:: the blogging mama ::

2012-12-09T14:41:00.002-08:00

Lately.........

2012-09-24T13:49:00.001-07:00

We did - and still do!!!

2012-08-13T14:29:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it's been almost two months since we said our I do's! It's still so fresh in my memory and I find myself flipping through photos often. The video of our vows never fails to bring tears to my eyes. We were surrounded by so many loved ones. Truly an amazing day!

We recently received the professional photos taken by Summer Brander. They are simply beautiful! I told her ahead of time, I didn't want the traditional poses: that everything needed to be candid. She did exactly what we asked. These are among my favorites:

kissy-kissy

My Anders and Maddie at our family dance

Warehouse Wedding

I made the backrop! So proud of it!

Cakes courtesy of Black Kat Cupcakes

Beautiful flowers by Blush Floral Boutique

To see all our photos, visit our wedsite: Jenny and Brett's Wedsite

Split Rail Wines - Rethink your ideas of Idaho wine

2012-07-12T10:36:00.004-07:00

I am so proud of my sister and her husband. They turned their dream of a winery into reality after years of hard work. Split Rail Winery is Idaho's latest greatest winery and can be found in select stores and restaurants throughout Idaho.

"Split Rail wines were borne from the minds of a new generation of winemakers and drinkers. We are the stampede for local agriculture, the epitome of pleasure, and the raw splintered eggshells of evolution. We strive to cultivate a vibrant wine culture in Idaho. Our goal is to keep Idaho’s lips red and our hair and minds in temporary disarray. "

Our wine in our words:

Our wines, much like a split rail fence, have structure and circumference, stand on their own, and encourage an unobstructed panorama. So, barricade the bovine, corral the clodhoppers, and detain the doggies. Let a fence be your stockade, but let the rails that confine you be transparent. Drink Split Rail Wines!

Jed and Laura with little Boone

Barrel tasting

Split Rail Wines

Current varietals offered: Mourvede, Cabernet, Syrah and Rose.

BHLDN earring inspiration

2012-07-02T12:45:00.003-07:00

It is often said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I couldn't agree more. The inspiration for these earrings I made came from my favorite bridal website BHLDN. It's straight-up porn for brides-to-be. I spent hours drooling over it's dresses, accessories, and decorations prior to my wedding. And the frugal bride I was, knew that anything I saw, I could probably recreate.

I didn't get these earrings finished prior to my own wedding, however I foresee myself making dozens of them for weddings of friends and family in the future.

www.bhldn.com

My creations are slightly different. I didn't use swarovski crystal, but the resulting creation is quite beautiful. And I can recreate for your special event at $25.00 per pair. Message me at shopjennywrendesigns@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/shopjennywrendesigns

Handmade wedding

2012-05-16T11:59:00.002-07:00

I'm getting married in 30 days. There are certain things both Brett and I want in terms of food, music, location, photo ops, etc. Apart from that, he's given me the go-ahead on all the decorations, colors, etc. I'm having so much fun and am so glad I'm an avid Pinner. I sincerely don't know how I'd organize myself without my Wedding Board. Much of it is merely inspiration for other projects. I'll flip through the images often and see the evolution of the designs I've chosen.

We're so fortunate to have such an amazing venue. Tribes Interiors is a high-end furniture store that is gorgeous on it's own. With a few personal touches, it's going to be magical! And the photo-ops! Just think how great everyone looks with a photo taken in front of this door:

Front door to Tribes Interiors

My main DIY project is this beautiful flower garland that I am making as a backdrop. We'll say our vows in front of it and it will photograph beautifully. It's a combination of two backdrops I have pinned.

The first one I found is this one:

I started making crepe paper petals by the dozen. Then I found this gorgeous backdrop on Anthropologie's wedding website. I fell in love immediately, however the price tag made it way out of my range. I came across a blog called www.elinee.com. In this blog were instructions for making your own out of paper. So I decided to take on the task and make my own using both the crepe paper petals and the templates I found on her website.

This is her finished project:

http://www.ellinee.com/blog/paper-flower-backdrop-garland/

So I've got all my flowers cut out and I'm going to enlist a group of friends to help me string them. Stay tuned for pictures of how it turns out!

Instagram!!

2012-05-06T16:02:00.001-07:00

cool photo op

We're getting married behind this door!

Loving Instagram! If you don't have it and your phone supports it, I can't recommend enough! A few of my favorite Instagram shots......

newest rosettes

jenny wren designs

Hell's Canyon Rafting trip

Wedding invitations

2012-04-26T10:20:00.002-07:00

Wedding invites are a wedding detail that comes with a number of decisions. I wanted ours to set the tone of the celebration so from the start our friends and family expected good times. I explored a number of options, mostly online and quickly saw the expense adding up. My favorite websites were Tiny Prints and Minted . Both had so many options, we could add photos and customize the colors. These were among my favorites:

www.tinyprints.com

www.tinyprints. com

www.minted.com

I went so far as to type in our names and wedding info on both websites. For the number we needed (around 125) it was going to be well over 250 dollars with either company and any style. I was just about to send in the credit card info when I decided to check with my local copy store. They'd done business cards and flyers for me in the past.

Cathy and Janice at Copy It were so fun to work with . I showed them pictures of things I liked and they came up with a custom design that is absolutely perfect. And even better: I got 125 printed invites, including the twenty dollar set up fee for a mere $75! I am so impressed and love the fact that I was able to shop local.

Here is our finished product:

jennyandbrett.wedsite.com

Flowers in our hair

2012-04-24T10:51:00.003-07:00

I've made a good friend through my jewelry biz who makes these adorable rosettes and barrettes for the hair. Her blog is equally adorable. Charm and Bloom blogspot is the name of it. She's designing a feathered hair piece to wear on my wedding day. She does amazing work! This is a friend of hers wearing one of the her custom creations.

Charm and Bloom by Nicole Wells

I've been looking at these tutorials on Pinterest to make my own for my little girl I found a great tutorial from Little Birdie Secrets and my first attempts were pretty successful. I bought fat quarters from the Craft Warehouse in pretty colors and corresponding patterns.

You can use fabric glue or hot glue

I quickly got a hang of the twisting and gluing pretty quickly and you see the rosette taking shape almost immediately.

The finished products will range in size depending on the amount of fabric you use and how thick the strip is. I used about a one inch strip and 20 inches of fabric. I then glued them to a bobby pin I purchased at Hobby Lobby and glued a decorative button in the middle of the rosette.

my rosettes using tutorial from littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com

I know my little Maddie will definitely wear them, and I'll continue to make more.

Double Naan

2012-04-23T10:14:00.001-07:00

Our family is crazy about Indian food. Idaho has great Mexican food. We've even found Thai and Sushi that we enjoy. Indian is not available unless we go to Boise. Sooooo, when the craving for Paneer and Tikki Masala struck, I decided to give it a shot. Afterall: you can find pretty much anything on Pinterest. And fortunately, I did.

The idea of making my own naan seemed especially intimidating. I found a recipe on a great blog titled Budget Bytes. It was very straightforward with great pictures and I liked the fact that it called for Greek Yogurt. The blog boasts the recipe can be created for $1.27. Impressive indeed.

Mix yeast, sugar, water and add yogurt, egg and oil - EASY, PEASY!

Flour and salt added to wet ingredients an set aside to rise

A few seconds on a skillet on each side and viola!

Butter Chicken from Tasty Kitchen Blog was my next recipe. Butter chicken is also called Chicken Makhani. Anything that has butter in the name has got to be good in my opinion. And this has quite a bit!

Shopping for spices was relatively easy. I was a little surprised my local Winco had them all.

The chicken should marinate in the spices overnight, however I've made this dish several hours before serving and the marinating isn't vital. In fact, it just keeps the cayenne from getting too spicy.

The petite diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and heavy whipping cream add the perfect combination to the spices and create this buttery, creamy chicken dish which can be served over Basmati or other white rice.

My finished product. Naan and Butter Chicken. Garnished with fresh cilantro.

And getting into the spirit of the evening, Bailey and I donned our authentic Bindis. The meal was a hit and has become a favorite of our family.

Bailey and I showing off our bindis.

Mother's Day - Sunday, May 13th

2012-04-22T12:20:00.001-07:00

I learned a long time ago, the handmade gift is the one that means the most. When I first started jenny wren designs, my mother, sister, and friends were some of my first customers. Flattering, but also made me worry, that perhaps these would be my ONLY customers and they were purchasing out of kindness more than truly liking my designs. Brett played a huge role in pushing me along my way to approaching retail stores and craft market vendors with my jewelry. To my surprise they liked my work! And were willing to sell on my behalf!

That first sale was an INCREDIBLE feeling! A stranger - someone who wasn't related to me in any way - liked what I had made and was willing to pay real money for it! Every sale since feels that way! If you've ever experienced, you certainly understand what I'm talking about.

So as Mother's Day approaches, my mom, sister, and friends will certainly receive handmade earrings or necklaces: but this holiday, I'll understand that their flattering words are truly genuine and that all those years, they've meant it too.

Hammered copper

Blue Quartz

Citrine drops

Hammered silver

Your mom would surely enjoy any one of these custom pieces as well! Special orders always welcome.

jenny wren designs

2012-04-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

Unsolicited compliments have to be one of the greatest feelings ever. Today a woman stopped by to see me at my "real" job to mention she found a necklace I made at MaRozie Clothing Boutique. She said she was so happy to find it and absolutely loved it and would be seeking my jewelry out in the future. Awesome feeling. I wish I'd saved a photo of the particular piece she bought. It was similar to this :

Silver and multi-colored quartz

The jewelry business is especially good these days. We're in seven retail locations and that, combined with our special orders, keeps me very busy. It's fun busy though!

The seven stores I'm currently featured in are so great to work with. Stop by and see them if you're out and about. And tell them jenny wren designs sent you! Chelsea and Jules own ::Bricolage:: where their motto is high brow craft, low brow art. It's a fantastic store in downtown Boise. We're also displayed in Piece Unique and Shoez as well as their sister store Unique Pieces across the stress. Mother and daughter Natalie and Alex run these two fashionable spots and we feel so fortunate to have our jewelry among the eclectic clothing and accessories.

Blush Floral Boutique has been one of our most successful spots. Chandra works wonders with gorgeous flowers she grows on her own or orders in. She has amazing taste and the boutique is a wonderful environment of amazing smells and pretty things to look at.

From Seed to Store - Natural Market and Bakery is our newest retail spot. The owners are such great people and really love what they do. We've sold a few pieces and we're excited to see what jenny wren designs lends to their business.

Wedding Planning

2012-04-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

My future sister in law and future mother in law

We're getting married in 57 days! Still so much to do! It's been a whirlwind since the engagement and we quickly decided we wanted to get married sooner rather than later. Being this a second marriage for both of us, we want to get it right. I have a lot of things in mind for what I want and most of them require some DIY-ing. Lucky for me I'm an avid Pinterest follower and have a fiance that is willing to let me pretty much take over in the planning department. I'm quite proud of myself! Here is a link to my Tying the Knot Pinterest board. I find myself reviewing the images on a daily basis and picturing perfectly how our event will unfold.

pretty dessert table

our mantra

pretty color scheme

petal backdrop

I am so thrilled with the way things are turning out and the good fortune we've had pinching pennies on some of the more expensive things. Our good friends are letting us use their warehouse space as the venue. Tribes Interiors is this amazing furniture store set in an enormous warehouse in the industrial part of our town. We've attended parties there before and the atmosphere just lends itself to feeling good.

My wonderful friend Chandra just opened an amazing floral store called Blush Floral Boutique . This girl can work wonders with flowers. Check out some of her designs:

for the gents

a cool spin on American Gothic

lovely

Bailey's Birthday

2012-04-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

My soon-to-be BONUS daughter Bailey turned 15 yesterday. She is probably the most gorgeous 15 year old you'll ever meet - truly beautiful inside and out!

Fifteen year olds can be tricky. And girls, trickier yet! I wanted her celebration to be special, but not too little girl-ish. She's kind of in between. She still likes the cute stuff, but desires some sophistication as well. I am especially proud of my cake. It's a recipe I borrowed from my favorite baking friend. Basically a giant chocolate chip cookie. It turned out fabulous with the homemade birthday banner.

Bonus Family! :: We're Getting Married! ::

2012-03-20T14:42:00.003-07:00

Life is a funny thing ..... one day you're cruising along thinking things are one way and then BLAMMO! Major detour! That's how our engagement came about.

Brett and I have been together for 3+ years and pretty settled in the idea that co-habitation was bliss. Both married and divorced, neither of us are religious and saw marriage as somewhat outdated. Dating made you work harder for the relationship I often said. Whenever someone asked us when we were getting married, my standard sarcastic answer was, "when we're tired of being happy." Sometimes Brett and I would talk about it, but always ended up at the conclusion that it wasn't for us.

The fork in the road .....

Brett went to the doctor February 20, 2012 with a nagging cough that antibiotics couldn't touch. After a couple of sleepless nights, I pleaded with him to go. I'll never, ever forget hearing the word for the first time from the doctor's mouth : CANCER!

Brett's only 35! Freaking CANCER?! Seriously?! One abnormal chest x-ray leads to this diagnosis?! My heart stopped. Without a moment of hesitation, I looked at Brett and said/asked, "Let's get married." All the reasons not to were no longer compelling. I couldn't LIVE without this man. Brett is my partner above all things. The thought of being without him was too chilling to even let my mind wander there.........

In that tiny room we decided two things: 1) We were going to fight this, WHATEVER it was, together; and 2) We were getting married!!!!

This is Brett. The love of my life. I am so excited to Mrs. Wilcox

Over the next weeks Brett visited several doctors, had tests run, blood drawn, was poked and prodded. We were told to hope for Hodgkin's Lymphoma, as it had the greatest cure rate. A surgical biopsy was scheduled in early March. The surgeon was successful in removing several samples of lymph node. Biopsy results took several days. Weeks of worrying and what ifs led us to this point: the Pulminologist called Brett and told him it wasn't Lymphoma after all; it was Sarcoid Disease. We'd researched Sarcoidosis after hearing the surgeon mention it. No cancer! No chemo! I tried to feel happy about this, but couldn't some how. It didn't change the fact that he was ill. This wasn't the healthy, invigorated, lively man I was used to living with. We learned quickly that Sarcoid was something Brett would struggle with his whole life. It was unknown as to what caused it. Some websites told us it was auto-immune. I urged Brett to start a blog of his own and he did:

http://livingwithsarcoiddisease.blogspot.com/

How I came to be Chicken Mama

2012-02-09T14:29:00.000-08:00

chicken
This is a picture of a chicken. It's the cutest one I could find in Google images. I'm using it only as a visual, as the creature has very little to do with me or this blog.

Chicken Mama is a nickname my boyfriend Brett gave me a while back. He has a million of them for me ... but this is my favorite. My Chicken Mama persona embraces everything I am and ever hope to be: matriarch, iconoclast, and virtuoso. In my mind's eye I see this very confident, colorful character with killer style and and amazing shoes. Beside me is my brilliant, confident, amazing partner and true love - Brett.

This is Brett. My partner in crime.

Together we have four children: Porter, Bailey, Anders and Maddie.

Porter (17), Bailey (14), Maddie (8), Anders (11)

This blog is going to be similar to others you've read mostly because I will brag about my children and swoon over my boyfriend often. However, my purpose in blogging comes from its subtitle: Celebrating Life's Imperfections. I envision this blog as catharsis for the good, bad, ugly, and indifferent. My strong desire to share, laugh, and poke fun at myself could no longer be contained by my serial Facebook rants. Even if no one ever reads a word of what I write - I need this venue to purge that which clogs the creative arteries. I hope you read, relate, and respond..................