Graduation Fiesta

Week of August 9 through 15

My baby brother graduated from college this week. The same little brother I used to terrorize and dress up in girl's clothes. The little brother I convinced to lay inside a tomato cage while I rolled it down our steep driveway. I like to think he's smarter now. His degree in chemistry and minor in math suggest that he wouldn't be so easily swayed towards nausea-inducing activities now that he's older. (Wiser?)


Greg's commencement ceremony was on a Friday. He was one of only two graduates in his major. Practically peerless (at least for August graduation), Greg was imbued with a sense of exclusivity regarding his degree for most of the weekend. Who can blame him? He made it through four years of chem labs without blowing himself up. That's an accomplishment and a reason to celebrate.


And celebrate we did. We planned my brother's graduation celebration around his two favorite things: Mexican food and chemistry. It was a Graduation Chem-iesta and it was totally fun.

I found blank invitations featuring maroon chili peppers at our local hardware store. (The same hardware store where I found paper inspiration for a previous fete. If the next party I throw is screwdriver themed, you'll understand why.) Maroon for the Aggie, chili peppers for the Mexican food. See how this is coming together, internet?


The Fiesta portion of the party was easy. We have an abundance of Mexican themed baubles for just such an occasion. Formulating a way to combine elements of chemistry with graduation and Mexican food was where the party got a little experimental. (See what I did there?)

No fiesta would be complete without a papel picadillo. A ready-made banner would have looked great, and certainly been fiesta approved, but we wanted something that combined chemistry and graduation, too. For some reason, traditional Mexican tissue paper banners aren't customarily made with Erlenmeyer flask shaped cut-outs. I really don't know why, that's such a common request. After a little research, we realized that ordering a custom Mexican celebration banner would be prohibitively expensive. Solution? Make it ourselves. You had to know that was coming.

I created a banner to fit our esoteric party theme by using the Periodic Table of Elements to spell "Congratulations Greg". Each element abbreviation, with corresponding chemical properties, was printed on a separate square of brightly colored paper. We then hung the not-quite-tissue-paper from jute using clothes pins to mimic the look of a traditional papel picadillo.


To give some higher education to the party-goers, I made informative signs about the two most important chemical compounds at the day's event: Ethanol and Capsaicin. The signs illustrated the chemical structure of each compound and provided a short description of their effects on our party.

Ethanol, of course, is the component of the margaritas we were drinking that made us all a little tipsy. Appropriately, these were posted at the bar along with some quite fitting cocktail napkins. (In case the napkins are too small to read, they say: "He could delay it no longer... it was... TIME TO GROW UP").


Capsaicin is what made all those yummy fajitas with peppers hot and spicy. We stuck these hot little numbers in the flower arrangements on the tables. A little light reading during dinner to explain exactly why one's taste buds are burning.


We set the tables with a colorful mix of plates, some bearing the block A&M symbol. Just another way to blend the graduation and fiesta elements. We used a mix of brightly colored napkins with a serape as our tablecloth because bright colors are the hallmark of a good fiesta. That, and lots of tequila.


We had a great time celebrating Greg's graduation, and we are so very proud of him. With four different kinds of fajitas for us to enjoy, we all stuffed ourselves. And drank lots of margaritas. Now that I think about it, I'm not so sure that my brother's degree is actually preventing him from being swayed into nausea-inducing activities.


Around Our House Next Week: International Travelers

Shower Clean

Week of August 2 through 8

The wedding whirlwind continued this weekend with another bridal shower for my friend Melissa. This shower was hosted by some of the ladies from her church, which meant no work and all play for me! Play = Crafting, just in case you're new to this tiny blip on the internet.

I found some precious scalloped note cards and decided to embellish them for the bride. What better way than with initials? I'm a sucker for a good monogram. Each of the three colors received its own special design. I tried to work with Melissa's wedding colors, too. I made one set with her old monogram, to be used before her wedding, one set with her name so she can use them all the time, and one set with her new monogram. I also printed a coordinating image on the flap of the envelopes. I was so happy with how they turned out that I was sad that I had to give them away. Next time, I'll have to make some for myself, too!


On the tag for the gift wrapping, I wrote "For the Miss and the Mrs. to note her journey along life's way." Because I'm so clever and witty. Don't doubt my punny prowess.


Around Our House Next Week: G-reg is a G-raduate

In The Kitchen

Week of July 26 through August 1

As my best friend's wedding draws near, wedding festivities are becoming the main focus around our house. I've been spending my time planning parties, attending parties and crafting things to take to parties. It seems that every weekend until the wedding we will be celebrating in some way or another. So fun! I think every single-person I know should get married immediately so that I can continue to enjoy this party-girl lifestyle. With crafting. If Martha Stewart and Paris Hilton had a child, I would be her right now.

This weekend, my mom and I hosted a Kitchen Shower for the bride-to-be. Even better, it was a Pampered Chef kitchen shower. Melissa could not have chosen a shower we would have had more fun giving. My mom loves the kitchen gadgets (and could sell Pampered Chef products to Julia Child simply because her excitement over them is infectious) and I love to plan parties.

As soon as we knew what kind of shower Melissa wanted, I started hunting for invitations. I knew I wanted them to be aqua and brown (the wedding colors) and I knew I wanted them to have a detachable recipe card. Kind of a tall order, and I was totally prepared to design something myself, because I just knew I wouldn't find anything that fit my vision. Which was why I was so excited when I found the perfect invitations at the hardware store. Yes. The hardware store. With hardware.


You know that really awkward time at a party, when everyone is arriving and no one really knows what to do until the festivities start? Yeah, I hate that too. To break the ice as people started to arrive, we asked the guests to identify fifteen spices by scent alone. As people made their guesses, it sounded like we were having a convention for allergy sufferers in our kitchen. There was much sniffing and snorting to be heard, following by lots of laughing at the sniffing and snorting. Using the invitation as the basis for all of the party goods, I made coordinating answer cards and spice tags for the spice game.


To add a little splash of color to the party, and to coordinate with the perfect invitations, we added green to Melissa's aqua and brown color palette. I spiffed-up a store-bought brown tablecloth with a band of aqua-and-green floral fabric and a stripe of aqua rick-rack. I also made napkins from the floral fabric, and from a coordinating striped fabric. We wanted the party to look fresh and a little mod, and I think the combination of fabrics and colors worked really well.


Since we were hostessing a Kitchen Shower, my mom attached a miniature bamboo spoon to a lily (the bride's favorite flower) to make a corsage. For centerpieces, my mom arranged white flowers in large Pampered Chef batter bowls. Then, to add to the kitchen-kitsch, she added Pampered Chef scrapers and bamboo spoons to the arrangements. Each piece we used for the centerpieces was a kitchen tool that Melissa had registered for, and they made our arrangements so much more interesting and fun!


The best part about hostessing a Pampered Chef Kitchen Shower, was that I got to watch my mom in action doing what she loves to do. She's been a Pampered Chef consultant for more than ten years and she's so entertaining and fun and so great at it because she really loves the products. She did a cooking demonstration to show off some of the tools that Melissa registered for, and while the demo results were in the oven, we played another fun shower game. Mostly to keep the guests from gnawing on their own arms in anticipation of the deliciousness we were cooking, but also because there is an unwritten rule about bridal showers and games here in the South. If a hostess doesn't slightly embarrass the bride-to-be, then she isn't doing her job.

Shower embarrassment can come in many forms, from the slightly silly tiara-wearing ritual, to the all-out mortifying raunchy game of wedding night bingo with your grandmother in the room. The level of embarrassment inflicted by the hostess is inversely proportional to the number of hours said hostess has spent volunteering for the Junior League Charity Ball. Also related, whether or not the hostess owns any monogrammed panties.

To embarrass Melissa we asked her to model an apron covered in kitchen tools. We are really good at this hostess job. We then asked the guests to remember as many gadgets as they could after only viewing the bride's ensemble for one minute. I made the apron from the same floral and striped fabrics I used for the table linens, and an adorable retro apron pattern from McCalls (M5643, view C).


The winners of our shower games were awarded with kitchen towels that I embellished with bands of our party fabrics.


Guests then had the opportunity to choose a gift to order for the bride-to-be from her registry. To prevent duplicate gifts, and to make their selections easier, I made a tag for each item Melissa registered for and hung them on a small wire tree. Of course, the tags coordinated with the invitations, and with the other paper goods for the party. I'm very meticulous and detail oriented, and my head practically exploded from all the fun The Crazy was having making everything match.


As guests began leaving, we handed out sweet party favors. I made small fabric bags from aqua striped seersucker and my mom filled them with the dry ingredients for a sugar cookie recipe. We tied the bags with brown and aqua polka dotted ribbon and attached a heart shaped cookie cutter and a recipe card for "Cookie-ing" up a Lifetime of Love. So cheesy, but they looked really cute, especially since the recipe card also coordinated with the invitation. Of course it did.


I truly hope that Melissa had as much fun at her party as we had preparing for it. I'm never happier than when I have a reason to plan a party and spend hours-on-end in my craft room. To be spending that time on a wedding shower for my best friend made it even more enjoyable. I really loved putting this shower together for her, and I hope I was able to create something special and memorable in her honor.

Below are a few more pictures from the party. Enjoy.

All Around Our House Next Week: Creative Cards

Bachelorette Brouhaha

Week of July 12 through 18

My best friend is getting married in September. Naturally, I want to help make her wedding memories as special as she helped make mine. That means lots of crafting on my part, and lots of partying on hers. I think we effectively accomplished both goals at her bachelorette bash this weekend.

When Melissa got engaged in February, my first project was to outfit her in her very own "Mrs." hoodie. I debated for a long time about whether or not to include the words "soon-to-be" above the bride's new name. A debate I held out-loud, in my craft room, at nearly midnight, until such time that The Husband weighed in, effectively quieting my tirade. (Which I think may have been his goal all along, since he was trying to sleep, and probably didn't really care about the hoodie in question). Ultimately, it was decided that omitting that time-specific phrase made the hoodie more versatile. Of course, without the "soon-to-be", she might not wear it until she is actually married. But, she'll be married longer than she'll be engaged. But, this was an engagement present. The debate wages on.


I've delineated my obsession with these hoodies before. No further discussion is necessary. Unless you were going to say, "Oh MY GOSH, that hoodie is SO CUTE!" In which case - discuss away.

In related cuteness - I made a veil and sash for the bride-to-be to wear at her Bachelorette party/lingerie shower. The colors for the party were black, hot pink and lime green. I tried to use those colors without being too garish and decided that chartreuse is not an easy color to incorporate in a girly-girl veil. (Insert clever Kermit the Frog "it's not easy being green" pun here). My philosophy on life: Everything is better with sparkles. I used as many twinkling gems as I possibly could on Melissa's veil and sash. Any more bling and she would have resembled a character from the Twilight series. (I'm saddened that I just made that reference, but since I learned about vampire glitter by osmosis and not from actually reading the books, I forgive myself).


One of the other bridesmaids had the super-clever idea to give Melissa a cute pin for each new drink she got during her night of debauchery. I designed six mini-buttons to match the party invitations, and another mega-button to encourage fellow revelers to buy the bride some booze. The bride was thirsty, and the mega button did its job well. The mini-buttons didn't even get us through the first bar of the night.


I got a little carried away with the fun buttons, and also designed pins for each of the bridesmaids. The (married) girls balked at being branded for the night, claiming the button put a damper on their free-drink-flirting. I didn't hear any complaining from the single! set.


For party favors, I found a wedding-cake-shaped cookie cutter and frosting-texture set. I was determined to make fun cookies to package and take to starving-to-be-thin-for-the-wedding bridesmaids, but I ultimately ran out of time. My fabulous mother jumped in and spent her day off making monogrammed wedding cake cookies for the party so that my plan to fatten up the skinny girls wasn't foiled. She saved the day and contributed to the bridesmaid calorie count in one fell swoop. Us girls with hips hafta stick together. Plus, the cookies were darn cute!


Melissa's bachelorette party was also her lingerie shower, so in addition to all the fun pink and black bachelorette gear, I had a great opportunity to make some personalized gifts in her wedding colors (brown and aqua), too. I've been itching to try heat-set crystals for a while now, and I decided that panties were the perfect project. Diamonds are so bridal. I used white cotton/spandex boy shorts and a camisole to make a glam pantie set with Melissa's new "Mrs." name emblazoned across her heine. Sexy sparkly fun, but comfy too. Of course I bejeweled her full name, but you, internet, are not privy to that sensitive information. I'm already showing you her underwear, what more do you want?!


I also monogrammed a brown cotton/spandex set with her new initials in aqua. I added a tiny brown and aqua polka dot bow to up the girly quotient. Everyone knows that monogrammed panties prove that you're a classy lady.


My favorite project was making matching his and hers pajamas for the soon-to-be newlyweds. I left it to the other girls to fill Melissa's trousseau with lacy delicates. (And did they ever! Melissa was the recipient of a pair of crotchless granny panties! Hilarious and unnerving at the same time.) I made aqua seersucker striped pants with a mod print hem and a brown polka dot ruffle and drawstring. Then I embroidered "I ♥ Roy" in the bottom corner of a matching racer back tank. For the groom, I embroidered "I ♥ Melissa" at the hem of a pair of brown boxer shorts. The matching hearts were appliques of the same mod print as the hem of the pajama pants. No flannel button-up nightmares here, just kitchy-cute, comfy jammies. I love how they turned out.


I rolled up all of her gifts and tied them with ribbon scraps. Then I stuck everything in a little basket with a Philosophy Bridal Party set (bubbly, wedding cake and bridal bouquet scented bath gels) and a DVD compilation of all of the "FRIENDS" wedding episodes. Nothing helps me relax more than a bubble bath and a sitcom, and no one needs more help relaxing than a bride to be.


Melissa's party was uber-fun and I think she really enjoyed her last night out as a "single" girl. I posted a slideshow of some of the more tame pictures below. Photographs by me, decorations are not. Enjoy.

Around Our House Next Week: Birthday

Wedding Weekend

Week of July 5 through 11

Two of our dear friends, Amanda and Brandon, got married this weekend in Dallas. Their wedding was beautiful and their reception was a blast. We are so glad that we got to share in their special day. We couldn't be happier for them as they start their life together.

No, they didn't have the ceremony "Around Our House", but our preparations to attend their wedding did take place at our abode. After all, dear internet, you wouldn't expect me to attend a wedding without crafting of some kind taking place, now would you? I didn't think so.

I love the adorable hoodies that brides are wearing, proudly flaunting their soon-to-be new moniker on the back. I had one when I got married, and I still wear it. I hate to admit it, but the first place I saw this idea was on BritBrit after her doomed wedding to K-Fed. I don't know if that makes these hoodies hot, celebrity-endorsed fashion, or a staple for white-trash weddings. Haute or not, I loved my hoodie so much that I think it makes the perfect gift for any newly-engaged bride-to-be. And thus, I've started churning out personalized "Mrs." hoodies every time a guy pops the question. Back in February, I sent Amanda her own personalized hoodie, made in her wedding colors of black and white. Her hoodie does have her new last name on it, but this is the internet, so names have been edited to protect those who are innocent of posting on public blogs.


As a girl from the South, I can't get enough of monograms. Monograms make everything classy. If the thong hanging out of the back of your jeans is monogrammed, I assume you came from grace and good-breeding. The same goes for that monogrammed cigarette case you're using to hold your unfiltereds as you balance that baby in a diaper on your hip while buying pregnancy tests and a suitcase of Natty Light at 10 in the morning at the 7-11. Monogrammed undies means classy lady. No monogram means you're just another white trash chick who can't keep it in her pants. The thong, I mean

In all seriousness, monograms are classic and personal, which makes them perfect for weddings. And wedding gifts. Especially in the South where we are obsessed with living well and we crave a touch of nostalgia. My favorite gift to give the bride and groom is towels monogrammed with their initials. I monogrammed Amanda and Brandon's wine colored towels with copper thread to match the bath accessories they registered for.


I also made my dress for the wedding. No big surprise there, huh? It seems all I have written about in the last month has been sewing. Well let me stop you there because I've also written about rain. So there.

I started out making a purple-gray silk shantung sheath, then changed my mind half-way through and started on a simple shift dress made from a lengthened shirt pattern. Using the construction methods described in Simplicity pattern 2593, and adding a lining along the way, I made an off-white shift with a twisted neckline. Then, I cut abstract flowers and leaves from a hand-painted batik fabric and appliqued them to the skirt of the dress using a running stitch. I liked the raw edges of the cutouts and how they would fray and roll after each washing, so I opted against satin-stitching around the appliques. To add a little glam, I hand-stitched black sequins to the centers of the flowers. The result is a comfy dress that is dressy enough for a summer wedding but that I can also wear to work with a cardigan. The Husband did point out to me that I made a white dress for a wedding, something I didn't even think of until he said it. Major fashion faux pas. Now I'll have to show you my monogrammed panties to prove that I'm a classy broad.


Below is a slideshow of a few highlights from Amanda and Brandon's lovely wedding. Photos by me; gorgeous decor, unfortunately, not. Enjoy.

Around Our House Next Week: Bachelorette Brouhaha