Invitation Christmas Ornaments - DIY Tutorial

Earlier in the week I discussed how I had a goal to make at least 3 things from my Pinterest boards...and well tonight I made my first thing.

This was so easy to make.  I made this one for a cousin who is getting married this weekend.  As soon as I find my stash of leftover wedding invitations... I will be making one for ME!!

These are selling on Etsy for $10-$20.  Craziness!!

I suggest making your own.

I bought a 4 pack of clear glass ornaments from Michaels.  They were regularly $4.99 are are 50% off through Saturday.

I took the wedding invitation and used my paper cutter (you could use scissors) and cut it into thin strips making sure to leave all relevant information (names, dates, etc..) in tact.

Next I used a pen to curl the strips.

Then I opened the top of the ornament and stuffed in the paper pieces.

You could also make them using shower invitations.  So if you have a leftover invitation, this would be an easy ornament for you to make for your tree this year.

I WAS Doing So Well... {and wedding cookie favors}

Yesterday I worked from 9-4.  After our Monday morning meeting my boss kept me on and asked me if I would be interested in more hours in 2012 (like TWELVE more) and of course I said yes.  Then I proceeded to tell her she most likely saved me from being forced by my husband to go back to work full-time. I am really enjoying my job...and even more so because I get to stay home.  I feel so fortunate to have this job.

Around 11 AM I felt like I was on labor while sitting at the kitchen table working.  No lie.  Contraction like pains...and lots of pressure.  It was BAD.  The physical pain of the miscarriage hasn't been that painful since early Friday morning of last week.  I loaded up on some prescription strength Tylenol and finished my work shift.

I worked on a cookie job yesterday as well for my cousin's wedding that is this weekend.  The cookies are going in the out of town guests bags.  I had labels designed from the great Etsy shop, The Preppy Ladybug. I had to run out last night to get bags for the packaging... I had three sizes which I thought would work... one was way too big and the other two were too small.  Luckily I got in and out of the store quickly with the right sized bags.  I loved the way they turned out and I hope the bride and groom enjoy them... I packed some extras for them.  I sent them off overnight from the post office this morning.

Chris, Madison, and I were invited to the wedding but decided not to attend as of yesterday...which I feel TERRIBLE about.  However, I still feel pretty wrecked both emotionally and physically.  This morning when I woke up I was in the kitchen making breakfast  I froze and became hunched over the counter and couldn't move.  The pains from yesterday were back and oh so bad.  After being able to move to a chair, some orange juice, and some more tylenol...they have remained fairly scarce and mild the rest of the day.

Aside from the physical issues... I am trying to be more upbeat, positive, and to get stuff done around our house.  I was having a great day today... I worked from 10-2...then I logged onto Facebook.  I have a cousin... who I love dearly...who is EXACTLY one week ahead of where we should be in our pregnancy.  She is 12 weeks today.  I should be 12 weeks a week from today.  Today she posted her first trimester had ended and she got to here her baby's heartbeat...and well I lost it.  Absolutely lost it. Now I have a headache...feel like crap...and want to get in bed.

I am sort of thankful I don't have to go to this wedding this weekend and see her.  Or hear about her baby to be.  I hid her posts on Facebook took.  I feel like a big bitch.  Oh well.  I know in time it will get easier and I will be able to be happy for other people who have what I should have, but right now, in this very instant I cannot be.

I am going back to the doctor's on Friday for a follow-up.  Sitting in an office with new babies and pregnant women should be a fun way to spend my Friday afternoon.

I WAS doing so well...

Stop PINning... Start Doing...

If you are anything like me you probably PIN a ton of stuff... but never get around to making any of it yourself.  I have decided this week will be different.

I will be making two of these ornaments - one using OUR wedding invitation and one using my cousin's wedding invitation (she is getting married this weekend).  Isn't this a fun and easy idea?

Source: christyrobbins.blogspot.com via Daphne on Pinterest

Next I have high hopes to make this canvas for my bedroom.

Source: annabellea.com via Melissa on Pinterest

And maybe if I am feeling motivated I may even whip up a batch of these three ingredient peanut butter cookies.

Source: jamhands.net via Melissa on Pinterest

If you are a constant pinner like me... who has way more pins to do than pins you have done, I encourage you to challenge yourself to choose two pins to work on this week.  Then make a board called Things Pinterest Inspired Me to Make like I did... and you can move those pins over there.

The Details of my First Baking Job w/ Lots of Photos

Back in late June I was a little surprised/flattered when I received a text from my friend Amy asking me if I would be willing to do her cupcakes for her July 16th wedding.  Amy and I were roommates our sophomore/junior years in college and have kept in touch ever since.  She actually attended my wedding last summer with her then fiance.

Amy and I planned a time in early July to meet for a taste test.  She really enjoyed the samples and she decided on 3 flavors for the cupcakes and for her cut cake.

My mom's kitchen table set up for the taste test.

I then set out to get everything together.  I had to shop for all of the ingredients, purchase the cupcake liners, purchase ribbon to decorate the cupcake display boxes, and order boxes to transport the cupcakes.  See... I currently live about 3.5 hours from the wedding site.

I baked all day Thursday.  I ended up making 2 batches of pineapple carrot cupcakes (which later would be covered with cream cheese frosting), 1 batch of almond coconut cupcakes (which later would be covered with butter cream and coconut) and 3 batches of chocolate buttermilk cupcakes and a 3 layer 6 inch wedding cake (to later be covered with cream cheese frosting).

Madison was a great help and was in charge of the cupcake liners and assembling the boxes I ordered from Bake a Box.  Let me just say... I totally forget where I heard about this NC based company, but their customer service was top-notch, the boxes were so high quality, and the shipping was super fast.  I will definitely be ordering again.

My little helper... who incidently had on a cupcake shirt.

Friday we loaded up the car with 150 cupcakes and the cake to travel to my mom's where I would make the frosting and frost and decorate everything.  The ride was supposed to take 3.5-4 hours.  It took 6.  The highway shut down at one point after we had been sitting there for 2 hours.  I wanted to scream.

My car packed and ready to go.

We got to my mom's.  After I rested for a bit I dove into frosting and decorating.

I opened up a tutorial on frosting a layer cake that I had pinned on Pinterest to follow.

The chocolate buttermilk cupcakes packed up for delivery.

One of the chocolate buttermilk cupcakes

Saturday afternoon my husband and I delivered everything to the country club the wedding was being held at and started to set up.  We were lucky in that we got to return a few hours later to attend the wedding.

The three of us about to leave for the wedding.

I made this sign to let the guests know the different flavor choices

A close up of the coconut cupcakes.

The bride and groom about to cut the cake.

The cake after the cut a little piece to feed to one another.

It was an amazing success.  The bride and the groom loved the display and the taste of their cake and the cupcakes.  It was nice to see other guests reactions to the display and to see how much the enjoyed the cupcakes.  I am so thankful for the opportunity Amy and Scotty gave me to do this.  I wish them a lifetime of happiness.







My First Wedding {Baking} Job = Success

This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to make the wedding cake and cupcakes for my friend Amy's wedding.  It was my first major paid baking job to help launch my baking business and it was a huge success.  I will be sharing more about the process...the recipes...and the fabulous comments I overheard (because we were also guests).  But here is a sneak peek of what I created -

Our Wedding Recap # 2 - The Wedding Ceremony

I will admit it... I was a crazy and stressed out mess in the weeks and months leading up to our wedding.  I was bitchy and moody and spent most nights tossing and turning while consumed with wedding thoughts.  The day of my wedding I was fine.  I was relaxed and didn't have any meltdowns... well that was until right before the actual ceremony. 

We had planned to be married outside on the beach and had spent quite a bit of money renting chairs.  When I was having my makeup done, I received a text from my husband-to-be that it was raining/lightening and the lifeguards were closing the beach.  YIKES.  Even then... I didn't lose it.   I agreed to have it inside the restaurant we were hosting out reception.  I didn't lose it until we got to the restaurant...walked up the steps to where the ceremony/reception was going to be and then I was soooo hot.  I asked for a drink.  My dad thought I meant an alchoholic drink and went nuts.... Nope... I just wanted some water...then

I could see slightly into the ceremony/reception area and people were peeking to look at me...and I got overwhelmed and embarassed {I hate to be the center of attention} so by the time I started to walk down the aisle, I pretty much was in tears.  Not because I wasn't happy...not because I didn't love my husband and want to be married... but because every single person was staring at me.  So I cried.



{Madison {our daughter) was my maid of honor and our nephew, Owen who was our ring bearer.  My husband also had a best man.  That is it.  Small, simple, and casual}

{Our guests watching the ceremony...we encouraged shorts and Polos and sundresses and flip flops...no fanch schmancy stuff here}

{Chris presented Madison with a Lisa Leonars designs necklace we had made to symbolize our new family}

{We are husband and wife}

{My immediate family - my parents and my sister with her husband and children}



{Here I am...a crying mess...stupid Blogger messed up the order and I can't get it to go to the right place}

We had a steel drum band...which was going to be fabulous out on the beach.  They moved inside.  To this day I have no memory of the song they played while I walked down the aisle.  Not to mention immediately after the ceremony...we went outside for photos...so by the time we got back in they were done.  We had only reserved them for the ceremony on the beach...so we heard very little.

{All photos are from Amy Sandoval Photography}

The photos got all screwd up when I added captions... so I apologize in advance.  I will have one more post tomorrow to share our wedding reception...candy...dancing...and fabulous food :)



Our Wedding Recap # 1 - The Little Details

Our 1 year wedding anniversary is July 17, 2011.

We were engaged July 18, 2009 {after only dating since February of that year...so about 5 months}, had a year long engagement,  and were married July 17, 2010.

I have always wanted to share a bunch of our wedding details and photos on my blog, I just have never gotten around to doing it.  With our 1 year anniversary approaching... I thought now was as good of a time as ever.

Our colors were lime green and hot pink.  We had a casual beach {although it was raining and moved inside} wedding.  I planned and designed the majority of the aspects of the wedding to not only keep it budget friendly but to make sure it was totally us.

{Here is a collage our photographer did of all of the little details from our wedding. We had Chinese takeout boxes for the candy bar, personalized water bottles, flip flop cupcakes, and beach pail favors for the kids}

{I designed and my husband and his best man built our cupcake stand.  My friend, Kara, did the ribbon around it for me}

{Our candy bar}

{The centerpieces}

{The personalized water bottles.  My mom's friend's intern designed the labels}

{The 6th grade dean at my school painted this for us.  Guests used their fingerprints to make leaves on the tree and then signed their names}

{My bouquet}

{Our rings over Hershey's Kisses}

{Our cake table}

I loved how well the pink and green came together.  The candy bar was a big hit among our guests.   Creating this post has brought back so many fond memories of our wedding day.

Our wedding recap # 2...coming tomorrow...

{All photos are via Amy Sandoval Photography}

Today is Our 6 Month Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 6 month wedding anniversary!

{My favorite wedding photo}

Six months ago today I woke up in our beautiful hotel room, headed out to get my hair done, and then enjoyed one of my favorite lunches at Panera.

{Our cupcake tower -my husband built}

Early that evening I got ready for what I thought was to be my beach wedding...only for rain to come, the beach to close, and our wedding ceremony to be moved indoors.  I would have thought that moment would have have turned me into a BRIDEZILLA...but it didn't. 

{We had a candy bar set up...these were the containers our guests used to put their candy in}

We had a lovely wedding...it was definitely US .  I chose my two favorite colors- pink and lime green, created our wedding invitations, and we wrote our own vows.

It was amazing to see everything I had planned and designed come together on our special day.  It was definitely a day I will never forget.

{Another one of my favorite photos}

Here are some more of my favorite photos from our special day.

{My nephew, Owen, who loved the candy bar}

{Our daughter, Madison}