whats the opposite of blerg?

did i make anything this weekend? no!
did i have an absolutely awesome time with my 2 bridesmaids? yes!
did i watch a ton of 30 rock and love every second? yes!
did i go bonkers at paper source and buy a ton? yes!

i bought (the top 2 are kits, the bottom is a roll of wrapping paper. the flowers are pretty self explanatory (centerpieces, random decor) but the paper is for the enevelope liners for the invites) :




(all images via papersource)

really?!

So this shows up in my mail today:

What are those you ask?

That's right. I accidentally bought the world's smallest ceramic cats (to use in our cake topper).

FAIL.

Thankfully there are no shortages of less-tiny cats on ebay so I am bidding again. Wish me better luck this time.

Hair Envy

(both images from daughters of dawn via unruly things)

I am in love with this girl's hair. It makes me want to dye my hair red again. And have bangs. I am going to do atleast one of those things (probably the latter).

Last night, I finished making the flags, worked on the mini bouquets, and shredded old junk mail. I've been meaning to shred for a while (by a while I mean basically since we have lived together). Also, I have been amassing large amounts of rubbermaid containers to well, contain all my wedding things. Anyone else having a space problem with all their wedding crafts/ideas/assorted goods? Goals tonight: Maybe get coffee with a friend. Otherwise, I want to plant some herbs (indoors) and maybe make the bouquet cuffs?

Also, this weekend I am going to Paper Source (I'm drooling just thinking of it) and possibly looking into buying some of these.

And finally shout to the future hubs: not only has he published 1 book already, he has another on the way and is going to be published in a poetry magazine. way to be crazy talented, dear!

how is it not friday yet?!

(image from here)

This post would be longer if I didn't forget to do the trash until this morning but alas that is the case. So last night was a pretty fruitful cheap trip. Oh, IKEA. I worked at this particular store for about a year until I got my first office job. While I may have been a frustrated employee at times (low pay, spending hours refilling those small pencils and maps of the store), my love for their merchandise never wavered.

I bought 200 white tealight candles for $5 to make these:

(image via this tutorial on elizabeth anne designs)

then I went to Michaels and bought felt to make these:

(via martha, know I posted the other day sorry for the repeat)

and dowels to (hopefully) finish these:

now for a light post....

...since the one before this was a bit of a downer. I am obsessed with this woman's etsy shop (found via my awesome best lady). How awesome would it be to give out custom merit badges at my camp-y wedding??? While her prices feel a little out of my range right now, I still want to buy them all. Here are some of my favorites:


(badge for 'having some meat on your bones')

(badge for 'tying the knot')

(badge for being a 'smitten kitten')

I looked on ebay for some lots of vintage merit badges. While I can't really find any like these I am enjoying finding bizarro ones like badges for fingerprinting, horsemanship, and physical development. I mean who wouldn't want a badge in keeping farm records?

alright, who else is feeling this way?

(image found via abbey goes design scouting)

Last night Ry asked me 'why cant you just get home from work and relax?' and I responded with some weird jumbled mess of things I should be doing like working on wedding stuff, working out and/or cleaning (did I mention I said this while scrubbing our shower?). I feel like sometimes my to-do list gets so crazy (which is totally my doing) that I get nothing done.

Atleast, I did a couple things:
*I did get several packages in the mail yesterday so I started my two bridesladies' bouquets.
*I colored and worded my invites and RSVP cards.
*I started my map.
*I found out my car works fine as long as I don't go above 39.
*made some really good faux chicken burritos.

tonight, I am off to IKEA where hopefull I can invest in a ton of tealights for the smores favors or some more fabric for the poms. Also, there is a Michaels right beside it so perhaps I will take a peek in there as well....

Wedding Jumble

Sorry in advance that this entry is going to be a mess. I'm thinking about lots of different things at once so bear with me:

wedding stuff-
1- ordered some some dollhouse cats to add to our cupcake toppers (per the advice of this awesome gal)

also ordered:

(I am going to stamp the back of our wedding "guest book" postcards with this stamp)

(earrings from here)

2- still winning/receiving brooches to build bouquets. Thinking this may be a good remedy to hiding any of the base showing?


(find the article on making bouquet cuffs here)

3- got my shoes in the mail! and they fit like a dream! they do not however smell like candy (I realize I should have been dubious of this but almost every review of these shoes wrote about this smell on zappos)



4- even though I feel like I am getting things done, I feel like I can't check anything off my list. That is very frustrating for me.

Today's goals:
*make fabric poms
*work on invites
*work on crepe flowers? (as you can tell by the question mark I am totally putting off working on these...I did find this awesome link however which got me a little more excited for them)
*work on wedding map to mail with invites

non-wedding stuff-
1- need new car
2- fiance is trying to go meatless which led me to having an absolute blast grocery shopping at Trader Joes this morning (and eating free awesome samples of blueberry pancakes leading to me of course getting syrup on myself) and lying on my belly reading Veganomicon last night.
3- buying a super cute (smaller size) skirt and cardigan even though I should have bought new pants becuase I have one pair of jeans that fit right now (and I totally just ripped them)

totally putting off (other than the flowers)
1-working out
2- cleaning the house

definetly thinking I'll be more productive if I put some sweatpants on (or the total opposite)...

Happy Friday!

(image from here)

...and thank goodness. Its been a long one. Car problems still continuing. Taking crazy back roads to work today since my car apparently has a fear of the highway and can't go into 4th gear. Time for a new ride soon. Maybe just go all out and invest a Hummer stretch limo? I would certainly look cool driving up to work in that (and by pretty cool I mean look like a jerk :)

Whats up for the weekend? I am watching the baby cousin tonight then unsure for the rest. Maybe get some stuff done? Let's hope!

My Perogative

Updates: Still do not have my car. Pluses of driving a rental? It works like it should! Its wicked clean! The doors don't make weird noises when I open them! I don't have to crawl in through the passenger door to get to the driver's seat! Minuses? It costs money just to have everyday. Heres to hoping I get my sweet old ride back today (and that the cost to fix it is low). Also, I have been sporadic at best in terms of exercising lately. The office beside us said I looked like I was looking weight so a combination of the fact that people are noticing (and I don't want to slack off and have it be like 'way to put it all back on!') and the fact that I watched celebrity fit club yesterday have hopefully gotten me back on track. Oh, Bobby Brown and Sebastian Bach you never fail to inspire.



I am kind of obsessed with this cake topper from The Small Object. I already bought 2 blank wooden dolls to paint as us but I would love love love if I could find some mini cats to put around us too. That means I would need a base. Also, I will need to know what Ry's kilt is going to look like before painting it.Since we are having cupcakes, we probably won't actually top any with it, just have it kickin' it somewhere nearby.

P.S. Anyone else feeling that less than inspired feeling? I feel like I could have all the time in the world right now and still not get anything done. The things I want to work on I need supplies for (bouquets, rest of the flags,etc). I should work on the invites, bibs, flower poms.

I think winter is bumming me out...

Couple Things

I got a bunch of brooches I bought in the mail today! Not quite done but getting there...




The handle makes such a big difference in holding it. It is still majorly top heavy but the cone shape really helps.



Colored an invite page. Still in process too. Clearly I need words.

Started thinking about necklaces. Which do you like best (which lace piece keep in mind I can cut them down more and have a lot more pieces of each; also should I add a charm too? if so of what? thanks in advance!)?

or
or

(please don't mind the tablecloth background)

Also, made some secret bridesmaid gifts!

I have tomorrow off to get my car fixed (yes the lights are still on) but hopefully in the off time I can get some more stuff done!

Little EHO

Sorry I have no real updates since I am having issues with this guy:


(image from here which strangely enough is an article detailing the very issue I was having...)

Except mine is a sport so there is a sweet mini spoiler on the back. And the bottom of mine is all rusty...but you get the point! Several lights decided to come on yesterday so I spent most of last night at PepBoys then at my future father-in-laws and hopefully the future hubs and him fixed it. That would be wonderful since PepBoys wants me to pay $100 for them just to diagnose the issue, then more to actually fix it. When we were driving home last night, it also sounded like there was a ghost under the hood but that noise eventually stopped too.

Keep your fingers crossed for me that my sweet,crummy little ride is fixed! Because I totally want to spend my tax refund on wedding stuff, not car repairs....

Weekend Update

Inside page of invite and RSVP cards not colored in or worded yet.

Atleast I got something done!

Happy Friday!

(image via design crush)

What are you up to this weekend? Tonight, I have a charity trivia game. I am going out in celebration of my pop's birthday tomorrow for some Indian food and sunday is V Day. Instead of doing valentines though, I asked Ry if we could have awesome food in celebration of Chinese New Year instead. So I am looking forward to some seriously delicious eats and for dessert I am making these (kind of out of place I realize but tasty and easy!).

Hope you have a great one!

these babies are mine!

moral of the story? if you go on ebay everyday and will it to be, the shoes you want will be there for $100 off their original price (and in the 'buy it now' category!)


BLAM-O!

Snow Day Snow Day Snow Day

(image via flickr)

No work for me today! Woo! Here's to hope I do something productive with my time off. So far all I've done is read a magazine and eat cereal.

And I want to wish a happy birthday to my dad!

Bear with me....

(more bouquet progress! I realize it is lopsided but the back of it is still blank so hopefully that will stop after I fill the whole base (the base is a stryofoam ball cut in half. I bought styrofoam cones to use for handles))

...while my posts are far and few between. I know things are happening but I'm not sure what to write about. I feel like I'm being very lazy (even though I am doing the 'Natalie' version of workout 1 of the 30 day shred and my legs don't hurt as much anymore! so thats progress right???)

This has what has been going on with me:

-managed to single handedly give heartworm pills to all my cats with only 2 scratches to show for it! bam! (also: very surprised by who behaved the worst)

- attempted to go through my mom's attic to find some of my grandmother's old jewelry (brooches!) which resulted in me looking at prom pictures from high school and friend requesting my date (for both years) on facebook. hope its the right adam and that he doesn't think i'm a total creep! (update: its is the right adam but not sure about second half of that sentence)


(me and my maid of honor promin' it up! thats me on the left)

-won some more brooches on ebay. For some reason my computer doesn't want me to post them. Will post them as soon as I get them and hot glue 'em. Not sure at this point how many more I want to order (the base is more than half full but I also want to do little bouquets for my ladies too). Also, they are heavy.

-ordered some supplies from etsy for secret bridesladies gifts! Also, ordered some yellow striped ribbon to wrap the bouquet handles in. I then became obsessed with finding a cool "L" pin to pin to the handle. I get on these ridiculous hunts for a singular idea of something I am convinced I need, like a monogram pin.

I am having one of those weeks where I find myself organizing my sock drawer instead of doing things I actually have to. Like now how I'm updating my blog and looking at sites like this instead of putting out the trash and picking up the house.

Okay I'm going to go do the trash.

For real.

Ok now.

Weekend Project pics

start of the bouquet!


necklace chains bought for necklace making!


awesome postcards my friend Jen gave me the other week but I neglected to post until now!


More flags I made!


More pinwheels!

(I also made more bibs but the picture I took was awful and upside down and I didn't feel like fixing it. Its Monday! Cut me some slack :)

*** also, sorry these pictures are so brutally bad!

I am a crazy person

(I won these!)

Is it the season? Perhaps. Is i the ridiculous to-do lists I write for myself? Quite possibly. Regardless, I feel like a totally nutso lately. I looked at Ry last night and just said "I'm worried" and he said "About what?" and I said "Everything!". Do you guys ever feel this way? Maybe it is the depressing winter but I am stressed about money (as always! mo' money mo' problems), the wedding (like the absurd amount of stuff I am diy-ing, things still need to be done/bought,etc), this silly party coming up, my taxes, etc etc etc. Also, ebay! Ebay how I loathe and love you at the same time! Are you like me and take it personally when someone outbids you? I always think "Maybe if I message them and explain to them I need this for my wedding they will stop outbidding me...." but alas I think that makes me crazier since I think I might be bidding with old ladies since we have similar tastes. As of now, I have only won 10 brooches and have been outbid on a ridiculous amount but I am refusing to spend too much on a single order especially if they are not that great or there is only a few of them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I atleast win the 25 group I am in the lead in now.

I think ice cream might solve all my problems. I'll let you know how that works out :)

Happy Friday!

(print available at this etsy shop)

What are you weekend plans? Same old, same old here. Wedding crafts, brunch with mom. Need to pick up more hot glue sticks, work on the 30+ projects I am in the middle of and hopefully win tons of brooches on ebay! Wish me luck!

nerdin' it up

(image via wedding chicks...not the fantasy floral website...I am sort of a snob when it comes to websites that play music...I usually can't deal with them especially when there isn't a way to turn it off except muting my laptop)

-Its happening people. I decided this is exactly the kind of bouquet I want. I am currently bidding on bunches of brooches on ebay and will hopefully win them all! I did a search by "lot of vintage flower brooches" and looked for the most I could get for the least amount of money. Also the biggest since it is not too helpful to buy teeny weenies for this project. As I get them, I will let you know my progress! ***

-so I totally need to work on my posture. I'm way too young for back problems right? I hunch over when I make things alot of times when I'm making something (example right now when I am making more fabric flower poms) and boy does that kill after a while. Also, when I work out I need to be more conscious that I am not hunched over when lifting. Heres to being better and not being folded in half by back pain on my wedding day! Wooo!

-apparently my wedding website is a hit. My coworkers love it. I feel kinda bad since it is not completely filled out and there are pictures missing but I guess no one is judging me!

-being the biggest nerd of all time, I am typing this entry wearing a 'free martha' (as in stewart which I'm sure you already knew) half-shirt. That's right, half-shirt. Love it.

*** Update! I just won 6! Blammo!

Help!

(buy this awesome print here)

So my dears, I have a couple questions for you and if you could help me out I'd be much obliged!
(if you can't tell, most of these are spawned from my avid reading of wedding "checklists")

1- what is the deal with the morning after brunch? really? do I have to? I like brunch as much as the next guy but is this just like the rehearsal dinner squared except I'm more tired? Also, I'm getting married on a Sunday so I doubt anyone is even around the next day.

2- why do I have to plan the rehearsal dinner so far in advance? isn't it just eating at a restaraunt? Or a backyard cookout?

3- am i offending our lovely families by wording the invite like" together with their families Ryan and Lisa...".....errr.... thats all I got so far. you know instead of those very flowery invites which seem very un-"us" especially on a superman themed invitation.what do you think? come party with us? I would love to write something like 'we request you and your bad self" but I don't know how well that would go with my Nans.

Thanks for your help in advance! (Also, I'm sure theres more....)

Things I love

1. awesome bouquets (the last one is made of knobs!)

(image from here)

(lalalaurie via brooklyn bride)

(image via 100 layer cake)

2. fabric flowers

(emerson handmade via brooklyn bride)

3. cool crafty blogs

(this awesome family tree but also this entire blog....she made the above paper bouquet!)

4. last but not least ( and tis the season): hearts!

(garland via crowroosterscrow )

**Got no real updates folks. Not feeling so hot and could not feel like doing less right now....