The Dripping Hourglass

I sipped my morning coffee while looking up at the only remaining party decoration, a woodland themed wreath, which hangs above my table. I’m reminded that my grand scheme of distraction has come to an end. The party is over, the dust has settled, and now I’m left with the sting of reality…Ron is deploying.

My breaths are becoming heavier and short as the days and hours slip by. I haven’t broken down or released the waterworks, I’m just numb. I’ve played this game, danced the dance, and I’m wise enough to know what’s around the corner. It can’t be stopped, it can’t be slowed down, and there’s no going back.

It’s like being on steel tracks when the train is moving at full speed. Frozen. Or in the middle of a tidal wave and not being able to paddle out. Helpless. Or being trapped in a shark’s tank, feeling vulnerable.

But when push comes to shove, I’m going to let that train hit me, and allow that wave to carry me under, because when I stand up on the other side, I will begin to feel again, the numbness will subside, and I can begin to rebuild and reshape my household until my better half returns.

The buildup is always the hardest –emotionally building up for him to leave, mentally building up for his return. Minutes cruelly stretch into hours, and hours linger into weeks. It’s a mental game of tug-a-war; I want time to freeze and capture the quickly moving moments, but yet I want the deployment clock to start ticking and the hourglass to flip over so we can begin the 6+ month countdown and anticipate his homecoming.

As military wives of deployed loved ones, we’ve been put into an unimaginable situation. A situation where the only guideline to follow is to carry on. A situation where it hurts so much that we have to force ourselves out of bed. A situation that brings equal parts of pain and pride.

Pride is stronger than pain, and good trumps evil. That in itself is worth carrying on and standing tall, standing proud.

We mustn’t fall.


"love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1Corinthians13:7

Much Love,
 Em

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf's party and photoshoot (otherwise known at THE BIG DAY)

I’ve been going non-stop for days, possibly weeks. Cutting, hot gluing, hanging and tying; making sure all is in place and the mood is just right. I have not one, but two special little lives to celebrate, so I wanted to make sure each babe felt equally important on their big day. We opted for a combined theme of “The Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.”
 
I wanted to mainly capture the woodlands in which the story took place, so we displayed an ample amount of wood slices, wildlife, and moss --appropriate for any Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf.

It was epic –celebrating two beautiful birthdays for two beautiful babies, at the same time. A wonderful day that was surrounded by all things good, filled with all things meaningful. Friends and family gathered from as far as Hawaii and as near as across the street to help bring in Krysta and William’s big day. There were laughs and smiling faces and loving moments that I will forever cherish. Because after all,  it’s not the planning, the setting up, or the anticipation of the big day, but rather the memory-making and the gathering of friends that I love so much about life events such as these. It’s living and soaking up the little moments that I strive to capture.

To see party décor’ and photos, click here.


And you know I couldn’t do a themed party without doing a themed photoshoot! Here is a photo overload of my Little Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf…

Be still my heart.

I can't imagine my life being and living any other way than to be surrounded by my babies. It's soul-satisfying to witness them take in all the wonder and excitement and beauty of the world, and in turn, for the world around them to ever-so-carefully sculpt their little personalities in big ways.

Happy Living,

Em

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf {Project Pretty}

Welcome to another edition of "Project Pretty."

We previously celebrated Krysta and William’s birthday with a “Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf” theme. I loved how all of the decorations transformed our ordinary home into a cozy woodland --perfect for all of our Reds’ and Wolves. While I’m anxious to tell you about our big day, I thought I’d share the break down on how I created various elements of the themed décor.

For Red Riding Hood photos, click here

Here is the overview of the dining area.

I filled this area with moss, wildlife, colorful ribbon, and lots of wood slices.

tablecloth: 4 yards of natural burlap, tied with twine --no sewing needed
terrarium: filled 1/4 with various moss, displayed with woodland creatures
toadstools + blue birds: sculpted from polymer clay. bake at 325ish for around 10-20 minutes.
table wreath: all supplies from Hobby Lobby (tutorial below)
evergreen trees: Hobby Lobby Christmas clearance
table centerpiece: all from Lowes --Dusty Miller planted in tiny clay pots. given to each kid
cupcake + cake display: supplies from Hobby Lobby (tutorial below)
bunting banner: Sweet Pea Fabrics on Etsy (tutorial below) 
mason jars: chocolate cookie mix in a jar. fabric here, recipe here. given to each family. 

 Krysta's Cake

regular vanilla cake mix. I added fresh strawberries to each layer.
cream cheese frosting recipe, here. 


for embellishments, I used a floral bird and butterflies from Hobby Lobby. I added red gingham ribbon at the base of the two layers. cake is displayed on a wood slice.

 

William's Cake

regular chocolate cake mix. I added 3/4 of chocolate chips and one box of chocolate pudding.
cream cheese frosting recipe, here.


for embellishments, I used food coloring to coconut for "grass" and added a blue and white polkadot ribbon at the base. I then added moss balls and a wooden squirrel figurine from Hobby Lobby, all placed on a wood slice.




{Tutorials}

 cupcake stand

use one large wood slice and two smaller slices.
three dowel robs, cut in half to use as your dividers. attach with WOOD GLUE.
with hot glue, place moss around the robs.
for embellishments, you can add butterflies, birds, bees, etc

Bunting Banner

base--

cut fabric into triangles
hot glue yard or ribbon to the FRONT


letters--


with felt, cut out your letters (I printed my letters from my computer to use as a pattern)
thread string around the edges of each letter
hot glue the letter onto each triangle (this will prevent string fly-aways from the back)

 wreath centerpiece

start with an extra large grapevine wreath form, hot glue Spanish moss randomly around the wreath and add berries or flowers.
attach various patterned and colored ribbon to the backside of the wreath.

OPTIONAL: add birds and small decorative items (very lightweight) to hang from the ribbon to add interest.

Front Door Wreath

I love the idea of a themed wreath to greet you at the front door. It helps set the mood of the event.

medium sized grapevine wreath. hot glue reindeer moss partially around the wreath.
add miniature bunting banner made from ribbon and attached with fishing line.
I added a Red Riding Hood (McDonald toy bought from Amazon for $1.50) and a wolf figurine. 


That just about wraps up the how-to's from our Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf birthday party. Come back next week for another "Project Pretty."

Happy Crafting,

Emmie