Cheers To Mom

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Clik here to view.Welcome, friends! I hope you enjoyed Jeanne’s GORGEOUS Mothers’ Day Tablescape and other tables you have seen in our fun blog hop! I’m so glad you could continue on and visit with me! Now….not before long it will be one of my favorite days….Mothers’ Day! I LOVE BEING A MOM and I love MY MOM so much!!! What a special and glorious calling to celebrate….motherhood!!! So, CHEERS TO MOM! And to toast to you mothers, I grabbed my fanciest stemware and have picked up some of our favorite Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade from Home Goods and then added little flower stems from my faux floral arrangement (in the center of my table) for a lovely garnish. Doesn’t that just add such a lovely, feminine touch?!

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My mom is truly worth celebrating! She taught me how to decorate, toll paint (remember that craft back in the day? lol!), arrange flowers, clean our home well and keep it ready for guests, cook (we take a lot of pride in our cooking!), set a beautiful table and create tablescapes, entertain, decorate for holidays, create a beautiful home on a small budget, find fashion for less, take pride in my appearance, do my best, put God first and prove my faith in Him, stay a virtuous woman, love my family, become a strong and adoring wife and loving mother, and….to be kind. I’ve seen so many of her flower arrangements and I just know she’d love these green snowballs with soft blush roses. I grabbed them from Trader Joe’s for $4.99 and then went out to my backyard and cut some wildflowers growing from a bush (not sure what they’re called ha!) and added them into this bunch and I just love the way it looks! Quite honestly, they’re beautiful but almost everything looks beautiful in these vintage milk glass pedestal bowls! I’ve been collecting them over the years.
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And as much as I just LOVE having fresh flowers, I find these other gorgeous faux arrangements around my home pretty enough to add to my tablescape and help create that feminine, floral, romantic ambiance. Mixing them was a first but I thought it turned out quite nice.

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If you follow me on Instagram, you know how often I share my Shabby Chic Ruffle Throw Blankets (in various colors) found HERE in my online shoppe. They’re not only great as a throw blanket or baby gift, but I also loving cutting one up and using it lengthwise by turning it into a beautiful table runner.

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As for the napkins, I knew I wanted something very feminine and chic (just like my mom) and what says that better than some pretty bow napkins?! These reminded me of Audrey Hepburn so I felt inspired by her.

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I folded the napkin long ways in half and then in half again, folded each side in to the middle (slightly overlapping). Of course, Miss Hepburn would probably insist we used pearls somehow so I ran upstairs and grabbed one of my many pearl stretch bracelets from my shoppe and wrapped them around the center of the bow to secure it. Easy peasy and oh so elegant!

Now, there are SOOOO many things I would serve for brunch that we’d be here all day discussing and deciding and sharing my fave recipes. But let’s just skip to dessert…shall we?!

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One of my all-time FAVORITE desserts that always hit the spot (and lovely to look at) is my Strawberry Shortcake! Ready for the recipe? Here it is….(don’t forget to pin this to Pinterest so that you have it when you’re ready to make it!)…..

Summer’s Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients:
5 tablespoons sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Strawberry/Whipped Cream Topping:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (although I love Vanilla Bean Paste)
1 TBSP Strawberry Preserves
1 lb. stemmed and diced strawberries

Directions:
Mix strawberries with 3 tablespoons sugar and refrigerate while juices develop, at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add heavy cream and mix until just combined. Place mixture in an ungreased 8-inch square pan and bake until golden, 16-18 minutes.
Remove shortcake from pan and place on a rack to cool slightly. Cut into 6 pieces and split each piece in half horizontally.
Top with a generous (ok, ginormous) dollop of strawberry-whipped cream mixture. Spoon more strawberries over the top and serve.

Strawberry/Whipped Cream Topping:
Using a mixer, beat the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, until soft peaks form, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Then beat in most of strawberries (after draining their sugar juice) and strawberry preserves. Mix until pink but still thick.

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I’m tickled PINK that you came to find some inspiration! What are your Mothers’ Day Brunch plans? I’d LOVE to see! Now, don’t forget to visit all of my fellow blogger friends who are insanely talented and will spoil you with soooooo many fabulous ideas so make sure you’ve visited each blog post! From my blog, please hop on over to the very talented Designs By Laila for her gorgeous table! I can only imagine taking something you love from each post and combining all of those ideas into one fabulous tablescape!! {{squeal}} And a HUGE “thank you” to my dear friends Kelley Nan Lopez and Randi Garrett for putting this fabulous collaboration of talented designers/bloggers together! It’s such a treat! Enjoy and thanks again for stopping by!

Laila- Designs by Laila
Mollie- Design Loves Detail
Amy- Crazy Chic Design
Kathleen- Lindsay Hill Interiors
Bree- ZDesign at Home
Annie- Zevy Joy
Ashley- House of Five
Haneen- Haneen’s Haven
Janet- Shabbyfufu
Erin- Sunny Side Up
Randi – Randi Garrett Design
Sarah- Sarah Sofia Productions
Kelley- Kelley Nan
Kara- Kara’s Party Ideas
Jennifer- Decor Gold Designs
Tamara- CitrineLiving
Jeanne- Jeanne Campana Design
Summer- She Leaves A Little Sparkle