I made a wreath!

I have been really, really wanting one of those nifty decorative mesh wreaths since I worked for Pizazz back in the day - now they're everywhere and they're crazy expensive.
For example:

Sister Act in Rocky Mount, NC - $48

Also Sister Act in Rocky Mount, NC - $48

"Posh Creations Online" at Etsy - $45

So, to save some $$$ I decided to make my own.
I used the tutorial over at The Wreath Artist to remind myself how their made (it's been almost 6 years since I worked at Pizazz so I needed a refresher), then I visited a local craft store for some purple mesh, Michael's for some wooden letters and a wooden pirate flag and I got to work

After doing the whole mesh thing I painted the white letters with purple & yellow polka dots then tied some old yellow and white polka dot ribbon into a bow.
While I had the purple & yellow paint out, I changed the Jolly Roger on the pirate flag's bandanna from red and black to ECU colors (we can't be having no NCSU colors on Pirate wreath!).

Voila!

I want to add more yellow ribbon in between the mesh and find a freakin' wooden football somewhere too, but I think it looks pretty good if I do say so myself (the little yellow rectangles are ECU playing cards - are there temporarily while I search for my ECU christmas ornaments & a wooden football).

Wordless Wednesday: New Office means new accesories!

I got so jealous when I read Miss Pink Lou Lou's post about her nifty new office decor, but then I remembered that I too am about to get a new office!

With my boss leaving June 30th - I will get to move from my office into hers, which has a window, book shelves and an actual door that shuts (whereas my current office has a doorway sans door)! So I have an excuse to buy some new decorations and I will be hittin' up Lifeguard Press (and a few others places) for some Lilly lovelies and other necessary accessories. I don't think Joshua will see a new office as a viable excuse for buying things, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him. *wink*

Lifeguard Press - Lilly Pulitzer magnetic board

Lifeguard Press -  Lilly Pulitzer Note cube with pen

Lifeguard Press -Lilly Pulitzer highlighters

Lifeguard Press - Lilly Pulitzer pencils

Etsy - See You Later Ally Gator clipboard

Lifeguard Press - Buy Local Patch frame

The Pink Giraffe - Monogrammed Clock

Coulda, shoulda, woulda... (warning: long post)

I am being a copy-cat and stealing a post topic from Tara over at fabulous but evil.

While I loved certain parts of my wedding, there are other parts that I would definitely change, you know nothing dramatic, just the color scheme, decorations, my dress, the b*maid dresses, the flowers and the atmosphere of my reception... okay maybe that is a lot of things. I would keep the groom and location at least, and most of the wedding party.

Color Scheme
I chose a baby blue and white for my wedding colors because my church has red floors and yellow pews and I could think of no other colors that wouldn't completely clash. I wish I had chosen greens and tans/browns instead so I could have used cotton and burlap and other organic looking, southern things in my decor - because not that may pictures were taken at the church anyway.

Decorations
If I had used the broader color scheme pictured above, it would have been easy to use decor like that pictured below (from Green Wedding Shoes, photographed by Jasmine at Jasmine-Star.com) . I love how the wedding looked with the cotton bowls inside jars tied with twine and using branches and burlap on tables.

Flowers
With that decor, I could have used cotton bowls for boutonnières and then had cotton worked into my white and green bouquet as well.  The beautiful hydrangeas I chose for my wedding died in the heat and were withered before the reception even started. I love how the arrangement below (also taken from Green Wedding Shoes) looks so effortless but eloquent.

Dresses
I loved my dress at the time, but I look back on it and wish that I had a dress that was simple but elegant. I adore the below dresses from J.Crew and I have no idea how I would have chosen between them if given the choice.

Chiffon Augusta Gown - $995

Principessa Gown - $1,950

I would have chosen another dress for my bridesmaids too, probably the one below from J.Crew.

Silk Chiffon Evie Dress - $195

Other changes I would make include the time of day of the wedding & reception (it was about a million degrees) and the atmosphere of the reception (if later in the day, could have had soft lighting and a nice ambiance).


But all in all, I still married a wonderful man, was married by the same preacher that married my parents (and is a wonderful family friend) and had a great day (probably due to the amount of Vicodin in my system because of my knee pain).