#661: tshirt stuff.

forget tissue. use real fabric. you know. if you've got some layin' around.


instructions via something old, something new.

#631: stuff.

hi again.

i've been wanting to share these pictures with you. because i think they're nice.

but before i do, let me just say that after a small meltdown earlier this week, i feel like i'm in a good place. in other words, i've got my sh*t together. for now.

big sigh of relief.

i'd also like to add -- that i wouldn't be even close to this sane without my little sister. she's been cc'd on every email i've been blasting out for the past few weeks re: for crafts, for the rehearsal lunch, for the guestbook table, for meetings, for ideas, for a song she's going to sing during the ceremony, for the slideshow she's putting together for our entrance, for drams. everything. she only just turned 25 (our little baby!) but she's been my friggin' anchor. go figure. she's done things unprompted like clearing her schedule for this entire month so that she could be available to help me with any and all things.

i mean. srsly? i'm not even close to being as thoughtful.

and to put things into perspective, let's just say she's the kind of person who has 1000+ friends on facebook. uh, not in a weird way but in a she's-a-major-social-butterfly way. do you know what i'm saying here.

anyways.

point being. there isn't quite anything like a sister and i'm so stankin' happy to have mine. she's not my friend...she's my sister.

it's different.

here's a shot of our placecards and a closeup of the centerpieces. my bridesmaids and i spent a saturday and sunday (read: 8+ hours) cutting, folding, gluing, horsing, hurting (glue gun = scary).

#602: shoot.

i'm already in the middle of constructing my centerpieces. and i've repeatedly said i don't want to use candles.

but dang.

i need to host a party of some kind so i have an excuse to create these lovelies.


complete instructions over at once wed.

p.s. i said dang. what.

#557: it's a go.

with the help and talent of a crafty friend, trial #2 was a success. we exnayed the 2-ply; she wrapped the paper much tighter and secured the shape with a little glue gun action...and it worked. srsly.

so i'm happy to tell you that the paper flowers are a go and i will be using the following three shades of purple.



do you likey.

and here's a group shot of the first 30 flowers or so:


30 flowers took about 1.5 hours. not bad. and by the end of the 1.5 hours, we had an assembly line set up. i was drawing and cutting the spirals and she was rolling and gluing the flowers. you know. specialization.

this has now become a realistic project. one that i like and one that i can finish before the wedding. like a month in advance. uberly pleased to say the least. *happy sigh*

#555: plan b. ish.

i have my centerpieces. kind of.

but i'm getting distracted. by pretties like jessica's centerpieces. i've said multiple times up-down-sideways about not wanting candles in our wedding (too much trouble). but now i'm double thinking that whole thing.


via tying the knot.

see? simple. DIY-able. and very very pretty.

main cause of my centerpiece roaming eye is the paper flower trial last weekend that pretty much failed. i was able to buy an amazing amount of paper at an amazing price and i had hoped that it would work. because that would have been amazing.

but the paper's just not the right weight for the project. not so amazing.

hm. while i was typing this post, i just had a thought. how about adhering two pages together to make thicker paper and THEN attempting the flowers. eh. it might work, it might not. i'll try it tonight. it'll be my last ditch effort until i suck it up and go back to michael's to buy heavier stock.

or until i decide that paper flowers are a no go, period.

or until i decide that rock candy was always the best idea.

or until i decide that candles are the obvious choice.

#549: close but not really.

we went to michael's yesterday to shop for paper to do a trial of the paper flowers. we were able to pick up colored cardstock on clearance which i was really excited about.



but when we got around to making the flowers, something wasn't working. we started out with 1.5cm between the lines and then upped it to 1-inch. but i don't know what it is. maybe the stock isn't heavy enough?

at first, i tried to arrange the flowers by poking the branches through the middle of the flower. but i didn't like it.



and then fiance suggested we kind of glue the flowers together and drape them around the branches. it started off nicely and then ended up looking like a pom pom around the base. i didn't like it.



maybe i should stick to one color per centerpiece? eh, hopefully after another go at it, i'll figure it out.

or, maybe you could just tell me to my face if you happen to know.

p.s. 25 cards have been texturized. 1/3ish of the way there.

p.p.s. speaking of pom poms, fiance saw them at michael's and suggested we let the flowergirls throw them around while walking down the aisle in lieu of flower petals (not even thinking of using flower petals). i told him i'd seen pom poms used at a wedding before. i mean, not in real life, but in blog life. and in this instance, the pom poms weren't thrown by the flower girls but by the guests as the couple made their exit.


via once wed.

my initial feeling to this idea was "how whimsical and cute". but after a good night's sleep, i'm wondering if walking down a pom pom strewn aisle would perhaps increase my chances of slipping and breaking my neck. that wouldn't be good. no.

#548: she MADE these (part II).

see part I here.


via {elisebeth}.

************************************

so, like. do i say eff the rock candy and go with this instead.

#541: she MADE these.

via {elisebeth}.

#536: i did a lot: part II of III.

the fiance and i went to candy baron over the weekend and sifted through a couple of boxes of rock candy. they are a lot thicker than i'd imagined they'd be! but not to be deterred, we picked out the skinniest strings we could find and attempted our very first centerpiece.



is the picture shoddy? yes.

do i use the stationary bike? no.

so the first attempt came out muy meh. but to the rock candy's credit, all i did was drape it on the branches, which created an awkward and thick double layer.

i don't think we're going to do that for the real thing.

attempt #2 will be to cut shorter pieces and glue them directly onto the tree.

any other suggestions?

#514: thanks for your list, craig.

snapped a pic before loading them up. and yes. rock candy is back in the picture.


we are considering linen overlays to cover the base of the centerpieces. i bought 1 yard to practice with. in other words, we may or may not end up doing this.


we weren't even going for this. but do you see what i see.

p.s. a fake tulip bouquet.

$7.99 at michaels. for the little flower girls? so they can trash it as much as they want? fiance was all about it but i'm not so sure. what do you think.

#512: we gots it.

so. we did good this weekend.

we have our centerpieces.

and we know what we're doing for our ceremony decorations (sadly, we will not be doing anything garlandy. even after finding inspiration here, here, here, and here.)

squeals.

me = uber relieved. it feels soo good to knock this stuff off the to do list. srsly. i mean, there's still work to be done, of course. but now i have something to work with. ahhhh.

p.s. it's kind of cool when a theme just emerges out of nowhere. just sayin.

p.p.s. hope you all are enjoying the superbowl. i'm obviously not paying attention.

#511: tonight.

i'm hightailing it to pier 1.


via pier 1.

NOW $1.48 - $1.78
Orig. $15 - $18

why? because i thought i had it all figured out. but obviously i don't.

please bear with me as i think out loud.

i don't need 'perfect'. i just need it to 'make sense'. and easy enough. but personal enough. and non floral for the most part. but not weird.

eh? i guess thinking out loud doesn't always help. i hope i have some clarity (and goodies to show you) after the weekend.

until then, peace loves.

xoxo,
tto

#509: empty vase.

via seaglass vintage.

so. if i were to use something like this (maybe a bit bigger, or maybe several different height'd vases bunched together) as a centerpiece...as a guest, would you think it was weird if i didn't put any flowers in it?

(also, is my question grammatically correct? <-- update: fixed thanks to MissTre.)

#504: twitter update.

eh. i would twitter for real, especially because i think i signed up for it. but i don't know how and at this point, i can't be bothered.

i'm browsing the nets this morning to figure out this centerpiece thing and for additional inspiration. and thank GAW for online shopping. because i can't seem to find any time during the week to do anything craftlicious. like even go to the craft store. am i effed?

anyways, today, i'll be looking through the sale pages of ikea, michael's, joann's, jamali garden (which i found through frolic!), and z gallerie. any other suggestions?

p.s. i have nothing against candles (in fact, i love them) but i will not be using any. i think it has something to do with the hassle of lighting them. sure, it won't be me who does it...but i don't want someone else to have to do it either.

also, a LOT, if not most, of the DIY centerpieces out there somewhere seem to be for outdoorsy weddings. or wedding receptions with lots of sunlight. our venue has zero sunlight. like none. so. i guess best of luck to me.

p.p.s. it was so cold this morning that my eyeballs steamed up my sunglasses. no joke.

#503: flea market bust.

i saw a lot of cool things during my first trip ever to the fairfax flea market yesterday. if i was on the prowl for weathered boots or a leather jacket or handmade jewelry, i would've been out a few bucks for sure.

but i wasn't. and i didn't find anything useful for the centerpieces i kind of need to get started on like asap. which was kind of a bummer.

here's what i plan to do.

1) uh, have a plan b centerpiece idea ready. and maybe even a plan c. just in case.

2) be patient, keep shopping, maybe go to craft stores instead of looking only for secondhand stuff. *shrug*

3) not spend more than $100 for centerpiece stuff. in total. $45 for a pair of cool sconces at the flea market sounded good...until i realized that meant over $20 for each table. next.

4) do a quick mock up of what was not really the original vision but what i think could still turn out ok.

as for what this said mock up will look like...well, you'll just have to wait to see. because i'm not even too sure. but i will say that i plan to order candy, dust off one of my big vases, and get a bunch of these.

via ikea.

*on an unrelated note, fiance and i watched all of season 5 of entourage yesterday. it's good.*

#488: chotch-keys.

via yelp.

i am about to embark on some serious thrift shopping. not expensive vintage shopping. i'm talking things-marked-down-to-2-cents shopping.

initially, i was going to order the rock candy and start there. but then i remembered...i need something to hang them on.

so, the hunt starts now.

things i need to look out for:
1) centerpiece bases.
2) that's it.

feel free to give a shout out if you know of any choice destinations in the los angeles area.

#465: oh em gee.

i think i found my centerpiece. mercy me.

step-by-step instructions on once wed. (twice in one day. seriously, emily's awesome.)

imagine all the wonderful table conversations that are waiting to be had around these rock candy (!!!) centerpieces.

"i wonder if this is crystal."
"maybe they're rough cut diamonds."
"i don't know why but i feel like licking one."
"it tastes like candy."
"sweet."
"dude."

oh. and i've also decided to DIY our guys' bouts.

inspired by the uber crafty chelsea of oh my deer.

p.s. i didn't know i would end up wanting to DIY so much. but with 5 months left, and having seriously caught the crafty bug, i'm more than ok with taking these on. in fact, i'm really excited to have found these projects...projects that will definitely help us make the wedding more "us". the aesthetic as it is right now (aka BLANK) leaves much to be desired...so i'm hoping these little handmade bits will infuse a whole lot of us-ness into the day.

it's getting personal.

#462: pretty.

via saipua.

#445: hi martha.

a crafy martha project via we met in a bar.


martha project via style for style.

#442: crate & barrel.

on sale for $6.95 at crate & barrel.