Damon's Mommy and Aunt Join the Search Party...

Day's mom and aunt have joined in on the search.  They were in Raystown over the weekend and managed to rummage through some hole in the wall on Route 26. They have yet to see the wedding room, so they weren't completely informed on what to look for but managed to surprise me with some fantastic finds. They of course found some plates, an EXTREMELY old book titled "The Wedding Ring," doilys, milk glass bowls, and even more surprisingly found four skeleton keys. I really didn't think it would be so hard to find skeleton keys, but I manage to turn up empty handed most weekends so I was SUPER excited about their find. KEEP THE GOODIES COMING!

.ray.

China Collection Part II

The china plate count has risen to almost 100, which, to my calculations, puts us right on track.

.ray.

Guest Bedroom

We have been in the house for almost 2 years now and continue to get settled.  We just finished the final touches in the spare bedroom so thought I would share a bit of my could be submission to Apartment Therapy. Maybe not Apartment Therapy worthy, but you get the point.  Like I've said before, I like that my "stuff" has a story and most everything has been Craigslisted, thrifted or bought at some sort of budget-friendly store.

Green vintage chairs:  church flea market (Mom scooped these up a few years ago); green ceramic lamps:  Harrisburg Flea Market (I think you, Alyssa, have wanted these since you first saw them :)); lamp shades:  Ollies.  

The bedroom suite started its journey with Damon's brother-in-law in college, then went to Damon in Bosler Avenue, and now has found a home in our spare bedroom. Oh, and not to forget the wee little end table the lamp sits on: we can thank JDemps for that.

Charlie looking all too innocent.

Prints

 Top left: Purchased from Etsy, Pixelcloud

Top right: made using this calendar

Bottom left: Used the cover of my book Love Life 

Bottom right: Purchased from Etsy, thewheatfield

Rug, duvet, and checkered throw pillow all care of IKEA.

.ray.

The China Collection

As I scour the thrift shops, yard sales, and flea markets, I continue to look for more vintage china. Here is a sneak peak into the collection.

.ray.

DIY Doily Lantern

I am excited to share our DIY project.  This was only the test run, but it was successful. HOORAY! We are hoping to make bigger versions of our doily lanterns, but for the first time trying this out, we didn't want to waste doilies in case it was a bust.

What's needed:

Balloons (we want to use larger balloons or maybe even beach balls for the real deal)
Stiffy, Fabric Stiffener (We bought ours at Joanne Fabrics)
A Small Dish
A Paint Brush
Scissors

Doilies or Lace Curtains (If using lace curtains, it must be cut into small pieces.)

1. Collect your doilies or lace curtains.

2. Blow up the balloon.  Don't buy your balloon at the dollar store, like us; they pop pretty easily so go ahead and upgrade to a party store!

3. Put the Stiffy in the dish and lay your fabric directly in the solution.  Make sure the fabric is covered with Stiffy and place it on the balloon. Use the paint brush to gently smooth out and remove excess.

4. Overlap the fabric pieces until the entire balloon is covered (TIP: the pieces don't need to be overlapped too much-just barely). Make sure the pieces are not too big; you want them to lay flat on the surface of the balloon. At the base of the balloon, where you tie it, you will not place the fabric.  There needs to be a place where you can remove the balloon pieces (or insert an LED candle if you so choose). (That is for you Jess Singer :))

5.  Let the balloon sit in an old bowl or hang it from a string with newspaper underneath to catch any drips.

6.  Let it set overnight until the fabric is completely dry. Excess stiffener will slide to the bottom of the balloon as it hangs or sits in a bowl while drying. You will need to smooth out this area with paint brush and turn the balloon so this area can dry.  Let it sit for another 5 hours or until it all feels hardened.

7. Carefully pop the balloon and pull the excess pieces through the small opening. 

And there you are--super simple. 

Maybe even add an LED light??

Jess-the light can be placed through the hole at the base. 

.ray.

Thrifting Round-Up

I've been pretty busy over the last two weeks and haven't had much time to get out and make many purchases.  I did have TWO DAYS and my mom was still at it every weekend, so I thought I would share some of our finds.

Continue to find more plates

($10.00 for the lot)

(mirrors $3 each)

(Pie plate $2)

I bought a zillion of these straws off amazon, they are so fun.

.ray.

Grandma's Hydrangeas

So we, meaning my mom and I, not Damon, go back and forth on what flowers to use in the wedding.  Taking into account we want to do the arrangements ourselves, keep the costs down, and most of all, have them look amazing.  We originally wanted to use hydrangeas, my grandma has tons of bushes, but unfortunately, with the heat we had, we thought they had all wilted away.  We had the option of pushing up the wedding to the growing season of hydrangeas or just pick a new flower and move on.

We went to my grandma's house over the weekend just to see what the bushes looked like and we were pleasantly surprised.  Yeah, she didn't have the vibrant colors we had seen in early July, but now had hydrangeas that were gorgeous and would be absolutely perfect!

We then obviously needed to see how it would look in the vases.

.ray.