Mandy and Todd's Wedding

I'd been holding back on featuring the June wedding I worked on so that Ali, the photographer of the wedding, could work on having it featured on one of the big wedding sites. Well, hold back no more! Mandy and Todd's wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty!

Go here to see the mention on their main page.

And then here to see the wedding in all of its yellow, papaya red and coral glory!

The sewing for this reception was by far the most fun. Yard after yard of fabric (good upholstery fabric no less) went into runners, pillows, and accents. Heaven.  It was a very modern and elegant wedding with the bride handling an impressive amount of the DIY projects.

The entrance table when you entered Greystone featured a vase covered in her signature fabric. The florist, Tulip, was wonderful to work with!

(Note UGA Hairy Dawg in the background. He showed up for dancing, pictures, 

and to remind everyone what school rules!

Mandy had some frames on hand that mimicked the yellow fabric and so we utilized those. 

Here on the gift table.

Even the outside patios got a little fabric accent with these squares.

Adjacent to the dance floor, window seats provided extra seating.

I sewed all the pillows using the yellow signature fabric and a floral one. 

Two pillows, using a coral shade of cotton, sported their B monogram.

I had this designed by Laura Gosnell (who also designed my business cards!). 

I enlarged the monogram on the copier, cut it out and then traced it onto the fabric.

Used acrylic paint mixed in a lovely ivory shade with fabric medium.

Such a great keepsake . . . pillows. 

For the runners on the small tables in front of the window seats, I created geometric ends (to mirror the geometric pattern on the fabric). There's not a picture here, but the giant runner I made for the food table is in her yellow signature fabric. The ends of that runner was the same but instead of square shapes they were circular (again, to match the pattern on the fabric).

I've never used the below birdcage for any event. 

But it was made for this one, as the clover shape in the lattice matches the yellow fabric pattern!

The florist filled the feeders on each side with flowers. So pretty.

It held all the envelope gifts.

The cookie table had a papaya runner, and the cookie jars (straight from Walmart) boasted cardstock signage on  floral fabric that I Mod Podged to the glass.

All photography courtesy of Ali Harper Photography!

Hansel and Gretel Furniture

Some people like to infuse a bit of red into every room, but I much prefer a hit of black. I bought this chair at a thrift store ages ago and it has served us well. See the before, a faded minty yellow flat finish. I adore painted black furniture  — ala Hitchcock chairs, Swedish painted furniture, cottage furniture, or, what I like to call, Hansel and Gretel pieces. The chair got a heavy coating of gloss black, then the acrylic paints came out to make flowers, finished off with gold detail using a gold paint pen. Belongs in a forest cottage!

Love Arrows

 And so Jesse, one of the two September wedding gals whose wedding I'm helping with, fell in love with the arrows featured on DesignSponge. And so I got to work on crafting them. Instead of using wooden hearts, ala designsponge, I made a felt version and a paper version. Had some trouble gluing the cut feathers onto the dowel (because the feathers aren't straight, I'd glue down one end only for the other end to pop up and visa versa), and so I opted to glue the entire feather to the wood, knowing that you'd only be looking at one side. (Laura at work said I should steam the feathers to straighten them.) The paint and embroidery floss are in her wedding colors. Love her palette!

I plan on making more, trying out wooden hearts, straightening then cutting the feathers, and gluing on paper like the ones on designsponge. 

We'll incorporate them into the wedding ceremony and reception. Got to give that some thought.

A Little Decorating at Chateau Gahan

I've been wanting an upholstered headboard for quite some time. Do you know how expensive they are to buy? Expensive enough that I took matters into my own hands. And here's how I did it. Now keep in mind that an equally inexpensive way to do it would have been to buy and cut plywood, but there are two obstacles there for this single mom: 1) too doggone heavy to work with, and 2) I would have had to put it up using hardware. Two things I knew I could work around. AND, the most important reason to tackle it as I did is that I want to have some flexibility with the shape of it.

I'm starting with a rectangular shape but think ultimately I'd like a curved shape like the Cleveland below.

So here's how I created my headboard . . . I bought an inexpensive piece of foamcore. Gatorboard would have been better, but it was not in my budget. Gatorboard doesn't bow like foamcore does. So to alleviate the bowing, I stabilized the single thickness of cheap foamcore by duct-taping smaller pieces of used and ready-to-be-thrown-out foamcore onto it. Not pretty to look at, but it achieved the rigidness.

The foam. Expensive expensive expensive by the yard. Even with the 40% Jo-Ann coupon, it was still going to be costing me more than I wanted to spend. Right next to the by-the-yard foam was a display of eggcrate mattress toppers. I purchased a full-size-bed one, which after the coupon came to around $20. The foam, even with the coupon, would have been close to $60. The eggcrate side of the topper goes against the foamcore, so what is exposed is flat foam. Perfect. (Although I did have to cut the topper to cover the foamcore in its entirety and have enough to fold under the edges; not a bigee, though).

The fabric was a find at Hancock Fabrics. I so wanted an eggshell blue or dove grey velvet, but . . . someday. In the meantime, this pretty floral was on sale for $4 a yard (and it's 54" decorator fabric). A steal.

I pulled the fabric over the edges of the foamcore, pulling enough mattress topper with it to give the edges a  soft rounded feel. And I secured the fabric with T-pins. Yes, T-pins. If you put them in at the perfect angle, they ain't goin' anywhere. They push right through the foamcore.

And when it was done, I put it against the wall, resting the base within the metal bedframe. As you can see, I need to pull the fabric a little tighter to get rid of some wrinkles. And I'm debating whether to add buttons to give it a tufted look. How easy would that be??? Simply pull the thread through the foamcore and tie it tightly on the back so that the button sinks nicely into the topper foam.

So, I'm going to live with this a bit, then cut it to make the curved shape I think I'll be happiest with.

And here is a painting a friend gave to me (along with some other true treasures). She's moving and purging, and some of her items now have a home here at Chateau Gahan.

Easter in July

When Laura sent me this post via Barbara, I knew I couldn't wait until next Easter to try out a Martha craft using silk ties to dye eggs. I made a pit stop at my local thrift store but could only find two 100% silk ties with a decent pattern (but alas not a lot of color, which is supposedly the way to go with these bad maama jaamas). I tried this one (a black and white Art Deco-ish pattern) and it came out wonderfully. So now I'm on the hunt for silk ties — loud ones. Just one more reason to stop in every thrift store I come across!!!

Hometown Nazareth VBS — The Rolling Sets

Bad me. I didn't capture pictures of the rolling sets as they were used during VBS. We had fake trees all around them as well as children dressed in costumes. The little girls carried baskets of fruits and vegetables on their heads; adorable.  I took these pictures inside. Sorry they're void of any charm and character, as I took these pictures in an empty children's auditorium. But you get the idea.

This rolling set has a gate that opens and closes. The men who built it for me thought of everything, including the one-piece ramp that fits snugly over the base of the frame. The clothesline holds a fabric sign — I painted the theme name on it. It's clothes-pinned on so that it can easily come down and clothes can be hung.

The second set has a doorway. For both pieces I glued straw on the "roof". After gluing it down I staple-gunned a strip of cardboard the full length so that stray pieces of straw would stay in place.

The opposite side of both sets is an indoor scene. I hung these plastic peppers and perched a dollar store bird on the roof. The curtains at the window and doorway are hung on branches. And there's even a little mouse hole (I printed out an illustration from the web, which when I enlarged it became very pixelated, so I just painted over it to give it definition.)

Seersucker Bridal Shower

What could possibly say summer more than seersucker? It's not a scream, or a bark, it's more of a southern drawl that speaks to the summer season. A good looking man in a seersucker suit, white bucks, a bow tie, is . . . well, even better looking.

And so with Sherry's bridal shower scheduled for July 23 at Chateau Gahan, I wanted to pick a summery theme. She's getting married in October on St. Simons Island in a beautiful boutique hotel on the beach and will be incorporating beachy items, so I wanted to keep the beach theme exclusive to her wedding. With a little brainstorming, seersucker seemed the perfect fit to decorate with.

For the invitations, most of which were handed out at work to the gals (and a handful to be mailed), I covered a piece of foamcore with seersucker fabric, folded and ironed a pocket which I then glued down, printed the invite itself on some nice cream matte stock, tucked it inside the pocket, and attached a flower tied with a floral ribbon.

For the shower, I plan on doing seersucker table runners and maybe some little keepsakes for all the girls. So much to think about!!!!

A little bit o' this, a little bit o' that

A post of randomness, but then again, this long weekend, as focused as it's been on the upcoming wedding, has been so wonderfully full of happenings. Time with Harleigh, probably more one-on-one time than we've shared in a while, long talks at the kitchen table in the early mornings over coffee. Lots of episodes of Parks & Recreation because we love laughing with each other as much as we love our gabbing. A long overdue trip to Target (I honestly haven't been there in for-e-ver) where we stocked up on summer sunscreen and goodies for her campers. Grocery shopping and then cooking dinners together. Working out together, our earphones on as we catch up on the Bravo Housewives. Tomorrow for Memorial Day I will be at church for a good part of the day painting scenery for Vacation Bible School.

Here is a small sampling of my hydrangea cuttings 

(I so need to add some other colors to the purple blue ones I have). 

When Gideon was younger, he loved to move furniture and pillows.

We'd come home and find a chair pushed to a new location, the pillows

rearranged on the sofa. A would-be interior designer?

Whatever the case, this poor boy, living in a house with two girly girls,

is bound to appreciate beauty in his surroundings. 

His bed is no exception. He loves to sleep with his head resting on something.

And so we added these pillows to his bed.

Big spoiled boy. Adore him.

Mandy, the bride stopped by today to drop off more stuff that I'll need to transport to the 

reception site. The living room and study are covered in boxes and bags.

Keeping my fingers crossed that everything fits in my SUV.

Here are just a few of the items I've crafted. Mandy and Tod are doing a cookie bar, with homemade cookies for the guests to take home in sweet little paper envelopes. I took one of her fabrics and decorated the jars; each will have a label with the type of cookie on it. They are also having a photo booth which we've created using a camera on a tripod, her signature yellow fabric as the backdrop, and enough props, hats and chalkboards to make for some fun picture keepsakes.

The fake gift that I created for the gift table is made especially for them (despite the fact that it's empty). The coral paper fits in with one of the main colors of her wedding, and the shells on the paper and as a topper are reminiscent of the beach where they got engaged (literally on the beach!).

Last Minute Wedding TO DOs

Taking these next few days to wrap up all of the wedding decor for Mandy and Todd's June 4 wedding. Gideon has a favorite napping spot underneath my craft table.

Found this miniature hutch at the thrift store and think it will be nice to hold my smaller sized scissors. It needed something to warm it up so I made this fabric banner cutting up an old lace-edged hanky and stringing them onto embroidery floss. My idea of taking a break . . . tackling a little, just a little, craft project.

The Joys and Bumps of My Trip to Statesboro

Harleigh finished up finals on Wednesday and then had to be out of her dorm yesterday by 11:20. It took us two cars to get her moved in and two to move her out. And so it was necessary for me to head to Stateboro. But we had other fun things to accomplish, which made the trip something to look forward to!
I left yesterday morning at 5AM. Bought a giant coffee at MacDonald's (hands down my favorite of all the coffees, including Starbuck's) and detoured into Cracker Barrel to rent a books-on-tape. What a great resource that is! Great selection, $3.49 a rental, and a guarantee that the trip will not only fly by but be spent doing something I rarely get to do . . . read a book (or in this case, the relaxing relative of book reading: having a book read to me). I rented I Think I Love You, about an insecure 13-year-old in Wales in 1974 with a mad crush on the pop star David Cassidy. I had heard Terry Gross's interview with author Allison Pearson on NPR's Fresh Air. So when I saw it as an option for an audio book, it seemed too good to pass up.

I didn't want the drive to end. I adored it (and am, actually, still listening to it, all 10 CDs of it!). As a product of that generation, I could relate, achingly so.

Here is an excerpt from a New York Times review:

"A romantic comedy tailor-made for the movies, 'I Think I Love You' is a sort of witty mash-up of 'Mean Girls,' 'Bridget Jones’s Diary' and one of Nancy Meyers’s fairy tales for the middle aged, with a little nod along the way to 'Cyrano de Bergerac.' Though we know after two dozen pages or so exactly where this novel is headed, Ms. Pearson writes with such humor and affection for her characters that we’re perfectly happy to sit back and see how she steers her people toward that happy ending. It’s a novel that’s as light and sugary as a pop song, but if its plot is a little too predictable and jerry-built, the book still easily transcends the chick-lit genre. It showcases its author’s skills as an observer and her uncanny ability to render on the page exactly what it’s like to be a teenage girl, trying to navigate the merciless social hierarchy at school, while pouring all her yearnings into the impossible dream of somehow, someday becoming Mrs. David Cassidy and moving to Los Angeles."

Good book, good cup of coffee, 3 1/2 hours later in Statesboro. We got Harleigh all packed up, cleaned the apartment, and said goodbye to freshman year. Surreal.

Next up, we got her bike rack onto the back of her car, then fastened on the quite-heavy Huffy cruiser (a bike I got for a steal, but one that she rarely rode — just not made that well). On our way to the next errand, Harleigh hit a bump, the rack fell off, the bike skidded across her trunk . . . ugh. Needless to say, two girls standing in a parking lot, surveying a scuffed-up bike, a rack that we knew we had put on correctly, and facing a long drive home (no, this could not happen on an interstate!), we did what any smart chick would do. Across the street was a pawn shop (neither of us had ever been in one, much less knew how they work), and so we wheeled the bike in and walked out with $20. Easily solved. And we could move on to the fun things in store for us the rest of the day.

At a local pottery shop, Harleigh picked up a bowl she made for me for Mother's Day, bearing two verses from one of my favorite Psalms. How lovely.



We had lunch with Connie, her mentor from Statesboro Baptist Church. They have a mentorship program where women of the church are paired with Georgia Southern girls. Connie — a woman my age and very similar to me in personality — and Harleigh would meet every week for lunch and to talk. Sometimes there was a Bible study involved, other times discussion of a book they'd been reading. I adored Connie the minute I met her, and know why Harleigh has cherished their relationship. They plan on continuing their mentor partnership this coming school year. What a blessing.

I met staff at the campus Baptist ministry where Harleigh is super involved and on council, met lots of her friends, said goodbye to many, and then headed home. Harleigh decided to stay the night with some girlfriends and plans on being home (home with me!) today. My 3 1/2 hour drive home took an extra two hours due to accidents on the interstates, my car overheated, I almost ran out of gas in the gridlock . . . but Harleigh's coming home. That easily turns the bumps into joy!

Tool Belt to Craft Belt

Whether it's spending the day at an outdoor flea market or coordinating a wedding, I always have the need for something around my waist to hold the essentials (cell phone, eyeglasses, keys, etc.). I purchased one of those $1.99 canvas tool belts from Ace Hardware, and with a little hand-stitching, trims and fabric swatches (including a pocket cut from a shirt), turned the plain (and Ace-branded) into pretty. Now I can carry my stuff in something that doesn't look like an '80s fanny pack.

Asian-Inspired Easter Eggs

Every year I try to do something different with the tradition of dying Easter eggs. This year I started out wanting to do a grey egg with white decoration, a Swedish Gustavian theme. But I just couldn't get the right grey. Dropping a watery black acrylic onto the shell resulted in a branch-like design and so I just went with it. (The egg with the butterfly on it was my failed attempt at a grey egg.) They're sweet, aren't they?