DIY: Invitations

three posts in one day...that's a lot of updates :) But, even though I put my computer away an hour ago, I'm too excited to share some of my latest creations.  :) AND as soon as I find the camera cord so I can upload pictures of one of these parties, I'll definitely be doing a post on that as well!!!

As I mentioned previously.... I LOVE PAPER PRODUCTS.  Especially invitations.  I enjoy making them, more than I could ever put into words.  Right now, it is merely a hobby for me, but recently I've been having more friends ask me to create things for them and I'm starting to realize that I enjoy this form of crafting (and craft therapy) more than I should.  There is just something about listening to someone explain what type of "look" they are going for and tweaking the document until it is exactly what they had envisioned.  Sometimes...it's hard to get into their heads and understand what they are looking for.  This is why pinterest has been a life-saver.  It is so easy to look at other invitations or items and say "I like this  about invitation A, but I prefer _____ from invitation B".  Then, you spend a day mixing the two together and you have a pdf of a combination of both.


NOTE: All of my invitations are hand-crafted by myself, so while I try my hardest to make them as identical as possible, there will be minor variations in each one.  While I find this quality endearing, which is why I wanted to make my own wedding invitations, if you are a "I want them to be EXACTLY the same" kind of person...you can stop reading this post now.

"I Do" BBQ & Wedding Shower

A southern-style BBQ, "falling in love" theme for a couples shower hosted in the fall months.

My husband, mother, and I recently hosted a wedding shower for my oldest friend, Brooke, and her hubby to be, Chadwick.  They are getting married next April and since her bridal shower was going to be mostly family, I decided to throw her a couples wedding shower.  The theme was "Falling in Love" and titled an "I Do" BBQ.  Fall color palate of oranges, burlap, and chocolate brown.  Sunflowers, berries, and other fall foliage.  A dessert bar with a lot of "acorn" inspired treats which were super fun to make :).  It was a lovely time...but my most favorite thing out of everything made for the day was probably the invitations.

 

I created this PDF one afternoon and thought it was missing something but at the time couldn't figure out what it was.  Then I decided to add the tag to the jar with bakers twine with their registry information on it and the subtitle of "Fall in Love".

 

I loved being able to be playful with fall colors and fun fonts for this since it was an informal affair.

 

For the envelopes, I wanted to use kraft brown envelopes but I felt they were too plain.  I added a mason jar stamp and then a heart stamp, and then (not pictured here) hand-wrote the wedding date inside each jar.

 

The party itself matched the invitations-colors, textures, and all.  Oh yes, and of course mason jars were the centerpieces and drinking glasses :)

 

 

Wedding Invitations

From our Lowcountry wedding- soft shades of peaches and pinks coupled with the natural textiles of burlap and twine made up the feel for our wedding.

 

As I posted previously here about our wedding details, I first realized I enjoyed making invitations when we were preparing for our pending nuptials.  In case you didn't catch the post, here is a picture of our wedding invitations I came up with.

 

kraft brown pocketfolds, shimmer pink backing and shimmery ivory cardstock for the invitation and card sets.

 

 

I also decided to continue on the theme and make wedding programs as well, but wanted each to be bright and cheerful and unique so I created and assembled these:

 

 

 

I loved the different papers, ribbons, and backings.  I thought this was my way of getting lots of color into the wedding without it taking away from the otherwise peach/tan/brown color scheme!

 

 

Glitter Bachelorette Party Invitations

Where girly-girl lovebird meets sass-a-frass.  The combination of subtlety and flowing lettering with intense sparkle gives these invitations the feel I am going for.

 

Since my best friend is getting married next Spring, I took the opportunity to go ahead and create some invitations for her bachelorette weekend.  I got the design inspiration from a collective force of pinterest samples.  The theme.... glitter ... but I wanted it to be sweet/sappy as well... so here goes nothing :

 





textured glitter backing, shimmery white cardstock for invitation, and glitter cardstock hearts strung together on a strip of hemp.  I can't WAIT for this party.

 

 

I think invitations, especially weddings and showers, should be unique.  I think they are a perfect opportunity to showcase what your event will be about, while simultaneously showing your personality.  This is why I love creating them: it gives me the opportunity to set the stage for an upcoming event. 

 

Currently, I'm in the process of creating an invitation set with pocketfolds for my friend, Brooke's, wedding.  I can't wait to assemble a sample together and show you guys!!!

 

 

xoxo,

 

Virginia

 



Our Wedding

March 9, 2013- wedding details

 

I love weddings.  I can honestly say that I loved every minute of planning our wedding except for the last month when I had to hand over the reins to other people and just "trust" that things would come together.  I'm not very good with that, especially after 15 months of intricately planning every last detail.

 

 

This post will be long, I apologize in advance.

 

One of the first things I did for our wedding was come up with the theme.  We wanted a "Charleston" wedding.  I wanted the lowcountry tide and marsh in the photos, I dreamt of wrap-around porches, sweet tea in mason jars, southern food, twine.... cowboy boots.  This part was easy... it was all the things that J and I loved all combined into one.

 

 

The problem was that the wedding was actually planned around one single thing: a tie.  J happened to find "the perfect" plaid tie on a whim 1 week after we were engaged....he said he wanted to wear it to the wedding.  So I said, sure, I'll plan the wedding around the tie.

 

Floral Arrangements

Now, I'm very much a DIY-er.  I genuinely enjoy crafting, I love making things, and I love the one-of-a-kind vibe you get from carefully planned and created décor.  So I bought a lot of mason jars, too many rolls of twine, lots of hot glue sticks, and got to work. 

 

I knew I wanted spring flowers- but not perfectly crafted bouquets.  I wanted it to look more like someone swept a bunch of similar colored flowers up and placed them in jars.  And I wanted the simplicity of baby's breath.

 

My precious father-in-law was sweet enough to surprise me and cut down a tree into wood slices (literally) when I saw a picture of jars on wood slabs and said "I would love that for the wedding".  I got a text two days later as a picture message of wood in the back of a truck....my heart melted.

 

ivory linens. chiavari chairs, mason jars

lace...twins..different jars.. you get the vibe

 

my bouquet... which has two brooches on it. One belonging to each of my grandmothers who were unable to be with us that day since Heaven is awfully far away...but I wanted them to walk with me down the aisle.

FYI: quilted mason jars make EXCELLENT candle holders with the way light reflects through the glass.

more centerpieces

The groomsmen and groom had palmetto rose boutonnieres...just to be true to Charleston :)  I also love that since they are made from palmetto leaves, I get to keep J's forever :) 

baby's breath in the sunlight

cocktail table.  This is where I let myself use colored linens.

 

 

 

 

Bridesmaids Dresses

 

I knew I wanted mis-matched dresses from the very beginning.  Not because this was a "trend", but more because I genuinely like the look. I also wanted a variety of textures and fabrics and colors, as well as prints.  Sounds like a big mess, right?  J thought so...so did everyone else when I told them I did not want traditional bridesmaids dresses.  They cringed when I said "prints" and when I responded to the "well they'll all be the same fabric, right" with a firm "definitely not" I think some of them had an aneurysm.  But it was what I wanted, and I was determined to make it work!

 

I wanted shades of peaches and pinks.  Soft colors, delicate details, and a variety of styles.  I wanted each girl to find something they loved and could wear again (you've heard that before, right?).  I also wanted to have jewelry made custom for each girl that was different, yet cohesive.  And when I stumbled across a store on Etsy that provided just that, I thought my heart would flutter right out of my chest in joy!

 

 

Brooke, my MOH

All the dresses (minus brooke's).  Chiffon peach with rhinestone detailing, three-quarter length sleeved lace dresses with scalloped hemlines, and a darling vintage print dress completed the look.

 

Ready for this? I found them at Dillards.  Not joking.  Totally serious.  WHICH WAS GREAT because they could go to their local dillards and buy them/try them on... oh yeah, my girls spanned 4 different states, 7 different cities.

 

 



 



 

Paper products and Chalkboards

 

I love paper.  I love invitations--they're the first thing your guests see when they get invited to your wedding.  It's your time to set the stage for the upcoming event.  Unfortunately, invitations get expensive , and also it's really difficult to find one that is "just right."  SO.... I made ours.

 

I had a vision in mind-- I wanted kraft brown folds, and shimmery ivory papers, and more mason jars, and pinks/peaches (just like the bridal party dresses)...here is what I came up with and created.

 

Each tie was a bit different, with our monogram of "F" on there.

 

all tied up!

pocketfolds = my favorite.  Everything gets so organized and stays that way through mailing!

 

The whole set together! 

 

 

As for the chalkboards- I lucked out and got a lot of cute frames at Homegoods and then a GIANT frame at a yard sale.. then I taped and used chalkboard paint to create them and chalk pens.  I love chalkboards.

 

 

 

Programs- when I created these- I wanted splashes of color...I also wanted 150 different programs. So no two programs are exactly identical :)

 

Stole this from pinterest... not ashamed

with our guestbook

Our guestbook alternative: the thumbprint tree.  Which was extra special because one of my best friends painted it for me!



 

 

I had this created from a fabulous etsy shop of us and our furchildren :)

We went with cupcakes-- minis, regular, and jumbo.... we had all intentions of cutting into the giant one...but we ended up cutting into a mini for the cake cutting :)





 



The Venue

This was the first thing we decided on.  We got married at Creek club at I'On and I wouldn't change that at all.  It had a large porch with extra seating, and a gorgeous wood-paneled interior with exposed beams, and views of the marsh that were out of this world.  We got married outside under a beautiful oak tree.  When people ask me "what was it about this venue that made you choose it?" I can't really explain it without sharing some of our favorite pictures.

 

entire bridal party

sunset over the marsh

giant tree

dances on the dock at sunset

all smiles :)

views of the Charleston marsh

dad's tie: Etsy :)

Creek club at I'On

hanging lanterns

 

 

There are so many details that go into a wedding that I couldn't possibly share them all, but these are definitely some of my favorite from ours. 

If you are looking to get married in the Charleston area and would like more information on any of the vendors that we used, please feel free to contact me! I wouldn't have changed a thing!

 

So there you have it.  My Charleston-inspired DIY wedding.  Lots of long nights with my hot glue gun and paper products went into this wedding, but I loved taking the time to make all the details!

 

 

 

My favorite gift:

Everyone has a favorite gift from their wedding, right?  Most people just don't say "YOUR gift was my favorite"... well, I have to brag a little on my sweet cousin, Katie here for a minute. 

She captured some of our wedding on video and put the film to the lyrics to our first dance song... and she did an absolutely phenomenal job.  this is, by far , my most favorite part of the wedding.  I didn't want a videographer at the wedding (no offense to you all who want every minute of your day captured), but having a highlight video like this I would definitely recommend people do. It's my favorite memory of the day... and I know I will cherish it forever.

Don't believe me? Watch this < 5 minute video and I promise you'll want one for yourself

 

 

Credits:

Photographer: Peter Finger Photography

Cupcakes: Cupcake, Mt Pleasant

Florist: Pretty Petals of Charleston

Wedding gown: Gown Boutique of Charleston

Venue:Creek Club at I'On

Cake topper: Life is but a dream shop, Etsy

 

 

Happy wedding planning,

xoxo

Virginia



 



DIY: Office Makeover

Phew....

that was a long break from blogging.  Hello bloggers, I'm backkkkkk.  And this time, am going to attempt to be better at keeping y'all up to date with what all goes on.  I've been cooking up a storm recently, and have lots of delicious recipes to share!!  But first things first...remember that office makeover I mentioned months ago?  Well, here's the post on it!!

Office Makeover

I love offices.  I love tranquil offices that both are functional, yet organized and decorative.  I find myself drawn towards common themes, whether that be color palates, trends, or even textures.  I think offices should both reflect your personality, but also a set of emotions such as calmness.  When J told me that he wanted me to decorate his office at work I was ecstatic.  I love decorating! I like finding bargains on things and changing the entire feel for a room....

 

He warned me that the before was going to be hard to handle...but I said I could tackle anything.  The previous tenant in his now office was particularly attracted to bold, neon colors.  Which is awesome, but J is definitely more of a bold, classic, calm color person.

 

Now when I start a decorating project.... I like to draw everything out (neurotic...I know).  But this saves me money in the long run because I can incorporate items we already have and then have a list of exactly what we still need. Here were some of those papers getting ready

 

 

I draw things out based on overall plan as well as each individual wall.  Then make lists of : "what we have" and "what we need to get". 



 

 

The before....

 

green...and lots of it.

the chair and the furniture we would keep.  The chair here was a graduation gift from the department for J finishing his residency training!

before you get too excited about the window...that window does not go anywhere...in fact, if you open the blinds it opens into a library.... where other people are... awkward.  I decided to cover it up!

 

 

Getting Started

After many trips to Home Depot looking at swatches of colors, we finally decided on a dusty blue...not baby blue like nursery blue, but one with hints of gray undertones to make it more relaxed.  I didn't want to go with the stereotypical "beige" or "tan" office, and since the area was small, I didn't want to go with brown either.  White would be too boring too, so blue seemed a good fit!!!

 

If you haven't noticed by now, I love "rustic" themes... I love twine, and mason jars, and burlap.  I love antique pictures, glasses, baskets.  I like the homey feel it gives, and I also love that it has its own story attached to it.  Not one for history, but having a painting hanging that I found at an antique shop in Savannah and being able to say "someone else had this hanging in their house once" just gives me happy thoughts.  I wonder if they got as much joy as we now do from it.

 

 

Anyway...enough rambling.

 

After a day of painting (and multiple coats of paint) we ended up with a gorgeous blue!! We decided on shades of brown, tan, and blue with hints of burlap, twine, and of course...mason jars (duh). 

 

 

Lamps: you may recognize these from the goodwill lamps post here.  I thought they worked perfectly in J's new office!!!

 

The picture now covering the mirror was a steal at Kirklands-- $19.99!! AND IT FIT PERFECTLY. the odds of that, I recognize, are slim to none. But I definitely recommend you all check out Kirklands every once in awhile--you never know what kind of art you may find!! 

 

The burlap backed push-pin board we found at Marshalls Home Goods...another one of my all-time favorite stores.

 

The three picture frame located above the board was one from home.  I put in two black and white pictures from the wedding and then used scrapbook paper and a wooden "J" that I painted in the middle to match the pin-board.

 

Front corner.  The left painting is a sketch of the hospital where J works.

Pillow- Potterybarn (my weakness)

Lantern- from our wedding

Blue candlestick- Homegoods

Painting on right wall: antique daschund painting we found on our savannah getaway weekend.

chalk board office supply holders- Homegoods

Chickenwire basket- Homegoods

 

Close-up of the pinboard and frame.

 

Clock- Kirklands: $19.99

Twine "F": DIY: wooden letter from Michaels wrapped with twine

baskets- Homegoods

Mason jar with wooden accent balls- Homegoods + jar from wedding

Antique doctor's bag: gifted





 

All in all, I love the change and I think we found some good bargains that we will use in future decorating adventures as well!  He's happy too, with his peaceful, organized, relaxed office!!!

 

 

Happy decorating, y'all

 

Virginia





Crafting/DIY: Up-cycling lamps

I love lamps.  I could spend hours on Pinterest just drooling over all the fabulous light-creating machinery that is out right now.  But looking at the price tags on some of those beauties is enough to give me a heart-attack, not just a little drool on my keyboard. 

So I wanted to create some lamps.  Now while I am obsessed with a fan of craft projects, I'll admit that sometimes my crafty tendencies end up costing me more than if I just went out and  bought it new.  However, I do like the one-of-a-kind vibe you get when you DIY.  That being said, I promised myself that my lamp project would not be one of my "I should've just bought these" moments.  

I went to my pinterest boards for some inspiration and to create a reasonable "budget" for this craft.  Here are some of my 'inspiration" photos:

I wanted the variation in shapes/heights like these gorgeous lamps from Potterybarn

 

 

And simultaneously wanted the shine/texture of these beauties (again, Potterybarn)

 

 

(see how they aren't "smooth"?  I like that- I think it gives them a relaxed vibe and not so "stuffy").

 

but with price tags topping well over $160-200 per lamp, I decided to allow these photos to merely represent the vibe I wanted to aim for, rather than have a fundraiser to put these actual gems into our home. wiping the drool off my keyboard now

 

The goal price budget: $100 for 2 lamps

Since all the lamps I was gaga for were over 150 a piece, I decided not to set my budget too low.  I wanted larger sized table lamps, rather than small ones, so I knew that I would be lucky if I could find a lamp base for $40 alone, so this still was a lofty goal.  However, considering the price of the new ones- I feel as though if I can be successful it will be a steal.

 

 

 

Time to get to work:  First up- finding the less than perfect lamps. 

 

 

Standing in line at my local Goodwill to purchase these eyesores, the lady behind me commented me on my "fabulous" finds...what I really think she wanted to say was "oh my I doubt those even work" or "how on earth is she going to make that look presentable"....easy lady, I had a plan!

 

 

My gems.  Hideous, right?  The important thing I decided when choosing these two was shape.  I knew I wanted bases of similar structure, but different heights.  Since these both had the same size base, the same size lampshade would work (which would make them look like a unit, rather than two DIY-fixer-upper projects).

 

While that lady behind me may have not been impressed with my find, I know I was.

Cost: $14.93 for both lamp bases

(Tall gold one: $7.97--- small wooden with golden base: $6.96)

Remaining budget: $85.07

 

 

Next up: to find the perfect paint color.  I knew this would be tricky.  I knew I wanted shiny, but not blinding.  And while I will fantasize over those gorgeous chrome lamps, I know that deep down, that sort of shiny would look rather gaudy in my otherwise rustic-y taste.  So I settled for semi-shiny, but still with texture!

 

After about an hour of toying between two different colors (I liked the hammered finish, as well as the textured), I decided to go with my gut instinct that the hammered may look too much like the chrome finish, so I went with the textured.  Which was great- because you don't need primer!  I also picked up some painters tape and fold-over sandwich bags for prepping (just in case I didn't have any at home--and to be fair I'll include these into the budget)

 



 

What you can't see here is the texture- it's almost a mix between sand and stone.  It has just a smidge of metallic, and a mixture of copper, rust, black, and brown flakes to make this a natural yet shiny textured finish. 

 

Cost: Paint: $5.77--- Sandwich Bags: $1.00--- Painter's tape: $2.97 = $9.74

 

Remaining budget: $85.07- $9.74 = $75.33

 

 

Now the not so fun part: cleaning and taping.  These bases were in tough shape so I took to my most favorite cleaning supplies: Clorox Clean-up wipes and the mighty Windex.  Both polished up quite nicely!  Then came the taping.  I used the foldover sandwich bags to wrap the cords, and tape to cover the top of the lamps.  This is more time-consuming just because you have to be concise so you don't end up busting up your lamps...oh and by the way--to that lady behind me: THE LAMPS WORKED (and one came with a light bulb)

 

 

 

tape...tape...more tape... and a bag here and there.

 

I must confess....when I started spraying: I PANICKED, ya'll.  The paint settled in places and was rough and I thought I was going to have to start over, and without the quarter of my budget I had already spent.  And then it started drying...and suddenly I realized- hey, it's flattening out- but I actually almost like the areas that aren't even.... 

 

 

 





 

two coats later....

 

 



 Now I've just got to manage to find the perfect lampshades!  I think with my remaining budget of $75.33  I have no doubt that I can find the perfect ones, and honestly I think I will have some budget leftover for another project :).

 

 

Finding the perfect shade was a little more challenging.  I decided to go back to the rustic-taste my husband and I both have and go with a traditional burlap shade and honestly, I'm pleased with the results!  The shades ended up being the priciest of the project at $15.79 each (Thanks Target) but honestly, I think they were worth the price!!

 

 

please excuse the fact that you can still see the plastic/label on the lampshades.... I wanted to make sure I liked the combo before keeping them.

 

Total Budget: $100

Lamps (Goodwill): $14.93

Spray Paint/Tape/Bags (Wal-Mart): $9.74

Lamp Shades (Target): $31.58

Total Cost:  $56.25

 

 

Happy DIY-ing, ya'll