Pew Bows and Projects

Just popping in to share the latest projects at wedding central.  The cutting garden is blooming nicely and darned if I haven't been keeping it cut so it will have fresh blooms for the wedding.  The house is filling up and the plants are branching out.  The bonus is enjoying the flowers inside :>)  A big thanks to Sue for sending me the care package with these adorable little salt and pepper shakers as well as a few other darling goodies for the kitchen. Aren't they just the cutest?

 Today I have been working on pew bows.  I had purchased tulle for Lauren's wedding but it hadn't worked for what I had planned.  It's getting turned into church decorations along with the leftover silk flowers from the lantern arrangements. I love being able to make something pretty out of something I already have!

 I also whipped together this "just married" banner out of some wide burlap ribbon  (on sale at Michael's for $2) and  a lace panel I found at Salvation army for $1.  I stenciled the letters on and I think it looks perfect :>) 

I still have some table skirts to make for the gift table, the cake table and the sweetheart table.  After that, I'm pretty much finished with projects.  I really can't wait to get it all put together and see the end result!  I'll be sure to share everything when the big day arrives :>) 

I'm still visiting when I get the chance.  Know that even if I can't comment on every post, I'm there smiling and reading.  Only a week and a half to go.

Now back to work...

A Sneak Peek at more Wedding Decorations

We are two and a half weeks from a wedding!  I've put as much of the regular household duties and projects on hold as possible in order to get the finishing touches done.  The etsy shop has some decals listed that can be popped in the mail quickly if need be, but I won't be relisting anything until after the big day.

 It shouldn't surprise you that we have planted a large cutting garden for the wedding flowers. Pink, white and coral zinnias, pink cosmos, lambs ear and snapdragons will fit in beautifully with Victoria's pink and coral colors.  Queen Anne's Lace will tie in with all the lace touches.  I mocked up a small arrangement to see how they will look, but the table centerpieces will be much larger than this. For a late summer wedding why not take advantage of a cutting garden for your wedding flowers? It's a great way to save money and still have the freshest flowers possible.  We can supplement with flowers from the farmers market! 

 I have been working on table numbers, making stencils for little chalk board tags that will go in the flowers on the tables. 

 When I'm finished I'll share the numbers on my graphics page in case anyone else might want them :>)

 The venue has a full wall of windows that looks out onto a back patio area.  Earl is working on containers for the large windows, (I can't wait to show you!) but I am able to recycle the lanterns from Lauren's wedding centerpieces for the smaller window spaces and these will alternate with the project he is working on.  Once again, the cost was minimal for these, I found just enough florals at Joanne Fabrics in the summer clearance aisle to top the lanterns and dollar store glass candles to fill them. We are able to use real candles for these because the lanterns completely enclose them. Yay!

Cost for 8 lanterns? I originally paid about $7 each for them on clearance, but I have already used them for one wedding as well as Christmas decorating and centerpieces for dinners we have catered, so I count the cost of the silk flowers and the candles at $28! Not bad!

I went through my lace stash and found enough of this beautiful lace to cover the glass candles.  You have to love free ;>)  The lace theme seems to have evolved naturally through what I had on hand.  If you have a great stash of crafting materials it helps to keep an open mind and see what works.  Victoria is loving the way everything is coming together  and so am I! I can't wait to put it all together and see how it looks.

Hope you're having a great week....now I have some more work to do :>)

Lace Covered Votives for the Wedding

It's a cool, rainy morning, almost 10 a.m. and 54 degrees here in Michigan!  It has been fairly cool all summer and now I am breathing a sigh of relief that we changed our plans from an outdoor wedding to an inside venue.  Sorry I can't decorate outside? Yes.  But the peace of mind is priceless.

One of the down sides of an indoor venue for the reception is a ban on open flames.  I love candles on the tables but it's going to have to be battery operated votives instead.  I already had the votive holders from Lauren's wedding, and I still want light on the tables so my challenge was a way to make the ugly battery operated lights less noticeable.  My stash of vintage lace finally came in handy!

 A line of hot glue on the glass holds the lace in place, and then just gently stretch it around the holder and affix with another line of glue.  It seems fairly solid and I'll be able to peel it off if I ever want plain holders again.  I even found some leftover adhesive gimp to cover the raw edge of one of the lace pieces that I used.

 As luck would have it a friend contacted me a few weeks ago wondering if I wanted a bag of antique lace that she was getting rid of. Like a good hoarder I took it, and it is the perfect width to cover the votives.

I used real candles to show you how these look, I don't have the battery op ones yet but I see that Amazon has them for pretty cheap.  I can't wait to see these on the tables!  Only a few dozen more to go:>)

Gardens, Sunshine and Fireflies

July? Already? And not just here, but a week gone.  I've been absent a week or so. I can't apologize though. Summer is for gardens and sitting in the sun, going on vacation and firefly watching.  The garden is finally blooming, although these flowers were picked from a field on my morning walk. I couldn't resist the little cream pitcher at a yard sale although I have absolutely no use for it other than to hold flowers. Come to think of it, that is a fine use isn't it?

Oh yes, and we are in the home stretch for that August wedding.

So I am guessing that July will be another month that this little blog gets fairly neglected.  Too much to do and too little time to devote to picture taking and posting. Maybe I can just snap a photo now and again as we get ready, sometimes you just want to see the photo right? ;>)
At any rate, I'll do my best to stop and say hi,  but I kind of hope you are sitting in the sun, going on vacations and firefly watching too.  Summer is fleeting and too good to waste inside.
This weekend we are heading to Pennsylvania to see the new house my eldest daughter, Lauren and her sweetie husband just moved into. I'm so excited for them. So excited to see them and the new house!  Have a great weekend, and don't forget to catch some fireflies this month :>)