Monogrammed Tote

This past week has been crazy busy. I have barely had time to read any blog posts, much less write one. We are on a countdown of 32 days until my best friend's wedding and most of my days have been devoted to making sure all of the details are falling into place. Although the thought of having just a month left to everything is somewhat stressful, I absolutely love it. I love spending time with her and being part of such an exciting time in her life. I also love the wedding planning and design part in general, which seems to be leading somewhere in itself. More on that later. 

One of the projects that I just finished is part of the bride's gifts to her bridesmaids. We found these roomy burlap totes at Hobby Lobby for only $9.99 each (You could use a 40% coupon and get one for $5.99). Since she is filling them with all kinds of goodies, she didn't want to spend the money to get the bags embroidered with each girl's initials. Instead, I stenciled the monograms on each bag with fuschia (her wedding color) acrylic paint. As maid of honor, I got to make one for myself as well, and I'm so glad because I love the result! Of course, you can never go wrong with monograms and burlap.

Wedding Invitations

Being that I have had no classes or training using Adobe illustrator, I probably only use a very tiny fraction of the program's capabilities. I discover something new every time I use it and I absolutely love the software. My biggest graphic design project thus far has been creating wedding invitations. Yes, these are for my best friend and bride-to-be that you keep hearing about. I created a few rough designs before she decided that this one was exactly what she wanted. Her wedding color is fuschia and she wanted something simple and elegant. Being the monogram freak that I am, I suggested a classic monogram with the couple's initials. 

After finalizing the invitation, I created a matching RSVP card. I also added a cover card with a matching monogram for presentation. The pieces are all held together with a piece of satin ribbon tied in a dainty little bow. The invitation paper and RSVP cards have a thin pearl border. The pearl color is actually white, not yellow-ish like it looks in the pictures. Obviously, I am completely out of my element when it comes to photography. 

I was so happy that the invitations were exactly what she had envisioned. I love matching the bride's style with the elements of her wedding. I am so excited to make more invitations with different styles and themes.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the most amazing dad in the world! I could not ask for a more generous, supportive, loving father. He is truly an incredible role model and such a daily inspiration. Although it drives my mom crazy at times how much we are alike, I feel blessed to have received any of his qualities. My dad will always be the first man that I ever loved and will always have my heart. I love you more than you will ever know!

Ready for Football Season...

I have used natural colored burlap for tons and tons of projects. I have a thing for burlap. But I had never used colored burlap until I made these pillows. I made the Auburn pillow for a bride-to-be who is also an Auburn grad. She is getting married in September and is having a football area for the wedding party to watch the games before the ceremony. Her future husband is an LSU fan so she decided to decorate using a "house divided" theme. She contacted me to make 2 pillows for each team. So, this is just one of the four that I will be making.

When I bought the orange burlap material, I realized that there was a red color that could easily pass for crimson. Being an Alabama fan and alumni, I knew there was no way that I could make an Auburn pillow with out making an Alabama one too. 

For both pillows, I hand painted the team logos and then sewed the burlap to make a cover for the pillow form. Of course, I like one a bit more than the other, but I think they both turned out great. Now, I am just ready for football season!

Flower Girls & Ring Bearers

Since I began planning my bff's wedding, I started a list of all related projects on a huge chalkboard in my craft room. Maybe I am a bit OCD with my list making, but for me, it feels incredible to draw a line through a finished project to mark its completion. I have been known to add stuff to my "to-do" list that I have already finished, just for the sake of crossing it out. Anyways, over the weekend I finished the moss balls for the flower girls and the pillows for the ring bearers.

The bride wanted the flower girls to carry something simple and unique, not the typical basket of petals. Since we are using moss in some of the other wedding decor and the ceremony will take place outside, I decided to make these moss balls. Because one of the three flower girls is younger, I made her ball smaller so that it wouldn't overwhelm her tiny body. I added a burlap hanger with a matching burlap bow. Now, these are completely ready for the wedding and they were much cheaper than using fresh flowers.

There are two ring bearers in the wedding and like the flower girls, one of the them is smaller than the other. Actually, the bride's adorable nephew is only about 7 months old. We are thinking he might make his entrance down the aisle in a white wagon. Taking their size size into account, one of the pillows is larger than the other. They are both covered in burlap and finished with a lace-like trim and a white shear bow. The pillows go perfectly with the moss balls.
Now, I am off to finish one of the bride's shoes. Yes I am making her shoes and they are the total definition of glamour-just like my amazing best friend. I can't wait for the much anticipated reveal!

Copycat Pottery Barn cube

Pottery Barn twill cube $99

Around Christmas time last year, I came across a twill cube ottoman in Pottery Barn. It wasn't anything eccentric or gorgeous, but its simplicity won me over and I almost bought the thing more than once. Thankfully I came to the conclusion that I didn't need to spend $100 on an oversized cube that I had no place for. 

Pottery Barn outdoor cube $159 $125

Over time, the perfect cube slipped my mind. That is until its outdoor twin debuted in the Spring Pottery Barn catalog. This one costing $159. I knew I wasn't going to make the purchase but that didn't stop me from dreaming about it. 

plush baby blocks

I'm usually always thinking of ways to make a copy-cat version of expensive items that I yearn for, but for some reason, it never crossed my mind that I could easily create a replica of the PB cushion. Then it hit me. When I was making the plush baby blocks for one of my friends who is expecting, I realized the blocks were tiny versions of my beloved cube. 

my copy-cat cube

A friend had given me a huge roll of canvas material, which happened to be the perfect color and texture. I wanted my cube to be pretty large so I cut six (20") squares of material, and six (20") squares of fusible interfacing material. I ironed a square of the interfacing material to each square of canvas to make the sides sturdy and give it a perfect cubed shape. Next I lined up the edges and sewed the right sides of the material together, until I had a cube with one side left unstitched. I stuffed it with tons and tons of polyfil. I'm really not sure how much it took because I used what I had around the house and then bought a 50 oz. bag to finish it off. Afterwards, I kind of wished I had monogrammed an "M" on one side and at some point I might un-stuff the thing and do that. Overall, it ended up costing me about $8 for the polyfil and I think it looks pretty similar to the Pottery Barn version. Now, I'm thinking about making one out of burlap.

my cube in the living room

Wedding Garters

With the wedding that I am planning for my best friend just short of 2 months away, things are finally starting to come together. Now I am trying to prioritize my list based on which things are needed first. One major thing that I have finished is the design for her invitations. They are now in the printing process so I will post pictures as soon as I get a hard copy. Even though the garters are probably one of the last things that need to be done, I finished them yesterday while we were chatting about the bachelorette party (which I am planning too). We decided to make her first garter from a scalloped lace, trimmed with pearl beading. I added a tiny fuschia bow to tie in her main wedding color. For the throw garter, I used the same initial design but instead of a bow, I added an embroidered Alabama "A" for the University of Alabama. The groom is a UA alumni and a huge fan. While he has spent many tailgates and football games trying to make her a fan as well, I think this makes it official. I can't wait to finish some more wedding projects so that I can share them with you!