Wedding Wednesday

You may not know, if you don’t know me, but I got engaged on Christmas and I am in full wedding planning mode. We have actually been planning the wedding since last spring (you have to book stuff way way way in advance here, it’s crazy!)
I thought I would share with the blog-o-sphere what I am doing, where I found inspiration or tutorials and the true cost of things and doing them the DIY way.
Lets start with my wedding mood board: (click picture to see my Pinterest board)

*The red framed chalkboard became my inspiration for color scheme. Red, Black, Blue & White. And I mean Cherry-fire engine-candy apple red and cobalt blue.
*The alter I found via Pinterest is just what I had in mind. We wanted something that would block the view behind us, have personality, and be something we could DIY.
*I have never been one for flowers, so when trying to figure out what to do for flowers and budget… I came across the paper flower bouquets made from books and comic books… I fell in love with them instantly… bonus: WAY CHEAPER.
*I am personally partial to all things red so when I was trying to find some more blue to bring in I saw the beer bottles that had been glittered/spraypainted/ modge podged and thought about the new Bud Light Platinum bottles that are a really pretty cobalt blue. With the help of my Maid of Honor and one of her friends they drank enough (over several weekends) to get me almost 50 bottles! I will say tho that these are the HARDEST to get the labels off! More on that later
*I definitely want a photobooth. We are still working out logistics on having one setup since my camera doesn’t have a remote. My MoH will def be making the “Grab a Prop & Strike a Pose” sign, she has such pretty handwritting.
*I was looking for venues in our area and kept getting sticker shock for how expensive some places were and the restrictions they had on types of food and drinks. I was talking with my Mom one day and I was in the process of telling her about the prices and she asked where my friend Jexica was getting married (She deserves her own post for all the DIYs we did for her wedding, look for that in the future) and she was getting married outside at her grandpa’s pasture… So my mom just said.. “what about Memaw & Papaw’s?” It hadn’t even dawned on me that we could get married there and save literally thousands of dollars! They have 3 acres out in Lonoke that backs up to a nice big field (occasionally there will be horses or cows out there but rarely). Plenty of room for parking, 3 bathrooms for guests, a nice big deck to put the food on… This is the best idea my mom’s had for the wedding!
** You might notice a lot of I instead of We… in true manly fashion… Scott is letting me do what I want, within reason of course. But I still show him all my ideas and he just keeps saying “whatever you want baby” I will say tho that it was his idea for us to make our own cake… yes you read that right, we are making our own wedding cake. I’ll have a special post for all the tips I found online and our trial run we do to test the batter amounts and things like that.
On the next Wedding Wednesday: Paper flowers. Look for it in two weeks!

Things I love Thursday

I'm posting inspiration I've found amongst the internet!

In order:
The shoes I want to wear when I get married! Love them!

Record side table diy via design sponge.

Hair idea for Jexica's wedding.

Another hair idea.

A great website to make you laugh : Disney gents from last night (also Disney ladies from last night)

Another hair idea (out of order but my phone won't let me change it)

Awesome tattoo placement, where I want some stars!

Ultimate gaming console! Epic.

Awesome idea for diy bookends! I'm doing this tonight.

A sweater from some random expensive website that I want to diy. Savers here I come!

((sorry this post is kind of a mess, I've been crazy busy with planning J's wedding! Three weeks! ))

~ Tamara

Should I DIY my wedding dress?

As little girls we have imaginations. And we let them wander. All throughout childhood and teen angst and heartache in college we still have daydreams… little wanders in the realm of fairy tales. I got my nerd in shining armor… but I was a little surprised at how expensive things are when it comes to the wedding dress. Admittedly my ideas on a wedding dress suited to me has changed as I became older. It changed as I changed.

As a little girl it was the big poofy white dress and the ride off into the sunset. As a teen I had a fascination with medieval  garb: the big train, the embroidery, the big sleeves, and corset base. Then in college (after prom with my massive dress that I couldn’t dance in) I went a bit more toward the rockabilly style with the shorter dress. Now, I know that shorter dresses don’t look good on me, that I can’t dance very well in big poofy dresses, and that medieval style is just a dash over the top.

When Jexica got engaged and we went shopping for her dress I got a dash of hope… I realized that wedding dresses aren’t $7,000 like on “Say Yes to the Dress”… but it came with a dash of reality… Jexica has a much bigger budget than I will. More than double. And I just can’t spend a lot of money on a dress I’m going to wear once. I’d rather spend that money else where.

I was inspired by Corinne’s DIY Wedding Dress and then I went on Crafster and saw that there were other brides that had made their own wedding dress. I had been looking a lot online and found some overseas websites where they make knock off dresses but I couldn’t try the dress on to make sure it was flattering first. And then I found several dresses I like that aren’t carried by any store around me… (one in Australia the other I’d have to drive down to Dallas)

I really like this dress: (this is the Australian one)

I live in the USofA and can’t fly on down to Australia to try this baby on. And they don’t list a price so I don’t even know what it costs. But I love the silhouette, the details, the sash, and the fact that is has STRAPS.

But I’m not a big lace person, I think it’s beautiful but I don’t wear it much. But I do love the shimmer tulle on this dress:

(the one in Dallas, the Cinderella dress… literally… from the Disney collections)

But the shimmer of the tulle is so me. OOOOOH shiny!

So last night while I lay awake in agony with allergies I started to peruse the patterns of the major companies… And I came across this:

(Vogue 2979, they were having a sale on their patterns too!)

It has the bottom that I would have a hard time making from scratch but the top is not right. But I do not believe that making the top would be difficult nor would finding a pattern if it came down to it.

Next hurdle? Fabrics… there is a severe lack of good fabrics here in Arkansas. We have a bit of a selection at Joanne’s but other than that it’s Hancocks (mostly cottons) and Hobby Lobby (also mostly cottons)… I don’t know where to get good fabrics or even what fabrics to use. Most commercial wedding dresses are polyester or other various cheap fabrics… yet they are hundreds/thousands of dollars. I am thinking since I want to do a sparkle tulle overlay (or polka dot?) that I might be able to get away with costume satin for the skirt. And I might try going around some thrift store and see if I can pick up a lace dress/top that I could overly the top with. Corinne gave a good tip on the dress she made since hers was a corset top there is a special fabric that goes as the lining of the corset that has NO stretch to help give structure, I might pick up a yard of that for my top just so it holds ‘the girls’ up.

But I definitely need more ideas from people who have done this before. Or even people who have made dresses more.

I’ve made a couple but not much. I got a year to get good! I think I might try to do something similar in black and red for a Halloween costume. I have a nice black mask. It’ll let me work with the fabric and figure out tricks and tips for helping make it a smoother process.

 

First things first… time to make a home made dress form… I’m gonna need backup!

 

~Tamara

Summer Crafts Inspiration

I seriously want to do these crafts this summer. This is my list.

(Click on the image for the link to the Pin)

Tshirt bangles – How fun would these be for all those random scraps of fabric.

 

Men’s button up cuff pockets. These would be great for organizing my purse.

 

Braided fabric necklaces. I have such pretty fabric for this!

 

Bow paper clips. I need some cute bookmarks.

 

Wish Bracelets. I miss friendship bracelets and anklets.

 

OOOOO Buttons! These are so adorable.

 

Flip flop update. Ruffles and comfy flip flops? I’m sold

 

Beaded bracelet with button closure. LOVE.

 

Braided belts. I need some new belts.

 

Simple Button Bobby Pins. For when I pin back braids.

 

Updated chain bracelet. I wonder if I could do something like this with the watch bands…

 

Quote scarf. I need to bust out the Sharpie Stained markers!

 

Flip flop update. Another version!!

 

Look for more craft inspirations posts.

-Baby gift inspirations

-DIY Clothes inspirations

-Smashbook inspirations

 

Or you can check me out on Pinterest!

2012 Goals

I've been thinking about goals lately and my direction. Somehow yesterday morning I woke up with super motivation to do something that scares me.

I happened upon the blog less cake more frosting while on Pinterest yesterday morning and her 2012 One Word Goal really inspired me. 

It put this idea in my head and I've been jotting down ideas all day yesterday and today. Basically its a crafter workbook focused on goals, lists, self evaluation and exercises.
I'm going to work mine into the Smashbook that I bought last summer and haven't really used yet. But I'm also going to work up printable medallion type pages so you can add them to any scrapbook of yours. And maybe an ebook (maybe for a couple bucks on Etsy) that can be printed in it's whole and spiral bound at the local copy shop for a book all to itself.


 ~ Tamara

Of campfires and pride

This weekend I went camping. Wait… Let me rephrase that… Scott took me into the woods… that doesn’t sound good either… Lets just see how this went…

Saturday:

We got up and got packed and ready and headed over to Brad & Jexica’s to group up. Stopped at Kroger to  get some food. MMMM S’mores! Then we headed out… We went to a part of the Ozark National Forest that Scott is very familiar with. His family has hunted there since he was a little kid. We stop and look out at a few different spots. 

Then we head down to where we are going to start hiking to go see a waterfall. Now here is where it gets… interesting… You see, I don’t hike much. I walk on small trails, like Petit Jean mountain… Where the path is dirt and stones set to be like stairs… That is NOT where we are Saturday. We are straight up just walking in the woods. I don’t see a trail… Do you see a trail?

I had to learn proper hiking. Like going down a steep incline with your heel and the side of your foot so you fall backwards and not forwards if you do happen to lose your footing… After years of Flagline drilling in “point your toe” it was difficult for me. Not to mention the fact that I had on some Nike running shoes and not proper hiking boots. Oh and of course the fact that I am severely out of shape.

We did see some awesome stuff…

They climbed a big rock…

Then an even bigger rock…

 

Then came the part of getting down to the waterfall… This was extremely steep, and not only do you have to get down there… you have to get BACK UP the mountain…

I was determined to see the waterfall, it could have been bone dry for all I could care but I was not going to sit behind like some … there really isn’t a proper word here… city girl?

So I did it, I climbed down… And got to see some pretty water and trees…

Then it took me 3 times as long as Brad & Jexica to get back up. If Scott weren’t there saying how proud he was of me for doing it I probably would have broken down. I had a mini melt down at one point when I kept slipping and couldn’t get footing and skidded down some rocks and hurt myself. But I did it. I made it to the top of the steep part… and then of course the 2 mile hike back to the trucks…

Once we made it back we headed down to our campsite. And I have to say, someone says camping and I am all for it. I grew up camping. But not the way Scott grew up camping. I grew up with Tents, then progressing to the pop up camper, then the pull behind, and now my grandparents have a slide out side 5^th wheel camper. So camping for me is just going to the lake and going without some of the nicer modern conveniences…  Camping for Scott is no electricity, no water, no tent. We slept on an air mattress in the back of the Jeep. We started a fire for warmth. And we cooked dinner on a tiny propane stove (now the stove I am familiar with, it’s how Memaw always made her coffee).

It was cold. So cold. Our campsite was beautiful though. It made me wish it was warm enough to go swimming.

We had some good ole s’mores and told stories of my Thursday night of playing wingman (heehee). And quoting movies and comedians and just good ole down time. And putting up a canopy, that Scott didn’t realize he bought a pink one! (But now I have a pink canopy for craft fairs!)

Sunday:

My back, thighs, calves, ankles, and feet are so sore. 

Poor Brad & Jexica their air mattress had a hole in it and they had to just sleep in the back of Brad’s Tahoe. Jexica snuck in some zzzzzs by the fire in the morning. 

But I got breakfast in bed...

Isn't that beautiful sight to wake up to?

Then we packed up and went to head out and my boyfriend decided to be a boy… and did this….

He is paying for it now though. He punctured the oil pan (after just doing an oil change) and Brad had to tow us up the mountain to a point when his dad, John, could get a trailer in to haul it back. Full amount of damage has yet to be seen.

Brad & Jexica brought me back to Cabot and we stopped off at her Grandpa’s to check out the land where they are planning on getting married. 

I got to pet some horses, one of them kept sniffing my head, it was weird. Lol.

 Ignore my chipped nail polish...

Lesson of the weekend: I can do it. After climbing a mountain, a 30 minute visit to the gym should be no problem. Walking up the stairs at my apartment? Pffst… I climbed a mountain… I realized I can do it. Don’t get me wrong, I hurt today, but I am so proud of myself. And that is priceless.

Not to mention that I got to see my boyfriend in his element. And I fell in love with him even more. I got a good one.

~Tamara