DIY projects [catch up session]

I have been engaged since November 19,2008 and have recently decided to start this wonderful page to keep my family & friends in the loop. With everyone 650 miles away, this is my way of sharing my projects and ideas with those who mean the most to me. I have taken on lots of projects, in a sort of effort to keep busy, but as you also know, to save a ton of money. Success! If you can, I would recommend doing things with your own two hands. Not only am I so proud of myself and appreciative of the finished product, [i'll say it again] I have saved a lot of money.

The following projects are a compilation of what I have been doing for the past 6 months, plus more to come.

First up: Jewelry for the Bridesmaids. I love pearls. I think they are so classic and pretty, and can be worn over and over again. I wear mine with everything, come on people I am a middle school PE teacher, and I even wear them to school. So what, I like it. Anyway -- I created, destroyed, and recreated a ton of jewelry and this what I ended up with:


Like I said, very simple. The earings are definately my very favorite part of the trio, but this picture does them no justice. All items were purchased at 50% off at [my favorite] hobby lobby. Bronze faux glass pearls and Khaki faux Swavarski crystals were both used in this masterpiece creation.

Below are the jewelry folders that I made up to give the girls their jewels. I found this [super inexpensive] project here, compliments of the ever fabulous DIY bride Jenn. If you are interested in zillions of DIY projects and ideas, check out her blog at With this Ring. Mine ended up being very similar to hers, as our wedding colors are close to the same [i suppose]. Anyway, all credit to the ever crafty! These were really easy to create with some spray adhesive, scrapbooking paper and a good eye for cutting a stright edge with scissors. If you visit the above link, Jenn has typed out and explained the entire project: consider that a recommendation! At any rate, this is how mine turned out:

Next up: Bridesmaid Gift bags. I am oh so in love with this idea, as I received one from being in a friend's wedding a couple of years ago and still use it all the time! These bags started out as plain creme colored bags that I bought at Wal-Mart at the nice price of 3/$5. I would have loved to buy the already monogrammed ones in my wedding colors from some place like the Wedding Channel Store, but let's be honest: [$35 x 6 bags] not in the budget! I bought little spools of cute brown ribbon at Michael's for like 5oc each, and to town I went! I hand stitched [as you can see] the ribbon along the handles, and made small bows and attached them at the base of the strap with a button [remember, i LOVE buttons!]. I think it turned out pretty cute! These babies are not finished though - they need to see the monogrammer! Monogrammed you say? Yes! Monogramming is such a southern thing, I thought this would be a cute and personal way to incorporate my present life in the south to my 'maids.

And then I decided that I wanted something for my hair after the veil comes off. Let's be honest, I'm not wearing that thing all night long! Although it is beautiful, it's going to have to come off. The veil will be replaced with this pretty little flower that I made all by myself! I need to add some feathers, but haven't done so yet. I don't know if I wan to include white feathers, or the same brown pheasant feathers like I am using in other places of wedding decor. I made this for... I'm not even sure how cheap! The flower came off of the fabulous little dress I ordered for the flower girl, but was too big for the dress/not my thing on the dress. So I just kept it around, and I finally found a use for it. Then, I took a stirofoam ball and cut it in half. I used some of the fabulous faux pearls and swavarski crystals and attached them into the ball with twisted wire and a little super glue to keep them all in. Last thing I did was use a hot glue gun to glue the center in place. It turned out pretty cute:

Those are only the start of my DIY posts and projects. If you missed the memo [or are not in the family and do not know], I am planning a wedding for November 2009 in Ohio. Call me crazy... it will be chilly and the colorful leaves will be nearly gone. I say, I always wanted a fall wedding. As a teacher in South Carolina, my options were slim so the date was an obvious winner. I will be trying, over the next week or so to post things like:

1. My wedding shoes

2. My jewelery

3. Bridesmaid dresses

4. Cake ideas

5. Hair inspiration

6. Flower details

and I am sure many more deatils that I have been diligently working on in the past 6 months.

Now, I can recommend that you get out your bible and read Philippians 1: 1-11 which was the sermon in church this morning. Jesus Saves!

God Bless you on this Sunday!