We know that most of us love pasta! Comfort food at its best, right? :) As I was making a batch of bow tie pasta one night, I kept looking at the swirling bow ties in the pot and thinking how cute they were. And then it hit me! They would make the most adorable “bow ties” for a wedding! So how about some adorable, painted and sparkly bow tie pasta escort cards? Yep, that’s what we did! They would be perfect for a handmade, summer, Southern, shabby chic wedding, and super easy to make too! Special thanks to Katherine Henry for taking such beautiful photos.

Our Supplies: Purchased at craft, hardware and office supply stores

• Box of (uncooked) bow tie pasta
• Spray paint (colors to match your wedding colors/theme)
• Newspaper
• Small paint brushes
• Small plastic plates
• Toothpicks
• Glue
• Glitter (colors to match your wedding colors/theme)
• Acrylic paints (colors to match your wedding colors/theme)
• Small alpha stickers
• Tags (we got these at Staples)

In a well ventilated area (outside is better), lay out your newspaper, and spray-paint your bow tie pasta. Surprisingly, certain colors may need a coat or two. Allow to dry thoroughly (in the sun is best).

Place a small drop of the acrylic paint onto a plastic plate. Take a toothpick, dip into the paint, and carefully place polka dots onto the painted bow tie pasta. Note: This is really, really fun and very, very addicting.

Too cute!

For the sparkly (read: glitter-bombed) bow tie pasta, place a small spot of glue onto a small plastic plate. Using your paintbrush, “paint” some glue on the plain, unpainted bow tie pasta. Then, holding your bow tie pasta over a plate or piece of paper, begin sprinkling your glitter (in the color of your choosing) over the pasta. Shake any excess glitter onto plate or paper. Check to see if you have enough coverage. If not, sprinkle some more. Who doesn’t love to sprinkle glitter? Caution: Don’t EVER touch your eyes while glittering. It’s very painful – been there, done that. Hope to never do it again.

After all your paint and glitter is dry, take your tags and place a small spot of glue on the tag. Adhere the little sparkly or painted bow tie.

TA-DA!!

Adorable, right? Oh, and did you notice we made a few plaid bow ties too? Yep, just take the toothpick and draw a few lines. Easy! Play, have fun, and go make some of these CUTE bow ties!

You can tie the little tags to a rustic board or chicken wire, and even cut the top part off the tag and slip it onto a fork as a place card. Cute and fun, right? :)

Which ones are your favorite? Polka dots, plaid, or sparkle? Have other ideas? We’d love to know!

Happy DIY-ing!

xoxo

We know that many of you are just coming off the wonderful high of getting engaged. Congratulations!! It’s all so surreal, right? For some of you, wedding planning will be starting in earnest. I know that once you’ve excitedly blurted out, “I’m ENGAGED!” to everyone you know and maybe even the occasional startled stranger at Starbucks, you want to be sure that you have all of your BFF’s lined up as your bridesmaids. How about grabbing a little lunch or dinner in celebration, and giving each gal a little something pretty as a thank you and “I’m so excited to have you by my side!” And who doesn’t like a little something sweet, pretty and yummy for her lips? Plus, this little lip gloss and be my bridesmaid DIY is about the easiest DIY you can imagine!

Our Supplies:

• Alba Un-Petroleum Jelly (available at most grocery stores or natural food stores like Whole Foods)
• Crystal Light mini packets (we used Raspberry Lemonade – available at most grocery stores)
• Little lip gloss container
• Mini mirrors
• Glue
• Small sticker letters (available at craft stores like Michael’s)
• Small linen bags (available at craft stores or online at Amazon)
• Baker’s Twine
• Small bowl and whisk (small)
• Scrapbook paper and punch of your choosing

Squirt some of the un-petroleum jelly into a small bowl. You will have to eyeball this based on the number of lip glosses that you want to make. Open a packet of the Crystal Light and begin pouring into the jelly a little at a time. DON’T dump the whole packet. Using the little whisk, stir the jelly and Crystal Light together. Like I said, start with a little, and then actually taste it. Yes, taste it. You want to it have a little yumminess and a little color. You don’t want it to be overpowering. You will notice that it will be a little gritty. That is from the crystals. They will actually melt over a couple of days. They won’t entirely go away, but it will feel like you are giving your lips a little exfoliation. It actually kind of tickles. :) TA-DA – homemade lip gloss!

Taking the little letter stickers, mount the first initial of each one of your maids on the top of the lip gloss containers.

Take the little mirrors and glue them to the bottom of the lip gloss containers. You don’t need a lot of glue, just a little will do. Press and hold for a few seconds.

Once the mirrors are dry (this may take a few hours), spoon your lip gloss into each of the containers until full. Do not overfill! Seal with the lid, and you have a cute, little, homemade lip gloss, personalized with your bridesmaids initials and a little mirror to boot, too!

Lastly, we purchased a cute shade of Essie nail polish and plopped it all into a little linen bag. We actually re-threaded the string with pink baker’s twine to make it look at little prettier and then attached the following little note, “Will you be my bridesmaid?”

So there you have it! Lip gloss for you and the girls, and a really cute way to ask them to stand beside you on your very big day! Best part is, it’s easy, too! Special thanks to Katherine Henry for the beautiful photos! (Those are my hands I’ll have you know!!) xoxo

Raise your hand if you are obsessed with Anthropologie’s Zinc Letters? Can you see us raising ours really, really high? We love everything about them! But, sadly, they are way too big to put on a cake. We did however come up with what we think is a brilliant alternative, a perfect DIY project for your rustic wedding no less. Introducing our Anthropologie Inspired Zinc Letter Cake Toppers (that can also be used as table numbers, even home and office decor – we do!)!! And get this, they’re made from those little magnetic letters kids love to move around on the refrigerator!! Neat, right? Thought so. Even better because Katherine Henry did a stupendous job (as she always does) photographing the step-by-step process for us! Take a look…

PS – Be sure to read to the end as there is a really funny story about our cake mishap. :)

Our Supplies:

• Spray paint – white primer, silver or metallic oil rubbed bronze (available at your local Home Depot or Lowe’s)
• Acrylic paint – metallic copper (used with the oil rubbed bronze) or black (used with the silver)
• Plastic magnetic alphabet letters and numbers – Lakeshore Learning
• Miscellaneous supplies – dry paint brush, gauze, plastic plates, newspaper, painters tape, pop sticks, glue

Start by laying out newspaper in a well ventilated area (I prefer doing spray painting outdoors on a not so windy day). Choose your initials in the plastic letters, and starting with the magnet side up, spray a light coat of primer on each letter. I placed a small amount of painters tape on the magnet before spraying. You may have to do this a couple of times on both sides to cover the bright colors. Once the primer is dry, spray the letters with the silver or oil rubbed bronze paint. While the correct spray technique is for several lighter coats, sometimes we get a little heavier in some spots. Guess what? For this project, that’s a-okay! Actually, the little bit of “gloppiness” (you know what I mean), adds to the rustic-ness of the letters.

Once the letters are thoroughly dry (I recommend waiting at least 24 hours), drop a small amount of the acrylic paint (I used black on the silver letters) on a plastic plate. Next dip the gauze into the drop and gently rub along the edges of the letter. You can also dab a bit on the flat  sides of the letters. This technique gives additional dimension to the edges as well as some of the “gloppiness” making the letters look exactly like our favorite Anthropologie zinc letters.

If you chose the oil rubbed bronze, I used the same technique but used the metallic copper acrylic paint. Aren’t these just gorgeous? They look even better and so authentic in person. (I used the plus sign from the magnetic numbers collection.)

The photo above is a great close up of the texture and dimension that we were able to create with the accenting colors. You can also spray paint a thin coat of clear coat for additional protection of the letters. Once everything is thoroughly dry, glue a pop stick on the back of each letter. By attaching the stick to the letter it allows you to better place the letters on top of the cake.

After you are done with the letters as your cake topper, you can easily remove the stick and use the letters on your fridge, or even your favorite magnetic board at home or in your office. Cool, right?

So here they are, our Anthropologie inspired zinc letter cake toppers on our, um, pretty cake. So here’s a little story about the cake:

{Editor’s Note} I don’t normally like editor’s notes or popping in on my partner’s posts, but I’m going to make an exception just this once. Mainly because I’d like to tell you a little story about the cake that didn’t make it but still tasted like it did. This cake took me at least six hours (I stopped counting because at one point I couldn’t believe what the clock on the stove was telling me) and three trips to the grocery store (the first was to get what I thought were all the ingredients, then I realized we were out of eggs, then I ran out of frosting halfway through frosting the first layer) to make. Granted, I took the easy way out and went with the Pillsbury Doughboy. But he’d never let me down before so I thought this was ok. It was a cake for a shoot for goodness sakes. Think again. Even though I painstakingly poured the batter into the round baking tins to ensure they were even and flat, one of the layers had a mega-huge lopsided mountain by the time it came out of the oven. And then, even though I’d let it cool considerable, the frosting wasn’t sticking to the cake. Then I ran out. Finally, at about 10 o’clock the night before our big shoot with Katherine, the cake was done and in its holding container. It was perfectly fine when we put it in the car on the flattest surface we could find (the floor in the backseat) where it wouldn’t go flying around like it would have had we put it in the trunk. And yet sadly, by the time we got to Katherine’s studio, the top layer of the cake had cracked in half and completely slid apart!!! I’m not a bad baker. In fact, I love to bake and I’m pretty darn good at it. But I have NEVER had this much trouble with a cake or seen a cake act this way before. Ever. We fixed it. Katherine managed somehow to capture its good side. We even ate it and it wasn’t bad tasting. Needless to say though, I will not be using the Pillsbury Doughboy for future cake making extravaganzas. He let me down. And not even his “whoo-hoo” can redeem him in my eyes at this time. And that, my friends, is my story, and I’m sticking to it, unlike the frosting did to this cake. 

We also used the same technique on the magnetic numbers, mounted them in a frame and now have the perfect coordinating table numbers. :)

We had such fun creating this awesome DIY – perfect for our Rustic wedding month! Try it! You’re going to fall in love with the result!

xoxo

We are SO EXCITED to have our DIY series back and better than ever! We’ve cooked up some super easy do-it-yourself projects that we hope you will fall in love with as much as we have. We’re going to start with one of our favorites, DIY Lavender Bath Salts. We think they would make great wedding or baby shower favors. We even gave them away as Christmas gifts (handmade with love) last year! And they smell heavenly too! Special thanks to Katherine Henry for taking such beautiful photos.

{Step 1} Gather your supplies. The recipe we chose today was from Whole Foods. You will need 1 cup sea salt crystals, 1 cup epsom salts, 1 cup baking soda, 3/4 cup dried lavender, lavender, chamomile, and eucalyptus essential oils. (The dried lavender and essential oils can all be purchased at Whole Foods) You will also need jars, fabric and baker’s twine.

{Step 2} Measure all of your dry ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Add your dried lavender, 5 drops lavender oil, 4 drops chamomile oil,  and 3 drops eucalyptus oil.  Mix together.

{Step 3} Spoon mixture into small jars. (We purchased our mini mason jars from Candle Soylutions and the daisy lids from TomKat Studio) Cut a piece of fabric the size of your jar’s opening with a little overhang. Ours was approximately 6-inches by 6-inches. We cut it with pinking shears to add a little decorative edge and it helps to prevent too much fraying of the fabric.

{Step 4} Before you wrap everything up, take a big, wonderful sniff of the bath salts. Go on, breathe deeply! Smells divine, right? You’re going to have to take my word for it until you make it. Sorry, we don’t offer smell-a-blog. Yet. ;)

{Step 5} Take the fabric swatch and place it over the jar. Take the lavender essential oil and place a few drops on the fabric. Secure the lid and tie with baker’s twine. Oh, how we love baker’s twine!

Voila! We had SO much fun making these simple gifts for Christmas last year that we went a little wild making them. Along with the Lavender Bath Salts, we also made Herbes de Provence Salt, Citrus Salt, and Vanilla Bean Sugar. See how we decorated them below!

We used this recipe to dry the orange slices. Be careful with these. Don’t overcook, and don’t slice too thin, jusssst right. You may have to practice a few times. We speak from experience :)

Inquiring minds will want to know, the purple jar is the lavender bath salts (the scoop is from The Container Store), the jar with the orange slice is the citrus salt, the teal jar is the vanilla bean sugar and the smaller jar is the herbes de provence salt. Go on, you know you want to go whip up some of these easy-peasy jars right now! And you don’t even have to be a DIY diva to do it! :)

Happy Crafting!

xoxo

We all know that part of the styling for a vintage wedding includes special do-it-yourself charm. So today we are so excited to be featuring a DIY from one of our own members of our Vendor Boutique, Viva L’Event! When we first began planning our vintage style month, Viva L’Event was one of the first we thought of to help us out. We asked if they would be interested in creating a special vintage DIY for us and they said yes! Let’s see what they’ve got for us …

Halloween is just around the corner – how can that be? Didn’t we just celebrate Fourth of July? Anybody finding that the year is just getting away from them? Did you know it’s only eight and a half weeks till Christmas? Oh my! We better get decorating! For Halloween that is. We’ve created a super simple pumpkin decorating tutorial that you will just fall in love with! For your wedding AND your home! I’m so excited! Let’s get started!

Supplies you will need:

• Some hemp
• Tulip puff paint (black)
• Tulip slick paint (purple)
• Glitter (we used black, purple and gold)
• Glue
• Ribbon
• Round sponge dabber
• Brushes (we used a paint and stippling brush)
• Pumpkins! (white and orange in a variety of sizes- aren’t the white ones just the coolest?)

First, we’ll start with our little spiky pumpkin. (It actually has a little bit of a gothic feeling.) Using the black puff paint, we began to paint little dots down the side. You can use the little ribbing on the pumpkin as a guide to keep the dots straight. Don’t worry about being perfect – this is supposed to be fun! Space the little dots evenly down the side and eyeball each stripe evenly all around. The puff paint is a little thicker than the slick paint which allows you to give it the little peaks or spikes. Remember not to go all the way down to the very bottom of the pumpkin. You need to be able to put it down to dry without smudging the paint.

Simple, right? Cute too…in a gothic kind of way.

Next, one of my favorites, the black polka dot white pumpkin! This is not your typical Cinderella pumpkin. It’s fresh, fun, contemporary, different, awesome.

Pour some glue onto a plate (paper or plastic will do). Then, taking your round sponge dabber, dip it into the glue, making sure it’s evenly covered and begin dabbing circles on your pumpkin. Do 5-6 at a time (and depending on the size of your pumpkin, you may need to repeat this several times). Then, taking your black glitter, sprinkle over each of the glue spots. Then dab a few more spots, sprinkle. Dab, sprinkle. Dab, sprinkle. Fun! Shake the pumpkin to remove any loose or excess glitter. When you’ve got the whole pumpkin all spotted, let it dry. Then, take your dry paint brush and brush away any remaining loose glitter. Perfect! Easy peasy. :)

Now, we have our stripey pumpkin.

Taking the stipple or paint brush, dip in the glue and begin striping down the side. Again, you can kind of use the ribs on the pumpkin as a guide. Remember not to go down all the way. You’ll make a mess if you do. Go half way around, sprinkle with purple glitter. Repeat.

Wow! Purple glitter. There’s nothing else like it, is there? Oh, how I love adding purple to Halloween decorations!

Now, the swirly pumpkin! Taking the little orange pumpkin, begin making random swirls with the purple slick paint. The swirls should be random – no real pattern or wrong answer here. You can add a few dots along the way too, like I did. It’s easy! Really.

Lastly, a little white pumpkin with a dapper gold monogram. I freehanded the letter. You can too! No pressure. If you really have a problem with freehand then take a pencil and outline the letter. You could even use a stencil if need be. Take your paint brush, dip it into the glue, paint the letter and then sprinkle! Can you tell I like to sprinkle? Especially glitter. Who doesn’t love to sprinkle glitter?

Remember to use the dry paint brush to remove the excess, loose glitter.

Big tip: Be extremely careful when getting loose glitter on your hands, clothes etc. It gets everywhere. DO NOT RUB YOUR EYES!! Been there, done that. Ouch! Really bad. Very bad.

We added a few other decorative elements such as hemp to the spiky pumpkin and a black and white striped ribbon to our spotted pumpkin. Whatever you might have on hand is fine.

So, are you ready for the end result?

Ta-da!

I just love these glittery, spikey, polka dotted, swirly pumpkins! What’s really cool is that they will last a bit longer than if you had carved them. (Although word on the street is silica packets help carved out pumpkins last longer.) And what a fun spot of color on your front porch! Can you envision these beauties on your guest table, escort card table or any other place you need some bright infusion of color at your wedding? Do you think you might try your hand at some glue, glitter and paint for your Halloween pumpkins this year OR at your wedding? Hope you liked this fun, easy DIY as much as we did!

xoxo

*Photos by Alexandra Beauregard

P.S. Stay tuned for a special announcement later today! ;)