Burlap Bachelorette Banner

I have a busy day of sewing and making ahead of me but I wanted to drop in to the blog for a minute and share a recent project of mine.  I was asked to make some custom items for a bride's bachelorette party that were to be made out of burlap.  This bride is incorporating burlap into her wedding for a shabby chic, rustic look and her wedding planner thought it would be fun to tie that design element into the bachelorette party too.  One of the items I created was this banner:

I really love the pink and grey combination mixed with the burlap, a great juxtaposition of girly and rustic.  Burlap has such a great texture and it is such a versatile material in my opinion.  I think you can dress it up and down and do all kinds of things with it.  I just know this bride's burlap wedding is going to rock because there are so many great design possibilities with this material.    

I hope the bride enjoyed her custom burlap banner and had a great bachelorette party.  I had a lot of fun making these items for her.

Are you a fan of burlap?  Have you incorporated it into your wedding or home?  Check out my burlap inspiration board on Pinterest to see more creative ideas with this material.

I Made It!

Hi friends!  So I officially made it through my double-wedding weekend and wow, was it a lot of work.  In two days I got about seven hours of sleep which is quite horrible for my standards (I love my sleep).  But despite all of the work, I had so much fun at both weddings and the weekend went by so quickly.  Even though I enjoyed relaxing and recovering on Monday and Tuesday, I definitely missed all of the excitement and was a little sad that the fun didn't last longer.  It is funny how much planning goes into weddings but then they are over so quickly.  But the important thing is to enjoy them while they are happening and live in the moment.  

On Saturday I had my good friend's wedding, the one where I was the maid of honor.  I had shown pictures of my bridesmaid dress not too long ago and I've already shared save-the-dates and bridesmaid booklets from that wedding as well.  When we get the official pictures back, I will probably share some more from Saturday but for now, here are a few from some of the other bridesmaid's cameras.  I didn't have my camera on me the day of, I was too busy with maid of honor duties and just having fun to stop and take pictures.  Sometimes being responsible for pictures can be a bit of a burden.  

Yep, it was one LARGE wedding party!  Ten bridesmaids, nine groomsmen, one junior bridesmaid, two ushers, two ring bearers, and three flower girls...it was hard fitting us all up there.  I am the one up top, closest to the bride.  At this point, I was probably trying not to fidget while still attempting to shift my poor feet, which were hurting.  Also, I've never held a bouquet before but the bride's bouquet was super heavy, I was definitely getting an arm workout.  Other than my feet, the ceremony was really lovely and even though they said traditional vows, they also incorporated personal elements into it which were very "them."  

A picture with me, the bride, and her family, who are like my second family since I've known them for so long.  This was after the ceremony taking pictures.  The ceremony took place at a really beautiful, old brick church in our hometown.  The bride and groom cutting the cake at the reception.  I totally missed this moment actually, I belive I was in the bathroom so I'm glad someone caught it on camera.  Sadly, I only got one bite of that cake but it was very good.

And finally one of me and the bride with another one of our good friends.  This was at the wedding after-party so we're all looking a little sweaty and disheveled.  But what a party, I had so much fun.  The dress I got to wear was beautiful, I was lucky to get my hair and make up done that day so I felt glamorous, and even though my friend, the bride, was busy, I got to spend a lot of nice quality time with her on the big day.  I am so happy for her and her new husband (so weird saying that now) and I hope they are enjoying their honeymoon in Africa.  

On Sunday, I changed gears a bit and actually got to do setup for a wedding.  I shared some of the details last week.  I brought my camera along but I was so busy setting up (seriously down to the wire) that I never found time to snap pictures.  Some talented photographers were on hand though so I will for sure share their pictures when I get them.  It was a beautiful wedding, totally different than my friends, very rustic, crafty, and in a barn but both were really amazing and I was so lucky to be a part of both of them.  

I'm getting back into the swing of blogging and gearing up for my craft show now.  A busy summer is turning into a busy fall for me.  How about you?  Regular posting will now commence with a lot of fun stuff coming up for the blog.  Happy Wednesday!     

Pre-Wedding Installation

Thank you for bearing with me on my Monday post this week.  I was definitely in a funky mood and I took it out on the blog unfortunately.  No more being Debbie Downer today.  I am feeling better and am excited to share some pre-wedding installation pictures for an upcoming wedding.  A few weeks ago I shared the beginnings of yarn flowers and fabric tags and now I can show you a finished product.  Everything turned out great and I just know it will all come together perfectly on the day of.  Keep in mind, these shots just show the trial run so not everything looks totally finished.  This is just to give you a little sneak peek into what I have been working on and I will share shots from the actual day after it happens.  

So I successfully turned all of those yarn poms into flowers which will be displayed in pretty, blue mason jars at the wedding ceremony and reception.  The picture on the left is just all of the flowers together, about 200.  The bride collected all of the mason and glass jars, vintage crates, and display props and she sure has some collection.  Everything is going to look so good together, the perfect rustic party!

The picture on the left shows the beginnings of the dessert table, minus all of the yummy desserts of course.  I love the vintage crochet tablecloths that the bride found.  Old window frames display the guest seating chart and will be propped up at the entry so everyone can find their way.  

Above are my finished fabric tags which will be tied on with twine over a lace-covered jar.  These are the guest favors.  

Besides the yarn flowers and fabric tags, I also made the table numbers, which are the frames shown above.  The bride collected a bunch of vintage frames for me and then I stitched the buttons on and embroidered the 'TABLE' onto the spools.  Each one is a bit different, with its own personality.

Working with this bride was such a fun and great opportunity for me.  I love her sense of style and she has come up with some truly fabulous details.  This was just the trial run and everything looked so great so I know the actual wedding is going to blow me away.  I cannot wait to share the wedding here on the blog too.  

Have a great Thursday! 

A Happy Bridesmaid

So a year and a half ago I mentioned that my friend of 20 years was engaged.  I designed her save the dates earlier this year.  I created bridesmaid booklets for her wedding party.  A group of us went to Santa Barbara for a bachelorette weekend this summer.  That time flew by and in just a few short days her wedding will be upon us (on the 17th).  I can't believe the big day is almost here because for so long it felt like it was so far in the future.  Last week it all became very real to me when I went to try on my bridesmaid dress and get it fitted.

The dress is super pretty and even though I tend to think that long dresses look bad on me, I rather like this one.  The color is really phenomenal and I think all of the girls are going to look great.  This will be my first experience in a wedding party but more importantly, my first experience as a maid of honor and I am excited to be by my friend's side as she begins this new stage in her life.  It's only fitting since we've been through so much together.

In the next two weeks I will be sharing many updates about the wedding so be prepared to see more.  It is such a big thing seeing your close friend get married and I enjoy sharing my personal experiences here on the blog.  Has anyone else been a maid of honor?  Any words of advice for the big day?  I need to start working on my maid of honor speech...wow, such an honor but also a little nerve-racking.  My speech basically needs to be freakin' awesome so clearly you can see I've set the bar pretty high for myself.  Although slightly nervous, I am so excited to speak and be a part of the day in such an important way.  

Happy Tuesday everyone!  If you had a long weekend, I hope it was lovely. 

Featured: Postcards & Pretties DIY : Dessert Table Backdrop

Hi everyone!  Today I am sharing a super romantic and whimsical dessert table backdrop that I created for Chris of Postcards & Pretties.  Chris has been on vacation and she asked me, along with a bunch of other talented bloggers (see all of the posts here), to come up with a unique DIY for her readers as a guest post.  I was more than happy to oblige since I am such a P&P fan and I just so happened to have a little project in the works that I knew would be perfect.  So last week the dessert table backdrop that I came up with was revealed.

I have been wanting to do my own take on a dessert table backdrop for awhile now and this idea of hanging fabric circles is one my mind has been pondering.  So I decided to combine the two ideas together and I think the result is simple (it won't draw all of the attention away from your yummy desserts) but still dreamy and light and whimsical...all things I love.  

And it is hard to hate this backdrop when that delightful gold-sprinkled cake is sitting right in front of it.  Oh my, this cake was sure yummy!  I won't lie to you all, it was seriously $3 at Albertsons with some grocery store icing thrown on top of it.  But clearly $3 is the magic number because it was dang good (super moist).  My family and I feasted on it for a few days.

This DIY may seem complicated (someone commented that it looked tedious) and yes, it wasn't a quick project but the effect is definitely worth the time you put into it.  DIY doesn't always mean "quick" and if you are making some special handmade elements for your wedding, I recommend spending the time to get things beautiful and just right.  I am definitely a believer in details and having good craft.  In my own experience, when I put a little more time and effort into things, I usually like the outcome a whole lot better.  What about you?  When you see DIY do you expect it to be something you can finish in a flash?

Head over to Postcards & Pretties to see more pictures and a detailed description of how I made this dessert backdrop.  Also, check out my mason jar save the date that was also featured on P&P at the beginning of this year.  Does anyone remember this baby?!

I hope you all enjoy the DIY today.  Happy Tuesday!