Make Mine Pink Friday.....An English Cottage

If I were to close my eyes and conjure up images of an English Cottage, it would be surrounded by an explosion of colorful flowers, both inside and out. The porch, though small, would hold a whitewashed rocker, with even more fresh cut flowers peeking out of a tote hanging from the arm. A beautiful needlepoint pillow, stitched with a riotous bouquet of wildflowers, propped against the back for comfort. The first entry to my English Cottage would feel like home itself with a wreath on the door, welcoming you to step inside.

Once inside my cozy cottage, you’d find the windows draped with delicate lace curtains and gorgeous floral fabrics. Cabbage roses, trailing down each panel. A cozy window seat, made comfortable with a down cushion, provides a perfect place to enjoy a favorite book and a cup of tea. The teacup, passed down for generations and filled with memories. The hand-painted roses, now faded and worn, just enhance the beauty and the experience.

Shelves and cupboards are an essential part of any English cottage. They’re often used for storage and for display. You might see a beautiful collection of vintage dishes, or a cupboard devoted to teapots and favorite teacups. Colorful tins that once held tea, now hold buttons and sewing notions. Hand embroidered tea towels and pure white linens, help fill the shelves until they’re called upon to celebrate a special occasion.

Vases stuffed full to overflowing with fresh cut blooms, are tucked on tables and window ledges throughout the cottage. Each a reminder of the beauty that awaits, just steps outside the cottage door.

The garden, visible from the kitchen window is ablaze with color and activity. Ivy climbs the trellises and arbors, colorful bird houses and wrought iron bird baths, a refuge for our aviary friends.

With cottage touches in just the right places, the simple beauty of a English cottage can be yours no matter where you live.

Please stop by the boutiques at Make Mine Pink to help create your own English Cottage.

Joyce Lucas, Founder
Make Mine Pink

Our Photo Shoot So Fun!

My entire family meets in Brigantine, NJ for a week of fun and sun. This year I brought a box of all our CarolineAlexander belts, pins and hair flowers. My sister and my cousin has so much fun! My Uncle and myself were the photographers and I felt like I was preparing for a magazine. I just had to show you all the fun things we did with our flowers!

Here is Kendra with a belt as a headband...love it



Here are the girls look just like models


Love the fascinator...


And of course Lila had to get into the action.


I love the beach and can't wait to get back there next year.
Jennifer

Mika's UK wedding

I just had to show you the wedding that we just finished for a sweet girl in the UK. It was a long process, but tons of fun. I love to custom design, especially for brides. Mika contacted me about some flower belts and brooches and we just took off from there. Here wedding story is unique, she is getting married in a traditional dress for the ceremony, but there is a twist for the reception. Here fiance is Chinese and she order a surprise traditional red silk dress for the reception. So, there were two different looks for this wedding. Mika loves flowers and we made sure they were everywhere.

Here is what we designed for the bride: Mika wanted a red silk flower with a vintage center to wear with her Chinese red silk dress. The dress is very red with hot pink silk on the inside. So, we chose a red silk flower with a vintage pink rhinestone center on a thin red velvet ribbon. Mika also chose a hot pink anemone cuff bracelet with a red vintage center for an opposite coordinating look. Just in case she wanted something in her hair we created a small red rose for an alternate look.

Mika's wedding ceremony handbag was made of ostrich feathers and a tiny rhinestone butterfly at the top. We created a small rose with a vintage center and placed it on a sheer ribbon so she could tie it to the handbag.

We also found a great Chinese red silk handbag that we could not resist. We embellished the handbag with red satin ribbon roses on both sides. These are the same red roses that we used to make her shoe clips.

The ring bearer pillow was made of an almost white satin, we embellished it with a vintage trim, satin ribbon streamers and a large peony with a vintage rhinestone center.

We embellished red sheer bags with orange and hot pink satin roses to use as favor bags. What a great gift to get at a wedding.

Finally we created flower accessories for the mother of the bride, bridesmaid and the flower girl. We created one brooch and the others we placed on ribbon to tie around their wrists.

What a fun elegant wedding. I can't wait to see how it all comes together.

Pearls and Flowers

I love to find a new use for a discarded treasure. As we walk around estate sales and antique stores my creative juices are always flowing. I usually buy more than expected, but you never know what this vintage treasures future may be. CarolineAlexander has created a new line (soon to be listed), of combining our handmade ribbon flowers with vintage jewelry. I love this new piece, I may not be able to part with it! It looks great with a pretty tee and sweater or a dress that is just missing something. I am so glad these new pearls found a new home.

Jennifer
CarolineAlexander

A Fairy Birthday Party

My Lila turned six this month and I had to share our fairy birthday party. We love fairies and we are well equipped for this major event. Here is the birthday girl...my little fairy.


Each girl/guest must become a fairy before they enter the party. We bought cool glitter makeup and their favor was a flower headband, tutu skirt, and rainbow fairy wings. They must be fairyitized to enter the party.


While each girl was magically turning into a fairy we printed out fairy coloring pages from our website. You always have to keep these little fairies busy.
When all they fairies were ready they could have a glass of pixie punch and a fairy pretzel want. For the punch we took pink lemonade, added a touch of lemon/lime soda, and topped it off with rainbow sherbet. The pretzel wands consisted of pretzel sticks dipped in pink chocolate and white glitter sprinkles for an added whimsical touch.


Game time....we played a couple of games that were a big hit
Flower Drop: I got 3 silk flowers and a glass vase. The girls stood on chairs, put the flower to their nose and then had to land the flowers into the vase.

Find the fairy: I split the girls into two teams, each team was given a picture of a fairy to find. The first team that found their hidden fairy won the game. I just need to find a good hiding place for the pictures.

Pin the wings on the fairy...you all know this game.
Note, all girls won a prize for each game even if they didn't actually win. I love the dollar store....chalk, glow sticks, and stickers are so affordable!

Next we opened presents, so fun. Now, where do I put all this stuff?

Finally....Cake. My mother (grandmother fairy) of course made the cake. I loved the roses and the edible glitter. We used one of my fairy houses as the cake top, it really turned out cute.






That was a fun two hours. I think all had a magical time. Happy Birthday Fairy Lila!

It is time for some fun...It is time for a shop hop

It is time for a shop hop at Make Mine Pink...let's have some fun. The Make Mine Pink Shop Hop starts April 25th and ends on May 1st. Are you new to the MMP shop hops?
MMP Shop Hops are a type of contest where you try to find as many “You Found It” image as you can. Each of our participating boutiques has hidden an image on its website that says, “You Found It!” on the tag. Click that image to return to Make Mine Pink and get credit for finding it. The more images you find, the better your chances of winning great prizes. See the prize list below to see what you can win!

There is no cost and no obligation to purchase anything. However, if you do happen to find some products you might be interested in, don't forget to bookmark those pages so that you can come back later! Good luck!
Jump over to Make Mine Pink and register for this fun event@

And the winner is.....

The winner of the $25.00 CarolineAlexander gift certificate is Momtoem. Congratulation and thank you to everyone for your kind words.

Jennifer Cameron
CarolineAlexander