Relief Society 'T'Party 2023- Damascus Ward

Heard the saying, 'Come full circle.'

It can refer to interior design and fashion. Yes, fashion for me in the 80's and mom jeans! All back in fashion eek lol But, how about activities?

The last time I did this activity for my church was back when we lived in WI. 8 years and 6 days later, I organized the same theme for our RS birthday social again. This social is a yearly event in which we celebrate and commemorate the Relief Society's 181st anniversary on March 17, 2023.

This time round though, I had a little more $$ of my own to spend on it - all of which I'll keep for future parties and activities.

Overall the night was wonderful. I do wish more women came but hey-ho can't have it all lol 

Anyways, below are pictures from the evening. It took me about 2 and 1/2 hours to decorate *all by myself* :/ but with music as my company it wasn't so bad. I have to give a shout-out to Quincy Christianson and the guys who kindly got all the tables and chairs after their basketball game the night before. Thank you. :)

I think you'd agree though the wisteria did a good job of hiding the basketball hoop lol

For 1st, 2nd & 3rd prizes I made up some simple * with help from Lindsay Haley - cute little gifts that consisted of donated teacups and saucers from Alice Truscott and myself, cookie cutters in the shapes of teacups and teapots, shortbread biscuits, bookmarks, chocolate and mini clip-on Fascinators and lavender sachets.

Table settings: I picked up the cutest napkins from T-J Maxx which I used for the teacup napkin and the cut-off parts to tie around the plastic ware. The reusable clear teacups I got from Tablecloth factory - I love this online site! I even got the wedding arch drapery fabric & table runners and square sheer overlays and wisteria in cream and pink. I did, however, find more wisteria at my local thrift store Hardwood House! Like what are the chances! Slim. They had bundles of 5 stems of wisteria for $2.50! I bought all of them lol 

                                    Don't you just love the teacup napkin through the handle!

The cookie cutters, disposable teacups and saucers, and the teapot centerpiece from Amazon.

All of the bookmarks I made. I did buy the digital copies from Etsy: Alice in Wonderland #1 & Alice in Wonderland #2 and the wildflower. I did, however, laminate and add bookmark tassels to them.

I did make all the mini teapots and teacups, cupcake toppers, and hanging displays and banners using my Cricut and Laminator. And i made the Army guards from Alice in Wonderland from foam posterboard. I made pin wheels and crepe paper flowers too :)

I had asked some sisters to decorate the table centers and they did a wonderful job- shout out to Amy Taye, Camille Fredrickson, Jessica Davies & Annika Niven :) Thank you, ladies.

The evening went as follows: Welcome everyone, followed by a light dinner that consisted of cucumber, egg, and cress sandwiches, chicken salad croissants, cheese, veggie platters, fresh fruit, hummus, brownies, ice cream,

and treats brought by some of the ladies, 2 Victoria sandwich cakes made by Sarah & Kate Christianson - Yum :) and I made the cupcakes.

We had a musical number by Shuana & Audry Bastion - they sang Peace in Christ.

Sarah Christianson gave us the spiritual thought, titled, 'Making time for the Lord each day.'

And we had the announcement of the best-decorated hat. So, all in all, I think the night was a 'T' party success :) And was worn out afterward lol ESP as we've been doing renovations at home - new flooring :/ which I'll post soon. 

Denny Stewart won 1st prize

Connie Price won 2nd

Heather Hurren won 3rd

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Stair makeover! No Sanding!

When we purchased our stunning brick 6558 sq ft Colonial in Laytonsville,  Maryland In Nov 2021 Jason and I knew we'd have our work cut out for us.

Not only does our fabulous home set on 1.25 acres right next to state woodland with mature trees galore, grass, and flower beds that always seem to grow exponentially every second! Also, the house is 20 years old, and that all-the-rage lovely pine-ish orange cabinets, hardwood floors, and yes, stairs... Can I say it needs updating! 

UPDATING

And that, my friends, is where my tale begins lol

So, how do you eat an Elephant?

One piece at a time.

and that is how I'm tackling our home - one piece, one room, one project at a time with, and might I add, I have to take breaks in between to recover as I now realize my 51 yr old body and bones are crying out with - 'hey, Helen, you've not got an 18 yr frame anymore' LOL and as much as my inner Helen mindset someday thinks I still have, I don't LOL

To date, I've updated the pantry, mudroom/laundry, girls' bathroom - which is still needing the vanity redo, guest bedroom & primary bedroom, the sunroom, added curtains throughout, paint, and now the stairs. We also had all the doors and hardware replaced. We have all-new lighting fixtures in boxes in our formal waiting to be installed as well as all-new still boxed GE Cafe stainless steel appliances in the garage and next month the kitchen will get ripped out and redone! Eek.... Then, once that is done, then it gets even more, messy/dusty - tearing out the hardwood and replace with some gorgeous java color new hardwood flooring.

Back to the stairs! Now our stairs aren't a small regular sized one - HECK NO! And not one that I'm used to but instead we have a gallery landing and split stairs, the main and kitchen stair. All with plenty of white spindles and all that orange pine-ish treads, base, and handrails.

First, I set out to find a blog that had already done this task lol * Make it - love it blog*and I found one that I showed to Jason and I said, this I can do and it will save us thousands of dollars - as we had discussed initially replacing the lot. But instead, it cost us a tad over $200 and a lot of my time and elbow grease. *( 4 weeks worth of some full days from 10am - 7 pm with only the break to make dinner) 

Mind you, our stairs are large and not everyone's will cost that much to stain if you only have one to redo :) 

Here she is! Isn't she lovely! My heart leaps every time :)

But this shot will look so much more stunning once the hardwood flooring is replaced and I can't wait :)

I knew tackling the stairs would be quite the job, but gosh... 4 weeks worth! From tearing up the carpet, first, pulling all the staples and nails, scraping off old dollops of paint and gunk, and then filling all those tiny holes and making sure all the stair treads were ready to stain.

ALL THE BEFORE FROM HOW THE PREVIOUS OWNER HAD IT - FROM ZILLOW POSTING

The Process

TAPE 

& STAIN.

Like in the blog I linked above - I used those sponge brushes you can get in any craft section at Walmart or the dollar store, they worked great and I bought *lint-free rags to wipe off the stain* off Amazon.

I purchased GENERAL FINISHES JAVA & WATERBASED TOP COAT from AMAZON TOO

FIRST COAT 

That gold light fixture will be replaced with this beauty! Which I might add is sitting in a box in my formal dining room lol

I had to do my stairs one at a time! That way we could still use one. I will say that if you only have one stair then it might be wise to stay at a hotel or do one half of it at a time making sure you blend the seam well. This is what I had to do with the joining between both stairs and the 3 top steps. You will see that in the picture below.

Apply, let it sit for 5-10 mins depending if you live in dry heat or a humid state, then wipe off using the rags! OH, don't forget to wear disposable gloves lol 

I also allowed 24 hours before I applied the second and third coat! I live in a humid state and it needed that time to dry so I could step on it or otherwise it would have been tacky! 

Once you wipe  it off you will see the original color come through 

THAT IS OKAY AND NORMAL - believe me.  

Once you do the second coat, then the third it'll look beautiful.

For the second coat, I hardly had to remove any excess, as I didn't do a heavy coat. 

For the THIRD COAT - you simply apply and leave it dry.

Once all the staining was done and dried. I took off all the tape, then re-taped the spindles ready for white. Let me say taping off takes time for this job, but it's worth it - DON'T skip this step. I'm an artist and have a steady hand and I still taped. 

NOW - THE AFTER PICTURES

SO PRETTY😍

I cannot brag enough about how much I LOVE my stairs! And if you choose to redo yours, then you will be bragging too.

YES - it will take time and effort and YES, you will get a little or a lot of smelling the stain and paint fumes LOL so make sure you VENTILATE!

But by gosh, it's so worth it! 

Now, go on, off you go and see what you can accomplish in your fabulous homes.

As for me - it's the girls and the guest bathroom vanity's that are going to get the same makeover with General Finishes Java Gel Stain! 

Oh, and if you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a question :) I'm more than happy to help you in your next project

😊

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