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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Eco-Friendly and DIY Wedding Treasuries on Etsy!


So, I don't know about you but I am hooked on Etsy! It is a great place to do some window shopping when you are planning a wedding... or really any other event. So to make it a little easier for you from the sometimes daunting task of searching for all things wedding on Etsy I have put together a list of treasuries that can get you started. So fun!

Today is the first day of the rest of our lives...

Something Blue

Queen of the Woods

If it were my wedding

White dream

Total white

Wedding in Europe

Happy shopping!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Your First DIY How-To!

I know, I know it has been forever... I guess that's what happens when you get married. Life gets even busier because all the things you put on hold for your wedding come creeping up on you. So here it is your first Do-It-Yourself Wedding Day How-To... Boutonnieres for the special men on your wedding day. With my wedding I had a vintage/natural feel to the day and the boutonnieres that I made fit right in made from all natural items found around the yard (not to mention fitting into the budget as well costing $0). So here is a glimpse of what these boutonnieres looked like on my wedding day and a little How-To, to get you started on your own.





















List of Materials:
Recycled Brown Paper Bag
Wood Skewers or Popsicle sticks
Feathers
Acorns
Small Pine Cones
Wheat-grass (and other wild weeds)
Birch Bark (or whatever is around the yard)
Moss
Floral Tape
Corsage Pins
Scissors
Strong Glue

Instructions:
To create this earthy addition to the wedding party attire, begin by spending a romantic afternoon with your fiancé in your backyard or a nearby forest. While enjoying the beauty around you collect fallen acorns, small pine cones, stray feathers, broken off tree bark, moss growing on rocks, and trim pieces off of wild wheat-grass and other roadside dry weeds.
When you return home get together the supplies needed to put together this natural project.

You will need:
- wooden skewers or Popsicle sticks
- scissors
- strong glue (wood glue)
- a recycled brown paper bag
- floral tape
- corsage pins

To start think of how many boutonnieres you want to make. Cut out a rough leaf shape out of the paper bag about 3 inches in length. Trace the shape to make enough leaves for the number of boutonnieres you are making (2 per boutonniere).

Trim your skewers or Popsicle sticks to 3 inches in length, you will need one per boutonniere.

Place one leaf on the table and run a line of glue down the center, this is where you will place the skewer for stability. Make sure you place the skewer 1 inch from the top of the leaf so it sticks out at the bottom a bit. Then run glue along the edges of the paper leaf and place the mirroring side of another paper leaf down on top. Repeat this for the remaining boutonnieres.

Now, for the individually creative part. Place the collected items in any arrangement that you like depending on how they fit with one another. Once you decide on placement start gluing the items down onto the paper leaf base.

Let this dry well before picking it up. Once the items are on solid, twist some floral tape around the base where the skewer is sticking out. This is where you will place the corsage pin through to attach it to the jackets of the handsome men in your wedding!

This is a great way to add a natural DIY touch to your wedding and it costs $0! If you are crafty or have kids you can usually find scissors, glue, a brown paper bag, skewers or Popsicle sticks around the house. If you have been making other DIY wedding projects you might have floral tape and corsage pins around the house as well. If not you can pick any of the items up at a craft store or even cheaper the dollar store. All of the items to decorate the boutonnieres are free courtesy of Mother Nature!




Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Sneak Peak!

Well it has been some time since the last post with all the hustle and bustle of getting ready for my 10.10.10 wedding. Our wedding day was amazing from beginning to end, my husband Greg thanked me for making our wedding day so perfect with all the personal details and DIY projects and told me it was the "best day of his life so far". I have to agree with him on that one, the whole thing was pretty surreal.

Well, we are now back to reality and I am back to school work and will be taking a week long trip to Newfoundland for school so when I get back, there will definitely be more to come including DIY How-To's specifically from the ideas in our wedding, featured Etsy sellers that I bought some of my handmade wedding items from, and lots of photos. So keep checking back...

Here's a little sneak peak of our DIY Handmade Wedding Day, all within a budget of $5,000 (well actually $8,000 when all was said and done and the bill was paid but I can say we came out of it with no debt)!!








Thursday, September 30, 2010

1mADwoman

10 more days!! Here is another shop feature for you that will help inspire you to create your own elegant DIY/Handmade Wedding. These clutches are great as the perfect accessory for yourself or a special gift for your bridesmaids. You could even give them as a mother-of-the-bride/groom gift.



1mADwoman started by making purses and clutches out of fabric left over from other projects. Etsy featured her shop in Etsy Finds, and she had a request from a young lady about doing a set of bridesmaid's clutches. 1mADwoman did them, and while the young lady decided not to take them, 1mADwoman was glad she had done it! She sold them to someone else, and she now has a listing in her shop for custom orders. 1mADwoman will do them in whatever color combination the bride wants.












The clutches she has listed are dupioni silk. They have a flex frame in them to keep everything secure. The roses on the outside match the lining on the inside of the clutch. She has them pleated, but they can also be gathered. They are so feminine and pretty, I just love them!



1mADwoman says, "DIY weddings just have more personality to me!" She made her own dress, designed and put together her own bouquet, and wrapped the boutonnieres herself. Her wedding wasn't big, but it was sweet, and that's what she loved about it the best!

Find your perfect wedding clutch here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/1mADwoman

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

YesterEra

11 more days... eeekkkk! So as you can tell my wedding is a DIY/Handmade Wedding but what you don't know yet is that it also has vintage touches throughout. I love vintage, and swear I lived in another lifetime possibly in a couple different eras. After my wedding I will tell you about all the details and I will start featuring shops that I bought from.

During one of my searches on Etsy through chatting I found YesterEra, which is a shop inspired by fashions of the past. This shop has great wedding accessories including veils, hair accessories, and even lace garters.



Kelly is the owner of YesterEra and creates vintage inspired clothes and accessories, as well as wedding veils. She uses vintage patterns plus her own designs, and a mix of new and vintage fabric. She tries to create vintage style items that women today would want to wear. Kelly has been sewing since 2004, and she got started doing costuming. She eventually decided that she wanted to branch out into everyday clothing. Kelly got into making wedding veils because when she got married she made her own veil, and then had friends asking if I could make theirs. Kelly says, "the real kick in the butt to get my Etsy shop started was (unfortunately) losing my day job as a teacher. But on the bright side, I'm creating more than I ever have before."














Kelly said there's so much she loves about doing this. For the clothing, she loves being inspired by the past and being able to take a design into the present. It's hard for her to define her favorite time period to draw from, but she's in love with the pin-up look and the classic housewife look. Kelly also really really loves creating wedding veils, and thinks the wedding industry is disgustingly overpriced so... she's glad to offer them at an affordable price to brides.





To browse YesterEra's shop go to: www.etsy.com/shop/YesterEra

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

mbedesign

12 days left! So today I tried out Etsy chat for the first time and it is a great way to wake you up in the morning, trying to keep track of what everyone is saying. But in the middle of it all I found this great seller. If you are anything like me I want to keep my wedding simple which includes simple hair. To fall in line with my DIY/Handmade wedding I am doing my own hair and makeup. I figured who better when I am the one who does it everyday and you want to look like you on your wedding day right... So just because you are keeping it simple doesn't mean it can't be cute. I will be wearing a birdcage veil, and cute fancy pins bought on Etsy and an up-cycled hair clip that I added some pine cones to that fits the natural theme.

Speaking of cute, here is a shop I found that fits perfectly with a handmade wedding and they sell lovely hairbands that would give that extra special touch to your wedding look.



mbè? design was born by Luigi and Pamela, two Italian creative people who met each other by coincidence in a coffee house. Pamela is a fashion designer, she loves vintage clothes, high level handmade items, shoes, art, and design. In mbè? design she is the rationality, the order, the balance, and the stability. Luigi is an art director in advertising, he loves design, film, photography, and nature. He is the easy side of the couple, he is crazy, has big problems with his memory, and takes everything lightly. Pamela says: "how can't a boy and a girl like them, who have idols like John Lennon and Yoko Ono, fall in love at first sight?" A perfect pair!









mbè? design is Italian handmade, and they want to be synonymous of glamor, fashion, and trends with an easy going soul. It is a project of design, which was born by the Love of two people that want comunicate to you this love. "Love is our mission, and it will be so years after years." This shop couldn't be more perfect for a handmade wedding, how awesome would it be to know that the items you are buying for your wedding are infused with the love and creativity of the couple making them.




Check out mbè? design at: www.etsy.com/shop/mbedesign

Monday, September 27, 2010

thepinkbirdhouse

As I pack my DIY wedding projects, Etsy items, and mine and my fiance's attire a special little often forgotten item comes to mind... the garter!! My garter is blue and my soon-to-be groom caught it 5 years ago at my Aunt's wedding. I am typically not one for traditions but the garter belt and something "old, new, borrowed and blue" found their way into my wedding plans because I think they're fun! If you decide to include a garter into your complete wedding day look here is a great place to start looking.



thepinkbirdhouse is an Etsy shop run by Deborah and she has always loved vintage and silk ribbons, and soon a collection started to grow. Things are beautiful to collect, but even more beautiful when they can be made into something exquisite. And so thepinkbirdhouse garter shop was born! Deborah loves the idea that brides have purchased one of her handmade garters and allowed that little bit of silk satin to be a part of such a special day in their lives. It is a true pleasure for her to think of that! She not only have a love of all things silk, especially ribbons, but of vintage items and in particular vintage laces. Knowing that they are old yet still in such wonderful new condition is a lovely thought for Deborah. Their quality is unsurpassed and she likes to bring them together with the silk satin ribbons to create unique and one of a kind garters. With vintage lace of a limited-supply nature, Deborah finds it nice to be able to create only so many of one design. So for the bride that is looking for something truly different, something that not hundreds of others have worn before her, thepinkbirdhouse shop is the place to search for that one special garter!



As you can see, Deborah also makes garters for all occasions since she is very influenced by the lovely ones that the Flapper girls wore in the 1920's. Those colorful, fun garters are very often Deborah's inspiration for garter sets in bright flashy colors, or sweet pale pastels, and embellished with either Flapper buttons, or decorated with Victorian Ribbonwork roses and blossoms. Ribbonwork, or the art of fashioning roses and flowers out of ribbons is another passion of Deborah's










To browse her garter's check out: www.etsy.com/shop/thepinkbirdhouse