(Re) Chic

This one's really simple, all you need is stuff you want to keep and a shadowbox. Make sure you go to Hobby Lobby when they're 50% off!! My choice I chose a box that had a magnetic front so that I didn't have to create my design and then put it in the box, I was already adding it to the box right away, that would be my recommendation if you have anything fragile.  But if you're just doing photographs a removable back shadowbox would be fine. Begin assembling. Arranging  I decided I didn't want to hot glue the flowers directly into the box just in case something happened in the future and they didn't look pretty anymore.  So I measured some paper to fit in the exact corner where I wanted my blooms. My flower template Glue your flowers onto your template with your favorite craft glue, I used E6000 but I'm sure hot glue would work just fine.  Be sure to give them an extra shake to free any of the silica dust from the drying process! An...

The bouquets for my wedding were beautiful, full of my favorite flowers in my favorite colors with all the texture and wonderfulness you expect from a professionally done bouquet. I really wanted to have my bouquet freeze dried but for $150 just to dry it and then more to have it mounted it just wasn't in the budget to have done.  Not to mention the anxiety I felt about having to mail someone my bouquet.  So we researched an alternative option. I read this tutorial , which was super helpful and it convinced me that this was doable.  So we went to JoAnns bought our Silica gel, and went to work. Here's the product we used-we bought 6 jars We didn't want to have to drive back to JoAnn's half way through the project so we bought 6 jars of product, you'll probably need more than that if you do your whole bouquet (more on that in a second). First, you'll want to take your bouquet apart, I waited WAY to long, seriously I would recommend doing this the da...

As I mentioned in the previous post about our mini chandelier I really wanted to add some glam to my wedding but I didn't exactly have the budget to pull it off.  Here's where chandeliers really come into play, big showpieces...and in my case not a lot of dough! We started with two different sized hula hoops.  Depending on exactly how big you were going you could start with wreath forms or any other round objects.  I spray painted mine gold since they were two different colors.   Once they were dry I used ribbon to hang them one inside the other.  I would recommend using fishing line for this instead because depending on the kind of beads you use you can see the ribbon sticking out.  Make sure that your hoops are evening spaced from one another all the way around.  I hung mine from the ceiling to ensure that it hung straight.  Attaching my two hoops Now you need some glam, I ordered these beads from Amazon and they worked great....

I wanted to institute some glam elements into my wedding reception.  What better way than with a gorgeous chandelier? My base is a wire basket meant for a hanging plant.  I spray painted it a champage/gold color and proceeded to try draping some beads I got at a garage sale to see what I thought....as you can see I still needed some inspiration. Not my best work I quickly realized I needed a much smaller hoop at the top where my beads could start and then it would be much easier to attach them at the bottom.  I decided to use a mason jar lid ring.  Inside of ring I cut strands to an approximate length I wanted them and then glued the top of each strand to the inside of my mason jar lid....be careful, hot glue on metal ring is hot-hot-hot! View from above From above you can see that they're in there nice and cozy, make sure you glue them in well because this is essentially where all of the beads on your chadelier are going to hang fr...

I had decided that I didn't want my flower girls to sprinkle petals because of clean-up but I still wanted them to carry something floral.  So instead of baskets I made them each a flower ball to carry down the aisle.   At $15 a piece from Hobby Lobby I knew I could do better on my own!   I started with Wiffle balls, added flowers and voila! For $2 a pack you can't beat it! I purchased flower bushes from the Dollar Tree, so you got 5-6 blooms for $1.  Don't do what I did and ruin your normal scissors by cutting the stems...use wire cutters or say goodbye to your scissors.   Ruining my scissors Hot glue the flowers-one into each hole. Don't forget to string a ribbon through so they can carry them! Glue Gun for the win! And the finished product! Voila! Can't wait to see my little ladies carrying them down the aisle! Cost Breakdown:  3 wiffle balls: $2 Ribbon: had from another project Flowers: 7 per ball at $1 each: $2...

As you know weddings are EVENTS and wedding invitations come with lots of crap.  So, I wanted to create a beautiful pocket to house my invitations so that everything wouldn't fly out of the envelope when someone opened it (we skipped the formality of inner envelopes).  I priced some on Etsy and realized that there was no way I could afford pockets until I found a DIY solution.  So here they are...lovely pockets...designed by me! Original mockup The first thing that was decided were the dimensions.  I knew that oversized envelopes were extra postage so I decided to keep them at a 5x7 size (not to mention ease of finding envelopes for them).  Actually, they ended up being more like 5.5 x 7 because we decided the easiest thing to do was to fold an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper in half to create our fold.  I also recommend a bone folder if you have access to one, such crisp fold lines! Our basic shape: upside-down Borrowed things are the best things ...

I just wanted to say that its really getting real cause the bridesmaids dresses have arrived!  So wedding things are really happening! In other "getting real" news someone brought up "SMART" goals the other day and its occurred to me that I've been kinda a wimp about my goals so its time to get real about them.  For those of you that don't know SMART stands for "Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely" basically its saying that if your goals are not all of these things...you're never going to move toward them.  And then of course you need to work out the steps on how to get there.  So here goes, no more wishy-washy. Here are some SMART goals for my life, no more holding back.  1. Lose 20 pounds by our trip to Put-in-Bay S & M (LOL): 20 pounds A: I have gained more than that amount of weight in the past few months, so its not like I'm trying to reach an unattainable weight goal.  R:Trust me, after the "eat e...

When I was first shopping for wedding dresses I got really discouraged because there were not alot of options with pink accents.  And then I bought a dress that was PERFECT, except for its lack of pink. But then I read this article on OffBeat Bride  and saw this on Wedding Bee  where the woman dyed her own crinoline and it was AMAZING!  So I became determined that I would do the same thing to give it the pop of color my wedding day deserves.  So join me for the adventure! Step One: Obtain Crinoline.  This one is actually our test subject.  A friend of a friend gifted me what I assume is a pretty expensive one from her local bridal shop (she's my same size) so when I found this one for a few dollars at the thrift store I figured it would be worth ensuring that it was successful BEFORE putting permanent dye on a very expensive piece of fabric. You know its good when it stands all alone Step Two: Wash.  You usually start with wet items w...