Bluegrass wedding

Well, we had an AWESOME wedding last Saturday.
My daughter got married to her soul mate in the presence of family and friends
It was a HOT day, but besides that it, it couldn't have been nicer.
Smiles abounded, as well as many happy tears (mostly from me)  :)

I made 'redneck wine glasses' for wedding favors.

They were great because this was a casual wedding and fit right into the barefoot, bluegrass theme.
And no one picked up the wrong glass because I sprayed chalkboard paint on their bases (before assembling them). So as the guests arrived we chalked in everyone's names. And after the wedding they could take them home.
So fun and functional!

We made chicken and salmon on the grill, and all the guests brought a dish to share. So we had lots of yummy food.
The bride and groom even made their own beer and cucumber soda!

Today's project is:

glass and wire serving spoons

You will need-
-stainless steel utensils- spoons, forks or cake servers
   (the handles should be as flat as possible)
-glass pieces (you can find these at the Dollar Store)
  ...I use my own fused glass pieces, but the kind of glass bubbles that people
     use in aquariums work well also
-E6000 glue
-20 gauge wire (optional)

Using the E6000, adhere the glass pieces onto the utensil handle.
Let dry for 24 hours. Then if you wish take about a yard of wire, and starting from the back, wind this around and over and in between the glass pieces, ending in the back. Take some needle nose pliers and tuck the end under and around another part of the wire and put a blob of glue over this.

I have also made serving utensils using beads strung onto the wire and wrapped around the handles. This would be pretty also. Just make sure you secure the ends of the wire in the back firmly and tightly. And a glob of E600 is good insurance. If you want to buy some, see my website: arttowearbydee.etsy.com

Hand wash please, no dishwashers.

tip of the day:
If you are invited to a pot-luck wedding, buy a nice bowl or platter to bring your food in, then leave it for the newlyweds as a wedding gift. Include a nice serving spoon like the one in today's project.

That's all for now...
Dee

ribbon roses

My oldest daughter (by 1/2 hour of her twin sister) is getting married in 2 weeks.
We are all so excited, it's hard to contain the happy atmosphere that surrounds her right now.
You can't help but smile when you see her face.

I did a lot for her sister's wedding back in 2004 (happy anniversary Bets!, eight years, whoa!)
from bouquets to table decorations, etc., but this time I am living 4 hours away. And it's not MY show.
It's tough to let other people take over, and I feel like I'm in the "outer" circle for the first time and being the mother of the bride, I have learned to just let it go.  Hard? yes.   Impossible? no.
Danzy, this effort is for you!

I did snag the flower job: bouquets, boutonnieres & corsages. So I have to revisit my previous job of choosing flowers, buying flowers, wiring flowers, preparing flowers, making flowers, then cooling off flowers three days ahead of time so they don't wilt and all my effort is for naught! Ah, the pressure!

Well, Dana showed me a quick and easy way to make little ribbon flowers. So this week's project is:

Ribbon Flowers

You will need:
satin ribbon, 3/4" - 1" wide
needle and thread

I used a different width of ribbon for demo to make it easier to view:

take about 24" of ribbon and toward the middle make a right angle fold. You will then fold the 'bottom' ribbon over this fold. You will continue with the other side until you have folded about 10 times.

You will be folding (at right angles) over the previous fold.

When you have your ten folds, pinch the corner of the bundle and let go of the top side (right hand side)

The ribbon bundle will pop out, but just keep pinching tightly so the whole thing doesn't fall apart, and with your free (right) hand pull gently the ribbon that is hanging down.

The rose should start to bunch up and start forming a flower shape. If this doesn't work to your satisfaction, just unravel and start again.

Some ribbons work better than others, and some widths work better than others. We tried with the 2" demo ribbon in the beginning, and it was too big to form a nice rose.

Once you have a nice rose shape, take your needle and thread and sew the bottom ribbon part together so it doesn't unravel.

tip of the day:
If you want to keep your towels as dry as possible, (perhaps you live a moist climate and have trouble drying things out)  try this tip:
Use a small washcloth in the shower (or bath) after you are finished and wipe off with this small towel first. After you have blotted down you will be surpised how much water you can squeeze out of this little washcloth. So think of all this moisture going into your bath towels that have to struggle to dry out.
My hubby gave me this tip, cuz in the army they gave the guys a little washcloth and one SMALL towel.

That's all for this week!
:D

Mirror Mirror on the wall

Lately it seems like the fairy tale of Snow White is making a comeback. I love the original movie by Walt Disney. He invented an innovative technique using 7 cameras and shooting down vertically from above to get a wonderful 3 dimensional look that was missing in the early animations.
There are two movies out: Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman. The first one I saw, and was pretty disappointed. The second looks very dark and spooky, and I'm not sure I want to see it.

At any rate, today's project is a mirror, so I figured I'd tie it in with the "mirror mirror" trend. Of course this mirror will not talk to you, or have magic powers, but it sure will look nice hanging on your wall.

Today's project is:
Mosaic Mirror

You will need:
a mirror (if it has a frame around it, that much the better)
tile adhesive
grout (it comes in many colors)
old dishes (find a garage sales, or thrift shops)

You will have to break the plates into usable pieces. I did this outside, using a hammer.
I wrapped the plate in newspaper, then wrapped this into an old towel. On a hard surface (driveway, or sidewalk) gently but firmly hit the plate in several places to crack it up. 

After you have enough pieces, lay them out in a way that they are close to each other, but not touching. You want a gap between the glass. I used brown glass pieces in the photo to 'frame' the mirror. But the beauty of this project is that you don't need any artistic talent, the designs are already done for you on the plates.

Lift each piece in turn, using a popsicle stick, slap on some tile adhesive and press onto mirror.
Continue until the mirror perimeter is filled with glass pieces. I like to use the edges of the plates facing into the center of the mirror. In other words, so the glass not grouted on the inner edge, has a nice smooth finish, and not the sharp broken part. Keep those inside where they will be embedded with grout and not exposed to cut you).

Wait 24 hours and  mask off the inside of the mirror to keep it clean while grouting.
Then apply the grout. You will probably have to mix this up yourself. Get an old bucket or old bowl, pour the grout in and A LITTLE BIT AT A TIME add water while you are mixing it in.

When the grout is the consistency of bread dough, spread it around the pieces. After you have all the spaces filled in, take an old damp rag and gently wipe the grout off the glass pieces. This does not have to be perfect, but the more you take off now, the less you will have to scrape off later when it dries.
Then use a wet sponge and go over the mosaic pieces and grout to smooth it out. Let dry overnight and go back with a damp rag to clean off any grout from the pieces. But be careful not to gouge out any of the grout between the pieces.

This mirror will be heavy, so before you hang it up, make sure you have a strong fastener in the wall (a molly bolt is good to use).  Once you get this technique 'down', you'll be covering all kinds of things.
(I showed you how to cover a clay flower pot in an earlier post.)

tip of the day:
Pick up a couple of plastic silverware organizers at the thrift shop when you are looking for those plates. These work great in your bathroom drawer to organize makeup, hair accessories or any of those goodies we have in our drawers.

That's all for now!
:D