Wedding Info Tab

*Sad face: no posting today :(

But I wanted to let everyone know that I added a tab at the top called Wedding Info. It is a general overview of the what, when, and where as far as the wedding weekend goes.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask!

Glutton for Punishment

Its over! Woooo hooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

My weight loss experiment has come to an end. Thank goodness! Honestly, I can’t believe I made it. Heck! I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who thought I wouldn’t make it (my eyes are on you Roger!).

So was it worth it, you ask? Good question.

For me, it was a success, and totally worth it. I lost the same amount of weight in the 3 months leading up to my experiment, as I did during 3 week duration. I realize now, that I needed the double workouts to get over the plateau that I had reached.

What’s even crazier, I’ll probably continue the double workouts for the next couple weeks because I am so happy with the results. It’s nice to reach mid afternoon, and realize that you have already reached a normal person’s workout goal, and that your afternoon workout is just gravy. There’s no pressure to go slave away in the gym after work for two hours, when all you really want to do is call it a day.

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The one thing I’m hoping to adjust to a little better as I continue my 4:45am wakeup call, is to not start getting ready for bed until at least 9pm. Getting ready for bed at 8, when the sun is still shining, is, I admit a little ridiculous. Plus that would give me added bonus time to work on my last few remaining projects.

Have you ever started something you thought would be for a short period of time, only to continue it past the deadline? Did you like your results?

Brooch Cake Topper Tutorial

Soooo, as you can tell (if you’ve been reading), I’m in complete “get r done” mode when it comes to completing all the little tasks left for the wedding.

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I know that with limited weekends and the knowledge that time is ticking, I’ve kicked my weekends into hyper drive. I have already completed the cake topper, now you can read how! Lucky you ;) It really was pretty easy. Well, it was easy once I decided what I wanted to do (surprise, surprise).

Of course, just a plain old brooch cake topper wasn’t going to work. I also wanted to incorporate Michael’s (soon to be “our”) last name initial. Revisiting my two main inspirations for the cake topper:

The supplies I sloooooowly gathered included brooches, floral wire, my trusty hot glue gun (I think I’ll call him Earl), Styrofoam half dome, and a “P”. Other then the brooches, I bought my supplies from Hobby Lobby and Michael’s.

First, I painted my P. Originally, it was a gold color with black undertones. It basically didn’t go with anything. I painted it turquoise/aqua, and realized this wasn’t good enough either. To give it a shabby chic look, I followed this tutorial and sanded it with a piece of sand paper I found in Michael’s tool box. It must have been a pretty rough grade, because it only took a couple swipes and it was perfect.

Next, I Earl’d (i.e. hot glued) thick floral wire to the back of the brooches. I bent the wire in an L shape, and glued roughly half an inch of the L to the back of the brooch, and left about an inch or two hanging off the brooch. There was no scientific way to do this. I judged the brooch by its weight and size and eye balled the length of wire I thought it would take to hold it in place. Side note, I chose to use mainly smaller brooches, and only incorporated one or two larger brooches. Using smaller brooches allowed for more maneuverability, and it was easier to place on the topper. I also hot glued a piece of the wire to the back of the P.

Then, I placed the P where I wanted it on the Styrofoam dome, and pushed the piece of wire into the styrofoam. I placed it slightly to the side, like the M in the above inspiration picture. I then placed the larger flower (the large green one in the below picture) where I thought it would look the best, and pushed its piece of wire into the styrofoam as well.

Sorry, this is the only picture I have of the entire construction of the topper. If you look closely, you can see the black wire that is glued to the pink brooch sticking out the back. Looking at the P, you can see where the color is sanded off, to give it an antique look.

To finish, I filled in the blanks! I pushed, prodded, and poked the rest of those brooches into every little crevice I could find! No piece of Styrofoam was left unsparkled. The last brooch to go into place was the Texas on the left.

Now we have a one of a kind cake topper! I have no idea what we’ll do with it afterwards, but there it is in all it’s sparkly glory.

Are you a sentimental person? What would you recommend doing with the cake topper after the wedding?

P.S. I promise to go back to taking pictures with a real camera. My phone just makes it soooo easy.

Pictures in a Field

I am by no means photogenic. A lot of girls say this, and don’t really mean it. I, however, REALLY mean it. The idea of taking pictures of me, myself, and I has no allure to me what.so.ever. I mean, I would literally rather stick a hot poker in my eye, than take pictures. Just take a look at my aunt and uncle’s wedding photos. Well, I’d rather you not. Those pictures still haunt me.

So the idea of bridal portraits was something I was hoping to skip. But, it’s a southern tradition, and if there is one thing I have learned while being engaged, it’s that tradition must live on; whether you like it or not. Like most traditions we have incorporated into our wedding, I have of course, added my own little spin on it.

Searching for inspiration on where to take my bridal portraits, I stumbled across these:

How amazing are these? Rather then take my portraits in a studio somewhere; why not take them in the great outdoors? I have a field! And a barn! And I have access to an antique couch! I can totally make these happen.

I’ve talked to my photographer and she thinks these are very doable. She actually sounded pretty excited thru the email exchanges. Or maybe that was just me. Either way, I’m making it happen.

I also have access to a horse! I would love to use one of my own horses, but one is rather young and the other is partially blind, and I don’t think either would do well with a wedding gown. But there are plenty in reserve at my dad’s house, and he offered to pretty up one of the many others he has, and let me borrow another one. It will still be plenty sentimental, I rode the one we’ll be using for a couple years when I was younger.

I can’t wait to see how my pictures turn out, especially with them scheduled to take place in just a few short weekends. And then it’s my Bachelorette Party!

I have two more weekends to enjoy in Dallas before things get crazy. I can’t decide if I’m nervous about the pictures, anxious about completing my laundry list of diy's, or excited about EVERYTHING. Either way, its making my stomach hurt.

What makes your stomach churn? Should I start taking some Tums to ease the pain?

Burlap CARDS Sign

The other day I showed you my new card holder with the sign I made:

I think I’m going to go with the banner clothes pinned to twine instead of clipped directly to the basket. It gives it a little more flare.

I’m not really sure where this great idea came from, other then my brain must have stolen the burlap pennants from this picture….

Image via Etsy / Seller BellasBunting

..…and fused it with my love for these tiny clothespins!

Image via Etsy / Seller SoPurdyCreations

I wanted to share with you just how easy it was to do.

Your Supplies:
Burlap
Pellon
wooden letters
whatever color paint you want
paint brush
Tacky Glue
triangle stencil cut to the size you want

First, I infused the burlap with pellon. In layman’s terms (for those non-crafters out there), I ironed my burlap to my pellon. Burlap is a very flimsy fabric to work with; infusing it with the pellon makes it thicker and stronger. The pellon comes with directions as far as which side to iron to the fabric, so don’t worry. And just an FYI, pellon can be bought at craft stores or most Wal-Marts that have a fabric department.

Next, I traced the triangle 5 times onto the pellon side. Even though I have an abundance of that messy material these days, I traced the triangles in the below pattern to conserve fabric. After that, I cut the triangles out.

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In the mean time, I had painted my wooden letters black. I let the letters set for an hour or so to dry after the first coat, and then painted them with a second coat.

Finally, I used tacky glue to stick the letters to the triangles. I generously applied a strip of the glue on to the backside of each letter, centered the letter in the middle of the pennant, and pressed firmly.

Ta Da! A burlap pennant CARDS sign. Easy as pie.

My Ode to Michael's

No, not my fiancé Michael. This Ode (minus the rhyming scheme and poem format) is for the large crafting conglomerate that has also stood by my side and stolen my heart for the last eleven months.

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You are the glue stick to my hot glue gun. You are the thread to my bobbin. You are the glitter to my cardstock. You are the tulle to my bow.

Oh how I love thee, Michael. Let me count the ways.

You are conveniently located less then five miles from my house. All I have to do is jump on the toll way and it takes me directly to your doorstep. Your close proximity has aided some of my failed attempts at DIY. You make it so easy to try again.

Your giving attitude also has your doors open seven days a week. I guess the Crafting God's have deemed that they do not need a day of rest, which is fine by me. Sunday's you can usually find me short on some necessity to finish my latest project, and you are always there to lend a hand, or a glue stick, or some other piece of crap that I just have to have.

Not only do you persist with your doors wide open seven days a week in a location that I can reach in less then ten minutes, but you do it with a grace and affordability that none other possess. You offer 40% off of my highest priced item! What more could a bargain shopper ask for? You even do it with an affinity for the environment by offering the coupon thru your smart phone app. The checkers will scan the bar code directly from my phone, no paper copy needed.

Convenience and affordability aside, your vast resources that you make available to me for any crafting whim are what make you my favorite. Aisle after aisle, which at sometimes can be overwhelming, hold everything my Pinterest fueled DIY imagination could possibly come up with. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

No one comes close to holding a candle to you, oh Great Crafting Mecca. You have been with me thru the hard times as I wandered aisle after aisle, trying to figure out what I would need to complete some project; and the good times (when I found that AMAZING frame for $4!!). You have stood by me, and for that I write this Ode to you. I can only hope you feel the same way for me as I do for you.

What’s your favorite place to visit? Do you have an unnatural love for it?

2 Weeks Down, 1 To Go

And the last week will be the hardest week to complete yet. My bed calls for me to come back every morning as I tumble out of it, and reach to turn off my alarm clock. Even Sarah (our puppy) sees 4:45am as some unGodly hour that she refuses to bounce out of bed at. Her hazel eyes stare at me every morning, mocking me; taunting me. She sighs, groans a little, and then flops back onto her side in her gigantic bed that could double for a small child’s mattress.

I get dressed in the bathroom with the door closed so I don't disturb her Highness (or Michael for that matter) anymore. Sometimes she walks me to the door, most often times not anymore. I drive to the gym and log my 45 minutes. Usually by now I'm awake and it's somewhat bearable. Thank goodness for my smart phone and Netflix account. My 45 minute time interval is perfect for watching an episode of BSG. For you non-scifi fans, that's Battlestar Galactica; only the best show to be filmed in deep space since Star Trek.

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I only have a couple days to go now. I'm pretty sure I can do it, but there will be complaining. There will be some whining. Sorry, Michael (although jokes on you; if you never read this you'll never see your apology). You knew it would end this way. The bitching and moaning was an unavoidable side affect.

Nothing much has changed from the first two weeks as far as side effects go. My hair still goes back in a pony tail and I still turn into a pumpkin at 8:30. However, bippity boppity boo! My feet don't hurt anymore. Tying the laces a little tighter fixed that.

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Please fairy Gym Mother, help me get thru one more week. That’s all I ask.