I have finally finished (see my New Year's Resolution) one of my Celebration Suitcase projects. It's a suitcase that holds decorations for a party - anytime, anywhere, for any reason. This one is themed "Old School" and I show 3 ways it can be set up. I've created an ebook that shows what's inside and how to use it. It's for sale for $3 here.  (I have to support my habit somehow.)

I also show some DIY info so you can see how I did it and then do your own. I was so excited with this idea of stage lights on the inside of the lid. Plug it in and they light up. (I have more creative ideas in the works too.)

My kids thought it was fun when we used it one night for Family Night. Love to celebrate!!!

How would you use the Celebration Suitcase?

The Boyfriend and my 29th anniversary was a month or so ago. This invitation from Mod Memento, was the inspiration for my gift to him. 

I decided to write our relationship in this storybook pattern. It's written third person and actually was quite easy to write. We have 29 years, with a lot of history, so it turned into 2 boards.  I loved doing it. Here is a copy of it.

I also wanted to try this transfer method so I put the two together. It was a lot of work and wouldn't suggest it for a first timer. But, I do love the result. And he did too. Here it is hung in our home.

 Here is a slide show with a few instructions. The play button is in the top left hand corner.

Parade Float conception and construction is not usually what people do in their spare time. Welcome to the unusual life. Here's a float our youth group did for the parade this summer. We had about a month to do it from start to finish. I think the longest part was trying to come up with something that 1) had a message, 2) that many people could be involved with and work on, and 3) that stay within a very small budget. It took us about 10 - 12 hours of group construction. And a few more from me. 

Our Construction Team did a great job! The young women are a natural at this sort of thing but the young men even got their creative sides to show up and did a lot of things they don't normally do. And everyone was laughing, smiling, and having fun with one another. Bonus!

I've kept my mad-float-building skills to myself and didn't volunteer for this project. Things just seem to find me. Like the float another group I was a part of did 12 years ago. It was a bit bigger with more people involved. But, I learned a lot constructing... guts for all the animals - saws, screw guns, wood, chicken wire, pulleys and paper mache on a LARGE scale. Also, there was animation - giraffe's swiveled, jaws opened up, and elephants sprayed water on the crowd. It was a great learning experience for me. Things tend to run in my family and here's my sister's float experience.

I noticed that a lot of sites that talk about DIY float building have never built a float. I hate that. Not because they haven't built one (they could have done a lot of good research talking to people who have made one) but because their info doesn't really answer the questions of people who are doing it themselves and usually aren't "creative". So, here are a 5 quick tips to things that usually come up in the beginning of any parade float madness. 

This helps immensely in decision making. If you know what you want to put across, that helps in the how to put it across. Having a theme will automatically make some decisions for you. 

DIY floats can be from a few hundred dollars (the Free to Believe float) to a couple of thousand dollars (the Ark and Sister's float). Knowing how much you can or can't spend helps you get creative with materials. 

Someone's got to be the bottom line. There has to be a coordinated effort for the group. When things do go according to plan, and that will happen, then someone has to be able to make a decision about what to do next. 

Even though this is a DIY project, it's still a good idea to teams doing specific tasks to spread the workload. Get a 1) Trailer Team, 2)  Creative Design, 3) Construction Team, and 4) Outreach Team. Because this isn't a project that comes along very often, involve as many people as possible.

It's hard when you haven't done something before and don't know how it's going to turn out or even if it's going to turn out, but try to remember to have fun along the way. By nature, parade floats are about fun and celebration. It should be that way through the whole process.

Here are a few links of DIY types. They don't really have a tons of info but it might get the ball rolling for you.

   • Here's a DIY for the "guts" (trailer construction) of a float
   • This link describes the standard materials (tends to be expensive) and lots of other parade float info.
   • Another true DIY parade float builder with tools they used

   • UPDATE 2/25/12 Another link with a few tips by Bethenny Watters, eHow Contributer 

 Add more links below from others. I've already been given the assignment for next year. 

Here's a celebration idea for a DIY wedding that we used. Actually, it would be fun at any number of occasions. It's a 6 foot chalkboard that we used at wedding #2 and repurposed for wedding #3. The Groom made a frame for it and we stood it on end at the entrance of the reception. I had one of the gals write on it "Jessie & Barry go together like...".  It went along with part of the reception theme of cookies and milk. We had the reception at a dairy farm that the bride worked at. 

Guests were able to write their combinations. Some of them were - bread & butter, salt & pepper, cowboy boots & mud, cornbread & chicken, mac & cheese, bacon & eggs, batman & robin, chicken & dumplings, hats & boots. 

I am CELEBRATING! The three DIY weddings are over! I'm thrilled for the marriages of my kids, but glad I'm at this end of the work. Here are the 3 DIY Wedding dresses. Luckily, I didn't have to sew all three. I sewed 2, which wasn't so bad, except, they were customized patterns, and you know, for the timing of 2 months to do both. Thank goodness they were simple. (Well, that was after I vetoed trying to make a Vera Wang number for wedding #2.) 

Here's wedding #3 dress and couple. 

Here's wedding #2 dress and couple. My two girls look different and have totally different styles.

Here's wedding #1 dress (compliments of her Grandmother) and couple. That's my son, so pleased.

When we decided on the birdhouse theme for this DIY wedding I did an image search of birdhouses. I didn't know there were so many different styles and that the really nice ones were so dang expensive. And I rarely find exactly what I am looking for anyway. So, plan B, we build them ourselves. I call this one the Birdhouse Triptych. Dictionary.com defines a triptych as "a set of three panels or compartments side by side, bearing pictures, carvings, or the like". I consider these birdhouses, "the like". Usually, paintings are done this way, like this one but this time, I just applied it to wood. 

I measured, drew, and cut some out. But admittedly, the Boyfriend is bigger, stronger and faster (and better looking) than I am. Everything takes me three times longer. So, he did most of the assembly. 

We make a very good team. Except when we don't. Luckily, this wasn't one of those times.

Hope you feel inspired for your next celebration.

This is one of the things I miss most about our house in Utah - the Zephirine Drouhin roses. There were several arches full of roses that smelled delicious. I loved going out and seeing those beauties and smelling that fragrance. It was so delightful. We've lived here for 3 1/2 years and I have planted zero roses. And after reading this post I know why it makes me sad every season when I realize that I haven't gotten around to doing it.

You can see why I miss it. Well, the Boyfriend came through for me on Mother's day (with the help of the Lawyer.) He's out of the country but he had her get me my first Missouri roses. She got Don Juan's in his honor. I am a little giddy over it. I can hardly wait until they are as big as the roses we left. The boys doing the dirty work. 

Happy Mother's Day to me. And I hope your's was as well.

I mentioned earlier about the 35 nieces and nephews that the Groom had. Just his family. Kids and weddings aren't always a great mix but I feel it's important for them to be part of it and have their own memories. I thought up doing a chalkboard kid table. 

Really I wanted to do it twice as long as what is shown but we ran our of board and didn't get to the store to pick some up. It's masonite, cut to size, and painted with chalkboard paint. I didn't round the corners because we are making a frame for it and using it for the next wedding. The small scale folding chairs I picked up at the local antiques store and they were already that color. 

It was a hit and served its purpose! It kept so many kids occupied and out of cakes. It's a definite do again thing. Here are some photos. 

Since we have one more wedding, do you have any good ideas to occupy the children?

More DIY from the wedding. And there's still more things I am going to share, but I am working on the next daughter's wedding. Number 3 for us in 1 1/2 months. You'd have thought with the "inshanity" I inflict on my family that I would have planned this. But, I did not. Love took over our home and did not consult with me.

This is the Wedding Throne. The couple didn't want to do a reception line, which was fine with me, I was in one 4 days before for our son and his new bride. But, I digress. Back to this daughter's wedding. Having no line, I thought they needed some kind of 'gathering spot' for well wishers, so I came up with the idea of a loveseat throne. And her style was ShabbyChic.

I had in mind what I wanted and found the perfect doors. Love them! You can't really tell from the photo but the two rectangle openings are glass. The Boyfriend was game to try and rip the door down the middle to give me the two pieces so the arched door could be the centerpiece. I don't doubt often about projects, but I wondered about the wisdom of this one, that door was rickety. He didn't even hesitate. He doesn't know I almost stopped him.

We took a third door, with the most perfect weathering, and made that into the seat and arms. Sometimes, when you have a creative project in your mind you're not quite sure how it's going to turn out. I think it turned out amazing, I was so pleased. After it was done I didn't want to give it to them. But, it's in their new home.

My sisters' Creative Mommas website has a few more photos if you're interested.