Label love

I know... I get it... Address labels are supposed to be handwritten. It's in all the etiquette books. It's everywhere online. It shows that I'm a good hostess, right? And that I pay special attention to the details. It's warm and personal. But? No buts, that's the end of it. But, wouldn't it look charming and lovely to use a delightful font and print it on clear labels that basically disappear, giving the illusion of hand calligraphy? Nope. No dice. Old school here.

I can't; however, rationalize shelling out oodles of money for a professional calligrapher and I haven't used a calligraphy pen since middle school. My handwriting is so-so, but I wanted something a little more special than just an address on a lovely white pearly envelope. Enter Martha Stewart, goddess of all "good things" and weddings. I found her version of address labels here. And although she says that it's an appropriate option, I was still yearning for old school handwriting.

So I modified her idea so that the address block allowed space for my own handwriting. I found a high quality black pen and got to work. The other advantage was that I could print the labels on my ink jet. If I messed up, it was a simple matter of printing a few extras. A MUCH more cost effective solution than purchasing extra, expensive white pearly envelopes.

The labels wrap around and have the return address printed in the same font that I used on the Save the Dates and the actual invitations. A nice compromise, right? Oh, and how cute are my personalized Zazzle stamps?

You're Invited!

Please note that if you would like to be surprised my the arrival of my invites- STOP READING NOW!



SERIOUSLY, STOP READING IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED. I MEAN IT.



ARE YOU SURE? IF YOU'RE STILL READING THIS IT MUST MEAN THAT YOU WANT A SNEAK PEEK AT THE INVITES.



SO HERE THEY ARE. WITHOUT FURTHER ADO...



WELL MAYBE A LITTLE ADO...



My invites! Ta Da!



After many slight (and not so slight) snafus. Snafu #67: Exploding glue all over the living room. But they're done. They're lovely. And they're on their way!

DIY Guestbook

So, in an earlier post, I described our wish tree, which will be a lovely addition to our gift table. At the time, I hinted (OK, outright told you about) a DIY guestbook that would allow for a little more creativity for our guests.

There is a wonderful online vendor called the Guestbook Store, which offers great alternatives to traditional guestbooks. While I love their designs, I didn't love the prices... plus, I wanted to use our names instead of the generic "bride and groom." So, I thought to myself, "hey, I can do that," which is almost always what I think to myself when I conjure up new diy projects. I'm about 60% right when I say that to myself. This time; however, I was indeed right. I CAN do that.

So I took inspiration from designs from the Guestbook Store, and got a little more inspiration from clever brides on Weddingbee, and voila! DIY Guestbook pages! I customized them with fun questions about us, and the ubiquitous bird, branch, and snowflake designs and I'm so happy with the results.

Front:
Back:
I plan to place pages on each table at the reception with a note, encouraging guests to fill them out. At the end of the reception, I plan to have members of the wedding party gather up the completed pages for safe-keeping.

I sized them to be 8" X 8" so that they will fit perfectly in scrapbook page protectors. I think it will be a fun addition to the collection of photo albums and scrapbooks about our wedding!

Extra! Extra!

Read all about it! I love a reason to make a newsletter, and what's more news-worthy than a wedding! To keep guests informed, even before the invitations go out, I created a wedding newsletter. It contains a little behind-the-scenes information about the wedding, travel arrangements, accommodations, and information about the area. I also included a little section on weather and what to wear, which seems to always be in question for wedding guests.

I also directed guests to our wedding website and this blog. Is it weird to write a blog post about a newsletter that talks about a blog post? Oh well, circular logic aside, Enjoy!

Make a Wish (Tree)!

OK, so I was torn between two guest book ideas. I loved the idea of the wish tree because it is beautiful and it is a Scandinavian wedding tradition, a nod to my Norwegian roots. I found a beautiful photograph in a Weddingstar catalog, featuring a manzanita branch with tissue paper blossoms. I also loved the idea from Martha Stewart Weddings, which provides guests with sentence starters like "Love is..." and "We wish you..."

I decided to combine them into a wish tree, with cards that guests can select to finish and hang on the tree. There will be 3 sentence starters: "We wish you," "Love is," and "Once upon a time."


Guests can complete the cards and then hang them on the branch. I also designed a corresponding sign to place next to the tray.

I even found a beautiful silver tray and silver snowflake pens for the wish tree.

I think this idea will be a beautiful addition to the decor of the reception. What it doesn't do; however, is really provide guests a chance to write more personalized messages. As a result, I've created fun guestbook pages that will be placed on each of the tables at the reception. They are a fun combination of conversation starters and a guestbook. The pages will be sized 8" X 8" so that I can slide them into scrapbook page protectors after the wedding. You'll have to wait for a later post to see those... A girl has to have a sense of mystery after all!

My Favorite DIY Project So Far (OOT booklets)

Also known as my OOT bag booklets. These are a labor of love, for sure. I say "are" instead of "were" because I've only finished one. They are 8 pages, front and back, and time consuming... to say the least. But boy am I pleased with how it turned out!

I printed the pages on white card stock and trimmed each page to 5.25" X 7.25." Then I mounted each page (front and back) on dark brown card stock, trimmed to 5.5" X 8.5." I cut a small piece of red card stock to wrap around the front and back of the booklet. Using a small finishing nail, I pierced 2 holes through all the pages. I used silver brads to hold the whole thing together.

Due to the thickness of the completed booklet, I wanted to add a ribbon tie to keep the booklet closed. To secure the ribbon, I attached it to both covers, between the card stock and printed pages.

The entire booklet consisted of the following pages:
Welcome Postcard Photo
Welcome Message from Bride and Groom
Description of Contents
Schedule of Events
Directions
Local Map
Things To Do
Places To Eat
Photo-sharing Information
Explanation of Local Landmarks
Crossword Puzzle
Word Search
Maze
Sudoku (2 Puzzles)

Here are some highlights:

Scanned image of a Weeki Wachee mermaid postcard

Welcome letter from us

Schedule of events

One of the Sudoku puzzles

Although it will take me a big chunk of time to finish 15 of these lovelies, I think our guests will really appreciate the personal touch. And if our guests don't notice, then at least it was a fun project to work on!

Visit Florida (a.k.a. More OOT Bag Fun)

Next stop on the OOT bag express? Informational brochures. On my last trip home, I stopped at the Florida Welcome Center to collect informational brochures to place in my OOT bags. Not only did I want to highlight all the state has to offer (aside from theme parks), and I wanted to find anything highlighting the local area where we will get married. Boy did I hit the mother lode! I found information on hiking and paddling trails, state parks, and even travel tips for Florida.

I also spent some time shopping in local gift shops for cute local post cards. I found some kitschy Florida postcards with flamingos and alligators and I found cards from local attractions. Take a look at the booty:

In order to package them up for guests, I opted (for once) to take a relatively simple approach- I wrapped them like a package.

I took curling ribbon that you would commonly use to wrap gifts, and twisted it around the entire stack of brochures and postcards:

Although I had 3 rolls of curling ribbon, it was difficult to find enough to wrap all 15 stacks of brochures because I had a "helper," trying to steal and eat all the loose ribbons:

Despite all the "help," I was able to get all 15 stacks wrapped in a little under 1/2 an hour, so it was, by far the easiest OOT bag project to date.

Escort Cards

Originally, we had decided against a seating chart because we're having such a small affair (~55 people). After reading a lot of information online; however, it seems as though we should at least assign folks to a specific table. Apparently, there is a possibility of Aunt Myrtle getting her feelings hurt because no one saves her a spot at the family table, or Uncle Fred is upset that there isn't a table big enough for all his golf buddies.

I have been to weddings recently that didn't have seating charts, and there is a bit of an awkward pause while folks stand idly by tables, waiting to see who else is sitting where. Alright, I give. We'll assign folks to seats. I do think it will expedite the sitting down process, so I'm in.

Alas, here comes the eternal question of escort card design. Do we do a simple card that is solely designed to get person A to seat 1? Do we do something clever with table numbers or table names? Do we combine favors and escort cards? So many choices...

Long story, short (perhaps it's too late). I haven't decided. There are some ideas that I love:

Glittery snow? Love it. Or perhaps these charming fabric circles.

I adore the leaves on the branch, but I also like these vintage illustrations.

The wreath has obvious December application, but how do I resist these little mini books?

The undeniable appeal of moss or perhaps the clean lines of this accordion fold. All these lovely options from creative team of Martha Stewart Weddings.

I also like these clever table number (or name) ideas:

As a total word nerd, these scrabble tile frames immediately caught my eye.

This adorable approach highlights the bride and groom at the ages indicated by the table number. I *heart* this one a lot.

Constellations? Geek chic, for sure. These simple photo table numbers are also ridiculously cute.

Perhaps the leader in this race is this adorable idea that highlights the couple's favorite vacation spots.

Well, even if I don't know which direction I'm going in yet, at least I had the chance to highlight some crafty and creative brides (and the design team at MSW)!

Shout-out to Nashville Wraps

If you haven't heard of them already, they are the phenomenal online resource for all things packaging! So far, I have ordered pillow boxes (for hot cocoa packets in OOT bags), organza bags (for toiletry items in OOT bags), cello bags (for OOT bag snacks), tin tie bags (for candy buffet packaging), and truffle boxes (for OOT bag goodies). Their prices are ridiculously reasonable and order processing/shipping are fast!

If you need any type of packaging for your wedding (or any other event for that matter), check them out. They rule!

Candy Favor Labels

Check another thing off my list-- now I've completed the label for the favor bags that will accompany our dessert buffet. I've decided on plain white tin-tie bags that I got from Nashville Wraps for $16.95 (for 100):

I wanted to create labels that matched our stationery design motif, but was a little different to have its own personality.

This is what I came up with:

That makes 3 completed projects (well, completed when my new paper punches arrive and I actually print them out).

--Save the dates: Check (see them here)

--Dessert buffet plan: Check (see it here)

Whew the design shop is in full swing today!

Cookie Condoms

Since this is my personal blog, I can call this post whatever I want. So "Cookie Condoms" it is. You'll see why I developed this inappropriate moniker in a bit.

When I began work on our OOT bags, I admit, it was with much gusto (My obsession has been chronicled here and here). I've been laboring over contents, design, distribution, etc. I've begun the process of collecting items, which has involved a great deal of internet research to find cost-efficient options. I found these adorable boxes of cookies:

at The English Tea Store. They had both key lime and coconut, which are such great choices for our OOT bags.

While the boxes are very cute, they don't match our colors. Now, admittedly, I have a problem. I'm a classic over-thinker (to borrow a line from The Office), so I decided to create a label to dress up the cookies. I didn't want to wrap the whole box like a present, because I thought it would be bulky and a bit amateurish. Ultimately, I decided to make a wrap out of kraft card stock.

So I pulled out my paper trimmer, bone folder, and scoring blade and went to work. Here are the wraps and cookie boxes, before they met:

Now sliding the wraps around the boxes was a bit trickier than I had imagined. I measured very carefully so that they would fit snugly, and boy did they ever (Hence my name for this post). I persevered; however, and triumphed over cardboard. I know I have a problem. Not everything has to have our logo and/or motif. But I can't help it; they are just so darn cute.

I created labels and printed them glossy photo paper, wrapped each box with brown ribbon, and affixed the label to the front:


Here they are, a box full of label addiction:

Next, I'm working on hot cocoa packets, lip balm, and sunscreen. Stay tuned as I continue to be my own worst enabler...

STD Out-takes

OK, so we decided on a cute picture for our Save the Dates, but believe me when I tell you that there were some really funny ones that ended up on the cutting room floor (metaphorically speaking, of course). I couldn't just let them sit, unappreciated on my hard drive, so here are some of the funny (silly or weird) ones:

Not only do I look like I have 4 chins, but I really love the hose and recycling bins behind us. Oh, and of course there is the fact that you can't actually see the "Save the Date" sign!

Why am I pointing at the sign? Did I really think that anyone would fail to see the chalkboard placed in front of our faces?

Oh Crap! Do you think they can see us behind this 12" x 12" chalkboard?

This one is just funny because it looks like we're playing tug-o-war with the chalkboard.

Well that's enough embarrassing photos for one day! Thanks for stopping by.

My STD!

Yay, I have an STD! (I seriously, need to stop using that acronym inappropriately.) After being inspired by brides on Weddingbee and several hesitant trips to Michael's, I'm done, and it's pretty darn cute.

Now, how did I get here...

Graphic Design
I used the same fonts that I’m using on our invitations (Baroque Script and Baskerville Old Face). The background design was created on Adobe Illustrator and is similar to the design I am using on our invitations. The background looked like this when I printed it:

The flourishes and snowflakes are actually slightly edited pieces of clip art from Microsoft Clip Gallery. I printed the Save the Dates on white cardstock with my personal printer. By rotating the design 90º I could print 2 cards on each sheet. Once I used my paper trimmer to cut the cards to size, I matted them on red cardstock. That’s pretty much it for the easy parts. Here’s where it gets interesting…

The Number Strings
To cut out all the numbers, I used a Silhouette die cutting machine. If you’re not familiar with the Silhouette, the Cricut also works. The main thing to remember is to size the numbers to be approximately 1.75” tall to fit easily in the envelope.

After printing all the numbers, I used a mini hole punch to punch the holes in the numbers for lacing the ribbon. I punched the holes as follows:

For the spacers, I used a snowflake paper punch and glitter cardstock from Die Cuts With a View to create the sparkly snowflakes. The snowflake paper punch was from Martha Stewart. I bought thin, silver ribbon at Michaels for about $2 a spool. I could have found a less expensive option, but I liked the metallic silver. I cut the ribbon into lengths of about 12”, which seemed to work well. I tied mini bows at each end. Then it was pretty much back to elementary school, lacing the ribbon through.

Here's the boy, even helping with this step:

It was important that each number pair had at least 2 holes so that they would lie flat and not get tangled in the envelope. I used a mini glue dot to attach each snowflake to the ribbon between the numbers and a tiny rhinestone was glued on each snowflake. In retrospect, I see now that I make things harder on myself. I could have laced a different spacer, which would have been faster and easier and I don’t know that the rhinestone added anything (except time) to the project.

The Mini Envelopes
I used the mini envelopes from the Paper Source. I opted for the chocolate color to coordinate with my red, blue, brown color scheme.

Put it all Together
I folded the number string, accordion style, with the last 2 numbers (10) on top. Then, I gently tucked the numbers into the envelope, letting the bow stick out just enough to be slightly beyond the flap. I used the circle graphic to hold the flap shut without sealing the envelope. I created the graphic, using Adobe Illustrator. Using a 1.5” paper punch, I punched out the circles and embellished them with paper punched hearts. I put adhesive on the left side of the circle to adhere it to the envelope:

I used an adhesive roller to stick the envelope to the cardstock. I printed the photos on glossy photo paper, using my personal printer and matted them on red cardstock. The matted photos were adhered to the top of the card.

That's it... Ta da (as they say in the biz)!

Save the Date

OK, it's official. We're getting married on 12-11-10. Mostly because I love the numerical elegance of that date. My inner nerd finds it hard to resist. Now, I'll get to work on the Save the Date Announcements.

I'm inspired by these crafty little numbers from Martha Stewart Weddings:

I'm a pretty crafty bride-to-be so I'm planning a very DIY wedding. Stay tuned... we'll see what happens.

Let's Hear it for STDs!

I know, I hate that acronym, too, but it's so much easier than typing out the entire phrase, "Save the Date." So I succumb to convenience.

I've flip-flopped so many times about what to do for my STD announcement. (Wow, that sounds even worse than just using "STD.") I had a lot of options that I liked, but none that I loved. Then I found this little piece of art on Weddingbee:

That's it, I'm hooked. I think I can probably do this. We'll see.