Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Wedding Wednesday: DIY Craft Ideas

According to my JoAnn Fabric & Craft Store app, March is National Craft Month.  Seems like a good excuse to talk about a couple of DIY ideas to use for your wedding. 

 These painted hangers are a nice & special touch for hanging your wedding gown and bridesmaid's dresses on.  They can cost quite a lot each to have painted for you.  

Don't think you can wield a paintbrush steadily enough to pull this off?  No problem!!  Craft stores carry decals that can be rubbed directly onto the hanger with a popsicle stick.  

Paint pens have made me look like an actual artist in the past!!  This marvelous invention is a pen that writes with paint instead of ink.  Perfect for handwriting names or sentimental sayings onto projects.

When you are done, paint on a layer of Mod Podge to seal it all in. 

Personalized clear glasses are a really nice project too.  It's a very thoughtful touch that your wedding party can take home to remember your wedding every time they drink out of it.
Click here for a good tutorial on painting and heat-setting your glasses.  I used this as a guideline to make some glass coffee mugs for Christmas gifts, and they have held up nicely.

A few sample ideas for some patterns that you can try.  



Next is the very best tip I have ever come across for making this craft work.  (Yes, once again, thank you Pinterest!!)  


Print out or draw your design on a piece of paper, tape it INSIDE the glass, then trace. 
Oh yeah!!  Way easier than trying it freehand.  

Go ahead, set aside an evening or afternoon and give one of these a try.  You can do it!! 

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Wedding Wednesday: Spring Wedding Inspiration



Happy Wedding Wednesday!!  I didn't have enough time to jot down a blog worth reading for today, so instead, here is a little inspiration for the Spring season that we are so very close to. I hope it gets you in to mood for sunny, warm weather and outdoor celebrations.










Monday, March 10, 2014

Holiday How-to's: St. Patrick's Day


 St. Patrick's Day will be here in just one week, although most celebrations are probably happening over the weekend just before it.  Even if this isn't a big holiday for you and yours, there are plenty of simple things that you can do to make the day special and fun.  

What does St. Patrick's Day make pop into your mind?  For me, it's the color green, shamrocks, corned beef & cabbage, rainbows, and beer!!  All of these (with the exception of the beer, of course) can be geared toward a kid-friendly crowd or a bunch of rowdy adults.  

Green someplace on your body is an absolute necessity if you don't want to get pinched.  If everyone at your party already has on their green, you could add some variety to this game by picking a taboo word, (cheers, beer, leprechaun, etc...) to use instead.  Catch someone saying it in conversation and pinch away!!  It's always best to pick a word related to the festivities, but still very common in everyday speech so that it's more difficult to not say it.  

If you are lucky enough to find an actual four-leaf clover, hang onto it.  Mostly you will run across the much more common 3-leaf variety.  I spent plenty of time optimistically looking as a kid, and it's comparable to finding a needle in a haystack.  A much easier (and quicker) way to find one is to just make your own. 

You can find all of these on my Pinterst board.  Above are shamrocks cut
from a spinach leaf, below are green peppers, and to the right is an
adorable hair-do that I was not able to replicate myself, but if you have
any skill at all with hair, you should be able to manage it.




Next on my list is corned beef & cabbage.  I am more of a sauerkraut than cabbage kind of gal.  Even though I am not a huge fan, it has kind of become tradition since every restaurant on the parade route in my town has it ready to eat and usually (bonus!!) for free.  I wish I had a recipe to share with you, but unfortunately the only one I had that I actually loved the taste of has been lost.  (sad face)  As soon as I can find it, or a similarly good one, again I will put it in a safe place to share with everyone another year.  Until then, I will be leaving that cooking up to someone else!!  Do you have a favorite recipe for this dish?  Please feel free to share with all of us below or on my Facebook page.


  Now for my favorite...RAINBOWS!!  While I do like the color green, I prefer this excuse to use lots of colors to decorate and party with. 

 One of my successfully attempted pins from the past is simple to execute, but it does take a little extra time to separate, color, & layer the cake batter.  The actual recipe link is included, but the picture is the product my very own handiwork!!  


Rainbow cupcakes


Here is another pin that worked when I tried it.  Skittles Vodka!!  These turned out to be a LOT of work, but the shots were super yummy.  I wasn't able to find cheesecloth to strain with, so I did coffee filters.  I do NOT suggest this to you.  I believe the cheesecloth might have made things go a little quicker.  This year I believe I will try my hand at making colored ice cubes to be added to a clear beverage.  If it works, I will put pictures up on Instagram.  (and Facebook, and Twitter!!)  

"Taste the rainbow!!"  Skittles vodka shots


One more idea I would like to share in the rainbow section of this post is this adorable rainbow of fruit.  This pic is from my Pinterst board because I don't think there will be enough people at my home this year to eat all of the fruit I would need to buy to make this.  Personally, I would switch the mini-marshmallows for a yummy fruit dip.  My fave is simply 1 block of cream cheese & 1 small jar of marshmallow creme mixed together.  
Rainbow fruit and "gold coin" bananas
And finally, beer!!  I myself am not a big beer fan (unless hot wings are involved), but it's hard to not have just one green one on St. Patrick's Day.  Wanna know the big secret?  Drip a drop of green food coloring in the bottom of a mug, then pour in the beer.  Super-duper simple!! 

 Last year we stumbled across an alternative much more interesting to me.  We decided to watch the annual parade from a local winery which was offering their delicious wine blend in green for the day.  Yet another option, green mimosas.  While the same trick would work, this time I added a dash of Blue Curacao to the champagne and orange juice mix to give it this tint.  These are great for a pre-parade brunch.

Green "Casa Cooler"
Green Mimosa




  Well, there are a few ideas I want to try, and a few that have been successful for me in the past.  Please feel free to share your ideas, too.  I LOVE finding new things to try!!












Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Wedding Wednesday: PURPLE!!

Even though the 2014 Lake of the Ozarks Bridal Show (#LakeBridalShow) is over for this year, I still have it on the brain.  


I had such a great time meeting so very many different brides and grooms.  There were a lot of fun people there that I can't wait to work with!!  

While looking for a little inspiration for this week's blog, I decided to use the GORGEOUS "Concord Grape" tablecloth at the back of my booth, that Connie Duglin Specialty Linens was kind enough to let me borrow, to inspire me.   Plus it's my very favorite color in the world.  (And my birthstone!!)


Not only did I fall in love with this tablecloth the minute I saw it, but so very many people stopped to comment about how gorgeous it was, it was nice to know that it wasn't just me thinking so.  Next step, check out Pinterest and some other online pages to see similar things to go along with it.  

Purple Rose Pomanders
Purple Ombre Rose Cake
Both of these options have the same look of the tablecloth, but on a little bit smaller scale.  I wouldn't use these ideas right on top of each other, but in the same room would definitely work.  Throwing in a nice solid tablecloth or accent material in a complimentary color (like pink or silver) would work beautifully.  





Now for some fashion accents.  The heel on the left would look gorgeous on a bridesmaid or maybe even as a pop of color peeking out from beneath a long white gown.  The heels on the right might seem a little loud for most (not all) weddings, but I LOVE them, so how about for the bachelorette party?  Sounds like a great excuse to me!! 
Purple Strappy Heel

Purple Sparkly Heel



This ring isn't traditional at all, but so romantic with the double-hearts and swirling gold.  

Amethyst double-heart ring

Lavender is a great scent and flavor to use all around the reception.  This Lavender Lemonade would be a really nice, extra touch.  The link below also gives tips on the kind of lavender to use.  
Lavender Lemonade
Most of the decorations here are in white, but the lighting gives the entire room a purple glow than sets an amazing mood and makes the room look even more decorated than it is.  Great lighting is a very worthwhile expense if you can find a spot for it in your budget.

Purple Lighting
Well, there are just a few purple ideas to wet your creative appetite.  All it takes is one item that catches your eye to get the ideas flowing.  Before you know it, an entire wedding has formed around that one thing.  "Themes" sometimes just happen on their own when you let inspiration take over.

  


Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Back in the game!!

Ok, here I am, FINALLY trying my hand at blogging again.  I spent a little longer procrastinating than I realized.  Looking back, I quit writing 2 years ago!!  Oh my.

So, today's entry won't be the most informative blog, but more about me getting some words down so that the first one is out of the way.  LOL  I have been giving it a lot of (maybe too much) thought, and I have plenty of ideas to start writing about.  Some things I want to cover on a regular basis are:  holidays, weddings, wedding-related parties, kid's birthdays, bargain hunting/budgeting, and DIY decorations.  The goal is weekly.  The dream is twice a week.  

I will spend time today working on a Wedding Wednesday blog for tomorrow.  Oooh... that will be 2 posts this week.  Almost livin' the dream. Ha !!  

Check back often, and I promise to try to inform and entertain you on a regular basis.  I LOVE interacting with others, so please feel free to comment and send your subject ideas.  Also, visit with me through Facebook and Twitter.  I have an Instagram account, but that is another place that I don't spend a lot of time but would like to increase.  Photos are one of my favorite hobbies, but I just need to get in the habit of remembering to snap pics when I see something cool.  

Talk at you soon!!