Wedding Programs

Wedding Programs

It's that time! Wedding projects are going to start coming up quickly! The wedding is 36 days away! 36 DAYS BABY! I'm excited, can you tell? Also a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things we have left to do. Especially because we will be back in Michigan this weekend and in two weekends. And NEXT week, my mom and I are throwing a shower for my sister at my apartment. (More on that next week. I have some cute things planned that I can't wait to share!)


Jer and I have finalized what readings and songs we want for our wedding. I had some spare time this week, thanks to parent-teacher conferences.


I decided that I would tackle these wedding programs. And it is a GOOD THING I had some time to do to this. The project took about 18 hours. With help from others. And gathering the supplies and writing everything out beforehand.


FIRST, before I show you what I did and how I did it, you NEED to know something. My good friend (and bridesmaid) Lindsay got married last year. She was gracious enough to give me her template for her program. And her help didn't stop there. Not only did she let me know where to buy everything I needed, loan me her glue gun so I'd have an extra, and help me with technical difficulties when the computer messed up the programs (thanks to her husband, Rico for helping with that too). She also printed all of them out for me using her printer. What a lucky lady I can to have such a  generous and crafty (even though she won't admit it) friend! THANK YOU LINDSAY!


OK, now onto the craft.


First, I used Lindsay's format and printer to print out the two sides of my program. One side is, of course, the program. The other side is the wedding party. Also, check out the site tagxedo.com. I didn't take a great picture of the little heart in the corner, but it's actually a word cloud with the words to "Grow Old with Me" (one of the songs that is being sung at our wedding). It's a really cool and free website.

OK, next, I bought jumbo popsicle sticks at the kid's craft section of JoAnn's. I was going to try spray painting them, but got discouraged when they didn't look white at all after two coats. So, I decided to paint them with paint instead. BIG PROJECT. But they turned out pretty nice.

After I got done painting both sides and peeling the extra paint off the edges, it was time to start to ensemble the programs. I went through a lot of hot glue!
First, I glued the stick to the back of the program.

Then, I put glue all around the outside edge and an "X" in the middle of the program. I QUICKLY stuck the other side of the program to it.

And it looked like this!

By the time Jeremy got home last night, I was working on the final step. Jeremy and I worked for about 3 hours to tie and glue little pink ribbons onto the programs.


And here is the end result!

We are really pleased with how they turned out! 


And now, we will be setting off for Michigan again in just a little bit. I am thankful for the LONG weekend, but a little sad that the weatherman just started predicting thunderstorms. BOO! Hopefully he's WRONG!


Have a wonderful long weekend!


Until next time, keep crafting!


SB

Nursing Cloth

Hooter Hider

This weekend, I made the trek back to Michigan (again) for a shower (again). This time, it was my sister's first baby shower! HOORAY! It was a beautiful (albeit hot) day. Our family, family friends, and my sister's friends all gathered together to celebrate my beautiful (and adorably pregnant) sister and the precious little babe growing inside her. It was a wonderful afternoon.

At the same time this shower was going on, Jeremy's buddies were celebrating his bachelor party at our apartment. The weekend (I'm sure) was full of beers, boys, and burping. Jeremy says he had a great time. He spent most of the day of the couch yesterday, so I'm inclined to believe him.

Since my home was inundated with boys, I spent the weekend with my sister and her fiance. It was great to spend time with them. Even though we now live in the same city, we are all so busy, I feel like I rarely get time to spend relaxing with them.

And at some point this weekend, I thought, for maybe the hundredth time in the past month, how lucky and blessed we (Jer & I, my sis & I, or just I) are to have so many wonderful things happening in our lives and so many wonderful people who are so happy for us and enjoy sharing them with us. 

Anyway...I am LOVING that I can create some gifts for my sister/baby. Before I get to what I created this week, I want to shout out to a few Etsy shops that I bought from. These ladies do GREAT work and my gifts from these shops were a big hit. 

My mom always took pictures of my sis and I when we were babies on each month birthday. I decided to buy some iron on decals for my sister. Amy at Amy Leigh Designs custom made a set of gender neutral numbers for me. I also bought my sister some white onesies to iron them onto.

I also ordered from one of my favorite bloggers, Nici, at Dig This Chick. She also has an  Etsy shop in which she makes custom shirts and onesies with whatever geological applique you choose. My sister's fiance is from the Seychelle Islands, so I chose that. It turned out great!

Finally, my sister plans on breast feeding. She had a nursing cloth, or "hooter hider", as she calls it, on her registery. I decided that I could make one just as easily as I could buy one, so I tried my hand at it. I looked up a few different designs. Here's what I came up with.

First, gather some materials. For each Hooter Hider.

• 1 yard pre-washed fabric
• 2 D-rings  
• 14 inches of boning

 

Next, cut the fabric into 3 pieces.

• 38in.x26in. for the body
• 3in.x10in. for the short strap
• 3 in.x30in for the long strap 

Iron the two straps. Then, fold them, hotdog style, so that the right sides are in.

Then, sew the edges together. Sew it as close to the the edge as possible. Do this with the long and short strap.

 Turn the strap right side out.
 

Then iron so that the seam is in the middle of the bottom side of the strap.

On the long strap, fold over one side a 1/4 of an inch, iron, then fold over another 1/4 inch. Sew close the edge where the folded part and the rest of the strap come together.

On the short side, fold over one edge a 1/4 inch. Iron, then place both D-rings on the strap. Fold over again. Then pin them in place. Sew closed. Sew over several times, as this will have a lot of pressure on it.

Next,fold the bottom over about a half inch. Iron, and fold over another half inch. All of your rough edges should be gone. Sew along the edge where the fold meets the rest of the fabric.


Repeat with both sides.

(NOTE the top & bottom are the long sides. I made mistake. Don't repeat it)

 For the top edge, fold over a half inch, then iron. Next, fold in half to find the middle. Measure 7 inch out from each side. Mark with pins. Fold over 1 inch. Sew from pin to pin. Then, place the boning inside, so that it is curving towards the outside of the fabric. Sew the fabric on either side of the boning, to close the opening and trap the boning inside.

Next, place the unsewn side of each strap inside the fold of the body, right next to the boning, facing towards the body of the fabric. The side without the seam should be up.

Then, flip the straps so that they are facing away from the body of the fabric. Pin them in place. Sew from the outside each side of the fabric to the boning. Then sew a square around each strap to hold it in place.  

Ta-Da, your finished product!

I tried making the white cloth first, but made it longer than it was wide. This hooter hider can only hide about one hooter at a time. The green works much better, since it is wider than it is long.

Well, I'm off to another busy week, followed by a nice long weekend!

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB

Mother's Day Gift Baskets

Logan Square Gift Baskets

Another late post...of course! Oh well. I'm done beating myself up about it! I am one busy lady! Celebrating all of the wonderful things happening in my and my family's lives makes weekends busy!!! Too much good is, well, wonderful!! (And a little tiring)

This weekend, Jer and I headed back to the mitten (that's Michigan for all you non-Michiganders). We had a lot to celebrate! I had a wonderful wedding shower with Jer's dad's family. We are able to celebrate Jeremy's mom's birthday with her. And we were able to celebrate Mother's Day with BOTH of our moms (and my cute Gram too).

Here were other highlights of the weekend:

• First Michigan asparagus of the year
• Mosby treed two turkeys and had fun terrorizing squirrels
• First boat ride of the year at my parents  

Now, I consider myself pretty crafty and creative, but true be told, I was STUMPED on what to get Jer and my moms for Mother's Day. They both have been really great and supportive through all the wedding planning. So, of course, I wanted to do something special. I just wasn't sure what.

Enter my man. He suggested a Logan Square gift basket. Now, if you are unfamiliar with Logan Square, it is our neighborhood in Chicago. And it is amazing. I could (and someday will) do an entire post on all of the great restaurants in our up and coming 'hood. 

walking along the Boulevard

We decided we'd focus on the shops in Logan Square. Since it's still growing, we have limited shops. BUT the ones that are here are great!


Our first stop was at Play. This is an AWESOME independent toy store with really reasonable prices. We get most gifts for nieces and nephews along with friend's kids here. This time, we bought for Jeremy's niece (and our flower girl) Ava. We went a little overboard on princessy stuff, but we know our Ava!

 

Our next stop was Wolfbait. This is a funky little shop right on the Square. It has all sorts of cute and unique jewelry, accessories, and clothes. It’s not quite our moms’ styles, but we picked up really cute Mother’s Day cards for them.

We have a really unique flower shop in Logan Square. It’s called Fleur and it’s amazing. 

 Jeremy has gotten me flowers from their a few times. Each time, they ask what style, colors, and feel he’s looking for. Each time they NAIL it. HUGE recommendation for anyone who lives in Chicago.

They also have really cute potted plants, candles, soaps, and other cute gifts. It was really fun to pick out the scents and styles we thought our moms would like best. We went with more beachy, light fragrances for my mom (who lives on a lake) and more wooded, earthy scents for Jeremy's mom (who lives in the woods). It's funny how the scents and colors seemed to compliment their personalities and well as the feel of their homes. 

Our last stop was Provenance.

This store is a big favorite of ours. It's a wine store, but it also carries a lot of local snacks, candies, sauces, cheeses, jams, and just about anything else you could find at a farmer's market. It's our Logan Square Farmer's Market stand in during the cold months.

We collected treats we knew our moms would like. A red wine for my mom, a white for Jeremy's. Dark chocolate for Jeremy's mom, and some caramels for mine. We picked out some more treats,and went on our merry way!

Our last stop wasn't actually our last stop. I ran into JoAnn Fabrics (also conveniently located in Logan Square) to buy some baskets and tissue paper.

Then I set to work building the baskets.

First, I gathered all of our goodies.

Next, I separated them by mom. I put used dark purple, light purple, and white tissue paper for my mom. I used dark pink, light pink, and white for Jeremy’s mom.

Then I started layering in the gifts.

And a look at the finished products!

I am so grateful to have such a wonderful mom, who has always been and continues to be so supportive of me (and my sister). And I feel so lucky to have such a great (future) mother in law. She has always been so warm and welcoming!

I hope these gifts helped show how much Jeremy and I appreciate our moms.

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB

Pillow Re-stuffing

Pillow Re-stuffing

Today is my 27th birthday. You should know, I love my birthday. Always have, probably always will. I follow a couple of bloggers, and two of them (dig this chick and enjoying the small things) make a list on their birthdays every year of things they are enjoying/thankful for/loving/etc. Every year, they make a list one thing for every year. So, here are my 27.

1. My warm little puppy who is currently sleeping on my lap.

2. Taking the day off of work to relax.

3. My mom, who has been so helpful with all of my wedding planning.

4. My sister, who just threw me an amazing, fun, and thoughtful bachelorette party.

5. My dad, for showing me how to throw a ball, teaching me to love history and traveling, and introducing me to classic rock.

6. Rainy days that make it easy to kick back and relax.

7. The fact that I am getting married to my best friend in 54 DAYS!!!

8. Adding to that, I just received our first RSVP back!

9. I am loving that wedding stuff means that I get to spend so much time with my bestie!

10. I am loving planning the wedding (I know, it's crazy, I'm not sick of it  yet!).

11. I love that tonight I went to dinner with my handsome fiancé! 

12. AND I just plain love Jeremy, how he makes me feel, and the life we are building together!

13. I love the man that my sister is going to marry this fall!

14. And her ADORABLE baby bump!!!

15. I love that I have awesome friends from so many parts of my life that can come together and have a great time (thanks for this weekend ladies)!

16. I am loving the book Bloom by the author of one of my have blogs!

17. I love massages...just got my first today!

18. I love the city life with my country roots!

19. I love working with kids.

20. I love that soon, I will be an *official* part of this family.

21. Wednesday night yoga

22. My sewing machine (passed down from Grandma Gruber)

23. I love that I am going back to Germany this summer for our honeymoon.

24. Blogging

25. All of my extended family and the fact that I get to see everyone at the wedding.

26. Candy

27. Making things for my friends and family.

Now, the last one leads me right into my craft for this week. When my sis and Tony moved back to Chicago, they bought a new couch. A bunch of new pillows came with the couch. They were really cute, but WAY too hard and uncomfortable. My sis had saved some old but nicely stuffed feather throw pillows. She asked me to un-stuff the new pillows and re-stuff them with the feathers.

I, of course, said, "OF COURSE!"

Fool. 

WARNING! Do not start this project unless you have some time to finish it. While it is not a difficult project, it is MESSY!

First, use a seam ripper to tear open one side of the pillow. The pillows I used just happen to have a side that was perfect for this.

Next, pull out all of the stuffing. It is SHOCKING how much stuffing there is inside a pillow!

Now, here's where it gets really messy! Use the seam ripper to open up the old pillows. The feathers will go EVERYWHERE! So, try your hardest to jam all those feathers inside of the pillow.

Are you covered in feathers? Are most of the feathers inside the pillow? Good, that means you did it correctly. Now, it's time to sew up the pillow. Start the knotted end between the two pieces of fabric. This way, it hides your knot. 


When you are done sewing, end it the same way.

Use many many many strips of a lint remover roll to get rid of all feathers on the outside of the pillow.

And your finished product!

Now, I'm off to drink a glass of Southwest Michigan wine with Jeremy to finish off celebrating my birthday.

Until next time, keep crafting.

SB