An Unexpected Surprise!

Here’s something else that I managed to find for a song the other day while out shopping with MOH…I told you it was a productive trip, right?!?


These, in case you don’t know, are shepherd’s hooks. I’m planning on using them to “line” the aisle at the ceremony site. I’ve seen these used at outdoor weddings from some blogs that I follow. Check out my inspirations…

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Aren’t they cool? And since they’re so simple, I can really do a lot of things with them. You want to know why I’m SO excited about these? Ok, twist my arm and I’ll tell you!

Our ceremony site is outdoors. So there’s not a lot of planning going into the décor…since it’s a nicely wooden glen with a beautiful gazebo for the actual ceremony. I’m not having an aisle-runner…in my mind I picture the aisle formed by the two sets of chairs set out…with strewn rose petals edging the actual aisle. Little CC will spread some additional petals on her walk, but mostly they’ll just be on the sides, something like this.

Source (1)

Although I’m thrilled with that look, I can’t help but listen to the voice in my head urging me to do a “little” something more. So, I’ve been coveting shepherd’s hooks for the past few months. But when I did some online searches to price them out, I was shocked at the prices that people pay for them. I was expecting a couple of dollars a piece, and was floored to see that they can run up to $12 a piece! That’s NOT in Miss Cotton Candy’s budget…well, it could be…but it just seemed like a lot. And not knowing what I would want to hang from them…you can see how this could add up quickly, right?

Enter Maid “Britney” – she’s the one that just got married last fall. Yes, you’re reading that right. ALL of my Maids are actually Matrons…they’re all married! But it’s my wedding, and if I want to have married women for Bridesmaids, then that’s what I’ll have. So anyway, “Britney” (not her real name, just an idol!) and I were talking one day about my tissue paper flower pomanders, and I mentioned wanting to find shepherd’s hooks to line the aisle with, and I further expressed my frustrations with not being able to find them cheaply enough. “Britney” suggested that I look at JoAnn’s. I’m a HUGE JoAnn’s fan, and hadn’t even thought to check them out for something like this. She said she thought that she had seen hooks in there, but maybe just as a seasonal item during early spring/summer, and that they were reasonably priced, if her memory was right.

Well, I’ve been in JoAnn’s more times that I can count, and I’d never seen them. But I wasn’t looking for them specifically, so I thought that I would try again. Down in San Antonio, where MOH and I were shopping, they’ve opened a “new” JoAnn’s that could almost be called Super JoAnn’s because it’s SO large. We decided to stop by there and didn’t actually go into JoAnn’s looking for shepherd’s hooks, in fact I went in looking for some fabric and happened upon their seasonal aisle…lo and behold…what do you think that I found?

Yep, shepherd’s hooks, just like “Britney” told me. And for the stellar price of only $3.99 a piece. I was sold! MOH was happy for me, and then confused when I said that I wasn’t going to buy any…I explained that I had a coupon on my desk at work that would get me an even better price and that I’d go to the local store in Austin and pick them up at some point next week. I wish that I’d had a camera for the look that crossed MOH’s face. Seriously, she looked confused, so I asked her what the deal was. But the joke was on me…she turned and pointed to a sign hanging over the display of shepherd’s hooks…

Oh yeah. Have I mentioned yet that I’m not the most observant of individuals? If it was a snake it would have BIT me! Either way – SCORE one for Miss CC’s team of thrifty shoppers! Half-price made them a whopping $1.99 a piece and I bought 10 of them right away.

Now, I just have to figure out what to do with them. Which inspiration picture do you like best? I can try to make some smaller tissue paper pomanders that would tie in nicely with the larger ones that will be hanging in the gazebo…or I could try to do some simple cut flowers in hanging jars…or I've found several DIY projects using artificial flowers...

Or do you have a completely different idea for me? Let me know!