Rain rain go away...

...papayadog wants to screen print today! So as I mentioned before, we're (which really means me) making the invitations ourselves. I've designed it already and got all the necessary supplies (paper, screen, ink) for a fun day of screen printing. I'm using the photo emulsion technique where I coat the screen with the emulsion, let it dry in a dark place, and then place my negative (the image on a transparency) on the dry screen and expose it to the sun. I've tried it twice and both times didn't go so well. The first time I put too much emulsion on an it didn't dry evenly. When I placed my image on the screen, part of it was still wet so the whole image didn't catch. I tried it again yesterday and I think a) I didn't put enough emulsion on and b) it was too cloudy to work. Unfortunately this being Seattle in the fall/winter, I probably won't see any good sunlight for a long time. I decided last night to invest in a 150 watt light bulb to "burn" the image onto the screen. I tried picking up a bulb last night at target but they only came in 3 packs. I only need 1. I'm hoping a trip to Home Depot or Lowe's will be more fruitful. If all else fails, I do have someone who will print our poster invitation (yes, 11x17 posters) for reasonably cheap. I really do want to do these myself though. I've always wanted to learn to screen print. Hopefully I'll have a more positive entry about screen printing in the next week. Etsy has a great DIY screen printing video for anyone interested.

Yum...lemongrass!!

I love Vietnamese Lemongrass chicken. I was on the West Elm website cruising around and the description of lemongrass accessories peaked my interest. Thank goodness it did! I found little bulb vases in a lemongrass color for $3.99 each. I bought 20 of them. Turns out shipping is free and there was no sales tax. Score!




I'm also trying to decide on the grey and clear/white vases to complete my look. So far, I think I like these from CB2.

These are going to go on top of the different fabric table runners. Since I'm doing all the flowers myself, I decided that instead of huge arrangements, I'm going to do the a vase with a single flower on top of the cool fabric. I'll still need about 75 stems, but that's easier to manage than hundreds. Also this way, I can mix and match different varieties of white and yellow flowers. My big problem will be the round tables. I didn't realize that I'd have to decorate 5 round tables. For me, they are harder to design because of all the space in the middle.

Buried in fabric!

So I found out a few days ago that I'm probably going to go a on a few work trips in the next few months which is always exciting. Unfortunately for me, when this happens, I don't really get more than 10 days notice before I go and I usually have plans already in place and have to cancel. With the wedding next year and several weddings we have to attend already scheduled, I know I need to get as much planning done now as I can. This week I've been obsessed with table setting/scapes.

I found some really cute yellowish bulb vases from West Elm on sale and a smoky cooler glass and fun flat stem vases from CB2. My idea is to do table runners with fun fabrics that have black, grey and yellow, and then put a few of the vases on top. I've had to add black to the color palette because it's impossible to avoid.

Looks at the fun fabrics I bought for table runners!

I also bought this but then realize it was to casual for the wedding. It's not a huge piece, so I'm going to keep it.

While I was at it, I got this one to put in M's mom's christmas stocking. She's always complaining about the lack of fun fabric in Myrtle Beach.

I need a few more fabric pieces since some of the ones I bought are fat quarters or about 1/2 yard. Those I can use on the round table and in the booths, but I need longer pieces for the 6 foot long tables. These are the ones I'm thinking about.

I know I'm going to get the geometric grey print since it's pretty cheap (I found it on Ebay) and has a lot of grey. I need some yellow prints. I wish I could find more fabric that just had the yellow and grey combination. I'd buy all these fabrics if the budget allowed for it. I can see how people have huge fabric collections. They have some great stuff out there.

Weekend fun

This weekend M and I completed the last steps in the Limoncello making process. A friend gave us 20lbs (no joke) of lemons over the summer and we needed to come up with a project that would use most of them. It was all a blur between the zesting and the zesting. I hope this turns out well. We want to make and bottle more (yikes) to give away as wedding favors. We also have limecello (with limes) that we made. We got pounds of those too.

Here's the recipe

Ingredients:

15 lemons, 2 bottles (750 ml) 100-proof vodka, 4 cups sugar 5 cups water

Prep:

Wash the lemons with a vegetable brush and hot water to remove any reside of pesticides or wax; pat the lemons dry. Carefully zest the lemons with a zester or vegetable peeler so there is no white pith on the peel. NOTE: Use only the outer part of the rind. The pith, the white part underneath the rind, is too bitter and would spoil your limoncello.

Step One: In a large glass jar (1-gallon jar), add one bottle of vodka; add the lemon zest as it is zested. Cover the jar and let sit at room temperature for at least (10) ten days and up to (40) days in a cool dark place. The longer it rests, the better the taste will be. No stirring!

Step Two: In a large saucepan, combine the sugar and water; cook until thickened, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Let the syrup cool before adding it to the Limoncello mixture. Add to the Limoncello mixture from Step One. Add the additional bottle of vodka. Allow to rest for another 10 to 40 days.

Step Three: After the rest period, strain and bottle: discarding the lemon zest. Keep in the freezer until ready to serve.

The other dress

We just got my sister's bridesmaid dress. We're trying to make things really simple and as handmade as possible. We found this dress on ebay after seeing it at Dillard's but we're going to accent it ourselves with a ribbon in place of the belt and maybe a brooch or flower to dress it up. The colors of the wedding are yellow, grey and cream/off-white.

Working girl

So on the side I make posters for M's band. I'm no artist or graphic designer but I have fun and they usually come out ok. We decided that I should be able to come up with a few ideas for wedding invitations, save the dates and such. I'm excited and nervous about it. I've been sharing my ideas with a few friends and one suggested that I post some of my drafts on Zazzle to sell. I thought it might be a good way to make some money for the wedding. I just set up a PapayaDog gallery of items. Here goes nothing...and everything!

The first poster I ever made for the boys