No trespassing...it's just not right.

Some things just bug me.

This sign bugs me. It's just not right.

Some guy bought a vacant lot on our lake and put a dock on it and there he stores his boat.

So that's just fine. But what about that sign. Geesh....does he think someone is

going to step on his dock and wear it out?

Might someone fish off the dock and catch "his" fish that swim by his boat?

I think the lake should be enjoyed and shared. This is a very territorial sign. It say's "this is mine..I ain't sharing...go away." It makes me want to take that sign right out of the ground and throw it in the reeds along the shore....but I guess that would be trespassing, wouldn't it.

Gyrodon Merulioides....I think I'll call it a mushroom.

Would you look at this mushroom!

What a beauty.

My son-in-law Drew spotted this amazing flowery mushroom on his way home from work.

He knew I would appreciate it's beauty so we headed over there to take a picture.
That's me in the shadow and that's the very spot it was "blooming" in.

I also had brought along my handy dandy bear claw saw. And...yup....we did it.
We sawed it right off....nice and easy.

We came home and looked it up on Google and found out it's a Gyrodon Merulioides that grows by ash trees and it's edible!

Oh..no...we're not eatin' it. I don't believe everything I read and I'm not that hungry for mushrooms.

I'm doing to hang it upside down and dry it and see what it turns into. I imagine it will shrink quite a bit. I hope it will harden instead of rotting and I can varnish it and put a fairy in it.

It did say online that you could dry it but not in the oven..not even on low...because it will cook it.

I'll post a picture later of what it turns into.

Labor Day Replacement Crew

Stacey left town.

She ran away Up North to Boyne Mountain for the weekend. (But I'm happy to announce she's baaaack!)

But while she was Missing In Action she was replaced by 3 people.

We brought in the big guns. Frank (88 years young) and Charlotte (a little younger than that) and Jim (even younger still).

Charlotte's task was setting up the placecard table and what a fine job she did.

Jim put all the lights in the sign and fixed any loose bulbs.

He's good with those tiny lights. He also got me the hotel's ladder so I didn't have to drag mine out of the van and all the way into the ball room. It's not that it's heavy but it's big.

Frank set up and jazzed up all the centerpieces. Another fine job well done.

(He's very fussy I'll have you know.)

I treat my "helpers" very well. I took them all to T.G.I.Fridays and we feasted.

That's my beer in the lower right....it was yummy.

(When they're not my helpers, they are my Mom and Dad and Significant Other.)

Perception

Sunrise

September 7, 2009

Wolverine Lake

I took a kayak ride with some neighbors this morning to watch the sun rise slowly and peacefully on the lake.

It was cloudy and you couldn't see the sun at first. You could just perceive it getting lighter around you very gradually ....and then it rained very lightly. Big fish were jumping and the lake was dark dark dark....serene and seriously dark.

How did I never notice the name of the kayak before? What a cool name for a kayak.

There's something about "blogging" and also "taking pictures" (and "kayaking" too) that helps with perception. I guess that's why we do them.

I didn't understand that at the beginning.

Sky lanterns....what a fun idea!

Our kids loved these.

So did the adults.

I think cars driving by weren't sure what they were. One car just stopped in the middle of the road and sat there for awhile. I wonder if he thought it was a UFO?

I understand folks send them off in bulk for weddings and bar mitzvahs and other special events all over the country. What a beautiful sight that would be.

(You can Google "sky lanterns" or "wish lanterns" and find out more information and where to order them.) What a perfect summer fun thing.... especially for kids who love fire and being out side at night in the dark!

MY FAVORITE THINGS: PART 6: Cardboard & Knives

Now who would leave such a mess?

And who would want to take a picture of it?

Would it be the same person?

All I know is.... the vacuum has gotta hit that floor before

all those little packing pieces get tracked over everywhere.

As a side note while we're talkin' about shipping things:

What a great knife! How did I not know that this quick-change blade was out there. Just press that little gold button and the blade pops right out to put a new one in.

This is definitely one of my favorite things.

It was $9 at Home Depot. Amazon has them for $3.99 but the shipping is $5 bucks so it's the same thing and there's instant gratification at Home Depot!

3 New Candle Lighting Centerpieces..asian, sports, stars

Candle Lighting Ceremony Centerpieces.

One for an Asian theme.

One for sports.

One with stars.

All have separate pieces on each end for the candles...

...although Elyssa's aren't in the picture....any amount of candles would work.

Eric's would work with baseballs, basketballs, tennis balls as well.

Could even have baseball bats on the sides or hockey sticks....lots of

possibilities. I love the photo of Eric with the rose in his teeth.

Asian Centerpieces...from start to finish.

Here's how it all starts out:
Pieces everywhere.
Hot glue gun ready with extra glue nearby.
Cell phone nearby.
Carry out drink left over from carry out lunch.
Scraps on the floor.

Then the beautiful finished project emerges:

These were the elevated and low on the table centerpieces for an
Asian-Inspired Party Theme.

I love the difference from the works-in-progress and the Voila! It's Finished~!

Stacey just knew I was going to have to post this picture on the Blog...how
could I not?

When just one trampoline won't do.....

I always thought one trampoline in my yard was plenty.

But now I see that two are better. Double the fun.

One if by land...two if by sea....or I mean, lake.

Beach Place Cards/Life guard chair/Berylium font

Here's a Welcome Sign that was a life guards beach chair. It was cleverly engineered by Stacey to fold completely flat for shipping (and almost completely assembled) and then to open up to look like this cool beach chair with just a little easy glueing for the legs and arms.

This centerpiece was for the Placecard Table and sat behind these Place Cards. It was OPEN SEATING for kids at Rachel's Hot Spots in Ocean City, Maryland. Adults had planned seating at other Hot Spots.

Everyone received sunglasses and they attached to the placecard and made them able to be free standing.

Side Note:

I found a very interesting "sandy" font for the words on the bottom of this picture. It's called Berylium. It reminds me of writing in the sand...interesting font. I've never used it before. I like it's bumpy texture and character.

GIFT CARD Money BOXES for graduations, wedding & mitzvah parties!

    

We have fun making these Gift Card Boxes for parties.

Guests can drop their congratulation cards with their gifts of

money or a check down inside.

There's a "trap door" on the bottom so the cards can be 
removed without damaging the box.


One of our most popular ones is our 
guitar amp gift card money box with a 
choice of sizes and types of accent guitars 
to go with it if you'd like.


They are often used at bar mitzvahs, birthdays, 
graduations and weddings.

I can't think of any theme that we couldn't come up 

with something to make a Gift Card Box to match.

If you'd like to see a few more ideas, you can go to our main website at:

www.marlyssandstacey.com

(or you can send us an email at: marlyss@mac.com
 and we'll design one up with your specifications.)

Trade show clever PARTY IDEAS.

Stacey and I went to a local party event trade show put on by a very upscale linen company called Fabulous Events. Besides having tons of fun chatting and looking and feasting on delicious treats we saw some cool and creative ideas.

I especially liked this beautiful table arrangement. I loved the idea of the twisted wire cascading down the clear vase and twisting around votive holders to have candlelight all down and around the clear vase. What a useful idea.

We also liked these balloon arrangements by Crystal Balloons. Loved these simple balloon tulips for table linen tie-ups and her "waterfall" centerpiece.

Here's Stacey taking a look at Robyn's creative ideas.

We also found a person we are highly likely to use to cater for Stacey's big upcoming birthday event next year. I think we'll have a "Bash"....it's going to be a milestone birthday.

Funky, Whimsical and Swirly...all good words.

What a fun website to visit...BeFunky.com

Easy to use and fast and creative.

I whipped this out in just a few minutes playing around to see

what the site was about.

I think anything a bit offbeat and funky and whimsical....

with some added swirl....

is delightful to me.

ipod centerpiece in neon yellow

Following along the same track as the last blog about music being a popular theme.....here's an ipod centerpiece.

I made a comment in a previous blog about old 45 rpms making a cuter centerpiece than an ipod but I think I need to retract that! This one competes with it on an even scale in my opinion. I think it's those swirly ear buds that did it. Those ear buds that are always tangling up have a certain sense of movement and curly whimsical grace.

We also are on a neon run of colors here which makes me happy because I love bright colors. I said to Stacey that I think I'll repaint my bedroom neon yellow and lime green...she knows I just love lime green even though I have it no where in my house......and she just gave me that look. You know the one that someone uses when they think you might have slid over the edge. I guess those aren't the best bedroom colors but my bedroom does have a bright burgundy and deep green...not those sleepy time colors they say you should use and I sleep quite well in there.

Update to this blog post: (December 2009)

Here's a "low on the table" alternative ipod centerpiece. This centerpiece has a guitar on the reverse side (actually a pink Taylor Swift guitar) and was accented with foamcore drumsticks.

The overall size including the base was about 22" high.

Call us if you need centerpieces like this:
248-669-3622

Or, send us an email at: marlyss@mac.com

Or, visit one of our websites to see even more ideas:
www.guitarcenterpieces.com
www.marlyssandstacey.com

Update to this blog post: December 2010

Looking for something simpler with an ipod theme? Sweet and a little funky? How about these custom designed foamcore photo picture frames? Easy on the budget and easy to ship.

ANOTHER Update: October 2011
Here's a fun ipod centerpiece we did incorporating a photo cutout of the Bar Mitzvah
boy popping out of the ipod itself! And, here's the matching party placecards.

We love ipods and any kind of musical themes around here!

Need PLACECARDS? How about iTunes cards or card stock iPods? Most all our place cards
are $2.50 each and that includes customizing the design to your needs and adding the guests name and table to each one. They can stand in a foam core table topper holder and sits on a 6'-8' rectangular table ($65).

These iPod Touch/iPhones work well as part of

a centerpiece or can be used in a mini version as your table designation.

They can be made to free stand with a back support or

have a wood skewer in the bottom to insert into flowers

or a styrofoam base.

We can also make ipod dancers.

marlysshollyer@gmail.com

Funky Fun Musical Notes

Music has been a fun and popular theme for parties this year. I'd even say it has beat out sports for the first time in a very long time.

Both girls and boys having Bat and Bar Mitzvahs have shown a love of music in many ways. Guitars, of course, top the list.

We make these fun and funky musical notes for accents on all sorts of centerpieces and signs. Both styles are on foamcore. One is cut out and glittered and one is printed and then cut out.

Adding a Table Number to it is also a popular option.

Traditional musical notes are fine too but I think these are more lively and unexpected and a bit more fun.