Chelsea Petaja, NashvilleVendor: Hair AccessoriesWebsite: Oh My Deer!About Me: "Oh, My Deer!" was born out of a love for play-on-words and getting my hands dirty. I live in Music City USA in a little loft with brick walls, concrete floors and my husband. I teach Visual Arts at a Montessori school that grows organic vegetables and composts nearly everything. It satisfies the hippie in me. I make flowers and feathers for your hair that I hope make you feel beautiful. Sometimes I make drawings and invitations for your eyes. And then that leaves everything in between that I pretend to know how to do.
For the most part, I’m a color-phobe. I love my grays, tans, browns and blacks. My one exception is shoes, shoes, shoes. So what if I own seven gray cardigans? When I wear a pair of gold heels with one of them, no one is bored by my love of a monochromatic pallet.
So in honor of too much gray–both in our closets and in the forecast–and the impending holidays, here’s a little toast to looking sassy, thanks to one of my favorite stores. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that none of these shoes are over $23! Come on now!
Chelsea Petaja, NashvilleVendor: Hair AccessoriesWebsite: Oh My Deer!About Me: "Oh, My Deer!" was born out of a love for play-on-words and getting my hands dirty. I live in Music City USA in a little loft with brick walls, concrete floors and my husband. I teach Visual Arts at a Montessori school that grows organic vegetables and composts nearly everything. It satisfies the hippie in me. I make flowers and feathers for your hair that I hope make you feel beautiful. Sometimes I make drawings and invitations for your eyes. And then that leaves everything in between that I pretend to know how to do.
I know I’ve said it before, but I really do love seeing the ladies and gents that end up wearing the pieces we’ve worked on together.
Heather and Matie were married in Mexico last month, coming all the way from Canada to enjoy their stunning destination. The combination of pinks and black they chose for the boutonnieres, waist sash and hair flower brought a punch of edginess to the sand and surf. Oh, and the unidentified stripper in the last picture was pretty edgy, too. Ha!
Chelsea Petaja, NashvilleVendor: Hair AccessoriesWebsite: Oh My Deer!About Me: "Oh, My Deer!" was born out of a love for play-on-words and getting my hands dirty. I live in Music City USA in a little loft with brick walls, concrete floors and my husband. I teach Visual Arts at a Montessori school that grows organic vegetables and composts nearly everything. It satisfies the hippie in me. I make flowers and feathers for your hair that I hope make you feel beautiful. Sometimes I make drawings and invitations for your eyes. And then that leaves everything in between that I pretend to know how to do.
Thank you, Fall, for the most beautiful weather Nashville has seen in quite some time. We’ve had days in the 60s and 70s for days and days. To me, it makes up for the blistering days of summer we have here in the South.
These headbands I made a few weeks back are just the sort of sunny, buttery goodness that reminds me of these recent Autumn days. Maybe they’re like the hair equivalent of a toasted piece of pumpkin bread.
Plus, I’m kind of in love with that polka-dotted tulle.
Chelsea Petaja, NashvilleVendor: Hair AccessoriesWebsite: Oh My Deer!About Me: "Oh, My Deer!" was born out of a love for play-on-words and getting my hands dirty. I live in Music City USA in a little loft with brick walls, concrete floors and my husband. I teach Visual Arts at a Montessori school that grows organic vegetables and composts nearly everything. It satisfies the hippie in me. I make flowers and feathers for your hair that I hope make you feel beautiful. Sometimes I make drawings and invitations for your eyes. And then that leaves everything in between that I pretend to know how to do.
I’ve had a less hectic month than most, so I had a little bit of time to work on pieces that weren’t necessarily commission-based. The result? A few fancy headbands… and one sparkly necklace. All but Loretta and Shirly can be worn traditionally or over the forehead.
Feeling demure? Wear it pushed back! Feeling like a hippy-dippy love child? Pull it down!
Chelsea Petaja, NashvilleVendor: Hair AccessoriesWebsite: Oh My Deer!About Me: "Oh, My Deer!" was born out of a love for play-on-words and getting my hands dirty. I live in Music City USA in a little loft with brick walls, concrete floors and my husband. I teach Visual Arts at a Montessori school that grows organic vegetables and composts nearly everything. It satisfies the hippie in me. I make flowers and feathers for your hair that I hope make you feel beautiful. Sometimes I make drawings and invitations for your eyes. And then that leaves everything in between that I pretend to know how to do.
As if their names don’t already tell you, Lizet and Emund seem to be just about as cool as they come. I shipped the flowers and feathers raw to Lizet, which she attached to her Stuart Weitzman shoes. Well done, pretty lady; well done.
Chelsea Petaja, NashvilleVendor: Hair AccessoriesWebsite: Oh My Deer!About Me: "Oh, My Deer!" was born out of a love for play-on-words and getting my hands dirty. I live in Music City USA in a little loft with brick walls, concrete floors and my husband. I teach Visual Arts at a Montessori school that grows organic vegetables and composts nearly everything. It satisfies the hippie in me. I make flowers and feathers for your hair that I hope make you feel beautiful. Sometimes I make drawings and invitations for your eyes. And then that leaves everything in between that I pretend to know how to do.
Today is the first day of the year where it actually feels like Autumn. It’s perfect in Music City USA today–71 and sunny. Soon we’ll get to wear scarves, jackets in the morning and at night, sip cider on the front porch, and all the other things that I’m romanticizing about Fall.
This piece was one of my favorites that I was asked to make for a Seattle, October wedding. The colors and textures seem to sum up the feelings of Fall; if it were a slice of pumpkin pie, I’d eat it up.
Happy Fall, y’all.
Chelsea Petaja, NashvilleVendor: Hair AccessoriesWebsite: Oh My Deer!About Me: "Oh, My Deer!" was born out of a love for play-on-words and getting my hands dirty. I live in Music City USA in a little loft with brick walls, concrete floors and my husband. I teach Visual Arts at a Montessori school that grows organic vegetables and composts nearly everything. It satisfies the hippie in me. I make flowers and feathers for your hair that I hope make you feel beautiful. Sometimes I make drawings and invitations for your eyes. And then that leaves everything in between that I pretend to know how to do.
Though I normally incorporate the chiffon puffs onto my shoe embellishments, this bride wanted a slightly different twist on her feet. I’m in love with the end result. There’s not much better than a big, creamy flower to accentuate a little toe cleavage!
Chelsea Petaja, NashvilleVendor: Hair AccessoriesWebsite: Oh My Deer!About Me: "Oh, My Deer!" was born out of a love for play-on-words and getting my hands dirty. I live in Music City USA in a little loft with brick walls, concrete floors and my husband. I teach Visual Arts at a Montessori school that grows organic vegetables and composts nearly everything. It satisfies the hippie in me. I make flowers and feathers for your hair that I hope make you feel beautiful. Sometimes I make drawings and invitations for your eyes. And then that leaves everything in between that I pretend to know how to do.
You’d think after typing the word boutonniere at least 100 times, I’d learn how to spell it correctly. But no. My solution is just to shorten it to bout and rely on spell-check to catch my blunders. I’m also still learning the difference between affect and effect, so maybe grammar and spelling isn’t my strong suit.
Anyway, I’m sweet on these bouts I made for a lovely, late-summer bride. I think this color combination is so fun and lighthearted. Really, it’s one of those palettes that fits just about all year-round, in my opinion! Plus, who can get enough of that red-and-white Martha Stewart twine? So what if I just ordered 300 feet of it…
Happy Monday!
On another note, today is my first day back to work after a lovely summer vacation. I am thankful for these past few months off, anxious about the coming school year, grateful for a job, and looking forward to having the first few weeks under my belt.
Chelsea Petaja, NashvilleVendor: Hair AccessoriesWebsite: Oh My Deer!About Me: "Oh, My Deer!" was born out of a love for play-on-words and getting my hands dirty. I live in Music City USA in a little loft with brick walls, concrete floors and my husband. I teach Visual Arts at a Montessori school that grows organic vegetables and composts nearly everything. It satisfies the hippie in me. I make flowers and feathers for your hair that I hope make you feel beautiful. Sometimes I make drawings and invitations for your eyes. And then that leaves everything in between that I pretend to know how to do.
If you can’t tell, I’m a huge fan of OnceWed. The reasons are endless. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that I really, really like Emily: the brains and beauty behind the scenes.
Today, Emily featured Justin and Amanda’s wedding. The wedding was lovely, clean and classic. Luckily, I was able to make the boutounnieres - two fabric flowers for Amanda’s hair, and a miniature piece for the flower girl. Head over to OnceWed’s “Real Weddings” section to see more of this charming day!
Chelsea Petaja, NashvilleVendor: Hair AccessoriesWebsite: Oh My Deer!About Me: "Oh, My Deer!" was born out of a love for play-on-words and getting my hands dirty. I live in Music City USA in a little loft with brick walls, concrete floors and my husband. I teach Visual Arts at a Montessori school that grows organic vegetables and composts nearly everything. It satisfies the hippie in me. I make flowers and feathers for your hair that I hope make you feel beautiful. Sometimes I make drawings and invitations for your eyes. And then that leaves everything in between that I pretend to know how to do.
Has everyone headed over to OnceWed today to see the stunning wedding of Jordyn and Bradley, shot by the handsome Tec Petaja? I had the pleasure of meeting Jordyn and Bradley last night while they were in town to see our friends :: plug, plug :: The Civil Wars, held at Billy Reid. So of course I had to ask Jordyn if she made the lovely combo on her shoes. Well here you go ladies; here’s the secret to beautiful embellishments like these…
Jordyn bought a pair of vintage clip on earrings (for $7.50), hot-glued three guinea feathers to each piece,and voilà! Now, you can clip and position the embellishments how you’d like. Easy, removable shoe goodness! As for clip-on earrings, Etsy is a great resource for this, but so is your local Goodwill, flea market, or antique shop if you feel like putting some leg work into it. Guinea feathers are at craft stores (Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, etc.) and on-line.
Chelsea Petaja, NashvilleVendor: Hair AccessoriesWebsite: Oh My Deer!About Me: "Oh, My Deer!" was born out of a love for play-on-words and getting my hands dirty. I live in Music City USA in a little loft with brick walls, concrete floors and my husband. I teach Visual Arts at a Montessori school that grows organic vegetables and composts nearly everything. It satisfies the hippie in me. I make flowers and feathers for your hair that I hope make you feel beautiful. Sometimes I make drawings and invitations for your eyes. And then that leaves everything in between that I pretend to know how to do.
