Headed to a Canada Barn Wedding!

Earlier in the summer, Jody contacted me on etsy asking if I could include turquoise burlap  in a bouquet. We convo'd back and forth this summer about creating burlap and lace bouquets for her wedding next week.

 

I searched and found the turquoise burlap and designed a custom bridal bouquet for Jody.

She decided to have chocolate burlap roses for the quys to wear in the wedding. The three bouquets below were created for her bridesmaids to carry.

 Last week Jody ask me to call her on the phone to talk in more detail. It wasn't till this point that I realized she was in Canada, since my cell phone wouldn't place an international call. We played phone tag and finally got to talk over the weekend. In several years of online selling on etsy and ebay, Jody was the first customer I had ever talked to and it was much more personal than just an email.

 These small rustic bouquets were made special for the flower girl to carry and a throw away bouquet.

 When I talked to Jody, she told me her wedding was going to be in front of an old barn. I really wish I could have hand delivered all her bouquets to Canada and see it all in person! I told my husband if we weren't married yet, I would want my wedding on the farm, by our rustic barn and since Jody's bouquets are made out of all my favorite colors, I would want to carry bouquets like these.

His response was, well we are married and maybe your job is to help others create their perfect wedding day. I like his thinking.

Today I boxed all the burlap and lace bouquets up and sent them on their way to Jody. I have invited all the brides I'm working with to share their wedding pictures with you and me here on the blog. Jody said she would send a picture and I sure hope she does.

 

It was a pleasure creating these vintage style bouquets for you Jody. Congratulations and Best Wishes for your wedding!

 

Hide and Seek

 I was going through pictures on my computer and found this one of a baby calf we had this summer. Her mama liked to play hide and seek with me. She always knew where her calf was and made me search for her baby. I thought she was pretty cute hiding in the weeds one day. Now that she is older, thankfully she stays with the herd more.

Hope y'all are having a great week!

Now and Then - Hanging Flower Bucket

NOW...

THEN...

 
Gardening is a lot about patients and vision. I could see the purslane cascading over this bottomless flower bucket when I planted it last spring and now it has hot pink blooms every afternoon.

The creeping jenny is also cascading over the bucket as well.

The begonia and petunias have just about played out, but the purslane seems to like the hot temperatures of summer when everything else is tired and dreary. 

An Updated Sunflower Picture Frame Wreath

I recently updated my picture frame wreath and am now ready for fall and harvest time.

This is what the wreath started out like last year. The base is a wooden picture frame with chicken wire in place of the glass.

The wreath got made over last fall with the pumpkin welcome sign.

After last fall, the sunflowers were getting a little frazzled and faded and it hasn't been hanging on my front door in  a while. Yet, I couldn't throw away this wreath.

A super quick makeover this week made the wreath fresh and pretty and ready for fall.

I cut scraps of burlap material to fit the centers of the sunflowers. I glued the burlap to the flowers and tied on the Harvest Thyme sign with some twine.

 A new piece of burlap was tied to the frame to hang the wreath.

Now we are ready for fall to hurry and get here. I am so ready for cooler weather. How about you?

Linking to Funky Junk Interiors

Sunset

Sunset from the farm tonight (taken with my phone). Some people like sunrises, but I'm rather fond of sunsets.

Do you instagram? If you instagram, I can be found at gypsyfarmgirl. Come follow along and I'll follow you back. I like being able to share pics when I'm out and about easily.

Have a great day! We're halfway to the weekend!

Introducing NEW Burlap Colors Available

I would like to introduce you to NEW colors of burlap in my etsy store! 

I now have Turquoise, Red, Orange, and Green Burlap available for burlap and lace bridal bouquets and boutonnieres. These beautiful colors join the rustic

Natural, Chocolate Brown, and Cream colored burlap that have comprised the shabby chic bouquets for a while now.  

 I also have white and off white vintage lace available to create a custom bouquet with your choice of colors.

What is more romantic than one dozen red roses? 12 red burlap roses comprise this vintage inspired bouquet. Chocolate and natural burlap along with vintage lace make up this bouquet. 

 These popular boutonniere's can be created with any combination of colors. Want a Red rose with chocolate leaves, and tan stem wrap or how about chocolate rose with turquoise leaves. It can be done!

 

I am so excited to now be able to offer additional colors and options to my customers at GypsyFarmGirl.etsy.com This is a photo of the orange and green burlap that I have available at this time.

 Various sizes, styles, and flowers can be customized for almost any budget.

If you would like burlap and lace bouquets for your shabby chic, rustic, country, or vintage inspired wedding, you can contact me through my etsy store and I would be happy to create a customized wedding package for you, complete with bridal bouquets, bridesmaids arrangements, boutonnieres, and hair clips for the girls in your wedding party. Please feel free to convo me or send me an email if you have any questions.

 I would love to help make your wedding dreams come true! 

I bought a Wedding Dress!

Hmmm... Are you wondering now? Thinking, but you are already married...

Yes, I am married for over ten years now, but today I bought a Vintage Wedding Dress!

A vintage dress had been on my wish list for a while now and when a friend said there was going to be one in her upcoming garage sale and I said "sold!"

 I didn't even see it before I bought it, but isn't she pretty? Vintage, with layers of tulle and lace.

After work today I hung her on the side of the rusty tin barn for a photo shoot...cause who doesn't hang a wedding dress on the side of the hay barn and take pictures of it! Really... no one does that?

 Now you may be wondering what in the heck I plan to do with this dress. I kinda want to know the answer to that question too! I have thought about repurposing it into curtains or then again the lace would be perfect in my burlap and lace bride's bouquets  for my etsy store or then again, it would make a great back drop for photographing bouquets. This vintage bouquet and garter were part of the deal when I bought the dress. I would even like to get someone to model it, so I could do a photo shoot for my wedding items.

On other hand, I would love to have a vintage style barn sale one day and it would be a pretty focal point on a vintage dress form. Or, Or...

So many ideas for this dress... what  do you think? What would you do with it?

Special Shape Hot Air Balloons

There are always several special shape hot air balloons at the Great Texas Balloon Race.  (See my earlier post for lots more pictures of the balloon competition.)

 Gotta love the bees and the butterfly!

In previous years, we had gone to the balloon glow at night. It was hot, super crowded, and expensive to get in to (think thousands trying to park and get in on a 100 degree evening). With the Sunday morning race, we got to see the sunrise in a beautiful way without much traffic, for free, and it was much cooler! This will be the event we will return to again.

 And here is Noah's "Arky". If these special shape balloons don't make you smile...there is something wrong with you.

There was also several airplanes on display on the runway. Of course, my husband loved this part. He could tell you just what these airplanes are. Me on other hand, just know that are photogenic!

I loved the sun coming through windows of the Doolittle Raiders plane.

Here is the Galveston Gal plane. Since the week long festivities were over when the balloons finished the morning competition, these planes prepared for take off and my man loved to watch and hear the procedure.

We had a great time at the balloon race and hope you enjoyed a few of the sights as well.

Up, Up, and Away - Great Texas Balloon Race

Last weekend we attended the Great Texas Balloon Race. Get ready for a photo heavy post! We have been to the balloon glow at night before, but never to the morning competition. See that white pole in the first picture? Its a 20 foot tall PVC pipe that the balloon pilots are trying to put a ring on. The balloons came across the airport grounds, dropped nearly to the ground trying to hit their target, then took off into the morning sunrise.

Did I mention all this happened at 6:30 AM? We had to get up at 4:30 to be there on time. But oh, it was worth it! It was such a pretty morning.

A total of nine balloons put their ring on the target over the course of a weeks competition. I think one or two out of this group hit a pay check. They also dropped a flag, hoping to get close to the mark.

The Great Texas Balloon Race is held each July and is considered a great event and this year they even held the National competition.

The balloons were suppose to fly three miles away from the airport and then return to the target location, but the winds did not cooperate and noone made it back.

So what do you think? Have you ever road in a hot air balloon? I did once as a kid when our local community gas station held a grand opening ceremony - we got to go up and right back down.

Stay tuned for a few more pics of the special shape balloons that were on display.