Welcome Baby Cooper!

Here's dad finishing the crown molding.

 Preparing the nursery... gender neutral colors.

The carpet was bound and placed.

Curtains and valances made and hung.

Nursery furniture found on Craigslist.

Polka dot rug from Ikea.

Jungle Animal wall decals from Menards.

Fabrics chosen for the "baby quilt" from Bungalow Quilting & Yarn Shop

Close up

Completed quilt!

Of course no nursery is complete without a baby!

Baby Shower

Here are some photos of my daughter and son-in-law's baby shower.  It was a "build a book" themed party.

Here is a sample invitation. They were inserted in a manila colored 

card-stock pocket.

Stacked books, colorful table runners and matching napkins.

Cupcake toppers were made by printing off children's books from images on line. Be careful. Not all books that come up are appropriate for baby showers!

Good thing I read them first!

Here is a picture taken at the shower. This is Hannah's friend Kim. They have been friends since college. They played volleyball together. Kim was a blocker and Hannah, the setter. I'm sure you might have figured that out...but better yet check out their babies!  Yes, Kim's daughter was born six weeks earlier, but I have a feeling Hannah's daughter will always be a little shorter. What cuties!

Kim and Hannah

Holding hands!

Two for Tea...Marry Me!

Our second daughter was married last September.  Laura is our "design daughter".  Laura knew exactly what she wanted in every aspect of her wedding. She lives in New York which is a thousand miles from home, so when she had an opportunity to go to a trunk show of the dress designer featuring a dress she was interested in, I encouraged her to go without me. Even though I would have loved to have had that "mother-daughter" moment; I knew she did not need me there for my approval. Sure enough, she picked her Viola "Claire Pettibone" dress which set the vintage theme and every idea that came after, seem to flow from her brain as if it had been sealed away in a gift wrapped box, (tied with ribbon) escaping now for this one special day. 

Laura made her own hair piece

Grandma Bernadine's pearl earrings

The champagne lace and open back was a perfect design for her.

Laura is a shoe designer, but did not design her shoes. They're actually from England.

My favorite!

Laura's husband Matthew is originally from London. The wedding was to take place in Galena IL, near our home town in Wisconsin. She wanted to inspire a little English into the day and decided vintage tea cups would be a great idea for the tables and as gifts for the guests.

We started collecting tea cups and saucers a year before the wedding.

Of course the tea cups would need some tea and cookies!

Strawberry jello in sugar cookie dough made some cute cut-outs. They were made about 3 weeks ahead and frozen. We bagged them the week of the wedding.

Gingersnaps, chocolate cutouts and Rhubarb jam filled shortbread cookies! Yes the rhubarb was from our back yard!

Tea spoons were created on silver card stock and placed on the tea cups with guests names.

At the end of the night, guests were given craft paper gift bags with tissue paper to wrap their cups and saucers for a safe ride home.

Laura had loose leaf tea, "enchanted forest blend" from Clipper Ship Tea Company shipped to our home. It was put into tea bags tied with labels and then put into handmade envelopes.  Names were then placed on the envelopes as a way for guests to find their table placements.

Envelopes were placed in old printer type set drawers.

Instead of a guest book Laura purchased vintage postcards from the UK, New York and Wisconsin, so guests could sign them and place in an old mailbox. The old mailbox came from our garage. I repainted it and painted a design that followed the theme of their invitations.

Before...

After

A tea pot full of flowers

Thanks to my cousin Nancy, a floral designer, everything was beautiful!

Sedum, dusty miller, hydrangeas and succulents from our back yard filled many of the table decorations and hanging wreaths. The succulents were also used to make boutonnieres.

Simple pew decorations

Chair covers from our other daughter's wedding were used again, We purchased lace sashes, and I crocheted flowers with pearl fasteners and attached them to the sash.

200 crocheted flowers

Before I crocheted the flowers...one final project and wedding gift.  

 

 Oh... maybe this is why I didn't have time to keep up my blog?  Seems like a good excuse anyway!