Virtues.....

Caring

Love

Joyfulness

Humor

Grace

Persistence

Prudence

Restraint

Silence

Tact ..... and last but not least .....

Wisdom

These are just a few of the many virtues that I have been experiencing practicing the last few months. Virtues that I thought I knew and understood, but obviously I was wrong! Each and every one of these virtues have been put to the test recently....seriously! Who on earth would think that wedding shoe shopping would be soooooo hard. Maybe it was because we are under the gun....had to find shoes in a few weeks so that the dress could actually be put into production...with the "hem to measure"! Oh I'm sorry you're not familiar with that term are you? Well, that means as the gown is made, it is hemmed to your exact measurements....which includes your shoe's heel height..... so what if you don't have your shoes picked out yet..... get them quick!

So over the past 3-4 weeks we have been looking and nothing and I truly do mean nothing has been perfect! We have scoped out designers that I have never even heard of....we have shopped every department store, boutique and on-line shop there is. To no avail.....until yesterday! Once again our tried and true dependable (and I should add .... LOVE.... ) Nordstroms came through. Maybe we were just looking for the style and color a little to early in the season, maybe we were looking right past it, who knows..... but regardless mission accomplished, shoes purchased and another "to do" checked off the list. Really I would love to know how many of you really do recognize some of the designer names we were looking at ..... and I do love shoes as much as the next woman.....but really now.....$1600 for a pair of shoes (yes, there were some we picked up and put right back down with that type of price tag!) FOB would have had a coronary ....

Nothing short of Amazing.....

Ok, I am totally amazed by this recent discovery! I wish I could remember what Blog I found this on so that I could give credit where credit is due, but for the life of me I cannot find it again. So upfront to all of you, I am not taking credit for this timesaving tip, but I am passing it along to all of you so that you too can be amazed!!!! As you are aware I have been collecting silver trays, candlesticks, silverware etc... for the wedding and I have spent several hours polishing said silver, not to mention the $$ spent on silver polish. So when I found this little time saving tip I thought to myself this is toooooooo good to be true! So I tried it..... please take note of the condition of the small silver tray (shown at right) before this process... note the tarnish (which by the way has just collected since the Holidays!).

The Blog instructed you to wrap the silver piece in aluminum foil and place the wrapped piece in boiling water for a few minutes. If the piece is larger (like a tray or candelabra) wrap the piece, place in a sink or large basin and slowly pour the boiling water over the piece and allow to sit in the hot water for several minutes. What happens next is nothing short of a miracle!!! The foil attracts the tarnish (yep, your reading that right) and removes it from the silver piece! IT WORKED LIKE A FRICKIN' CHAMP!!! Now being the impatient person that I am, I didn't leave the piece in the boiling water for very long say 2-3 minutes but the next photo will prove to you that this process works..... please see photo #2

Can you believe this??? After countless hours of polishing .... a piece of foil and boiling water does the trick beautifully!!!

I certainly hope that this "Delightful Dash of Information from Diane" saves you time and not to mention manicures... it has for me!

It's a great day, great day!!!

All things Vintage.....

All of us have things in our lives that intrigue us .... things that make you happy .... stuff that excites something inside you ..... I have found through the wedding planning process that one of those "things" for me happens to be fabrics and lace. I have always had a passion for beautiful fabrics and continue to do so in my line of work, but in all the preparations for the upcoming nuptials, I have become obsessed with vintage things......beautiful wedding baskets, brooches, buttons, hankies and lace just to name a few. So as I mentioned in a previous blog, I have spent a lot of time scouring the Dallas area Estate Sale scene looking for many of these items. I will say that for the most part, I have been extremely successful, and more importantly I am recognized by my Estate Sale friends when I arrive. Most of them know exactly what I am looking for and point me in the direction I need to go while others just nod and say Hi! It really is just astounding the treasures that are out there every weekend!!! I guess I got this bug from my dad and Uncle John, who also enjoyed this type of "treasure hunt" almost every weekend. I can remember as a young child being totally amazed at the "treasures" they would bring home every weekend from the Pittsburgh area estate sales.....it was then and there that this obsession was born.

However, lately it has been collecting treasures for the wedding. I have been searching for sterling silver candelabras (needed for centerpieces), tall glass cylinders (needed for candles in the aisle), and lace.....oh how I love the lace..... this being collected for a variety of reasons, but, mostly because I want everything to be perfect.....right down to the Ring Bearer Pillow!!! So I have made a few, because nothing out there seemed to be just right.....they all looked the same and I wanted it to be "different" so I started creating..... and since Kadie has NO idea what colors she wants to use yet, I just started to play! I found a vintage dress from Harvey Berin designed by Karen Stark, that dated back to the 40's, the lace was gorgeous with handmade silk rosettes hand sewn all over. The dress itself was missing the top but someone painstakingly removed the top and made the bottom of the dress into a skirt....I in turn, made it into a pillow with lace dripping from each corner and an overlay on the top of the pillow... it turned out beautiful. I searched for vintage buttons, earrings and brooches not only for the bouquet but for the pillows and used a vintage Nieman Marcus clip earring in the center of one pillow (btw..these earrings were still on the original NM card with a price tag of $199 and I snagged those puppies for a whopping $6!!) and rhinestone buttons from a 60's Lester Melnick dress in the center of another. I taught myself how to make silk rosettes and made a cluster for on the top of the silk ruched pillow. Each has such character and one just as beautiful as the other. However, I think my absolute favorite has to be the one made with the lace that was made by the woman mentioned in a previous blog that I found at an Estate Sale in Preston Hollow. After I brought all the lace home I hand washed it, hung it to dry and pressed it with care and hand gathered it around the dupioni silk pillow......just b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l!!! I could run my fingers over this lace over and over again. It amazes me how women make lace.... its such a tedious process and sadly I see so many of these wonderful pieces thrown in bags or boxes .....stained beyond repair at estate sales and this makes me sad! Things we so take for granted in this age of machine made products.....

Oh well, I have no idea what pillow Kadie will choose, or if she even likes any of these well enough, but I have had fun designing and sewing and what she doesn't want will go onto my Etsy shop for sale.....who knows between now and the wedding there may be 5 more to choose from. Next blog I'll share with you the unbelievable vintage hankies that I found too! Let me know what one is your personal favorite....