gettin’ our ducks in a row.

500 pounds of glitter, 4 dozen duck decoys, 2 sofas, 3 deer heads, 1 john deere tractor umbrella, 2 custom neon signs, 2 potties, 6 trailer park tire planters, 88 plastic flamingos, 5 giant disco balls, 1 trailer and 2 truck beds full o’ junk later….we were unloaded on site where the most spectacularly redneck sweet 16 birthday party ever was to be held…

so we literally had to get our ducks in a row. no seriously…we did. of course we did that with glitter and glue…but we did it.

{ducks in a row . . . if only liberace had been a duck hunter}

we had 3 days. 3 days to set up and transform an empty tent into redneck royalty.

{an empty tent . . . a gypsy's canvas}

{nestled among the vines...oh louisiana, you are beautiful!!}

(and in those 3 days we managed to embrace west monroe & the entire robertson/howard/duck commander tribe…miss kay’s cookin’ (y’all, i just DIED and went to heaven), willie’s cookin’ (ok, i just died again…did i mention his corn chowder?? his homemade spaghetti sauce?! and his CRAZY bread….y’all, it was CRAZZZZY…and by crazy i mean DELICIOUS. mamaw jo’s homemade butterfinger ice cream…y’all, amen and hallelujah), we even took Christmas card pics for the holidays. (ok, maybe we didn’t go that far…but still.) i digress…all this i must save for another blog. focus jolie. focus on the decorations. BE the BLOG. BE the decorations. geeeee…but oh, the fooooood.)

and now….a grand tour of the grand event.

{the entrance to the REDNECK REDCARPET tent}

high-falootin’ decor fit for an anything but a high-falootin’ family.

{glittered taxidermy, AmeRICAN flags, & granny's old afghans of course.}

{us with korie and sadie, as sadie saw everything for the first time}

the guest of honor with her parents…

{korie, sadie, & willie robertson. . redneck royalty}

and we came bearin’ JuNk GYPsy gear for the big day…

{sadie robertson . . . happy sweet 16 lil mama!!!}

{missy & jase. yes, rockstars. but crazy nice too and missy is BEAUTIFUL!!!}

{the beautiful and sweet, rebecca rockin' her jg gear like a runway model}

and here…in typical april-style…she caught a moment…

{si and sadie....the good stuff}

{little will jr....our wobble coach & ping pong player extraordinaire!}

and this moment…

{yep, cash baker met his superman on this trip. and that, my friends, is priceless.}

and on to the decor….

first and foremost. potties. yes, potties. but not just any ole potty…GOLD metallic potties dusted in GOLD glitter flanked the entrance…because urns with plants are just so …. so normal. and only the BEST to flank the entrance to sadie’s party.

{lifestyles of the rich & famous . . . redneck style}

potties ablaze in the LoUisiana sunset . . . can we keep these??? 🙂

{seriously . . . would it be weird to have these in our houses???}

and because the theme was redneck red carpet….a replicating wall was a MUST…custom artwork whipped up by us earlier that week.

{amie & indie walkin' the red carpet...sans shoes...did we mention how HOT it was???}

{SCotty McCreery's MOM, JuDY Cooke McCreery, & His Aunt with Amie on the red carpet}

step. repeat. step. repeat.

this was the too sweet jessica robertson the night before sadie’s party…

{we all whooped and hollered as we watched jessica judge the miss USA pageant together at miss kay & phil's house sunday night}

and here she is the next night at our waaaaaaaaaaaay more lavish red carpet event…. (miss usa who??)

{nor time zone changes nor delayed flights kept her from getting there!}

and then...hey there howdy…welcome to the redneck party in all it’s glory…

{tire planters, flamingos, a wheelbarrow, and a cedar post pointing the way...lest us not forget the mounted bass wearing a tiara}

all of it’s glittered, redneck’d glory.

from glittered duck decoy chandeliers…

{glittered and glam. it's all the rage with migratory fowl}

{seriously. we think all the great hunters will be using these bad boys next season}

to glittered deer mounts…

{another glittered taxidermy deer . . . on the redneck redcarpet}

from old jeans recycled as table runners….

{old jeans turned into table runners . . with vintage CB patches! C.W. McCall would be proud!}

to burlap stenciled with redneck names…

{earl, jethro, bubba, billy bob. . . we had seats for all of em!}

from a sawdust dance floor lined with glittered flamingos…

{ready for country boys & girls to get down on the farm...}

{john luke learning to tame a different species of feathered fowl}

to a painted sofa that by the end of the night would be transformed into the largest and grandest happy birthday card ever…

{a cut velvet sofa becomes the perfect canvas for graffiti . . and SADIE's FAV quote immortalized by austin NEon artist, TODD Sanders!}

and the junkiness continued. . .

{old fleamarket chairs flank a salvaged spool}

vintage trailer park umbrella paired with sparkling chandeliers. . .

{junk gypsy spangle chandeliers and old metal chairs}

caution. . . have glitter. will use it. and we did . . .

{garage sale candle stick turned redneck magnifique!}

and…it’s the south, y’all we ate (yep…we ate ALOT on this trip)…

{our good friend, jay qualls who also made miranda lambert's cake, swooped in like a superhero & whipped this baby up on site!}

and we drank…

{bottled cokes...we only needed peanuts!!}

and watched home videos country style…hay bales with quilts thrown on ’em and a homemade screen from a drop cloth…

{i know you can't tell, but this is 4 year old sadie standing on a chair in the kitchen preaching the gospel and hands clasped in prayer}

{sitting on hay bales, under the stars....faith, family, ducks. in that order.}

our oh-so-necessary photobooth made the trip and got a little makeover for the event…

{one of my fave pics. lily, bella, and merritt crackin up in the photobooth. we got to spend lots of time with sweet bella during our stay in west monroe....and she's a bonafide honorary junk gypsy for sure! XOXXO, bella!!}

{redneck renegades}

and the entertainment for the night? well honey child….it doesn’t get any better than this!!!

{for the love of tents...}

first up…chancie neal…a downhome girl with a heckuva talent!

{loved her louisiana-song of the south!}

next….reed robertson slowed it down with an amazing rendition of hallelujah.

{missy & jase's son....more to him than meets the eye.}

and then…scotty mccreery blasted onto the stage…

this had to be the coolest happy birthday serenade everrrrrrrrr.

{the girl of the hour...on stage for her moment}

{and yep...willie and john luke joined him for a seriously memorable rendition of O Brother, where art thou?}

click here to see scotty’s youtube video from the night!!!

and then the mosh pit of wild and crazy 16 year olds danced like there was no tomorrow.

they danced. they wobbled. they 2-stepped.

{scotty & sadie doing a little boot scootin'.}

and we, well we were nothing but thankful to be a part of such an amazing event with such an amazing family. it was an experience we’ll never forget. the southern hospitality of this family is something i can’t even explain to y’all in this blog. this family is THE REAL DEAL. they ARE JUST as awesome as you think they are from the tv show.

miss kay looked me in the eye the night we had supper at her house. she looked me in the eye and she shook her finger at me and she said “now when people ask you if they’re just like they are in the show, you can tell ’em. you can tell ’em that we are just like we are in the show. you can tell ’em that this really is my house and that we really do eat every meal right there on that table. i am who i am. i don’t know how to be anybody else. and you can tell ’em for me.” well, miss kay….i’m a little teary right now just remembering that night and hearing your sweet southern drawl that reminds me of my dear aunt alice but i’m tellin’ ’em. i’m tellin’ everybody i meet. i’m tellin’ ’em that you aren’t everything i thought you would be.

you are MORE. i never in my life could have predicted the level of kindness & genuineness that your family is bathed in. y’all are beautiful souls on the inside. and as the matriarch, we thank you for sharing your soul and your family with us. it really is what the world needs now.

and to our new good friend, korie robertson, where do i begin? i thank you. we thank you. from the bottom of our hearts. this was such an indescribable experience for us, our family, our team. you are the hostess with the mostest. you are supermom. you are super business woman. and don’t even get me started on your back flips off the diving board. but seriously. we formed a great new friendship throughout this experience. a friendship that i believe, in my heart, was destined. i do believe God wanted our families to meet. kinda like the migration of ducks, it just made sense. it made sense in the duck & junk universe. all things come home. some friendships are formed at the lunch table in school. some are formed in church. and some, some are formed through the fate of a few tweets…

{last picture of the night...the gypsy family...tired,sweaty and happy, happy, happy. the family that works together is the family that stays together.}

the worlds of the duck and the junk collided….and there’s still more to tell…y’all stay tuned.

signing off from gypsyville!!! XOXO!

y’all head on over to april pizana‘s blog for EVEN more pics!!!! we couldn’t fit all of her awesomeness here! big giant thanks 2 her and her family for traveling across state lines for us and the duck family! and thanks to melissa brownlow, todd sanders, winnie mauch, robin crawford (archie’s mom!), & jay qualls for answering the call of the duck with us.

and a very, very, very special thanks to our gypsy crew. to our girls behind the scenes. our girls that keep us in line. that put up with our crazy brains. they keep gypsyville running smoothly….and they try oh-s0-hard to keep our junk organized. (bless their hearts). we couldn’t do it without y’all.

AND be sure to grab a copy of US weekly on newsstands now for even more pics!!!

XOXOXOXOX!