Sewing Table

One day while perusing Pinterest (Michael says that's where originality goes to die), I came across this:

I would have provided a reference link, but none seem to exist anymore.


As it just sew happens (see what I did there?  Its a sewing table!), I had something at my disposal that has been looking for a job for a VERY long time....

I'm not really sure why this is the angle of the ONLY picture that I have of it.  But imagine that the wooden piece is the top and the metal plate is at the bottom.

So after ripping this thing to pieces and attaching a wooden top, I had a NEW sewing machine!  It looks amazing!

 

NOW, I just need to find something to sew!  Which, if I take a look at my list of things to do, shouldn't be too hard.

Christmas Decorating

Tradition in my family is that you spend the weekend after Turkey Day setting up the Christmas tree and any other decorations you might have.  I am no disappointment to this family tradition.  I especially like it since we have more then just the tree as far as decorations go.  I figure if your going to go to all the effort of setting them up, you might as well enjoy them for a month before you have to take them down.

After much debating about where the tree was going to go in our tiny apartment, we finally settled on an area and began assembly.  It's still a little sad looking, but I refuse to buy a new one until we have a house.  Our Charlie Brown tree will just have to work one or two more years.

It's sparsley populated with ornaments as well because....well....no good reason other then we're cheap.  What are ya gonna do?

I had debated setting up my tiny village, but after a little encouragement from Michael, I finally decided to go for it.

My new addition this year was our stocking holders from Hobby Lobby:

And this NOEL sign I made was also an addition.  I repurposed one of our framed P's from the wedding, and spray painted the frame red as well as the wooden letters that spelled NOEL.  I pretty much followed the same instructions as when I made our burlap picture display for the wedding as far as covering it in burlap, and then gluing the wooden letters to the burlap.

I'm still thinking about tackeling a burlap ruffle tree skirt, but this project will probably have to wait for another weekend.  And looking back on my pictures, I'm debating asking for a new camera.  I'm not really sure how much longer these iPhone pics are going to work for me :/

Thanksgiving Decor

Into the box goes the Halloween decor, and to my Holiday Pinterest board I go.  Once again, I wanted something easy since we still live in an apartment, and I don't have that much room to work with.  The following caught my eye......

Image via ADiamondInTheStuff

 Image via ChooseToThrive

After Halloween, I'd had my fill of pumpkins, so I chose to go with the bottle idea.  Keeping in mind I would need six bottles and six letters of some sort since I liked the simple "THANKS", off to Hobby Lobby I went.

After wandering around for a few minutes, I finally decided on a clear wine bottle to hold the wheat stalks.  The hardest part was deciding on the lettering.  I had anticipated that I would end up stenciling the letters on, but after visiting the ON SALE(!!!!) Halloween decor, I found these vinyl adhesive letters.  It was a hard choice between the pre-made letters and the glass marker, but eventually I came to my senses and spent the extra $2 on the vinyl letters.  The marker was cheaper, but 1. when would I ever need a glass marker again? and 2. did I really want to spend however long it would take to stencil the letters on in the hopes of me not coloring outsides the lines and making it look like a child did it?  The answer to both questions was no, I would never need a glass marker, and yes I wanted it to look nice.

Along with two bunches of wheat stalks, the total was about $35.  I probably could have saved about $10 on the bottles if I had waited for the bottles to be 50% off (since we all know Hobby Lobby runs its stuff on sale every other week!), but I was ready to do this project this weekend and I didn't want to wait.  After spreading out my loot on the table, and a mere five minutes later, I had six bottles that spelled out THANKS.

It was pretty simple I must say. I lined up the bottles and added the wheat, but something was still missing.  After revisiting my Pinterest inspiration above, I realized what I was missing.  Burlap! (duh)

And with that, I was done!  Even Michael said it looks nice, and that is definitely a win in my books.

Repurposing

Or like the Yuppies call it…..Upcycling.  It’s all the rage now. *cough*sarcasm*cough*

Image Source

No really, it is!  To us common people, it’s more about recycling things for another purpose (cheaply!) then it is about going out and spending lots of money on something that has been Upcycled for you.  I realize you wouldn’t think we would be repurposing anything after gutting cleaning out our house, but there were a few wedding mementos I had always intended to be saved and changed into something we could use/cherish afterwards.

1. Framed monograms for ceremony arches

You can see the framed P hanging from the arch behind the guys.....

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with these for a while.  Worst case scenario was that the P’s would get tossed, and I would save the frame’s to display wedding photos.  Then I started thinking how great it would be to add burlap throw pillows to our couch.  After that it was just a snow ball effect of combining burlap pillows with the monograms, a la the ring bearer pillow.  I thought the combination of burlap with the monogram would be a great addition to our couch!

Ooops, looks like it was upside down.  Haha, oh well.  My cousin did so good.

So my intention is to sew two burlap pillow cases, somehow attach the P’s, and then admire them on our couch.  I think they’ll look great!  Plus, I can use the empty picture frame’s to display some of our wedding pictures!

2. Wedding cards

Luckily, I saw this pin on Pinterest BEFORE the bridal showers and wedding, or our cards would have probably ended up in the trash.  As of right now, they’re safe and sound in a perfectly sized plastic tote, and will remain there until I get around to doing this.

Image via SomethingTurquoise

3. White and gold framed “P” on cake table

My original repurposing plan was to paint the frame to match our living or bedroom.  Honestly, the more I look at it, the more I like it as is, so not sure I’ll be making any changes to it.  Instead of repurposing, perhaps this is just moving?  Or not selling it?  You’re call, either way, keeping it with minimal changes.  I think the wire to hang it runs width wide and I will need to change that to length wide. 

4. Chandelier and small blue mason jars

Image via Etsy

Now, this was not something that was featured at the wedding.  After seeing the above inspiration picture, I had every intention of making this.  I bought the below chandelier from SaveOnCrafts, had accidentally bought four pint sized mason jars (instead of the quart sized needed for the centerpieces), and was fully prepared to convert my plain chandelier into the above. 

Image via SaveOnCrafts

But it just. Never. Happened.  I was slightly upset, but it’s almost as if the universe was saying no Megan, that’s enough.  First, I didn’t have the right tool to cut off the metal spikes that would hold the candle; second, I couldn’t seem to find anywhere to hang it where it would look good at the venue; third, Michael was always against it.  Oh well.  You can’t always get your way, even if you are the bride.  I am determined to complete this project though.  Even if it is just to see how it turns out.

As you can tell, just because the wedding is over doesn’t mean that I am done diy’ing.  I think that completing these projects, studying for my state certification test, trying to find a job, and unpacking/organizing our apartment should keep me from getting bored anytime soon.  If not, there’s always the puppy to walk. 

So much for taking a break……

Burlap Bunting

Image Source

Bunting is a HUGE wedding trend right now.  And we all remember how much I like wedding trends right?  Description words often used when describing weddings that incorporated bunting are “whimsical”, “vintage”, and “playful”.  While I’ve grown accustomed to vintage, and playful is always fun, whimsical is what really throws me off.  Whenever I think of whimsical, I see fairies frolicking in the woods.  Or on a stage: 

Image Source

That is something I was not ok with at our wedding.  Not.  At.  All. *Scary*

However, I have been onboard with burlap bunting signs…..I know it doesn’t seem that different then “whimsical” bunting.  But it is.  I promise.

Image via Etsy 

Image via Etsy

Image via Etsy 

Especially when I added my own special twist, i.e. the Texas shaped spacers like below. 

 

As you can see, I have been hard at work and not hard at sharing.  Well, not really hard at work.  This project was relatively easy, other then the mental anguish of talking myself into pulling out the iron to get this project started.  But I digress.  The supplies that I conveniently had on hand to create the project included burlap, pellon, scissors, triangle pattern, and my trusty sewing machine.  Once again, there are no pictures documenting this project because I SUCK at taking pictures.  Even though I completed this project three different times, each time I managed to forget my camera.  Since I plan on continuing to blog, even now that the wedding is done, I HAVE to get better at taking pictures.

First, I ironed the pellon and burlap together.  The pellon helps keep the burlap from fraying, as well as makes it heavier so that it hangs better.

Next, I traced the triangle pattern on the back of the pellon.  Sketching the triangles like a puzzle helped to optimize the space, as well as creating fewer sides to cut.  This is really helpful as your hand starts to cramp when trying to cut thru 2 thick layers of material.

Finally, I folded the thick edge at the top over, creating a hole to run the twine thru.  Tada!  Burlap bunting!

And now that our wedding is over, I can show you how we displayed some of it.  Saturday, as the finishing touches were put into place around our venue, I received picture updates from Michael, often featuring my brother who was a HUGE help that day, even if he does make an unconventional version of Vanna White.

 (Welcome sign hung from the roof)

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(Thank You sign behind guest table)

Late Night Jam Sessions

Or as Michael and I have labeled it, my Last Little Bit of Crazy.

Image via Elizabethannedesigns

Image via OneWed

Image via YoungMarriedChic

See why we’ve called it My Last Little Bit of Crazy? 

I didn’t really have time to talk about it pre-wedding, but I had decided early on that we were going to have little jam favors for our guests at our wedding.  And when I say little, I mean tiny.  The jars I had in mind were less then two ounces.  I had already priced the jars thru multiple websites and decided on the cheapest (but best) route.  I then proceeded to purchase 160 of these bad boys for the 160 place settings I had determined we would need after agonizing deciding on a floor plan.

Image via FillmoreContainer

This project was originally supposed to be something that I would have completed MONTHES before the wedding, but Wedding-itis reared its ugly head during March and April (when I had scheduled to complete this project), and they didn’t get done.  I’m blaming the Wedding-itis on the invitations.  Those suckers wore me out.

Anyways…..back to the beginning of my Master Plan; after googling the crap out of “making jam” and reading various tutorials and Certo Sure Gel instruction sheets, I decided to make a practice batch.  Keep in mind, this all was taking place in January.  Michael and I taste tested a few jars of jam every week for about six weeks to make sure that they tasted good and that I had successfully completed the canning process (i.e. we wouldn’t be giving our guests food poisoning). 

After taste testing and concluding that I had successfully completed my first canning session, I stopped thinking about it.  I mean, I flat out stopped worrying about completing the jam favors at all.  I would even go so far as to give the box of jars a little kick towards the wall whenever I would go into our second bedroom to get some other more important/fun wedding related item.  This procrastination continued thru mid-May. 

With the wedding countdown nearing six weeks, I knew I had to get started.  I eventually completed the 4 batches of 40 jars following the Certo Sure Gel instructions, but also adding an extra pouch of pectin, like the tutorial had advised.  I only boiled the jars for about 8 minutes even though the recipe said 10, but I figured we were ok considering the 1.5 ounce jars we used are about a quarter of the size of the 8 ounce jars used in the tutorial.

Michael helped me design the below label using Avery return address labels and an online tool that was offered by Avery.  They weren’t anything fancy, but we were able to incorporate our monogram (like I had secretly been hoping, but had had no luck on my own perfecting!).

The final “packaging” element that I, in my infinite wisdom, just had to have was a cover for the jar.  And what material do we have in abundance?  Oh yeah!  Burlap!  This was a little trickier due to the combination of inflexible material with a tiny jar.  It wasn’t impossible, just harder then originally thought (Like so many of my other projects!).  I cut the burlap tops and rubber banded them to the jar, and Michael tied the twine and cut any rubber band that was still in sight.  A real team effort!

And voila! (or, as we say here in Texas, wha-la!)  As a side note, our DIY projects were done by Tuesday night, AND a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders! 

P.S. The title to this post (Late Night Jam Sessions) is slightly misleading.  I never stayed up late to complete ANY of my projects, let alone one’s that were completed mere days before the wedding.  Needless to say, no sleep was lost due to wedding worries or diy details. 

Window Chalkboard

I know, I know, I have a million signs.  Whatevs, I’m going to have one more.  Our guests are going to be very well informed.  Believe it or not, this one was the most interesting (i.e. last minute) sign out of all of them. 

I had procured this window at Canton for a mere $5, thus deeming it the Best Buy out of all my wedding crap.  That’s right, I’m calling it my wedding crap.  I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do with it, but for $5, I couldn’t pass it up.

After a few months, I started thinking I could use it as the drink menu.  I thought it would look really cute leaning against our drink bar, and it would serve to let our guests know what their beverage options would be.  It conveniently has 3 panes, so I figured one for sodas, one for beer, and one for wine.

I have decided to leave its main function as a drink menu, but instead of using glass chalk to write directly on the window pane, I am going to turn it into a chalkboard sign.  I’m still not really sure why I decided to add this last minute diy, but I have.  So here it goes.

Ahhhh.....good old Newt.  Back on topic.

Monday night, I spent an hour covering the wood frame in masking tape, so that when I spray the chalk spray paint, only the glass will be affected.  I also chose to use my brain, and left a few of the ends doubled over, so that the tape can be easily removed at the end of the project.

Last night, I sprayed the glass in a few coats of chalkboard spray paint, letting it dry between coats to make it look even.

And of course, it couldn’t be that easy, so on the 4^th of July I had to add a few extra coats because you could still see thru the window in some spots that weren’t covered heavily enough by the spray paint.  After letting it dry some more, I finally was able to rip up the doubled over edges and remove the tape revealing a window chalkboard drink sign! 

Honestly, one of my easiest projects yet.  Nothing had to be re-engineered, re-cut, or frustratingly cried over.  Success!

Summer Essentials

…..as applied to weddings.  Gotcha!

You thought this was going to be an un-wedding related post didn’t you?  I fooled you with my master deceiving skills.

Our wedding is a few short weeks days away (sorry, this was supposed to be posted a while ago, but my work computer's firewall has been against me blogging lately), and you can definitely tell summer is here to stay in Texas.  Gone are the cool nights, short days, and mosquito free evenings.  I personally welcome the sun filled, heat scorching days, but I know that others don’t necessarily share this love with me.  They also don’t necessarily share the heat/sun tolerance with me that I have spent 27 years perfecting.

The first (and at the time, I figured only) option I thought of to aid our people in surviving the 30 minutes spent outside during the ceremony was fan programs:

But as time draws near, and other things start to take precedence, I’m thinking just a simple program would be easier.  We also haven’t met with the Reverend yet (remember, meant to be posted sooner, we have now met with the Reverend) to solidify what would actually go in the program as far as the ceremony and readings are concerned, which means fan programs would end up being a week of diy.  I am trying to avoid the last minute must have details at all costs.

Other thing’s I’ve considered were fans, misters (aka spray bottles), and the combination spray mister fan. 

That’s its technical name. Look it up.

But the practicality and logistics of these ideas comes in to play, and buying 200 of any of the above named things just doesn’t seem like a good idea.  What if I end up with 50 leftover?  How will everybody get one?  Can I put them on each seat since the ceremony seating is amphitheatre style?  Who is actually going to need one?  More than a few of our guests have spent more years then me perfecting their “tolerance” and will be fine. 

Luckily enough, I can avoid all these questions with a simple “Sun Bar” (thank you Pinterest!):

While this isn’t exactly what it will look like (the above is a little “backyard bbq” and we’re going for a more formal look), I’m thinking a plethora of wooden fans, mosquito spray, chapstick, sun screen, spray misters, and whatever else I can find at the Dollar Store will be ideal.  This way guests can choose to use any of the above options, or not choose if they don’t want to, to aid any mosquito, sun, or heat induced issues they might have. 

We will also have drink (alcohol, sodas, and water) readily available to quench their thirst at our drink bar which will be outside between the ceremony and reception area.

I’m hoping this will alleviate any hardships our guests will face by sitting in the sun for our twenty minute reception, but I have a feeling no matter what we do, the sun is going to be a bi@!h and there’s not a lot we can do to fix it.  Oh well. 

I LOVE SUMMER!!!! Woohoo!!!!

Framing a P

Somehow, very unintentional on my part, our new monogram has become very prevalent throughout the wedding decor.

Courtesy WeddingChicks

It was originally used in our invitation “packaging” to include our wedding website:

It was added to the utensil tags with a little “Thank You” shout out under it (which I also used on the hostess gifts):

I am still trying to figure out how to incorporate it into our favors, but that’s for a later post.  For another project, we had the monogram screen printed on white material, with the monogram being approximately 16x20 inches in size.  We had asked for two, but were given three because one was considered a “test”.  Luckily for me, I can’t tell the difference between the three of them, so score! Free one!  And I knew immediately what I wanted to use it for. 

Of course I have no pictures of any of the following (world’s worst picture taker, right here!).  I had managed to snag this great white and gold heirloom frame for $20 on one of my scavenger hunts, and I also had some quarter inch Styrofoam board just lying around, which is scary.  (We have a lot of things just “lying around” nowadays, and I can’t wait to throw it all away!  It’s starting to feel like an episode of Hoarders.)  Anyways, back on topic.  We measured and cut the Styrofoam board to fit the opening, laid the P face down on our coffee table, centered the foam board on the back of the P, and then glued the loose edges of the material onto the back of the board with mod podge.

The trickiest part was (1) making sure the monogram was centered on the board and (2) not fighting with each other while trying to make the board fit in the frame.  You see, I had measured the board a little bigger then the frame opening after a previous project was cut too small.  So, when the board didn’t quite fit into the frame on the first try, we had a difference of opinions on how to make it fit.  ANYWAYS, without getting too far into it, above is the great looking finished product and we’re talking to each other again J

We’re going to put the framed P behind the cake on the cake table to distract from this framed quilt our venue has hung on the wall.  It was kind of a last minute diy, but I love the way it turned out, and the fact that it’s going to cover up (at least partially) that awful, doesn’t match anything, quilt, makes it look even better in my eyes.

Winning!

Freaking Word

No, I didn’t turn gangster.  I’m talking about designing our programs.  In Word.  Microsoft Word that is.

You can probably tell I’m not a fan of the software from the title.

In my head, I’ve always wanted something simple.  We didn’t need anything crazy, or page after page of cheesy love quotes, or even information that everybody already knows (i.e. time, ceremony/reception address).  We didn’t require all this extra info since everything would be taking place at one location, everybody already knows what time to be there since they received an invitation, and let’s face it.  Michael and I are minimalists.  All I figured we would require would be the necessities: bridal party & parental info, the order of the ceremony events, and a small thank you section.  Easy peesy, I should be able to do this myself.

Image Source

Although the above wedding program almost made me think twice about being a minimalist.  It’s so pretty with the burlap and scrapbook paper cover.  If we had been able to solidify our ceremony details sooner then two weeks before the wedding, this probably would have won. But since that didn’t happen, and creating the above would have cost more $$$, taken more time, and added one more large diy to my list.  As well as I work under pressure, I just wasn’t willing to risk it right before the wedding.  And let’s face it, who remembers the programs (freaking rationalism rearing its ugly head once again!)?

Image Source 

So the plain and simple route is the way we will go.  And I was this close to paying someone on Etsy to design the program as a pdf and then I would print it (like the invitations!), but I figured for the $40 they were asking, I could come up with something.  Right? 

Right?!?!?!

Well, after working on it in my spare time for THREE excruciatingly painful weeks, I have finally (FINALLY!!!) finished it.  Can you tell how excited I am?

Now, I’m not going to show you the final product, but I will show you a few things I learned thru trial and error.  I learned how to work the column application as well as format a background picture, which I had never done. 

 

I highlighted the parts I thought were important.  The thing I found most important was the drop down that I highlighted in yellow.  The two options were either to apply to “the whole document” or “from this point forward”.  Both options became very handy when trying to create different versions of the program.

One of the things I wanted to incorporate was our monogram.  We have used it on a few things already, and I thought it would be good to continue it’s use into the programs for continuity.  After a few trials (and errors), and realizing how important space was, I decided to try and add it as a background.  This was pretty easy actually.  If you insert the picture, right click on it, and select “format the picture” from the selection, the above box pops up.  Selecting the Layout tab will show you the available options for the picture.  I chose the background with text covering the picture.

Selecting the background option moves the picture behind the words, but you also need to select the Layout tab, and then play with the picture coloring to make it light enough so that the words are readable in front of the picture.  I originally selected “grayscale”, but that didn’t make the color light enough, so I had to play with it and I finally chose “washout”.  This made the background picture light enough to see the words on top, but still dark enough to be seen on the paper.

I realize a lot of people probably already know how to do these rudimentary type things in Word, but I didn’t.  I guess I skipped that day in school where these skills were taught.  That’s right Mom and Dad, I skipped!  I guess if this is all I missed out on, I’m still doing pretty well.  Freaking Word.