Debutante Notes: Crackle Me Up

I started working on Renee's centerpieces today. I decided to paint the pillars first, since I was itching to use the crackle medium already. So I got my materials and set up in my backyard. It was such a nice day outside....got the pool waterfall trickling, the breeze blowing, music playing...ahhhh, perfect :)

[Materials]: paintbrushes of varied sizes: 1 pack for $4.99//acrylic paint in titanium white &

raw umber: 3 for $9//crackle medium: 1 bottle for $5.99//distressed ink in red brick: $3.99

[All materials purchased from Michael's Arts & Crafts Store]

I bought varied candle pillars from an antique market & a thrift store in Irvine (for more details on that please read Debutante Notes: The First Haul from an earlier May post). I applied a base coat of raw umber on the pillar (which was originally painted in gold) and then let it dry completely. I then applied the crackle medium and let that dry for about 10 minutes. For the top coat, I used titanium white. I needed to do this in contrasting colors so that the crackle effect would be clearly visible. 

{Side Note} Two finished pillars for today. I can only do so much with these two hands of mine.

Once I started to apply the titanium white paint, the "crackling" began within seconds! It was SO cool! Desired effect? YES! It was perfect. The pillar is exactly what I had envisioned :)

{Love} This will tie in perfectly with Renee's 1940's vintage theme.

Two pillars down...9 more to go. I will say this though, I tried a sample of the crackle effect on a metal pillar (we have 3 metal pillars so far) and I'm not sure if it'll turn out the same way as these wooden pillars. I'll have to play around with it some more and figure it out as I go :)

{Love} White roses in bloom! 

Wedding Notes: DIY Save the Dates!

"IN EVERY JOB THAT MUST BE DONE, THERE IS AN ELEMENT OF FUN!" 

~Mary Poppins

This past weekend, my sister held two days of "wedding workshops" for her DIY save the date owls. She asked people from her wedding party to come and help us out (who ever could make it). The turn out was pretty good actually! Hahaha! We had so much fun too- just hanging out and really enforcing the "bonding" time with each other. I personally think this is also a great way for the wedding party to be more involved with the process, rather than just showing up on the day of the wedding ;)

[Day 1] Wings and Things

{Side Note}
The seamstress bride-to-be...had the nerve to call me MOHzilla (maid of honor- zilla)! Hahaha! I was QC that day (quality control) and I guess I was too demanding?? Sheesh.

{Today's workers}
Rachel (a bridesmaid), Shelsey (Rachel's daughter), Ale (a bridesmaid) and Esteban (Enrique's brother and the best man)!

{Side Note}
Rachel called this the "sweatshop!" Hahaha ;)

[Day 2] Give A Hoot

{Today's Workers}
[AM Shift] Rachel & Shelsey again, Gilbert (Charlene & Enrique's good friend), Joann (a bridesmaid), Rodney (a groomsman), Melissa (Rodney's girlfriend).
[PM Shift] Regina (a bridesmaid), Renee (Charlene's niece/my godchild) and Reeka (the junior bridesmaid/Lynn's godchild).

Half way through working, Charlene compares us to the seven dwarfs- then goes on and gives us all dwarf names, you know just for fun :P

Charlene = Sewy (obviously). Joann = Trimmy (for trimming the fabric off the owls). Rachel = Gluey (for gluing the fabric onto the owls).

Melissa = Fabby (for measuring the fabric). Gilbert  = Kid Cutty (for the obvious reason).

Shelsey = Tracey (for tracing the owl templates). Rodney = Painty (for again the obvious reason).

Reeka = Lil Painty (because she's...little). Renee = Snippy and Regina  = Lady Cutty.

I was Floaty...because I didn't really have just one job. I was the floater of the sweatshop, woops I mean workshop ;) Hahaha...it's because I can do it all! (Well, except for the sewing).
We're almost done with the tedious work- drawing, cutting, sewing, gluing, shearing, and painting. We're definitely 3/4 of the way through...then we just need to assemble the owls and place the messages on them.

After a very productive day, we enjoyed some of these delicious chocolate truffles!

{Love}
Mmmmm! I love the peanut and pistachio covered truffles.


{Tidbit Fact}
Gilbert (aka Kid Cutty) made these for Charlene and Enrique. Pretty darn fancy!

Wedding Notes: A Message from the Owlery

{Location: San Diego & Irvine}

Charlene and I have started creating the save the dates for their wedding. She and Enrique decided on going along with their quaint, rustic & old world theme (not to mention they both have a love for this kind, feathered friend)...so, their save the dates are going to be hand made owls! Charlene got inspired by something she saw from a DIY tutorial blog. We're definitely putting our twist on it though. We wanted to use different kinds of fabric that matched the theme and give it a raw, organic look....but also an endearing one too! Come on...owls? So cute :)

So far, we're working on the individual pieces of the owl: left & right wings and the body/head. Eventually, we're going to attach the wings on each side of the owl, so that they open and close to reveal the inner part.

We got a little help from Joann (one of the bridesmaids), our good friend Jen and of course Enrique helped too! Charlene mainly did the sewing and I worked on the owl templates and fabric cutting. Tedious work? Yes. Is it all worth it? Most definitely YES. Like I said before, Charlene and I are all about the details.

In the end, each owl will be uniquely its own kind! No two owls alike. Will they be perfect little cookie cutter owls? Heck no. Little imperfections are what make things memorable and stand out :)

A Revival: A Good Ol' Fashioned Engagement

{Location: My Humble Home in Chula Vista, CA}
In the spirit of the LOVE month (and yesterday being happy heart day), I wanted to post some pictures from Charlene & Enrique's engagement party from September of last year. Enjoy!

The lovebirds' dessert of choice? Doughnuts! So I set up a dessert table filled with glazed doughnuts, chocolate drizzled doughnuts and powdered doughnut holes.

[Party favors] I bought palmiers from Trader Joe's (heart shaped flaky pastries) and placed two pieces inside a baker's parchment bag, wrapped it with yarn and secured it with a bow.

[Thank You tags] With my sister's help, we also made little tags and wedged them in between the yarn. We tore pieces from butcher paper (the more raw edges the better), and stamped it with a picture of a little birdie and the phrase, "You're too sweet!"

{Side Note}
The record player pictured above is Enrique's own. This is his other love...second to Charlene ;)

In our backyard, we set up the floral arrangements, tables and other knick knack decor. All of the decor you see here belong to the crazy yet blissful couple.

[Table Arrangement] Charlene bought various greenery/shrubs from a farmer's market the day before and arranged them in quaint little vases.

[Beverage Station] We filled this table with bottled cokes (Charlene's favorite) and a water dispenser with pineapple slices in it.

We wanted to set up a picture area (I guess we can call it a "photobooth") with hanging decor. We decided to use paper ball lanterns. The paper lanterns themselves were a bit plain, so we gave it a chic and romantic twist.

[Paper Lanterns] We bought white, pink and coffee colored tissue paper (the color palette). To create the layered effect, we cut out large circles from the tissue paper and glued them all around the paper ball lantern from the bottom up.

VOILA! Our picture area!

Bride-to-be with the Maid of Honor :)

Bride-to-be with her maid of honor & 4/7 of her bridesmaids (yes, it is a big bridal party)!

{Love}
Awww...she's the first of us friends to go ;)

       {Love}                                                                          {Love}
       Already telling me what to do for MOH duties!               Too funny! Enrique totally walked in on our
       Oh dear gosh what have I gotten myself into?                  picture, asking us if we wanted ice cream! :)
        ...just kidding :) She's SO not like that!

Groom-to-be with his best man, (his brother Esteban) & 4/7 of the groomsmen

...They're SO made for each other, don't ya think? :)