Hostess Jo at Home

Simplified Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is on a Friday this year!  Yay!  I could eat Mexican food everyday.  Could you?  It's my favorite.  Along with margaritas, sangria, Corona...you get the idea!

Why not have a few friends over this year?  Below is a super easy way to make your table look more festive.  All I did was grab a few empty Corona bottles and fill them with Carnations!  Ole!

(excuse the photo quality, this was years ago!)

Grab some brightly colored serving ware, plates and napkins and you're set. 

Chips and salsa, quacamole, mini tacos, quesadillas and a batch of margaritas or sangria... 

Check out this recipe  for Frozen Sangria!  Yum

For a sweet treat try these Mini Key Lime or Lemon Pies.  They are super simple and NO BAKE!

You can see I used regular pie crusts but they would be better with graham cracker crusts.  Either way they are super tasty.

I found the same recipe I used here.  I just did a mini version.  That way you aren't slicing pie.  Everyone can serve themselves.

Well I'm ready to celebrate!  How about you?

 

XOXO,

Jo

What happened to April?

April has flown by!  Sorry I have not posted in awhile!  I do have some pretty exciting updates for you.

Yesterday I attended a creative women's brunch.  It was for creatives like bloggers, artists, shop owners, photographers and many other female entrepreneurs. 

The venue was right up my alley.  Exposed brick and old chippy walls!  It was held at The Nest in Birmingham.  The perfect spot for a gathering like this.  The wood table tops with the white metal chairs made my heart skip a beat.

The brunch was hosted by Natalie from 11th Thread and the name of the group is Dream Catchers South.  So cool that dream catchers are so popular in décor right now too!  She put this whole thing together to help and inspire creative women to chase their dreams!

She did a beautiful job on the table settings!  The greenery just popped against the natural wood and white with a little sparkle from the mercury glass candle holders.

We each received our own mason jar of delicious Piper and Leaf tea that we got to take home with us.  I love mason jars and they fit right in with the décor.  Even better we got to sample from a local company.

There were so many incredible sponsors and creative women all pursuing their own small business goals (I'll have a list at the bottom of this post for you to check them out)!  They filled our goody bags with awesome samples and coupons.  We also had a great speaker named Bill Todd, President of o2 Ideas.  He really taught us a lot about marketing and stepping out with our ideas.  Which leads me to a few updates for Hostessjo.com!

I've been wanting an updated design for the blog and I think its time to move over to Wordpress.  I keep hearing great things about it and I think it will be great for both you and I.  So, I'm in the process of doing that.  Hopefully everything will be good to go in May.  I've also started my photography classes and really enjoying them.  Reese's room redo is complete so please check back for that! 

Also, my husband and I have purchased a lot and will be building a spec home this summer!  I'm so excited to pick out paint, flooring, lighting etc.!  I'll be blogging about all of our choices along the way and answering any questions you may have.

I'd love to hear from you about what you'd like to see more of on our new blog!  More diy?  Home décor?  Crafts?  Styling?  Please send me an email or leave me a comment here!

xoxo,

Jo

Check out these cool small businesses and sponsors from our brunch: 

Naughty but Nice Kettlecorn,

Wholesome Soda Co.,

Dixie Fresh,

See Jane Write

Harp of Birmingham,

Piper Vine,

Baby Cakes Birmingham,

House Peace,

Down in the Ham,

Nikki Blakes 

Elizabeth Jaimes Boutique and Salon

If I left anyone off, please leave me a message and I'll be happy to add you!

Reese's Room Redo

If you are following me on Instagram, you know I mentioned updating my six year old's room.  When she changed to a big girl bed I was pregnant with our second and felt rushed to get it done.  I ordered a cute quilt and that was about it! 

Fast forward four years and my girl has grown into a self proclaimed "outdoors girl".  We cannot keep her inside!  She loves animals-especially bunnies- flowers, dirt, and drawing.  She will still occasionally put on a princess dress.  So I wanted to give her a room that reflects her interests. 

Enter the cutest woodland bedding I've seen!  When my girls were younger the only woodland décor was all boy.  Now they have so many pretty options for girls too.

It is even prettier in person.  The colors are a little softer than pictured.  And bunnies!

Speaking of bunnies...

She just had to have this stuffed bunny head above her bed.  It is pretty cute.

I also ordered a strand of felt flowers to hang underneath the bunny...

I'm hoping the colors go well with the bedding!

When I saw this "Go Play Outside" print I knew we had to have it.  It is perfect for my girl.

There are a few other details I'm still working on.  And trying not to rush!

Ok, I can't give away everything!  Stay tuned for the reveal soon!

 

XOXO,

Jo

 

Spring Home Tour

I've got good news!  I got a new camera!  Now I just need to learn how to use it.  Soon I will be bringing you lots of pretty eye candy!  For now, I'm sharing the rest of our home decorated for Spring.

I added touches of green throughout which is my favorite.  Greenery can also last all the way through summer.  Most of mine is faux.  I cannot seem to keep an indoor plant alive!  What is it about bringing plants inside that make them so easy to kill?  

The addition of this simple fern wreath adds life to our mudroom...

I love styling trays.  Its like a hobby to me.  This is a tray I styled with items I already had.  You could place a tray anywhere.  Dining room, coffee table, kitchen, etc.

Yep, that succulent is already a goner. 

I played around with some new décor on my sideboard and I love how the natural wood tray looks against the white background.

I scored the metal three tiered tray for $15 from Hobby Lobby!

You'll also notice the moss bird and nest from the other tray.  Shop your house!  Moving things around can totally change the look.  I just had to have those moss eggs.  They are from Hobby Lobby too.

Here is our Resurrection Garden on our entry table.  Click the link to find the how to!

Moving on into the dining room and kitchen I used Easter decorations.  Do you remember our Easter mantle?

I decorated our dining table with items from Target Dollar Spot!  The pallet trough is so easy to change for the seasons or occasion. 

In the kitchen I decorated our chicken wire stand with moss, pastel eggs and moss bunnies..

I love how the eggs bring out the yellow and aqua accent colors in the kitchen.

Hope you enjoyed our little Spring Tour!  Try adding seasonal touches throughout your house.  It doesn't take much to bring a lot of joy!

For more spring décor ideas check out my In Bloom Pinterest board.  For more pictures of our home join me on Instagram. 

 

Happy Spring!

Jo

 

 

 

Happy Spring and Fairy Gardens

Well it's officially Spring!  Is it warm where you live?  It is feeling more like Spring here in Alabama.  In honor of the first day of Spring I thought I'd share with you the fairy gardens we made last year!

These were so fun to make!  Don't you just love miniature anything?  Fairies are surrounded with whimsy and imagination.  Watching my girls light up as we placed the furniture around and secret door by the tree was awesome.  I wish they really did exist!  Or maybe they do?

You can purchase all kinds of sets for your fairy gardens.  This set by the tree came with a fence, wheelbarrow, table and chairs, swing, and watering can.  Two fairies were also included.  I purchased the door to the tree at Home Depot.  I think it is my favorite part!

Oh yeah, the girls liked it too ha! 

I've seen great sets online too.  Most garden or craft stores will carry them.  Hobby Lobby has some cute ones too.  Just find a special spot and layout your garden.  I planted a few flowers in with these but you don't have to.  I made a little pebble path so the fairies could find the secret door. 

For the next one, we used a shallow flower bowl so we could put it on a table.  This set was from Home Depot and it had a bridge so we used blue gem stones to look like water.

See the tiny hedgehogs?! 

It was so much fun listening to the girls tell their tales about the fairies coming at night and swinging and playing.  It would be so neat to scatter glitter around your gardens one night and tell the kids it was fairy dust!  You can really get elaborate with these.  I've even seen campers and accessories for fairies ha! 

I can't wait to get started on ours for this year!  Have you made fairy gardens before?  I'd love to see them! 

XOXO,

Jo

 

 

 

DIY Moss Wreath

I love moss!  You love moss!  Everyone loves moss! 

I've been using moss in my spring and summer décor for years.  I'm noticing now that a lot of people are enjoying the bright green stuff in their homes.  It adds a ton of fresh color and texture to centerpieces, vases, bowls, fillers, just about anything.  Last year I made a super simple moss wreath for our mantle.  I apologize that there aren't more pictures but I wasn't blogging then.  Its so easy you won't need them!

As you can see my little helpers are always close by! 

All you need is a

Styrofoam wreath form,

hot glue gun,

glue sticks and

a few bags of Reindeer Moss.  Reindeer moss is my favorite because it is super green and bright.  You can find all of this at Michael's or Hobby Lobby.  I've also seen others who use a grapevine wreath and it looks great too. 

Warm up your glue gun and start gluing!  I put the glue directly on the Styrofoam.  I've also read you can use a spray adhesive which may be easier. 

Grab your favorite ribbon and place it where you like.  I'm not sure how this would hold up outside.  For sure would need to be in a covered area as some of the moss will shed. 

There you go!  A super simple wreath for the warmer months!

I'm still thinking about what kind of wreath I want to make this year.  Is there anything you'd like to see?

 

XOXO,

Jo