Oh Happy Day!

First Day of Summer Party

2013-06-18T15:40:07Z

I can’t believe the first day of summer is this Friday! To celebrate, I thought it would be fun to throw a special party – complete with themed invitations, colorful decorations, infused lemonade, mix and match popsicles, and fun gift bags. All week, I’ll be sharing the DIYs for each of these elements so that you can throw a similar summertime soiree. When it came to decorating the food table, we kept things simple: a few expandable honeycombs and a striped green tablecloth set the mood. (PS – My favorite summertime party treat.)

Photography by Paul Ferney for Oh Happy Day
Art Direction by Jordan Ferney
Production by Alison Piepmeyer
Styling by Caitlin Barker
Crafting by Tais Horta

Havasupai

2013-06-18T15:43:49Z

This post is brought to you by The New Santa Fe from Hyundai.

Last weekend we had an epic trip to Havasupai at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I wanted to share some of our pictures today. If you’ve never heard of it is this really special canyon on the Havasupai Indian Reservation where there are the most amazing sets of waterfalls with beautiful crystal blue water. It is a green and lush oasis in the middle of a hot and dry desert. It is one of the places where it actually lives up to the amazing pictures you see. I have been before but not since I was a teenager and I couldn’t remember a lot of the logistics for getting down there. Originally we had planned to go for a longer time and bring our kids but at the last minute we opted for a shorter trip and left the kids home with a babysitter. I’m glad we did only because I’ll be able to plan the trip where we bring kids a little better. The most amazing thing about Havasupai is… (click through for full post.)

the waterfalls. The only problem is it can be a little tricky to get there. But I’ve found some of the best places I’ve ever been to are hard to get to. It is a 5 hour drive to the rim from Las Vegas or Phoenix. Then once you are at the rim you can hike in 10 miles, or for an $85 fee helicopter in to Supai, the village. Then from Supai it is still another 2 miles (in addition to the 10 you just hiked) to get to the campground area. There are other options too where you can travel by horseback or even just have the helicopters or donkeys carry your packs for you while you hike.

We decided to hike in with packs. The biggest challenge of the hike is staying out of the heat. Most people start the hike at 5 am to avoid most of the hot daylight hours. We arrived in the afternoon but decided to wait until 4 pm so we would hike for a couple hot hours and then we would be in the shade of the canyon. It was hot! I grew up in the desert but I forgot how hot it can get. Once we had descended into the canyon there was shade and it wasn’t as bad. If I did it again I would consider helicoptering in or having my pack taken in for me. My reasoning is that it took us about a day to recover from the big hike and since we only had a few days in the canyon we would have had more time to explore and hike than take it easy swimming.

Once you get to the canyon everything is green and there is lots of shade. The campgrounds are in the shady areas near the river. The main falls are called Havasu Falls and they have great swimming pools at the bottom. These falls are the closest to the village and campground and are the busiest. A short hike beyond the campgrounds is Mooney Falls. These falls are require some hiking down with chains. The falls are really tall and there aren’t as many people swimming in the pool because it isn’t big and the undertow is strong. You can continue down beyond this to Beaver Falls and even down to the Colorado River. (I did that previously but we didn’t have time in this trip.) It is a really great trip to take with friends because you can hike, swim, or lay in a hammock and everyone can go at their own pace.

There is a fresh spring at the campground to get drinking water. We only ate backpacking food and trail mix type stuff. I was missing fresh produce pretty badly but anything tastes good when you are hungry and tired. There are no fires allowed so camp stoves are needed. They don’t have trash cans so you are required to hike out all of your garbage. There are some decent porta potties throughout the campground. Most people who hike out either leave early in the morning or else hike out in the evening. Our plan was to helicopter out to save time. The helicopter only runs on a few specific days and there is a lot of waiting involved. We arrived at 8am and didn’t helicopter out until about 2pm. In the end it would have been a little faster to hike.

Getting reservations is difficult. It requires making lots of phone calls until someone answers. They start taking bookings in February. Weekends are booked first so if you can go during the week its a lot easier to get reservations. We met a couple who didn’t make reservations at all and got their permits easily when they arrived. I wouldn’t recommend taking the chance but it is worth mentioning that people do it like that.

first photo by @onemorejuju other photos by Paul Ferney for Oh Happy Day.

Mix and Match Popsicles

2013-06-17T15:41:21Z

This summer inspiration is brought to you by Target. Find more fun and surprises all season long on Target’s #SummerUp Pinterest board. http://pinterest.com/target/summerup

On warm summer evenings, there’s nothing more perfect than a popsicle. We like to sit on our front stoop and eat them while we people watch. So it seemed obvious to include them in a First Day of Summer party. My friend Andrea came up with a great “Mix ‘N Match” idea. She makes 5 or 6 different popsicle flavors, then layers them in the popsicle mold before freezing. That way, each popsicle is a little different – and each guest can pick one that fits their own tastes.

Click through for instructions.

Fresh Fruit Popsicles

2 1/2 cups fruit chunks, such as strawberries, raspberries, mango, or pineapple

1/3 cup sugar (or more to taste)

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup water

pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Taste and add more sugar if too tart. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze until solid.

Coconut Milk Popsicles

2 1/2 cups coconut milk

1/2 cup sugar

Combine ingredients. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze until solid.

Chocolate Popsicles

1 1/2 cup milk or coconut milk

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Combine milk and sugar in a small saucepan and bring just to a simmer. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Allow chocolate to soften for 2 or 3 minutes, then whisk until fully melted and smooth (process in blender if mixture seems grainy). Add vanilla extract and salt. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze until solid.

Tips and Tricks:

We made 6 different flavors of popsicles that could be mixed and matched to make endless combinations! We made mango, pineapple, strawberry, raspberry, coconut, and chocolate, but you can make as many or as few as you would like.
Don’t bother with the handles that come with your popsicle molds and use popsicle sticks instead. This allows you to make multiple batches over the course of a few days so that you have enough for a crowd. Just keep the popsicle mixtures in the refrigerator until ready to freeze.
Gently spoon mixture into molds to create different patterns and flavor combinations. Don’t pour too quickly or the flavors will just mix together.
To create sharp stripes, freeze between each layer. Try making angles by filling halfway and placing at an angle in the freezer. When frozen solid, fill with another flavor and stand upright.
Each recipe yields approximately 3 cups, enough to fill about 6 large popsicle molds. (These popsicle molds from Target are great.)
Unmold popsicles by running under warm water for about one minute. Place in a flat container lined with parchment or wax paper and between each layer of popsicles. Cover tightly with a lid or plastic wrap to store.

Recipes by Andrea Pimental
Photography by Paul Ferney for Oh Happy Day
Art Direction by Jordan Ferney
Production by Alison Piepmeyer
Styling by Caitlin Barker
Crafting by Tais Horta

Favorite Party Ideas This Week

2013-06-14T15:38:46Z

1. I love these hanging paper diamonds on 100 Layer Cake.
2. Say Yes to Hoboken‘s adorable fruit wands are perfect for the 4th of July.
3. Pretty paper flower monogram cake toppers by DesignSponge.
4. The House That Lars Built‘s creative gift wrapping for Dad.
5. Awesome paper lamps by BoligLiv (via Decor8.)

I bought a Photobooth

2013-06-13T21:12:46Z

If you follow me on instagram or even twitter then you may have seen that last month I bought a vintage photobooth. It is kind of a crazy story but here is part of it. About 10 years ago I started looking into buying a photobooth. I know the digital kind are more practical but I’m obsessed with the kind with film. They are becoming harder and harder to find. I scoured Ebay and Craigslist and found almost no options. I remembered that there was a photobooth in Kmart in college and I remembered I had to get my money back once and talked to the nice guy that ran the booths. So I called Kmart and asked for his phone number and gave him a call. He told me he had several booths for sale and told me about the booths were $1500-$2500 and all the issues we would be dealing with. At the time we were newlyweds and lived in a one bedroom apartment in San Francisco and buying one was too unrealistic. There wasn’t enough money or space to purchase one. I saved his number and called him every few years to check in on pricing and availability. We almost bought one before we moved to France but Paul talked me out of it because of obvious reasons (we were moving to France!) When we got back to the States last year I warned Paul that this was the year I wanted to buy a photobooth. He agreed that we had space for it and could make it work financially. I finally called up the number a few months ago only to find out that the number was disconnected. I was heartbroken. After all these years of waiting on buying a booth and now they were gone. I asked my friend Charlotte a huge favor and had her do some reconnaissance since she lived near the guy. Charlotte ended up talking to the man’s wife who told her the man had passed away last year. She also said she had two storage units of photobooths and that a guy was coming out next week to make an offer on all of them. She said if I wanted to buy one I had to do it that week. I am grateful that we thought we had lost the photobooths for a few days because it made me realize how bad I wanted one. I booked a ticket the next day and flew out to Salt Lake City to arrange to have it shipped back to San Francisco. It is now in our studio in San Francisco! The photobooth needs some serious TLC to get it looking pretty and to get it functional. I’m working on getting this booth revamped and running by next month. You can read all about it and see pictures over here on the Go Mighty blog. I am going to be going through all the nitty gritty of getting this thing back to its former glory. I am a very goal oriented person (I love lists!) so I love the concept of Go Mighty. It’s a place to keep all your life list goals in one spot.

I took this photo a few years ago at a County Fair.

3 Urban Hikes in San Francisco

2013-06-13T16:24:14Z

Brought to you by Brita Filtering Bottles. One Brita Bottle can save up to 300 plastic bottles of waste. Learn more.

San Francisco has so many really great urban hikes around the city. I’ve lived here almost 10 years and I’m still discovering ones I’ve never been to. Brita asked me to put together my favorite hikes in the city and test out their new water bottles, I was happy to. The Brita Water bottle has a filter in the bottle, which comes in super handy when you are stuck with a less-than-ideal water source. San Francisco is my favorite place in the world and even if you are visiting I recommend mixing one of these little hikes in with all the regular tourist sites. They all take less than an hour and have great sweeping views.

1. Historic Trail. This trail is great because it makes me feel like I’m not smack dab in the middle of a city. It goes through a really nice wilderness area and ends up near Sutro Tower. The trailhead starts at Stanyan and 17th and is just a set of wooden stairs tucked in between two houses on the street.

See more after the jump.

2. Bernal Hill. The best thing about Bernal Hill are the views. If I’m feeling ambitious sometimes I run up the whole thing. My friend Victoria brought me here and it is one of my favorite spots because it is so easy to get to from the Mission. Park along Bernal Heights Boulevard and Ellsworth Street for easy access.

3. Lands End. This hike is exactly what it sounds like, its where the land ends. It is the most north west point in the city and is really special. You hike along the water with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific Ocean stretching out. You can’t go wrong over here.

Photos by Paul Ferney for Oh Happy Day

Watercolor Floral Crown DIY

2013-06-12T18:46:03Z

These adorable mini crowns would be the perfect addition to any little girls’ party. They’re really easy to make, and don’t require expert painting skills. In fact, they look better when they’re not perfect, even a little messy. Once you’ve painted a floral pattern, use our template (below) to turn it into a crown. Every little girl at the party will feel like a princess! (PS – Don’t forget about these pretty Watercolor Party Hats!)

Click through for instructions.

Materials: Watercolor Paper, Shades of Green, Pink and Red Watercolors, Water, A Variety of Small Paint Brushes, Crown Template, Pencil, Scissors, Quick Dry Glue, X-Acto Knife, Elastic

Step 1: Dip a paint brush into the water, then into your first red color. Swirl the color around in a circle on the watercolor paper. This will be your first flower.
Step 2: Repeat Step 1 until your paper is covered in random assortment of red and pink shades. If you’d like the color to be varying within each flower, you can swirl over the them again with a smaller paint-covered brush once the first layer has dried.
Step 3: Dip a paint brush into water, then into your first shade of green. Paint your leaves. You can either paint an actual leaf shape, or just use wide brush strokes in varying green colors. We did both.
Step 4: Once the paint has dried, print your Crown Template and trace it onto your painting. We traced on the side that had be painted so we could see where the cut marks would happen.
Step 5: Cut out the crown.
Step 6: Glue the edges together so they form a crown shape.
Step 7: Use the X-Acto knife to cut small X’s in either side of the crown.
Step 8: Thread your elastic through these X’s and tie a knot so they stay secure.
Step 9: Wear it and party like a princess!

Photography by Sarah Hebenstreit of Modern Kids Photography for Oh Happy Day
Art Direction by Jordan Ferney
Production and Styling by Alison Piepmeyer
Crafting by Caitlin Barker
Thanks to little Sophie for modeling

Kiwi Crate

2013-06-11T16:46:24Z

Have you heard of Kiwi Crate? They sell these cool green boxes filled with crafting projects for kids that they ship right to your house. I have heard of this concept before but was so impressed with the quality of the execution. They are really well done! A new crate arrives directly to your doorstep each month and includes two different crafts. We’ve tried a few of them and they are awesome. The one below is the Colorful Inspiration Kit. Moses and I did a stained glass project that he then hung in our kitchen window and looked at it with the 3-D glasses included. In the box there were enough supplies for them to make three times (perfect for siblings.) The other project in the box were these tops you could color. The kids colored them with the markers included and then played with them for an hour. It was great. The kids loved the process of making something with their hands and I loved that it didn’t require an extra trip to the store for supplies. What impressed me most about Kiwi Crate were two things. 1. These were cool projects that my kids actually want to make and 2. The kits are cheaper than if I went to the store and bought all the materials myself. I highly recommend this! They have a new line of kits that are perfect for summer or for special occasions when you need projects to entertain children.

This post is sponsored by Kiwi Crate. Get 25% off your first month subscription with Kiwi Crate with the promo code: happy25 before it expires 6/16. Valid for new customers only; not valid for sibling add ons.

Photography by Kim A. Thomas for Oh Happy Day

Paper Mobile DIY

2013-06-10T07:51:26Z

For a while now, I’ve been wanting to do this refresh of one of my favorite projects. Originally, I made these Colorful Vellum Mobiles for Project Wedding. But, I’ve wanted to try the DIY again with smaller strips of cardstock instead. I love that the final product feels so delicate. When all hung up together, the mobiles look like they’re dancing. (PS – We used this same process to make the Circle Photobooth for our Mod Party!)

Click through for instructions…

Materials: Sewing Machine, Colorful Cardstock, Scissors

Step 1: Cut your sheets of cardstock into thin strips. (We use a stack cutter to make the process go more quickly.)
Step 2: On your sewing machine, leave a tail of thread at the beginning. (This will be used to attach the mobile to the ceiling.) Then sew down the middle of the first strip. Feed in additional strips of paper in random order and try to be consistent with the space left between each strip of paper. When you’ve reached your desired length, finish the mobile by cutting off any excess string.
Step 3: Hang your mobiles at varying length above a table or as a photobooth backdrop!

Photography by Sarah Hebenstreit of Modern Kids Photography for Oh Happy Day
Art Direction by Jordan Ferney
Production and Styling by Alison Piepmeyer
Crafting by Caitlin Barker

Favorite Party Ideas This Week

2013-06-07T14:32:00Z

1. Designlovefest is filling her friends’ cars with flower bombs.
2. We love Maybelle‘s calligraphy. Don’t miss her new website and Etsy shop!
3. These wedding invitations by The Indigo Bunting are lovely (and make me wish I was back in Paris.)
4. Snowdrop and Company made some seriously awesome diamond decorations over on Sugar & Cloth.
5. It seems like Simple Lovely‘s weekend was pretty awesome.