Oh Corona...

Just a little over a week ago, we had our show at the Mineola Antique Fair. While we all practiced extra hand washing, had plenty of hand sanitizer, and didn't hug on all our sweet customers,  I don't think many of us realized just how serious this was quickly becoming. (At that time, gatherings in Texas were strongly discouraged if attendance was above 250 to 500+, while the building we were at doesn't have that capacity at any point.) 

Since then, group gatherings are limited to no more than 10, lots of stores are closing, we can't eat in a restaurant, schools are shut down for several weeks, and the list goes on. 

Since this is the week after a show, not too much has changed in our personal life, with the corona virus restrictions. Now please hear me out! I work from home, almost all of the time! The week after a show, I am always working from home, making sure all the recent wedding and online orders are being made and fulfilled. This week has been all about wedding bouquets and I've been in "the factory" (my small bedroom turned work room) making lots of burlap roses. I would label myself as an "extroverted introvert." I was working in public (our show) and on the go for several days last week and now I am happy to be at home working in the quiet. Jeff and I both work from home, so we've really only been in contact with 4 other people (family members) this week, except for a few store clerks, where we picked up the essentials. 

We also still have to go the farm and take care of animals and that doesn't change, no matter what the conditions are around us: rain, snow, drought, sunshine, or pandemic... the well being of our cattle and donkeys must still be attended to. A couple of new babies have certainly brightened our week!  

Please say hi to Gracie! I ask on fb and ig for name suggestions - there was so many that I couldn't decide. Jeff's mom saw her pic and a video, then I read her all the names and she said "she looks like a Gracie to me," so Gracie she is! 

Jeff and I also help provide some care and assistance to some family members, so we are helping them all the same. 

We live about 12 miles from town, so we normally only go grocery shopping once a week or less anyways. Tuesday, we did have several important stops in town to make, but we only went into the stores one at a time. He went into the feed store, I went in the grocery store (Have mercy at the empty shelves - it was late in the evening, so it wasn't crowded and I got almost everything I was after.)  We've got hand santitizer in the truck and use it before and after entering each location. I cleaned my desk and even found some more hand santitizer that was a freebie from a booth at the Yamboree last fall - it was like finding gold, lol! 

We seldom eat out together, so we continue to eat at home, as usual. 

Corona Virus has us like "Whoa Nelly!" 

A couple of things that have changed for us: 

We haven't been in such a rush this week and didn't set an alarm on most mornings. I've been saying "I'm tired" for several weeks, so I'm taking this time to get some extra rest. I've also had a "cranky" sore foot that is bothering me, so I'm trying to be easy on it as well. 

Angea and I didn't go junkin' or eat lunch together on Thursday. We usually meet on Thursdays and go pickin' and hunting for new inventory or restock our booths, then have lunch aka "board meetings". We've had a few "phone conferences" but haven't seen each other since we left Mineola last week. 

We know our shows scheduled for April will not happen. Vintage Market Days of East Texas has been postponed to June 18-20 in Lindale. The Mineola Antique Fair will not be held in April and we hope we can all gather there in May. 

We still have items at Kickin' K Cattle Co. in Quitman - although the boutique is not open daily now, but she will meet for curbside service on appointment and is offering free shipping on most orders over $25, till we get through this pandemic. Kadyn is also doing facebook sales or you can contact her for items in the store. Kickin' K just joined instagram too, so please welcome her and tell her I sent ya! 

We are taking extra precautions, washing our hands even more that usual! #washyourhands

Even if our clothes don't seem to be dirty, we are washing them after going anywhere. (you know how you wear a shirt for a little while when going to town and it doesn't get dirty, so you lay it over a chair to wear again - now it's going in the dirty clothes as extra precautions.) 

What to expect in the coming days from us:

We will continue to work on our wedding orders and ship items from our home on the rural route in East Texas. Orders will still be processed in a timely fashion and shipped out. The USPS says they will continue to deliver! I am ordering more supplies online, instead of going into the store to shop. 

I still haven't unloaded my vehicle from the Mineola show and we have some new shirts to photograph and list online. (This is something else I usually do the week after a show, but since we've been getting extra rest plus it's rained a lot this week, we didn't get around to it and my "wagon" hasn't been cranked all week, as we've just been going places in the "farm truck")  We are considering doing a live sale on my Facebook page this week in addition to getting our new things uploaded to our websites. If you are interested in the live sale, please head over to our fb page and make sure you have notifications turned on. 

This is a peek at a few of the new designs to be listed! 

We will continue to wash our hands a lot and hope you will as well! 

We will still maintain our daily positive words of encourage, fun memes, and pictures on our facebook page to help get us through this difficult time. 

We are always, always grateful for your support of our small handmade business and appreciate each and everyone of you!!! We understand there is so much uncertainty at this time and we are so very thankful for everyone who orders a shirt, allows us to design your wedding bouquets, fix flowers for your loved ones or events, or comes to our shows.  We couldn't do this without all of you. Thank you doesn't seem adequate enough, but we don't know how else to say it. We do hope all of you are well and we can't wait till we can see you all again soon!

Until them, we still have our website and etsy shop that you can find lots of our things (and there just might be a sale happening now!)  Send me an email or message on facebook or instagram. We are here to help you, however we can! 

Made in America - Red, White, and Blue Burlap Bouquets

This week I have been working on Stephanie's Red, White, and Blue Burlap Bouquets for her upcoming Memorial Day Wedding. 

Someone once ask me where I purchased the roses in my arrangements and I replied that each flower is hand made by me. There are a few occasions where I purchase pre-made flowers, although the vast majority of all my bouquets are completely hand made, right here in Texas, USA. 

I am loving this combination of rustic red, white, and navy, along with tan burlap! Very Rustic, Americana. Makes me remember my days growing up and carrying Ol' Glory at Rodeo Grand Entries. I was always honored to be horse back, carrying the American flag while the Star Spangled banner was playing.

 The bridal and bridesmaid bouquets.

 Corsages for the mothers of the bride and groom.

The groom had a white rose, with red and blue accents, while the rest of the wedding party had red rose boutonnieres. 

I'm thankful for customers who support Hand Made in America products! Now, I'm off to box up everything and get Stephanie's order shipped out today. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Also, don't forget, Thursday is the last day of my 4th anniversary sale. (see previous post for more information.)

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A few Christmas Items in my Shop

 I listed a few new items in my etsy shop today. I added a few Burlap Christmas Wreaths and some Burlap and Lace Hats.  

I know it's a bit early for Christmas decorating and couldn't help but laugh when I saw this funny on Facebook. While I'm not sprucing up my house for the holidays yet, I added these items in hopes that if anyone wants to order now, they can receive them in plenty of time to decorate after the turkey has his turn! 

A few new trucker caps are all dolled up with burlap and lace flowers. 

I made a couple rustic burlap wreaths with tan and red burlap. This one has nearly 40 brown ornaments nestled among the burlap, and gold glitter sprays and Merry Christmas sign. 

The other wreath has Christmas greenery, holly, gold balls, and snowflakes. 

More caps with a burlap cross, lace flower and vintage jewels. Perfect for the shabby chic gals on your shopping list. 

Now, back to that turkey and fall decorating- I put this burlap sunflower wreath on sale this weekend. It's now $10.00 off and the turkey said he approves for it to be on the door at Thanksgiving! 

All of these items are ready to ship! Items will go out in the mail next business day after ordering. Hop on over to my etsy store to snag them before they are gone. Thank you to all for supporting Hand Made in America items this holiday season!

Red, Cream, and Tan Burlap and Lace Bouquets

Amanda contacted me through etsy about creating wedding bouquets for her destination wedding this spring. She decided on red, cream, and tan burlap, ivory lace, lots of feathers, and pearls. 

 Here is a group shot of her bridal bouquet, two bridesmaid bouquets, and toss bouquet.

 In our etsy convo, Amanda asked if I had any pictures of brides holding bouquets. I told her not yet. I have an open invitation to any bride that chooses my burlap and lace bouquets to share pictures and be featured here on my blog. I've also thought about hiring a model for a photo shoot, but it just hasn't happened yet. Amanda says she will send me some pics modeling the bouquets and I certainly hope that she does. Until then, I'll just have to come up with different props to help display my bouquets, like my grandmother's old typewriter for this shoot tonight.

Thank you Amanda for choosing my bouquets and work to be a part of your wedding day. My Congratulations and Best Wishes to You for a Wonderful Wedding Day and a Happy Marriage! 

Turquoise Burlap and Lace Wedding Bouquets and a New Photo Backdrop

After I finish with a wedding order, I like to take the Burlap and Lace Bouquets outside to take final pictures with natural light. I'm always looking for a new or different place around the yard to take pictures. I've used the gazebo, picnic table, old school chairs and even a vintage sink to take pictures. When I completed the dresser makeover earlier in the year, I had in mind using it as a photo backdrop. Of course the chippy, peely dresser was occupied with fall decor and unavailable for wedding shoots. Now that the scarecrows and pumpkins are gone, I got to experiment with staging pictures!

 

The Burlap and Lace Bride's Bouquet in a drawer.

Turquoise Burlap Boutonnieres on the rusty tin top.

A shabby chic Bridesmaid Bouquets in the white washed dresser drawer.

The three different size bouquets framed by the rim of a rusted out wheelbarrow frame.

 Finally, a group shot of Samantha's wedding bouquets.

 

I want to say Thank You to Samantha for choosing GypsyFarmGirl for your customized bridal bouquets. I send my Best Wishes for your wedding!

 

Bubblegum Pink Burlap Bouquets

New Product Alert!

 

Introducing Bubblegum Pink Burlap!

 

Ann contacted me several weeks ago about creating burlap and lace bouquets for her daughters wedding. She said her colors were bubblegum pink and steel blue. She wanted pink, tan, and off white burlap roses, with just a touch of chocolate. And, she really wanted to tie in the steel blue somehow. 

 

I got to searching and found the bubblegum pink burlap and found the perfect vintage steel blue ribbon.

 The picture above shows the three different sizes of bouquets that were created for the spring wedding. The bouquet on the left was created for the Bride to carry. The medium sized bouquet was created for the Maid of Honor to carry, while 5 small bouquets were created for the Bridesmaids and Flower Girl to carry and one for the Toss Bouquet.

 In addition to the the bouquets for the wedding party, Ann decided they wanted 7 centerpieces. They had purchased the rustic birch containers from here on etsy and wanted the flowers to match. The medium size bouquet was the right dimensions to sit in their container and she is going to add branches to the bouquets for heigth while maintaining a low centerpiece to see over at the wedding reception.

Ann was a pleasure to work with and she said she would send pictures. We are going to have to be patient though - its a spring wedding.

 I ordered plenty of pink burlap and now have it available in my store! (I used all the steel blue ribbon though.)

 

 

 

Burlap, Lace, and Feather Bridal Bouquets

 I finally got to photograph the new burlap and lace bridal bouquets that I made last weekend. Since I'm not home during the daylight hours to take pictures, I took the bouquets with me to the farm and photographed them in front of bales of hay.

 I decided it would be pretty to create an all white / cream burlap and lace bouquet. I added lots of wispy white feathers to the bouquet and pearls in the center of the fabric roses. This afternoon the bouquet will get its wings and is headed to Alaska! After travelling "north to Alaska", the wedding will actually be a barn / outdoor wedding in Arkansas.

I will definitely be making more bouquets like this to add to my etsy store soon!

 

 

I also photographed this burlap and lace bouquet at the hay field and it is still for sale. Chocolate, natural, and cream burlap, with off white lace compose this rustic, shabby chic bouquet.  

 As always, custom orders are available and I can create bridesmaids bouquets, bouttonieres, and wrist corsages for everyone in your wedding party. Please contact me through etsy and I would be happy to help you with creating your dream wedding.

 

 

 

Also, be sure to check out the new Clearance Section of my store! All of the caps in my store have prices marked down.

 

Heather's Wedding

A few weeks ago Heather sent me a convo asking how I could incorporate purple with the burlap and lace bouquets in my etsy store. I replied that I could use purple material to create flowers, small tufts of tulle could be used in a similar fashion to the lace, or I could use purple ribbon in the bouquets.

 

 

Instead of giving me specific instructions on how to use shades of purple and plum in her bouquets, Heather said "...I would rather give your creativity free reign and let you produce what you think will look best."

 That confidence and trust in me made me fill good.

 Heather also ordered 4 wristlets. While working on her order, I would send her pictures to see and get approval before making all the items. When I sent her the picture of the wristlet, this was her response "Very nice! I was curious as to how these would look as a wristlet. Exceeds expectations!"

 Each wristlet had a chocolate, ivory, and tan burlap rose, lace, tulle, pearls, and purple ribbon.

 The bridesmaids bouquets were made with the same colors and materials.

Heather's wedding is in a few weeks at the edge of the woods on a farm, yet another wedding I wish I could see in person!

 

Congratulations and Best Wishes for your wedding Heather!

 I appreciated your trust and encouraging words while working to create your bouquets.