THE HULA HOOPING BRIDE

2012-10-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello!!
I cannot believe how long it has been since my last post...sigh!

Things have been quite busy here outside of HHB. I am half way through my class and so far I have a solid A. I plan on applying for the GRE next week and sending out applications shortly. Big life decisions are finally coming together. I also have been working on getting more experience in pediatrics which is so draining.

The Body Butter had to go on a slight hold since my seasonal allergies completely destroyed any sense of smell I had from August to October. The good news is that my smell is back and the body butter is made!!

I hope to have a photo shoot next weekend for the Body Butter. And I am so excited about this shoot! Why? Because my loving husband surprised me with a camera stand!!! I have a little trouble taking photos because I shake a little....and most of the photos come out a bit blurry. But I think the stand will make them more professional!!

Also this past Saturday we were at the Chatty Crafty Fall Street Fair. So many amazing artists from Nashville to Atalanta came. I shared a booth with the amazing watercolor artist byKsenia. Hands down it was the COLDEST festival I have ever done!

Here are some photos of our booth!

Busy Bee Monday August 13th, 2012

2012-08-12T22:31:00.002-07:00

Hello!
What have I been up to on this Busy Bee Monday? TONS!!! Besides my finals and the start of another semester gearing up, I have been so busy with things here in my HHB studio. (I made an A incase you were wondering)

Somethings are not ready to be shown...just yet. (got to keep you on your toes) But if you have been ready my Facebook, you know that I have been playing with different natural lotion formulas.

BODY BUTTER!!!!

So far the reactions are pretty specatular ranging from:

I will buy this now!
O-M-G! I am in LOVE with this!!!
and my favorite...
This smells so good; I want to just eat it.

It is made with all natural (no synthetic made made crazy stuff) so you technically can eat it. Which I DID!! It is totally not worth the calories, so just stick to rubbing it on your skin.

With the body butter being so successful in its creation...I am science-ing around with scented candles...again!

The first shipment to the Carnton Plantation, was delivered! I am excited to see how it goes.

I updated some things at my Etsy store. You can might notice the following changes:

* Directly purchase with any major credit card
* Request custom orders
* More organized layout to the store
* More cohesive write-ups.

I am also testing out an ad I am running through Etsy at the moment. So addicted to checking out how many people are viewing my store based on the ad.

OH!!! And I signed up for a craft fair in September. It is a fundraiser for Making Strides against Breast Cancer. There is a team of 30 ladies who will be walking in the Nashville Walk on Oct 20th. This is a way for them to raise money to donate to Breast Cancer research/funding. Besides having booths, there will also be a chili supper, bake sale, and auction. Of course if you cannot make it, and want to donate some money you can do so HERE. Just use the name Allison Peach, the festival coordinator.

When: September 15th
Where: Creekmont Baptist Church
Address: 5867 Washington Blvd Murphreesboro TN 37128
Save the date!

Here is a cute photo of Annie barking at a honey bee trying to get inside. I was test burning some new beeswax candles and it must have wanted to check them out.

Busy Bee Monday July 23, 2012

2012-07-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hello again!!

I have been gone for a bit (about 2 months to be exact). Where have I been? What have I been up to?

Time for my favorite update....Good News/Bad news time....

THE BAD NEWS!!!

I wish I could say I was vacationing in a far exotic location while finalizing our global take over plan. Sadly, no. Instead I was recovering from a severe concussion. LONG story short, I fell and hit my head pretty hard. Shockingly hard! Knocked the lights off for a few extended minutes which is surprisingly beautiful. I never understood what a concussion was, but now after first hand experience...I hope to never experience it again. But even with me feeling not myself, all orders were completed without any delay since I am super paranoid about my inventories getting low. And...I am rested and ready to get back to my passion of THE HULA HOOPING BRIDE!!! ::confetti::

Well, that is the bad news.

THE GOOD NEWS!!! (my favorite part)

I was very fortunate last week to have an appointment with the Carnton Plantation here in Franklin Tennessee. It is an amazing antebellum plantation house that was transformed into a field hospital during the Civil War for the wounded at the Battle of Franklin. The Battle of Franklin, was one of the bloodiest battles fought with over 9,500 men dying, wounded, captured, or missing within the five hour span of fighting. I was treated to a personal tour of the property, and was left with chills thinking of the history that occurred. You really HAVE TO go and visit.

Photo taken from Wikipedia

Besides having tours, the Carnton Plantation is also renown for the many weddings that take place. The Knot even voted the Carnton Plantation, The Knot Best of Weddings 2012. And after visiting, it is not hard to imagine saying your vows under the Witness Tree or on the giant porch.

Given the history and their love of preservation, and I very happy to announce that you can now purchase HULA HOOPING BRIDE candles in their gift shop! The first shipment should arrive in a few days.

Green Thursday - Pallet Fail

2012-05-03T09:33:00.002-07:00

I generally try to keep my business and blog full of happy thoughts, wonderful adventures, and good times. However, today is not going to be one of those days. Turn away now...this is your warning!

Ok, clearly the imp or perversion is grabbing your attention and you are shockingly still here. Maybe you need a little darkness in your life today? They say it makes the happier moments even sweeter....I have mixed feelings about that.

I would like to say that the journey I am about to take you on started with purely good intentions. They just happen to have been a little misguided and informed. Yup. Misguided.

It all started with a trip through the internets and all its splendor...mainly Pinterest, however, I am not blaming Pinterest. In fact...I am not really BLAMING anyone really. And I saw so very many DIY Pallet Furniture, Coffee Table, Raised Bed, Potting Bench, clearly just fill in the blank. All the DIY Pallet __________ came with a ton of gorgeous photos, step by step instructions, so much optimism, and I was so VERY excited to jump head first into one of these glorious projects.

Pallets are mostly free. You see them by the dumpsters. You see them on the side of the road. They are a staple of our modern society. (ok, that last one sounds a bit dramatic) But how awesome is it that people are taking them and turning them into useful pieces of decor and furniture! This is pretty much the ultimate form of recycling...in my opinion.

So after much discussion and convincing, I was able to get my wondrous husband to assist me in my pursuit of the cheapest raised bed in history. (can you feel me trying to make a humorous slant to the upcoming disaster?) He ~~works~~ worked in a warehouse type of job where pallets are found for free at their dumpster on a regular schedule. In my mind we would start with a raised bed, move on to a potting bench, and the sky was the limit at that point. Early in the morning he and I loaded up our SUV with around 10 of these beauties. Headed to Home Depot to buy some nails...yeah total cost at that point was going to be about $10 for all the nails and some gas.

At this point our early spring day was quickly heating up to be a scorching high 80's day with no breeze to cool. Unloading the pallets we got to work. I had no less than 3 DIY step by step instructions at the ready guiding us to ~~our~~ my goal. (I am not posting any of the instructions posted, or any photos of someone's success stories. I will let you seek those out on your own.) We began by hammering breaking down the wood from pallet form to single planks. This is where little flags began to be raised. We tried several methods of separating out the wood without exploding the desired plank. We tried to prevent them from splitting. We tried to prevent them from being torn to bits, splinters, and broken dreams. We failed. We went from having 10 pallets to three piles.

Pile #1 This pile consisted of shards of broken wood. Pretty much it was a garbage pile where any unusable piece could die to be tossed out. This was clearly the larger pile of the three.

Pile #2 This is the optimistic pile of wood. Sure the wood was a little less than what it was moments before, but who let a few splits or breaks ruin a piece of wood? This was the medium pile but definitely held its own with Pile #1.

Pile #3 This pile was very small and consisted of about a dozen planks of wood with less than noticeable blemishes. This was the pile I referred to momentarily as....Hey it worked!

This is when the heat, the forming failure, and frustration kinda kicked into overdrive. But I stayed strong, modified my plans from a large bed to a much smaller one. And we then went to hammering the pieces together.

I should not have been surprised when the nails were hard to actually go into the treated wood. I should not have been as surprised when the wood proceeded to split and explode into pieces....again. I was... After investing around a good 6+ hours working on the project, I can say with confidence we were left with broken dreams and a pile of useless wood.

Um...some of you might be thinking...maybe your skills don't lie in hammering things together. Maybe you don't know the first thing about nailing two things together. That is a very valid and legitimate thought. However, I counter argue that I not only was a member of my college Habitat for Humanity, but I also both started the chapter and lead it till my graduation as president. Fact. I have started with a blank foundation, built walls, and left with a standing structure....I have skills.

Here are some photos of ~~my broken dreams~~ the broken planks of wood.

Clearly...people are successful at building things out of pallets. Otherwise there would not be so very many DIY ideas or inspirational photos out there. Have you built anything out of a pallet? Did you have success with your pallet furniture? Have you ever done a DIY that went terribly wrong? Let me know so I don't feel so alone.

Monday Update!

2012-05-01T10:21:00.001-07:00

I honestly do not know where to start!

This past week was so very busy! Late nights working on candles. Waiting for exciting packages to arrive in the mail. Double checking my to-do-list.

Why were we so busy? Because we did the Franklin Main Street Festival!!! I was so excited, nervous, and trying to make sure every last detail was perfect we (yeah, I ~~made~~ forced Joe to stay up and help) only got about 2 hours sleep before the show.

We were able to do a faux set up on Friday and weed out different things to use from Angie's barn. This helped out so much as we were not having to scramble with a bunch of pieces we were not going to use, and it saved on valuable trunk space.

We did one setup on Saturday and then a different setup on Sunday. It was kinda fascinating to see how people interacted with the two different layouts. Joe was assigned layout one and I did layout two based on what I thought might work better. Clearly with our powers combined layout two was more successful as Joe gave me a jumping off point.

Layout One

Setup Two

My most memorable moment from the event was when a young girl visited with her dad...and her butterfly friend. The butterfly sat on her thumb the entire time as she walked around; it only left briefly to fly around my candles and return to her thumb without coaxing from the girl.

Green Thursday - Seehafer's Farm Part 1

2012-04-26T09:10:00.001-07:00

Seehafer's Farm Part 1

It is Thursday, and I am SSSSOOOOO excited to share this outing I had last week!!!

I mentioned in my Monday Update! that I visited the Seehafer Farm to borrow some amazing pieces for table-scaping at the Franklin Main Street Festival (that I have been talking about for like the last month or two).

We started the tour with their chickens. They just got some baby chicks in earlier this spring and now they have grown so big! They are just hanging out in the "maternity" ward till they are big enough to play with their older siblings in the yard.

They built this super adorable chicken coop to keep all their chickens safe at night. During they day they run around the yard having fun and eating up bugs. There is a ton of care needed to make sure your chickens are healthy and happy. Honestly, I always thought that owning chickens would be smelly or messy...and I was completely wrong. We have lived near some large scale chicken farms...and I have been trapped a few times behind a chicken truck so I felt pretty strongly about what smells they have. You know what I am talking about...when you visit a farm and it is smells...and then the farmer is all "Smells like money to me." Anyway, they change their bedding often, bleach down the insides, and dust out the mites which is a ton of work. But in exchange they get eggs!!!

Angie told me the specific breed of chicken each one was...but of course I can't remember. Most of them had a gorgeous set of foot feathers (yes, feathers that adorn their little feet).

If you want to learn more about the Seehafer Farm they have a blog you can follow.

Monday Update!

2012-04-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

So much has happened in the last week! Amazing things, small things...and great things.

Major purchases include a 10x10 canopy tent, 2 6 foot tables, and table cloths. I also picked up some uber cute tear drop stickers for price tags. Martha Stewart, seriously...too cute!

I am so excited about my little card holders coming from *byKsenia that should be arriving later this week. Check out my last Monday Update! to see how cute they are. I plan to use them as little signs to tell people little thoughts like, "Local Nashville Wax" or "All Natural Beeswax." It is super cute in my mind, just have to transfer it. Maybe next time I can take a photo of a candle in action to give people an idea what it might look like in their home, but that will have to wait till next time...

I also announced that I have to raise prices slightly after re-evaluating my spreadsheets. The new prices should go in effect Friday, so place an order now to save a little money.

AND!!! My new favorite person Angie, opened her barn to me last Thursday. She is a collector of all things vintage and rust. After giving me a tour of her microfarm, which I will blog all about Thursday, we went through her pieces to pick out fun things to use for table-scaping for my upcoming show THIS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY!!! (I am so nervous and excited!!) She is such a blessing! I never could have found so many unique, rusty, quirky, things to use without her help. We loaded up as much as my SUV would hold...and she is already planning out what I should use next time. I love how so many people are helping me in this journey! Hopefully I can pay it forward.

Besides all these great happenings. God answered a huge prayer for our little family. May 7th is the day I met my husband four years ago, the day I married him almost a year ago, and this year the day we get to start a new journey together with a new job. We plan to buy lotto tickets for May 7th since it is made of magic.

Monday Update!

2012-04-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

A little late...guess that shows how busy I have been lately!!

First, I am almost done with the inventory for the show in Franklin. Just double checking a few things. Making some improvements by changing some wicks for better burn times. Maybe post some photos next week?

Second, I totally won a blog giveaway! I never win anything so clearly this was super exciting! *byKsenia is an amazing watercolor artist that I was fortunate to meet in February at Wedding Day Hooray! I fell in love with her card holders made to look like old cameras. How adorable!?! I won $30 towards anything in her store, but it was too hard to choose what to buy. So I spent a little extra and got one pack of each camera style. I plan to use them at my show in Franklin as little price tag and info thingies. Here are some photos I took from her etsy store.

You can follow Ksenia on her blog at this link: Ksenia' Blog

Or you can visit her store at this link: Ksenia's Store

Third, did I mention the show in Franklin? I am getting so nervous excited about it!!! I really hope to see you all there!

Green Thursday!

2012-04-12T08:06:00.000-07:00

I have been working on using recycled things from around the house to start my seedlings. Then I dreamed up using big cans for a project. Like a hanging herb garden using big soup cans. Of course someone has done it before...but look how fun an creative they are! Check out these fun inspirational pieces below!

image via dos family

image via Happy Sleepy

image via Mo Zone

Monday Update!

2012-04-09T16:22:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!

I have been super busy the last few days making the hand-rolled candles in the Natural Honey Collection. I am a little over half way done with what I expect to bring to the Franklin Main Street Festival in a few weeks. So excited!! Nervous, but excited!

As I mentioned on Facebook, I ordered several new molds. They arrived late last week, and I am excited to show you a small sampling of the 8 new additions to the Natural Honey Collection. I know! I am adding 8 additional sizes to expand the pillar selection. This brings my entire collection to consist of over 20 different sizes.

Besides this I have been working on an art installation project that I hope to tell you more about in a few weeks. Here is a sneak peek...

Green Thursday!

2012-04-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

The last week has been so gorgeous with all sorts of flowers blooming. My flower garden is just starting to show tiny little seedlings emerging from the soil. So while the little guys are working on growing enjoye some flowers that have bloomed. Hope you have a great Thursday!

Monday Update!

2012-04-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

I feel like I am playing a bit of catch-up. My allergies threw me off schedule, but I am back on track now!

I am so excited to share with you...photos from our engagement party! (Long story, but after 2 years we got them) Never say you are thinking of selling raffle tickets to your wedding to help pay for the event. You just might get a carnival themed engagement party. Complete with carnival themed invitations; designed by our good friend Grey. (I blacked out addresses and emails)

Carnival foods like corn dogs!

And of course a hand painted Bearded Lady and Strong Man cut out. Not sure this is the new photo booth for weddings, but it was really the highlight of the party!

It was so much fun. Seeing the photos remind me of how much fun we had, and how quickly time passes. Still trying to convince my friend to let me have the Bearded Lady and Strong Man to hang in our living room. How fun would that be suspended from the ceiling? Evidently the local church uses it for their Halloween Festivities. Clearly, this is once a year event and I could just let them borrow it for the weekend.

We are officially on....TWITTER!!! I know! It is so exciting growing and tweeting and dreaming. Of course I want you to follow me! So just click here. And TA-DA! Or you can just click on the tab at the top that says Twitter. So easy! No pressure.

Clear mason jars have been added to the rental section! Check it out if you are in the Nashville area and need some mason jars for your special event.

Hope you have had a wonderful Monday!

Green Thursday!

2012-03-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

The flower garden is in full construction mode! Not too much to update at the moment. We do have two new residence to the flower garden.

A little toad, I named him Toady The Toad. Toady The Toad blends in nicely to the fresh soil and emerging seedlings.

And Inch the Worm has also decided to live in the garden. He was quite busy, and could not stop for any questions or photos.

They are both a bit camera shy; so I could not get any good photos of them. Hopefully they will enjoy the flower that are about to pop out.

Green Thursday

2012-03-22T14:10:00.001-07:00

Going Green.... It almost feels cliche at this point. I hear it all the time, and I kinda roll my eyes a bit....and trail off into other thoughts. But I had a moment the other day...I do want to live a more "green" lifestyle! In fact, I kinda already am in many ways! As many of you know, I have started to sell all natural local beeswax candles and honey, as well as rent out reusable vintage pieces for weddings and events. I love nature, recycling (much to my husband's joye), thrifting, all things vintage, and sticking it to corporations (I promise not to get all political...pinky swear...my one exception is bees because they help make all our products).

Over the past few years, I have slowly been working toward this "green" lifestyle without even realizing it. I have started to make my own cleaning products. Began gardening to save money and eat healthy. I love the local farmers market and totally prefer their milk to any organic in the store. I love nature and even got a biology degree as a result. I want this reflection to shine into my products, throughout our company, and into your lives. I am committed to having all my products to be as natural as possible. So with this weekly blog post...I hope to inspire you.

The biggest drawbacks or fears to living more natural:

1) expense

2) not sure where to start

3) not sure you have the skills

4) what do you mean my paraffin candle is not natural?

5) my cleaning product gives me headaches...but that means it is better than some plant

6) expense

I know...I get it! Right there with you. So let's dig in...literally. One of the easiest things you can do is start a flower garden. Before we had a yard, my home was filled with flower pots. Now we rent places with yard space and landlords who love a garden.

Total Budget: $20 (I think that is reasonable for 3 flower beds)

Dirt 3 bags for $10

Wood found it laying around

Seeds 7 packs for $1 each

Shovel already own, we did pay $10 for it new

So let me introduce you to the flower beds...I started digging in one before remembering to take a photo, but we are just doing Before shots.

Flower Bed #1

Flower Bed #2

Flower Bed #3

I have only started the process, but will keep you posted on the changes!

Monday Update!

2012-03-16T23:32:00.040-07:00

It feels like there is so much going on right now, I just want to have a place where I can update you on everything in a weekly summary. This way you can see us grow! And get rejuvenated for the week to come! (I am getting excited just writing this!)

Let me start with last week. I finished burn testing all the new Natural Honey Collection Candles. One of the most asked questions is, how long will each candle burn. I have listened, and have ordered cute little stickers to attach for all the various burn times. I think the little stickers will make it easier for everyone to be able to determine which candle best fits their needs. They should arrive soon and I will post photos so you can see how amazing they are!

Friday last week, I looked down and found a four leaf clover. Of course I had to take a photo!

After taking the appropriate measures to photograph my new four-leaf-friend and press him in a book, I turned the computer on only to find that we were a featured on Rustic Wedding Chic in their Best Rustic Wedding Favors on Etsy. I could hardly believe our adorable Honey Bears were there! I love all the amazing wedding photos, ideas, and artists they feature, so of course, I was overwhelmed with complete joy a sense of undeserved honor. Maybe my little friend brought me some good luck?

This week I have been busy pricing out tables and tents for our next show at the Main Street Festival in Franklin, Tennessee April 28 & 29. I am SO excited! I can hardly wait, but there is so much to do and make in the mean time that it will be here before I know it.

I also took some photos of all the new items to be listed, but have been too busy finishing our wedding thank you cards to edit or post them. It is such a relief to have them all written, stamped, addressed, and ready for the mail. Kinda funny that the price of one stamp now could have mailed all these letter when this postal scale was new. Now to really focus on getting the shop updated!

This weekend while getting ready for a garden I found this little guy nestled between two four-leaf-clovers! Yep! An even rarer FIVE LEAF CLOVER.

After googling what a five leaf clover means I found this:
1 leaf = Love
2 leaf = Hope
3 leaf = Faith
4 leaf = Luck
5 leaf = Wealth
6 leaf = Fame
The most leaf clover found is held at 21, but it is by a guy who works with genetically breeding clovers...so he kinda has an upper hand. There is supposedly an unconfirmed 27 leaf that was grown on his "clover farm!" Anyway...fun facts! Have you found a four leaf clover yet?

Welcome

2012-02-28T13:10:00.002-08:00

Hey everyone!

This is the start of hopefully a long journey. Many of you have been here from the start and others have joined along the way. Either way I want to thank you so much for everything including your friendship, criticism, and support. Running a successful blog can be quite a task. I admire all those who make it look so effortless.

I am currently hard at work planning weekly material that I hope to begin posting shortly. I really wanted to get things rolling on the rental section for weddings and events. We are currently offering a wide selection of vintage blue mason jars, clear vases, vintage snuff jars, an assortment of silver antiques, and glass drink dispensers. With all the thrifting I do, I hope to add more and see this area grow.