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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Elegant Wedding Centerpieces on a Budget

Our beautiful daughter was married last summer.  I only rarely blogged about the wedding and reception last year, as the bride really wanted her wedding guests to be surprised and wowed


Since the wedding took place back in August, I think it's safe to share a few of the floral arrangements we created.  I cannot take credit for any of these designs -- my daughter found images of things she liked, tweaked the concepts, and together we executed her plans.

 source unknown -- from the bride's idea file

She fell in love with a particular style of centerpiece that incorporated orchids and long branches, but after getting quotes from florists, and knowing the bride was not willing to compromise on band or venue, we knew we were going to have to get much more creative with our centerpieces to stay on our budget.  We had these issues to consider.
  • The reception venue called for centerpieces with a lot of height and volume, so we knew we wanted to incorporate tall beautiful twigs. 
  • Budget being a huge consideration, we nixed the orchid idea and decided to look for a more affordable flower.  We found a great source for hydrangeas.  And we love hydrangeas.
  • We are not florists, and we would be on a bit of a time crunch, so the arrangements needed to be fool proof.
When my resourceful daughter found this tiny image, we knew we were on the right track!

 source unknown -- is this gorgeous arrangement yours?

We found our best source for beautiful twigs was the local Fred Meyer -- tall four or five foot high stems for ninety-nine cents each-- but your own back yard might provide all the twigs you need.  Again, the beautiful and resourceful bride found a discount source for preserved drapey green amaranthus.  And she found a discount source for very tall vases.  When the vases and amaranthus arrived in the mail, she asked me to send her a picture -- did I mention we live in different states? 


A great source for buying hydrangeas in bulk can be found at the most unlikely of places -- Sam's Club!
Here's how their flowers arrive. 

 photo, Sam's Club website

We had them shipped directly to our hotel, and the hotel staff was really great about getting the flowers to our room and having the AC cranked for them (we had called in advance and arranged for this to be done).  The boxes of flowers were waiting for us when we arrived.

photo, Sam's Club website

Do you see how the flowers are kind of smashed up in the shipping carton?  Not a problem!  Fortunately, we had done a lot of research on hydrangeas, so we did not FREAK OUT.  Hydrangeas need to be hydrated (hence the name?) -- they even "drink" through their petals.   We had access to the reception venue the evening before our event, so a dear friend and I simply filled the sinks at the bar and in the kitchen with water, and put the flowers in.  The entire flower.  Heads and all. 

Then we just left them, and went to the beach for the most amazing rehearsal dinner.  Ever.  A beach barbecue at sunset, with tag football and dogs and kids and grandparents and blankets. 


Weddings are a ton of work, so get lots of help, and remember to go to the beach and have a party!  After a relaxing and rejuvenating evening of celebration,  the bride and her entourage joined me at the reception venue, where we pulled all the flowers from the water.  We were happy to see they had perked right up.

We put together a few dozen arrangements and placed them on the tables.  Then we all went to our hotels and went to bed, knowing the reception area was going to be gorgeous.  The photo of the beautiful hydrangea, below, was taken the next morning.  We were so pleased with the size and quality of the blooms, and with how well they "plumped up" after being immersed in water for several hours.

Chrystal Brand Photography

Our lovely photographer slipped into the reception hall the next day, while the caterers were setting up, and got some photos of the centerpieces.


Chrystal Brand Photography

We think they turned out beautifully.  

Chrystal Brand Photography
We alternated taller and chunkier arrangements on the tables.

Chrystal Brand Photography
It looks a little empty here, but when the caterers and the band and the cakes arrived, the space really filled in perfectly.

Chrystal Brand Photography
 We even had enough hydrangeas for the bridal party's bouquets.

Chrystal Brand Photography
Including the vases, we were able to pull this off for around twenty dollars per arrangement, and the bouquets were made from the leftovers!  The bride will be able to resell all of the vases, as well.  This worked out to be only a fraction of the cost of hiring a florist.  I will warn you that it took a lot of planning and work, and you need to have good friends who are ready to jump in and help, to pull it off successfully, but it was lots of fun for us, and we were really pleased with how everything turned out.

Would you do your own centerpieces for a big event?  Maybe you have done so already and have a link you would like to share in the comments section?  I would love to hear your thoughts!

Also, if you love beautiful photography and live in the PNW, be sure to check out our photographer's website. 


For a bit about the humorous side of planning a wedding, you might want to read this article.


Have a lovely weekend!


Tip Junkie handmade projects
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Saturday, February 5, 2011

Jimmy Choo Inspired Up-Cycled Handbag

It was time for a new "city purse".  I've tried lots of different bags, and have found the handbags that worked in my old suburban life, don't always work well in the city.  For instance, I need a bag with a long strap, that can be worn across my shoulder (and on the rare occasions that I drive somewhere, it's nice to be able to use the long strap to swing the purse out the window to swipe the card reader when leaving the parking garage -- so the people in the cars behind me don't get angry and start honking their horns while I'm frantically digging through my bag, removing the contents, in search of the little magnetic card.  Not that that has ever happened to me...).


The "city purse"  needs to hug close to my body when I'm digging through bins at my favorite GW Outlet, or trying on shoes at the Nordstrom Rack; and it needed to distribute weight evenly when I'm walking downtown.


So, when I found this bag at the local GW, I thought it might work.  It has tons of function, is light weight, and is comfortable to wear.  And navy handbags are definitely making a comeback in the higher end stores.


  • The Problem?  The bag is dated and not very attractive.
  • The Solution?  Draw some inspiration from favorite designers; in this case, Jimmy Choo.


  • The Resources?  These two thrifted leather purses, with broken straps --  99 cents each!

  • The Method?  Cut the extra purses apart using strong scissors (but not your fabric scissors).  Cut away all the piping, zippers, lining, etc., so that you are left with only flat pieces of leather. 
  •  The Flowers?  Cut flower petals from the leather.  I free-handed mine, but you could easily draw up a pattern.  You will want two sizes,  the larger petals will form the larger flower, and the smaller petals will form a smaller flower.  Cut two circular "bases" about two or three inches in diameter, on which to build your flowers. Use Gorilla glue to gather the base of the petals into a shape you like.  Secure with clips until the glue cures.  When all your petals are ready, they can be glued to the round bases you cut earlier, to form a nice flower shape.  You will make two flowers, and glue the smaller one right on top of the larger one.


  • The Leaves?  I cut mine free hand, but you could use a template, if you wanted.


  • The Flower Centers?  Just cut some long narrow strips and braid them, then coil them around and around until you have the desired size.  I secured this with a small amount of Gorilla Glue.


  • How about a tassel?  If you want a tassel, cut a neat rectangle from your flat leather pieces, then cut a fringe into it.  Cut one narrow strip of leather for a loop.  Begin tightly rolling the fringed rectangle, securing the loop in the center of the roll with a small amount of Gorilla Glue.  Secure the end of the roll with glue, and clip until cured.  Work carefully, as the glue dries white, so you don't want any of the glue to be visible.  The tassel can be secured to one of the zippers with a jump ring.

  • Putting it all together.  Decide how you want to arrange your elements.  When you find an arrangement you like, you can secure the whole thing to the purse with Gorilla Glue, or for more flexibility, secure the flower and leaves together onto another scrap of leather and add one or two large pin backs.  Use the pin backs to secure the flower to the bag.

And there you have it!  Three dated leather handbags, up-cycled into a new Jimmy Choo inspired bag.  Total cost for this project was around $5.00!

Tell me what you think.  Would you try this project?

Also, I have a question for those of you who have clicked my Facebook "like" button -- have you been getting House Revivals status updates on your wall?  I think there may be a problem with the widget.

 
Frugalicous Friday at Finding Fabulous
handmade projectsbeforeAndAfterButton




DIY Club
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Thursday, February 3, 2011

House Revivals' Bathroom Chandelier Article was Featured on Remodelaholic!

I wanted to take a moment to thank Cassity and Justin, of Remodelaholic, for featuring my post on bathroom chandeliers.  It was such an honor to be featured by this amazing pair of DIYers!

Photo courtesy Country Living.

Anyone thinking about putting a chandelier in their bathroom definitely needs to  hop over and read this post!

Thanks, again, to Justin and Cassity!



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Raising the Beach House and Razor Clam Recipes

For those of you who are following the beach house renovation, we have exciting news!  The house raising company has begun prep work for lifting.  For those of you who are new to House Revivals blog, here is a quick catch up:

We bought a beach house, and it was a big mess.  It had been a foreclosure that was bought by a contractor/ flipper.  It was in rough shape when the contractor/ flipper bought it.  The flipper ran out of money or mojo or something, and sold the house to us after making an even bigger mess of it.   When the house was built, it had an expansive view of the ocean.  Then the sand dunes began to grow, and only very tall people could see the water.  So we decided we would raise the house.  So everyone can see the water.

All caught up?  Okay.  Right now, huge steel beams are being placed under the house.  These beams will support the house and will rest on "cribs", or "cribbing" when the house is in the air. In a few days, passers by will have a view something like this when they see the house.



And, a day or two later, it should look something like this.


Gradually, the house will go from looking like this....


... to looking like this.


And people standing in the house will go from looking at this....

Grass
... to looking at this.

Ocean

Do you want to look inside the house?   Here is a "before and after" of a guest room.   And here is the 2010 Christmas Home Tour of the beach house. 


Of course, when we eventually move into the house we will need to eat, but will have missed the clamming season to due to all this renovating.


So, we will fill the freezer with razor clams harvested by the Quinault Tribe.


Have you ever had razor clams?  They taste very similar to abalone, and can be prepared the same way.

Here is a basic recipe for preparing them:

 Fried Razor Clams

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup oil for frying, or as needed
  • 1 (4 ounce) packet saltine crackers, finely crushed
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 4 large razor clams, cleaned and dried

Directions

  1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
  2. In a bowl, mix crushed crackers with black pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. Place eggs in a separate bowl. Dip clams into eggs, then into cracker mixture to evenly coat.
  3. Fry clams in the hot oil until golden brown. Do not over cook.
{recipe source}
Here are a few more recipes from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Do you have a favorite seafood recipe?  Do you even like seafood?



504 Main
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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

I Heart Wreaths, a Collection of Favorite Valentine's Wreaths

Don't you just love all the heart wreaths and Valentine's wreaths we're seeing right now?  So many of you are so talented -- I'm continually blown away by the creativity that abounds in blog land!  Here is a lovely sampling of favorite wreaths that I heart right now.   Be sure and stop by these ladies' lovely blogs and check them out!

The combination of texture and form on this wreath from Aaron at Mudpies and Marigolds makes me want to swoon. 

This wreath even sports a "corsage" on the shoulder -- so elegant, and rustic at the same time.

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Andrea never disappoints, with her dreamy concoctions.


This wreath captured my heart last year, and still has a hold (must be that love potion on the tip of the arrow)!

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Jessica, at Sweetie Pie Bakery, created this darling wreath from pompoms she made herself!  You can see her tutorial here.  And while you're there, check out her gorgeous Anthropologie inspired shower curtain (with tutorial)!

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How much more sweetness can a girl take?  This little framed number is just way too cute!


Head over to Tales From an OC Cottage to see how the artist and Marie Osmond created this lovely piece.

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Here's one that's not fussy, but is absolutely elegant in it's simplicity.  I'm totally digging the gingham ribbon and the little pop of pink on the arrow!


Go see Maggie at Black and White, Side by Side,  for a link to the full tutorial.

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Becca, at Nap Time Journal, made this adorable fabric wreath, and put it in a thrifted frame.


So cute! Aren't you just loving all the framed wreaths we're seeing?  I just love the layering.


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This sweet little up-cycled wreath from Christina, at From One Momma to Another is so lovely in it's simplicity.



I adore anything up-cycled and creative.  I like that it's not overly fussy, but still packs some punch!  Check out the tutorial -- you'll never believe how easy and thrifty this project is!

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Can I show you one more  (or does this one count as two)?  This sweet little pair of hearts, made by Heather, at Straight Stitches is about as darling as it gets! 


I heart these wreaths!

Do you have a favorite Valentine's wreath that you've made or seen?  Link it up in the comments section -- I'd love to see what's inspiring you.  Be sure and visit these talented ladies, and share some of the "LOVE"!

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