post traumatic stress syndrome

I have heard that this was possible 

We got the beautiful girl married off. 

Then "POOF" is it Christmas. I did not do my normal decorating. I WAS TOO TIRED. 

But I did put up a fake Christmas "BUSH" - a tiny little pitiful thing. It was so sparse that I went to the yard and cut branches from my cedar tree and tucked them in to fill it out. Then I used the glass balls from the wedding to decorate it. 

I did change the mantle though -----

I added the mirror from the wedding guest table to the center. 

I loved this mirror the second I put it together - so easy too.

I cut the motif from the center of a decaying lace curtain panel and using Elmer's spray adhesive - simply glued it to the glass of the mirror. It will peel off if I ever want to change it. 

Added my bronze Nativity to the center. A few more wedding detail items finish it out.

Here is a more detailed look at the mirror.

Happy New Year peeps. I have already chosen my 2013 word. Details about that next week.

ONCE UPON A TIME

A really handsome young man

Met a really pretty young lady.

They smiled a lot.

Got to know each other over time

The young man asked the young lady to walk beside him through life. 

The young lady said yes.

Then mama went to work. 

Making a sweet, pretty little party for the celebration. 

And on Saturday, December 15, 2012

We celebrated the marriage of

Molly Brianne Atkinson

to

 David Benjamin Larkins

Miss Alyssa Filkins from 

Alyssa Filkins Photography

captured the day beautifully.

These are just the sneaks.

I'll share the details as they are available.

She was beautiful.

They were surrounded by family and friends

There was food, fun, dancing. 

The weather was beautiful.

CONGRATULATIONS BEN AND MOLLY.

more detail shots of all that hard work to follow. 

I once was lost ....

WAAAAAYYYYY back I posted about looking for Baby Jesus.

Well on Saturday I was looking for my Blue Votive Cups. In the top of the closet where I keep some sets of candle holders, I saw a box labeled FRAGILE. I was convinced it was the candle holders I was searching high and low for.

I climbed on the bed (high shelf) and snagged the box.

Super surprised I was I was.


I FOUND MY BABY JESUS ---------

yay.

Oh and later in the day - well after I quit looking - I found the blue candle holders too.

Love and Best Wishes.

Merry Christmas.

musical chairs????

This wedding is killing me ----

Not really ---

Nothing we have DIY'd has been hard to do. Tedious, yes. Time consuming, yes. Not difficult though. 

Thank goodness for PINTEREST. Communication between the Bride2Be has been somewhat easy. She pinned this

Source: etsy.com via Molly on Pinterest

It's pretty. But it really didn't go with what we are doing in her decor. 

But I happened up on some really random wood pieces. Actually some pieces of chairs - chair backs. 

I had the Father of the Bride paint one a really pale blue grey color. 

Then I took the wording from her pin and printed it on a really pretty iridescent piece of vellum.

Spray adhesive from Elmers glue. (I think I've mentioned that this is a favorite product)  and then some of that stunning embossed paper I bought early on in this wedding project. 

This sign goes on the guest sign in table. It was the last thing for this table completion.

I sent a picture to the Bride2Be.

She wanted "bling"

So I added the mate to the ring pillow earring to the corner.

Not too much but it does add just a little "oomph" to the sign.

Here is a close up of it --- I LURVE!!!!! this paper.

The moral of the story --- think outside the box. Play some musical chairs or whatever.

Yes --- if your wedding is to be vintage and in tones that this works with - it will be available afterwards.

flowers -----

There is not one pinterest inspired idea in this post. Imagine that. Bridesmaids need flowers. Bride2Be had no real idea what we might do. So this one was designed on the fly. Starting with stems similar to the ones above. Ours were white with tiny bits of white glitter on a few of the petals. I got them at Michaels when they were 40% off. They were a bit sparse, so I bought extra, took a few of them apart and added to the bottom of a single stem.

They were ok as they were, just a bit "blah".

So Mom went to work.

I decided they needed some blue bits.

So I mixed up several shades of cheap blue glitter in a small jar.

Made wire teardrop shaped loops.

Sprayed them with Elmer's Spray adhesive. (LOVE THIS STUFF)

Then drug the sticky loops through the glitter.

Easy -----

Then I pulled several of the loops into the white flowers --- see?

I did that randomly --- yup --- I likes this.

Then I dug in the stash and found some blue plastic rhinestones.

More random gluing - I likes this even better.

Then came the fun part. Bride2Be wanted the handle to be thicker.

Think think think. Short pieces of 1" pvc. Add batting. Add teal blue fabric. Glue a button on one end. GLue the flowers in the other. Nice handle.

Then the Bride2Be wanted lace.

Dig dig dig. Find just enough sequin embellished embroidered lace to wrap each handle. (Attached with hot glue)

Add tulle bits to fill around the bottom (and hide imperfections).

Sew on a cute little monogram letter. Repeat 5 times. And.....

CALL THE BRIDEMAID'S BOUQUETS DONE.

the cake saga ......

I saved this image ----

and this one --
she loved them

simple --- but stunning

We decided do do our version of the bands.

I bought ribbon ---

Traced a scroll onto it.

Vintage Rhinestone buttons, silver sequins, beads.

Watch "The Voice"

Make four of them --- I changed this picture to black and white --- just pretty to me.

Here is a better color representation.

And a wrapped around a vase mock up.


I'm liking these --- a lot.

WITH THESE RINGS......

 Remember this?

The really pretty "L" monogram from way back in August.

Its been in a baggie in the wedding stuff since the beading was finished.

Well I finally got the measurements for the Scriptures that the ring pillow was going to top. Ben's Grandfathers Scriptures.

I pondered and procrastinated a bit, (some of these projects are intimidating) but I finally decided to make the ring pillow on Saturday morning.

I selected fabrics and some trims and I tried hard to think this through before I started.

These are clip style earrings ---- this is an important grouping ---


After I made the pillow and added the wide elastic lace band that will slide over the Scriptures without damaging them, we tried several embellishments.

This is the final decision below......

It's really soft and and feminine. I kinda hope this will become and heirloom.

Actually this may be a favorite project so far.

25 days and counting........

flower girl

remember these -- melty flowers and the little melty petals for the flower girl to spread.

Well we can't have an unadorned flower girl could we?

Miss Margo will be wearing white tights, white leotard, white shoesies (her word).

And this ......

An adorable tulle tutu --- another really easy to make item.

There is also a lace tiara --- made b laying a thin headband on its side and wrapping it with ribbon and adding sequins and lace.

It will tie in the back and there is a melty flower hair clip that we will clip where she thinks it should go. I attached it to a hairclip so it can be worn separately.

Then we need a carrier for those fake flower petals - so I made a lace cone. But in my "what could go wrong" thinking moments, I realized that the petals would go all the into the unreachable parts of the tip.

Shhh......this part is a secret. There is a red solo cup (thank you toby keith for lyrics that are now embedded in brains all over the nation after they just read that) slid inside the cone. All of the petals will be easily reached.

A better detail shot --- another melty flower and some dangle paper hearts

Molly wanted all of the bouquets to have monograms and we can't leave Miss Margo out. See the blinged up "M" --- cute.

Each of the attendants are also getting a heart charm ---- Since Margo will be tossing petals I decided a necklace was a better option. The heart theme is carried in this little giftie.

I'll assemble all of this on her monogrammed Hanger.

I can't wait to post pictures of this little sweetie.

Mark Flower girl's stuff off the do to list and say that it is DONE.

A LITTLE MISHAP

We had a little mishap Friday night. 

A part of THE candolier was dropped from above me and hit me in the eye. 

Enter ME with black eye. 

oh well ....

then - there was a second brass light fixture rehab.

but when I took the grody light apart the glass was even nasty...

and the stains were embedded in the glass.

so there was a regroup ----

I taped the panes off

outside to the spray area -- silver spray paint -- these will not be handled much so there won't be much
danger of the paintcoming off.

then I got brave and peeled off the tape and tried some stamp ink.

on the inside ---

silver ink with clear sparkle embossing powder on a lace detail stamp.

leaves a pretty little edge detail on the lamp.

I covered up the center because there will be surprises for the B2B that I really do not want her to see.

Hope you guys are having a better day than me.

Teresa

And so it continues.....

Yes, the area around the shed always looks like that. 

Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL FALL DAY. 

We got outside and started the serious work on another wedding project. 

I have no idea where that vintage door was originally. But being the planner that I am (giggle), I knew we would need it for the wedding. Now that was a funny statement. 

Yes that is a pile of pvc pipe. Strong and lightweight and easy to work with. 

Here is the thing put together.

Complete with candolier ( No it is not finished)

At this stage the B2B did not really even like it.

She may not like it when it's finished. But we will see. I HAVE A VISION --- another funny statement. I am winging it as I go.

Knowing it would be turning cold and windy, we disassembled the thing. (its designed for this), and moved it into the work room (also known as the dining room)

I have 10.5 foot ceilings in here, so process this into scale ---- its 10 feet high and  between 6 and 7 wide and 42 inches from front to back.

I barely have room for the ladder to move around it.

I'm covering it in solid white fabric (sheets), lace, tulle, and draping beads, and some swirly stuff that i don't quite know how to describe. There will be sparkly things and melty flowers too.

I really just wanted to show you just how nuts this is, trying to do an entire wedding all by ourselves --- crazy people --- that's us.

 And, because I took these on Halloween night, I found the next picture particularly fun.

I know what the light reflection in the windows are, but those two off to the right of the window --- I'm calling those "ORBS"

Have a great evening.

No wedding work tonight --- gotta restock my booth in the antique mall across the street.

Teresa

words of advice

Good morning. Gonna start this one with a picture of the Rusty Bucket Dog. If he's in the house or studio, he is never too far from me. He thinks I might scratch him behind the ears or toss him a rawhide chew treat. He's a sweetie and I kinda spoil him. 

Now wedding business. 

Remember the post about the advice box. 

Well using my mama's train case was determined as the way to go. But the B2B asked that the mirror be concealed. Not sure why, but I pondered it and here is what the process for this little lovely looked like. 

I love all things vintage and vintage in appearance. So I just happened to have in my stash some ALLEN + ROTH embossed paintable wallpaper that looks like old tin ceiling tiles. I picked this up at my local Lowe's. 

I cut it to the size I needed. 

Then started experimenting. 

I used Bronze Metallic and Tattered Leather Glimmer Mist. These are Tattered Angels products that I use for all kinds of things. I am slowly building my collection of the products, but they are wonderful and easy to work with. I first sprayed the wallpaper liberally with the tattered leather spray and dried it quickly with my heat gun. Then I sprayed in a random pattern with the bronze. 

I took old (almost dry) stamp pads in a dark brown, silver, and black and randomly swiped them across the raised portions of the pattern. 

Then a took a damp paper towel --- barely damp --- and swirled across the raised pattern, blending it all together. 

As the last step I misted lightly with Graphite Glimmer Mist and while it was still wet and using the same paper towel I buffed the raised pattern a little more. 

I LOVE THE OUTCOME.

I simply used double stick tape to cover the mirror with it. 

Then onto the next part. 

Remember when I made the fake typewriter keys. Well I finally used those last night. 

I made the little pennant banner for the advice box. 

There were fits and redo's (but no curse words) on this, but I am happy with this outcome too. 

I cut the larger pennant shapes from a dark teal paper. (note these are not large at all,  the paper was cut to a 3x21/2 inch rectangle.) 

Then smaller pennant shapes from assorted scraps. 

I punched scalloped borders from even more scraps. 

Glue it all together. Add the fake typewriter keys - some vintage buttons.

String it all on a wire with more buttons separating the pennants. 

Here's a detail

And the final shot.

The lace will most likely go away -- not sure yet what the final display will look like, but for now - it is marked off the to do list. 

I have to say - the faked typewriter keys and that embossed paper are pretty much a tie for favorite in this one. 

Have a happy Halloween -----

more accomplished

I took last Friday off to play with the Bride-to-Be. Let me just tell you out playtime was really really just hard work.

I shared the CAKE TABLE yesterday. That was finished on Friday. Then there was this also on Friday night. 

Molly ran a copy of a graphic she found online ---

Grabbed a sheet of transparency paper and my overhead projector and a black canvas I had painted.

Since so many of my surfaces are being used for various stages of projects for the wedding, she actually grabbed the dog's pillow and headed to the floor by the dining room island.

Using white paint and tiny brushes she lettered and lettered.

Not sure why, but the bandanna is required attire for her painting uniform.

Here is her result from three hours of being in the floor.

Props will be staged for our guests to use and a digital camera on a tripod. Knowing some of these guests, this should be fun.

A budget decision was to now rent chair covers along with the table linens. But she wants a pretty detail on the chairs, We got lots of paper (mama has a paper fetish) and using the same die set I punched 250 large hearts in solids and then 250 smaller ones in patterned papers.

Each of these will be punched in the center and added to the backs of the chairs with a tulle and ribbon bow.

Then there were some of these that I bought at the habitat thrift store ----

The ones I bought looked a lot like this .... corroded. Nasty. Rusted in spots.

I bought two with an idea to try --- (they were so bad, I only paid a dollar each)

The Man at My Address -- Father of the Bride took them apart and ripped out the electrical.

The only issue was that the backer mounting plate was riveted on and the rivets had to be drilled out to get those off.

Then, I scrubbed up the parts and outside we went to the "spray booth" (lest you think I am that well set up at my house, the spray booth in this case was an outdoor bench and a drop cloth). I used one of my favorites -- spray paint and coated them. I went back and forth doing other things while adding additional coats.

I cleaned the beveled glass panes.

Dug in the lace stash and found some I adore.

Then sprayed that lace with spray adhesive.

After giving that a few minutes to "set", I trimmed them at the edges. USE A NEW SHARP XACTO BLADE -just saying.

Aren't they pretty.

Then .....I reassembled all the parts.

And look ...... a table lantern.

Honestly, this turned out even better than I imagined it would

Just for smiles, I added a candle on Saturday night.

ANOTHER NOTE, FOR SAFETY REASONS (THIS GETS HOT IF THE CANDLE IS TOO BIG) USE ONLY A LITTLE TEALIGHT IN THESE. OR A LITTLE LED CANDLE IF IT WILL BE UNATTENDED.

I'm loving this one too.

This was not inspired by a pin, but I hope it inspires someone.