DIY Photo Props

Carnival Printable Package by Paper and Cake

Okay so you can go out an buy amazing top of the line, high quality photo props for your special day or.....save a ton of moola by buying 'printable' props.  I mean come on!!  Are you really going to remember them anyway?  More than likely the person in charge of collecting the props will have had one too many and will not remember. Save yourself the embarrassing conversation later and just do these DIY props :)

Ikea Mirror

Deep Thoughts Rectangle by Goldylocks

Pink Ink Studios

All of those are great DIY printable props but just in case your printer sucks or you just don't have time for DIY these are a cute and still reasonable alternative!!!!

Photobooth Party Pack

Krissy Cartwright

Make Believe'N Wedding Alternativess LLC

www.etsy.com/shop/krissy167

www.facebook.com/makebelieven

Confessions of a Seam Ripper

Bustle

Consider this a very brief primer on upcycling /recycling dispelling a common misconception..

Recycled items should cost less.

This is probably one of the most common. You can go the DIY route then and yes it will be smaller cash outlay.Upcycling ,however, is a labor intensive process and as we’ve all heard ‘time is money’.

If you are working with textiles the amount of ‘woman hours’ that go into finding what you need is staggering .I go to my local thrift stores sometimes several times a week because good stuff gets purchased right away.(okay I like going too!) Usually I have a mental list of what I am looking for but keeping an open mind if I see something worthwhile. For me this tends to be any silk garment with an interesting color and sometimes pattern, though I usually go for the solids. For someone else it might be lace, or broken jewelry but you get the idea.

ecoblingcouture

Once purchased and after cleaning you sit down with the most important tools in your arsenal-the very high tech seam ripper. And a good pair of scissors. If you have ever had to take out stitching then you know how tedious it can be. It is a time suck to be sure but there is no way around it. Again-time is money.

It is easier to buy yard goods and cut your pieces from a nice flat consistent width fabric but they just don’t make fabrics like they used to or if they do they are prohibitively expensive, possibly milled in sweatshop conditions and spewing chemicals in to our environment.(Moment of gently preaching here)

So you see how much time and care goes in to preparation for an upcycled garment. I haven’t even gotten into the design process and the making process so you see that this is a large amount of labor. A labor of love.

LondonParticulars

Madly in Love With: Tea

Maybe it is because of hours spent pouring over Alice in Wonderland when I was a child, but I’ve always been a gal who enjoys a good cuppa tea. From the delicate cups to the pomp and circumstance of an English high tea service, what’s not to love?

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found a whole world of tea drinks that would make the Mad Hatter proud. Why not stray from the usual offerings at showers and receptions with some of these nifty tipples?

For the spring shower:

Gin Tea & Lemon Fizz

1 cup water

4 teaspoons black tea leaves or 4 tea bags (such as Darjeeling)

1 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

1 cup gin

2 cups sparkling water

Ice cubes

In small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to boil. Add tea leaves. Remove from heat. Cover and let steep 15 minutes. Chill overnight. Strain tea mixture into pitcher; discard tea leaves. Add lemonade concentrate and gin, then sparkling water to pitcher; stir to blend. Serve over ice.

For the post-wedding pre-dinner mix and mingle:

Sage Advice

Tea simple syrup:

1 cup brewed black tea

3 tablespoons honey

For the Cocktail:

3 fresh sage leaves

2 dashes Peychaud's bitters

3/4 oz. fresh orange juice

1 1/2 oz. rye

1/2 oz. Averna bitters

Make the syrup: Combine the tea and honey in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Reduce until syrupy, about 10 minutes, then let cool.

Make the cocktail: Combine 1/2 ounce tea syrup, 2 sage leaves, the Peychaud's bitters and orange juice in a cocktail shaker. Gently muddle the sage with a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon. Add the rye and Averna and fill the shaker three-quarters of the way with ice. Give it a short shake, then strain into a martini glass and garnish with the remaining sage leaf. Serves 1.

For you, when putting stamps on the invitation envelopes:

Green Tea Martini

1 1/2 oz. Charbay green tea vodka
1 1/2 oz. Zenn green tea liquor
1 oz. ginger vodka
1 oz. soju or sake
1/2 oz simple syrup
Juice of half lemon
1 dash habanero Tabasco sauce
Crystallized ginger for garnish

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker that has been filled with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a sliver of crystallized ginger. Serves 1.

Recipes from:

http://teapreneur.blogspot.com/2010/04/white-tea-martini-or-gin-tea-lemon-fizz.html

http://www.saveur.com/article/Wine-and-Drink/Green-Tea-Martini

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/sage-advice-recipe/index.html

DIY wedding favour boxes

Wedding favours are a nice way to say thank you to your guests but what sort of wedding favours do you give them?

A lot of attention is normally paid to what to put into the boxes but we must not forget that the box itself could be personalised as well. One easy way is make them!

The advantage of making them is that you can make them to the size you want and using the paper you have chosen. Yes it will take time and effort but your guest will appreciate your effort as you shall see.

Step one, this is the template you will need to understand to make these boxes.

A = length of box

B = height of box

C = 2 cm length which is needed in construction.

The dashed lines will be your fold lines.

From a standard A4 sheet of paper the largest box you can make is a 5cm(side) x 5cm(side) x 7cm(height) which is more then enough to fit a good size chocolate (or what small treat you may give them).

Step two, rather then folding the paper straight away, I would recommend scoring the dotted lines because these will become the folds. Why are you scoring the paper rather then folding it straight away? Well, this will give a more accurate fold and give a cleaner finish.

Step three, crease each of the scored lines you made so it looks like this.

Step four, fold as following and then insert the two ends into each other.

Step five, this is the tricky bit, pushing the base down. You will need to follow the folds you have made and gently manoeuvre each side on top of each other. This manipulation will open up the side where you have inserted the ends together. To prevent the ends from coming apart you can use a clip to hold them together.

This will require a bit of patient and practice but it will fold down if you gently push it down gradually.

Finished, you have the base for your box.

To make the lid for the box is very simply! All you need to do is

1. Add 1-2mm on A - side of the box
2. Decrease B - height of the box to 2-3cm

then you follows the same folding method as above. Here is my lid to the above box.

As mentioned above, you can use almost any paper you like to make these boxes but I would recommend you use paper that is around 80-100 gsm because it will make step 5 a little bit easier.

Now grab a load of your friends and family and fold to your hearts content!

NOTES :

If you require larger pictures then just click on the picture and it will take you to a larger version.

There is another way of folding the lid to make it more decorative. If you want to learn more then let me know in the comments and I'll sort out a tutorial for those.

Eco DIY Family Friendly Wedding

Elizabeth and Joshua Goldapp decided to have a wedding to match who they are; fun loving, Eco-conscious, and family oriented.  Elizabeth’s advice to couples is to remember that the day is about you as a couple.  Your guests will appreciate a customized representation of who you are.  The amount you spend is not a representation of your commitment or love for each other.    Elizabeth and Joshua took this to heart and you can see it in all of the fine details of their amazing day.

The couple was married close to home by Elizabeth’s little brother (ordained online) at the Pinecone Amphitheater of the 4H Center in Madrid Iowa.  They chose this location because their money would go to a local organization they feel should be supported.  The Goldapp’s have been Wal-Mart free for more than five years and typically buy local and independent.  If they couldn’t buy local then they specifically purchased for the reduced impact on the environment or from an Etsy.com shop.  See the list at the end.   The BBQ dinner meat, cupcakes and flowers were all locally purchased.  They purchased an invitation template from Empapers on Etsy.com and had it printed locally on recycled paper.  Mason jars that decorated the tables came from freecycle.org a free classified site, where every item is free/given away.  Elizabeth’s beautiful diamond wedding ring was a deliberate ethical Eco friendly choice.   Her wedding dress is organic cotton and bamboo by Isadora.  Each option chosen for this wedding clearly represented how much the Goldapps respect the local economy and the environment.

Responsibility aside, fun certainly reigned at this wedding too.  An overall casual feel surrounds the guests with name tags (because seriously who knows everyone at a wedding), picnic style dining, paper lanterns, butcher block paper covered tables (with crayons for drawing of course), and to top it off matching Chuck Taylor shoes for the Bride and Groom.  Come comfortable was a clear instruction to the guests.  Sounds like my kind of wedding!  The favors were inspired directly by the bride and groom.  He has a passion for guitars.  She is covered in tattoos.  Each guest was given a custom guitar pick from www.steveclayton.com and a temporary tattoo.  Too cute!  I think their guests had a blast.  If they didn’t well…that’s their fault.

All the fun was for one reason; to bring the loved ones of Elizabeth and Joshua together to celebrate this union.  When Elizabeth was writing her wedding details to me I don’t think she realized how much her family was included.  It was especially touching to see that traditional family recipes were cooked and shared at the wedding.  Lefse for Elizabeth’s side and peanut butter balls for Joshua’s side.   I loved her explaining why her flower girl received a bubble gun instead of flowers.  (Extreme shyness Elizabeth thought could be thawed with the toy)  There was so much kindness and tons of thoughtful consideration to the comfort of those around her.  (Anybody notice the golf cart in the pics ?– easier travel for the Grandparents)  Tragically Elizabeth lost her father two years prior in Afghanistan.  She did an entire table of memorial photographs to allow even those missing to be a part of her and Joshua’s day.  These special touches are what make a wedding a day to remember.

Thank you to the Goldapps for telling us about your Eco DIY Family Friendly wedding story.  A special thank you to Chris Fowler and Michelle Boettcher for being ‘free’ photographers for a day.

Dress: http://www.etsy.com/shop/isadoraclothing

Earrings: http://www.etsy.com/people/spiffingjewelry

Place card holders: http://www.etsy.com/listing/47875767/handcrafted-set-of-12-rustic-place-card

Name tags: http://www.etsy.com/shop/PansyPatchDesigns

Free classified: freecycle.org

Cupcakes: http://amescupcakes.com/

Paper lanterns: www.lunabazaar.com

Guitar picks: http://www.steveclayton.com

Temporary tattoos: http://www.tattoosales.com/

Eco utensils: http://www.ecoproductsstore.com

Table décor/art favors: http://www.etsy.com/shop/horseshoecrab


Krissy
Make Believe'N Wedding Alternatives LLC
www.etsy.com/shop/krissy167

Get your wedding day face on!


 

Makeup on your wedding day can be daunting.  Hiring a makeup artist may not be in your budget or finding one to go on location for your destination wedding may be a challenge.  I have some easy steps for you to create a beautiful look.  A little practice and the right tools will make all of the difference.
                                                                     
                     

Makeup Makeovers

You can see how makeup can completely transform a face from beautiful to drop dead stunning with this book of tricks.

 

Coastal Scents Contour Blush Palette

Youtube.com video for contour powder application.  Easy to watch.  Only nine minutes long.  Tiffany uses this exact palate to create contours.  A great value at only $18.95 on Amazon.com.  

Tiffany's Makeup Contouring Tutorial

Every makeup artist I know has always said if you have the money buy Laura Mercier foundation products.  This is a small starter set perfect for your big day.  $65.00 at Sephora.com.  I cannot stress to you enough how important a good base is to your wedding day makeup.  Perfection only comes in these expensive bottles.  If you have flawless skin I would still recommend the tinted moisturizer for a more uniform tone.

Laura Mercier starter kit

If you have been using sponges or your fingers you may not be getting the best results and for sure are losing money on the wasted foundation.  In my opinion foundation brushes are CRITICAL to a well applied base.  They allow the foundation to glide over fine lines and blend evenly along the jaw and hair line.  Your fingers will not provide a seamless blend.  This brush is only $5.99 and it is eco friendly to boot!

Ecotools Foundation Brush

Stay tuned for my next makeup post on wedding day eyes.

Tressa the Hairdressa makes DIY wedding hair a possibility

It is no secret that I am a casual girl.  See my previous posts for proof ;)  So, the very idea of doing my own hair outside of a rubber band or that jaws clippy thingy is daunting to say the least.   Bleh!  That is until... Tressa the Hairdressa from Puppycatmeow introduced me to custom colored DIY hair that takes seconds and looks FABULOUS (with a southern gay man's accent).

Chignon wig hair extension by Puppycatmeow

The chignon (absolutely, do not ask me how to pronounce that) wig hair extension is shockingly similar to my professionally done wedding hair.  Luckily, whomever buys this hair confection won't have to deal with the countless bobby pins that took me 15+ minutes to remove on my wedding night (oh so romantic, NOT).  The detailed instructions prove to be simple enough even for me and my not so nimble fingers.

Great selection of colors to choose from

Easy instructions

      

But let's say you love the idea of styling your hair into elaborate creations but lack the skill (I might be projecting here) or the time.  Well then, Puppycatmeow still has the perfect products for you. Each style is made of high quality synthetic hair that feels just like the real thing.  Got highlights?  No problem!  Every order is custom.  

Tressa's 20 years of hairstyling experience have taught her how to make a woman feel like the most amazing creature on the earth, without the pain and suffering (I know, projecting again) that are required for great hair.  Don't forget to check out her fantasy line as well.   He'll never knew what hit him when Princess Leia walks in.

3 Petite rosettes to add interest to everyday hair

Braided bun covers

Wedding Reception Centerpieces Inspirations

Here are some amazing ideas for wedding reception centerpieces. It always amazes me how the strickenly beautiful ones are always the most simple as well.

DIY- Wedding Card Box

Here is a great video on how to make a wedding card box. The perfect addition to your gift table, as well as a beautiful decorative accent. Now all those important cards won't get lost during the course of the big day.

Autumn Wedding Favors - Hot Pepper Jelly

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Hot-Pepper-Jelly/Detail.aspx?src=etaf

I made this for family and friends one Christmas and was so surprised at how well received it was.  I recommended that they serve it over softened cream cheese with crackers.  I had people asking for this recipe for months.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups finely chopped red bell peppers 
• 1 1/4 cups finely chopped green bell peppers
• 1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeno peppers
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 (1.75 ounce) package powdered pectin (available at your local super store)
• 5 cups white sugar
• 
  
• I use a blender instead of "finely chopping" and they turned out just as pretty and tasty.

Directions

1. Sterilize 12 (4 ounce) or 6 (8 ounce) canning jelly jars and lids (available at your local super store and amazon.com) according to manufacturer's instructions. Heat water in a hot water canner (or just use a large stock pot).
2. Place red bell peppers, green bell peppers, and jalapeno peppers in a large saucepan over high heat. Mix in vinegar and fruit pectin. Stirring constantly, bring mixture to a full rolling boil. Quickly stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil, and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and skim off any foam.
3. Quickly ladle jelly into sterile jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the tops. Cover with flat lids, and screw on bands tightly.
4. Place jars in rack, and slowly lower jars into canner (large stock pot). The water should cover the jars completely, and should be hot but not boiling. Bring water to a boil, and process (boil) for 5 minutes.

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 88 | Total Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg

To make this a wedding favor:

You will need colored yarn/twine/raffia/string.

Light weight fabric that coordinates with your wedding colors cut into 4x4 inch squares.

Card stock cut into tags.

Initial stamps.

Ink.

Hole punch.

After jars are completely cool (12-24 hours)  remove the metal ring that screws onto the top of the jar.  Center the fabric on top of the lid and screw the ring back on.  The fabric should be tight across the lid.

Stamp your initials onto the pre-punched paper tags and thread onto your yarn/twine/raffia/string.

Tie the raffia around the jar ring and make a bow.

Voila!  A autumn themed food favor.