Hive Jive

Gold + Bee has a circle of hip ladies around the hive.  They have flair, they make style look effortless, and we adore them!  They have been a great support to our budding business and we are grateful for that.

We thought "what fun!" to tap into their creative minds with a new and recurring G + B blog guest post called 'Hive Jive'. The first guest post is from our good friend Nat, a nature based jewelry designer with her own business, she paints, thrifts, crafts, and raises her 3 adorable kids with  free-spirited fun and artful-mindfulness.

Enjoy!

-Sonal & Melissa

ANTIQUING WITH KIDS???

This morning the kids and I went out for breakfast in rural NH.  On our way home we were passing some antique markets.  I was dying to go in  - my mouth was literally watering - but I knew it would be a disaster with three kids dying to touch (and destroy) every little glass figurine.  Today was a little cold and windy, and not ideal for boating....so I decided to push my luck. As I pulled into the market, I had no idea how much FUN IT WOULD BE WITH KIDS!!!!

They had so many questions.  Yes, I let them pick things up (all non-breakables of course) and they were extremely curious.  My kids had never seen the following:
1.  a potato ricer

2.  hand-crank mixer

3. old fashioned bait bucket (they thought it must be something for bread baking)

4.  a REAL milk crate

We walked away with so many goodies (all under $10) and they have the stories to go with them.  It was like a history lesson - the best kind.  Is this what home-teaching moms do with their kids daily?

-Nat

DIY fun

Two weeks ago I talked about some house projects that I was working on.  Things in that department are moving along although not at the pace that I would like.  Putting a second coat of paint on Rowan's bed frame today.  His mattress will be here soon and I already have his clothesline crisp sheets from the Vermont Country Store (they are the best!).  The bed looks great... and I cannot wait to see him sleeping in it!  The plan for gray walls has been changed, and now I'm thinking of maybe doing red stripes on his ceiling... and not changing the room color at all.  We'll see... it's always a work in progress.

On a different note, I really love the do-able in an hour DIY project with the kids.  I've been looking around (as I always do) on blogs, pinterest, and where-ever else for new fresh and useful things that we can make together.  I found a cool one on a blog called Rust & Sunshine... one that makes use of plastic containers from the grocery store/ bakery.  I always have these in the house!
Check out the project here.  It's just like shrinky dinks... there are so many crafting possibilities beyond the bracelet.  I'm totally doing this with Amiya!

turn this...

into this

Bit-O-Honey

Glasses, the drinking kind...

Both Sonal and I have a lot of quirks, which I'm sure our readers have picked up on.  One of these is our affection for glasses, the drinking kind. We figured this out one day when Sonal received a package containing her vintage glassware obsession, frosted glasses with a key-hole shape on one side, revealing a woman painted on the other side (very mid-century kitsch).  They were SPECTACULAR!   They, when combined with the set that she already had, made quite a cool collection.

Her obsession started 14 years ago when she found the same keyhole glasses, a lovely set of 4, that she gave to her sister.  Later she found another set of non frosted lady glasses that she kept for herself.  Sadly both sets were accidentally destroyed by the dishwasher... sadness.  These sets are in better condition and are larger than the first two.  Sonal is very proud of her lady glasses and only pulls them out for special occasions.

 My own obsession started in 1992 sitting at my best friend's kitchen table and her mom made us sweet tea, served in the MOST AMAZING leaded crystal glasses.  I was infatuated with the weight of them, and how they looked so rich and classic.  I conjured up images of myself drinking Scotch in 1955 wearing a party dress and white gloves. Now, fast forward 20 years to yesterday, when I unexpectedly found them for a quarter of the price (everything is more thrilling when you save money). Pure joy...now if only I liked Scotch.

Cheers and happy drinking!

xoxo - Melissa and Sonal

Inspiration for a Hairy Party

We're throwing a BEERD party!  It's a surprise for a special someone soon turning 40!  It's not a typo... it's a bash celebrating his love of BEER and his beard.

So in trying to think of ways to make it cohesive and fun I have seached etsy and pinterest for ideas...

via

via 

I loved the ideas in the party above.  The beer bottle decor was cute, and the beer caps are so colorful I'm pretty sure we could come up with something to do with them...

As for color, it would be cute to go for the lumberjack red plaid- envision table runner, buntings, and fringe.  I'd love to use natural fibers- simulating beard hair- envision an entryway where you walk through long hair... is that gross?

via

A photo booth will DEFINITELY be a major attraction... with lots of funky beard props to accessorize with.

It's something that I didn't understand or even know about when I was single... but the love of good beer and the attachment to your beard is strong (no pun intended).  This love will be united as we help our dear Marty celebrate 40 great years at his surprise BEERD party!

and remember DON"T SPILL THE BEANS!!!!!!!!!!!

Bit-O-Honey

What was your last house project?  If you're like me you have a long list of things that you are planning to make/reorganize/paint etc..  But when is there time to actually COMPLETE any one project?  

My house feels like a constant work in progress... some days I shift around furniture... other days I scour craigs list...and most of the time I just fill up my pinterest boards with inspiring ideas... but lately I have been very excited about 3 house projects that I'm determined to actually complete.

1) Remove ugly carpet from our stairs- replace with ?hmmmm

2) Paint our front door PINK

3) Paint Rowan's room gray and his new bed frame yellow... and then redo the window shades.

Have a productive weekend!  xoxo Sonal & Melissa

Polished and Rustic, together at last?

 Since the Gold and the Bee are both bow wearing, sparkle obsessed, ruffle wearing ladies, most of our parties tend to be geared toward the femininity of girls. 

Recently, though,  to recover from my sugary overdose, I have been thinking (a lot) about doing a totally masculine party.  I am chomping at the bit to mix the look of a rustic barn, with vintage weathered leather furniture topped off with polished masculine touches (think bales of hay, glass and metals). 

The picture in my mind looks a little something like these images I found while scouring the internet.  

What do you guys think? Cool, right?

Cheers and happy party planning!

-Melissa

Bit-O-Honey

Last week Gold+Bee was inspired by an adorable pink+yellow lemonade stand we spied on Pinterest. It made us reminisce back to our own days, out on the curb peddling the sweet stuff to our neighbors. 

 So, yesterday, as the sun was shining and the temperatures were rising, we decided it was high time to set up shop on the curb and wow the neighborhood with our own take on the good ol'fashioned lemonade stand.

We put the kids to work on the chalkboard sign, while we set up a very Gold+Bee display (complete with pink buntings, vintge yellow stools, painted mason jars and lots of lemons). The colorful stand caught the eye of many passers-by and the kids reeled them in with their charms.  The stand was a success, and we are excited to do it again very soon!

Have a wonderful and inspired weekend!

Xoxo, Sonal+Melissa

Happy 4th!

There's nothing I like better than summertime fun, and this past weekend's Independence party definitely did not disappoint. The weather was in the 90's, and I had the pleasure of spending it in Connecticut with lovely friends by their backyard pool.  Now, this was not a Gold+Bee party, but it was just as fun. There was tons of delicious food to gnosh on, champagne cocktails to sip, American themed t-shirts, tons of games to play, and the music was set for dancing!

On Saturday night we really feasted. The guys on the grill whipped up some veggie kebabs and marinated chicken breasts that were tender and delicious. In the kitchen I helped assemble a tomato mozzarella salad drizzled with a balsalmic reduction (one of the kitchen delights I learned from my father). To go with the meal, I brought my homemade macaroni and cheese, which was sinfully caloric.
The beauty of this evening, and the whole weekend really,was everybody together, cooking, eating, drinking and laughing together. I've said it before and I'll say it again, nothing beats a backyard bash!

Cheers, Melissa

As for us... we were in beautiful Vermont for a lovely 3 day weekend with some good friends.  We settled into a big A-frame house in the woods of Queechee, did a lot of cooking, eating and drinking and saw some local sites.  The kids enjoyed the simple joys of playing in a yard (where there was no fear of nearby cars) and soaking in a hot tub and doing silly things like creating a room of all pillows.  The warm summer air was the perfect place to enjoy late night decadent dinners with our friends accompanied by great wine.  It was glorious to stay up late sitting out on the deck looking at the treetops in front of us and the stars up above.  

Happy Summer!
-Sonal