Tonight I’m being whisked off to Lemonade for the most amazing cafeteria-style dining, complete with a red velvet cupcake, I’m sure. We’ll probably finish off the night with a little Office / Parks + Rec while we wrap up any last minute crafts for the party on Saturday! A perfect V-day, indeed.
Hope your Valentine’s is lovely!
xoxo
Tissue paper, baker’s twine, and heart punches…oh my! Two more days to pack in as many craft projects as possible before the engagement party on Saturday. Wish me luck!
xoxo
Over the holiday season, I was lucky enough to have almost all of my friends in town for several weeks. This meant daily trips to Starbucks to “get work done” which translates to “rearrange the tables + chairs in the store to accomodate everyone and talk loudly for hours on end.” (The good people at the ‘Bucks totally love us.) Since it’s so rare to actually have my friends nearby for an extended period of time, I knew I had to seize the opportunity to pop the question to my bridesmaids in person. And let me tell you, I struggled to figure out what I wanted to do! The pressure was on, to say the least.
After many failed mock-ups (I was dead-serious about this task), I finally decided that simple was best.
Using my Cameo, I die-cut each of the cards and then adhered them to a sheet of gold cardstock along with a handwritten message on the back. From there, I wrapped each card in hot pink tissue paper and tucked them into kraft bags embellished with washi tape, glitter tape, and a Thicker in each girl’s first initial. And guess what? It totally worked! Despite the fact that four out of six girls currently live out of state, they all agreed to join me on this journey! I couldn’t be more thrilled.
xoxo
It came to my attention recently that engagement parties are the thing to do these days and since when I am I one to skip out on a good trend?! John and I (okay, mainly I) hopped right on that bandwagon and decided to throw a Valentine’s-themed engagement party in mid-February. It has been SO MUCH FUN pinning ideas to my private Pinterest boards (the timing on those things = clutch), thrifting for decor + serveware, designing the invitations, and the very best part of all, crafting like a madwoman! Here’s a little peek at what I’ve been working on:
BANNERS | A giant pad of construction paper
PLATES | I’ve been collecting cheap dishes from the thrift store solely to bring this DIY to life. A gold Sharpie pen
I just want to make stuff all day, everyday! Can this please be my life forever?
xoxo
For as long as I’ve been dreaming of weddings, I always knew that I didn’t want to invest a ton of money in a dress I would only wear once in my life. Of course I wanted it to be something I would feel good in and would love seeing photos of for years to come, but never something I’d blow the whole budget on. (Photography + decor, on the other hand…all bets are off!)
With that said, when I found my dress last weekend at Anthropologie, I had no idea what kind of savings I was in for!
As the story goes, a local customer had ordered the dress online and then returned it to the store, so it was a rare opportunity for Anthro to actually have it in stock. It’s a beautiful layered + flowy dress in a light pink hue; not something I ever would have imagined choosing, but somehow so perfect. My future sister-in-law Jamie spotted it in the clearance section and convinced me to try it on. Once I did, all the salesgirls had to come see the BHLDN masterpiece for themselves…it turned into quite a party in the dressing room! And as if that wasn’t exciting enough, when I went to purchase it for the $80 clearance price listed on the tag, it rang up as FORTY DOLLARS. As in over $700 off the original price…! To say I was thrilled would be the understatement of the century.
To top it off, I scored the sequined gold flats and the cream jacket for a song, all in the same weekend. I don’t know what I did to deserve such a lucky fashion break (maybe it was all those days spent in my workout clothes / pajamas last summer?), but I am SO grateful!
Now if we could just find a venue at 95% off, I’ll be over the moon! (;
xoxo
Thank you all for your well-wishes on our recent engagement!!
Even though John and I have been together for years, taking this next step has been such an exciting time for the both of us. It’s so surreal to actually be in wedding-planning mode, but as my excessive binge-pinning these past few weeks has shown, I’m pretty thrilled about it (;
So far we have a bridal party, an officiant, a videographer, a color palette, and an almost-positive date (October 26th) squared away. Now we just need everything else – ha! I can’t wait to share all my crazy DIY projects with you…bear with me as this blog gets a little wedding-centric over the next few months!
xoxo
This holiday season, I decided to go the New Years card route and include a calendar and a custom pencil to kick off 2013 in (hot pink) style. Go big or go home, right?
xoxo
P.S. You can purchase a PDF of this calendar right here! (:
Could not be more thrilled and excited to marry this boy.
2013 is going to be an amazing year, I just know it.
xoxo
PINK PAGE // If this page looks an awful lot like the previous page, then you would be…correct. Ha! Originally, I planned on inserting a different colored paper in the backside of the glassine bag, but I loved the way the hot pink looked so much, I decided to keep it as is. The pink patterned paper on the outside of the bag is actually a postcard I purchased from Cotton + Flax at Renegade and the gold screenprint on top of that is from Life Love Paper. I also bunched up a little bit of this faux-tinsel yarn
TEAL PAGE // First of all, I was so psyched when I saw this free printable on Pinterest (from the new-to-me and super inspiring blog, A Pair of Pairs) because I knew instantly that I wanted to print it on teal vellum for my book! Love when that happens. To preserve as much of the printable design as possible, I kept my embellishments to a minimum: a photo, a few strips of washi + American Crafts Glitter Tape
Random sidenote: I feel like I’m always chasing daylight when it comes to photographing my projects these days – I just can’t seem to stay on top of it! And the thing is, I love more nighttime than daytime in the winter, but I have totally been struggling with it over the past few weeks. These photos were shot on the end of the driveway (of all places) with approximately five seconds of natural light to spare – gah! When and where do you shoot your photos?
xoxo
As wonderful and foolproof as gift cards are, their tiny size sure does tend to spoil the surprise factor when it comes to packaging. I am always looking for ways to “throw off the scent” and using books from thrift stores is my definitely my favorite option. Not only does the recipient receive store credit to their favorite shop (if you play your cards correctly), but they get a free book out of the deal! And we all know how many awesome things a person can do with a book: use it for decor, rip pages out for crafting purposes, upcycle it for another gift, or heck, maybe even read the darn thing! Plus, if the cover art is well-designed (I, for one, always judge books by their covers), it can take the place of decorative gift wrap <—-there’s the recycling fiend in me again!
The packaging process is super simple. For my gift, I used a book I found at the DI last year in Utah (chosen for it’s aqua hues), yellow felt trimmed on one side with pinking shears, and faux-tinsel yarn
xoxo
