Chalkboard Love

How cute is this? Not only good for weddings, you could use a chalkboard for fun at class reunions, kids' birthday parties... the possibilities are endless. I wish I could have one for our Super Bowl party next week... Hmmm.... :)


Via Once Wed

DIY: Icy Branches

A fun look for a winter wedding is the use of "icy" branches in centerpieces and other decor. It's really easy to do: collect (or buy) branches you want to use, spray with really tacky glue, and roll in clear vase filler. Et Voila! You've got a low budget winter look that will sparkle and reflect light beautifully.

DIY: Sublime Stitching

For bridesmaids' gifts, I wanted to include something handmade by me to let my girls know that I appreciate their friendship beyond the boundaries of money. I ended up missing the deadline of the wedding with everything going on, but I "gave" them as Christmas gifts. ("Gave" because I still have some work to do on them, but generally presented the idea at Christmas.)

My mom taught me how to sew when I was just a little kid, and I used to do cross-stitch samples of kitties or butterflies or Christmas designs to give my grandmothers as gifts. But the idea of stitching that kind of stuff now just doesn't appeal to me. I don't really want to frame seashells and hang them in my bathroom, you know? Just not my style.

I can't remember how I found out about Sublime Stitching, but as soon as I saw Jenny's designs and those of her guest artists (like Mitch O'Connell, whose bad girl designs I used for Lea's gift), I knew I had to do something with them. How badass is it to stitch skulls and sexy ladies and luchadors (right? lucha libre?) on stuff?

There are some new designs since I last visited... I MUST find a reason to use these vital organs!

Eyebrows and Orajel

Well, the Orajel didn't relieve the pain from the eyebrow plucking, but it formed a lovely hard crust of matted down eyebrows that really added to my look. It will be all the rage soon, just wait.

I want to find the author of the beauty article that suggested this idea and kick her in the shins.

Painful Eyebrow Plucking!

My friends think I'm weird, but it REALLY hurts me when I pluck my eyebrows. At the first pluck I'm already watery-eyed and bright red. I read somewhere that putting Orajel or another mouth numbing substance on your eyebrows will make it painless (or at least pain-free). I'm going to give it a try tonight. More later...

A Kid's Christmas Birthday Party OR How the Gingerbread House Transcends Christmas

I'm not sure how many kids actually have their birthdays on Christmas, but I can tell you from experience that having a birthday anywhere within the 2 weeks before and after means that you get ripped off with the whole presents and party deal. I think this means that you have to try extra hard to make the birthday special amidst all of the other excitement going on.

After reading YogaMum's account of making gingerbread houses with her kids, I thought yes, it sounds like a mess, but I often make just as much of a mess by myself... and how much fun did those kids have?? So I think especially around Christmas making gingerbread houses at a birthday party would be awesome. (Probably splitting kids into groups of 3 or 4 and having an adult at each house would help with the damage control and sharing issues. Recruit some friends to drink some nog and eat some candy with you!)

When I was a kid our family had a collection of cast iron molds for cookies and cornbread and a gingerbread house mold like this one. It was pretty great because it had trees and other accessories besides just house walls and roof. From what I hear, you can also buy one-time kits at Trader Joe's and Ikea. Also, if you're super talented, you could just roll out some dough and design your own house from scratch. I'd suggest this if you are an engineer, an artist, an architect, or anything but a perfectionist. :)

Suggested toppings: anything really, but red hots, gumdrops, mini candy canes, peppermints, sprinkles of all colors, etc. are the common adornments. To truly make this party a birthday party and not just a Christmas party, I'd suggest adding some food coloring to the royal icing to make different color options and branching out from the traditional candy to include tootsie rolls, Nerds, that candy that's shaped like fruit—what's that one called??—anything to make it more fun and more just a big candyfest instead of Christmas:

Sewn Invitations

Something that I really love is sewing on paper. Well, I love the look of it. I haven't tried it yet (lazy!) but I really want to. What really kicked off this obsession was seeing Kathy's invitations (right) in The Knot magazine last fall when I was planning my wedding. She was so generous to share her how-to, supply list, fonts, etc. to everyone, all for free!

Here are some other cool examples I found:

Wedding invitation from larawysong @ Flickr via Kate's Wedding.

Simple but awesome Bar Mitzvah invitation from Luscious Verde.

Cute invitation by doorsixteen on Flickr

I like that this is a sewn booklet, but that they also did a thicker sewn trim on the covers. From Tess McCabe in Australia.


So this isn't really sewn in the photo, but would be an excellent candidate! This kind of added border sewn on can embellish almost anything. From Tiny Prints. (P.S. I really like the name Jack for a kid. So cute!)


It looks simple, but I'm not sure sewing a button on paper would be so easy. I think you'd have to do it by hand, and on some pretty thick paper. From Better Homes and Gardens.

OK, now it's practice time... :)

Did You Know? (Postcard Sizes)

If you're making your own Save the Date announcements and you want to get the postcard rate (a lot cheaper than letter), your postcard needs to be between 3.5 and 4.25" tall and between 5-6" wide.

Birdcage Veil: To Make or To Buy?

It seems like everyone and their sister are wearing birdcage veils lately. And it's easy to see why this style of veil is so trendy: they are SUPER cute! Not for everyone, either by personal taste or face shape, these veils will add a cute touch to any gown.

The easiest way to get one is, as with most things, to buy one. There are a ton of veil sellers online; two bigger websites are Something Bold and BirdcageVeils. Within the realm of birdcage veils, these suppliers have multiple styles, from not only with simple combs, to veils with flowers or feathers, to multi-layer veils with lots of volume.

Another source, and maybe one that's a little more fun, is to hunt for handmade birdcage veils on Etsy. I just did a search, and you can find birdcage veils between $130 and $5, depending on your taste and how much you want going on up there. My favorites are by sellers Joei Reed Custom Millinery (if you want to be unique, kick it up a notch with some color or a hat!) and Brenda's Bridal Veils (she has lots of ready-to-wear variety and she takes custom orders as well!).

Other than purchasing your birdcage veil, you could also try your hand at making it, if you're crafty (or even if not—it's not very hard to make the simple net-and-bobbypins style) or if you have a friend/sister/mother you can talk into trying it. The absolute best site that I found with directions was VintageSewing.info. There are step-by-step instructions along with old-school illustrations to show you what to do. Another site with directions is this personal site where the author describes how she made her simple net-only veil and has a little hand drawing to boot.

To make or to buy? That is a question you have to answer for yourself.