Wedding Day!

Flowers

 Dorothy and her Mom ordered the flowers from  a local farmers market to be picked up the day of the wedding.  They were absolutely gorgeous, but a little big.  The boutonnieres were bigger than my hand so I took out most of the greenery focusing on the single thistle and a few leaves and tied the stems up in sapphire ribbon.

The bride and bridesmaids bouquets were a little on the large side as well so me and a few of the bridesmaids took them all apart and redid them in smaller groupings.  It was fun the get in there and arrange the flowers ourselves plus we had a bunch of left over flowers for table arrangements!

We finished the bouquets by tying pretty ribbon around the stems.

(these are before photos of both the boutonnieres and the bouquets - I wish I had gotten better after photos - because we really had to fix these a bit - but you can see the final results in some of the wedding day photos below) 

Set Up

big box - o - pom poms!

 Hanging hundreds of tissue paper pom poms by fishing string... great idea in theory... not such an easy task.  Thank goodness for helpers!

We used outdoor "cafe" lights inside to add to the "sparkly" ambience. 

So pretty.

Tom has monkey arms.

Starting to look almost ready...

Tables were lined with tiny ferns, floating candles, and wood scraps (aka "Folly Wood") acquired from the re-roofing project of Tom and Dorothy's newly purchased, but very old house.

The ugly unremovable paintings in the venue were covered in left over tissue paper and snapshots enlarged at Costco of Tom and Dorothy (including a staged photo of the hasmat suited proposal) adorned the walls.

The moss covered T and D foam letters found a spot over the dessert table.

Hundreds of ferns were brought in by Dorothy and her Mom as wedding favors.  We hand wrapped each fern in burlap and attached a tiny tag with the date.

The paper pinwheels up on the wall in the background look awesome!

All Done!  And we're ready for the party!

Pre-Wedding Photos

Tom and the girls of our family.

Mom and I with BJ looking dapper in the background.

The bride and her bridesmaids.  I love the shoes! (Tom's shoes - our bridesmaid gifts)

Reception

 from left to right:  Dan Smith (groomsman), Steve (brother/groomsman), Me (bridesmaid), BJ Smith (best man)

Not a very good picture, but the cake and dessert stands were made from tree limbs and flat wooden plaques bought from a craft store.

 Tom and BJ with BJ's mom, Donna.  Such handsome men!

Tom and Steve, my little brothers.  So cute!

and the party begins...

 best - wedding - ever...

Wedding Stuff

The Garter

I made this myself - super easy, just bought white chiffon trim and beaded scallop trim and sewed them together.  I then made a blue satin elastic strap (from left over fabric from her Mom's corsage), and added a silver airplane charm (for Tom) and the letter "M" (for Dorothy's new last name). 

The Suits

 Tom's suit shirt on the right, the groomsmen on the left.  This was before we opted for bow ties and suspenders - Tom in white and the groomsmen in black.

The Dresses

Sapphire bridesmaid dresses all in a row (mine is on the right).  I love how Dorothy let us pick out our own dresses!

Mother's Corsages

I made the flower pins for my Mom and Dorothy's Mom and Grandmother.  I layered light aqua satin and sheer fabrics cut in scalloped flower shapes, and added a rhinestone button to the centers.  These were so pretty and something the Mom's could keep after the wedding.

Decorations

Pom-Poms

cut cut cut, fold fold fold...

The pom pom making process - what a mess...  I found a pom pom making tutorial online and went from there - I think I had about 4 different sizes.

 Steve and Abbey happily helping "fluff" the tissue pom poms - there were probably about one hundred...

Paper Pin-Wheel Backdrop

First, I made pinwheels from various scrapbook papers in the wedding colors. (The scoring/folding tool I used to make the invitations saved a lot of time and tired fingers on this project!  I just placed a score line at one inch intervals and then folded the papers like a fan) I hot glued them individually to 2 large canvases and they were hung behind the front main table where bride, groom, and wedding party sat creating a unique and easy, yet beautiful backdrop.

Each circle was made from 2 or 3 folded fans (the bigger, fuller circles, like the one at bottom left were made with 3 sheets of paper - accordion folded and then folded in half)  I used staples to connect the pieces.  Create variety by cutting shapes into paper or creating a scalloped edge by cutting a curve through all thicknesses of the fan edges and then open up.  I layered a few of the pinwheels on top of each other and cut circles out of coordinating papers with a craft punch.  Remember to keep sizes varied; texture and depth is important as well.

Cake Topper

I made the cake toppers from a little kit I bought on Etsy from Goosegrease - so cute!  I hand painted each piece to look exactly like the bride and groom on wedding day.  Tom and Dorothy had a small cake and these looked super cute!  (ignore the lip venom in the background - kind of an unintentional, yet funny, way to show scale...)

Final result on the cake.  I like how simple, yet absolutely personal these are.

 Moss Covered Initials

I started with foam core cut to make the "T" and "D" and glued the pieces together where needed.  The ampersand is more delicate so I just cut it out of cardboard.

I went outside to work with the moss - it was VERY messy.  I bought some "sheets" of craft moss online.  I had never worked with moss before so it was a little bit of trial and error.  I tore off chunks of moss from the sheet and cut up one inch sections of craft wire to create "U" shaped tacks.  I then tacked the moss down by pressing into the foam core.  When it was all tacked down I then wrapped the entire letter with clear fishing line - I wrapped it quite excessively, but it didn't show and stayed together well this way.  The ampersand was a little harder because I didn't make it out of foam so I stapled as much moss as I could straight to the cardboard, and then wrapped it with fishing line as well.  I then attached hemp rope tacked to the back to hang the letters.  The back side was left moss free, as it was going to be hanging against a wall.

 The final result looked great and it really wasn't too time consuming.

Second hand shopping for a good cause!

Ok, going on a little tangent here with this "fashion" post, but if you know me you know I love fashion and see it as part of my artistic personality. I'm not into high fashion, though, or "haute couture" as it is called, but simply enjoy finding a deal and turning something "kinda weird" into a fun outfit that nobody else saw potential in...

Here are 5 dresses/outfits that I picked up on Saturday with my Aunt at a local charity event for the YWCA. It was a brunch and fashion show with tons of tops, skirts, dresses, and jackets at discount second hand prices!! I spent from $15 to $25 max on each dress. Plus, the proceeds were going to help the women at the YWCA (can't get any better than that!)

1. Striped maxi dress. It's a little big at size 16, but cut on the bias it fits close to the body no matter what shape you are. A wide black belt was all it needed to look more "fitted". This dress was brand new with tag still attached priced at $200!! I got it for $25.

2. Nude crochet dress with fringe. This dress fits fine, but the shoulder pads need to go and possibly the sleeves as well. This one was labelled as "vintage" and I spent $20 on it - yay!

3. Polka-dot dress. This dress looked super silly on the hanger. It was all lopsided and scrunched up, but I have learned, especially with second hand clothing, that if it looks weird on the hanger it just might look fantastic on! This dress has shoulder pads that need to go as well, but over all the dress fits great. I have a red belt that looks awesome with it and of course my red heels :)

4. 100% silk tie dyed top and skirt. (Ok, I don't always look happy in these pictures - but believe me I am!! I just don't like taking pictures of myself...)

This set was another one that looked weird and artsy (in the wrong way) on the hanger. But I loved the feel of the fabric and the fact that it was hand made really made me want to give it a chance. Thank goodness I had a belt on with me at the event because this set looks great cinched in at the waist but absolutely terrible as a shapeless tie dyed mess. 
 I love it now and only paid $15 for it!!

5. Black velvet dress with faux fur collar. Ok, this was my last purchase and the grand finale. I call it the Russian Princess dress. Again, on the hanger, people were passing this baby up! It looked a little weird...but I had to try it on (I mean how could you not!) I love the faux fur neckline and was planning on making a cute winter tunic out of it. The velvet is super thick and luxurious but the fit is a little off. This dress will need the most adjustments, but I'm sure it'll be worth it. At only $25 I couldn't even buy the fabric for that! So, I've decided to keep it a dress, as after I tried it on everyone oohed and awwed at me... I will shorten the sleeves to 3/4 length and shorten the skirt to the knee so it's not quite as formal. Also need to take it in quite a bit and maybe find a fun belt to go with it!

So what do you think?! I haven't had such super fun shopping for quite a while. And I need to blow the dust off my trusty sewing machine and get down to some summer projects!! I can't wait, and maybe I'll even post the final results!!

:)

DIY Homemade Wedding Invitations!

List of Supplies:

-  Card Stock: Use "cover" weight for card base (I used PZ facets paper in "Pebble")

-  Various other card stock: Use "text" weight and "cover" weight for different parts of the invite  (I used a shimmery aqua in cover weight for the main wording and map base, a darker sapphire blue in text weight for the accent color, a light blue vellum for the map, a recycled brown paper-bag paper for the pocket and envelope, a dark brown woodgrain embossed paper for the outer sleeve, and some greens in different colors for the leaves.)

- A good paper cutter! This is very important...

- Sharp pair of scissors

- Scoring tool:  (I used a Score-It-All template - the pink thing shown in the pictures below)

-  Adhesives: (I used Tombow Mono Adhesive roller tape thingies in permanent and removable - I am now addicted to these!  And of course my trusty UHU stic)

-  Stamps and Ink:  (I used a Hero Arts dandelion stamp and Tombow acid free brush pens in two shades of turquoise and a green)

-  Various Marvy Punches for interest and shapes

-  Get photo "save the date" magnets (if so desired - I ordered mine from Vistaprint)

First lay everything out on a big table and do lots of research on the internet for inspiration!

Cut 8x10 card stock down to desired size.

Use Score-It-All or other scoring tool to place fold lines where planned.

I created two different folds here for a trifold card base.

Very straight and precise folds...

Even out score lines and fold card.

Cut out a small rectangle for pocket. Make sure to measure so that it will fit just right. I utilized a half inch fold on each side for adhering - see below...

Score around three edges to create pocket.

Cut little wedges at the two bottom corners - this allows the fold to be less bulky.

Use the nifty Marvy 1" circle punch to create a half circle cutout on pocket.

Center the punch so it creates a nice uniform notch like here.

Fold the three edges and glue corners with adhesive tape.

Using my Tombow adhesive tape around the pocket edges.

Center and adhere pocket to left side (or whichever side) of card base.

And Voila!  Looking super cute already...

Time to create the map!  I traced the roads from a printed google map of the area and added small clipart for the church, reception, and compass.  I drew the scroll and added info in a font I found on the internet that was decided to be the main font for the entire invite.  A bunch of cutting and pasting later and I scanned the entire map and resized (now if you have nifty photo editing software like Photoshop this can all be done on the computer - but I made due with what I got)  I recommend a decent scanner if you are going this route - I used an Epson Perfection V500 PHOTO scanner.

(This was the most frustrating part for me and took the longest)  Resize and lay out map so that it prints two maps side by side on a piece of vellum (again I guess if you had Photoshop this would be way easier).  I couldn't get the printer to print two on a page at the correct size for almost a whole day!  Oh my!  But I finally came up with the perfect result - with the help of my computer savvy brother - Persistence pays!

Cut vellum map to desired size so that it will fit in pocket when added to backing paper.

Cut map backing out of cover weight card stock to make it sturdy (I used a pretty shimmery aqua paper).  Attach vellum to card stock with Tombow adhesive.

Print out, cut, and glue together the center main wording for the invitation.  I found a nice font online and researched a few wording samples to come up with my own for a simple, casual looking invite.  Cut out a larger rectangle (about 1/4" larger on all sides) than the wording page to use as an accent color.  The wording here was printed on a cover weight shimmery aqua paper I used throughout and the accent was cut out of a text weight sapphire paper (you could reverse the weights here as either way would work).

I'm a little OCD (can you tell?) so I had to lay everything out in piles of 10 to make sure I made enough of each element for the invitation.  I love me some organization!

(Not pictured - sorry forgot to take pics)  I went through and hand colored the dandelion stamp with Tombow acid free brush pens (really quite easy!) and stamped each individual invitation.  Each one came out a little different and it was a tad time consuming, but I loved the unique awesomeness of the final result!
I also adhered the main wording to the center of card and slipped the map into it's pocket.  I used both my UHU glue stick and the Tombow adhesive for the center wording because it was a little thick and needed double duty stick.  I certainly didn't want the cards to fall apart as soon as someone opened it!

A much loved friend's assistance and caffeine is always beneficial.  Here my best friend Brad is helping me put the final invitations together... 

Stuffing pockets!

Adhere the photo "save-the-date" magnets to pocket.  I used Tombow Removable adhesive for the magnet so that it could be easily taken off and put elsewhere when received.  I discovered that the permanent stuff I was using for the rest of the invite left goobery residue to the back of the magnet - no thank you.  We ordered the magnets from Vistaprint.  This was much less expensive than using a typical wedding photo site (we just ordered typical business card sized magnets - I designed them using the easy to use website and bam!)  Plus we saved by buying in bulk which we needed anyway - win win.  All in all, it was a perfect idea and really made the invitations more personal with the added bonus of a forever keepsake for friends and family.

Almost done!  (Again, not pictured - silly me).  A box of card sleeves.  These were super simple to make.  Cut an 8x10 piece of woodgrain dark brown paper into 2" strips so that they are 2x10.  Use scoring tool to create two folding joints for a cleaner fold that will fit the card perfectly.  Fold together and glue edges together to create a "sleeve" (kind of like a Starbucks sleeve for a hot coffee cut - here I go using Starbucks references).  I then used a Marvy punch shaped like an oak leaf and punched out a bunch of those in green card stock.  Glue one leaf to the front of the sleeve and tie a knot (get it "knot" - i crack myself up).  I used natural twine for a rustic vibe, but ribbon would be pretty too.  And Voila! an easy way to play up the front of the card! (I found out later that a lot of the guests thought they were supposed to untie the knot to open the card... but it's supposed to just slide off - oh well).

And Done!
Revel in your handiwork... This looks great!  A super personal and unique wedding invitation that will be cherished by everyone.

So many invitations...

My brother and his fiancée LOVED the way these invitations turned out.

And the final result is pretty darn cute if you ask me!

I hope this gives you a little glimpse into what it takes to make your own invitations.  It's a little time consuming but worth it in every respect.

These will be mailed out soon and I can't wait for the big day!

There will be, of course, more DIY wedding inspired posts, I am sure, as I want to help out in whatever ways they need me...

           I love you Tom and Dorothy!