Mom & L's Wedding- 8/24/13- My Pics

Whew! My mom's wedding is now over! It is a great feeling all-around- just knowing Mom & Lynnwood are now happily married, and we're all now settled back at home, and back to our normal routines. It was an absolute honor to stand by Mom as her Matron of Honor while they were married.

We put a lot of work into these two days (the rehearsal dinner Friday & the wedding/reception Saturday), and I feel like everything turned out beautifully. The weather cooperated also, so that was wonderful! The best part was getting to see
close family & friends!

I was only able to squeeze in a few pics from that whirlwind of a day. I took my iPhone down to the reception site & got just a few pics before the wedding, then just a few more during the reception. Can't wait to see & share our awesome photographer's photos when they are ready!!

Mr. Jones & me :)

The Matron of Honor bouquet (mine) & the bride's bouquet (Mom's) 

Susan (Mom's wedding coordinator) & I did most of the flowers! I was so proud! This was the first time EVER I had tried my hand at flowers & I LOVED IT!

LOVE!

The wedding site

I made this chalkboard from a thrift store frame, and the vintage suitcases are my grandmother's...

The groom & bride

Me & my best friend Anna! Hadn't seen her in so long!!

Anna, me & the girls! Emma was one of my flower girls, and that makes me feel so old!

Me & our cousin Carol... loved reuniting with family we hadn't seen in a while!

 

Loved the Birds of Paradise in the food table arrangement...

The bride & groom's table- that they never even used! Ha!

Our shoes that carried us through (most of) the day...

We put this together for Dad & for Janice...

The happy couple after the rehearsal dinner...

Our Newest Addition

Zach & I hit up (a small part of) the World's Longest Yard Sale this past weekend, and ended up scoring the newest addition to our home. I had been looking for a replacement for our glass coffee table for a very long time. Not that I didn't like the look of it, because I did, I just didn't like the glass. Zach had had the table & the matching glass end table since he first bought the house, so it was time for a change. (By the way, these two are now for sale, 

if anyone is interested.)

The top two pics show the Before & the bottom shows the After...

It was love at first sight for me. This was exactly what I had been wanting, and for a very reasonable price. 

We had visited the couple that sold it to us last year during the yard sales. They always have the coolest vintage finds. They own a shop in Summerville, GA, so we plan to make stops there from now on. Zach was interested in another piece they had, so he made a "two-for" deal with them. He's my little haggler. :)

They said this chest dates back to the 1800's- Zach & I are both a little skeptical about that, but we love it anyway!

The detail is beautiful! I have seen more ornate trunks than this one, but they come with a much higher price. I am so happy we now have an old piece with some history to go along with it.

Short post today... not much going on that's not wedding-related, so not much to post on. I hope to share some wedding-related projects soon. The wedding will be here in a little over two weeks!!

J & L's Couples' Shower- 7/20/2013

I wanted to share a few photos from Mom & Lynnwood's couples' shindig this past Saturday. We all had such a great time- eating, visiting, and celebrating them & their upcoming marriage. We saw a lot of faces we hadn't seen in a while, both family & friends,
which is always wonderful!

Most of these pics came from my iPhone, and I took them both before & after the shower. We had a sweet friend take photos throughout the shower, so I hope to post those soon. For now, my pictures just look like no guests were there! Ha!

Me & my handsome sweetie

Three generations of Ashley women :)

Mom, Mamaw & Mom's sweetie :)

Mom & her mom

Me & Jon Jon

Me, Mamaw & Jon

Their gift card tree & gift table

Before guests arrived... 

The food tables... 

The three cakes...

The beautiful wreaths at the entrance...

Loved the table decorations. These women did such 
a wonderful job!

Entrance table with lovely photos...

The family picture display...

"The Beautiful Marriage"...

The family table... 

This was one of Mom's favorites. Her best friend from elementary school gave this to her to hang her wedding dress on. So cute!!

 
Registry table...The framed name sign was from me. :)

Beautiful flowers...

 Hope you enjoyed them! I promise we had a room full of guests there, and we have other photos to prove it...
I'll post them soon! :)

Hope you all have a great week! I am loving taking a little break from blogging. I haven't really had a break from crafting though, mainly because we've been working on things for the wedding & reception. I don't want to reveal those creations until the wedding festivities are over, so I'm waiting to post on those projects. Until then, wish us luck as we continue to plan & get everything in order for the big day (exactly one month from tomorrow!!!)

Bookcase Revamp

I bought this little bookcase at the thrift store months ago. I actually hadn't been thrifting in a long time (and haven't much since then either), but I stopped in to get my fix that day. I wasn't planning on buying anything at all (isn't that how it always seems??), but I glanced over to the side & saw this calling to me. We actually did need a bookcase to house some extra books, and I wanted it to go in our guest room. I had plans for a pretty red & cream chevron pattern (which I may still use on another project), but I am so in love with my zebra pattern paper, and it's easier for covering big areas, so here I went with another zebra print project. Just for retrospect, here are some of the many projects where I have used this patterned paper:

- My old frame-turned-jewelry-tray re-purposing project

- My framed calendar vinyl project

- My organizer re-purpose (a.k.a. my first ever Mod Podge project)

- My framed "J"

So on this project, I started by spray painting the bookcase with Krylon 2-in-1 primer & paint in Cream. Not really thrilled with the finished look of this paint. I have used it on two projects so far, and I didn't like the coverage it provided on either one. I was happier using cheap-y spray paint from Dollar General than this stuff! Who knew?!

I then, of course, lightly distressed it, 

and applied a simple clear coat...

I did the painting in the basement when it was a little warmer, then I got bored in the basement and decided to move it upstairs to the living room to paper it. That's the only downfall of my basement crafting area- it can get really lonely down there by myself.

The trickiest part was matching up the paper roll with the sides of the bookcase, and holding it there while I trimmed the paper...

I papered the edges also, just to give it more color...

...and I also papered the back...

Now, my Before & After!

BEFORE

AFTER

Here it is in our guest room, 

now fully stocked with our overrun of books. 

That's a picture of my dad when he was little. Is he not adorable in that pic? Gah, I love it! :)

It is so nice to now have extra storage in our guest room! I highly recommend repurposing thrift store finds- even cheap-y laminate pieces like this one- for your simple furniture needs throughout your home. You won't have much money or time invested, and you'll have a piece that you uniquely transformed yourself. 

Love it!