water color clothespins for cakes

Hello October! I've been doing some fall purging and freshening... I started with my son's room and have been working my way around the house. One corner at a time. My daughter needed a new spot for all of her little things... from hair accessories to collections. That lead to a tiny blue shelf and a new display above it... which inspired these water colored clothespins. Because they won't be hanging wet clothes, I  wasn't worried about paint bleeding. The wood soaked the colors right up and gave them just the soft look I was going for. I even used some of our cheaper paints and was impressed by the sweetness of the outcome.  5 minutes to paint. 15 minutes to dry. Easy!

Here's the job they were intended for. Excuse the rainy day lighting, especially the rest of the photos. My children have southern exposure windows with a huge tree in front them. It won't be long before they go from the darkest and coolest rooms in the house to the ones flooded with winter sunlight! For now, they simply stink for shoots.

 My mother has given my Christmas birthday girl a cake ornament each year since birth. They don't get packed away with the other holiday decorations, and so they've been displayed in various ways over the years. There are finally enough to create a sweet banner.

 Because I'm crazy sentimental, I made the top shelf an ode to mothers and daughters. The peartroshkas are made by me (the baby seems to have wondered off). The cradle was my grandmother's and the little wee felted doll inside was made by my mother and finished up on the plane ride east to greet her several hours old granddaughter. The little panda mama and baby stuffy (hard to see) was stitched by my girl. Four generations!

About the cakes- the first three were from Anthropologie, but I urged my mother (who can make anything) to stop that silliness. The rest have been handmade. For her 7th birthday she got two, because my mom was couldn't help herself with a 7 of hearts. Whoops, looks a little twisted in that photo above... better below. The cake is a button, I believe!