My youngest sisters oldest daughter is getting married. This is my sisters first wedding and she is extremely excited but is doing EVERYTHING herself. I continue to ask her what I can do to help and she has allowed me to donated lots of things but hasn't been sure what I could help with. The other day, I talked her into bringing over stuff for the invitations so we could help.
She had already scored, cut and embossed the main parts of the "holders" as well as chalking the edges. The mother of the groom happens to live three houses away from me. She had the stamped circles and cut the circles and cut some of the blue surrounding circles. She also cut the brown paper (looks like a paper bag) for the "wrap" on the "Wrap" and my sister had cut the white yarn fiber that wraps around it twice along with lots of strips of lace that go over the brown paper but under the fiber.
Princess five helped cut more of the lace and the mother of the groom spent the night gluing the stamped cream letter circle onto the blue decorative punched circle. While my sister and I bent the scoring and glued the back onto the "Holder" and then glued the brown paper wrap on the holder.
Then my brother-in-law and nephew came over and punched more stamped letters circles and more of the blue decorative circles. My sister and I worked until 2 a.m. and the grooms mom finally finished gluing the circles at 1 a.m. while my brother-in-law took the other kids home about midnight.
So, at two we had finished our gluing the brown paper over and I went to bed.
Today, I started about 2 p.m. and worked until 1 a.m. with about an hour combined for eating and drink breaks. In those ten hours, I glued ribbon, fibers and the lettered circles on 200 of the 600 "holders" which will slide over the actual picture and invitation.
I can't begin to calculate the hours that will go into the invitations. Thirty hours just to glue the ribbon on the holders alone.
Mind you, it is her big day and I love her and what mother wouldn't do that for their child as my sister has spent countless hours already on the bouquet, and cutting,chalking and scoring the invitations. She has also laid 5,000 square feet of sod, landscaped the back and front yard, painted the back garage, collected old doors and windows and now, she is working on the food, decorations and they are still going to sand and stain the deck which is actually three levels of deck which are about the size of their upstairs.
I am worried about her with everything she has going on so by doing these invitation I can help her some I am grateful for it but I am praying that with all the glue, lace, and card stock, that they will fit in the mail and they won't have to pay extra postage.
It is cute and I know my niece will be happy with them. I am just a bit tired and my eyes are hurting. I probably shouldn't have done 11 straight hours but the wedding is a month from today and they need to get them out and today was my sister's 20th anniversary so I was hoping I could get them finished for her today. However, I am sure I will be able to get them done by this weekend so perhaps she can work on something else on her list.
We used "Liquid glass" by "close to my heart" on the card stock and had to hold it for about 30 second to get it to hold and even then we put books on them to make it hold until we decided to put the brown paper wrap over it. We tried the "Zip Dry" (which smells like rubber cement) on them but it wet the brown paper and showed through. I didn't like the smell or how it held so that was out.
Princess five was gluing on lace and fibers and tried the "Zip Dry" and the "Liquid Glass" but neither was holding well so I went and got this scrapbook glue my sister-in-law gave me which is similar to glue stick glue but in a tub and a bit wetter. It worked wonderfully. We thought about hot glue but were worried that it would make them too thick to mail.
In the picture to the right, I put a piece of paper in the "holder" so you could see how the invitation and picture will go inside it.
The embossed paper was actually someone's mis-printed wedding invitation they donated to her. She took them in and had them cut to the size she wanted and then ran it through her embosser and scored the top and bottom so she could fold it to make the holder The backs were also the wedding invitations so she didn't have to pay for any of the cream card stock used to make them. That was a great blessing for her.
She and I had ribbons to wrap around them already and she had the fiber already as well as the paper for the stamped background. Other than time and postage, the only other cost will be for printing.
So, when gluing lace, ribbon, fibers or even card stock, I suggest "Yes" glue. I hadn't used it before but it is acid free and great for scrapbooking. I wouldn't use the "Zip Dry" just for the smell but I did like the liquid glass. It has a tiny tip you can use a pin to seal. It delivers a fine bead line of glue. It is like watered down carpenters glue. I think that is what it is actually .
Anyway, that is my assessment of the glues. Hope it is helpful to someone.
I shared that Princess Two was in the choir. Because she was in the choir, she received a free ticket for herself to the show. Because she spent one whole Saturday at a recording studio, she was able to get a second ticket. They did a background trac for this singer so that on the actual day, it was recorded.
One of the other singers that volunteered to sing on the recording didn't need her tickets as she had already purchased tickets for her family so she gave Princess Two her two extra tickets giving Princess three tickets to share. Usually, I purchase tickets before then but there were still some available the week before and some for sale online so I waited hoping someone would get tickets as we weren't sure Princess Two would get extras.
When she got the tickets, we asked Princess one if she wanted to attend but she had already made plans so that gave us an extra ticket. I was worried that the free tickets would be obstructed view so I also put it out on facebook to see if anyone had extra tickets for sale or to give away.
One of my older brothers called me on the fourth in the morning saying they had two tickets they would sell cheaply. He said I could have them for $20 each as he and his son were going to stay at the hotel with the baby.
I told him I would take his tickets as I thought they would be better for me to get pictures than the free tickets as in years past, my sister was in the choir and her husband was on the last row in the stadium with her free ticket right up on the side where it was hard to see the stage.
With the knowledge I had two better seats, I called my sister asking if any of her kids would want to drive the distance to see some big name stars for free. She said she thought her daughter would be afraid of the traffic and distance but thought that my cousin who was living with her at the time may take them.
She called my cousin and she said my other aunt (not her mother) had two extra tickets for $28 each. She was taking one and thought perhaps my sister may like the other. That would give them four tickets for near free and my cousin could go with them.
I called my sister and told her to get online and offer people $20 each for their tickets as they may not get anything and see if she could also get tickets so her entire family could go.
She didn't have time but decided that she and her husband would just drive down, the kids could go in and they would try to find some tickets to buy outside the stadium or just watch from outside.
I told her where to park as Princess Two's new place is within a block of the stadium and they put out chairs to save spots. They came down, walked over to the stadium, and someone asked if they needed tickets and gave them to them for $10 each. My sister gave me $20 for my tickets as we gave her the three for free and so we got her family and my family in to the show for $10 a ticket. The concerts were amazing and I can add some new big names to my concert list. See here for that post.
I found a bunch of coins, mostly pennies, all day that day and some that night. I knew Heavenly Father was telling me that it would all be ok with the seats and tickets and getting pictures of the girls. We were at Princess two's house in the middle of the day to save parking spots and I worried about eating as she didn't have much that way yet. If we left, we worried someone may take the spot and we would end up walking long distances. Just about then, her landlords knocked on the door and invited us to their family bar-b-cue in the back yard. They live in the basement apartment and everyone was coming over to watch the fireworks and listen to the concert and watch the big screens from the stadium as they can see them from their back yard.
I laughed and my girls thought I was so funny as I shared how Heavenly Father even took care of our dinner that day. It was Heavenly food. Fresh berry salads, yummy seasoned hamburgers grilled, about five other salads and fresh brownies for desert. We ate, changed and walked the block to the stadium so I could take pictures of the girls before it started.
My sister arrived, parked, and walked down the block to the stadium and after the show, we all visited and walked to the house and enjoyed sitting on the grass watching the neighbors do their fireworks while we waited for the traffic to clear. He provided entertainment even then for us. My sister provided snacks and cold waters for us as we watched and waited and the girls reviewed the video and the dances on the cameras as well.
Another quick blessing was that when I was walking around the stadium after the girls finished dancing and it was dark, I ran hoping to get to my seat and video Princess 2 singing with the choir and as back up singer. I only go half way and was facing the stage when they came out so I rushed in the portal and just then,
Princess Two was on the big screen and I could actually see her. In the daytime photo I posted, you can see her face is obstructed from where I was sitting but from that portal across from the stage, I could see her well and with her on the big screen, I could see her really well.
It wasn't until I got to my seat on the bleacher section squished with my brothers family that I noticed I wouldn't have gotten very good pictures so it was a blessing that I went to get my seat when I did so that I could be in that portal just at the right time to get Princess on the stage and get some good photos of her and get the one on the big screen. Oh, and I included a picture of the conductor standing on a ladder in the audience holding a glow stick so the choir members could see him directing. I thought that was so funny.
As you can see by all the posts, "Blessings Abound When God is Around."
I can't fit everything that was so amazing about the tickets on this post so I will focus on the blessing of the seat and will show you some wonderful pictures. Tomorrow, I will show Princess 2 in the choir and tell you many of the blessings of the day.
We used some tickets to get it which weren't the tickets where we were going to sit but we just needed to get in so we could get pictures of the girls as the dancers perform first while there is still light.
I walked in and stood in the lowest bowl section and no one asked for a ticket or anything. I stood there and took the shots of the girls coming into the stadium.
Funnier story, is that Princess three happened to show up after taking pictures of Princess 2 behind the stage for the choir just as Princess's four and five were walking past to go into the stadium so she took pictures. It was on the exact opposite side of the stadium so for her to be there just then was a blessing.
The girls lined up to dance. You have to know that I had been praying for days that no matter where the girls danced, I would be able to have a seat right on the sidelines where I could take pictures even if my tickets were no where near where they danced.
With that prayer in my heart, I moved over to the other side of that lower section so I could be right where the girls were dancing. It was about 15 seats from where I was standing when they came into the stadium.
There were several seats right in front of where the girls were dancing on the second row. I sat there expecting someone to come and kick me out at any minute. The stadium was packed to the top. There were no other seats anywhere that I could see open. If you look at the picture to the right, you can see a woman in red on the front row talking to the man to her right. You can see the blue empty seats right behind them.
I sat there for the entire show until it got dark and no one ever showed up to take the seats. I got pictures anywhere from 10 feet to fifty feet away of the girls their entire dances.
They kept looking over at me because they could hear me calling them to look. That is how close I was in the packed and loud stadium. After the girls finished dancing, I went to the seats we actually had and took a picture of the other side of the stadium where I was sitting and then a close up of the three seats on the second row which remained empty for the entire show, concerts and fireworks.
To find the three seats on the large stadium picture, look to the sound tower with the speaker on it on the right side of the photo at the bottom, go to the right (just to the right), the seats are in that first section on the far right in the picture, second row on the far left of that first section lowest on the right.
The firework picture about four picture up shows where my seat was in relation to the stage and how I wouldn't have been able to see my girls at all from those seats as they would have been BEHIND the battle ship I'll describe in a minute. God loves me to allow me to be close enough to see them and take the pictures that the girls love to see later.
NO ONE can tell me that my Heavenly Father didn't make those seats available to me so that I could be there for my girls to see me and and dance for me! There were no other empty seats anywhere that I could see the entire night and they just happened to be right where both of my girls were dancing on the exact side and rows!
It was a reminder, once again, just how much He love me and my girls. He is constantly blessing me in so many ways.
Wait until tomorrow when I tell you about the ticket blessings etc. He not only loves me, but He loves my family.... We are so blessed. The ticket is defiantly going on my gratitude frame!
The girls did a slinky dance with the metal ducting and it was the hit of the show. At the end, they got stopped over and over with people asking them where to get the ducting or "What is it that you used to do the slinky dance? "
Each year they come up with something new. This year, it was the Slinky's and a battle ship. They had three turrets made and they actually fired smoke. They had tiers for the girls to dance on and as you can see in the picture, the girls were in the shape of a battle ship. It was amazing as usual.
My girls are just to the left of the turrets and faced the side I ended up sitting on. If I was on the other side, in our ticketed seats, I wouldn't have seen them at all.
My girls dance team was invited this year to dance in the largest fireworks display in America. In the past, their dance group has danced there and other years, they haven't. Last year they didn't dance. I don't mind if they don't dance usually as it costs us lots in travel, food, tickets etc.
With two on the dance team, it can get expensive for hotels, travel, food, costumes and fees for them to dance. However, with it being Princess Five's first year on dance team, I figured she should enjoy the experience.
Years ago when Princess Two danced at the festival, dancers parent's were given prior opportunity to purchase tickets. Over the past few years, that option has gone and they also don't tell us where our kids will be dancing on the field. There are obviously four directions they can face while dancing and if I am on one side of the stadium, they could be on the far side at the other corner from where our tickets are purchased. That has happened in the past.
If you look at the posts about this from a few years ago, you will see that I was blessed to be able to find tickets and then get close enough to the girls to get some great photos of them during the dances.
Here is a link to two years ago and here is a link to three years ago.
A few years ago, my sister was in the choir that sings for the fireworks and back up sing for some of the performers. Somehow, she forwarded an email about it to the family when they were asking for singers this year.
Princess Two got the email and talked her girlfriend in to going to try out. They had to be there for several practices on a week night and several hours on Saturdays for a few weeks prior to the event.
Princess Two got into the choir and drove to the practices and stayed with friends so she could be in the choir.
She also volunteered to sing all day one Saturday at a recording studio for the composer so that they would have a sound track for one of the main singers who would be preforming.
All three of the girls enjoyed performing and I was glad they are using their talents. Next week, I will share the blessings of how we got in and our seat blessings. It is such a gratitude moment and I am still thanking God for all his help with it.
One of her favorite activities was decorating sneakers. She has done this before and I'll share those with you. 
She arrived home and got the laces and started putting them in and then decided that she wanted to put them in a cute pattern so she started with one pattern that her friend has used in the past on her sneakers but quickly realized that her new shoes only had four openings for laces and the other sneaker had five so they didn't look quite the same. 
She then got online to a "shoe lacing" website and looked at several that she wanted to try and set out lacing her shoe over and over. She would move around and change positions and show me the finished results on the laces. 
In the end, I laughed as I went down and pulled out all the decorative shoe laces that I had and she ended up using a completely different shoe lace on those shoes as the florescent one's were long and she didn't want to cut them shorter as she wanted to use them in another pair of shoes. 
