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..........

What Lies Ahead

Another wet weekend here. It rained pretty much all day Saturday and all day Sunday. I had planned on working out in the yard....but that didn't happen. Friday night was my monthly girls get together. Every month, me and my best friends from High School get together. We have a great time. Saturday I went shopping with 2 of my friends...it was Tax Free Weekend as most of you know....so it was CRAZY!!!! There were millions of people out shopping! We found some great buys! Butterfly Ginger....what a heavenly smell!

blooms on The Hunter's watermelons!

Butterfly Ginger

Bee Balm with Zinnia in background

Bee Balm

Gerbera Daisy

Rose (not sure which one)

Rose (not sure which one)

We went to Kohl's Saturday and they had an awesome sale! I bought this table cloth for $3!!!!!! The placemats were $1 each!

I love it, because as you can see...my walls are very similar in color! I actually bought 2 of the tablecloths. I am going to use the other one to make mats for my "rusty 'ol cart" since I haven't been able to find any I like to put on each shelf. Then I am going to use the remainder to make curtains for my kitchen (the tablecloth was 60" x 104"). That should be plenty to make 3 simple curtains, and 3 little place mats for the cart.

Saturday while we were shopping I had a little dilemma! I wore a sundress shopping, and it zipped in the back. I was looking for a cute outfit to wear this upcoming weekend (we'll get to that soon). I go in the dressing room and try on a few outfits, but didn't like any of them. I go to put my dress back on and the zipper BROKE!!!!!! It wouldn't zip back up!!! Are you kidding me! So both of my girlfriends came into the dressing room with me to try to zip my dress. An hour later...it was a lost cause. It would only zip about 6" and its about and 18" zipper!!! So my bra and most of my back were exposed. My friends went on a mad dash to find me something to put on...and as luck would have it A) It either didn't fit or B) I hated it. I wasn't going to buy something just to get out of the store...I wanted to spend my money on something I would actually wear again! So I told them to go scan clothes to find some safety pins. You know how some clothes tags are pinned on with safety pins...so that's what they did. They pinned me up and we went on to the next store. The next store was a big fancy department store, and yes, some people didn't realize that my dress was pinned up!!! Who cares....

2-1/2 hours after Zipper-gate began...my friends FINALLY found a dress for me that fit, and that I liked. Whew!!!!! I was about to buy a bathrobe and wear it the rest of the day. It all worked out in the end. Of course I was a bit agitated....when you don't need something...you can find it. When you need something.....you can hang it up because you will NEVER find it. This was the case Saturday.

Friday I am leaving to go to..... NASHVILLE!!!!! Whoo hoo!!!! My brother is getting married August 29th, so this weekend is the bachelorette party and we are going to NASHVILLE!!! I am so excited because I have NEVER been to Nashville! I can't wait!! We are going to have blast. We will leave Friday and come back Sunday....I am READY!! My boots are polished and ready to hit the floor!

We have our Garden Club meeting this Thursday...feels like ages since I have been! I missed out meeting in June because I was at the beach on vacation. We don't meet in July. I haven't seen my garden ladies in ages. I can't wait to see them and catch up. I will have to pack Wednesday so I can go to the meeting Thursday.

Bilbo on the Move...Just Not Moving Very Far

Bilbo's adventure's in Ireland have come to an end....he will be heading out soon for his next big adventure. He will be going back to Jolly 'ol England to visit Matron @ Down On the Allotment, in London, England. I am excited about this journey since I spent so much time in London, and it is one of my favorite cities. I can't wait to see what Matron has in store for us. Bilbo has always admired my photos from my trip to England. He wanted to go so many places I went, Stonehenge, Dover, Hampton Court Palace. He especially wanted to go for a ride on the London Eye. The London Eye is the largest Ferris wheel in the world. On a clear day you can see up to 25 miles. It can carry 800 passengers per revolution. It is also the 4th tallest structure in London. It is amazing to ride. These are a few of the photos I took from the London Eye while I was there. This was in 2001, before I owned a digital camera. I would have LOVED to have had a digital camera on that trip...but I didn't................... Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster AbbeyBuckingham Palace and St. James Park St. Paul's Cathedral way back in the back (the large dome with the 2 steeples in front) another view of the Thames. I can't wait to see where Bilbo's goes while he is back in England.

***** In order to have your name put in for the drawing for Bilbo you must leave a comment on the MAIN post about Bilbo. A lot of people are doing 2 posts about Bilbo, so I know this makes it confusing. I will let ya'll know which one is the main post. If we can I would like for the recipients of Bilbo to do ONE post about him...this cuts down on confusion. If you recieve Bilbo please let me know and I will let everyone know that he has arrived safely.**********

Bilbo Out & About in Cork, Ireland

Ya'll I really need help..........I teared up reading about Bilbo in Ireland....why because I am a dork and I am amazed at the amazing places my little Bilbo has gone!!!!!!!!! AMAZED!!!!!!!! He has met some wonderful people and been to places I can only imagine. I am just flabbergasted..........

Bilbo and the Blarney Stone

Where In the World is Bilbo: Cork, Ireland

Bilbo has arrived in Ireland safe and sound. He is visiting with Peggy @ Organic Growing Pains You can visit him by clicking on the photos below. Bilbo and Peggy have a busy day planned, so be sure to check back with them and see what all they have been up to! Peggy will be drawing names on Friday to see where Bilbo will be heading next so be sure to leave a comment!

Gifts from Blog Buddies

I got some great goodies this week from some wonderful blog buddies!!!! Michelle at Mosaic Cottage Gardens makes the BEST goodies in the world! She is so talented and makes great pieces out of mosaic tiles.....see what she made for me........... It's a little cupcake!!! How precious!!!!!! She can make any piece custom...she is amazing!

I am in love with it!

Her logo on the back! Don't ya'll love it!!! Be sure to check out Michelle's blog Mosaic Cottage Gardens. It came in this PRECIOUS box!!!

My wonderful blog buddy Tootsie made the Princess a crown!!! That Tootsie can do anything...most of ya'll already know that!

The crown is also a solar light!!! How cool!!! I haven't decided exactly where I want to put it yet....I have to have the perfect spot!

Tootsie also sent me some great bath fizzies and some prefumed body save...it smelss wonderful!!! I didn't get pictures of those goodies....sorry......

Thank you for my WONDERFUL treasures! I will love them dearly and always think of Tootsie and Michelle when I see these great creations!

Attack of the killer weeds

I had high hopes for the weekend....they got crushed quickly! I got out in the yard Saturday around 9am to start my ambush on the weeds. I got all of the back beds done, and had just made my way to the front....and that's when the bottom fell out. I could hear the weeds laughing, as they shot up another 6 inches! My cart was LOADED down with weeds. I started out with that little white bucket. Filling it with weeds them dumping it. After about 4 dumps....I decided I should break out the heavy artillery....and that's what I did. There are a few broken cosmos laid across the top

Atleast I got one half of a bed weeded out front. It rained pretty much the whole weekend. Needless to say....my house is clean! And yes...the grass does need to be cut!

The cosmos are out of control! I had to come up with a solution to keep them in control! They are very leggy and fall over. Once they fall over they take root and start to spread. I thought I had a great idea......tie them up with fishing line. I quickly realized that even the strongest fishing line was not going to hold them...so I opted for the next best thing......

Bungee cords!!!!!!! This is holding them for now....I hope it keeps a hold on them. If this doesn't work I will break out the Redneck Fix-It-All .......duct tape! Works everytime!

Here a few shots of one of the $3 roses from Big Lots....Royal Highness.

This is Annie's Red Rose, and a little friend. Some kinda worm.

This is about the most pathetic looking bud I have ever seen....

It was a very un-eventful weekend. I did go to my mom's to make up 2 arrangements for my brothers rehearsal dinner. They need tweaking, and then I will share them with ya'll. They are going to be pretty snazzy If I do say so! The rehearsal dinner is at a hunting lodge in Montgomery. My brother is a hunter as well, so my theme is deer, ducks & turkeys. It will be very nice and classy.

I hope ya'll had a great weekend !