christmas on manor...dec 1st!

another event that i'm participating in. it will no doubt be a fun few hours with creative friends. my favorite way to spend my time lately! hope you can make it. (click on image to actually read all the details).

black & white

black & white is hot right now. i decided to do a line of trays in just black & white. and i was so excited when i found all of these beautiful black & white papers. they will make the most beautiful trays and i can hardly wait to get started on them.

Thanksgiving Centerpiece

of course i'm going to use a tray to create my thanksgiving day centerpiece! i had fun creating this one by using two trays. i just used an old wood yarn spool to support the second tray. load each one up with pumpkins, gourds, ect and wa-la. happy thanksgiving to all of you!

What a FUN event!

i created an entry way with shutters (two from my attic & two from a recent dumpster find). this way it felt like people were actually walking into my space. the check out table and bins full of trays and fun paper goodies were in front of the shutters. (click on photos to view larger)

so glad when i found this old shoe rack at a garage sale this summer. it held lots of trays and gave me a base to add some height.

i gained height with galvanized buckets (filled with beans for weight) and tree branches. simple silver ornaments added sparkle and looked simple but festive.

The 5th annual Gift Gallery was a huge success! with close to 600 people coming through the door it was such a busy day. i'm so thankful that my mom was there to help me. for those that couldn't make it to the event i've posted these photos. photos never look as good as in real life, but it gives you an idea. my small space was filled with trays, for all occassions, and at most times it was packed with people! we sold lots of trays and are very pleased with the results. i'm already planning my next line of trays.... a black and white line for the winter and beautiful soft creams and browns for spring. i thought i'd get some sleep after this event....but i'm on such a high that i can't help but keep designing and producing more trays! thank you to all who came, bought, supported me and just plain gushed over my space. it was a wonderful day!

I think I'm ready!

Tomorrow night is set up night for the gift gallery. This week I froze in my garage while creating my display. I've been visually creating my display for months and then it all changed when I actually started putting it all together. Thank goodness I was smart to set the space up before setting up at the gift gallery.
I started pulling things out of the house (my husband asked if I was moving out!) vintage suitcases, bookshelves, tables..ect all to make my 10x10 space look exciting. It finally all came together and it looks amazing. As I crawled into bed at 2:30am with a smile on my face I realized it's all worth it. A couple days later I found out that my space is smack dab in the front when everyone walks in. I'm glad I went the extra mile to create an oh so beautiful space. I can't wait for Saturday. I have over 100 trays (no wonder I'm exhausted!) enough for everyone to find something they like. Hope to you see you Saturday!
I'll post photos later next week of the event.