The wedding hairpiece

I spent the month of August in Idaho.
Some of the time I was at my mother's house, some of the time I was at my mother-in-law's house.

In both places I did some sort of wedding decorating, 3 receptions in all.
I did the flowers for one, the dessert table for another, and the decorations/dessert table for another.

And I had so much fun.

But my very VERY favorite thing I did was the hairpiece for one of the brides.
I have people ask me to do things like that all the time, but then never follow through.
But this time I pretty much made her follow through.
I really wanted to make a bridal hairpiece.

The bride was a bit surprised when I immediately pulled up an assortment of pictures of bridal hairpieces that I had been collecting for absolutely no reason.

Confession: I read wedding blogs. In fact, most of the blogs I follow are wedding blogs. And most of the pictures I save on my zotero are from weddings. I have no reason to do this. I am already married. I am not planning another wedding for myself or for anyone else, really. But I love wedding blogs.

the inspiration:

So, here were a few of her favorites:

By Twigs and Honey, seen here

By Twigs and Honey, seen here

By Twigs and Honey, seen here

By Twigs and Honey, seen here

the actual accessory:

As you can see, the bride really liked the chiffon flowers. And she LOVED the tulle netting on the first one.

But her reception decorations were a little more sassy than those hairpieces were.
Her shoes were these darling zebra-print stilettos.
So cute.



So I added in a little color.

The centers have little black metal bows, to give it a rockstar vibe.

All the materials were purchased at either Michael's or JoAnn's craft stores. Because those two stores were my only options in my remote part of Idaho. I just wish I could have used some of that big-weave veil netting.
You know which one I mean.
Like this
Does anyone know where to buy that?

My only regret is I didn't get a picture of it on the bride's head.
It looked great in her hair though. She had beautiful dark hair and it contrasted nicely.


I would love to do something like this again.
So ... if anyone knows someone getting married who wants a custom hair accessory,
let me know ;)

Here are a few of my absolute favorites, pictures I have collected for, once again, absolutely no reason:

By Twigs and Honey, seen here

How stunning is this unique veil? Seen here.

And I love this girl's headband. Made by Courtney at Doloris Petunia (ETSY) and seen here and more here.

And I love this one, but I think the wire part might be outside of my skill level. Seen here by Holly Heider Chapple Flowers LTD

My recent obsessions

Oh, hello world. Are you still there?

There are so many things I have been wanting to tell you about. But I have been very preoccupied lately.

I am about to take a bit of a vacation though ...

... from crafting ... (gasp!)

It won't be long, but I have been working my tail-end off.
And my tail-end needs a break.

So, during that vacation time I am going to tell you about each of the 9 things pictured above!
Doesn't that sound fun?

A "Here we go, go, go, GO!" Halloween

My two-year-old loves the new Cat in the Hat PBS Kids show.

Almost as much as he loves Super Why! Which, while we are on the subject, his favorite character is the pig on that show. Why is there a pig? The children are such a nice combination of races ... what race does the pig represent?

Anyway, back to Halloween.

I made my son a Cat in the Hat costume for Halloween this year.

I made the body out of a really soft furry fabric found in the minky/baby blanket section of the fabric store. I'm not really sure what the fabric was called.
But it was soft.
And messy.

The bow tie was made with flannel on the front and felt on the back, to hold its shape.

The hat was made of red and white flannel

and supported by very thick interfacing

except for in the front at the top so it would slouch a bit.

But the main reason I made this costume was because I wanted to make this:

The Fish in the Pot for his treat bucket.

I made it from flannel, sewn together and covering a cheap plastic orange pumpkin.
The fish, also made from flannel (there was a really good sale on flannel going on), was backed with iron-on interfacing and ironed right onto the bowl then lined with a black marker.

Isn't he cute?

My Kitchen Hutch

Having a broken sewing machine as at least
afforded me time to finally finish my kitchen hutch!

After much sanding and painting it is assembled
and holding dishes.

I have also been playing around with the wall decor
that goes around it.

I think, as soon as I get some frames, I will be happy with the result.

I still haven't fully finished the bead board on the back.
I think I do want it wallpapered or painted a color or something.
I just haven't made up my mind yet.
So for now it is white
and I am happy.

Problems

Sorry for my lengthy silence ...
I've been having some, uh, personal problems over here.

Happy Mother's Day (Spoiler Alert!)

Happy Mother's Day!

Dear Mom,

Thank you for raising me.
Thank you for teaching me values
like honesty and hardwork
Thank you for teaching me the words to every silly little song ever written
this skill has come in handy while raising my own little one.

Thank you for letting me participate in all those activities as a child
even though it ran you ragged.

Especially during Student Council Elections.
Thank you for staying up all night
helping make posters
and writing slogans on hundreds of little hand outs.

In fact, thank you for staying up all night with me
helping me complete every school project I ever had
like that giant ship in the sixth grade
which turned out to be the coolest thing ever.

Thank you for being the deep breath I needed to take every time I got stressed out
which was often.

And thank you for teaching me that the best friends I would ever need and have
are my brothers and sisters.
You were right!

In fact, you were right about most things.
I love you!



For Mother's Day I made embroidered dish cloths.

Nothing too fancy, just flour sack cloth.
I haven't mailed them yet (and I am feeling sheepish about it)
but I haven't had a car for the past two weeks.
And I won't have one for the next week either.
But as soon as I can, they will be in the mail, I promise!

For my Mother-in-Law
I did an apple tree
and a bird house,
two motifs I know she happens to like.


And for my mother
I did images representing the places
her children have served church missions,
Russia and Italy.

I actually happen to be obsessed with this little Italian chef.
I would share the pattern with you,
but it was "borrowed" from a place online ...
so I will just give you another closeup.

Isn't he cute?
I think I am going to make myself one.

cream-filled cupcakes

i am obsessed with filled cupcakes

to the point where i am starting to believe that no cupcake should be left unfilled.

i might make it my motto.

it is so easy too

i just pipe it in with a large pastry tip

and squeeze until there is a popping sound.


for my husband's birthday
(which, yes, was a month ago)

i made him these



spice cake
with a cream cheese frosting for the filling
and topped with swiss meringue frosting



delectable!