Wedding Drama: Uninvited guests

Yesterday, I had my first uninvited guest RSVP to the wedding.

I am still not sure how I feel about this, for a multitude of reasons, but here are the most useful:

a) the uninvited plus one is for one of Brandon's guests, who has been asked to be an usher.
b) This particular gentleman has been known to get beyond intoxicated at weddings, and make himself a nuisance to the other guests
c) perhaps if I let him bring an uninvited date, he will only bother her, and leave my other guests alone?
d) because we have asked him to be an usher, I actually have to invite this nameless chick to the rehearsal dinner as well?!?  This rehearsal dinner which already has almost 60 guests, to which I may not be able to invite my friends who are coming from England just so this guy has someone to share his hotel room?
e) I REALLY resent that this guy doesn't understand how wedding invitations work.  There is a reason all this formal stuff exists about wedding invitations, and it is so that everyone understands exactly what is going on. If her name isn't on the envelope, she is not invited.  Period.

So what do I do now?  I could tell myself that we have room, that it isn't a big deal - but really, it is becoming a big deal for me.  We got the RSVP last night, and it has been festering in my mind, distracting me from a Dance with Dragons (which halfway through is exactly as awesome as I'd hoped,) and I feel like I am not coming to a resolution on my own.

Please help.

DIY: Upholstered Headboard

Here is Part 1 of my Fourth of July weekend extravaganza DIY!

Behold:  Upholstered Headboard, with nail-head trim!

It will look more impressive when it is attached to a bed, and I will do this post again properly then, but I just got really excited and wanted to post it for you.

This is a project I did with/for my sister, to adorn the master bedroom of her new house in Cleveland.  we decided on a silver grey dupioni silk, which we ordered from the excellent company JBR Silks, with a knit fabric backing.  This silk was beautiful, and absolutely perfect for upholstery.

First we cut the plywood to shape (** NOTE: DO NOT USE THE SHAPE I PICKED UNLESS YOU WANT TO SEW A CUSTOM COVER FOR THE HEADBOARD.**)  Then, we wrapped the plywood in batting, and muslin, and stapled the muslin down to the plywood.  We used a staple gun powered by a compressor, which we are lucky enough to have access to because my father is a fiend for tools.  Even though he hates the compressor intensely.  But I digress.

please note:  I look really gross because the air conditioning was broken in my parents house, and I had been working for almost 2 days straight at this point, on project number 2 to be disclosed later.)

Then we covered the muslin with silk.  I have no photos of this process, because frankly I was terrified the whole time.  The fabric was not outrageously expensive, and we had loads extra, but I certainly didn't want to waste my sister's money, and basically began to panic when it became obvious the shape I had chosen was destined for failure.  But I am a stubborn little bastard and I made it work; ie, I sent Lisa away and I muscled the fabric into (relative) submission.  So you'll just have to believe me:  it was tricky, and if I had picked a shape that did not come to a hard inside corner, it would have been a cakewalk.

When I was finished with the silk, the headboard looked like this:

Then on to the fun part, the nail-head trim.  Or I thought it would be fun, until it cut my fingers to ribbons.  I don't have photos of that either, you'll just have to trust me. (What is it about the internets, that without photos it didn't happen?  I tried for photos of my hand covered in bandaids, but unfortunately my left hand cannot, on its own, operate a camera.)  Nail-head trim is SHARP.  Exercise extreme caution.  DO NOT run your hands along the edges of the trim.  DO NOT press your fingers down along the edge of the trim.  DO NOT come in contact with the edges of the trim for any reason, if you can avoid it.

Once I figured out how to touch it without bleeding all over the silk, laying it out became a fairly easy process.  Just trim to length, and nail it in with the handy tacks provided, in every 4th nail.  I had to do some splicing of irregularly spaced pieces in the middle, but it worked out pretty well.

So there you have it.  4-ish hours, ~ $125 and a completed headboard.  When we move Lisa into her house, I'll give you an update!

It is so difficult to design things for yourself

Because the possibilities are endless.

But I wanted to share with you a little motif I designed yesterday, that I am really happy with:

 

Please ignore the slightly garish colour choice, as I coloured it for you guys in a hurry.  I designed this little logo to go onto the anniversary box my dad is making for us (so it didn't need colour at the time) but I like it enough that I think I will be using it in other elements of the wedding too.

Yay for checking things off the list!  Its slowly, but surely, arriving.

Kickboxing a la Rachel

So yesterday we started our kickboxing lessons with Rachel.  Which you could argue were made simultaneously more successful (my point of view) and less successful (Rachel's point of view) by the presence of Brady :)

The whole time we were working out, I kept thinking, "I am such a wimp, but this is hard."  And today, my back and quads are nice and sore, as per usual.  So I know its good for me!  But I think she's going to have to get a lot meaner before I am going to do a real ab workout on her watch - if voluntarily worked for me, I wouldn't need fitness classes to get in shape, would I?

God I hate exercising (this is no fault of Rachel's.  If its a game, super, but if its just working out for the sake of it, blech.).  I really dislike being in the presence of Brandon as a sweaty sprinkler too, but it must be borne, apparently.  BUT this will keep me in the weight zone I am currently in, in time for the wedding and honeymoon.

le sigh.  But at least punching things is fun!

So I thought I was a fan of thrifty finds before...

So Brandon and I had a very busy holiday weekend.  So busy that I didn't have time to download photos, and you will have to wait for the post to see everything in its full glory.  Everything being a kitchen renovation and a silk upholstered headboard with nailhead trim! But all in good time.

What I can tell you about are some bizarrely successful adventures in dumpster diving.

On Friday, (Happy belated Canada Day!) Brandon took out our trash before coming downstairs to meet me, to go out for dinner with the fam for Lisa's birthday.  Only he was late because when he got to the trash room, he found... a PS3.  Granted, I am sure its broken.  But if he can't fix it, it was worth a shot, right?  Who just throws away a PS3?

On Saturday, another long day of home renovation for me, I again pull into our building to pick him up, and I drive up next to the dumpsters to wait for him to come out.  And sitting there, waiting for me, is this beauty:

Double-sided kitchen island with two drawers (not pictured) that pull out halfway on each side.

Granted, the bottom shelf needs cleaning and shoring up with extra feet (or replacing.) But if I ever throw away a gorgeous kitchen island (double sided at that!) it will be because it is in shattered pieces.

I mean, I don't need a kitchen island right now.  In fact, as you can see from these photos, I don't even have room for the one I just acquired.  But how could I just leave it there?? The answer: I obviously could not.  And if my dad doesn't sell it on craigslist first  (because where else am I going to store it, obviously?), one day this puppy will have place of pride in my kitchen. 

One question remains.  Do we really live in such a nice building that people just throw stuff like this out, and not try selling it on Craigslist first?  Maybe I should take the trash out more often...