Another wedding...five down, three to go!

Recently, our son and his lovely bride were married for time and all eternity in the beautiful Portland LDS temple.  It was a beautiful ceremony and a beautiful day!

Our son, opted to forego the traditional boutonniere and instead made his own using copper pennies.

The flower girl, younger sister of the bride, was a little too excited about her duties.  A repair was needed for her bouquet.

The reception was held back at our local chapel.  As always, decorating for the event provided ample opportunities for DIY's, thrifting, and repurposing!

Greetings From the South Seas!

I would love to be on a beach somewhere in the South Seas with the sun shining brightly and the breeze blowing gently.  But, alas, that just isn't the case right now.  Although, we got a taste of the tropics at our last church activity.  We "cruised" to the South Seas.  I was asked to decorate for the event..something that I love to do. We were trying to make it somewhat simple and most of all inexpensive.  The majority of my decorating was focused on the stage where the entertainment would be.  In fact, I didn't even get pictures of the grass skirting around the food tables, the bamboo table runners cut from thrifted bamboo blinds, or the tabletop tiki torch centerpieces.  But I can show you some scenes from the stage, and the dress that I managed to refashion for the event.

The palm trees were made from heavy duty cardboard tubes and brown paper lunch sacks.  It wasn't an original idea, you can find other examples by doing a quick search on the web.  The tubes were extras that were being thrown away from an upholstery fabric shop.  I did use my chop saw and made a few cuts about 2/3 of the way through the tubes in strategic places.  I would make 4 or 5 cuts about 1/8" apart.  I then "scrunched" those cuts together and taped them with duct tape.  This gave me a nice bend in the trunks.

The next step was to cut a slit in the bottom of a lunch sack, slide it over the tube, tape it in place around the bottom (you only have to the tape the first and the last sack to keep them in place), then scrunch it down.  My son and his friends continued adding and scrunching sacks until the tubes were completely covered.  I then used some brown spray paint to add a little texture to the trunks.  To make the trees stand, I just screwed three 2x2's (standing upright) to a piece of plywood.  I made two stands since I had six trees.  The trunks just slipped over the top of the 2x2's.  I placed a 10lb. weight in the center of the trees (on top of the plywood) to keep them stable.  The greenery at the base of the trees covered the weight and the plywood.  As for the greenery at the top of the trees, two of them sported silk ferns.  The other four were fashioned from one large tropical plant I picked up at a thrift store for $14.99.  I just cut the branches apart and wired them together, slipping them into the tops of the tubes.

I really scored at one of the thrift stores I visited.  I found these brown balls that looked just like coconuts.  They even had a loop of twine on each one which made it easy for attaching them to the trunks.  At 59¢ a piece I snatched up 18 of them, along with a bag of spanish moss, orange tropical flowers, a silk fern, and two straw balls (I don't know what they were for originally, but they looked like they would fit in with the tropical theme.)

  

I really like vintage post cards and thought one would be perfect for the scene.  I started with a frame made from 3/4" pvc pipe.  I used an ombre-dyed sheet that was used at our Moroccan activity and stretched it over the frame.  I secured it with safety pins.  The edging of the postcard is just a package of bulletin board border from the dollar store.  I used the back of them and taped them in place.  The black shoreline is poster board.  The ocean is some fabric that I had.  The trees, sun, and lettering were cut using my Cricut.  The main letters were cut from the pages of a book on Hawaii that I picked up for $1.99.  One tip:  When hanging lightweight things like lettering, etc. on stage curtains, or in this case fabric stretched over a frame, I like to tape an open safety pin upside down on the back of the letters or pictures.  I can then use the pin as a hook and poke it right into the fabric curtains or backdrop.  The whole "post card" was hung from the curtain rods above using black twine.

It was a fun "cruise" in the middle of winter.  I thrifted my husband's shirt and my dress for the event.  Although, my dress didn't start out this way.  If you want to keep reading, you can see some detail pics along with the transformation.

 The Dress

I started with this oversize dress...

What I really wanted, though, was it to look something like this...more fitted, ruffled sleeves, and a high-low hem with ruffle.

The finished results were close enough to make me happy with the outcome!  Plus, I was finally able to wear the shell lei that I brought home from Hawaii years ago!

I used the excess fabric that was removed from the sides of the dress to cut strips for my sleeve ruffles.  I didn't have enough width to make just two wider rows of ruffles, like my inspiration dress, so I went with three narrower rows on the sleeves.

I applied a rolled hem of contrasting navy blue, using my serger, on the ruffles instead of going through the laborious job of sewing bias tape to all the ruffled edges like the inspiration dress.  I also added a bit more color by adding some navy piping to the neckline.

The extra fabric that was removed from the length of the dress was cut into two strips, serged, gathered, and sewn to the hem of the dress.

The Process

Having Fun in Morocco...Wish You Were Here!

Although we had fun, we weren't really in Morocco!  It was that time of year again when our church congregation "cruises" to some exotic place.  We have been to the Caribbean, south of the border, Italy, the Orient, and even got shipwrecked on Gilligan's Island.  Last year, we took a Mississippi riverboat cruise to New Orleans. This year we were fortunate to visit the beautiful country of Morocco.  The food was wonderful...Moroccan chicken pie, couscous, green salad with feta and other wonderful flavors, figs, fruit, bread, and orange cake for dessert.  The entertainment was first class!  We enjoyed a snake charmer, belly dancer, and fortune teller.  Of course, the snake was stuffed and came to life thanks to fishing line.  He even carried on a funny conversation with his charmer.  The fortune teller handed out fortunes that were actually scripture verses.  And the brave (and modest) belly dancers were three of the leaders of our congregation...good sports!   It was a fun evening filled with good food, good friends, and fun!

Now, on to the decorations which were fashioned from many secondhand treasures!  If you are familiar with my past activities, then you will know how much I LOVE cast off sheets from hotels.  For this party I was able to use "stone wall" stenciled sheets and plain-dyed sheets from previous activities.  I did, however, do an ombre dye on nine sheets to create curtains for this party.  I used yellow, orange, and wine to create a striped effect.  You can visit this tutorial to see how I did the ombre effect.

I cut decorative tops from black foam core board purchased at the dollar store.  Using my Cricut, I cut a stencil and used it to dress up the pieces with metallic paint.  I used a strip of the foam core to thread it through the wide hem of the sheet.  This allowed the curtain to be gathered at the top and then pinned to the walls (our textile covered walls act like big bulletin boards!)  The foam core strip (which I used because it was leftover from cutting the tops, and cheap!) did have a tendency to break, so be careful, or use a dowel or wooden slat.  I purchased gold curtain tie-backs at a thrift store for 50¢ a piece.

The food table was first covered in plain-dyed sheets, then layered with two burgandy table clothes purchased at a thrift store for $2 a piece.  The turquoise fabric on the wall is a very long window scarf picked up for $4.  A votive candle holder creates a focal point for the scarf to hang from.  A roll of gold metallic mesh adds some sparkle under the wicker trays and place mats.

Lamps were added to provide some much needed light.

I usually like to hang icycle lights from the edge of the table (under the table skirting), but I didn't think they would show up much since the burgandy table clothes were so thick.  So I just placed them on the floor under the table and they created a nice glow through the dyed sheets.

Originally, my mind envisioned the fortune teller corner as a tented area.  But, time restraints dictated an alternate plan.  I was happy with the end result, nonetheless.  Thrifted curtain valances, fabric, velvet throws, and dyed sheets were used to create this scene.  Throw rugs helped to cover the gym floor and the cord to the table lamp!

The table was covered in a beautiful vintage, hand painted velvet cloth.  The light was thrifted for a couple of dollars.

A few years back, I helped to decorate for a homecoming dance at the local high school.  They wanted an Arabian nights theme.  I cut these columns from masonite, painted, and stenciled them with gold metallic spray paint.  The bottom stencil was actually a "wrought iron" looking door mat.  I just laid it over the column and sprayed it.  Of course, not wanting to waste anything, when I was done stenciling, I sprayed the mat black again and still use it at my back door!  This was our photo-op corner.

A while ago, our black stage curtains unfortunately "disappeared," so a backdrop was needed to dress up the stage.  The columns and stenciled sheets came in handy to complete the job.  Of course, there is only so much you can do when you're working around basketball hoops and accordion curtains!

My trusty gazebo made an appearance again.  (You can see at my son's wedding here, and my daughter's wedding here.)  I found some cute colored lights at a grocery outlet store that fit in with the moroccan theme.  The light in the middle was re-wired by my husband to plug into an outlet.  I painted the glass panels with transparent paint in moroccan colors, although it doesn't show up in the photos. 

 

I picked up three long window scarves for $3 each and created a billowed ceiling in the gazebo.  The rug is actually a vintage bedspread in a bright orange and yellow design with tassels.

One of my favorite projects for this party was the Moroccan lanterns I put together from various thrift store finds.  Each lantern sat on top of a battery-operated LED light.  I made seventeen lanterns for this party, all unique and different from each other.  For a break down of the various parts I used for some of the lanterns, you can visit this tutorial.

 

I even thrifted some great costumes.  My tunic and matching pants were only $2 for the set!!  And, my husband's brightly colored tunic was just $3.

I'm not sure, this may have been more oriental than moroccan, but I couldn't pass it up for the price!

 I like to link to these great parties!

The "Tattooed" Denim Jacket

I may not have the urge to tattoo my body, but I did get the urge to tattoo a jacket!  I love the intricate design of some of the henna tattoos and thought they would would look great as embellishments on a denim jacket.  I started with this white denim jacket that I picked up at a thrift store for a few dollars.  Originally, it had eyelet lace trim around the collar, pockets, and cuffs.  I didn't care much for it, so I cut it away! 

I then spent some time...quite a bit of time...drawing designs on the jacket with an ultra fine point sharpie marker.

After I was satisfied with the designs, I used Elmer's washable clear glue and filled in some of the design elements.  I filled an empty paint tube with glue so that I could have a smaller opening and more control over the gluing process.  I let the glue dry thoroughly.  The dried glue works almost like magic in the next step, which is dyeing the jacket. 

I used Rit Denim Blue liquid dye.  I was going for an ombre look, so I started at the bottom of the jacket and worked my way up to get the desired ombre effect.  As you can see in the picture below, I made a makeshift rack to hang my jacket from.  Every 5 minutes I lowered the jacket to the next level, into the dye.  When I got to the level of the inked design, I placed the whole jacket in the dye for a couple of minutes, then placed it in the sink to rinse. 

 The dried glue resists most of the dye, leaving the treated areas lighter.  The glue is washable and disappears in the wash.

 Whenever you dye something, you never know exactly how it will turn out.  With this project, the thread remained white.  I really like the effect, though, since it ties in so nicely with the white in the inked designs!

 

This technique was a bit time consuming, but I'm really happy with the results. 

A few tips:

•Make sure you use Elmer's washable clear glue and let it dry completely.

•I didn't get my jacket wet before dyeing (which is usually recommended for a more consistent result), I didn't want to risk washing away the dried glue and, therefore, ruining the effect.

•Be sure you use a permanent ink marker.  

Update:  Louise in SW Saskatchewan had this useful information to add to the process:

"The thread stayed white because it was probably polyester or a polycotton blend instead of 100% cotton. I am a professional hand dyer and have found out about this.  If you use Elmer's blue School Gel you can get finer lines as it holds it's shape better than the Clear Gel which tends to spread more. I use the Blue Gel for a particular technique and we tried the clear gel to compare and discovered its spreading tendencies."

I was aware of the reason why the thread didn't take the dye, but the advantage of the blue glue was news to me!!

Good luck!

I like to link to these great parties!

Featured on:

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Also featured in Fall 2013 Altered Couture magazine!