Project Wedding: Lemonade Stand and Candy Buffet

Ok, I can't take much credit for these. Both the lemonade stand and the candy buffet came straight out of my sister's brilliant mind. My dad and I built the awnings, though, and I strategically placed those vintage hankies. Otherwise it was all Lo.
She had varieties of lemonade and milk glass bowls filled with fresh sliced lemons and strawberries to add to your drink. To top it all off, she had candy sticks in different flavors to pop into fresh lemons and use as straws. Like this. Apparently it's an East Coat thing, but we both vividly remember it from childhood. It's so delicious.
For the candy buffet she went for bright colors mixed in with the blue, white and gray wedding colors. She wanted it to look like an old timey candy shop. You can imagine what a huge hit this was. Particularly with the kiddos.

Project Wedding: Favors and Guest Book

The wedding took place in La Conner, Wa, land of the famous Skagit Valley tulips. Accordingly, the favors were local tulips bulbs in mini burlap bags. Each bag was printed with a simple linoleum cut heart. The tags were cut from a variety of scrapbooking papers and then stamped with the bride and grooms initials.For the guest book, the couple wanted something unique. My sister decided to offer up her stationery collection, elements of which were featured in both the invitations and the save the date video. Add a basic white metal mailbox (my folks needed a new one anyway) and a few pens. By the end of the night the mailbox was stuffed with love notes and well wishes. So cute, and so playful. Here's the table that greeted guests as they arrived.

Project Wedding: The Stage

My sister has always been theatrical, and her husband shares her sense of dramatic flare. So when the hall they wanted to rent ended up having a stage, they decided to incorporate a community theater kind of feel to the marriage ceremony. She wanted backdrops, and after a few brainstorm and sketching sessions with my dad, we pared it down to simple spray painted clouds. We painted 5 4x8 panels for the background and a collection of smaller stand up clouds for the foreground. This was so simple, it's ridiculous, and in my opinion blew our more complicated ideas out of the water.Unfortunately the lighting wasn't conducive to amateur photography, and I don't have the professional shots yet, but you get the idea. And no, your eyes are not deceiving you, there actually were 10 bridesmaids and 10 groomsmen! I told you the bride and groom are theatrical.The happy couple, giving their toast.

Project Wedding: Centerpieces

In her months as a bride-to-be, my sister scoured thrift stores and antique shops for blue glass, clear and blue mason jars, and all the milk glass she could get her hands on. She wanted a collection of vases as each centerpiece.The flowers all came from the gardens of generous loved ones and they were incredible. We used zinnias and dahlias and a few other botanical elements. My mom and I had so much fun filling these vessels with a team of artsy family friends, and then I arranged them on the tables. The photos don't do them justice, they were really sweet, and the bride was thrilled.
Next up: the Stage

Mr. Fancy Pants 2: The Perfect Gentleman

In the end Beckett had not forgotten about the vest, but fortunately he settled for a store bought one. He looked great, and was so darn proud of the pants and bow tie we made. The kid has some serious taste, easily in the top 5 best dressed guys at the event, and the only thing his parents picked out were his shoes. He made us all, particularly his aunt and new uncle, beam with pride.

September 5th, 2010

It was a beautiful wedding, brimming with all the sweetness and levity that the bride and groom share. I'm actually not quite home yet from the big weekend. I'm trying to squeeze every last minute in with my sister, my niece and my brother-in-law before they head back home to California this afternoon. So this is just a preview. I'll post some of the DIY details in the next few days.

Mr. Fancy Pants

B made his own pants! He apparently inherited my dad's sharp dresser gene, and is way into special occasion dressing. A few weeks ago he told me he wanted to make his own pants and matching bow tie for his aunt's wedding. The notion of a vest has been tossed around too, but I'm hoping he forgets about it. Now he's all worked up about getting a collared shirt. I had to bribe him with peanut butter pie just to get him to model his "special pants" without his "special shirt." Even with the pie, he's a pretty reluctant model, but at least I have something to post.This went along with the whole fabric de-stash as this seersucker came out of the drawers. I originally bought it to make some pants for myself, and seeing how cute these are on B, I'm a little torn. On one hand, I wish I had followed through and made some sweet seersucker beach pants for myself, on the other I fully recognize how much cuter these are in little boy form than in grown woman form. I do love little boy fashion though. I swear if I had the time and opportunity I'd regularly dress like a newsie.

The next few days are packed with crazy, so I won't have too much time to blog. I'll try to sneak a little in. Otherwise I'll be getting back to my list of 7 on Monday. I saw a great stripe jersey the other day that hurt a little to walk away from, but I stayed strong! 6 more to go!

Whew!

I'm sorry for posting another photo-less blurb here, but things have been crazy. We've spent much of the last week playing and nature hunting and otherwise gleaning the most from the waning Summer. Beckett's good friend Caleb and his family were back in town too, whipping me into a mad frenzy as we tried to get as much time with them as possible. I've done no sewing, no reading, no drawing, nothing but play hard and come home with aching feet.

Now I'm in the big gear up for my sister's wedding next weekend. Last night I block printed favor bags till 3 am, and today I became a cutting, stamping and raffia tying super woman. Tonight I'm cutting out the pieces for Beckett's special wedding pants. Basically I've been super productive, but I have no photos to show you. Stick with me, kiddos, and I promise I'll get the goods up and posted on the interwebs soon. This bustle won't last much longer.

The Big Sleep

I may be too busy for blogging or sewing these days, but I'm never too busy to watch Humphrey Bogart get slappy with out of line broads. "Get up, Sugar, you look like a Pekingese!"

1 Down, 6 to Go - The Scarf Wrap Cardi

This cardigan is a lot more highfallutin than what I usually play with, but this fabric is so sumptuous and the color begs for the royal treatment. Besides, I could use a little elegance in my world. So, I'm calling it the Date Night Cardigan. Now if only we could actually have a date night.I love this thing. I've had it on all morning and fancied myself quite the sophisticate while changing diapers and vacuuming. Old Helen and I almost scrapped over it after this photoshoot. Oh yeah, Helen? Wanna arm wrestle for it? Didn't think so.