Stick a fork in me I'm [almost] done!

I decided that I was really going to start hammering out these invites. I purchased all the stamps I needed for the rsvp post cards. I have to wait until we get the actual mailing envelope so I know how heavy the invites will be before I can purchase the final stamps, but I came home and stuffed all the pocketfolds, put the stamps on the rsvps, and wrote names on the inner envelopes! Almost done, and it's starting to sort of kick in that we're actually doing this!! 2 months and some change and we'll be there! WOW!!

And, I am almost done with pomander #2. It didn't (well at least didn't seem to) take as long as the first one. I tried to do it step by step, as in stack, fold, and gather the tissue paper to however many I thought I needed. Then I cut the "petal outline", fluffed and put in the styrofoam ball. Also, I tried to spread them out a little more than the first one.

Do It Yourself... a little too much... and hair and make up call

I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I love craft projects, and putting things together, but taking on two really big DIY projects has got me going CrAzY!

My number one project is our invitations. Other than our pocketfold and rsvp postcard, I have printed, cut, and assembled everything myself. I gave an invite to one of our bridesmaids, and she just loved them! She kept telling me how professional they look! I think that she will want to use something like mine for her wedding next year because she told me I'd have to show her how I made them. My parents were really stunned by the look of them as well. I felt like my mom was really proud because she isn't too involved with the planning, and to actually see a project that I've been working on, she seemed to juts be amazed at my "creativity".




I'm really happy with the way they have come out! It hasn't necessarily been too time consuming, just boring mainly with the cutting. I've got 40 more to go, which I plan on completing today on my wonderful day off. :o)

Another project I have taken on, which has oddly been the biggest one yet, is our tissue paper pomanders. I worked and worked on one... ONE... yesterday for approx. 4 hours, and I got half way done! Maybe I'll make the flowers bigger so they take up more space, therefore not using as much time. It's a good thing I have 3 months to complete these!!!


Listed are the two websites where I found inspiration, and directions for these two amazing projects!
- Road to the Aisle blog. She has been amazing for DIY projects! I highly recommend using this blog as a guide to all of your projects!
- This is a knottie (a/k/a a person from theknot.com). I don't know who she is, but these directions were posted on a board that I follow on the knot.

I, also, blogged about my hair and make up trial that was coming up. I love the make up! We will be adding false eyelashes to really make my eyes pop. But my hair was a total disaster! It was nothing like what I had asked her to give me, and the sad part is I ended up spending about $65 on something that ended up falling out in about 1 hr. I will have to go back to try to work something else out as far as my hair goes.



Oh, and p.s. My dad and I were going over my taxes and he ended up making a small mistake! I don't owe the IRS money, I am actually getting money back! YAY!! Which, all the money will more than likely go to wedding things... haha...

DIY Envelopes

As I mentioned yesterday, I had to make my own envelopes for my STD cards. So, here's my step by step guide!

All my supplies:
Pencil, paper (8.5"x11"), scissors, and ruler
I laid my Save The Date's in the middle of the paper.
I folded the bottom up as far as needed to cover my STD.
Then I folded the sides in, and the top down.
I cut off the excess that I didn't need.
I measured approximately an inch from the bottom and top of the side flaps, and drew a diagonal line, then cut on the lines
Then I folded in the sides, and glued them to the bottom flap.
And VOILA! A custom envelope!!
In my previous post, I have a link for lick 'em glue to seal the envelope shut.

DIY paper QUEEN!

I decided today, since I had the entire day off and that Matt was on call all day, that I was going to start making my save the dates. Well, after a while of fidgeting and trying to get things perfect, I got it all together! Once, I figured out how I was going to do this, I was in the swing. It ended up being like a pocketfold, so maybe some practice for my invitations! Below are pictures and my step by step how to!

All my wonderful supplies before I started!!

I cut the magnet strips to my desired length
Then I attached them to the back
I started with the paper next. I cut to the desired size (because I started with the normal paper size of 8.5x11, I had to cut all the paper myself).
Then, I printed the information on the cardstock (I had two different ones. One for out of town, and one for in town guests)
Then I scored the paper to the correct folds.

When I folded the cardstock at the folds, I measured the distance for hole punches, and punched through the top.
I marked around the postcard/magnet and stuck some photo corners on the cardstock, then put my magnet in them. This is pretty much the finished product! When I close them, I tied a green ribbon through the holes to hold it together.

But once I finished, I realized that no one makes any envelopes the size that I needed... it was lovely. While trying to find a place that would make me a custom cut envelope, I came across many websites with DIY envelope tips, while they were all regarding just un-gluing a normal envelope, and tracing it on a piece of paper. I decided to try my hand at making an envelope for myself. After a couple of tries, I was successful! I even found this website that has glue for you to make for the seal! So, now I have my entire line of DIY to do for my save the dates. Hopefully I will do a couple a week, so then I can have them done in time for January, which is planned send out month. I have to say that today has been so rewarding! I can't wait to get my STD's in their hand made envelopes out!

Cutting Woes

We have already decided about what we will be giving out as favors. Now, my only problem is finding a way to cut the paper for those favors. We will be giving 2 in. terracotta pots, and attaching seed infused paper to them. While I was looking at different paper, yesterday, I came across a picture where the person glued the paper to a stick, and stuck it in the pot with some grass, and used it as an escort card. I LOVED it. We were still trying to figure out how to pull it all together as far as the paper and escort cards. So, I went on the search for seed paper that was cut like a flower. I came across a few sites with them, but it was ridiculously expensive for only 12! I've already found seed paper at $10 for a pack of 25 (normal 8x10) sheets. Now, I just want to find something to cut the paper into a flower cut out. I really don't feel like cutting 160 of them by hand. But, I also don't want to spend the money on those scrapbook cutting machines. Ugh... why does everything I find have to be so hard to do? Ah, the things you do for your dream wedding!

Guestbook and Angela and Andrew's wedding

I got out of the shower yesterday, and found a box on the bar. I realized that it was from mypublisher.com, and immediately ripped the box open. Inside, was our photo guest book! I thumbed through it, then thumbed through it again. I L-O-V-E it!! I can't wait to use it. Some of the pictures were kind of blurry, but not bad at all. Plus, I was happy that I found a coupon online and got $20 off my book. In the end, I paid about $15 including shipping. Now, I just have to find some archival pens!

Of course, I HAD to get a page with Harper!

Yesterday, we went to Angela and Andrew's wedding. It was beautiful, and elegant. Angela wore an amazing dropped waist, strapless gown with gorgeous beading. Their reception was in a beautiful building. The food was delicious, as she has a hard-core traditional Italian family. Just the eating took about 2 hours!! After, was all the dancing. There were a few mishaps as far as music, but everything seemed to work out in the end. They're going to Italy for their honeymoon, and I'm so jealous!!! They are such a great couple, and I'm so happy for them!

Good day

I had such an amazing day, today! Well, we've had a really great wedding week. Last weekend, we went back home and went to a different hotel. I LOVED the manager we worked with. She was so accomodating, and the price she gave us was fantastic. It was perfect for our guests.

Today, I went home to drop off Harper, and then went to a meeting with my "new" florist. He was amazing. He asked a lot of questions, and I feel like he really sees what I'm envisioning my wedding to be. When we got done, he told me how sophisticated my wedding is and everything. He said how it sounds really different and imaginative. He, also, said how he'll have some mock-ups of flowers for me in about a week and a half, then I can decide whether or not I want to book him. I'm so excited!!!!

Then, when I got back to my apartment, I checked the mail, and we got our Save The Dates!!!! They came out perfect! I just need to slap a magnet on the back, and print off the papers, and I can mail them out! We're waiting until, January, so I have plenty of time, but I'm really happy with the way they turned out!

Experiment - Dying flowers

Matt and I left for the weekend, but before we left, I took a picture of a blue spot on my mums! There were actually quite a couple on the petals, and I was really excited!!

day 2

When we returned the following day, I noticed that near the middle of the flowers, there was a blue-ish hue to the petals. There were, also, string like colors of blue on the bottom of the petals.

day 3

Today, they pretty much look the same, but I think that we need to purchase some flowers that are actually buds rather than in full bloom so there is more time to have the food coloring go through the flower.

day 4

I recently purchased a sample pocket fold from cardsandpockets.com. It came in the mail today, and it was great. They're really inexpensive as well. The only problem was that it wasn't the same color that I had thought and it wasn't the correct size for my invitations. When I went to see if I could get the correct pocket fold in my color, it wasn't available. But I didn't waste my $5 purchase! I did use it to get some measurements for my own DIY pocket folds. Here's an idea of what mine will look like, using the pocket fold that I received from cardsandpockets.com.

I, also, ordered a photobook from mypublisher.com, today. I'm so excited to receive it! It's going to be used for our guest book during the reception. I was also really happy because I found a coupon for $20 off, so I only ended up paying $10! I'll update when I get it!! yay! For now, here's our "online" version!

Aisle Runner, DONE! And e-pic album

I started our customized monogrammed aisle runner yesterday, and finished it today. It wasn't exactly hard, but it did hurt my back, bending over it all the time. I'm so happy with the way it turned out!! Pics of various stages below!!

Tracing the outline of our monogram (cold beer with me)

After I painted the green

Painting on the blue
After the blue

All Done!!!!

I left the blown up monogram underneath the aisle runner. I was scared that I would paint the wrong area on the monogram since it was kind of "weavy". It ended up pretty much being like a huge paint by numbers project. I also traced the outline with the paint so it would look smoother. It was a lot easier than I had anticipated, and I'm really happy with the outcome of it!

I've also started a small experiment as far as dying flowers. I bought some cheap mums from the store, and put them in some water with blue food coloring in it. I'll keep posted on how they're doing!

day 1

We also have our entire cd from our engagement pictures! I uploaded the majority of our favorites to here.
Password: dinaandmatt

First few things are DONE!

Yay! I don't know if it's the weather, or if it's the anticipation of our one year mark that has gotten me so motivated, but I have started getting some things done! I have made my 2 first DIY projects, and ordered our champagne flutes!

My champagne flutes are June Lane by Kate Spade. My next project is doing our aisle runner! I'm so happy that I'm so motivated!!





















Aisle runner like this (taken from blog www.roadtotheaisle.blogspot.com)