The Wedding, Part Three

In Which I Go Nuts With the Hot Glue Gun
And Eschew Oriental Trading Company and Claire's

(read part one)
(read part two)

When we last left our hapless heroine, she was sewing up fashion like a freaking Donatella Versace.  But I couldn't stop there, in my quest to be "unique" and "meaningful" and, oh yes, "cheap."  Next up was my flower girl basket.  I got a metal pail at the craft store, made a big bow out of Holly's purple sash material, and glued it on.  For Faith the ring bearer, I got a little wooden treasure chest at the craft store and stained it dark brown.  Then I made a cushion out of Faith's pink sash material and tucked it inside.  Both the pail and the treasure chest also got metal starfish that I found in the jewelry-making section at Walmart. Thea was going to hold my bouquet during the ceremony, so I sewed up a long ribbon out of her blue sash material to tie the flowers with.  I intended to just buy some flowers at the grocery store the morning of the wedding.

During the multiple-trying-on process for Thea's dress, the plastic pieces that attached the removable straps broke.  Thea thought this was a sign that she should just wear the dress strapless, but I took this opportunity to sew the straps on permanently.  As a compromise, we decided to attach little white flowers to the bodice at the straps.

An idea I had seen several times in wedding pictures on the internet was that of a hand-painted-looking sign that the happy couple held.


(photo credit www.katherineashdown.co.uk)
You can purchase such a sign in various degrees of hand-painted-ness on the internet, ranging from under $10 at Oriental Trading Company to over $60 on Etsy.  I have zero artistic skills, so I knew I wouldn't be able to make this myself, but I happen to have access to a pretty good artist:  Thea.  I bought her a blank canvas and four bottles of paint in shades of orange and pink to match the sunset we would hopefully have on our wedding evening.  Then I gave her the supplies and turned her loose.

Chester being super helpful

The finished product was even lovelier than I had imagined!  And I think the total cost was under $10, so suck it, Oriental Trading Company!

I don't have pierced ears, and neither do the girls.  And I was not intending on wearing any necklace or bracelet.  But since we would all be barefoot, and it was the beach, I wanted anklets for all of us girls.  Of course, I decided this less than three weeks before the wedding.

A quick perusal of brick and mortar stores found nothing that I liked.  I had a particular look/style in mind, and I turned to Etsy.  I found just what I was looking for in Brasslady's Etsy store, but the anklets were made in and shipped from Thailand.  I was doubtful they would make it in time, but I placed the order.  It took four days to get a shipping notification, and delivery was estimated in 14-24 days.  At this point the wedding trip was 11 days away.  I decided I would have to use my own jewelry-making skillz, so I got some colored thread/cord and some beads and went to work.

This picture does not even do justice to how awful my anklet attempt was.  It looked like a friendship
bracelet woven by a four-year-old on a bumpy Jeep ride.

Would you believe... the package from Thailand arrived in the mail just hours before we left for Florida.  I was so excited I just about cried.

Becky's	Thea's
Faith's	Holly's

LOVE IT!  It even jingles when I walk!

So here we are at zero hour.  The night before we left for Florida, I still had the trusty glue gun and all the craft supplies out, putting together flowered barrettes, clips and headbands for our hair.  Why couldn't I have just gone to Claire's at the mall and chosen from their large selection of pre-made hair flowers?  This is a burning question I can't really answer.

Oh and one more "mishap" -- less than a week before the wedding, the girls and I went to a birthday party where a henna artist was doing tattoos.  We each got one.  Mine was a stylized bird.  It was really gorgeous.  When the tattoos were dry, I suddenly put two and two together -- these henna tattoos would last at least two weeks, and my wedding and professional photographs were six days away.  Guess we got lucky that the tattoo artist was so good, because these tattoos were here to stay.

Stay tuned for the forthcoming and final installment:  The Wedding, Part Four, when we wrangle everyone to Florida and the big day finally arrives!

untitled in January

We had a rare 60-degree January day today.  It started off with a thunderstorm, even.  If all winter was like this, aside from one or two snow days that keep me home from work, I would never have what they call "the winter doldrums" and what I call "gahhhh life sucks!!!!"

Following up from last week, my haircut experience went well.  I'm pleased with how it turned out, although it does require a little more styling, "encouragement," shall we say, since I've got long bangs now.  Bangs have traditionally been a problem for me.  They just don't behave like bangs should.  (In high school I used a curling iron to make them into a big pouf, like Charlie Brown's sister Sally, that I don't think was EVER stylish.)  The bangs I have now are meant to be swept to the side, which means the hair dryer and/or the curling iron have to be briefly applied.

Here is the before

And here is the after

When I look at pictures of myself I always think I need to wear lipstick.  But when I look at myself in the mirror with lipstick on, I think I look ridiculous.

Thea enjoyed skiing last week.  Faith didn't enjoy it as much but she still had a fun trip and said she's willing to give it another try sometime.

I took up crocheting again last month, basically for the first time since I was in high school.  I've been easing back in with simple stuff like potholders/coasters

and granny squares.

The granny squares were from this pattern and the coasters from this one.  I do a couple of granny squares a week, and I figure at some point I'll have enough to sew them together and make a blanket.  Neato!  Now I'm ready to tackle a real project -- a little hat for my friend's baby.

New pictures, from our trip to Six Flags America (back in August, yes I'm behind on posting pictures), are up here.  Enjoy!

Thursday thinking

I still miss Augie a lot.  I thought I heard him meow the other day, and I keep expecting to see him laying on the dog's bed or to come climb in my lap while I'm sitting on the floor.  Our other elderly cat, Spot, is turning 18 in April.  For now he is in decent health.  He notices Augie's absence, though.  The first night Augie was gone, Spot wandered through the house all night meowing.  They used to sleep together on the dog's bed.

Aside from Spotty we have two other cats, Emily and Benny, who are about 2.5 and 3 years old, respectively. Then there's good old Chester, the dog, who we guess to be about 9.  I do love a house full of pets, despite the cost, the mess, the work, and the inevitable heartache that comes along with it.

Augie and Spotty enjoying a sunny spot at the back door.  Nov 2011

Thea and Faith are going skiing for the first time this weekend.  I've never really had an interest in skiing, but I'm happy they're going to have the opportunity to try it.  They are excited.  Holly and I are staying home by ourselves.  I told her it was going to be a special Holly-and-Mommy night.  Her eyes got wide and she said, "Let's have a movie night!  With EATING!"  So, movies and eating it will be.

I'm getting a haircut tomorrow.  This is only news because I don't get my hair cut often, and when I do, it's usually just a trim.  This time I really am looking for a new style (if you can call the shapeless mess I have now a "style").  It remains to be seen whether I can communicate my wishes to the stylist, whether she can cut it that way, whether my hair will actually do what the girl's hair in the picture is doing, and then whether I can actually pull it off myself at home.