Wedding Round-Up

This summer is definitely turning out to be the summer of weddings! We've got currently got four going on this summer, 2 of which are here in Pittsburgh and the other two in my hometown of Chambersburg, PA. I am honored to be a bridesmaid in one of our two weddings in July and my hubby will be a groomsman in a wedding in August. Our wedding season. kicks off this Saturday with my sweet cousin Katelyn's wedding. In honor of her wedding, the millions of weddings taking place this summer and finding true love and celebrating it with those you love the most, I've put together a round-up of all things wedding! Enjoy!

Favors

1. Gumball machine favors, featured on The Knot, Best of 2013 Weddings

2. Sparkler favors, by Marry Grams store on Etsy

3. Flip flop favors, featured on Wedding Chicks

4. Sunglasses for guests by Southbound Bride

5. S'more kit favors by Elizabeth Anne Designs

Photography

1. Bridesmiad photo detailing how each girl knows the bride, courtesy of Brides of Adelaide, featured on Buzzfeed

2. Cute pose of bride and groom framed by the flower girl and ring bearer, original post unknown

3. Remind guests of how to share pics on Instagram, by Wild Whim, featured on Buzzfeed

4. Photo of bride and groom holding their parents' wedding day pics, original post unknown

Decòr

1. Decorate the ends of the aisles with pics of the bride and groom growing up, by Its a Bride's Life, featured on Buzzfeed

2. Sweet way to place guests name under their table number, by Sortrature

3. Adorable sign encouraging guests to bust a move, by Ashley Biess via Etsy

4. Date ideas jar, featured on weddingwire.com and Buzzfeed

Flowers

1. Gorgeous pastel bouquet, courtesy of Lover.ly

2. Vibrant, jewel tones bouquet, by Erin Volante Floral blog

3. Pretty in pink bouquet, by The Full Bouquet blog

4. Beautiful, floral centerpiece, courtesy of Fleur blog

5. Colorful, hand-tied bouquet, by Houston Wedding blog

6. Perfect for Fall bouquet (original post unknown)

Programs and Place cards

1. Playbill style wedding program, by Ladybug Pixels shop on Etsy

2. Fanned wedding program, by Punky Posh shop on Etsy

3. Burlap and bows place cards, by Spools and Bobbins shop on Etsy

4. Personalized program idea, by Designs by DVB shop on Etsy

Interchangeable Accessories for Baby



My sweet little accessories model


While I don't claim to be a fashionista by any stretch of the imagination, with the birth of my little sweetheart, Claire, I am now starting to live vicariously through her wardrobe! The options for baby girl clothing are truly limitless...Unfortunately, the money in my wallet is not! This project allows me to fashionably and affordably dress my little sweet pea to my heart's content!



Dollar Store Items purchased





Flowers created using ribbon



Rolled flowers created using the ribbon lining of the tutu



Bows created courtesy of green and white scarf and ribbon



Organza flowers made using tutu fabric



Fabric flowers made using scarf material

 
Materials:

-baby onesie
-green and white, striped scarf
-purple ribbon
-baby tutu
-headbands (sold in set of four)
(items above were all purchased at my local Dollar Tree)
-scissors
-glue gun
-Velcro (iron-on or sewable)
-needle and thread

Instructions:

1. Wash and iron onesie

2. Adhere a small piece of soft Velcro to the area on the onesie you wish to be embellished. Do the same to the corresponding headbands.

3. Adhere a small piece of rough Velcro to the back of each bow and flower embellishment. Note: The embellishments I created came from a variety of online tutorials, projects I have created before, and simply playing around with the materials I purchased. The sky is the limit, as far as the type of embellishments you choose to make!

4. Here comes the fun part...Mix and match embellishments to create multiple, adorable outfits and accessories! Add a cute tutu or skirt to complete the look (check out the "tututorial" for a simple baby tutu like Claire's in a former blog post)!




One of many possible onesie/headband combinations





Claire modeling outfit number 2! She was waaaay too wiggly for a really good shot of the accessories, but you get the idea!






Another shot of my wiggly wonder!

  

Felt Quiet Book-Part 1

I've been dying to post this craft project, but seeing as how one of these items is a baby shower gift for my sister, I had to wait until the baby shower actually occurred before I posted. Because the baby shower is today at 2:00.

I found pictures of felt quiet books online and thought they were absolutely the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Of course, I had to make one (or, what I thought would be one until I got on a roll and ended up completing a second one in the process). I used 8.5x11 felt sheets for the pages and cover of the book  and scraps of felt that I have been stock-piling from other projects for the page details and movable pieces. While I cut out some of the felt pieces myself, I also printed clip art images onto iron-on transfers for the pieces that required additional details, as my artistic abilities are limited, and ironed them onto pieces of felt. I cut out rectangular pieces of felt and put Tacky glue around the sides to paste to the felt pages to the left of each corresponding page, forming a pocket for storage of movable pieces.

After everything was glued down and cut out, I sewed all of the pages together to bind the book and added an iron-on transfer to the cover with the book’s title and author (moi!).  My sister is having a children’s book themed baby shower, so I am super excited to give her one of the quiet books, along with a few other children’s books I love (as a teacher, I am officially and completely obsessed with children’s books). The second quiet book will go to my unbelievably adorable and sweet niece, Camdyn, who is almost 9 months old. While neither book recipient will be able to use the book independently for a little while, I know that they will grow to appreciate and love them (and hopefully use them to give their parents a little peace and quiet while out and about as an added bonus

Here are pictures of the second quiet book. Tomorrow, I will post pictures of the quiet book that will officially be my sister's in just a short while.

Fabric Roses Embellished Throw Pillow

After deciding to “upgrade” the couch cushions in our household, there was one pillow remaining that I couldn’t bear to get rid of without first attempting to update it myself. Using blue cotton fabric (because the pillow itself was brown and I love a good brown/blue combo!), I cut out a 4” and 6” circle. Using the 6” circle, I cut in a circular motion until reaching the center of the circle so that, if picked up from the center, it formed what looked like a coil. After spreading the coil out, I began using a glue gun to glue the tail of the fabric to the outside edge of the 4” circle, coiling it around and securing with glue until reaching the center of the circle. I created two smaller rosettes using 2” and 4” circles and glued all three to the upper corner of the pillow. TADAH!!!

There are a MILLION other ways to create fabric rosettes, carnations, poppies, you name it, there is a way to recreate it using fabric. Here is a cool link that gives instructions for a variety of them!

http://tipnut.com/fabric-flowers/

Blossoming Tree Centerpiece



I am all about designing on a dime, so I decided to borrow from the bounty of free items Mother Nature has to offer. Using a square vase that I have had forever, I filled it with a variety of “river rocks” (that I couldn’t find in nature, so I bought from a dollar store) and placed three of my favorite branches found outside into the vase. To make the flowers, I used five sheets of tissue paper that I folded like a fan and cut into 4” pieces (for smaller flowers). I used jewelry wire to wrap around the center of each tissue paper fan, leaving a tail of wire to be used later. Carefully pull each layer of tissue paper toward the wire in the center on one side and do the same to the opposite side. Once your flower is completed to your satisfaction, use the wire to twist around any part of the branch you would prefer. Repeat this process until your “tree” is decorated the way you want.

In case you’re as much of a visual learner as I am, here is a link showing how to make a variation of tissue paper flowers somewhat like mine. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Tissue-Paper-Flowers