Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019!

As we close out 2018 today, I look back at a year of love and loss. Good times and bad. New adventures and broke down trucks... oh those dang trucks...but in the end, we've relied on friends and family in times of need and so appreciate the help that has come along.

There's been hard times, drought and floods affecting the farm, but oh the cute babies and the silly donkeys make it a happier place!

We've had family suffer health wise and our routine has changed in order to be of more help to them. It's brought us closer as a family, for that I am thankful, although I wish none of them had to endure what they are.

 As one of my shirts says “perfectly imperfect.”

 Through it all, we say THANK YOU for letting us be a part of your year! We appreciate each and everyone of you!

 Here’s to another year and more new adventures! Wishing you all a Wonderful 2019, full of love, good health and happiness!

Enjoy the collage of photos I created from some of the years highlights. Just a few of the (way too many) photos on my phone and computer! Looking forward to helping you and being apart of your events in 2019! New things are coming soon, so stay tuned!

Wedding Arches

Someone recently ask me about Wedding Arch pictures, so I thought I would share a few that I've made. I love creating arches for a wedding backdrop and the options are unlimited to what can be designed for your big day. From arch style, colors, flowers, and of course the flower placement; each arch is one of a kind.

This pink cascading wedding arch ranks up there as an all time favorite! With sharing pictures, I'm going to share a few wedding planning tidbits - the ground was at a slope for this wedding, so the black wooden platform was created to level the arch. The bride's family supplied the ferns at the base of the arch. 

This was a large metal arch that was covered in fresh flowers in shades of red, burnt orange, purples, and green for an elegant church wedding. The coordinating candelabras and the arch were all very sturdy metal pieces and we didn't have to worry about the weight of the flowers or any of the pieces blowing over, since it was indoors.  

Arches can have a combination of fabric and flowers, such as this one for a western wedding. The logs holding bouquets were a bride's request, but let me tell you, they also help to stabilize the arch, since it was free standing, outdoors, with gusty wind. (There was one hidden log on the back side as well.)

Simple, sophisticated, elegance. 

One thing I would advise when picking out your arch is to make sure it is sturdy enough to hold the flowers or design elements you have in mind or have some way to offer that support. While this arch was "planted" in the ground, we did have to add metal stakes behind the legs to keep it standing upright with the flowers on it, since it was getting top heavy. 

Over the years, I've seen some really wobbly arches for weddings - they were bought cheap and they wouldn't hardly stand on their own without anything on them. If you want a large statement piece for your wedding, make sure you plan accordingly and have a sturdy and balanced arch to support it. 

This was a large statement piece for an outdoor wedding, in shades of maroon, white, and pink. 

Shabby and oh so chic. Frayed fabric was looped and hung from the arbor, while simple lemon and lime colored arrangements were anchored on the side of the piece. Impending rain showers forced us to have the arch under cover, instead of in front of the large stone fireplace, until right before the wedding. This piece was made out of PVC pipe and anchored in weighted buckets. If creating your own arch, you need to have something to "cover your mechanics" such as the fabric that is hanging down and wrapped around the bottom. 

This arch was completely covered in fall flowers for my brother's wedding. He built a very sturdy, free standing arbor. If I didn't tell you, would you know this had a mixture of fresh and silk flowers in it? Some of the sunflowers were artificial and we were able to reuse them afterwards for other arrangements. We did this to stay within their budget - Just so you know, I would never add silk to someone else's wedding flowers, without discussing it first. Although, with such real looking silk flowers today, it can be a viable option when you want flowers that are out of season.


As you can see, each arch is as unique as the bride and groom that will stand in front of them and can create a beautiful backdrop for your ceremony and pictures. From simple to extremely elaborate, the possibilities are endless!

Christmas in the Gazebo

I always love decorating the gazebo for Christmas! 

Christmas decorating usually comes around the time of first frost here, so it's time to clean up the yard and give it a more lively look. New lights always help! We leave the lights up all year round and it's been dark the last few weeks, therefore it was time. After Christmas I call the "fairy lights" or "party lights"! 😉

We prefer our Dish Pan Snowman, since it won't melt and it doesn't have to be freezing cold and yucky to have a snowman! Win-win, right?!? 

Cleaning up the yard, there where a few watering cans that needed to be put away for winter, but I decided to hang them on the tree instead! 

I added a few burlap poinsettias, twigs, and a red check bow and the tallest tree was decorated! I'm all about keeping it pretty simple this year  - we are on a cleaning spree and these items were all laying around in my workroom, so on the tree they went. 

The old crock and water cooler became tree stands! The rest of the trees are just prelit trees I've picked up at thrift stores over the past few years. I took the plastic stands off and they set down in the old containers. 

The bicycle basket (actually a gym locker basket) needed something. Usually I add fresh greenery or a plant, but I've been sick and just haven't gone to the woods to trim trees... Now back to the cleaning and decluttering my workroom - one garland sitting in the floor, a sign, and a scrap piece of ribbon made their way to the basket! 

There you have it, simple Christmas decor in the yard and gazebo, using items found and repurposed. If you're new around here and haven't read the story of our gazebo, you should go back and see some of the old post - the gazebo was really and truly rescued from a trash ditch and we've had fun giving it a makeover the last few years. The only thing that is ever purchased new is the lights.