Frosted Glass Awesomeness.

I had never heard of "spray frosting" for glass, until I stumbled upon this very awesome website today:
Recaptured Charm
Lisa, the blogstress of Recaptured Charm, posted an incredibly easy, yet adorably charming project of frosting mason jars, with cute little cutouts, to give the etched glass look - for easy and cheap. I totally adore this project, and lord knows I have a ton of mason jars around our home (I just can't seem to throw away spaghetti jars!). I look forward to attempting this project in the future.



By the way, I had to google search spray frosting to figure out what the heck it was, here's a link.

Fabric Birds...

For no good reason I decided I wanted to find a pattern for a fabric bird. I've put my sewing machine away, high up on a shelf in my closet... and yet I still want to sew. I have no idea what I would do with little fabric birds... other than praise their adorableness - but I still want to make some!

I haven't yet... but I did find a wonderful website with a free bird pattern and a boat load of other equally cute projects!

Lolly Chops - Wendy the Bird Pattern





Isn't this just the cutest?!?!

Check out all the goodness on her website if you get a chance... she's got great templates and other quirky projects.

Mad Props, Yo!

I've been planning on having a few empty frames for our DIY photobooth but really felt like something more would be fun. After a bit of bridal blog surfing, I decided props were the way to go. Twenty dollars later, we have a handful of ridiculous props (I can't wait to take a pic with the fez hat!) to help aid our guests to get loose and have a good time at our photobooth!

Awesome Images.

Over at weddingchicks.com they have some fantastic monogram generators and other pretty rad images for the taking. Here are a few that I fell in love with. We're likely going to use the monogram as the screen print image on the table runners.

Cocktail Hour.

What kind of cocktails do you serve during Cocktail Hour when you're not having cocktails at all?

I didn't know either until this morning.

For a minute, I thought serving freeze pops. I know, I know - they're a little low-class for a wedding, but they're cold and cheap! Have no fear, the idea died as fast as it was born. My new idea??

Frozen Grapes on a Stick!



Great, right? They're cold, classy, tasty and easy to make. I can have some friends who will be there during the cocktail hour just grab them out of the venue's freezer, pop them on trays, and lay them out for guests to nosh on.

Updates! Get your updates here!

Yeah, when I was typing that title I said "here" in my head with a Boston accent, "he-ya". Heehee.

Anyway, lots of updates to be had! This week we bought our wedding rings! They're white gold - mine is 2mm and Dave's is 4mm. This isn't my ring, but it looks just like it!




We also ordered our cake topper! It doesn't go with our rustic theme, but it represents Dave and me perfectly. Skulls/skeletons for Mr. Punk Rock and Mexican Catrin/Catrina for my Latino obsession!




...and we finalized the plans for our ceremony programs. They'll look something like this, but you'll have to wait until the wedding to see the final product!

I could not be more excited...

...to finally unveil our WEDDING MAP!

Dave created this and it's more than anything I could have asked for. He spent a very long time working on a different map... and after laboring for hours on it (over many, many days), we both decided we just didn't like it. In the Recycle Bin it went and in just a few hours today Dave created this absolute beauty!



A larger version (to see the details and for printing) is available HERE.

*****THIS MAP IS THE ORIGINAL, WHICH IS MISSING A FEW THINGS - PLEASE SEE THE WEDDING WEBSITE FOR THE MOST RECENT VERSION*****

Burlap Bird's Nests.

When I saw these burlap bird's nests at The Country Chic Cottage I had to attempt them myself.  First attempt, was terrible - as I didn't use disposable bowls, rather my own cereal bowls!  Needless-to-say that left me with quite a mess.  This weekend, however, after a bit of advice from Angie at The Country Chic Cottage, I came out with ten awesome candy dishes for my guests' dinner tables!  (In the pic is a nest of reese's peanut butter cups - but we'll be using jelly beans and foil covered chocolate eggs that look like bird's eggs.)

More DIY Craftiness Going On....

Now that school is just about over, I have a ton of time on my hands - which is a good thing, as I also have a ton of DIY projects for the wedding to do!

Today, I made the first burlap table runner. I ♥ it! I'm getting much better at sewing straight lines, too! It took forever to sew, well what seemed like forever - 2 hours. After finishing the first one, I realized I couldn't just sit there banging them out one after another, so I took a DIY break to... DIY!

I also "made" clothespins for our photograph clothesline. By made, I mean I glued some cardstock strips onto dollar store clothespins. I like how they came out and it adds some purple to the decor, which I felt has been lacking. I'm certain we won't need all 144 for the clothesline - 72 photos? Probably not. - but I'm sure I will find some other way to use them between now and then.

Other awesome wedding related news - the town has blocked off the grange for the whole week prior to the wedding, so we will have plenty of time to decorate! Holy relief, Batman!




Photograph Clothesline Clothespins




(That's Shirley!)




1st Burlap Table Runner











PS-I do have DIY failures, too. I attempted to make burlap bird's nests this weekend and succeeded in glueing a ton of burlap to our cereal bowls. That one has gone back to the drawing board. =D

Place Settings.

I've been curious how we're going to "mark" the place settings on our tables, as our plates and cutlery will be at the buffet. I think I've figured it out. I'm going to wrap our Digital Photo Cards (business card size) and Guestbook Cards (postcard size) with burlap or twine and place them at each seat. We'll have colored pencils on the table in a mason jar with a little sign on it to ask guests to put the guestbook cards in the "Card Mailbox" that will be on the gift table. Then, after the reception, we can gather the cards and store them in a photo album.

I think this is the final mock-up of both cards. Let us know if you have any suggestions before we print them! Thanks for all the feedback so far, it's been great to have so much involvement from our loved ones!

Thanks For Voting!

Thanks to everyone for voting for our Fabric Boutinnieres in the Project Wedding DIY Contest. We were not in the top three, but it was awesome just being a finalist! We really appreciate all the support and can't wait to see you all in August!

Guestbooks Galore!

David and I like 3 guestbooks.

Yes, three. We don't really want to narrow it down to one or two, we want all three. They each have their own sense of uniqueness. So, we're having 3 guestbooks!

We're going to have, at the guestbook table, a thumbprint tree and a wood slice for signatures. Then, on the dinner tables, we're going to have cards guests can fill out.

Initially, I was going to have note cards printed, but it has become apparent to me that it will cost about $50 to get 100 printed with 3 different messages. So, as an alternate, I've come up with this idea. A postcard printed with the long message on the glossy side and a blank space on the other side for guests to write us well wishes. Bonus - I can get these printed for free. Can't beat free!

Here is the mock-up.
What do you think?
Is there something we ought to tweak?
The wording seems a bit awkward to me, but I could also be over analyzing because the more I do wedding stuff the more I rethink the wedding stuff I am doing!

I'm a FINALIST!

Remember I submitted the fabric boutonnieres to an online wedding DIY contest? Well, they announced the finalists today and I'm one!

It's based on online votes, so if you wouldn't mind clicking the link below, voting for the Fabric Boutonnieres, then forwarding the link on to other friends and family to vote, I'd be very grateful!

We have a chance to will $500!

Project Wedding DIY Contest - Vote HERE!

Don't forget to click the VOTE button, after you've selected our boutonnieres!

Ruffled Table Runners!

My first sewing project for the wedding is complete! Yesterday, I created table runners for the head table, cake table and gift table. (Or at least I assume that is where I am going to use them.) I think they came out pretty good, considering I didn't follow a pattern and I can't sew a straight line!

I ♥ Ruffles!

Our Invitations Arrived!

...but you can't see them.
Dave doesn't want to show them off until they're mailed.
Fair enough.
I'm so excited!
They came out absolutely wonderful!

Sewing Party!

Can it be a party, if you're by yourself?

I haven't ordered the burlap to sew the table runners for the guest tables at our reception, yet, but I do already have the fabric for the head table runner. I found an awesome "wicker-ish" printed fabric at IKEA, that is 18" wide and already hemmed on the sides! The best part is it was on clearance for $.99 a yard. I bought a whole bolt, needless-to-say. I didn't actually have a plan for it, I just knew it would work into the wedding somehow.

Enter, the head table runner. What a great way to set the head table apart from others! So, I'm feeling the need to continue on with my DIY weekends and thought that this weekend might be a good time to attempt making the ruffled table runners.

On a side note, I've read a bunch lately on blogs about "Sweetheart Tables" which are tables for the bride and groom, only. I'm beginning to think they're a good idea. I figure Dave and I can be set up at a solo table (which we're likely to only sit at while we eat) and our wedding party can be seated with other guests so they're not isolated at a head table. I think, realistically, at weddings - the bride and groom do very little sitting as they're mingling about talking with all of their guests, so why waste a big table for all the wedding party to sit at (and potentially away from their dates, as I don't know how many people we can cram at one table) when they could be sitting amongst everyone else?

Any thoughts on this? Is a sweetheart table going to seem awkward? I've never actually been to a wedding where there was one, but Dave and I aren't much for the center of attention thing, it's really just a place for us to stop and eat at. Hmmm.... Do let us know what you think, please.

Yup, so planning to make a ruffled table runner this weekend from the IKEA fabric this weekend, wish me luck!

Project Wedding.

In the endless abyss of wedding websites, I have just discovered another: Project Wedding.

They are currently running a DIY competition searching for the next best DIY wedding project, so I just submitted our boutonnieres!

DIY Wedding Challenge 2010: Fabric Boutonnieres

Feel free to click above and check it out!
(...and send a bit of good karma our way too, to win!)

DIY Boutonnieres!

While trying to get up the energy to tackle some homework today, I recalled that I had some wool fabric that had no purpose. I had picked up the fabric at a yard sale a few weeks ago, for a couple bucks. I didn't have a plan for it, I just liked it. I realized today the purpose of this fabric - boutonnieres!

I saw a super cute boutonniere on etsy (by pixelandhank) a couple months ago. Dave agreed he liked it and I committed it to memory to purchase said boutonnieres in the future for the boys. I never really thought about making them myself, as I had envisioned a lot of DIYing was going to be done back east and I would have limited time. Why not shell out the 40 or so dollars to spare me the headache of another DIY project?, is what I thought. However, today my brain was struck by bout lightning and I began to pull it all together.

After a quick run to Dollar Tree and Jo-Ann's Fabrics to buy some fake flowers and ribbon, I began the creation process. For only a couple dollars, I will have created virtually the same thing I was willing to spend $40 on! Yay!



Inspiration Boutonniere from Etsy




The DIY Boutonniere I made tonight!

The Wedsite Overhaul

We made available a ton of pages that were in the making on our wedsite. Please, please, please take a minute or three, when you can, to look them over for us. Let us know if anything is mispelled or looks out of sorts or doesn't flow well so we can make it pretty for our guests! We will have two additional pages, that will be available soon, with our Wedding Party on one and our Friends & Family on the other. Many thanks in advance for all the help!

www.weddingwire.com/theschwartzes

All the pretty cakes....

Sure I said I didn't want a girly "wedding" cake, but I'm a girl! It's so hard to avoid all the super girly details that so many weddings are overflowing with.... and, as we all know, I'm in love with ruffles!

Our ideas of what kinds of cake to have, and their general style, hasn't changed since we thought we were going to bake them ourselves.

We're still wanting 3 9in round, 3 layer cakes in 3 different flavors.
♥Yellow cake with Chocolate frosting for Dave
♥Carrot cake with Cream Cheese frosting for me
♥Any flavor cake with Lavender colored frosting to tie our wedding colors together in cake!

As I troll the boards of the wedding planning sites that the internet seems to be overflowing with, I see so many cute ideas for frosting designs. I've made a little inspiration board below to share the ones that I think are adorable! In my mind, our cakes will be monochromatic (chocolate on chocolate, lavender on lavender, etc.) and the frosting would add a fun dimension without screaming WEDDING CAKE!!! I ♥ the ruffles one, but I also think it would be too girly for all 3 cakes and (not even considering how David might feel about it) I wouldn't be able to handle that much girly! However, if our baker is able to re-create any of these designs, and could bring the ruffles to life, I wouldn't be opposed to having 3 different designed frostings (after all the color of the frosting will be 3 different colors) and one of them possibly ruffles.

What do you think?? Are you loving any of these designs, too??

PS-The bottom right is potentially what our cake pedestals will look like.