A Midsummer Mingle: Part 2

Today I want to take you by the hand and walk you through the most magical garden experience – in hopes to share with you a bit of the special journey our Midsummer guests experienced.

Not only did we want our Midsummer Mingle to be a fun and whimsical party but an experience for each of  you, our guests. Each host provided a space that was specific to their brand and current projects and shared a way for guests to interact and take part in their space. It was so delightful and full of pleasant and dreamy surprises and all around merry magic.

We asked guests to attend dressed in summer whites and after walking through the most incredible balloon arch (made by Brittany and interns) upon arrival, each were greeted with a floral crown and swag bag filled with lovely treasures from each host and darling earrings & sachets from Darly Bird and more. (Canvas bags were provided bay Save on Crafts -as was the incredible lighting throughout the space. I designed the flower for the bag which was created as an iron on using Cricut Explore.)

Ramblin Rose Cafe provided the food for the event and it was mouth watering refreshing. At the beginning of the event they served up the most incredible lemon lavender herbal tea which I am still dreaming about. It was a perfect sweet start to our tour around the garden. (and that camper…I mean c’mon!).

The first experience began with Camp Meta of One more Mushroom.

I mean just look at that darling tent and all the Pacific Northwest styling she has going on. I want to cozy on in and take a little summer mountain nap. Meta also had the sweetest polaroid cameras for guests to take photos of themselves and friends which could be placed within a paper frame.

Oh and I love how one of Henrik’s clay sculptures made to the camp. so perfect. She’s always so good with those little touches.

After camp guest were then invited to Tip-Toe Through the Tulips with Brittany of  The House that Lars Built. It was a magical floral wonderland filled with paper flowers, fabric and felt garlands, from Hello Maypole, paper lanterns and many more lovely things to delight the senses.

I just want to spend an afternoon here sipping lemon lavender tea and catching up with dear friends, don’t you?

Next came Sycamore Street Press and Eva’s minimal bohemian vibe complete with gorgeous inky indigo gift wrap covering walls. I heard guests mention that going from one space to the next was like getting in the brain of each host and visiting mini-lands. I think the transition from Brittany’s to Eva’s space was a perfect example of that. Going from bright light and airy sherbets to moody blues with a modern vibe was such a great transition. I love it!

Eva invited guests to write what their favorite thing about summer was on sheets of her wrapping paper and then hang it up. Reading what guests wrote – campfires, farmers markets, stargazing, homemade ice cream, etc. – really helped set the stage for summer magic.

After Eva’s space guest’s climbed up into an enclave of A Midsummer Night’s Dream complete with art work, characters and masks by the lovely Sarah Jane Studios.  I love how sweet her masks are. And her characters. And did you know that she’s doing wallpaper decals now?! So great.

After Sarah’s space guests walked down the steps to enjoy more refreshment such as these mouth watering cakes, made by Elizabeth Hammond, grape and basil toast, and watermelon mint water. They were also invited write notes in bottles which are to be set off to see with Blickenstaff’s.

I also had a station for guests to assemble paper floral crowns, from my upcoming book PLAYFUL!

The design can be cut by hand but it was fun to try it on a the new Cricut Explore machine as well. Makes it perfect for parties when you want multiples!

After the crown making and photo booth taking, guests were invited to adventure with Tiny Traveler Tilda, from my Tell the Tale with Mer instagram series. I made this map from a large drop cloth and Jon helped me hang it at the event (he’s amazing and helpful and handy like that).

I then invited guests to pin little flags onto the map where they thought Tiny Tilda should travel next. I loved seeing all the places you picked! I still have all the flags pinned onto the map and may just leave them there for travel inspiration. I also made a paper mache balloon for Tilda to travel in complete with a duct tape covered can for her basket (more on that DIY later!).From here guests could munch and mingle by the pool, listen to the Red Rock Hot Club band (an amazing gypsy band!), play with and learn more about Cricut in the conservatory, enter our raffle (see the raffle table filled with goodies above?! And I spy a sweet floral tent from Land of Nod hiding to the left) and make constellation candles with Caravan. 

Melanie had some of her lovely giant script printables on display as well as a few small versions prompting the scattering and sunshine and other delightful things for guests to bring home. Oh and she brought the sweetest wee babe with here…which she insisted on bringing back home with her even though we all wanted to stash her in our grab bags ;).

And of course one of the highlights for me was the amazing performance of the sweet maypole dancers. My Sister-in-Law, Mariann, just came up with the dance on the fly after watching a few you tube videos and her Color Guard girls did an amazing job of implementing it. I was so impressed with them!! It added such a sweet scandinavian touch to our event.

Phew! If you’ve stayed with me through all of this I hope you were inspired in some way. I know so many couldn’t make it person and there so many gorgeous photos from this event we all wanted to be sure to share as many moments with you as possible. And I hope it encourages you to enjoy every bit of your summer because, as the wise William Shakespeare once penned “Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.”

See more Midsummer Mingle recaps over on One More Mushroom, Sycamore Street Press, Caravan Shoppe, Sarah Jane Studios, and the House that Lars Built.