Blog

We always tell brides to have their gowns cleaned and preserved as soon as possible after the ceremony because the longer you let spills and stains sit on your garments, the less likely it is that a professional dry cleaner will be able to remove them.  Sadly, we didn’t know as much back in 1974 or 1946 as we do today, but luckily for Margaret Rehder, we are as good as we say we are.

Allison Drake opened Magnolias of Madison in March as sort of an homage to her late mother.  “My mom had a bridal boutique in Eden for 30 years,” Allison explained.  “She loved her dresses, so I opened Magnolias in her honor.”

Linen fabric is some of the oldest in the world with its history going back thousands of years.  It was so valuable that it was sometimes used as currency in ancient Egypt, and mummies were wrapped in it as a display of wealth.  Linen is made from the cellulose fibers that grow inside of the stalks of the flax plant, so one could really consider it a vegetable.  Flax can grow in various climates, but it does best in cool, damp environments, so planting depends on where it is being grown.  Once it’s planted, it lives for one growing season and is ready to be harvested in approximately 100 da

I have friends that change purses for every occasion.  I think that’s simply too much work.  I don’t think of a purse as an accessory; to me, it’s more like a necessary tool.  It holds things that I need to function in everyday life – phone, keys, money, small notebooks (one for work and one for volunteer work), things Gray needs for school, Jolly Ranchers.  Basically my purse organizes my life.  So, I like to find an all-purpose, good-quality purse that I can use for pretty much any occasion, and when I find the right one, I hang onto it until it no longer conveys the nice, crisp, tidy ima