Creative Weddings

Craft a Dream Wedding - Tips to Cut Wedding Costs with Crafts

Since we're talking about weddings this month, I thought I'd share this awesome article about cutting wedding costs with crafts. Check it out!
http://www.craftandhobby.org/cgi-bin/pressrelease.cgi?func=ShowRelease&releaseid=238

Wedding and Anniversary Celebration Cards

Love is in the air

Create a personal card for the special couple.

Here's What You'll Need

Aleene's Original Tacky Glue

Aleene's Glue Sticks

Scissors

Ruler

Pencil

Bowl

Decorative edge scissors

Greeting card, blank

Fun foam, white

Additional Materials for Pink Card

Micro beads: pearl, silver

Seeds beads: 6 pink, 12 green

Parchment paper: beige, pink
Toothpick

Additional Materials for Blue Card

Micro beads, silver

Artistic Wire, 22 gauge blue ice

Parchment paper, blue

Wire cutter

Round nose pliers

How to Make Them

1. Cut parchment paper slightly smaller than card, using decorative edge scissors. Glue to card, using Glue Stick. For pink card, cut a square from beige parchment paper. Glue to center of card.

2. For cake, cut a 1/4" wide strip from foam sheet. Cut three pieces in graduated lengths. Cut two 1/8" wide pieces for each cake to separate layers. Cut a pedestal from foam.

3. Glue pieces to cards, using Tacky Glue and photo as a guide for placement. Let dry.

Pink Cake

1. Apply a thin layer of Tacky Glue to layers of cake and along edge of beige paper. Working over bowl, immediately sprinkle on pearl beads. Press with finger to adhere. Place pearl beads back in container. Repeat for silver beads on cake pedestal.

2. Glue seed beads along edges of cake layers to create flowers, placing green beads on their sides for leaves.

Blue Cake

1. Apply silver beads and stripes along edges of card following instructions above. Let dry.

2. Cut two 1/2" lengths of wire. Shape into hearts, using round nose pliers. Set aside. Cut lengths of wire slightly longer than cake layers. Slightly crinkle wire and flatten. Glue hearts to top of cake and crinkly wire to top of each cake layer.

I LOVE Birthday's that Keep Going and Going and Going

I just had to share a couple of gifts I received after my birthday - one old, some very trendy and all so me!

Thanks, my friends and family for making my special day - extra looooong.

The first was a gift from my sister - it is VERY old. When we were little, our great uncle gave my sister a birthday card with three fancifully dressed girls. Way back then, my dad traced around the girls on thin wood and cut them out. He somehow glued the card to the wood and a few (a lot of fews) years later it still looks fantastic!

My parents gave me these adorable butterfly sandals - I love them! BTW, they're from Avon.

STARBUCKS!!! I received this Starbuck's glass from a friend. She sees me everyday and noticed how I recycle my glass from my Venti Black Iced Tea from Starbucks - fun thing is, most of the time someone else picks it up for me and their name is written on my glass.

Well, this glass is double walled, very thick plastic, doesn't weep and included a permanent straw!!! It's perfect, because I stopped going to Starbucks - why pay $2.10 for a glass of tea when I can make it at home for a couple pennies? So now, I make my tea at home and use my handy dandy new glass. It has been all the rage around the office - everyone wants one, but they're hard to come by.

Last Saturday morning, I went out for my walk later than usual and I was surprised to find quite a commotion in the process. They were filling up a hot air balloon. Needless to say, I had to return home and get my camera to capture the event, right in my own backyard. It was a very windy day and it was scary to watch them turn on the 'fire' to inflate the balloon - it was fantastic to see!

Creatively yours,

Joan

Wedding Gift Wrap & Centerpiece Idea

It's wedding season! Do you have a wedding gift that you want to wrap in a special way or need a unique bridal shower centerpiece? This 'cake' is paper mache boxes frosted with Aleene's True Snow with silk flowers and trim glued on for color.

Someone saw the photo and thought it was a real wedding cake. I love it!

Here's What You'll Need

Aleene's True Snow

Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue

3 Paper mache boxes (I used 12", 10" & 8")

Flat edge knife

3-1/2 yards of 1/2" wide braid (color to go with flowers)

Silk flowers, ivy, large leaves

2-1/2 yards of 2" wide ribbon (floral)

2" x 3" cardstock

Pen

Here's How to Make It

Frosting - Apply Aleene's True Snow to sides and lids of boxes, using knife. Apply Snow thinly below rim of box so lid will fit. Let dry. You can also mix acrylic paint with the Snow before it's applied or brush on after its dry.

Icing - Glue braid 'icing' around edges of lids. Glue two pieces around 12" box. Let dry.

Assembly - Glue top of large lid to bottom of medium box and top of medium lid to bottom of small box. Refer to photo.

Flowers and Greenery- Glue flowers and ivy on top of cake lids. Glue large leaves around edge of large bottom box.

Ribbon - Cut 15 (3") pieces of ribbon. Glue short ends together, crimping ends to gather. Glue randomly among flowers.

Cut remaining ribbon in half. Glue on top of cake allowing streamers to cascade down sides of cake.

Card - Write names on card. Glue flowers and small piece of ribbon to card. Glue to top of cake.

Place your gift in the boxes and you'll have a beautiful 'present'ation or place where you need a splash of color at the bridal shower - this will be the perfect keepsake for the couple to keep their wedding mementos. This would make a great birthday presentation too!

Enjoy the moment!

Joan

Summer Tote Bags

Tote Your Stuff in Style

It's summer and that means toting everything from laundry to swimsuits to just plain ol' stuff. Handle your summer gear in awesome tie-dye bags that you make uniquely your own - it's summer easy with Tulip One-Step Tie-Dye and the cool bags from http://www.organize.com/.
Check out the five examples at
http://www.duncancrafts.com/ProjectDetails.aspx?id=fa64daa0-cbaa-4cf7-a3aa-6685677dd71b
And here's where to find the laundry bags at organize.com
http://www.organize.com/grlabagwidr.html?Prod_ID=grlabagwidr&qid=

Birthday Celebrations

My Birthday Two Weeks - Bubbles, Rock Therapy, Friends, Yummy Food, The Ocean, The Mountains, Hiking and More Hiking...

I thought last year's monumental birthday was fabulous, but this year was a different kind of fabulous!

I had taken a long weekend early in May that was terrific and I thought three days away would get my creativity going and take my numbness away. It only took a couple days back at work to realize I needed a REAL vacation to get me going again.

I contemplated going out of state (thanks to my friends who invited me to faraway and fun places, but I needed to get into 'vacation mode' very quickly and cheaply). It was a quick and last minute decision to go to a place I have been many times and love - Cambria. It's a quaint, artsy small town on California's Central Coast. No cell phone reception and no computers for six wonderful days. I didn't have any specific plans, so it was wonderful to get up when I wanted, hike when I wanted and do whatever my heart wanted to do.

I rented a fantastic house near the ocean and across the street was a preserve with 240 acres of hiking trails. The trails presented everything from very secluded forests to ocean cliffs to wild flowers...ahhhhhhhhhh. I enjoyed the unusual sunshine and wonderful weather. I have been to Cambria so many times but never knew these trails existed.

Every morning I got up and fixed a nice breakfast (I have to admit breakfast is a hard one for me since I'm usually already sitting at my desk anywhere between 6:30 and 7:00). I love to cook and haven't taken the opportunity to do it for a very long time. I took along my lovely new apron I picked up on my trek to Big Sur. Notice I said took along - it looked quite lovely hanging over a towel rack in the kitchen. I'll break it in one of these days. I've already invited over a friend for my signature Broccoli and Chicken Crepes.
One day I spread out a plastic tablecloth and got into something I've wanted to try for awhile - I call it Rock Therapy or Burden Therapy. I chose my rocks before I left home - the rocks in themselves are an interesting story - I asked my bro for rocks when I saw him a couple weeks ago and he said 'sure', but did I get them? No. I was out for a walk shortly before I went on vacation and happened to take a little detour (I don't remember the reason) and right there in front of me were awesome rocks, like they were waiting for me to stumble across them.

The idea behind the rocks is to think about your 'burdens' or things you'd like to change or be able to dump from your brain. I selected a rock for each of my categories and got out my nontoxic paint and painted them - no rules and no preconceived ideas of how they should look when they're done. It was fantastic! I was amazed at the direction that most of them took. I let them sit for the next couple of days because it was party time! (there's more to the rock story).

On my actual birthday, my sister, joined me for an impromptu day - we did the two hour hiking trail (we both got a little sunburned). We went to lunch at my favorite bbq place in town, we drove around the area, had birthday pastries at my favorite restaurant and just chilled.

The next day my friend, Frances, took the 2-1/2 hour drive over to spend the day with me - again, the 2 hour trail, lunch at a restaurant overlooking the ocean and some much needed girl time.
Here's Frances on the trail.

Oh, yes, the bubbles - I have always had a fascination with bubbles, so this year I decided to buy a cute little bubble machine - I found the perfect designer one at Target for only $9.99 (including 6 batteries). There were so many beautiful bubbles! I am in the process of taking some of the photos, cropping them and having them enlarged.

Here are some more pictures from my vacation:



Hearst Castle is always a showstopper.

Here's a wreath at the house I stayed at - very simple, very unusual.
















The theme of the house was lighthouses and all things nautical. I just loved this picture!

A sunset overlooking the Pacific Ocean taken just a few steps from the house.


Art is in the eye of the beholder. A driftwood 'plant' in the 'town' of San Simeon.




Near Ragged Point on Highway 1

Before I left for the coast, a friend invited me to a local lake for a day of hiking, sitting on the deck and relaxing.

Well, strange as it may be, we had a very cold storm move in for Memorial Day Weekend - you can see here, I had on my coat and gloves - it was a might chilly. We had an early birthday lunch overlooking the lake, sat in front of a warm fireplace, we did sit and do nothing and we did hike - only the rain and hail started coming down pretty good so we had to take a little break in an under construction home. Loved it!

The next day a friend and I got together for an early birthday breakfast at a new restaurant in
town. I suggested the Maple Nut Coffeecake French Toast. I had a bite and it was fabulous!

Thank you to all my friends and family who made the last couple of weeks so special and thank you not just for the NOW, but thank you for the ALL THE TIME.

Oh, I almost forgot - the Rock /Burden Therapy was awesome. After my guests left, I sat and journaled about each rock, the person, place or thing I had 'rocked' on. If that wasn't wonderful enough, I took a drive up the coast and one at a time and with much thought and even a few words said outloud, I tossed each rock into the ocean.

Make it a great week - it will be interesting to see what's changed over the nine days that I was gone...