DIY: {save the dates}

So Lucky Luxe is beyond amazing and created some Save the Dates on handkerchiefs.



I was in love the moment I saw them. Well, I later found out that they screen printed onto each hanky. That would be rather costly. But, being a stubborn and rather determined person, I decided to figure out a way to do this, with out it costing so much. So I did some research....and here is what I discovered.


Plain old freezer paper allows you to print on fabric! Yup, that's right, ordinary-buy-at-your-grocery-store freezer paper. So, here is what you need in order to get started.

Freezer paper, a ruler, a pencil, scissors, iron, ironing board, and some sort of natural fabric, I used muslin.

In Illustrator (works best, but some people use powerpoint) to create your Save the Date. Your Save the Date should be 3.7X5.2



Create a new 10X7.5 document and paste two of your Save the Dates into your new document. I created guides to help me cut. I would opt for using a lighter color though. Where I didn't cut so perfectly, blue showed. It was kinda a pain to clean it up.





Measure and cut your muslin to 7.5 X 10.5, and a piece of freezer paper to 7.5X105. Iron your fabric.

Next place your freezer paper shiny side down ontop of your fabric. Iron your freezer paper onto your fabric. The two then become one.

Next place your paper/fabric into your printer, and print. Your printer treats it as a normal piece of paper!



Next, cut your Save the Dates out as neatly as possible. Then simply peel the freezer paper away from the fabric and voila! You have a fabric Save the Date!



I have plans to sew 1/2 venice lace on the edges, but I accidently threw it away in my cleaning rampage (bright me, I know). I'll be sure to post pictures of the "real" final project when it is done :)



Happy DIYing!

Happy Memorial Day! {shrimp fest}

I hope that everyone had a splendid Memorial Day. And of course, thank you to all the men and women that served, and are serving. All gave some, and some gave all.

What a weekend. Today is Memorial Day, and Mr. B's birthday weekend! The old man turns 24! So, today to celebrate the both (since he had off work), we had a Shrimp Fest! We bought 2 pounds of shrimp, and 7 ears of corn. We at 1 and 9/10 of a lb of shrimp, and 4 ears of corn (which, by the way Mr. B said he would consume by himself...) :).

We boiled our shrimp with 1/2 a cup of beer, 2 tablespoons of Old Bay and 1/2 a cup of water (that's per lb). Yummy yum! We wound up sprinkling some Old Bay on top of the shrimp as well. I was very pleased to have found a bottle of Old Bay out West! And of course, being out West, you have to Coors with your shrimp. It's only fitting.




We visited the town of Golden (where Coors is made) a couple of weeks ago. The whole town smells like hops and barley. It's divine...

We had sweet corn with our meal, which took forever to cook. Normally it takes 10 minutes to have your corn nice and tender. But I cooked these bad boys a good 17! I thought they would never get done.

And last but not least, Mr. B had the ingenious idea of having watermelon with our feast as well.

Yum!

{dinnerware inspiration}

I have a deep love for porcelain. Specifically, Wedgwood Chinoiserie designed by Jasper Conran. I love the harmony of the colors, and the beautiful botanical pattern.

So, I based the color palette off of the china pattern. As a result, I came up with a modern New England garden wedding.



The Riverside Yacht Club (top left), is from Haylee and Franklin's wedding in Wilton, Connecticut. Gregg and Mark had their place cards in a brushed stainless steel box full of smooth blue sea glass; Ring Bearer pillow from the Breakfast at Tiffany's themed Martha Stewart wedding; Bridesmaids' dresses and invitation from Kathleen and Casey's Bay Head wedding; White floral wreath from Allison and Mark's Brooklyn wedding; cake from The Knot who got inspiration from a wedding invitation; floating candles and wedding dress from Sarah and Paul's wedding in Hawa'ii; Bridesmaids', Bride's and Groom's boutineere, along with the blue lanterns hung at cocktail hour. from Jenny and Kevin's wedding in Villanova; Blue Nine-West shoes from Wallis and Levi's Winona wedding; Favor box from Ann and Steve's wedding in Key Biscayne; programs from Emily and Colin's wedding in Minneapolis; Menu from Kasey and Jordan's Rochester Hills wedding; and last but not least, the letter pressed coasters from Katy and Mark's wedding set on beautiful Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

{a french fete}

I love the Rococo period, and want our renewal to center around that feeling, and style. So, I created a board that exudes some of that.

The invitation (top left) is from a beautiful letter press suite, "Blossom" from Park Life Press, located in Carbarro, Carolina. I loved it so much that I got a free sample from them so I could get a better feel for it. It is even more stunning in person.

The bouquet consists of white and pink peonies, and featured on the Sugar Plum Invitations blog.

The hair is from The Knot's hair gallery. It is the perfect romantic updo for a wedding.

I have mentioned before that I love the idea of incorporating a chandelier over the sweetheart table or cake table (or both!). Here, Elizabeth Anne Designs featured it.

The cake was featured in Martha Stewart Weddings, and created by Wendy Kromer. I love the oval tiers, and the beautiful pattern on the top tier.

{my second home}

As I mentioned in my introduction, Mr. B and I are renewing our vows and my Grandparents' beautiful 85 acre farm, {Ironstone Spring Farm} established in 1805. I used to spend a few weeks during the summer running around, peeking into the incubators to see the newborn chicks, attempting to herd cattle by hand, and being introduced to horses. Things have changed since then, but it is even more beautiful now. We were blessed to have our manager. He used to work in landscaping, and has done wonders on the farm. We board horses, and our beautiful, grass-fed Black Angus cattle, still roam the rolling hills. I am so blessed to have access to such a beautiful venue. And, if you're in the Lancaster area, you have access to it too ;)

{southern charm}

I moved to the South when I was 12, and have become a southern belle at heart. There are some aspects of my renewal that I would to have southern charm. Here is a beautiful board, I don't know who from though! If someone knows, let me know :)


I can't begin to express my love for this board. Maybe it is my love for pastels (sigh). I adore the chandelier, and would love to have it over our sweetheart table, or cake table. Now, I don't think a chandelier that elaborate is in our budget, this one is just darling. And in our budget ($17!).



It would be a sweet little touch. I would probably paint it white. Now, its source of light is candles. I would worry about it dripping hot wax on to people (ouch!), but they make wonderful LED candles that flicker and tada! Don't drip wax! You can buy this lovely little treat on ebay or A Rich Decor Store.

I love the texture of peonies as well, one of my favorite flowers. But, of course they would need to be in yellow or white! And what a great way to cut the cost of flowers, have your maids carry a single, beautiful peony.



Parasols are charming and very lady-like. And practical if you are like me, and enjoy having fair skin, and thus, get burnt really easy.

You can actually rent them for your big day for a great price from the very lovely Bella Umbrella. Now, our renewal will be at sunset, so it wouldn't be as practical for us, but to take pictures before hand with your maids and yourself would make a great picture. This is my all time favorite, and what a beautiful way to incorporate your something blue! And for just $10, it's a steal!



Last, but not least. I would love to have this little lovely for our cake table. And, it's worth the $40 because we can reuse it after our renewal.

I think it ties together the Rococo feel, as well as the Southern charm. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

{that wonderful thing called inspiration}

You know that excited, antsy feeling you get when you find something that really sparks ideas? Or maybe that is just me? Well, that is inspiration for me! I love that feeling, I'm pretty much obsessed with inspiration boards/concepts, I scour the far corners of the internet looking for them, to get that little spark. And I get especially excited when those inspiration boards involve weddings.

I love preppy, girly things, and it for sure shows in these few inspiration boards that just so happened to be some of my favorites....


I love the bouquet in this one, from fellow blogger, Tastefully Entertaining, the texture is just beautiful. And I have a great love for daffodils. The bridesmaids dress is sweet and simple. But, I feel it a bit more appropriate for an evening renewal to have full length dresses. Mr. B enjoys the tie for this one, but inverted of course, since blue is his favorite color. Blue table linens are a must, but with yellow napkins that I hope will hold our menu.


This board is from blogger With This Ring. Mr. B and I are hoping to have glass drink dispensers with lemonade, and other lovely drinks to serve up. The cake is simple and modern, but lovely. I find myself more and more attracted to modern, simple cakes.




This one is by far my favorite, from Snippet and Ink. Which, just so happens to be one of my favorite wedding blogs. Now, I won't be wearing a yellow dress and getting re-married at a courthouse, the dress it is darling. I love the incorporating of lemons, and think the would be lovely immersed in water in a tall vase.