The Barn Reception continues...

...with a wall of  "picture" windows and an old truck.  I'm back to share with you a couple of more cute things we did for Danielle and Taylor's barn reception.  

 Danielle placed some great pictures in behind the glass of these old windows... she also put her Cricut to good use again cutting out neat letters for the other panes.

 

That night, the lights behind the canvas illuminated the pictures.

 Here is a better shot - of course we added a punch of her favorite colors with the tissue paper flowers and hung the windows with burlap ribbon.

 One of her chalkboards and a cute wooden sign with their wedding date...

 Some straw bales and a fern and that was her "window" wall.

 Now for the truck - this is her Uncle Woody's old truck that he is in the process of refurbishing.  We simply pulled it in the side of the barn...

...I made a pocket of fresh flowers and tied it to the grill..

 ...Danielle's "just married" burlap banner was perfect for the side.  We placed a large fern and her mom's "window house" in the back complete with flowers and a lil' chandelier. 

 The truck made a nice backdrop for the bridal table.

 Here you can see the straw bale "couches" in front of the truck.  The truck really did have a great function - all the wedding gifts were placed in the back.

 And to top it off - more, yes more paper flowers.

I just love that old truck. 

And the Barn Reception Pictures begin...

...finally.  Yes, I'm back - I've officially survived decorating another wedding last week - but we are going to journey back a couple of weeks to Danielle and Taylor's barn reception.  I'm going to break it down into a few posts and I thought I'd begin by sharing with you what we did with a hanging ladder.  In this barn were 3 wonderful - VERY LONG - wooden ladders.  I'll show you what we did with the other two later - but this one found a home on a really long expanse of a wall that needed something that could carry significant visual weight.

This is the LOOOOOONG wall I'm speaking of - it was the inside wall of the barn - these are insulated panels - great for function but not really pretty. 

I knew I wanted to hang the ladder but I couldn't do it by myself - so fortunately, Danielle's brother (the tractor driver) and her dad (in the bucket loader) plus her fiance (holding the rope) helped me out - a BIG bunch.  Mark suspended the ladder with rope parallel with the wall.

And here is how it came together.  Mom and I ran some tobacco canvas through the rungs plus I simply tied on pieces of burlap ribbon and just let them hang down like streamers.

Danielle, the beautiful bride, is quite talented herself and just recently purchased and fell in love with her new Cricut machine - she made this banner that said "Happily Ever After" in orange and hot pink.

We hung different lanterns filled with battery operated candles plus pink and orange tissue paper flowers.

The family had this beautiful old church pew and it fit perfectly under the ladder.  On it, we placed a quilt that had been given to the bride's mom and dad on their wedding.  It was a very special piece to the family.

The whole area turned out to be a great focal point in the barn.  It was fun and festive.

Danielle, her beautiful bridesmaids...and

...her sweet lil' girl who found a place to rest for a minute.

I love the way the ladder turned out  - it was something they already had - and it fit just perfectly!  Ladders would be beautiful hanging over tables too - you could almost use them like chandeliers - of course these ladders were old and wooden - they were just perfect.

An uncle's old truck and a wall of windows up next.

The Chapel - sweet, simple and sentimental

Hello friends - today we start another lil' wedding photo journey.  I had the honor of working with a beautiful couple on their wedding recently.  She wanted the reception in their family horse barn and she was absolutely certain she wanted to marry in this chapel.  Why?  because this chapel was built in memory of her late grandfather.  It is small and simple but holds great meaning to this family. 

It is nestled in amongst big shade trees...

 It simply has a ramp to the front door which I hung some tobacco canvas on as well as some springeri and burlap bows. 

 Above the door you will see a plague honoring her grandfather, Herbert Graybeal, which was also my grandmother's brother.  So personally, I don't think she could have picked a better more special place.

 The weather last Saturday was beyond perfect - mid 70's, a gently breeze and loads of sunshine.

 A light post lights the way by night.

 On the door, I placed a pocket wreath filled with roses, mums, springeri, tulips, gardenia leaves, and some daylillies and queen ann's lace that I picked off the side of the road.

 Since I will be sharing their wedding journey - I suppose I better introduce Danielle and Taylor...

 ...and their precious Braelyn.  She and her mother were absolutely beautiful that day.

 So next we will be going to the barn where lots of fun was had by all.  We were surrounded by horses, an owl stayed perched in the rafters watching our every move, I lived in a bucket loader on the front end of a tractor for a couple of nights hanging canvas but it was fun and I loved every minute of it.

See ya soon!

Going to the Chapel...

well kinda - just not me - I've already been there and done that.  Actually, I have missed you all so much - I'm still here and well - it has just been an amazingly busy spring.  Jus' to fill you in -

I just completed another incredible spring in the greenhouse - it was so warm so early this year that it just flew by - but oh my - it was crazy while it lasted.

 And I've been spending a lot of nights at the ballpark and I wouldn't have it any other way - I love watching my lil' slugger play ball.

 Plus, I have been working on some weddings - one of which was just today - so that is what I mean when I say...

 We are going to the chapel - 'cause we are - I mean I'm gonna take you there in the next several days - sharing with you some of the fun I've been having working with a super sweet couple on their special day.

Hope everyone has been doing great - I'll be catching up with you all real soon. 

A Sweet Surprise...

Hello friends - today I'm sharing with you a lil' surprise from one of my dear friends, sweet Ms. Linda!

 See, I've been meaning to make one of the coolest wreaths around these days - a burlap one of course, but time just hasn't been on my side as of late - but now, I won't have to - because I was gifted one this week.  Isn't it cute?  I just LOVE it!  Thank you thank you Linda!  She made it out of two wire frames and looped her burlap ribbon in bunches of three and tied them on - I love the free form of it.

 And I just thought it would look perfect in my kitchen over my mantle.  Now, she also had a beautiful red burlap ribbon on it tied with some dainty flowers - but since I didn't have red in the kitchen (for now anyway) - I removed it and laid in on a table in my den.  So I actually got two gifts in one.

 Some other things on my mantle for now are my three lil' pots of grass (IKEA) along with a white platter from the Goodwill store, a vase from mom and one of my favorite pictures of my son - which I move from room to room all the time.  Plus I have three gray pears - on clearance from Hobby Lobby in a dish - I suppose I have this thing for three's - I'm seeing that pattern often in my home.

 Beneath the mantle is a bench I've had for a while with a pillow from Home Goods and the pitcher is as well.  I can't wait to be able to put fresh flowers in it - but some airy yellow ones will have to do for now.

 I love the chippy paint on the fireplace - it was just like this when I bought it and I love it!

 Right beside the bench is a basket from Peddlers Mall filled with some of the walking sticks Shaun's dad use to make.  He would find the wood from various trees with the grapevine wrapped around it and whittle away until he got it just right.  He made so many - each unique and he gave away countless ones.  It was kind of his thing - if you got one of his walking sticks - you knew he loved ya. 

 This is one he made for my son - he wood burned his name in it for him. We even found one in the shop that he had made for Casen before he passed away that he had not given him yet.  It simply said "Love, Poppa".  We treasure them.

 All lined up in a row.

 This is right to the left of my refrigerator - maybe it is an awkward place for a fireplace mantle but I love it there - for now anyway ;-)

 You can kind of see the relation to the rest of the kitchen here.  A lil' something I learned the hard way when building my first and LAST home - most standard cabinet depths do not accommodate new refrigerators - as you can see.  This is one thing I so wish I would have stuck to my guns on changing - but we were anxious to get in.  You know how that is.  So I encourage any of you who may be in this stage of home building - keep this in mind.  Other wise it will stick out like a sore thumb - like mine!

Oh well, just ramblin' a bit - I still do LOVE my kitchen so I don't mean to complain.

Linda - thank you again for making my day - you made me so happy!

Now everybody - get your burlap out and get craftin'!

Happy day!

My Rye Grass...

...o.k. I know I'm a few days late on Easter but I so hope you had a blessed one.  

I told you I'd share with you my lil' pots of grass I had grown for my simple Easter table so here are some pictures for ya.  Now, the first few are what is on the table now - just three simple baskets lined up in a row.  I just like the simplicity of them.

I just simply put them on my burlap runner. 

 You can see I finally got my table antiqued - no more BRIGHT white - even though I love white - it was a bit much.  My son actually said it hurt his eyes to do his homework on the table - I think that just sounds like a good excuse - how 'bout you?  However, I'm still looking for the perfect chairs.

But on Easter Sunday - the baskets were filled with eggs and my son put some lil' Peeps Chicks in there.

 And the bunny really looked like he was protecting his grass. 

We were able to celebrate Easter in our new home with our family.  We really missed Shaun's dad as it was our first Easter without him but as always - he was with us in spirit.  And Easter really is about HOPE anyway so we took comfort in that.

Have a fantastic Thursday!

Cathy