The Wedding Shower #1

I started this post around midnight last night... but I was too tired to finish it.  We had an amazing turnout for the shower...by far the most people that have ever been crowded into our living room at one time!  Pictures couldn't quite do justice to just how many people were gathered in our home last night--at times, it was difficult to walk from one side of the room to the other... We estimate that somewhere just under 50 people came.  I don't think I've ever had such a high percentage of the guest list show up for an event like this. I snapped just a couple of pictures of the guests...  I didn't get many because I was busy tending the food:    And here was a quick snapshot of the guests of honor, my niece Bethany and her soon-to-be hubby Isaac: 

 In planning for the shower, I really thought that several folks--especially the guys--would scatter into various corners of the house and yard once their plates were full.  I never thought guys would stick around for the gift opening!  Maybe it was a novelty for them--after all, most guys can say that they've never seen what happens at a bridal shower!  So, I felt badly that there was no way we could offer a seat to everyone...  But I was glad that they seemed content to hang around the food table and talk and they all survived the wedding shower... ...and only one of them was lit on fire! Ha! No, I'm not kidding... 

My brother-in-law got his tushy too close to one of the candles during the gift opening!

(Sorry Wade...but that's what you get for snitting about my pomegranate seeds!)

Maybe that's why guys don't get invited to showers very often...  They're not safe around candles! Oh dear, I can't say I've ever lit a guest on fire before. There's a first time for everything, I guess... I've always scoffed at battery-operated t-lites, but maybe they're not such a bad idea after all--at least, if there are guys around...  ;-) So, the barbeque idea seemed to be a success.  Here's the one and only snapshot that I got of the food:

Since a barbeque buffet required so many serving dishes, I just used my "everyday" stoneware which seemed to look nice with the rustic theme anyway.

Here's a special guest with a plate full of goodies.  When I took this picture, she was in the process of explaining to me that she was disappointed that this was all the food her plate could hold! 

Peach punch and an assortment of dessert bars:

 There were oatmeal fudge bars, peanut butter and jelly bars, and white chocolate macadamia nut bars.  I would say the peanut butter and jelly bars were the biggest hit overall.  Oh, and on a side note--those are frozen peaches floating in the punch.  When they thawed, they sank to the bottom which was also pretty.  I used those because my ice ring didn't fit in this jug.  Since I was lacking the extra refrigerator space for the punch, I put the juice and gingerale in the deep freeze about 4 hours before the shower started.  They got very cold and started to get just slightly slushy--which actually made the punch really good.  I didn't plan it that way, but would probably do it again on purpose.  

Mike and I sang a song with several of Bethany's youngest siblings, and then Mike shared briefly on servanthood in marriage--the difference between a "committed marriage" and a "good marriage".  (Maybe I can persuade him to expand on those thoughts in his blog?)

The gifts...wow!

I've never seen so many gifts! 

Bethany and Isaac were so overwhelmingly blessed by a lot of wonderful people that love them.  We were running out of corners to tuck the gifts into! 

I think, overall, the shower was a success.  I would love to have a larger room for gatherings like this--with a lot more chairs (especially so people don't light their rear ends on fire leaning on my mail stand!).  But, once again, I'm very thankful to see the Lord use our home.  It always seems to hold up so well to the wear and tear of life.  God is good.

And on that note, one of my most special memories of the shower will be how it ended...

A small group formed downstairs...

...and eventually, that group grew into 17-or-so people...

And guess what happened?

Music happened.  :-)

Probably over and hour and a half of the most beautiful praise and worship singing I've heard in a long time.

If I could bottle it up and share it with you on the blog, I would, because I know you would be blessed. 

God is SO good, and He is worthy of our praise!

There is no way I would rather end the evening...

So, I'm very grateful.

And I'm also FREE!!!!

What am I going to do with all my spare time?

  

Wedding Shower #2

 

I bought these roses the day before the shower:

I've never seen roses open so quickly!  Here, they're pictured on the morning of the shower--they were so beautiful in the morning sunlight.

With the rustic/elegant theme I arranged them with twigs from our brush pile.

I was so excited about the little handmade wooden canoe:

I found it on e-bay and I knew it was just perfect for the his and hers shower.  Bethany and Isaac love the outdoors and enjoy canoeing together.  I thought it would be the perfect memento of the shower to give to them.

My niece, Holly, who will be the maid of honor in the wedding, took the time to arrange a photo collage to display at the shower.  The guests enjoyed looking at pictures of the couple from childhood through engagement:

The wedding arch fit perfectly over the punch/dessert table with just a few inches to spare:

The candy bars that I wrapped were on display in a chicken wire basket...

...and every one was devoured.

The bookcase needed something, so I arranged a pair of roses in the entry area...



Framed Scripture and candles were tucked into various corners: 

 

 

So, my rustic/elegant his and hers shower is done!

 

Time to find a new project...

The night before...

 The day began with grocery shopping.  The fridge was FULL: 

And the pantry stocked: 

There was a little decorating to be done...

(Sorry, can't reveal any more of that until tomorrow...)

Then the cooking began:

These were the beans ready to go in the oven.  You are looking at a massive foil pan, and these have been a Godsend this week.  I came across them at Sam's Club last week, and there were 15 for $8.  They have been such a blessing for bulk cooking, and have saved on some really yucky dishwashing.  They were more than worth the 50-or-so cents apiece just in the work they saved.

This is my automatic fruit and veggie washer:



Every kitchen should have one.  :-)  I was also pleasantly surprised by a visit from an automatic grape plucker and carrot peeler.  I forgot to get a picture of it in action, but he's handsome and works for red pepper scraps.  ;-)  Fruit and veggies washed/chopped...  Dip, BBQ sauce and salads made...  Pork thawing.  Beans in the crockpot. 

Oh, and Gretchen even had a bath and is all pretty for the shower:

 

I'm so thankful for a productive day! 

It was long and I'm exhausted, but I love advanced preparation because it means more time for me to enjoy the day tomorrow!

Simple touches

When I was getting married, a dear sister from the chapel threw me a bridal shower. It was beautiful.  She and her husband were well traveled and she served appetizers from all over Europe... ...and we happened to be going to Europe for our honeymoon so it was especially fitting. All of the glassware and the decorations and the music were so beautiful.  Her hospitality made an impression on me. . . .  When the Lord gave us a home of our own, I soon had the opportunity to throw bridal showers... I found myself feeling the need to do everything extravagently... And each time I hosted or planned a major event, I felt the need to outdo what I had done before... It became costly, and time consuming, and I actually got to the point where I just didn't enjoy it very much anymore. I realized all of the garlands and the tulle and the lights and the ivy weren't me.  It was time to find my style of hospitality. And so I did. . . .  I still like to put a little time and thought into special occasions. I've tried a few different things over the years. There are a couple that have "stuck".  I love candles. Candles say warmth and welcome... I am especially fond of clean-burning soy t-lite candles. There's nothing like having someone come into your home and extinguish your candles because they're getting headache.  (Yes, I've had that happen.) It's the simple touches that I've become characterized by.  I love decorations that aren't just pretty to look at, but are also meaningful. One of my very favorite things to do for a special occasion is to arrange an assortment of t-lite candles around framed Scripture.  

  Photography is a hobby of mine, so for years, when I'd find a really good deal on a cute frame, I'd buy it and tuck it into a bin in my garage.  I eventually accumulated quite a collection.  One evening I was having a group of ladies over and it occurred to me to decorate with Scripture...and since that time it has become sort of a "trademark" for me.  Since I already own the frames, printing the images at Sam's Club is practically free.  If the special occasion honors a certain person, I may ask them ahead of time for some of their favorite verses, and then arrange them (digital-scrap style) in frames in little corners around the room.  Here are a few of the ones that I designed for the shower.  

 I also have grown fond of designing candy wrappers.  For my nephew's graduation open-house, we wrapped mini-candy bars in wrappers printed with his childhood nicknames.  Considering the large group, I brought out the candy bar idea again.  (Remember...I'm not opposed to doing the same thing...yeah...)  

 They're kinda different.  I found scrapbook paper with a burlap pattern on it, grunged it up a bit, and used a stamp font.  They needed something more...and I thought of gluing a flower on them, but it just didn't fit with the rest of the theme.  So, I ended up tying each one with a piece of twine.  I'm going to arrange them in a chicken wire basket.  Very simple. These are the sorts of things you'll see if you ever come to a special gathering in my home.  I'm learning to simplify.  It's a work in progress.  But I'm really starting to learn that less is more.  Especially when the simple touches are meaningful and heartfelt. 

Spring break continues...

 Well, there are a lot of things I could be doing with this next hour or so that I have to spare... And blogging is probably not the most productive choice... But then again, I don't know if I'll have the time to blog again before the shower.  So . . . Spring break and plans for the wedding shower continue. It's been a great week.  It's going by really quickly.  We've been knocking off some projects here and there, and enjoying the rest of the time as a family.  The week has been a lot more relaxing than I thought it would be--yay for "keeping it simple"!  I'm doing another BBQ. Yeah, I know...  I could have been a little more creative with the menu. But I figured with 50 people on the guest list, dainty appetizers could get a little labor intensive. Not to mention--for a "his and hers" shower, I can't imagine the guys getting really excited over finger foods...  So, we spent last weekend butt pickin' again...  

 I bought somewhere just over 30 pounds of pork roast and our home was filled with the dreaded stench...er...aroma of pork roast once again.  I would have loved to have done it on the grill, but it takes a lot longer and would have been impractical to do the roasts one--or maybe 2--at a time.  So, I did them all at once on Sunday when at least I could be gone for half the day. We brined the roasts in the refrigerator overnight Saturday, and after we managed to break the meat drawer, we made a mental note that 30 pounds (4 pork shoulders) each in a 2 gallon bag of brining solution is maximum capacity for our refrigerator.   I wish I would have thought to take a picture! ... Oops. Thankfully, many hands make light work, and my family offered to help out:  

 Would you believe that my husband enjoys seasoning pork roasts?  (Wish I would have came across that information sooner!) Beth Marie sprinkled the roast with seasoning and Mike rubbed it in--they made an excellent butt rubbin' team:    

My freezer is once again full of pork:

...so I hope everyone comes hungry on Saturday... Cause I DON'T want left-overs!  

Garden Arch

 Seven years ago or so, I stumbled upon garden arches at Michael's Craft Store 

for    five...dollars...each.

$5??

So, I bought 3.  Two to use, and one for parts.

I love getting a good deal on something.

Even more, I love seeing the Lord use those things.

These arches have seen a lot of showers, weddings, and receptions in their lifetime...

Here's the arch on display for the first time:

(Wow, it's so weird to see white walls in my house!)

And here it is a year later at my niece's wedding:

Planning her wedding was my 2005 spring project... As I was looking for a picture of the arch, I got distracted looking at the pictures and remembering how much work that was!  :-) That will go down as one of the most challenging projects I've taken on, but it turned out to be a beautiful day. 

Wasn't she a beautiful bride?

She hand stitched this dress. She was the first of the Walters girls that "we" married off... About to marry off another one this spring. Sigh... Anyway... So, I'm planning this wedding shower for my dear niece Bethany and her soon-to-be husband Isaac.  They're simple...  Kind of "earthy"... So, I want the shower to reflect their simplicity. It's a "his and hers" shower, so I want it to be a mixture of rustic and elegant.. masculine and feminine... We'll see how I do.  :-)  The first project I took on was the old garden arch. I'm not so much into "garden green" anymore.  The colors for the shower will be muted, natural tones...so it was time to spray bomb a wedding arch.  My husband draped a couple of layers of plastic over our tables in the garage...  

 and I was in business.  It was messy...  

 ...and did you know that spray paint completely devours plastic?  Now you know.   Good thing my hubby had the good sense to double the plastic!  By the way, I've done a lot of spray bombing in the garage...and if you're looking for the all around perfect paint to keep on hand for those random urges to blast something, this is the one to get: 

 It is the most perfect ultra flat super-dark brown and it works wonders on anything metal. I always used to use satin paint.  Never again.  I am all for flat paint.  It hides flaws.  It dries in less than 15 minutes.  It holds up just fine to wear and tear.  And if you need to do touch-ups, you can spray a spot and never worry about lap marks.  Good paint.  Not only that, but there's something about flat paint that makes everything else stand out.  I use flat paint everywhere now--I won't go back.  Alrighty, so, time to assemble the newly painted arch: 

Thank you hubby!  I was so glad he was willing to put it all together.  I've assembled these arches a good many times over the years, but I "tweaked" my back a few weeks ago.  (Who am I kidding?  Tweaked is a polite way to say that I've been waddling around like a granny...)  I'm so grateful it's FINALLY improving.  (I was beginning to wonder if this shower was going to be even simpler than I'd planned!) 

And, fully assembled...the new brown arch:

  Decorating begins... 

The garlands went on amazingly quickly...

 

  But then, I had the brilliant idea to use fishnet instead of tulle around the arch... 

  ...and piecing that on did not go quickly.  Finished: 

 I'm always slow to decide if I like something or not...but I think I like it.  I'll decide for sure when it's placed over the punch table at the shower.  :-) So, if you're ever in need of wedding decorations...  I keep an entire wedding in my attic at all times... Seriously.