{dress}ed to impress

i may be jumping back and forth between past and present since there was so much that I did during our wedding that I couldn't talk about, for fear of spoiling the suprise. of course, I couldn't talk about my wedding gown because it was to be surprise and I didn't want to spoil that. as I talk about my current and future projects, I can't forget some of the ones that I'm most proud of, so I must gush a little :)

as I posted in one of my first posts back this year, i had a few pictures of our wedding, and the dress. since this post is going to be about the transformation, i will begin with the finished look.

the wedding dress for every girl is the biggest deal. it is probably, depending on who you are, the most expensive single item of clothing you will purchase in your life. every girl dreams of what her's will look like, and the quest to find that dress is one that will consume your time and energy until it is yours. shows like Say Yes to the Dress promote the importance of that moment when you look in the mirror, and tears well up in your eyes. The moment you have found the one (dress).

I started my dress journey with my mom and sister. I was so excited to try on a dress and see what I was going to look like as a bride. It's a very special moment in any girl's life. I wasn't successful on my first trip out, nothing seemed to be the one. I was disappointed but knew I would find it, eventually. To make a long story short, I went to almost every bridal store within a 30 mile radius. Weekend after weekend I spent my days searching, and coming up empty handed. I was so discouraged and was not sure if I would ever find what I was looking for. One Saturday I stumbled into Bella Bridal, in West Bloomfield, Michigan, and my journey ended. There was a Essense of Australia trunk show. I tried on a couple of dresses and still wasn't feeling anything. Why couldn't I find something that seemed timeless, classy, romantic, and had an interesting neckling? I was again frustrated. I then tried on this number:

I should mention that this didn't make sense at first. I had been looking for a bateau neckline, and definitely not strapless. Sonia, the owner took a piece from another dress, and showed me how we could customize the dress. She added the piece, and then added a beautiful beaded belt, and then it happened. .I teared up, and finally had my moment. This dress had the most beautiful lace and was so romantic. I knew that this was the dress. At that point my budget was out the window, and I was moving on to the make it happen for the dress that made my heart feel full. If I couldn't find my dress, I was going to make my dress.

Six months later the dress came in and lacey piece by lacey piece, literally, we started to transform and create the look that I wanted. every month or two I would go in a see what we wanted to do next. little my little, my dream was becoming a reality. Sonia would get so excited to see the progress, and would tell me how beautiful it was. I picked a beautiful beaded belt from Etsy shop, Luxe Bridal Couture and my grandmother's earrings and broach to complete the look. Since my dress was so detailed, I chose a simple veil from David's bridal.

my dress through the year of making -
also shows the transformation that my trainer was making to my weight & back fat :)

I went to all of my appointments alone, until my final fitting, and so this project was all of me, and no one else. It made it that much more special when my mom and sister were able to come to my final fitting, and see the process come full circle. this dress still holds such a special place in my heart. I hope that in years to come I still look back at the pictures and feel that this was the dress of my dreams. I fantasize that my daughter would want to wear it, and that it doesn't seem like something from 2013, whatever that will mean in the future.

{envelope}d

as a follow up to my {thank}ful blog post, i'm going to gush about DIY envelopes. i absolutely loved the product of the thank you cards and envelopes, and just realized i should never have to buy another envelope again. all the supplies are in my house, and with the simple use of a template, the possibilities are endless! by pairing these with some beautiful stationary, cards, or treasures, the final product will look much more expensive than it is.

i have an idea in mind for something special, and this little project is going to make that idea come to fruition. i recently purchased a scoring board for a project, and just didn't realize how it would come in handy. even if you don't have a scoring board, a bone folder and a ruler will do the trick!

sending someone something special in the mail, or in person will take on a whole new experience for the recipient when they receive one of these handmade beauties.

let's begin:

• determine the size envelope you will need.
• find the paper, patterned or solid. you can also print a pattern onto cardstock to create your custom image. make sure to use paper that is heavy.

• find a template to create this size. you can use an envelope you have, or look at this wonderful resource or here to find something that will work for you. if you don't find the size your are looking for, just measure the object you want to put in the envelope, and add 1/4 inch.

 

• cut out shape, and score flaps

•  to create the envelope, secure the three sides with glue or double-sided tape.

• to add some more flair, add an envelope liner to your new creation with this tutorial

the result is going to beautiful, original, and from the heart, which makes it the best around!



{thank}ful





flowers courtesy of my wonder fiance & beautiful sister

as i mentioned, it was my birthday last week. as with any event that people do nice things for you, i had many thank yous to write. anyone who knows me can tell you that i'm pretty big on thank you notes. i believe i ordered my wedding thank you notes before my invitations were ordered! i just find that with how busy people are in their lives, any moment that they take out of their day to think of you, should be honored. i must thank my mother and grandmother for instilling in me the importance of thanking others.

at Michael's last week, i had picked up a pack of white cardstock paper to use for making favor tags for the wedding. that week they had a 50 pack of cardstock on sale for $2.50. i only used about 15 pages for my tags, so I had quite a lot left. it dawned on me to find a beautiful thank you note online, print and send. this would be much more cost-friendly than going and buying a pack of thank yous for $5-10 for 10 cards.

as I was searching, i found this fabulous website for making thank you cards, with matching envelopes! this site offered many varieties, and easy instructions for creating these cards & envelopes yourself! Not only do they have thank you notes, but also invitations! to create these cards, all you need is paper, printer, and a bone folder, or scoring table. i made these for $0.10, excluding the cost of my tools which I already owned.

this is the card & envelope i created.

{fall}ing

it seems that fall has definitely turned into my busiest season this year! it might have something to do with that event i have coming up in a few months. either way, i have been slacking on my blogging, and that is something i do not want to do! i find blogging to be very therapeutic and not doing it as often leaves my head filled with all of these ideas that I need to get out!

at the end of the summer, i started really "nesting" for the wedding. i had started to purchase all the things I was going to need to craft over the fall so that I would be ready for the holiday season, and wedding. while I feel accomplished with having all of these items, it is a little overwhelming to see all of things I need to do, literally.

so september has been quite busy, and so i'll catch up a little bit on what I've been up to.

it seems that we have started a tradition with some good friends {sean + abby} to go to a Michigan. we did miss a year because Sean and Abby live in Florida, and were getting married (fair enough!). this year we went to the Michigan vs. Navy game. Michigan {barely} won! woo!

that same weekend we had our engagement pictures, which was very exciting! i was definitely a little nervous before the shoot since I hadn't had a professional picture taken of me since... senior pictures! nick, my fiance, did a great job! thank you so much to Amy Schrodt of Pure Amour Photography for being such a fantastic photographer! we took the pictures on Detroit's Belle Isle.

we celebrated a friend's 30th birthday the following weekend in Kalamazoo. it was a beautiful day spent with great people!

this past weekend we spent some time with our favorite couple and celebrated my birthday, and our friend Amanda's. we managed to register for our wedding, which was done very nicely with my fiance.

with all of the activities going on, i haven't slacked on the crafting. i started decorating for fall by creating a scrapbook paper wreath for our front door. this was super easy. this blog has some great ideas to make your own wreath. I also printed and framed some autumn subway art. look at this blog to find one for your mantle!

i managed to make our unity candles for the wedding. i'm not sure if this is the final product, but could be. i made these out of birch paper that I purchased from etsy, and used some ribbon and embellishments that i had. total cost of the project: about $15.

i have been working on some other things, but want to dedicate a different post to those ideas/projects. i hope everyone is having a great fall so far! xo

re{purpose} jam jars

so I am trying to take my mind off of my friend Meghan, who is currently in labor, and is going to have her first baby any minute! i am hoping that by the time i finish this post, I will have some amazing news! here's to wishful thinking..

we are having guests this weekend, and so my task is to clean out our guest bedroom/craft room/wedding storage room/office. as i was merely moving the boxes into our bedroom, i noticed a box of little glass jars that i was to return to the vendor...ooops! i guess i got a little busy.

 if you remember from one of my first posts, i was going to use them to make hanging votive candles. these jars ended up being too small for a votive candle, so I had purchased the next size bigger, and those worked out perfectly.

so what can i do with 54 glass jam jars????

oh i will give you a few ideas...

salt and pepper shakers

by hammering some holes into the tops of the lids, you have an instant salt & pepper shaker! 

a pincushion jar

by following this simple tutorial, you can have a cute pincushion for yourself, or give to others!

office storage

this cute & quirky way to organize your office is sure to give you a laugh during the work day. to make the extra fancy, add some color to the lids

soy candles

by melting soy wax flakes and adding a fragrance, you have a cute gift/favor in no time!

diy body scrub favor

these little jars can hold a homemade spa treat! click here for some advice on how to create your own salt or sugar scrubs!

 as i finish that last idea, the news is out, baby girl Buchanan is born, and momma and baby are doing great! can't wait for the announcement of her name!!

{DIY} Calligraphy

calligraphy is a beautiful skill that I should try to acquire. however, i'm sure my perfectionism would cause me great heartache when I saw my finished product. as promised, I have a very nice, elegant solution to using a calligraphy and creating the looks below for your wedding invitations or your next event.

not only do I have one, but THREE solutions for you! any of these could be accomplished my anyone.

1. Fake Calligraphy


this fantastic step by step tutorial shows you how to do calligraphy the old fashioned way. it seems so easy, and at first I didn't believe it could be that easy. I grabbed a gel pen and gave it a go, and wouldn't you know, I had a decent looking product!

 2. Trace your heart out!


if only I had an old Lite-Brite, I could just start zipping through these envelopes. this great tutorial shows your how to use a trace table, and a computer print out to create your look. this project lends itself to using so many different fonts, and definitely offers consistency of the lettering and sizing that may not be accomplished with free-hand calligraphy.


3. Print & Trace


hopefully your screen can allow you to see the clever way to achieve that calligraphy look, without needing the tracing table. by printing onto the envelope, or other paper, in a color just slightly lighter, you can see the font, and trace. this even works on white/ivory paper. choose a really light version of the ink color that you are going to use. since this requires you to use a printer, it is very similar to the option above, but cuts out a step.



-OR-
if your are still feeling like calligraphy is more than  you can tackle

as I mentioned in my last blog post, I had dreamed of having a wrap around address label for my wedding invitations. there were so many beautiful examples that I had seen, and I was really hoping to pull this off for my own invitations. this solution is a great way to step away from the look of a simple Avery address label, and into a more classy way of easily address so many envelopes. of course Martha has a great tutorial on how to accomplish this on your own! even as I write this blog, i'm drawn back into the loveliness of these designs.


photo courtesy of Etsy Shop: DigitalBunnyDesigns



Belletristics



photo: Seeing Designs  from  Blush Printables





signed, sealed, delivered

wow, have I been a slacker! I haven't posted since last Thursday! I have been in full force gathering all my supplies for all the wedding crafts I have signed myself up for! as the summer winds down, I realize that there are only a few months before the holidays when the real wedding coordination will take place. so I've decided to bite the bullet and start hoarding these projects. more blog posts will come with some of the final products! I can't wait to share, hopefully they turn out great.

over the weekend, I had a chance to catch up with a friend of mine who is getting married too. as we ran through the lists of things we need to accomplish, compared notes, and organized our thoughts, we started talking stationary. stationary has been on my mind since I got engaged. of course there are the invitations, but there is always so much more to think about: save-the-dates, thank yous, rehearsal invites, shower invites, monograms & such to tie it all together.

I've purchased all of my thank-yous already, and used Vistaprint. I had a Groupon to use with them, and I had never used them before. Considering the amount of products they offer, I was a little skeptical of how the cards would turn out, but they looked great! The great thing about Vistaprint is that they are fast, and very affordable, and we know I'm always looking for a deal! Below are a few cute cards I like, but didn't use myself.

among some of my other purchases, I also managed to an adorable self-inking stamp from Wedding Paper Divas. I had dreamed of doing a wrap around label on the wedding invitations, but decided that is may not be practical for me. I still wanted something personal, and have been looking at monogrammed/custom stamps for quite some time. luckily WPD had a sale, and I snagged this beauty below. I will use this on my outer and inner envelopes for the invitations. best part is that I decided to not put our last name so that we can use this before and after the wedding!

 

  even if you aren't getting married, there are many adorable return address stamps that you can snatch up for a little added flavor to that birthday card, or mortgage payment envelope:

there will definitely be more to come involving this topic. stay tuned for a DIY solution to addressing all those envelopes!