My DIY Pinwheels To Top The Kid's Pencils

I wanted to add some more fun to the activity booklets I had made for the kids attending our reception, and decided to put pinwheels on top of the pencils I had bought for them. I think the pictures say it all as far as my process went.


I used some pretty thick double sided card stock. But I think thinner paper will work just as well.
Make sure your hole on your hole punch is smaller than the head on your pin. (see #7)
The (4) hole punches will go on the straight cut edge. Of course, you can also always skip the zigzagged side and just keep all lines straight. I just did the zigzag for an added pizazz.


I actually ended up gluing the four pieces together.....putting a dab of glue stick around each hole as I folded each down..........then held in place for a few moments......


I know the pencil doesn't exactly match up with the paper that well (pencil is actually dark purple, but looks brown in pics) but that's ok. It just makes it all that more fun! =)
I also need to concoct a way to make 2 of these pinwheel pencils without actual pins for our two smaller kids. All the rest of the kids are over 10. I'm working on it!
And here it is with the activity booklet and the pillow box I made for the crayons. The pillow box actually just started off as an experiment. I was originally going to just tie some crayons together with ribbon, but then thought that I wanted to put them in some sort of container instead. I tried a few different things, then when I began the pillow box, there was no stopping me. I made them all without a single pic being taken. =(
But I'll make one more for tutorial sake.....soon.
I love the way all the papers match.
I'm still trying to think of some more ideas for the kids. Any thoughts?

Another Alternative To The Wedding Cake.....

(source)
It's a "shooter" cake. Now THAT'S different! Nothing I would consider, but pretty cool if you ask me.
Speaking of, we had our cake tasting this weekend. Out of the 4 different flavors we tried (rasberry, lemon mousse, coconut mousse, cream cheese mousse)....all were white cake with buttercream......we chose the cream cheese mousse filling. It was heavenly. Because it was a mousse, it didn't have a bite to it. Just smooth and mellow. So yay! One task down. We've still lots of time before we put our order in, but at least we know what we want.
Since we'll be having a small 2 tier (for show and for cutting) and the sheet cake for the guests, we will probably make the 2 tiered with 2 different flavors. The coconut and the lemon.....also very mellow and yummy. =)
What are your favorite flavors, and do you have any flavors that you just can't stand?

Ghost Chairs- WOW!

What an awesome idea! I just barely saw these for the first time today. Of course, we couldn't possibly afford to rent these for our reception.....but I can dream, can't I?
So beautiful.....
So clean and elegant..........
I really do love the look..........
......and there's absolutely no need for chair covers!

These chairs are manufactured by Kartell and designed by Phillipe Starck. There are actually 3 different styles of chairs like this. The first is called the Kartell classic Louis ghost ($410 to purchase!) , the second is called the Victoria ghost chair ($330), and the third is the La Marie ($305!).

Here's a place I found in California that rents the Louis version of these gorgeous chairs for $12.00 each:

Baker Party Rentals

So what do you think? Cool, right?

Picture credits: Pure Contemporary, TaylorCreative.com, Manolo for the brides, bryanjeanphotography.com

8 Wedding Songs To Skip- from the knot

The knot just posted this article: 8 Wedding Songs To Skip- written by Bethany Porter

We're not saying we don't like these songs (okay…we don't like the "Chicken Dance"), but we think it's time to reconsider whether these really are wedding music essentials. Here are eight songs you might want to add to your "do-not-play list."


1. "YMCA" -- Village People

Why to Skip It: The fact that everyone knows the words, everyone knows the dance, and that this song fits lots of occasions -- between innings at a baseball game, for instance -- does not automatically qualify it as a must at your wedding.
2. "Chicken Dance"

Why to Skip It: At a wedding, everyone's dressed to the nines and feeling festive. Is this really the best time to flap your arms like a chicken in front of that cute bridesmaid/groomsman/new spouse? Didn't think so.
3. "Stayin' Alive" -- Bee Gees

Why to Skip It: There aren't too many people who know more than one line and one dance move to this song -- leave "Stayin' Alive" to the Saturday Night Fever reruns.
4. "Every Breath You Take" -- The Police

Why to Skip It: The Police are legendary, but the tune is a little high school dance-ish, and the line "Every move you make…I'll be watching you" is a little stalker-ish.
5. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" -- Bonnie Tyler

Why to Skip It: This song is worth skipping if only to avoid any guest from reenacting the profanity-laced rendition made famous from Will Ferrell's wedding in Old School.
6. "Macarena" -- Los Del Rio

Why to Skip It: You may know how to do the dance -- but do you really want to? Besides, everyone has a few certain relatives they'd rather not see get down with that hip swivel move.
7. "My Heart Will Go On" -- Celine Dion

Why to Skip It: We're not passing judgment on Celine Dion, but Titanic propelled this song into the realm of romance cliche. Besides, remember that Leo died in the movie -- a bit tragic for a wedding.
8. "Mony Mony" -- Billy Idol

Why to Skip It: Not sure what Billy Idol is singing in this song? Most other people don't know, either, and when that's the case, a good 10 percent of sing-alongers will find a way to say something objectionable.

-- Bethany Porter

Yay! Another DIY Checked Off The List!

OK....so I'll have to give "Becoming His Mrs." some props for putting this idea in my head. She had gone to Michaels and found some Halloween directional signs for 1/2 off a few weeks ago and painted over them to create directional signs for her wedding. So............I also went to Michaels, but unfortunately they were not on sale at my store. Bummer. But then I thought, "Hey! Dollar Tree always has stuff like that for every season/holiday."
But before I bought any signs, I decided to head over to my reception site to see what kind/types my venue could use. I really only needed one for the gate entrance to the courtyard, as there are two different areas you can enter into. One of them being a Senior Center in which my guests could end up surrounded by seniors in yoga positions. Mmmhmmm.
So I took some more pictures of the outside of my venue and headed off to Dollar Tree. I found a very simple "spooky" sign, and bought it for a buck. Well, duh, of course! It's Dollar Tree!
Unfortunately, I did not even think of taking pictures of it for tutorial sake. My baaad. I didn't think of it until I had already spray painted with white acrylic, stenciled the design in pencil AND had started painting it in.....super my bad! Well, what's done is done. I've already forgiven myself.
So above pic is of the supplies I used......

This pic is when I realized I should have taken some pictures...........
....and this is my completed project! I am really happy about the way it came out. ESPECIALLY because I've never, as an adult, painted with brushes. Takes some getting used to! Oh, and I actually used a thin black Sharpie to write the Mr and Mrs line on the bottom, which I failed to include in my supply pic. I was NOT ABOUT to attempt doing THAT with a paint brush!
And I just thought I'd throw in the green fence where I'll be hanging my pride and joy.

( border stencil and spray paint from Walmart, letter stencil from a dollar store, brush on acrylic paints and brushes from Michaels, sign from Dollar Tree)

Another Pending Project DONE!-DIY

Project complete!
If you'll remember awhile back, I wrote about some thrift store finds that were incredible deals that were gold in color, and I needed to paint them silver to go with our decor. Well, I finally did it!
1)Here is the birdcage I was transforming into a cardbox. ($5.95)
2) I started by covering the gems that went around the cage on top and bottom with masking tape to preserve them. I then spray painted the cage with Krylon.
3) Here's after I removed the tape from the gems.
4) Ta Da! A little lavender tulle, a sign and some flowers and I've got myself a cardbox Houston!

What are you using for your cardbox? Will it be DIY?

(cage from thrift store, paint from Walmart, tulle (about 10 yards for $2.95) from thrift store)

My Reception Hall - Mo' Money!

OK....so I went to put the deposit on my reception venue on Monday. I had printed out the application form from their site, filled it out, and had my Mr. write out a check for me to give to them. Well, when I handed it in, Sara....the gal that was helping me.....told me that the hourly rates on the application had gone up. So instead of $90/hr, it is now $110/hr. Doesn't sound like much, but when you're a bride "Shooting For A $3,000 Wedding", an extra $100 is A LOT! OK, OK.....it's not THAT much. But it still stung when she told me that.
Oh well, what's a girl to do? Just go with the flow and make the best of it all, right? Right!

A DIY Snap Station....How Cool!

I saw this project and said, "Wow". What an awesome idea. I won't be doing this exact project, but what I was originally thinking of doing as far as cameras go, was to put several cameras on each table. But this project is having me consider putting all the cameras on one table, and making a large sign similar to the one in the pictures.
I really love the look of the variety of vintage cameras, but again, I will probably just get the regular disposable 35mm wedding cameras that you can get at The wedding channel store on sale for like $2.50 each.

For this project, she labeled each camera with the brand, a little info and/or what effects it has.



All photos by: Jess Epstein
DIY Snap Station creator: Hillary Burgess

Isn't it just so original?
Are you having cameras for the guests at your wedding? If you are, how will they be displayed?

Having A Budget Wedding During These Tough Times

My fiance an I got engaged a few years ago, and we were in no rush to set the date. I didn't even know what I wanted my wedding to be like. I had no clue as to how much it costs to have a wedding. I mean, not even a ballpark figure. So when we finally decided to set the date, I began researching what a wedding costs. Wow! Was I blown away! All the articles I read said about the same.....$15,000-$25,000 average. And if you wanted a REALLY grand wedding, we're talking about WAY more than that. I was stunned. I certainly didn't want to spend that much money on one day....not even for my wedding day! What was I going to do? After all, I had just lost my job. The economy was at its worst, and I didn't want to just go to city hall or Vegas to get married. We wanted our family and close friends share this with us, so to the internet I went.

I searched anything and everything wedding related that I could find. After all, I had time on my hands to do it.
I wrote about my wedding dress mishap in a previous blog, and also wrote about falling in love with paper lanterns and how I knew the moment I saw them that I just HAD to have them at my reception. As I scoured the internet for tips and ideas, I learned quite a bit. And I'm still learning. I search every day for anything wedding related. I decided to do my own programs, invites, centerpieces, favors and decorations.
I don't want to have a wedding that's too la-ti-da, but still nice. I want it to be economical, but not cheesy cheap. It will be obviously DIY, but it will give it a quaint personal touch.
So I found a community center nearby that rents for $90/hour. I figure I'll need it for about 5 hours, and they only charge $20/hour for any time that you need it to decorate (including the day before) . We do, however, have to hire a security guard or two per community center rules, so I don't know yet how much that will be. But full use of kitchen, refrigerators, freezers, ice machine, stove, etc. at no extra charge. Nine round 72" tables, several 6 and 8 foot tables, and chairs (padded, ugly and bulky) included free of charge also. They said to just draw a chart of where we want the tables, and they would arrange them for us, and take any away we didn't want. So we will be removing the chairs and bringing in our own. The Mr. has a co-worker who does catering on the side and along with the food brings chairs, tables, plates, etc. I haven't called her yet, but if I choose her to cater, I will have her bring chairs. If not, I will rent the chairs from a rental co.
As far as catering goes, I think one of the most economical type of dishes are Mexican. So that's really what I'm looking for. I've already found a few caterers that I can get for less than $1,000 ( My guest list is a little less than 100 people). But I've yet to sit down with one and go over details.
The church, which is right around the corner from the reception area, is an adorable, very old, cobblestone church. It's perfect! And the cost to have my wedding there is something like $100-$150, and that includes the minister.
On the subject of alcohol.......well. we're on the fence about that. We may have some beer and wine, but we're still tossing that around. How we do on the rest of our budget should decide it.
But, that's about it for our venues. We've had to cut out quite a few people from our list because of our budget and the size of our venue. It's a shame, but unfortunately, necessary. We wish we could invite the world, but not at the price of going into debt. We don't even own our own home yet, so first things first.