Desperately Seeking Gina

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Crafty Confessional Vol. 1


Confession #1: I’ve never really understood how to make yarn pom poms.  I even bought these little plastic circle gadgets on two different occasions and yet, I still didn’t get it-despite the fact that the gadgets came with instructions. And, pictures.  Whatevs.  I plead that I’ve been too busy to figure it out.  Thanks, Pinterest.  I get it now.

Confession #2:  I like watching bad tv while crafting.  Really, really bad tv, like, Tori & Dean bad.  I’m currently watching Tori & Dean Inn Love via Netflix.  It’s a guilty pleasure I’ve never really voiced until now.  Please don’t hate me.

I think I’ve embarrassed myself enough for this round.  So, tell me.  Do you have any crafty confessions?

Made to Marry Contest

I rope Thom into a lot.  Crafts.  Check.  Does ’em happily.  Painting, cutting, gluing?  Yep.  Does those, too.

This latest shenanigan is a doozy.  I submitted a photo and a snippet of our engagement story to a contest.  The top three vote-getters will be in a  Nearly Newlywed game at a bridal show in Little Rock later this month.

Vote for us?  The widget on the right sidebar will take you to our entry.  You must register to vote but it’s quick and painless.  You can vote once daily.  Thanks!

Friday Five: My Favorite Pinners

Hey, friends! Happy Friday! It’s a working weekend for me-again-and will probably be a chaotic one at that but I’m poppin’ in real quick to share five of my favorite Pinterest pinners. I follow an eclectic group of women pinners and I love seeing what they’ve been eying-they all have great taste!

Clicking on a pic will take you to the pinner’s Pinterest page!

And, do tell-who are your favorite pinners?  I’d love to follow.

Thrifting finds

On to August.  Can you believe it’s here?  I’ve not been doing much wedding planning lately-other than looking at a couple of venues while I was home.  Unfortunately, both seem to have fallen through and I’m pretty much at square one.

I hadn’t been doing much thrifting or flea-ing.  My craft room is piled with finds that I’ve collected and am considering using for reception decor.  It’s so easy to go overboard on spending when I’m finding “such good deals.” I look at the piles and think-how can I tie all this together?  Also, how do I avoid making this shin-dig seem cheap instead of vintage-y and intimate?

Right from the start of this flea-ing adventure, I’ve always thought I’d have much better luck in Michigan where deals are concerned.  Prices are much cheaper there than they are here in Arkansas. The same type of plates that I find here for $2 or $3 dollars-I found for fifty cents.  Some, even a quarter!

These goodies are now residing in a corner of my mom’s craft room closet- all finds from Muskegon.  If I’d have picked these up here-I’d have paid between $25 and $30.  Seriously.  In Muskegon-I paid $6.

My drive to work everyday takes me past plenty of flea markets and antique shops.  So many, in fact, that I haven’t actually been in them all.  I have my favorites though and have been stopping and perusing but not buying.  Until I found these.  They’re vintage-y looking new frames.  They’re cream colored with gold accents and I thought they’d make cute name tags for the dessert buffet.

I’ve had my eye on this dude for a couple of months. I’m not sure why he spoke to me. But, he did and so he came home with me. I think he reminds me of the chess game in the second Harry Potter movie? Who knows? He’s keeping my HP books company now.

Maybe someday I’ll have a booth of my own at a flea market or antique mall and I can shop to my heart’s content! For now, I’ll stick with thrifting here and there and only picking things that speak to me.

On failure: Just get over it.

So it’s been a couple of weeks since my trip home to {Michigan}. I’ve recounted and relived the amazingly fantastic parts of the trip: the Muskegon Bucket List; Ice cream dates with my nephew; beach day with cousins.

What has taken me a while to process is the not-so-great part of the trip and the reason I was home in the first place-my brother’s wedding.  Or, more specifically, my part in my brother’s wedding.

I was asked to make the cake. Originally, it was to be a non-fancy single tier with a cascading tier of cupcakes-totally within my realm of ability and experience.  A million years ago I played with cake decorating.  Eventually I realized it really wasn’t a great creative outlet for me and I gave it up.  I still dabble now and then but certainly nothing fancy. But, cupcakes?  I could do that.

When it was first mentioned that something else was desired-a three tiered fancier cake- I hesitated.  My initial gut reaction was that I couldn’t do it. Not wanting to hurt my brother’s feelings and add to his already strapped wallet I soldiered on and committed. 

It was the absolutely most wrong thing to do.  I see that now.  I wish I’d just had the guts to tell the bride it was more than I could handle.  This story does not have a happy ending, you see.  I messed it up.  And, when I say messed I mean it with a capital F.  It was so bad I couldn’t even face my brother. 

I spent an hour of the reception hiding in the kitchen.  The small two-tiered ruffled cake I managed to salvage was on the cake table flanked by two plain white sheet cakes from the local wholesale food club store.  The bride was heard saying not-so-nice things about it. 

That disaster along with other family drama drove me to uncontrollable tears and I left the reception alone. Devastated.  Embarrassed beyond belief.  {I eventually returned a few hours later after I’d calmed down}

I’ve felt the need lately to just get it out there:  I’m not good at some things.  Sometimes I fail. Sometimes I fail fantastically. What has taken me a while to realize is that I just have to move on and get over it.  I must learn from it.  I know what my limitations are.  I must be brave and voice them. I must look failure in the face and acknowledge it’s presence in my life and then-let. it. go.

Lest I leave you picturing me miserable, puffy eyed, and snot-filled-here are different, better images to leave you with.  More sweet moments from my trip home: