Let's Talk About Crafts, Baby

Let me start this by saying that I have spent the last 27 years hating lace. OK, Hate may be a strong word but let's just say it wasn't for me. Lace table clothes and curtains are for your grandma. I can stand a doily here and there but that's about it, and don't even get me started on lace appliques on wedding gowns. It's just not my style. Well, not until I saw this.

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     This is when every thing changed for me. A light bulb went off above my head, this dress and I had a come hither moment. Black lace...Genius! All of a sudden lace isn't for your grandma. It's cool and dark and oh so fashionable. But alas, this dress isn't meant for me, but it opened the flood gates to a world of lace.
 
    
      On my quest to do a Haunted Mansion reception I thought to my self  "How can I make a big room seem like someone's home?" I promptly answered "Fill it with household things." And so began my garage sale journeys. On my first time out I found two lace table clothes that I bought for 4 bucks. Total score.

     My idea was to cut them up in order to make table squares and runners. The first was a big rectangle with a square lace pattern and already had that aged look. It quickly turned into 6 table squares. I just cut it in to equal square pieces and hemmed any raw edges. Here's one with some of my other garage sale finds on it.

    The 2nd proved to be a bit trickier. It's much bigger and oval. I cut out the middle to turn it into a runner as seen above. Now I'm left with the edges of this table cloth. I'm currently in the process of cutting out some of the lace patterns and I'm going to create a doily runner out of them. Here are some of the pieces.

                           
      The next step will be to decide whether or not to tea dye them. I'm going for an old antique look so I think I probably should. Maybe I'll keep the runner as is and make that a more elegant table. Also, I made this lace flower with a scrap from the other table cloth.

     I don't have anything to put in the middle yet so just picture a gem or some pearls. I plan on making more of these when I have more materials so I'll post that process later. 

      So what do we think about lace? Is this going to go from a Haunted Mansion wedding to a wedding at your grandma's house?