But at 1:00 when the first guests began to arrive, my "stage fright" quickly evaporated and I had a ball! Every person that came through was very friendly, and it was a pleasure to chat with them! Our home is about 10 minutes from where my parents were raised, and I met several of their old classmates. That was really neat and interesting.
The Pecan Festival Queen visited our home as well, Dixie Light, from Atlanta, Georgia. Not only was she a beautiful young woman, she had a lovely personality. Dixie was escorted by Bill Thompson, local author/well traveled speaker, who is also a writer for OUR STATE Magazine.
My "Ode to the Pecan," a vignette of pecans and a vintage metal dog nutcracker, borrowed from my dad.
If you follow my blog, you have seen my home countless times. But I would like to share a few of the fresh flower arrangements I created for the tour. Whenever we entertain, I try to always incorporate live flowers. Even at Christmas, with all of the silks and faux greenery, I love to throw in a burst of the "real stuff," and enjoy the mood it creates.
These aren't elaborate, most were very simple. I didn't want them to compete with the settings, only compliment the areas. And no offense to any professional floral designers, ...I made six, (some rather large), arrangements for less than I could have purchased one arrangement from the florist. Bundles of bagged bouquets purchased from Sam's Club, were metamorphosed into beautiful arrangements.
Arrangement for Kevin's study, housed in a silver bucket found on eBay.
Arrangement placed on the surround of the master bath.
Monogrammed hankies, also found on eBay.
Below is an example of WHAT NOT TO DO! These beautiful orange roses disintegrated in just a few short hours, from what I assume was the heat off of the lamp light.
A few arrangements outside...
Monday...