My pick for this week’s cocktail is this crazy delicious looking rhubarb raspberry fizz over at Golubka, dreamed up by Sarah of The Vanilla Bean Blog. Made with fresh berries, rhubarb and vanilla bean it’d be equally as tasty as an alcohol-free refreshment as it would be with a liberal splash of bourbon. I love this time of year when it’s so much easier to pick up fresh ingredients at the farmer’s market or grocery store to really elevate the flavors when cooking. But, seriously, don’t underestimate the power of fresh ingredients in your cocktails, too! Skip the pre-made sticky sweet mixers and go fresh. Like, you know, with raspberries and rhubarb. With summer coming, let’s toast with this rhubarb raspberry fizz, shall we? Get the recipe at Golubka!

[Photo + recipe by The Vanilla Bean Blog for Golubka.]

As promised earlier this week when we talked about making patterned napkins with fabric markers, today I’m going to show you another quick and easy way to gussy up your table. This time it’s all about the no-sew cloth napkins! This trick has been one of my go-to ways to style a table for years. Because, honestly, a lot of store-bought table linens are kind of meh when it comes to design, colors and patterns. And we like things to be fun, peppy and pretty! Or, at least I do. And I’m assuming you do, too. With this crazy easy technique you’ll be able to make napkins that add a pop of style to your table in no time. So let’s hop to it!

Supplies -

• Fabric of your choice (cotton is best)
• Iron-on seam tape (available at any fabric store – I used this kind)
• Rule or tape measure
• Protective cutting surface
• Fabric rotary cutter (mine is similar to this one)
• Iron

First up, you need your fabric! One of my favorite sources for fabric is Spoonflower. You could also use a sheet or pillowcase or any other random piece of fabric that you love instead of buying yardage. Next up measure out a piece roughly 13″ square, which leaves you enough for a 1/2″ seam around the entire perimeter. Then just run a line of seam tape along one edge, leaving that 1/2″ border between the tape and edge of the fabric. Use your iron to bond the tape to the fabric, using the instructions as provided by the manufacturer of your particular seam tape. Continue in this fashion around all four sides of your fabric.

Then begin folding up the edge of the fabric to cover the top of the seam tape and iron to bond the two together. Continue around each side, tucking and trimming the fabric at the corners to create a clean edge. Keep in mind that your napkins don’t need to be perfect! I like perfect, I’m sure you like perfect, too. But guess what? Nobody is going to pay much attention to the back of your napkins so make it as neat as you can without getting too crazy. (That from the girl who tends to get a little crazy about these things.) Then give the napkin a good overall ironing and voila! You have your very own custom cloth napkins that will literally only take a few minutes each to make.

What I love about this project is that it’s really crazy easy! It allows you to quickly dress up your table without a look of work and without contending against boring run of the mill linens. (Can you tell I have a vendetta against boring table linens?) I’ve been using this technique for years now – whether for entertaining friends or styling photo shoots – and it never fails to impress.

[Design + styling by Cyd Converse for The Sweetest Occasion. | Photos by Alice G. Patterson.]

Sources -
Fabric + rotary cutter from Michaels
Steam-a-Seam from Hobby Lobby
Dinnerware by Heath Ceramics
Flatware, pitcher + shakers are all vintage

The fine print: Please link with love! As with all of our posts, DIY projects featured on The Sweetest Occasion may not be copied, distributed or reproduced without express written permission. Love and links are always appreciated! If you’d like to share this post, please link to this post directly for the DIY tutorial and do not include the instructions in your own post. Thanks so much! xoxo

This post was sponsored by Keep, my favorite new site for all things shopping and inspiration. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that so generously help keep The Sweetest Occasion rockin’!

Just a quick reminder that today is the last day to enter our amazing giveaway with Keep! One grand prize winner will win $250 toward sweetening up their pad and one runner up will win one of my favorite picks for home from this collection! I’ve been loving Keep as an awesome resource for sourcing, finding and collecting inspiration for our home as we’ve been unpacking, organizing and designing the space. I’ve been creating collections for different areas in our home and for different product categories I’ve been researching extensively, such as wall art, area rugs and bedding. I love that it’s so easy for me to stash and find all the things I’m loving and may want to purchase, without having to sift through loads of bookmarks.

I hope you’ll pop over and give Keep a little test run. And I hope you’ll enter the giveaway, too! I am such a Keep addict these days so join me there and we can share in our shopping obsession together!

This post was sponsored by Keep. Read more about our editorial policies.

This week’s color palette is a couple days late, but I kind of think it’s worth the wait. Because we’re talking strawberries. How I’m a bit obsessed with them at the moment. And how this kind of feels like the perfect late spring color palette! (Um, even if I do say so myself.) In truth, this color palette was completely inspired by this strawberry cake, which is a recipe I need to try. I am obsessed with strawberry cake – my mom has made me one every year for my birthday since I was six and, well, it’s some kind of perfection if you ask me. Along with those strawberry margaritas from last week, I’m realizing there’s a bit of a strawberry fest going on around here. And I’m totally ok with that. I hope you are, too!

[Photos, from top: Jen Huang via Grey Likes Weddings | Amelia | Hannah Messinger of Nothing But Delicious.]

Always a sucker for an awesome birthday party, I’m pretty much just that, a straight up sucker, for little Asher’s first birthday bash! His momma Casey Baudoin of the adorable blog Sugar Lander planned such a sweet fete for the little guy. Think long colorful strands of paper bunting, a smash cake topped with a muscle man, a little felt party hat and loads of cupcakes for good measure. You know, all the good stuff. It’s all the happy, colorful little details here that make this celebration so darn happy. Plus I can never resist a cute kid with frosting all up on their face and you know you can’t either. I’m calling your bluff if you even try to deny the frosting face!

Many thanks to Casey for sharing – pop on over to Sugar Lander for more photos!

[Photos by Casey Baudoin of Sugar Lander.]