones and packaged them in round glass-topped tins.

Next, I added an anchor shaped bookmark – a great item to have for beach reads!

As a way to utilize the new bookmarks, large baskets of gently used paperbacks in various notable titles were part of the party décor for moms to grab on their way to the beach. Fun!

I hope I have inspired you to create some themed favors of your own for your next celebration.

If you have a vision for your own design and want to contact the artisan I used, check out Ralph & Martha on Facebook!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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jonesing for warmer temps

April 8, 2016

Can you believe, here in Connecticut, there are still weather forecasts of snow? It is a little much, in my opinion. Can we just get on with spring?

For today’s Friday field trip, I am providing a little glimpse of the Connecticut coast and hoping to inspire some thoughts of warmer weather.

I know you can’t tell by the photos that the April temperatures while I was photographing were in the ‘20s!

Enjoy thoughts of warmer weather ahead!

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Have a marvelous weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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seaglass carousel

February 19, 2016

I have been eager to see the new SeaGlass Carousel at The Battery in New York City. For today’s Friday field trip, I am sharing my first visit with you!

I hadn’t been able to fit in a Carousel visit on any trip I’ve made into New York since the Carousel opened last August. When I found out it would be open for visitors during Presidents’ Day week, I scheduled a special trip to make my first trip!

Winter may not seem the ideal time to plan a trip to a park, but it turned out to be the perfect time! There were no lines or crowds to deal with – the cold weather kept everyone away! And, the fact that it was a gray day totally worked in my favor – better for viewing the glow of the lights!

From the moment I caught a glimpse of the ride, I was impressed. But then, I guess the result of 10 years work and $16 million dollars should be impressive!

Although actually made of fiberglass and steel, the structure looks like sea glass! It is made up of 30 sea creatures – some as tall as 13 ½ feet – that glow from within to create a marine life looking bioluminescence.

Passengers sit inside the creatures as they rotate and rise up and down. Each creature has 3 stereo speakers and a base speaker to best project the classical music selections that play during the ride (and include sounds of gurgling water).

The Carousel is truly a unique experience and definitely worth the $5. fee to take a ride. (I am guessing the same as the price of a beer in NYC?)

Hours/days of operation are limited during the winter, dependent on the weather, so check the SeaGlass Carousel Facebook page for up-to-date schedule information if you plan on visiting.

I am looking forward to going back – next time at night; to get the full effect of the glowing!

I hope I have inspired you to visit the SeaGlass Carousel at The Battery next time you are in New York City!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. I posted a short video of the SeaGlass Carousel on my Instagram. :)

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valentine mini fish shortbreads

January 8, 2016

If you follow me on social media, you know my mini fish cookie cutter got a workout during the holidays! From using it to make the mini rosemary shortbreads that I make each Christmas to creating a baked brie pastry garnish, the poor little thing put in overtime!

Now that the holidays are over, the sweet little cookie cutter is still helping out – it gave me my first Valentine’s Day inspiration for 2016! Why not make some of the mini shortbreads for Valentine’s Day? A cute fish pun would be perfect to use in the packaging and the cookies can be made ahead since they store so well in the freezer!

So, for today’s Friday field trip, I am sharing my first Valentine’s Day gift idea. Rosemary shortbreads are super easy to create – just add fresh rosemary to shortbread cookies. Voila! A sophisticated little cookie!

If you need a shortbread recipe, I included one here, but your favorite one would work just as well.

For the Valentine’s message, I just created a quick and easy label using my home printer and a corny pun. Cute, right?

I hope I have inspired you to create some fun Valentine’s Day treats! I have more Valentine treat packaging ideas to come and I will be sharing some printables in a future post for those of you that might not like creating your own labels.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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taking down the tree

January 5, 2016

Is it hard for you to say good-bye to the Christmas tree?

It is for me! I had to take down the entire collection of holiday decor on New Year’s Day because that was the only day I had a little scrap of free time to complete the chore. Packing away all the holiday treasures and kicking the tree out to the curb are not easy tasks!

The very last ornament I took off the tree was one that has made it through four generations! It was handmade from a crab shell found locally. The ornament was like a flagship piece for the Christmas of 2015 – not only is it a family heirloom, but it fit in perfectly with my sea glass Christmas theme. Can you believe this fragile piece of crab shell has lasted four generations?

But yes, I finally did take down this last ornament and the tree now sits on my front lawn awaiting pickup!

I had just about all the decorations down except for one side of my mantle. On it, I had a collection of bottle brush trees; some in sea glass shades. That was when I decided not to take down every piece of décor…so what if I left a few trees on the mantle? What would it hurt?

And, guess what? I left a few trees in the bathroom as well!

Sometimes it is just too hard to say good-bye. ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Year! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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a little place on the water

December 29, 2015

Okay, I didn’t get this past weekend off and I am working three jobs this week, but I did get to spend Christmas Day with the people that matter the most to me and it was pretty darn special. I hope your day was as wonderful as mine!

Because Friday will be the month’s book giveaway, I am sharing a quick field trip today…a few photos I took of a little getaway by the water I was lucky enough to visit…this is a detached family room that is pure heaven! Yes, please. I’ll take one! This is the type of place my dreams are made of!

Enjoy the photos and enjoy the end of 2015 and ushering in 2016!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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seas & greetings

December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas dear friends!

My wish for you is to be surrounded by those you love. The very best of the season to you!

And, remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie xo

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a few more gift tags

December 15, 2015

It is time to start wrapping gifts! I am way behind on my planned Thanksgiving weekend wrapping session!

I have all the supplies together. I made the sea glass gift tags and the painted metallic feathers to adorn my packages…But, wait…shouldn’t I have a couple sea creatures to add to the mix?

I decided to make a couple more quick gift tags and they are super simple to create in no time flat!

For the crab, I used a teeny, tiny rubber stamp I found at the craft store. The size alone makes it super cute! I added it to card stock using an aqua colored ink stamp pad. To add the holiday sparkle, I just used a cotton swab to add a few dabs of aqua sparkle craft paint. Super easy and super cute!

The starfish gift tag took even less supplies to create than the crab gift tag. I used a light gray watercolor marker to draw a quick, free hand outline of a starfish. To this too, I added a few dabs of acrylic metallic craft paint to give it a little more bling!

Now I am content with my collection of gift tags for my sea glass holiday themed packages!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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sea glass diy gift tags

December 11, 2015

For Friday field trip today, we are visiting ‘gift wrap central’ where I designed some gift tags to go along with my sea glass holiday theme.

I decided the perfect detail for my gift tags was grommets. Not only are they currently a big fashion trend, but they add a nice ‘beachy’ vibe to my tags!

Since I was designing these gift tags myself, I wanted to make them unique. That was part of the reason I decided to make them a little different shape than a typical gift tag. I decided on long rectangles – cutting card stock into 1“ x 4 1/4“ strips.

After I cut the tags, I added the grommet detail. If you decide to make these – don’t be intimidated by the grommets! They come in 2 pieces and are easily applied using a simple 2-piece metal tool and a hammer. The grommets and tool are inexpensive and are available at any craft store. Believe me; once you apply your first grommet, you will come up with tons of applications!

I used twine on my tags to stay consistent with my theme. Lastly, I used a big dab of strong glue, careful not to let the glue show, to attach a small piece of sea glass to each tag. Pretty easy, right?

I love the way these tags came out! It makes me eager to get wrapping!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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a few more gift tags

sea glass diy gift tags