Embellishing the Beautiful

My friend Sam has a beautiful home that is filled with the things she love.  Every piece has significance to her, or her husband, and there is usually an interesting story to go along with much of it.   She has filled it with pictures of those she loves and I adore the fact that she hangs old and new shots of her grandchildren, her son, husband, family, etc.  It fills a home with history. 

Sam has had these wonderful metal urns with butterflies on them for a while and wanted a face lift for them.  They had been dropped in a recent move and she wanted to be sure we could camouflage the dents but don’t cover up the butterflies! 

So here’s what we did…

The before shot

   

My good friend and designer, Kade Laws, sells the loveliest dried floral arrangements in her shop in Fort Smith.  They are statement pieces and though the pictures below don’t do them justice, they are fantastic.  So I started with two of them for my base and decided to add on to them to brighten them up for Sam’s room that has lots of spring hued purple, cranberry, gold and green. 

Et, voila!  The after shot. 

It’s not the greatest photo and the arrangement had not been glued down yet, but you get the picture.   To the top I added soft golden twigs with berries, purple lavender and some other wonderfully spiky purple thistle blooms.  I replaced the darker leaves on the bottom with brighter leaves with a yummy velvet texture and even brighter moss for contrast.  I wish I knew the names of these things!  Sam really wanted the arrangement to have things hanging down so I added the curved branch with berries and the other groovy stuff. 

I liked them.  Sam liked them! 

Hardscrabble Country Club Golf Pro Shop

I just found my old calendar from last year and decided to flip through it one more time before I tossed it. Well, low and behold…today happens to be my one year anniversary of finishing the Golf Pro Shop renovation at our club. 

I never posted pictures of that job and figured I needed to do so…thanks to you, Jeremy Moe, PGA Golf Pro at HCC for helping me out with your pictures.  They are certainly better than the ones I took!  The shop looks great!

Before, during and after shots.  Very dated hunter green and burgundy with worn out carpeting!  We tore out the old carpet, repainted everything including the office and bathrooms to freshen the place up.  The bathrooms received new fixtures and tile floors. 

 

The burgundy Formica wrapped desk used to be on the back wall of the shop…we moved it to the front for better member accessibility and service.   The desk was beautifully refinished and we had the counter top re-Formicaed with faux granite.  Looks much richer, don’t you think? 

From the back of the shop looking out the front door.  Can’t get enough of the green…the chair rail border in the office was a bear to remove.  I had the best luck in finding the new furniture.  Hold on to your golf caps…the black console table below and the two black stacking tables in the photo beneath that were purchased on clearance at Target last February for a bargain!   The “stacking tables” are actually a kitchen table and a bench seat.  So far, it has held up well!

Our country club has a wonderful history and Jeremy and I rummaged through the attic for old photos, maps and ads and framed them to add more character than the traditional golf art.  We also raided the men’s locker room for old trophies and displayed them.

 

Here’s what I love about Jeremy Moe…a serious athlete, husband, dad, friend…and a very good knack for arranging and displaying in his shop!  He’ll say he’s had help from professionals out there, but I know he has seen many a golf shop and PGA shows to figure out how to make your merchandise look smart.

  

Reason to Celebrate!!

We had our wrap up meeting for our Celebrate Trinity fundraiser today and we all agreed it was a fun night …and a successful night!  We also got to see the great pictures of the entire event from a very talented and generous photographer in our community - Karen Schwarz of Pictures by Karen.  She really captured the mood of the evening in her shots…it was a really fun party and she got it!  Now you know who to call for your next event that you need to have photographed!

The icing on the cake to this fundraiser is, of course, the fruit of our labors.  What a hard working committee!  Jill Ladd and Julie Hagen agreed to chair this event with only two months left on the calendar to pull it together.  The event raised more than $53,500 for the Adopt a Student Fund for the Trinity Educational Endowment.  That’s a record breaker, folks!  And in THIS economy!

Thanks to our Sponsors and the many people who helped to make this event a huge success.

Click on the pictures below to see the evening!

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Flickr Tags: Celebrate Trinity Fundraiser 2010,Trinity Junior High School,Fort Smith,Arkansas

Celebrate Trinity 2010 Fundraiser for Trinity Junior High School Educational Trust, Fort Smith, Arkansas

I have been busy at work for several weeks with many of my friends preparing the decorations and graphic design for the Trinity Junior High Educational Trust major fundraiser, “Celebrate Trinity.”  The event was Saturday, Feb. 6th in the school’s Activity Center.   The evening was a great success and the committee was very pleased that the auctions did so well, the food was great and the bars (liquor and cigar,) band and bidding kept our guests happy until midnight.  Most of these pictures were taken before the event started at 6:00pm and I didn’t even make it outside to take pictures of the signs, up lighting and cigar bar tent. 

Below is the entryway with the bar set up in the concession stand.  The silvery screen to the right is the sponsor thank you board and the check in table beyond it.  The hallway was lit with mini lights in the windows and around the bar and really set the mood and tone before entering the gym.  We set up pub tables in the area that one housed the silent auction in years past.

  

We covered up the trophy case with pipe and drape to display some of the live auction items at the front door.

The entry hall from the front door.

The gym bar was set off by red mini lights.  We constructed the table centerpieces from corplast gaming suits, cards, dice and chips and a lot of glitter, chenille stems and mylar.

 

The large stage backdrop of lights made a festive background for the gaming tables in front of the stage.  The gaming tables were cleared out to make way for the live auction and band that were to follow.

     

Food tables before candles and flashing balls were lit and food on table…the blue uplights around the room looked great but not in these pictures!

Table centerpieces were set on top of either a red glitter round base or a blue lame square base.  Programs and sponsor tents surround the setting with votives and chips, cards and dice for the final touch.  The table sponsor name was the crown of the centerpiece…many of the sponsors took these home at the end of the evening.

The beer and wine bar in the gym was highlighted with red accent lighting.

The Silent Auction Area turned out like a sparkling  jewel in the large gym with the icicle underlights and the minilights hung above.  The room looked much more pulled together when the house lights were down!

 

 

 

 

     It was a fun night and it was fun to decorate this! 

Fundraiser Facelift

I am on a fundraiser committee at my son’s school to work on decorations and offered to freshen up the graphics for the invitations, flyers, tickets and programs.  Here’s how it’s looking so far…the old logo is inset at the bottom.    I’ll post pictures of the decorations and event in a few weeks.   

It’s Beginning to Smell a lot like Christmas Around Here!

Ahhhh!  School ended yesterday afternoon after a long day of volunteering at Immaculate Conception’s Annual Soup and Cinnamon Rolls Christmas Luncheon.  It’s so much fun to see all the kids come in all dressed up in their Christmas clothes after Mass with their families, and spying Santa in the corner of the room with a look of true joy on their faces…well, most of them, anyway!   It just really puts you in the mood to get all of the Christmas duties completed so you can spend more time with your kids during the two weeks off with them. 

Yeah-that togetherness thing isn’t working out so well at our house today.  All the boys want to do is hang out and play with their stuff after a week of quizzes, tests and final exams and I don’t blame them.  So, I decided that because it was such a gray day outside, it was officially an “All day Jammie Day” at our house…and we’re sticking to it!  I have been playing carols on ITunes all day and have been baking our family’s  favorite holiday biscotti.  We lit our spruce candle in the den to make it smell like we have a real tree in the house and it does smell good around here!  I love the house to feel warm and homey for Christmas.

So, here’s Christmas as I see it around the house this year.  I like to change things up just a little every year and this year I chose to add more of my beloved black and white  paired with pear green at the front door with new ribbon that I got for 50% off at my good ‘ol Hobby Lobby.  I hung my garland around the door again this year and changed out the wreath with old red balls that I painted with zebra stripes.  

Our entry is different this year.  I wanted to make sure that it echoes what the Christmas season is all about…the birth of our Savior King.  I pulled out some gold silk and started pulling all my stuff together.  It’s either Godly or “gaudy,”  but I like it.  It looks pretty when all lit at night and the different shades of gold and silver look radiant...as is HE!

My carnation topiary above…and silver bottle brush trees below

I keep a smaller tree in the foyer with ornaments the boys have made or given throughout the years and it sits in an urn.  I keep our children’s Christmas books in a painted terra cotta planter.   Ever by my side or under my feet is Aengus.

I changed the ribbon on the tree this year and added a tone on tone green stripped ribbon and a vibrant red orange sheer ribbon to coordinate with the new upholstery in the room.  To pull in the browns in the room, I fluffed up the top of the tree with pheasant feathers and shorter bright red feathers along with the gold branches from last year.  The boys all made fun of it…and now have to live with it!  The nativity scene is on the shelf behind the tree.

Santas are all over the place-from the bench, to the hearth, to the mantel.   This year I brought in the lanterns and put two big ones in there.

 

I miss “House of  Hatten” Christmas ornaments like the one above and especially the ones designed by Denise Calla.  They are earthy, traditional and whimsical all at the same time.  She retired a few years ago and many companies have tried to copy her work.  My biggest piece is the Santa below standing on the candlestick.

The boys love the Santa on the sleigh.

Why, hello little pup…haven’t seen you in a few seconds.   Here are the rest of the bottle brush trees that I bleached, dyed and decorated in colors harmonious to the room.   I love the look of antiqued glitter and found this glittered snowman several years ago.  The gold glass ornament hanging on the lamp I made by making hot glue dots on the ball and then painted them black.

         

Here’s the other side of the room.

Close ups…I love my unusual nativity scene here…I bought the set in Rome (Fontanini) and found the “stable” here in town.  Baby Jesus and the wise men are waiting in the wings…on the other side of the bookcase.

The magic of our tree are the wonderful felt and beaded ornaments John’s grandmother made many years ago.  Each one hand sewn, beaded and sequined with love.

 

  And what to my wondering eyes should appear but those pesky plastic men and complete with landing gear!  I made a deal with Michael to keep the army men and Star Wars Lego stuff out of sight and he stuck to it!!!

Come see what’s baking in the kitchen…it’s Holiday Biscotti and I give this to friends every year.  It takes a while to prepare, but it’s worth it.  The glass cloche with the vintage glass balls is new to the kitchen.

This year I added poly deco mesh and ribbon to the top of the English cupboard to add some color

and I displayed all of my miniature nativity scenes on it.  Some of these are from my childhood, from my travels and from family and are wonderful treasures.  The largest in the middle was the first nativity set I bought when we got married a million years ago.

     

And here are two more of my wonderful “House of Hatten” St. Nicholases.   I really love silver pieces and keep the kid’s baby cups here all year long.  You never know how I will use them to decorate but they always look to pretty.

Aren’t these girls wonderful?  My parents gave me the two Vintage Erzgebirge German ornaments for Christmas right after I graduated from college.  I had to work over Christmas my first year in New Orleans at the Hilton Hotel to check in the University of Nebraska football team on Christmas night to start practicing for the Sugar Bowl the next morning.  I had a tree and these two precious ornaments to make it all right!

    

Mom gave us the little snowmen with all of our names on them.  Too cute!

 

We hang our cards on the kitchen doorways so we can see them often.   I love my kitchen tree…I keep ornaments from my childhood on here and a few others.

I love these little vintage elves…my Mom used to display them frolicking on a holly bough on our mantel and they looked so cute.

 

I have a nice collection of vintage glass balls  and prominently displayed them in my foyer last year.  I chose to use just a few this year and these I bought at an antiques store about twenty years ago.  Most of the rest of the vintage glass came from my parent’s collection.

Oh yes, the Advent wreath…in an urn, naturally!

 

The dining room sparkles this year with black, white, green gold and silver.  Nothing is new except for that bargain ribbon that you see everywhere…kind of went crazy with it, hated it,  and then just left it.

I took a paint pen to the candles so they could get in on the action with polka dots.

    

I stitched up these pillow cases and then painted them with names for my friend Nicole to give as Christmas presents.  Very girly and inspired by “Eloise at the Plaza” book.