First Day of School!

My nephew Dorian had his first day of first grade this week - I can't even believe it!

Here he is ready for class.  And Rakia, ready with sass. 

Here he is psyched about the big boy water bottle I got for him.   

And here Rakia is pretending to be a dinosaur or something.  In a patriotic ruffled bikini. 

Man I love these kids! 

Melissa's Wedding!

This past weekend I went to a truly beautiful wedding  - Melissa and Phil got married!  Woo hoo!

Here is the lovely bride before the big event, at her grandfather's home.  So happy!

There were some lovely tunes to enjoy before she strolled down the aisle - both solo acoustic guitar, and then her aunt and uncle played as she walked.  Lovely!

 A really  beautiful sight in Redding, Connecticut!

 Melissa's niece read a sweet little poem. 

 The cake was awesome too - it had cannoli filling!  Yum.  The wedding was bicycle themed as both bride and groom love to ride - check out the little table runner I stitched up for them!

 Plus some cute pennant banners I made decorated the tent...

 some tables, too. 

Melissa and her mom made all of the flowers for her bouquets and centerpieces out of crepe paper - they were totally gorgeous, and will last to boot! 

 Sasha and i had fun at our table. 

And so did Pam and John!  Everyone looked pretty fly.

 More cute bikes to add to the theme - really darling.

 And look at this sweet ride!  (And more pennants :)

More gals having fun

 You just can't stop the laughter!

Especially when Sasha and Sarah showed up in matching outfits.  Oops!  Ha.  What a day! 

Shower Treats

Hello there!  I wanted to share some of the fun and festive decorations I put together for my friend Melissa's Ladies Weekend/Bachelorette recently!

These are some fun little wine charms I made.  I bought little mini picture frames from Michael's (SO tiny) in the jewelry making department.  Then, I spent a few hours shrinking some cute pics of her and her fiance to put in the frames.  I threaded some jewelry wire with some pretty beads and the mini frames and attached clasps at the end (you can't see them in this picture) and ta da!  Super cute, very simple, and she loved them so much!  I liked making them too - it was oddly soothing to sit in my backyard and string beads on wire.  Until I realized I got about 200 bug bites.  I suffer for my art, alas. 

We decorated her parents' apartment with some lovely photos strung about, and affixed the wine charms to the glasses, so that we could enjoy...

champagne!  I decorated the bottles with custom made wrappers.  I found a template for an announcement in Microsoft word, actually, then added a picture of the happy couple.  Very easy and sweet too!  Add some cheese ball wine words like "lovely blend" and "notes of happiness and love" and folks will swoon, seriously. 

Also I made her a sweet little veil in her wedding colors - yellow tulle and grey gems on a hair clip.  For the classy bride to be that doesn't want to wear some tacky thing from party city!  Ta da! 

It was a fun weekend!  And with the wedding this weekend much more fun is to come!  Can't wait.