Asking the Maids

Bridesmaids, that is. If you’re checking in for the first time this week, welcome to Wedding Week here on the blog! We’ve been having fun throwing back to last year’s partayyy. On Monday we covered how we celebrated one year of marriage and yesterday’s post was a play-by-play of the big day itself. File today under “preparation for the celebration” if you will.

We had five bridesmaids and five groomsmen in our wedding and I asked my five cousins to join me for the special day. I’ve never had any sisters, but these five girls have been just that for me, so I didn’t think twice about asking them to be my bridesmaids.

Now, about how I asked… I wanted them to have something special that I put thought into, taking each of their personalities into consideration. I landed on a box filled with some goodies and the question itself:It was a pretty simple project from start to finish and it was a lot of fun- Mitch even helped! I grabbed a few white cardboard boxes from the craft store, a variety of scrapbook paper in the wedding colors (various shades of blue), and some small wooden letters- one for each of the girls’ initials. We added scrapbook paper to the top and inside lid of the boxes and glued the letters on top to help identify whose was whose.

See? I told you Mitch helped! And, well, this happened:After the boxes were dried, I added the “Will you be my bridesmaid?” cutout (I just typed it up and printed them from the computer) to the inside lid. The idea was that it would be the first thing they saw. Inside the box was a glass jar full of sand from the bay with a tag saying where the wedding would be, a list of some of the basics (when the wedding would be, what they would wear, a personalized note, etc.), some chocolate, nail polish, and a pair of earrings. Oh, and a few paint chips in different shades of blue to represent the color scheme of the wedding. While the gifts were fun, surprising them was the best part.

Jess, my maid of honor, was the first to get hers. Jess actually married into our crazy family (she married my cousin, Chris) and we went to the same college and became good friends there and later… family! She and I had already arranged to meet up at Barnes and Nobles to look through wedding magazines. Little did she know, I had plans to ask her a question of my own! I slipped a note into one of the magazines that said “Jess, look in the box.” The confusion on her face when she found a random note in a magazine addressed to her… it was hysterical and I wish I had gotten it on camera. I then passed her her box and… she said YES! The funny thing is that she had no idea anything was coming and said she’d never been more surprised. So fun. 🙂 Here she is standing by my side on the day of- thanks for all you did for me, Jess! Love you!

I asked the rest of the girls on Thanksgiving that year. I mailed Ashley her box (she lives far away), saying it was a “special Thanksgiving treat” that I wanted everyone to open at the same time… what a load of nonsense. 🙂 We got all the girls together after the meal, put Ashley on Skype and they all opened it together. I did not anticipate any tears, but when I tried to tell them how much it meant that I got to grow up with not one, but five sisters, well, tears were shed. Happy tears, of course. Here is the box all put together on the day they opened them:The message inside said:

Girls, Truthfully, I don’t know a lot of things about this wedding. I don’t know exactly where or when but for a long time I have known who I want there with me… YOU! I am not even sure of all of the “hows” yet, but I do know that at the end of the day, as long as I am standing at the altar marrying Mitch, with you next to me, I will know exactly why we did all of this. I love you!

In the end, they all liked their gifts and best of all, I got to share the day with the five of the best “sisters” I could ask for. Love you girls!And that’s it in a nutshell cardboard box- how I asked the maids. But what about Mitch? He just point blank asked the groomsmen… there were no crafts involved. 🙂 #realmenmodpodge

Until tomorrow, have a great day!

Inspiration on Vacation

Ok, that title is confusing. Please read: Inspiration While on Vacation, Not: My Inspiration is on Vacation. So back in the beginning of September, Mitch and I took a trip to Bethany Beach, DE for a few days. His uncle graciously lent us his beach house, so we hit the road with our bags packed and music blaring. There’s a full recap coming your way tomorrow (video!!!), but I figured I’d share some of the snapshots I grabbed throughout the week that made me think “Oooh, that’s awesome! I wonder if I could make that!” 

So, for the sake of all things beachy, adventurous, and home/crafty related, here are:1. Use a shell as a dish. This one was $4 at Beach Plum Antiques, but I’m sure you could find a large, shell-like thing somewhere for a similar price or cheaper (or FREE if you find it on the beach!). Clean it up, fill it with change, keys, jewelry and you’re all set to go.2. Spray paint a star fish (or any other natural-looking thing) for a quick burst of color. I found these ones at a store called Sea Level (one of our favorites from the week!).

3. Fill a vase or glass piece with sand and shells for instant beachy decor. We actually have this exact piece at home, which is what sent my mind into “I COULD TOTALLY DO THAT” mode. This is also from Sea Level.

4. Distress wooden letters for a vintage-y look. And then, while you’re at it, spell something on your mantel, shelf, table, etc. These $10 ones came from Bella Luna on the Rehoboth boardwalk.

5. Spray paint glass jars white to make them look ceramic. I was in love with these $23 and $17 ones from The Pelican Loft (also on the Rehoboth boardwalk), but resisted the urge to buy every last one.6. Use mini pencils to create a cute, school-themed picture frame. How fun and simple would that be?!

7. Perhaps my favorite, stamp letters onto burlap bunting to create custom signs and decor. This might be one I try pretty soon… with fall here and the holidays around the corner, you might see some burlap-y decorations popping up around our house. I don’t remember which store these were from, but they were selling them for $5 a piece. So cute!So that’s that. Seven ideas inspired by the beach and there’s more vacation where that came from. The montage video of our trip is just about finished, so you can look for that tomorrow and on Friday, we’ve got a Superlative party all lined up! Our favorite restaurant, best day trip, coolest shop, etc. all comin’ your way. Stay tuned and have a great rest of your day!

-Leslie

Cheap & Easy DIY Magnets

Yesterday was a day devoted to schedules and the styling of such. As much fun as I had creating our Thomas Family Calendar…

… I had no way to hang it! The poor thing had been affixed to our fridge with scotch tape because of the lack of magnet presence in our house.

Well, NO MORE! This weekend proved fruitful in a host of different ways, but the best part? I got to try my hand at magnet-making and, truth be told, it was pretty darned easy (and fun)! So with that, I bring you:

This is a great project to tackle with a nice cup of tea, wine, or lemonade at your disposal (whatever floats your boat) and your favorite TV show or Pandora station playing in the background. I made mine to the tune of Everybody Loves Raymond, so my productivity was seasoned with a lot of laughter breaks.

For this project, you will need:

1. Basic Tools. A pair of scissors, pencil (not pictured), and a paint brush (also not pictured are all things you’ll need for this DIY.

2. Tiles! For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out what to use as the “anchor” for both the magnet and the decorative paper. I settled on a simple tile, figuring that I could find them pretty cheap and already painted with a white finish. Wrong. I was striking out left and right and learning quickly that single tiles were far more expensive than I thought! The ones below were just too big and almost $1.50 each, which, after including the cost of other supplies… was starting to take this project out of the “thrifty” category.

I was giving up hope on my project, UNTIL.

I almost couldn’t believe it. A whole slab of (25!!!) tiles for a whopping total of $2.57! That’s the same price for 25 as the other kind was for 2! Major score. I was also excited about the unique hexagon shape, in comparison with the more uniform square.

3. Magnets. I was having trouble finding magnets for this project that weren’t so thick that they would make the pieces stick out too far from the fridge. Either that, or they weren’t large enough in size to be able to hold anything in place. I decided to go with the Magnetic Tape and figured that two 1″ pieces taped next to each other would be enough coverage for my tile. Two packs of the magnet tape was exactly enough for six magnets.

 

Note: If I did this again, I would try for a magnet with a bit more strength. It works for what I’m doing, but for hanging heavier things, you may want to take this into consideration.

4. Super Glue. This is optional, but I wanted a bit of insurance in adhering the magnet to the back of the tile, so I opted to use a dab of super glue to help.

5. Modge Podge and Glue. I didn’t end up using the glue because the Modge Podge did the job just fine. It’s up to you- you might like to give the glue a shot!

6. Scrapbook Paper. Grab a few prints you love and you’re good to go!

Alrighty, let’s get to it:

Step 1: Break apart the tiles and remove the “connectors” from the sides. In the picture below, you can see the little tan tabs of glue- break or cut them off for smooth sides on your tiles.

Step 2: Cut the magnet tape into pieces the length of your tile. Each strip should get you six- enough for three magnets.

Step 3: Stick the magnets to the back of the tile. This is where the (optional) super glue comes in. I used the center line of the tile to line up each magnet.

Step 4: Cut the corners of the magnets to line up with the angles of the tiles.

Step 5: Trace the tile on your scrapbook paper and cut the shape out. To get the “white border” effect, cut just inside the shape you traced so it will end up being smaller than your tile.

 Tip: Once I had the size I wanted, I used the paper cut- out as my new guide for tracing and cutting the rest of them.

Step 6: Put a layer of Modge Podge on your tile.

Step 7: Center your scrapbook piece. I wasn’t too concerned with getting it perfectly centered and straight, as part of the charm of these is that they are not all exactly uniform.

Step 8: One more coat of Modge Podge on top.

Step 9: Let them sit until they are dry to the touch (this took under ten minutes).

Step 10: Arrange and enjoy!

These cuties make me more motivated to keep our fridge clean, organized, and uncluttered. I’m loving how the patterns and colors subtly tie into our kitchen decor. Totally customizable to your space!

And for a quick cost breakdown per magnet:

Tile: $.10 + Magnet: $.83= $.93 per magnet! Granted, I already had the rest of the supplies on hand, so just to be fair, we’ll round it up to $1.00. A dollar per magnet- not bad!

For something that is this cute, with the bonus of the personal touch, I’ll take it! And probably make more… 🙂 Don’t be surprised (friends and family) if you start receiving these as gifts… you’ve been warned.

If you end up making magnets of your own, email pictures to me and I’ll post them so others can see how you made out! Happy Crafting!

-Leslie

PS. Tomorrow’s the big day for our “oh-so-purple” bathroom reno! Check back in to see the “afters” to this lovely BEFORE:

Update: Check out the progress of this room here and here!