Birds of a Feather

I have been working on getting things together for my brother's rehearsal dinner. My mom and I are doing all the decorations. He like to duck, deer & turkey hunt...so this is my theme. A few weeks ago we went shopping to by floral supplies to make the arrangements. There will be 10 arrangements (one on each table), then one large arrangement on the table where the food will be served. When I design something, I design it in my head...which can be good, or bad. Once I get something in my head...I have to find the pieces to make it work. Sometimes I do...sometimes I don't. In this case...it worked out.... This is the "example" piece that I sent to my brother and Mandy ( future SIS). The vases a square, clear glass. They will be filled with decorative balls (mossy, straw, wood, etc.), then I added in some feathers, grasses, sticks, and various other floral pieces. The MAIN thing I wanted was hanging tea lights.

We bought the glass votives and decided we would wrap wire around them to make them hang. We actually used coat hangers to hang the votives on. We ( by "we" I mean my mom...LOL!) straightened the coat hangers out, then I cut them down to the right size and curled to end so the votive could hang. We had a time with this wire....I wanted to do copper....but it wasn't very cooperative...so I nixed that idea. My Aunt found this wonderful wire that is wrapped with raffia....and it worked like a charm. It almost looks like a vine wrapped around it. So last night my mom and I wrapped 50 votives!!!!!

The small arrangements will have 3-4 votives, and the larger arrangement will have more.

I still need to tweak the arrangements. These were only made so that my brother and SIS could get the idea.

Now for the big boy.....This arrangement is also in a clear glass vase, but is much, much bigger! I will have to put rocks in it to keep it stable. Will will also be filled with decorative balls.

BUT...it has deer antlers!!!!! We have several sets of loose deer antlers lying around our house (Welcome to Alabama). So I decided to incorporate them into the arrangement. They are wired (crappily wired at the moment might I add) to wooden dowels. I am going to paint the dowels brown and cut them down a bit. The antlers will be wired better once I get that done. There will be about 6-7 antlers in the arrangement when it is said and done.

Now my my fave part........Their last name starts with a "J" , so I am putting a big 'ol "J" in the arrangement.

I also will be painting this dowel brown as well....I will probably have to use mass amounts of hot glue to make it "stand" in this position. There will also be hanging votives in this arrangement....I am loving these hanging votives.

This is their invitation I had designed....I love it....of course I am partial. That is my brother and future sister-in-law on the invite. They both play guitars and sing, and they are both attorneys. They play in a band that is made up solely of lawyers. So Friday August 28.....myself and my mom will be making 10 arrangements and decorating the lodge. I am so excited...I hope it will look as good in real life as it does in my head ......

Speaking of birds, and feathers........

I have told ya'll before....if it is going to happen....it is going to happen to me....first a busted zipper, then a trapped bird..........

I got in my car today to go to lunch. I always leave my windows cracked (which seemed like a great idea until today). I get in and hear this flapping! I look back and there is a bird trapped in my car. It is repeatedly flying into the window and I am telling the bird to calm down that I am trying to let it out. Now I don't know if any of ya'll have ever tried to talk to a bird....but guess what....they don't know what your saying! So I open all 5 doors and try to coerce it out. Nope....it decides to land on my dash and sit there. I close one door in hopes of shooing it out....and it didn't work. Finally it flew out. Ugh....poor little guy....he was panting. Do birds pant....I think this one was pretty dehydrated. I don't know how long it was in there...4 hours tops. It flew off fine, and didn't seem to have any injuries. Other than a mild panic attack, I think it will be okay after getting a few drops of water. Atleast it wasn't an owl.....

Remind me next week to tell ya'll about the 9 million sea gulls that pooped on my car......something really strange about me and birds..........