Not Just Western Weddings

The wedding party for the this wedding will all be wearing Hot Pink Converse shoes and will be getting married at a New Jersey winery. As I was working on the flowers, I got to thinking about some of the different themed weddings that I have done.  When I tell me people I make burlap and lace wedding bouquets, they usually think its all about western weddings, but that's simply just not the case. That's kind of like saying everyone in Texas is a cowboy and we all ride horses to work everyday. There are a lot of cowboys in Texas and I've done a lot of country themed weddings, but there is so much more to Texas and burlap and lace! 

The bride was going for a rustic, romantic look with the vintage maroon to coordinate with the winery, pops of pink to tie in with the pink converse shoes, along with feathers and cream and tan burlap roses. 

This bouquet is part of an order for a Vintage Americana themed wedding with pip berries. This bouquet also had the vintage maroon burlap, along with navy, white and tan roses. The pip berries remind me of a primitive look. 

This next wedding went all the way to Australia! She wanted book pages from the Three Musketeers book included in the bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres. I'll admit, I've never read the book, but the bride said it was a love story and wanted the pages tucked in with the fall colored burlap roses and twine.

I've had more than one Runaway Bride! Several customers have admitted their plans to elope and pack their bouquet and boutonniere in a suitcase! In this case, the bride  wanted a small bouquet to take with her.

I ask the bride what her theme was after she chose lime, black and silver, because I didn't think these colors were for a country wedding. Her reply was "City Meets Country." She was a city girl who met a country boy and lime was her favorite color.

Then there has been True Timber Snowfall Camo satin roses with turquoise and burlap for an elegant take on the camouflage wedding.

Then there has been several fall, hunting, woodsy, outdoorsy themed weddings

"Country Shic, Done Elegantly" was the theme for this feather and bling bouquet.

Vintage Glam Brooch Bouquet

This was the Pride and Prejudice wedding with book pages from the novel included along with the rustic red white, navy and tan roses.

This was another winery wedding with earthy toned floral arrangements. This color combo was also used for a crawfish boil themed wedding. 

As I look back through the Featured Wedding Section of my blog tonight, there has been a Firefighters badge added to a bouquet along with Fire Truck pictures in Maine, back yard weddings,  church weddings, an elegant garden wedding, ranch weddings, farm / pasture weddings, and several nature settings  in over 45 states and 4 countries. So yes, burlap and lace has been included at many western, country weddings, yet the possibilities are endless. I'm sure brides have chosen many other wedding themes that did not come up in conversation.

 I would love to hear if you had a theme to your wedding or just went with favorite colors. Personally, we went with a mixture of bright colors (red, yellow, purple, with a splash of pink and white) for a outdoor, garden wedding.  My taste have sure changed since our wedding and I think I would do something more vintage junk themed with neutral colors now. But... that is no where in the plans, not going to happen, so I'll just stick to decorating our house and camper that way! 

Vanessa, My New Assistant and Model!

Let me introduce you to my new assistant and headband model! Say Hello to Vanessa!
She's having fun wearing some new gypsy, boho chic lace headbands!

I was in need of a better way to display my hair pieces for taking shop pictures. Headbands are not near as cute when displayed on a flat board and I don't have anyone that can model for me, at any given moment.

She started out as an U-G-L-Y styrofoam head from Hobby Lobby. 

Then she got a mod podged makeover, with old book pages from The Three Musketeers.

She then decided she was going with the bald and beautiful look, but quickly decided she needed hair, to help perform her job better! So I found a cheap wig on ebay for her. 

Because hair clips and birdcage veil hair combs need hair to attach to. 

Now, for a funny story about how Vanessa got her name! She was sitting on my sewing table one evening. I was in the living room and Jeff opened the door to the workroom. It was dark, he flipped on the light and I heard a gasp and "Vanessa, you scared me!" 

It wasn't the first time she scared him either! He really thinks I should paint her facial features on her, but I don't want to. I've seen some with painted faces and those are way more scary to me. 

Anywho, I like her the way she is now and don't find her scary.  I think the words all over her face are kind of like the typical woman's mind at any given point. We have jumbled thoughts and ideas going in every different direction at once. (Or at least I do!) 

I'm happy with Vanessa and how she's helped display my headbands and clips, so I'm sure you will see her around from time to time. I'm actually kind of jealous of her wavy hair. My hair is always so straight and even the beauticians have give up on trying to get it to curl.

All of the hair pieces are currently available in my shop and don't forget about the Summer Sale happening now on select ready to ship inventory. 

 Y'all please share some love with Vanessa and tell her you don't think she's scary and let her know if you think she's just fine without big eyes and lips! 

Summer Sale - Wedding Bouquets, Home Decor and Pillows

Hope everyone's summer is off to a great start! I think it is about time for a SALE! I have marked down prices on several items in my etsy shop, as I am trying to make room for more new stuff to come (I'm already thinking fall and Christmas!) The sale is limited to Ready to Ship Inventory, including several styles of Burlap and Lace Bridal Bouquets, Wreaths, Home Decor and Pillows. 

Several of the bridal bouquets have been marked down $10.00 to $25.00 off the regular price and

 no coupon code is needed! 

Rustic burlap and lace bouquet with turquoise and pearls

There are several styles of the burlap camper pillows in turquoise and pink still available, along with a couple of winged pillows and some of the vintage grain seed sack pillows. They have been marked down $5.00 to $7.50 each. 

burlap glamper pillows for your vintage camper

vintage seed sack pillows and pink burlap and lace glampers

I have a few wreaths marked $10.00 to $15.00 off.  Several of the bouquets and wreaths are pictured here or you can see them all in the ON SALE NOW section of my shop or you can see the pillows in the Roots and Wings section. 

Rustic grapevine wreath

Billow blue, tan and white burlap bridal bouquet

Spring pastel bridal bouquet

blush burlap bouquet with navy and cream burlap and vintage lace

gold birdcage with blush and pink floral arrangement

lavender burlap and palm wood bouquet and boutonniere

grapevine wreath with terra cotta and blush flowers, greenery and feathers

bright, tropical colored burlap and lace bouquet

white and cream burlap and vintage lace bridal bouquet 

***All sale prices are limited to certain Ready to Ship Inventory. Any request for custom bouquets and reproductions of these items will be at regularly marked price. Discount has already been applied to the particular listings and no coupon code will be required. 

New Brooch Bouquets, Headbands and Wildflowers

The last few weeks have seemed like a whirlwind of events and happenings going on. I was away from the studio aka the "burlap factory" for several days this week and was excited and motivated to get back to work this weekend! There are a few new wedding bouquets with brooches, vintage lace flowers and burlap roses, along with several styles of rustic, boho headbands now available for immediate shipping. 

All the new items are one of a kind arrangements. It's a fun scavenger hunt gathering unique brooches, vintage jewelry pieces and vintage lace, so no two items are just alike! Neutral cream, white and tan colors comprise the first bouquet along with gold and pearl toned jewels. 

I've gathered a collection of turquoise / aqua / pool blue jewelry pieces to include in this brooch bouquet.

There's also small turquoise crotchet lace flowers with pearl centers in the bouquet. 

Several styles of vintage ivory lace flowers are tucked among the burlap roses and jewels. 

Another new set of items is these rustic, boho chic headbands! I really need a model to display the hair pieces. Each one is attached to a long lace ribbon and can be tied to your desired fit. Some have birdcage veil material, feathers, pearls, ribbon roses and of course lots of vintage lace and bling. There's also a hidden piece of blue lace on the back side of the light colored head bands, so you will have your Something Blue for your wedding day. 

The wildflowers have been gorgeous the last couple weeks and I can't help but snap a few pictures while I'm out and about, so I'll leave you with a few of my favorite pics. 

Always Radiate Sunshine! Have a great week y'all! 

All Gussied Up - The Glamper Reveal!

Miss Gussie, the glamper, finally got all gussied up with a fresh coat of paint! I've had my 1959 Arrowhead camper a little over a year. I immediately decorated the inside, but I had been putting off painting the outside. I ask a few auto paint shops and they declined the job. The mister kept saying I could do it, but I just wasn't sure I could. Then one day, I finally decided, yes I could do it and dove right off in the middle of it all! 

 I started by scrubbing and washing her up. Now, by no means is she a perfect camper, just don't tell her that! I know my paint job is not professional, its perfectly imperfect and cost me less than $200 and I actually had a lot of fun painting her. I like her - She's cute, happy, fun, and if I decide I want another paint scheme later on, I'll paint again. I've heard some people say an estimate of $2000+ for a pro paint job, but let's be real, I don't know if she's worth that.

 When I started the job, I thought I would be happy and content just to get her painted a fresh white.

As I was priming her,  I got a vision! She was chippy, peely, distressed. If Miss Gussie was a dresser, chair or table, we would have all loved her vintage character and charm, so I decided I wanted to play to that idea. My paint job is by no means professional and who knows how long the paint will last (check back in a few years for a report on that.) So if she starts to have a little peeling and chipping in the future, maybe it'll look just right and it was meant to be. I decided she needed a lace stripe, like my burlap pillows and a frame and flowers like my business cards and logo. I use a heart with wing stamp on all my packages along with my cards, so a turquoise heart would fill the frame. She didn't come with wings, but by golly, she needed a set of wings!

 So I ordered a lace stencil on etsy and got started painting and then I wondered what the heck was I thinking??? A lace stencil on an uneven metal surface IS. NOT. EASY. But oh, it was worth it!

 Thank goodness for spray adhesive and like I said earlier she's perfectly imperfect and several touch ups were required!

 My favorite paint brushes will always be the cheapest, little ol' straw-like, bristle brushes. I found a small sponge roller for the stencil worked best for me though.

 I got the one side done and then it really started raining. I thought I would never get to finish the other three sides, then one day the sun unexpectedly came out and I jumped at the opportunity to get outdoors and finish her up.

Everything was free handed (except the lace stencil) and I didn't use any painters tape! The last person to paint didn't use any either, so I knew scraping the windows was already in my future.

 I had pondered and studied on what type of paint to get. I made my decision, and the company website said it was stocked in a local store. The rude salesman, finally ask if I needed help and then informed me they did not carry the paint I was in search of, that I should get auto body paint. Hmmmfff... I went to the local hardware store and told her my project and her immediate suggestion was BARN paint! Of course, she's basically a tin barn on wheels, so I got primer and a gallon of white barn paint to start my job, along with a few rollers and brushes.

 The door of the camper is covered in a turquoisy colored burlap fabric and I had ordered the Mason jar sign last year and I wanted my stripe to match both of them. I decided that Shining Sea by True Value was the closest match and got a quart of it and brown to do the detail work.

I lost a little patience with the lace stencil on the back side of the camper. I messed up a few times and just painted her solid. I knew I wanted to have an arrow somewhere, paying tribute to her brand and model, so I decided this is where it would go. 

Of course, my Sisters on the Fly number needed to be featured too! I haven't participated in any SOTF events, but my glamper is almost ready to hit the road! 

 Now the question everyone ask - "What are you going to do with her?"

Well, she's the GypsyFarmGirl World Headquarters! So she's kind of like my office of sorts, I head out here for photo shoots on a regular basis, sometimes I blog from the comfy bed, and Sunday naps are the best. 

 She's my girly "she shed" escape, instead of a man cave! I get to decorate her however I please and light my candles up.

 She also stores some extra shop inventory and my dress form, along with homemade curtains and tattered quilts.

 I would love to hit the road for a few camping trips and maybe a few vintage sales. Who knows where the road leads us? One things for sure  - I bet that guy who left a note in the mail box wanting to buy her, has changed his mind now that he sees her looking like this, because she's not a deer camp, camper anymore!

Linking to Funky Junk's Party