Not Your Mother’s Stencils

We’re all familiar with the stenciling fads that people either love or hate- we all know someone who filled their house with them, and today they incite love or hatred (generally because they are deemed “too country” or because the artist wasn’t very talented) among most people.   But today there are a new kind of wall decals which seem to have replaced stencils as the new “it” wall treatment.   The are peel-and-stick decorations that can be easily removed.  And I have to say that when used sparingly with an editing eye,I think they can be really cute!  Apparently I’m not alone in this feeling, and that is probably why they’re also becoming a hit in the wedding world!

The can be used on dance floors...

or to dress up a cake table

decorating a getaway car

brightening up the ceremony space

you can even use them on doors

Best of all this trend is AFFORDABLE.  Custom designs on etsy or from internet vendors run anywhere from $25-100 which isn’t bad when you consider I know people who spent $1000 per centerpiece (not me though!) and I have seen them in discount stores for less.  In fact, I recently purchased a little quote for my foyer for 75% off, and it was only $4.50.   I bet those of you out their with those fancy little cutting machines like the CriCut could even figure out how to make your own.  Definitely worth keeping in mind for budget ceremony decor!

A Perfect Thanks

A few weeks ago I helped throw a baby shower for one of my besties and bridesmaids, we’ll call her E-Rod, and we had a seriously fun time eating, decorating onesies, and joking around about what the baby would look like and which of his/her honorary aunts he/she would like best (I won that contest hands down, obviously).  So with all that fun as it’s own reward, I was especially touched with E-Rod gifted us these adorable and thoughtful thank you gifts.  

"Baby Shower Recovery Kit. Ingredients: Booze, Chocolate, Caffeine"

Inside these adorable (and shower-theme coordinating I might add) bags, E-Rod included a lovely thank you note, along with awesome swag- Starbucks gift cards, Vosges chocolate bars (oh baby) and Mad Housewife Merlot.  Have you ever seen anything cuter?  I love that this is something anyone- even the noncrafty folks- can do, and on any budget.  I’m shamelessly planning to steal this fabulous idea one of these days! 

Check out the label on that wine bottle. It's like the icing on the cake!

I’m a sucker for it…

Seersucker!  Ok, I know, bad bad bad play on words.  But who can help it?  Little ring bearers in summery seersucker suits are potentially the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.  And more affordable then tuxedo rental too!

You can score this one for $39.99 at In Fashion Kids (click for source)

My good friend R.’s ringbearers wore seersucker ensembles for her wedding, wearing their vests (sans jackets due to the heat- a great built-in contingency she planned for), and they looked incredibly adorable.  With hot pink bow ties too.  Who is in love? 

image by me!

image by J!

Those Handy Little Freebies (Part II)

You may recall that a couple of weeks ago I blogged about the free downloadable template I used to create a bridal shower invitation for my stepsister.  Well, after figuring out how simple it was to do I was pretty hooked, and I started looking at other downloadable templates.  And that is how I discovered (courtesy of iDIY)  these STUNNING downloadable templates from Download and Print.

These templates have quickly become all-stars in my crafting projects because they are so easy to use- you download them in word, print them on cardstock, and then just use a paper cutter.  Because the background color comes from the paper itself, you have tons of flexibility in terms of color scheme, and I especially love that you can choose your own fonts.  Love!

I used the last ones (Dandelions!) to make an engagement party invitation for my Stepsister’s upcoming e-party, and look how cute it came out!  I ended up photoshopping the design a bit in order to make it into a file I could upload to VistaPrint (you knew they had to be involved somehow didn’t you) because I knew I was not going to have enough time to print these myself, but I’m still extremely thrilled with the product!

Are you sold yet?

One Woman’s Trash…

Is another’s treasure?  This isn’t generally a phrase I think of when it comes to weddings.  But I recently stumbled upon a new wedding resource, I Do Now I Don’t, and I was intrigued.  The founder first got the idea when his engagement didn’t work out.  What to do with the ring?  Well, apparently due to the retail markup on jewelry, the retailer wouldn’t give much of a refund back, so he found another way to sell the ring and his website was born!

Of course, not all the jewelery on the website has such a sad story, but it’s really such a great idea.  You can buy rings, obviously, but they also sell other jewelery and even wedding gowns.  And the site seems to have a lot of built in protections so buyers and sellers feel safe.

The flip side of buying a ring with a prior story, is that some people are certain to fear passage of a “bad karma” but really, it’s just an object right?  The meaning only comes from what you assign to it.  Seems like a great idea to me!  The sellers get more return on their investment than they’d get at a jeweler, and the buyers get more bang for their buck.

What do you think, assuming quality isn’t an issue, would you feel comfortable buying a ring from I Do Now I Don’t?  I kind of think I’d be ok with it, and then I’d be even more ok with taking the money I saved and spending it on a honeymoon upgrade!  Plus, isn’t there something to be said for taking a found object and giving it a new life?  I usually think of this concept in the context of home improvement (salvage an old dresser!) but why not bigger ticket sparkly objects too?

(By the way, I’m not getting comped for this post, I’m just interested!  And all images link to their source.)

Those Handy Little Freebies (Part I)

I’ve blogged before about my love for the Wedding Chicks.  In fact, they are the reason I found my photographer, Jessica Morrisy, and they are responsible for so much of my own wedding inspiration.  And they also featured my wedding, which in and of itself was pretty rock star.  *love them*

Well, one of the many things I love about the Chicks is their section of freebies.  They have so many customizeable, free loveliness, its hard not to drool.  So it’s no shock that I turned to them when I needed to design a shower invitation for my stepsister!

And while we’re on the topic, yes, my stepsister’s name really is Sarah.  And her future husband?  He has the same name as my husband.  Ah, the modern blended family!

My stepsister Sarah is planning a summery yellow and orange wedding, and so when planning the shower, we bridesmaids thought we’d stick with the same color family.  And once that had been decided, I immediately wanted to use the Wedding Chicks dahlia  invitation design I had seen a few months ago!

The Chicks' sample

While the Chicks’ design was intended for a wedding, it worked just as perfectly for a bridal shower.  And it was easy to do- I just downloaded the template and then added the text- it involved a bit of photoshopping the PDF, but in the end, the result turned out great!

And MY version!

I had the invitations printed on matte cardstock at (where else?) Vista Print, and they came back perfect.  I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out.  I used the same image to make coordinating insert cards and mailing labels.  And for the crowing touch:

Adopt a Shelter Pet Stamps! A cause near and dear to both Sarah's and my hearts!

Have you customized any good downloadable freebies lately?

Love Bites

As newlyweds, we do a fair amount of cooking, and for me, that old adage “the way to man’s heart is through his stomach” has always rung 100% true.  J. is a chocolate lover, it’s pretty easy to guess what he likes to eat.  So when I saw that my high school friend stated a new blog, From the Kitchen of: Mrs. Bettie Rocker, I was totally hooked!  With recipes like Whoopie Pies and Little White Devils, even an adorable and budget-friendly DIY cookbook tutorial, I have J’s birthday and sweetest day covered already!  I think that so many of these recipes would make for great shower fare too- and definitely worth learning!  Congratulations to Mrs. Bettie on her rockin’ new recipe blog!

Cupcakes Wrappers You Can Actually Afford

I like to think that cupcakes have magical powers to make someone’s day a little better.  Whenever J. brings me home a french toast cupcake from our local cupcakery, it makes me a happy, happy wifey.

So when I saw these adorable laser cut wrappers from NY Cake, I was utterly smitten.  Just look!  Does this make you want to eat cupcakes, make cupcakes, and serve cupcakes at every wedding from now until forever?!  (Click on images for their tasty sources!)

Picket Fence Cupcake Wrapper

Ivy Vine Ivory Cupcake Wrapper

Black & White Polka Dots

Shades of Strawberry Pink Cupcake Wraps

Just one problem (or, as I prefer to say, challenge)… this are kind of pricey for a non-essential wedding item.  What’s a girl-on-a-budget to do?  Hit up some DIY cupcake wrapper tutorials, of course!

Click this image for Offbeat Bride's super-easy tutorial

Or for lace versions, check out the Weddingbee tutorial from jen and jakes wedding!

I’m definitely whipping these out for my next cupcake recipe!  Don’t you just love them?!

Some Fairy Dust to Sprinkle in Your Bath

Recently, my mother-in-law and I came up with a shower favor that, in my very-biased opinion, is awesome.  You may recall the Once Upon a Time invitations I shared a few weeks ago… well, we decided that “fairy dust” bath salts would be an adorable favor to thank all the guests for coming.  So of course, I had to share them with you because I think these could be used for weddings or bridal showers just as easily!

Our bath salt favors in action (and yes, I took that photo!)

These were so simple to make!  First, we took a few drops of scented oil (we found Philosophy Amazing Grace fragrance oil at Save-On Crafts) and mixed them with equal parts epsom and sea salts.  Once we liked the level of fragrance, the salts were funneled into jars.  We got ours from the local craft store, but Save-On is a great resource for jars too!

Once the salts were in their jars, we added little hang tags.  The above tags were from madebyjackie on etsy, and were super affordable, but you could make stickers or tags at home too.  I love how easy it is to personalize these little dudes, and they look so cute on a table too!  If you are related to me, there’s a good chance you’ll be getting bath salts for your birthday, just FYI!!

Do you have any DIY favor tips?

Big Apple Welcome Bags

Who says wedding planning isn’t a transferable skill?  I recently became e-pals with Lauren, a fellow wedding lover, who took the OOT bag idea and made it her own!  Lauren recently relocated to one of the burbs near me (love when that happens) and just like any other NY newbie, had some friends come to visit and enjoy the city!  Lauren, ever the resourceful hostess, put together these adorable bags (made on Vista Print of course) full of city-goodies, featuring starbucks gift cards, bottled water and snacks, a lottery ticket, shout wipes, and circus peanuts.  Adorable, no?  Her friends loved them too!  Lauren saved money by using coupons for everything- and for more info on that, you absolutely need to read her blog, she’s quite the bargainista!   In fact, she did these bags for the ridiculously reasonable price of $15- but $6 was for the bag and $5 for the gift card, so you can see how easy it would be to keep this project affordable- maybe as a bridesmaids gift, if not for every OOT guest.

And I admit these may not technically have been for a wedding, but they would just be so perfect for big apple nuptials- and could easily be changed for other locations.  For example, in NJ maybe you add saltwater taffy.  Or maybe in Ohio you throw in some chocolate buckeyes.  Maybe add a local map, a coupon book, a subway card… so many directions you could take it.  I love them!   For more information on how she did them, definitely check out Lauren’s blog!!