Ladies For Life Luncheon - PICTURES!

So I was hugely blessed and encouraged yesterday by how well the Luncheon went! Both by the speaker and the testimony, and by all my wonderful family and friends who came!

My dad and both my brothers got up super early (for a Saturday) like the angels they are and went with me to Hutto at 8am to help set up tables and chairs. I set up the display board (ended up getting 3 large black and white posters printed at fed ex office for $20 total! And it was so much easier than trying to cut and mat several dozen white boxes myself!

I did NOT volunteer to help plan the center pieces this time (I still remember sawing candles short and sorting several dozen mismatched vases and candle holders from the Christmas banquet ;-D), but I helped set out the flowers on the day. It all turned out great! A surprise when I got there... The programs were printed on red paper (I was expecting pale pink) and they looked great, and you could still see the lacy hearts in the back ground. (We decided to use the design with 3 large hearts).

I'm hoping to get pictures of the cardboard testimony later, but I was in it so for now, here are snap shots of the info table and the guest set ups from before the event started. The two lovely blond ladies are the president of our "board" and her daughter who is the newest member of our board! Both incredibly sweet gracious fun people!

I'm really proud of how well the display board turned out since I've never done a project on that scale before! Certainly not designed entirely in Office Publisher.

Huge thank you to Star of Texas Events for always being so wonderful and donating all the chairs and tables! And thank you to Hutto Bible Church for hosting us again this year! Looking forward to 2014!

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DIY - Giraffe Mobile

It started with a link to an origami giraffe. And evolved into an incredibly precious mobile.
The link we had was in Japanese, but lucky for us, my brother B is really good at all things artsy and especially intuitive at Origami so he did most of the assembling of the giraffes themselves. Becca and I helped make some of the heads. Becca had the idea to use the embroidery hoop and ribbon and I figured out how to put the whole thing together.
You'll need:
1 embroidery hoop (we used a 10in hoop because that is what we had already)

15-20ft Ribbon (we recommend 5/8" - 1" grosgrain ribbon)

20 squares of 6"x6" paper. Thinner one sided paper works fine because all the folds fold in. Double sided cardstock doesn't work as well as we learned the hard way)

Craft glue

2" plastic ring (or wood or painted metal)

Sewing Needle

Thread to match ribbon

Giant paper clips or small-medium snack clips or clothes pins (see picture)

Tape wider than the ribbon you're using

A pen or pencil

A friend to hold the hoop while you work on it.


Step 1: make 10 giraffes. (see link at the end) We recommend gluing the two pieces together so gravity can't pull them apart.

Step 2: cut 5 12" pieces of ribbon and 5 18" pieces of ribbon (the rest will make the "tent" at the top.)

Step 3: separate the inner and outer rings of the embroidery hoop

Step 4: on the inside ring mark where your ribbon will go. For a hoop 30" around measure approx 3" apart

Step 5: get your friend to hold the hoop parallel to the ground

Step 6: alternating lengths of ribbon, tape the ribbon in place to the outside of the inner loop. If your tape has a pattern, you want to tape it pattern side facing the rim so when it hangs over the top the pattern faces out.
Tip: tear off strips of tape narrower than the rim of the hoop (the tape stays on so you don't want it to show)

Step 7: flip the hoop over and tape 3-4 (or more if you want) 10"-14" pieces of ribbon spaced VERY evenly around the hoop. These will form the tent at the top. You still want them taped pattern facing in, but hanging out the opposite direction from the ribbons that will hold the giraffes. (See pictures)

Step 8: reassemble embroidery hoop. Make sure all ribbon is hanging the right direction

Step 9: tie giraffes to ribbon at the base of the neck. (no need for anything fancy. Just a simple knot will do)
Tip: it is easier to tie the ribbon on if the giraffe is held closed with a clip

Step 10: if your ribbon is all holding really well you may be able to skip this step, mine was falling out constantly, so I glued the hoop together all the way around and held it tight while it was drying with clips. Worked really well.

Step 11: take your tent ribbons and hold them together so that the mobile hangs evenly. Fold the ribbons over the plastic ring and sew in place.

Step 12: hang your mobile! Congratulations! You're done!

If you have any suggestions for how we could improve these directions or if you make your own mobile please let us know in the comments!

And here is the promised link:
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs48/f/2009/190/a/4/Origami_Giraffe_Tutorial_by_slamah.jpg

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K's shower

Hi there! Chelsea here! thank you for your patience! Time for the big reveal! K's shower was a huge success. Everyone had a good time! Tutorials coming soon of how we made several of the different pieces including the banner, mobile, and amazing cake! But first pictures (lots!) from the shower itself and the things that went in to her gift basket!

Sorry for the poor quality of some of the photos. Becca and I stayed up til 5am one night finishing decorations with help from my talented and meticulous brother B. but 5am indoor lighting does not lend itself to fabulous photos. Also because I'm on my phone using the blogger App I'm afraid I can only add photos to the bottom of the post :-( . So if you want to know more about a specific photo just comment and ask! We love comments/questions/feedback! Tell us what you think!

K's mom helped with most of the food, the giraffe diaper tower, and all the center pieces.
Becca made the fabulous cake, adorable painting, and yummy cookies.
I made the blanket and the giraffe pillow (not pictured).
Becca and I (with help from brother B) worked together on the journal, banner, mobile, and prize bags.

Mr Tray aka Chelsea's new boyfriend

(Confession Time: I'm writing while on a bike at the gym. Multitasking like a boss!)

So I (Chelsea) am hugely blessed to live at home with my fabulous family. My mom understands that crafty people need space to creat and so we have not one but two different craft rooms in our house. But one of those craft rooms is really half my bedroom. The other doubles as the spare bedroom. But both are isolated from where my family spends most of their time. So I end up dragging whatever project I'm working on out to be with my family while playing a game or watching a movie etc. This normally takes several trips to get everything I need relocated and then cleaned up again! So I decided I wanted a lap desk that could function as a portable work station for crafting.

The plastic kind were too small.

The bean bag backed kind were too unstable.

I thought of building one from scratch but that was too complicated.

I thought of getting a side table and shortening the legs, but the ones I found were all too expensive or the wrong style.

I was giving up hope. Feeling discouraged. When I decided to make one. More. Stop.

I nearly walked by the first time I saw him. Then I did a double take. There he was. Everything I wanted and more! Meeting every need I knew I had and a few I didn't yet!

He would store himself into the smallest possible space. He would be a sounding board for brain storming and keep no record of my mistakes! He would bend over backwards to make my life easier! And he promised to help me invest my money in the most economical way possible! So without further ado I would like to introduce you to the new love in my life... Mr. Tray!

(Expect to see him show up in pictures again and again, sitting handsomely in the background)

Ladies for Life - Program Ideas

I volunteer behind the scenes at a crisis pregnancy resource center (www.hhprc.org). Last year we did an afternoon tea in April. This year we're having a Valentine's themed luncheon on Feb 16 and I'm in charge of the programs. Here are the three ideas I've come up with so far. What do you think? I'd love feedback and suggestions!

Chelsea

(Side note: soooooo excited my dad showed me how to "edit wrap points" in office publisher. I had spent years not being able to figure out how to do it! I thought it was sadly a Word only function! These programs would not have been possible without wrapping! Each heart has at least a dozen extra wrap points added!)
(I'll try to add links to the original hearts next time I get on my computer)