Katie's Hope Chest

This summer our beautiful, oldest daughter is getting married to her high school sweetheart (who I must say, is pretty cute himself).  

Katie & Nick have been together since they were 15-they are now 20 (old, right).  People say, "well isn't that too young to get married?" Normally we would probably agree, but we knew from the moment they started dating that they would get married. They just clicked.

 Nick fit instantly right into our family and the chemistry was just there-they're one of "those" couples.  When he bought her a puppy for Christmas one year later-the deal was sealed.

Katie is an old soul.  Out of our 5 kids she's the "goal setter".  She sets a goal, plans it out, and executes  it with precision, then moves onto the next.  

She knew that college wasn't her thing, and decided in high school that she wanted to become a hair stylist? A What? She said she wanted to go through the BOCES program and get her certificate, so that she could start working right out of school.  You wanna do what? 

You have to understand, this was a kid with a 95 average, she played sports and had worked since she was 16-she was going to be our Ivy Leaguer. Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with a hairstylist , everyone needs one, but honestly, BOCES carried such a stigma with my generation, and we just didn't want her to regret her choice later on-I mean all teenage girls want to be hairstylists at some point in their lives-I know I did.  

But she was determined that this was what she wanted to do.  And because we are firm believers in letting our kids find their passion we said "do your thing!" and she did! 

So, right out of school she started working as a hair stylist. Now, in the overachiever fashion that makes Katie-Katie, while she's working, she's going to school to be an Esthetician (a skin care specialist) and will graduate  in August.  

We are so proud of her (can you tell)!  

Nick proposed on a warm afternoon in the park. Obviously, she said, "YES!" 


Since she is the first daughter, (first child) to get married 

I wanted to create and old fashioned hope chest for her.  I plan on doing this for all my children & their spouses. 

But Katie is far from old fashioned, so this hope chest had to have a twist.  In typical Katie fashion her wedding is NOT your "typical traditional" wedding either  

She is getting married at Bolt Castle in Alexandria Bay, which is followed by a dinner cruise around the St. Lawrence/Thousand Islands.  

See something else you should know about our daughter, ever since she was little she wanted to be a princess. For her senior ball, she picked out a dress that reminded her of Bell (Beauty & the Beast) not that, that cute little boy with braces looked anything like a beast.

So when it came time to plan her wedding Bolt Castle was the first place we thought of.   Yet,  Kate is a modern day princess.  Her bridesmaids are wearing black, with sashes made of a snow leopard. Her bouquet is made up of "black roses" (don't be alarmed they're just deep red), and the groomsmen are wearing Air Jordans. 

Katie with her bridesmaids looking for dresses

not her actual dress we'll save those pictures for after the wedding

I knew this cedar chest had to reflect Katie's personality, as well.  I also wanted it to be timeless too.  An heirloom she could leave for HER daughter.

I started with a plain cedar chest from a local unfinished wood shop.

Black, white and purple are her favorite colors. So those were a must.

I used metallic paint to accentuate the small details.  

This also pulled in the silver handles that we added at the end.  They were just $5 handles we purchased at Hobby Lobby and sprayed silver.  I love the way they give the piece a "traditional feel" and glammed it up a bit

We added the plaque on the front to make it personal, as well as traditional, but amped it up with the snow leopard patterns on the legs, the purple faux in the front and the small purple flowers on top. This keeps it modern and fresh.

I added even more pattern on the back just to make it funky.

The colors are all Benjamin Moore: 

French Lilac 1403, Snugglepuss 1405, Mauve Bauhaus 1407.  Silver Half Dollar 2121-40, Steel wool 2121-20 and Gray 2121-10.

Yesterday was her Bridal Shower and we gave it to her then.

She was thrilled! 

Now, if the wedding goes off without a hitch, we'll be happy too!

To find more inspiration, please come and find us on FaceBook, Pinterest or LinkedIn.  And if you're in the Syracuse area, stop on down to the Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival next weekend and say HI!

Shared with these wonderful blogs:

Krafty Cards Etc...

BeColoful