Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Art Deco Brooch Obsession Part 1

I'm recently obsessed with these Art Deco Brooches that I sumbled across in an antique store. I couldn't stop thinking about them! So I recently just purchased one on ebay! The description says it is: Rhodium Art Deco Brooch with set crystal rhinestones. Northern Bohemia cca. 1920´s


I am so in love and I can tell that this is going to be the first of many! (Hence the Part 1 in the title.) I couldn't stop thinking about them! So I recently just purchased one on ebay! I am so in love and I can tell that this is going to be the first of many!

I love everything about this brooch! The lines the that make it so art deco! My new obsession!

 

Friday, June 18, 2010

Popcorn!

Popcorn by far is my favorite snack. I like it salty, sweet, savory, and spicy. So when I came across the Catamount Microwave Popcorn Popper I just had to have it! Made from borosilicate glass or laboratory glass, it is heat resitant up to 675 degrees. You can add butter to the melting lid or not, your choice, plus there is no need to add any oil. There are also no added chemicals like you get sometimes with the processed bag of microwave popcorn. I could go on and on of the benefits of cooking popcorn in this thing. Not forgetting to mention that a bag of popcorn kernels, enough for at least 30-50 batches of popcorn, costs about $1.99 at the grocery store! Compare that to a 6-pack box of microwave popcorn, usually around $3.99-$4.99.


It tastes just like the homemade popcorn my mom used to make in her old 1980's electric machine. Minus all the cooking oil!


Because I love my Catamount Popcorn maker so much I decided to give Jenna and Tom one as a wedding present!! I normally try not to stray too far of the registry list for wedding presents, but for something that I use so much, I thought they wouldn't mind!

I included a jar of popcorn kernels, some popcorn napkins, and a melted butter pourer to the gift.

I hope Jenna and Tom love this as much as I do!!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Jenna's Wedding Part 2


Let's continue the wedding convo!

Jenna had a great collection of clear glass vases. Mostly cylindrical and different heights, also very green! She purchased these moss covered rocks, grass leaves, and river rocks to make a really pretty contrast to the bright pink gerbera daisies she planned on using. We came up with the idea of floating the moss rocks and gerbera daisies above the river rocks. We also spun a layer of the bright green grass leaves beneath the moss rocks. So the day of my duties included setting up the center pieces, guest book table and cake table.

The center pieces turned out really pretty with so many layers of color:

She also had some goldy brown tulle that I tussled (is that a word? It's the only one I can come up with right now.) on the center of the table to create these little "nests" for the pillar candles and vases.


Jenna wrapped each pillar candle with the shards of grass leaves to give them some visual interest and tied it back in with the vase.

Once I had all of those done I was out of the cylindrical vases, so I called in for reinforcement from the Mother Hoarder of them all... my mom. She brought me three extra vases, two of which I used on the head table.


They weren't exactly the cylinder shape of the others so I sort of disguised them with the tulle. It worked somehow and was a pretty compliment to the sprig of orchids in the middle.



I wanted to keep the orchids in tact because they made a bold statement in the center of the head table.  I floated the moss rocks and sunk the river rocks to make the stem stand straight. I also added a wooden V (for the newly married couple's last name), that I painted black under the center orchid vase. Barely noticeable to anyone but Jenna and Tom, which was the point!

Jenna and Tom were so appreciative and I kept telling them, "Don't thank me! I just love doing it!"

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Kissing Balls!

For Jenna's Wedding this past Memorial Day weekend I made kissing balls among other items.
Jenna wanted to order these kissing balls off etsy:

At the time of ordering they were $20 each. (Right now they are on sale 50% off). Well I couldnt swallow that price. I knew I could make them for much less than $20 plus shipping each! So I thought using plastic bead necklaces, and wrapping around 4" styrofoam balls may work!
I hot glued the strands of mardi gras beads. (Which I cut first to make it one continuous piece.)


Then I punched a hole it it at one end with a phillips head screwdriver so I would be able to fill it with hot glue and insert a 30 gage wire:




Then I hung the wire from a broom stick so I could easily spray paint each ball (they do drip a lot!):


I then tied ribbon to the wires and cut the wires off as short as I could with out unwinding:


I tied two knots at the top and made robin's tales with the ends of the ribbon.

They looked really good out on the white ceremony chairs:


The ceremony site was really pretty:


 If you look closely you can see the balls hanging at the end of the three rows. I estimate that Jenna and I spent $20 total making these 6 kissing balls. Not bad at about $3.33 each!

 The wedding was beautiful. Congrats Tom and Jenna!

 Stay tuned for the centerpices and other things related to Jenna's wedding!