Bridal Shower Table Decorations

My daughter, sisters and I held a bridal shower for my future daughter-in law. Since the wedding will be in Tucson I chose a theme of Cactus and Lace. Here is how we decorated the tables.

All the tables were covered in white tables cloths. Thankfully my sister Lynn bought about a dozen white table cloths in all shapes and sizes several years ago when they were 70% off. They sure come in handy for parties and showers.

I bought three rolls of burlap table runners that have lace along the side edges. After covering the tables I rolled out the runners and cut them to size.

I bought the runners on Amazon. They are so cute and I was able to keep them for future projects.

My sister Jean bought large succulents at a local nursery. She put them in terra cotta pots, and Lynn tied lace around the pots.

I bought cactus plates and napkins from Oriental Trading Company for both the BBQ lunch and the cupcakes.

Love the plates and the items on the runner were for our ice breaker. The ice breaker game will be in a future blog.

Cactus plates for the cupcakes.

Dinner and dessert napkins.

The last decorations for the table were some bouquets made from silk flowers in the wedding colors. I bought several types of flowers and some floral tape at JoAnn Fabric.  Next, I cut all of the flower bunches into individual stems.

The cut faux flowers

I used one of each type of flower to make a bouquet, and wrapped them with the floral tape. I had some lace fabric from a previous project and cut it into strips. I wrapped the stem with the  lace, and then tied it into a bow.

The flowers were really very beautiful.

The finished bouquet

On each table we put a cactus in the middle of the runner, and a bouquet on each side of the cactus on the runner. The tables were simple but very cute.

We were also able to give a cactus as game prizes. Love it when decorations can also be used for something else. Win, Win!

Child's Purse and Diaper Bag

My sweet 2 year old granddaughter is baby crazy. She also loves girly accessories like, purses, shoes, jewelry and toy makeup. I decided I was going to make her a purse, and a diaper bag for her baby dolls. I must include this disclaimer about the photos. I was not planning on doing a blog on these bags because I used another website for the pattern. But, they turned out so cute, and I did add a few things to the design, I though why not? So, when I took the pictures they were just going to be sent to my sisters. When I decided to blog about them I had already given the bags to my granddaughter, so I couldn't take some nicer pictures. You get the idea.

Minnie on the front

Mickey on the back

Mouse ears on the inside

I always look for  patterns online before I try to recreate the wheel, and this pattern I found on Pinterest. The original pin was from the site www.makeit-loveit.com/2014/04/the-reversible-bag-for-kids.html.  I used their pattern and instructions with a few additions.

The purse was Dory inside and outside

The pattern is easy to replicate and for the diaper bag I added 2 inches to each side. I also added a Velcro closure flap for the diaper bag and a loop and button closure for the purse.

For the closure on the diaper bag I made a shorter and wider strap that had interfacing inside. To attach it to the back I just sewed it to the top of the back by stitching down the sides and across the bottom. Then when I sewed the top stitch along the top of the bag to sew the outside and liner together I just went across the top of the closer only on the back. 

I had a square sticky Velcro set, so I stuck one on the underside of the front part of the closure piece and the other half on the front of the purse so it lined up with the closure piece. Then I sewed them in place.

For the Dory purse I used a stretchy cord that I cut a bit longer than I needed, I tied the two ends into a square knot and a half square knot, put it in between the liner and outside piece and then top stitched around the top of the purse to attached the outside and liner pieces, and also sew the cord in place. With the knot on the cord it reinforces the cord so it cannot be pulled out of the seam. Then I found an orange fish button in my button jar and used it to hook the cord to close the purse.

I made the diaper bag out of left over material from the Mickey and Minnie Mouse quilt I made for one of my guest rooms. I also bought some Dory fabric for the purse because my granddaughter loves, loves, loves Dory. She was thrilled with the final product and so was I!

Hilarious Commercial

When I was in elementary school I would go to my older sister's house after school and we would watch soap operas. My sister Kay would watch all the ABC soaps, "All My Children", "One Life to Live" and "General Hospital". I was hooked and had watched them for many, many years. When I was working in the 1980s and my husband was still in college he would watch "General Hospital" for me, and tell me about it when I came home from work. Eventually we would then record them all on VHS.

All these years later I still watch recorded shows of "General Hospital" on the treadmill every morning. So, when I saw Susan Lucci, who played Erica Kane on "All My Children", on the latest Progressive commercials I saw the humor in it. They made three endings to the commercial and I think all three are hilarious. The dialog is poking fun at soap operas and their extreme topics including the over use of comas and amnesia. Then the arrival of Susan on the bottom of the staircase in a sequenced red gown is right up the old soap opera alley. She says her lines and the actor's response cracks me up on all three of the endings.

It is rare that I even watch commercials anymore with all of my favorite shows being recorded and the ability to just fast forward through the commercials, but these three commercials are the exception. I am not pitching insurance to anyone, just complimenting the writing, casting and acting in a very funny commercial. If I see the commercial while I am fast forwarding, I will stop and watch it every time. I really do lol.

 

The last one is my favorite, but all three are awesome. Come on Progressive, give us more endings, the possibilities are endless and hilarious! 

Alfred Angelo, Say goodbye to your reputation.

My son is getting married in November and our future daughter in-law, Lynn, found bridesmaid dresses for her three bridesmaids at Alfred Angelo. All the dresses were ordered and paid for, one in Tucson, one in San Francisco and one in Plano. The Tucson dress came in, and the Maid of Honor now has her dress. Then I get a text from Lynn late on July 13th telling me that she saw a news report that Alfred Angelo closed its doors for good that day.

 

In re: AA Florida Bridal Retail Company, LLC et al., Case No.: 17-18864-BKC-PGH

Statement from the Chapter 7 Trustee:
The Chapter 7 Trustee greatly regrets the upset that Alfred Angelo’s July 14th bankruptcy filing has caused its customers. While we have been successful in obtaining customer records and delivering many dresses and accessories for customers all over the country, even after the bankruptcy filing date, it has now become apparent that the logistical and financial strain of fulfilling each and every open order makes continuing that course of action no longer possible.

Thus, to the extent any order has not been fully delivered to a customer, it shall have to remain unfilled. If you believe you are owed any money, please use the link below to complete a proof of claim. Please be advised that neither the Chapter 7 Trustee nor her counsel are authorized to provide legal advice to any affected customer regarding their purchase.

The "Hero" in this story would have to be Davids Bridal. In a smart business move they are offering Alfred Angelo customers that have a receipt and did not receive their dress a 20% discount for bridesmaids dress and free shipping. So, Lynn made an appointment at Davids and went in to find coordinating dresses. She found a dress that is pretty identical in the front, but a little different in the back to the Alfred Angelo dress. She had the receipts from the bridesmaids that had not received their dresses from CA and TX, so she ordered them new dresses.

The Alfred Angelo original dress

The Davids Bridal replacement dress

The Alfred Angelo dress was in the their color called tealness. Davids did not have a similar shade, so Lynne ordered the California attendant's dress in meadow, and the Texas attendants in mint. Then she had them ship the dresses to Tucson so she could check them out first, before they were sent to the ladies for alterations.

The Alfred Angelo color tealness

Meadow color swatch from Davids Bridal

Mint color swatch from Davids Bridal

As with all hitches in our families events it didn't end there. While Lynn was ordering and paying for the new dresses, the California bridesmaid received her Alfred Angelo dress in the mail. Now, the Maid of Honor has the original dress, the CA bridesmaid has the original and a new dress, and the Texas bridesmaid (my daughter) just has the new dress. This is a dress mess, lol.

I think in the long run we got off a lot easier than many other customers of Alfred Angelo. While one of the bridesmaids did not get her dress and will probably not get her money back, and the bride and groom had to buy two extra dresses, we were only disappointed and inconvenienced because we had time to fix the situation. Many brides and maids were not as "lucky". Many brides ordered their "dream dress", paid for it, and will never get it or their money back. Many will not have time to reorder a new "dream dress" or have the money to spend on a replacement. According to an article in USA Today: "Store managers were not alerted to the closure, according to the Wall Street Journal, and many stores were locked up for the last time on Thursday with no advance warning to customers or employees." This means that Alfred Angelo let their stores sell wedding dresses and wedding party dresses to customers up until the day they filed bankruptcy, taking money from brides, mothers and attendants and not telling the stores employees that these orders will never be filled or that the customer may not get their money back.  This is from a company that had been in the Bridal business since 1933 and had a stellar reputation in the business.

This is the way Alfred Angelo chose to go out of business? Now instead of the name of Alfred Angelo being associated with making a brides wedding dreams come true, their name is now synonymous with what wedding nightmares are made of.