Bud Vase Sale Extended to 10/17!!!!!

We received such an awesome response from 2012 brides that we extended our sale one more week!!  Click here to see our awesome selection of bud vase favors and place card holders!!

Fresh Flower Wedding and Bridal Favors

These bud vases continue to be a favorite for brides. The bud vase holders are a perfect favor that your guests will keep for a very long time! They are available in our Etsy store.

These fabulous photos were taken by Hillary with Fearless Photography.

Place Card Holder Chalkboards

These mini chalkboard place card holders are perfect for your barn or rustic wedding. They also double as cute wedding guest favors.
These are currently available in our Etsy store.

NEW Wedding Favors..Barn Wood Framed Chalkboards

These adorable rustic framed chalkboards are perfect to use for your wedding place cards / name cards and favors. Each one is carefully handcrafted from 100 percent authentic reclaimed barn wood and has its own unique beauty. Your guests will be thrilled to take one home!! They are great for vintage, rustic, farm, country, outdoor, garden or any other wedding theme ideas you may have. Each one measures 3x3 on the inside with 1 inch border. They all have a base across the back so that they are freestanding and easily place anywhere. You won't find anything else that compares in quality and design!!! Larger quantities and custom orders are available. Please ask if you had something else in mind!! Available now in our Etsy Store!

Rustic Copper

We have a lot of requests for copper wire but because it is extremely pricey we aren't able to make an affordable holder with it. We have tried and tried to age wire to create that copper look. Finally we did it. This wire has been aged just right to create that antique copper color. How exciting!

Toniann and Kyle's Wedding by Heather Elizabeth Photography

We just wanted to share these beautiful photos taken by Heather Elizabeth Photography. These are the most beautiful photos ever taken of our hand crafted bud vases!!

Catering and Bakery Supplies

Over the past couple of months we have noticed that our orders from bakeries and caterers have increased dramatically. This is market that found us but we are having a great time customizing orders to fit their needs. From chalkboards to buffet markers, we have tweaked and re sized to fit specific needs and food items.

The pictures above are from Royal Fig Catering which is located in the Austin area. Their catering style can fit any need you may have from a whimsical wedding to an outdoor family event. We were thrilled to see our holders on their beautifully delicious tables.

This week we will be shipping a custom order to a catering company that is located in the Chicago area. I will have the big reveal later this week.

Anyway, if looking for a creative touch to mark food on your buffet table we have many styles to choose from. Please also check out our Etsy store for more styles.

Playing Catch Up!!

I don't know where the summer went. It was like a big blur. Business was great and there was not a moment that we weren't rushing to meet wedding deadlines and filling last minute orders for brides. On top of this we had our kids and at times a few extra. Our original plan was to make a schedule and keep structure and rotate the kids through "stations" during the day to maintain some level of organized chaos. Well about half of our plan worked. We started out the morning with school where the kids completed worksheets and did some reading. Then after school it usually went done hill slowly during the day. By three o'clock, by the way that was usually the same time we were rushing to get packages to the post office, the kids were unbearable and it was crisis after crisis over toys, he said she said, video games, and you name it. We did make it though. We got our work done and managed not to go too crazy most days.

Now that school has started, I have so much to write about! We had some pretty cool things happen and we are so excited about where we are going. I will be adding a lot of cool pics and sharing some really awesome ideas and inspirations with you.

Thanks for reading.

Best Seller on Special

Year after year goes by and our bud vase place card holder is by far our best seller. We sell them by the 100's all over the world. Jennifer has spent hours and hours handcrafting each bud vase and they never leave our studio unless they are absolutely perfect. We are happy to offer them to you at a discount. Just click here to place your order today!

New Rustic Wedding Decor

I am so excited about these new holders! Their possibilities are endless. They look great as a display with the black and white photos. They would also look be great for postcards, menus, signs, place cards, escort cards, table numbers and so much more! The hand cut 2 1/2" blocks are all slightly different and have a unique wood grain pattern that shows gently through the black stain. Sizes and be customized from 5" to 10" tall. We can also offer them in white and brown and you can choose the silver or the rustic wire. You will be able to shop on our website soon, but for now if you would like to inquire about ordering just click here.

New Handcrafted Boxes

We have lots of great ideas for these handcrafted boxes. I can't wait to paint some Tiffany Blue and put them on my desk. They are also great for your big day. You can use them for a card box, on your escort table or for your centerpieces. Be creative!

Christmas in July Sneak Peek

We have been busy since last Christmas brainstorming, designing and creating some super cool ideas for your Christmas event. Whether you are hosting a lavish party or planning your wedding, keep checking back. You will definitely want to see what we have been hiding. As you can see in the picture, we have been inspired by rustic charm. Just wait and see what we have done with flowers!!

The Adventure Begins

So I did it!! After 24 years in the restaurant business, I took that leap of faith to come on board full time with Jennifer at The Funky Shack!! It was a long time coming and the decision, though a little scary and a lot out of my comfort zone, felt so right. Jennifer is my sister , my BFF, and we spend the day working, brainstorming, laughing and planning the rest of out lives. It is a perfect situation, but what would make it more perfect is if Tami, our other sister and BFF would come join us!!!

My job title, Studio Manager, sounds very chic. It pretty much includes a little of everything from stopping at Starbuck's to get my "boss" coffee, making lunch for the kids, all the paperwork, packing, painting and everything "computer." I have to say I love every minute of it! I can go to work in my pj's, kick my shoes off and dig in.

The test is going to be this summer trying to work and keep five kids(6yrs. 7yrs, 7yrs, 10yrs, and 13yrs.) busy and productive. We have somewhat come up with a plan now it is time to enact and hold ourselves accountable. It is going to take a lot of organization from two Moms who usually just "wing it."

It is not going to be business as usual this summer. Our plan is to aggressively attack and conquer the world of weddings and party decor. We pretty much have decided that our husbands work too hard running around to make extra money and it is our goal to grow and land at some financial peace.

Check back because I will be starting a seperate blog to share this adventure with you!


Dawn

MEET THE HAPPY COUPLE!!!!

I asked Christy to send me a little info so I could share a little bit about the bride and groom. It is such a cute story that I left it just like Christy wrote it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!

How Joe Houston and I met:
Hummm....well, we met approx 6 yrs ago in 2004 while serving in the same Air Force Reserve unit. He was a C-130 Flight Engineer and I was a C-130 avionics mechanic. As he remembers it, we were in Kuwait supporting the Global War on Terror. He was talking to a mutual friend of ours when I walked up to interrupt. We were not introduced at that time and I have no recollection of that "meeting" but he says he knew then that I was the one for him. I remember it a little differently: I say we met in Souda Bay, Crete while I was enroute to Kuwait and he was heading home. We had stayed in the same hotel and the morning we were both to depart for different destinations, I asked if I could join him for breakfast. It was a short but nice interlude as Joe had to pre-flight his aircraft for the days flight. We became friendly acquaintances until 2007 when I, too, became a flight engineer (this made us co-workers). Finally, in May/June of 2008, we went on our first "accidental" date. He had come to my house to help with a project and as a thank you, I took him to a concert at the outdoor amphitheater to see The Big Bad Voodoo Daddies. We had so much fun! After that, we spent most every weekend together and embarked in a long distance relationship (Joe was living in Montgomery at the time). About 7 months later, Joe transferred jobs with the FAA to metro Atlanta and moved in with me. We have enjoyed everything together from household projects and renovations, traveling, SCUBA diving, triathlons, cycling, running, private flying...you name it! In Oct. 2009, we were on vacation in San Fransisco and planned to spend the day touring wine country. We drove up to Sonoma Valley and were having a wonderful day tasting wine and shopping. I had mentioned that we should visit a local wine and cheese shop and buy supplies for a picnic. (Little did I know I was planning my own engagement!)We settled on a bench, by a pond, in a park at the center of town and as we snacked on cheese, crackers, almonds, wine and fudge we talked about how happy we were and how blessed our life was. Before I knew it, Joe was down on one knee holding the most sparkly thing I had ever seen and asking me to marry him! He had to ask a second time as I was crying and in shock and having difficulty responding. Of course, I said YES! Wow! What a moment! I wish all my friends and family could have been there to witness it. It was perfect! The best part was that it was a total surprise! I had no idea he was planning to propose. He did a great job planning it and keeping it a secret and even enlisted the help of my twin sister to pick out the ring...which I love. I couldn't have picked a more beautiful ring if I had done it myself. So, here I am in the midst of wedding planning. Only 84 days until our Big Day and I have so much to do!

Christy
Career:aircraft mechanic for a major airline
Military: C-130 flight engineer; 18 years served so far
Hobby: some private flight time

Joe
Career: FAA
Military: C-130 flight engineer; 21 years in service so far
Hobby: Private pilot

Menu card, table number and place card holders

Here is a simple elegant way to display your menu card. The double holders are great for table numbers and menu cards. Add the matching place card holders and your tables will have a elegant whimsical look.

These charming place card holders are made from rustic wire. They look so natural on this handcrafted table. The table number holder is made from the same wire but it has a straight base. It can be use in fruit, pumpkins and flower pots. The center piece is made from reclaimed wood and can special ordered in any size. For more information conatct jen@thefunkyshack.com.

Pictures by Alicia Caruso

Rustic table art

Look at these wonderful pictures taken by Alicia Caruso. These are more of our new creations. Wow! I love the place card holder. I make those from pieces of the reclaimed wood. They are all slightly different in size, color and texture. They are perfect for an outdoor wedding. If you need any more information or have any questions about these pictures contact me at jen@thefunkyshack.com

New Table Top Art

Just as I promised, here is a preview of our new creations. All of the wood pieces , including the table, are made out of the reclaimed wood from my old house. I am so excited to share it with you. In the next few posts I will share with you pictures of our designs along with a description. I don't have all of these items listed on my website yet, but if you are interested just contact me at jen@thefunkyshack.com . These wonderful pictures were taken by local photographer Alicia Caruso. Enjoy!

Using Reclaimed Wood in Weddngs

Credits: Karen Wise (2), Lisa Lefkowitz, Linda Chaja

I wanted to share our new venture with you. My husband and I are creating designs and crafting out of reclaimed wood. We have just started so our ideas and fininshed products may be a little primitive at the moment. These pictures are not our work, but I used this board to inspire and spark some new ideas. We have finished a few handcrafted tables and will share those pictures with you soon. I also created some rustic wood bud vase place card holders and ceterpieces. I loof forward to sharing these designs with you soon.

Centerpieces

Credits: Orchard Cove Photography, Lisa Lefkowitz (2), Penny Silvia, Zoeica Images.com, Cheri Pearl

Look at these wonderfully elegant centerpieces. I am a fan of the smaller shorter centerpieces. Sometimes less is more and these pictures display just how beautiful small can be. They leave enough room on the table for place card holders and guest favors.