Eco-Vintage Weddings

DIY Projects that Didn’t Make the Cut

[A note: This post? FEISTY.]

We all know how awesome it feels to check things off your to-do list, right? Well, I’ll be the first to tell you this: It feels even better to dropkick projects off your to-do list.

In case you’re curious, here’s two projects that have recently been dropkicked off my to-do list:

1. Moss monograms. Sure, it’d be super cute to have guests walk into the chapel and see two lovely monograms hanging from ribbon. It’d be even cuter to have a picture of said monograms. But, and here’s the real deal: Hours of labor (plus lots of $$) is not worth ONE FREAKING PICTURE.

2. “Yay” flags. I fell in love with these little flags when I first spotted them on Vintage Glam. However, for the same reason as I gave above, while these would make for a great camera shot or two, TOTALLY not worth the hours of labor-intensive work.

I’m all for DIY. Trust me, I’ve been living inside my own little DIY whirlwind for the past 9 months. But, as I’m (gasp!) exiting the world of DIY and entering the real world again (hiiiiiiiii, premarital counseling; oh hellooooooo, how-can-we-afford-a-honeymoon-on-a-meager-budget), I’m coming out of it all a little more sassy (and, truthfully, no worse for the wear).

How does your wedding exhaustion manifest itself? Crabbiness? Anger? Depression? Excitement? Elation? Sass (like me)?

[Photo of one awesome chick from Fitness Training]

Our Wedding: Super Fun Craft Day!

This past weekend, my maid of honor Kristen and my bridesmaid Serena came over for our first-ever Super Fun Craft Day (yes, I named it)!

The tasks?

1. Signage. Kristen has LOVELY handwriting (which we also utilized for our save the dates!), so we recruited her again to make place cards for the head table and “reserved” signs for the reception. They turned out great!

2. Ceremony decor. As I mentioned earlier this week, we decided to make tissue paper pomander balls, which we started (as in, I made a template and Serena trimmed all of the tissue paper to the same size). Hopefully I’ll finish them this week! We also placed sand and candles inside mason jars and tied the jars with ribbon to place on the floor of the aisle.

3. Covering these *ugly* plastic canisters of wet wipes with *lovely* scrapbook paper. We needed wet wipes for our guests for guestbook-signing purposes, but I hated the plastic canisters that they came in. So, Serena measured out the appropriate amount of lovely grey damask paper and adorned the canisters with ribbon. Problem solved!

4. The wishing tree. After one casualty (a ceramic pot shattered to its death), we rocked out the wishing tree!

5. Begin folding our cootie catcher favors. Check! Also hope to finish these this week (I will probably make a large dent on this project while watching my weekly TV shows!).

I hope to have another Super Fun Craft Day this summer!

How are you getting all of your DIY projects done on time/with time to spare?

Showcase Wednesday: Our Wedding Map!

When I thought about our wedding invitations, I always knew two things: 1) I wanted to include a map of locations for our guests, mostly for my own enjoyment (we don’t have many out-of-town family or friends), and 2) I wanted it to contribute to our overall vintage theme.

The result? Even better than I could have imagined.

After falling in love with the idea of a hand-drawn map, my non-artist self began the search for an artist to help me. Enter: Andrew, a friend from college.

While Andrew is CERTAINLY worth more than we could afford, he kindly spent hours and hours of his time to create a BEAUTIFUL map of the downtown Sioux Falls area for us. He drew each of the important buildings for us, and added the “legend” or “map key” idea that I so randomly threw at him. After all of the artwork was complete, Jordan and I added the text at the bottom.

We couldn’t be more pleased with the results!

Our Wedding: Ceremony Decor!

This past weekend, I finally made some concrete decisions about the decor for our ceremony. We’re having our wedding ceremony in a small chapel on the college campus of my alma mater, Augustana. The chapel is BEAUTIFUL (think liturgical art and an ENORMOUS organ), so we didn’t want to overwhelm the space with decor.

The verdict: we’re keeping it simple.

The components of our decor:

1. Pew decorations: yes, I’ve been bitten by the tissue paper pomander bug … we’re using these (rather voluminous) lovelies to adorn every other pew. View instructions here!

2. In place of an aisle runner (which our venue doesn’t allow), I have 12 mason jars that my bridesmaids filled with sand and placed a small votive candle inside. We tied the top of the jar with pretty yellow ribbon, and these will be placed on the floor of the chapel beside a pew (where there’s NOT a pomander ball), so as to create balance.

3. As I mentioned before, we’ve chosen to honor our grandparents by placing seven candles on the altar. These ivory candles will be placed atop a silver charger plate, and lovely little yellow mulberries will be intertwined between the candles.

One last thought: I’m still debating on whether or not we need to place something atop the piano (a birdhouse placed on a doily, perhaps?), but we have everything else figured out!

How are you decorating your ceremony space?

[Photo via Elizabeth Ann Designs]

Green Monday: Recycled Tyke!

Are you a new parent? Do you like saving money? Then look no further!

RecycledTyke.com is a newly launched resale marketplace for eco-savvy moms and their families. Members buy and sell baby gear, toys, maternity clothes, nursery furniture and more. Families can stretch their budgets and minimize their consumer waste by buying and selling with Recycled Tyke!

Recycled Tyke is a venture by the lovely Tracy of Recycled Bride (which, if you haven’t checked out that lovely site, go! Now! And then come back…) :)

Happy Monday!

[This is not a sponsored post.]

Showcase Friday: Love to Create Stamps on Etsy!

A few weeks ago, I ordered a custom stamp from Love to Create Stamps on Etsy, and I couldn’t be more pleased! Love to Create Stamps is FULL of stamp templates for everything from addresses (which is what we ordered and are using for our wedding invitations) to monograms and more.

I couldn’t recommend Love to Create Stamps more; click here to view this lovely Etsy shop!

(This is not a sponsored post. Photo via Love to Create Stamps.)

Showcase Thursday: My DIY Garter!

Last week, my Mom and I worked hard on making a garter for me to wear on my wedding day. It turned out perfectly!

Materials:
-Sewing machine
-Lace trim (the wider the better)
-Ribbon (at least 1/2 inch wide)
-Elastic (1/4 inch wide)
-Adornments/Embellishments as desired

Steps:
1. After estimating how much lace and ribbon is needed by measuring the circumference of your thigh, sew the ribbon to the top or the middle of the lace trim, depending on how wide the lace is and your own personal preference. Sew along the top edge and the bottom edge, so as to create a tunnel of sorts to feed the elastic through.

2. After estimating how much elastic you will need by wrapping the elastic around your thigh, attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic and feed it through the tunnel created by the ribbon.

3. Make sure it fits and feels comfortable, then sew the two ends together.

4. Add embellishments to the garter (we used a lovely vintage brooch), and you’re done!

I’m so pleased with how it turned out! I estimate that the project took about two hours and cost about $20.00.

What DIY projects are you working on now?

[Photo by me]

Our Wedding: Premarital Counseling!

One of the first things that Jordan and I agreed on when we first started talking about marriage was the importance of premarital counseling.

Since we are currently living in different cities, Jordan and I decided that working through a book might be the best option for us. A friend of Jordan’s recommended “10 Great Dates Before You Say ‘I Do,’” and although we have only worked through the first date, we are already big fans of the book.

The way the book works is this: each person reads a chapter and completes the corresponding exercise prior to the date. Then, the couple goes on the date and uses this time together to discuss that week’s exercise. We had wonderful and meaningful conversation on our first date, and we learned a lot about each other, too!

Check this book out today by clicking here.

(This is not a sponsored post. Image via Cyberread.)

Our Wedding: Girls Getaway!

My lovely sister-in-law Larissa and I had a lovely girls weekend in Minneapolis this past weekend! We drove up to the Cities on Saturday morning, and hit up the Medford Outlet Mall on the way up.

My goals for this trip: A) purchase make-up and perfume to wear on my wedding day, B) find two dresses, one to wear for the rehearsal dinner and one to wear for the gift-opening brunch, and C) find socks for my groom and his guys.

I am so excited to say that I accomplished all of these goals! Larissa and I had a blast working our way through Sephora, a lovely beauty store where I purchased Bare Minerals! I am SO excited to finally have make-up that makes me feel wonderful.

I found a few super cute dresses at H&M, although I am not sure which one I will end up wearing for the rehearsal dinner. I also found a super cute green dress at American Eagle to wear for the gift-opening; it will look adorable with a jean jacket and sandals.

Last, Larissa and I found the most perfect socks for our guys at Express. They are grey and yellow argyle, and they are WONDERFUL!

It was a quick trip, but so, so relaxing; I needed some girl time!

How are you keeping your sanity while planning your wedding?

[Photo of me (left), my sister-in-law Larissa, and my mother-in-law Nachole ... beautiful ladies!]

Showcase Monday: Audiostiles!

Want to save money by DJing your wedding yourself, but lack the music library or know-how to pull off an iPod wedding? Look bi further than Audiostiles!

From building a playlist from songs already on your ipod to starting from scratch, Audiostiles has the expertise to put together a rocking playlist for your wedding. To view Audiostiles’ web site, click here.

(This is not a sponsored post.)