Wedding Box for Helen

This is the photo Helen texted me last month:

"How do I paint it now... Tips pls," she said.

"OK. I'm coming over," I said.
Helen wanted to make a nice box to collect cards and gifts in for her upcoming wedding.

We bought some extra supplies.

Once I got back from London, I spent a night putting it together.

I lined the inside of the box with fancy glittery paper from The Paper Source.

It matched the color palette of Helen's wedding.

I get nervous at the thought of working with brides.

I understand planning a wedding is stressful.

So it was nice when Helen gave me her trust and let me simply work.

CONGRATS HELEN & ARNOLD!

 (Photographed by Albert Cheung Photography)

Postcard from London

I met some new friends while in London.

Of course, since I'm on vacation, I ate ice cream every day.

I decided to bring tea time back to America.

What is clotted cream? And why does it taste so damn good?

 I tried on the Queen's jewels!

Also became a Street Fighter.

England is known for excellent literature:

Pride & Prejudice.

Romeo & Juliet.

Melvin (the unlucky monkey) & Bertie (the rude pig).

It's also known for royal corgis.

Picked up some Paddington swag.

And some London souvenirs.

Also picked up some English tea for the co-workers.

I had lots of fun in London!

Hope to visit again some day soon.

Lemon Ice Cream

It's hot.

So I made lemon ice cream!

Oh yeah! 

Recipe via The View from the Great Island.

Harry Potter Ring Bearer Book for Helen

 Helen had requested a special gift from me for her bridal shower gift.

She needed a ring bearer pillow. In lieu of a pillow, I put together a

ring bearer book instead since she is a language arts teacher.

"What's Helen's favorite book?" I asked her fiance.

I expected something along the lines of "Pride and Prejudice" or "Wuthering Heights". 

"Helen really likes the Harry Potter series," he answered.

Dammit.

"Okay, which book?" I asked, not that it would make a difference.

"Her favorite is the first one," he said.

Michael's had storage boxes in the shapes of books on sale.

I resized, printed and laminated the cover onto the box. Then made

a satin pillow for the ring inside to rest upon.

Out of all the things I made for Helen's wedding, this was the clearly the crowd favorite. 

 (Photographed by Albert Cheung Photography)

(Photographed by Albert Cheung Photography)

bird haus

I noticed birds scoping out the ledge of my window at work. Guess they were looking for some prime real estate to build a home. Thought I'd help them out by making them a house worthy of Robin Leach.

I'm told the size of the hole would determine what kind of bird would make a nest in it. I hope the opening isn't too small. Housing market is tough nowadays...