DIY Ring Bearer Signs c/o Martha Stewart

Martha had these templates on her site, thought i'd whip some signs up quick. the idea is that at the proper moments, the ring bearer will hold up the corresponding sign, for a kodak moment ;) and just for the sake of cuteness! i'm not so sure of my color selection. and i need to tie on a little ribbon or something.

Wedding Hair?

So this was my inspiration for my wedding hair:

so how do i go from this to that?

here's how.... with extensions!!!

DIY Bride & Groom Signs

my mom messaged me this cute pic idea she'd like us to do. she's just as crafty creative as i am. maybe more ;)

so i headed over to my favorite wedding resource http://www.theweddingchicks.com/ and checked out their printable section. and voila! my signs

i love free templates! and the cool thing about the wedding chicks, is that you can select your wedding colors, and it will generate for you!

DIY Self Catering for wedding reception

I've discovered one more thing to enable us to better self cater our own wedding reception. Look what walmart has for $10!

DIY pew cones - doiles and dollar tree flowers

just made 20 of these cute pew cones to adorn the lovely pews at the ceremony. simple to make too!

you'll need hot glue gun, card stock, 10inch paper doiles, grossgrain ribbon, and dollar store flowers

use card stock to make a cone for the foundation. i learned that this was better than just using the doily as is. made it more sturdy. you can use a plate as a template, to make the cone even.

then take one doily and center the cone. lightly glue to doily. be careful with this, i burned myself several times.

measure the ribbon your desired length, mine are 22 inches long. fold in half, and glue inside to the cardstock.

place your flowers inside and voila! it took me about an hour to make half of these. simple project that adds a nice bit of pizazz to your ceremony decor.

here are some pics of mine in action!

DIY wedding bubbles for cheap!

i landed a ton of bubbles at walmart thanks to the valentine's day sale. got 150 of them for only $4! awesome deal! used simple address labels to create personalized labels, and there ya go! i might tie some twine on to finish them up. but they're good for now.

DIY wooden door monograms

This was probably one of the most simple and quick projects yet. got some inspiration from martha stewart, and picked up some wooden letters for cheap. just sand them if needed (i didn't lol), then stain or paint, hot glue ribbon to the back, and that's it! these will hang on either door of the entrance to the chapel

total cost <$4

DIY vintage travel theme rice alternative

we're not having rice thrown at our heads for our wedding. and avoiding bird poo... nuff said... we're using something that ties right into our vintage travel theme! ready for this... da da daaa...

paper airplanes!

i simply got a pack of origami paper, and began folding them up. printed off a sign and framed it in a vintage wood frame, and packed it all in one of my favorite vintage suitcases. these pictures don't do it justice. but the colors are so vibrant and just... gorgeous. can't wait to see the photographer's pics of these :) it's gonna be so neat to have a photo of us like this:

what will you be tossing at your wedding?

DIY wedding hair & clip in extensions

I am in love with ebay. Some friends even call me the "ebay queen." I wouldn't go that far, but I do know my way around. For the wedding I've been  dreaming of long hair, and seeing as mine is only shoulder length and I have about 40 days to grow luscious locks, I've looked into extensions. Prices on professional extensions are a bit too thru the nose for me, so I started researching. And guess what?! eBay has a wide selection of clip in hair extensions. So I splurged (for me) and opted to experiment.
here are the actual clip in hair extensions i got. They're 22.99 for 14 pieces. and that includes free shipping. each extension is attached to a comb like clip that pops in super easy. and they hold firmly. you just follow the directions on their listing and it's so simple.
here is a before photo of my hair at normal length and style

and after just 20 minutes or so of combing and clipping... here i am with extensions

and here's the back & sides:

i think it looks absolutely amazing! my mom thinks i look like a mermaid. these extensions seem to be really secure and of good quality. i may just wear them more than once. i feel oh so schmexy!

i also found a bump it - as seen on tv product - at the dollar tree. so i thought i'd try that out too. so here i am rocking my bump it, clip in extensions and veil. i'm thinking i may have this down pat already. total cost? $31.00 plus tax. and that includes veil, bump it & extensions!!!

DIY Travel Theme Bridesmaid Gifts

I saw these super cute little wooden suitcases at Michael's and snatched them up!

I'm still not sure what to put in them. Probably some type of jewelry. Since our wedding theme is vintage travel i decided to go with the flow. First I used acrylic to paint each little suitcase with a retro esque color. I really wish I'd used turquoise!

then i used antiquing medium to stain and age it

I then found some travel stickers via Google images. Downloaded and printed on regular copy paper and mod podged it to one side of each suitcase

and that's it! my cute little suitcases! i think i might use a bit of brown craft paper to make a "thank you" or name tag for each, then attach with jute or twine. the future hubby loves them. and i'm oh so pleased. the inside is painted black, but i'm thinking i might put a piece of felt in it. I'll post again when the real gift is inside!

diy mustache on a stick photo booth prop for reception

I thought these mustaches were so cute, i decided to try making my own.

You will need:
sculpey or fimo clay
acrylic paint
paintbrushes
sticks
hot glue

shape or cut out your pieces and bake. then paint to suit

use hot glue to attache stick. i did all mine as for right handers, so consider mixing it up. I will on my second batch

and here's the finished product!

and here is bryan playing around with one lol

DIY uplighting for wedding reception

i've been combing thru google search after google search for ideas and tutorials on diy uplighting for a reception. and it just seems like it cost so so much to accomplish it. well, on a whim, i visited home depot. and look what i found!

 red bulbs for $1.98 and lamps for $6.47

 and get a load of this baby! a mini uplight for $11.97! the bulbs cost 3/$9.99 or $7.99 for a high powered

 and here is how it looks with the lights out at 7 o'clock on location.

I got 4 red and 4 white lights now, for a grand total of $105. I need some stands of some sort to angle the red ones, and extension cords to set them up just right. but i think it looks great. and another point, is that i can rent them out to other brides in my area via craigslist. plust it's another resource for my youth ministry. i'm sure we can use the lights for plays or something.
what do you think? will this be bright enough for when the sun sets? i really don't want to use the overhead lighting at all. i'll also have candles on all tables and christmas lights in various places. i'm hoping photos turn out good

DIY RSVP Post cards

So I've decided to go with postcards for the RSVPs. not only because they cut postage costs down, but also because they're just so darn cute!

i used www.weddingchicks.com to make a custom monogram. Printed it in 4s on cardstock, then cut to USPS specifications and size.

 and here's the lovely back

 i printed mine in black and white, so i could mass produce with a copier, and then went over the bottom text in red, and the monogram in aqua with colored pencils. it doesn't save time, necessarily, but it does save me from buying yet another ink cartridge!

I'll upload & share my postcard template for Word with you, once I find a good host for my files. All you do is plug in your custom image!

DIY Flower Girl Basket

I made the flower girl basket!

How to:

You will need:
-wire (i used floral wire)
-scissors or wire cutters
-silk flowers
-beads
-piece of fabric

Separate the blooms from the stems

Next remove the extra little green piece, and then trim down the stem

next cut your wire into 4 inch pieces

fold the wire piece in half, and tread a bead onto it. it'll help keep your flower secure

Thread the folded wire thru the flower, from top to bottom.

pull wire taught. it's ok that the bead will show a bit, that's why we're using tiny and pretty beads!

the loose ends will hang from the bottom like so

now begin intertwining your flowers into the basket weave

pull it taught

twist the wire

and snip the loose ends, and tuck the twist in.

Continue adding the blooms all over the basket

i even covered the bottom!

Get your fabric lining and hot glue inside. i only glued around rim beneath blooms, so that "seam" would be hidden

tuck it in all around

to finish it up, wrap ribbon around handle for the full length, and hot glue down.

and here it is finished with some aqua/teal flower petals! how does it look? I'm thinking maybe i could add two tiny teal/aqua bows on either side at the base of the handle. What do you think?