Not your grandma's doilies...

Just wanted to share a couple of DIY's I am working on with my sis-in-law for her wedding coming this October. Both projects include one of my favorite ruffly little friends, the doily.

{luminaries}

We decided it would be cute to place some paper luminaries on the steps of Sarah & Adam's ceremony location, but we kicked 'em up a knotch by doing a combination of red and natural colored bags to incorporate the autumnal color scheme we have going on. We also placed a doily inside to add some more interest...

We found the luminary bags online at LumaBase.com. Here's a link to the red ones. Warning - Obvious statement ahead: It is probably best to use battery operated tea lights unless you are using flame resistant bags. Wedding day fires are frowned upon. Consider yourself advised.

{table runner}

I got the idea for this next project from Ashley Ann Photography. She has a sweet little blog that features not only her beautiful photography but some super creative DIY's as well. Here's the adorbable table runner she made for her dining room table:

PS, don't you just love Ashley's kitchen? So country-cute. Anyway, here's a link to the DIY how-to. The runner I am making is for the head table at the reception, which is 24 feet long. So far, I have 14 doilies. I need more doilies, people. The 14 I do have came from an antique store in Uniontown, WA. I'll post some pics when I start construction.

Any more fun doily decor ideas out there? I have one more in mind that I'm going to toy around with this weekend... should be cute, might be tragic. I'll let you know either way!

Photo Credit (top to bottom)

Sis.In.Law

Ashley Ann Photography

Custom Jewelry by Kendra Scott

I am a frequent reader of The Glam Girls Guide To Sports Blog by Angie Meyer. It's like a Vogue'd up version of Sports Illustrated and has quickly become my favorite source of current happenings in the wide world of sports. When you're the kinda girl who refers to uniforms as "outfits" and you're married to sports fanatic/freak with a capital F, Angie's words are an important part of your everyday reading.

Anyway, Angie recently pointed out that there seems to be a serious shortage of cute, non-chincy team jewelry. So true. Pretty sure the  last time I walked into my university bookstore, the only crimson and gray jewelry I found was made of sculpting clay (Fimo anyone??) or cheapo plastic. Well, enough is enough - Angie has found the key to the cute-team-jewelry highway...

Kendra Scott Jewelry. They offer a stunning line of bracelets, earrings, necklaces and rings and there is even a section dedicated to all of you lovely brides. But the feature I love most about their website is the color bar where you can pick from 11 different earring designs, silver or gold metal, and 20 different gem colors to create your own custom piece - SO fun! Stylish sports fans and brides-who-crave-jewelry-that-matches-their-wedding-theme, rejoice!

Here's a peek at one of the color bar DIY designs...

And I am drooling over this gorgeous aqua bib necklace from her Bridal Collection. You must check out the Kendra Scott site to see the rest... you'll be dropping your honey *subtle* gift hints in no time!

Photo Credit:

Bonanzle.com

Strapless dresses - friend or foe?

Oh, the strapless dress. Quite possibly one of the most flattering necklines out there. They make broad shoulders look delicate and create some serious shape for those of us who are a little less endowed, shall we say. But what is the one pesky little thing that can turn any strapless dress from fab to, well, flab? Just that. The dreaded armpit flab.

Yep, I said it.

The thing is, even the most svelte of frames can fall victim to this enemy of the underarm. All figures look different in different cuts so often times it is more an issue of garment fit than body tone.

But, if you are hoping to tighten up this tricky little region for your walk down the aisle, may I introduce you to my friend, and personal booty kicker, Ms. Sarah. Sarah is a personal trainer AND bride to be! When I told her about my personal battle with the flab, she assured me that with a little persistence and a couple lifting weights, this would be an issue no more. Check out her blog post dedicated to the pits here. She has lots of great work out and nutrition tips, so check her out. And since posts aren't nearly as pretty without a picture, here are a few of my fave strapless numbers for the season...

sarah seven

melissa sweet

vera wang

Photo Credit (top to bottom)

SarahSeven.com
PriscillaOfBoston.com
VeraWangOnWeddings.com

Inspired...

Just had to pass this along... I love this quote, and when I stumbled upon it litterally 25 seconds ago, I felt compelled to share it with you...

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams and live the life you have imagined." - Henry David Thoreau

Words to live by my friends. By the way, this inspirational post dawned on me while stalking one of my new favorite home design blogs, kara paslay designs. She and her hubby possess ridiculous amount of talent, and I day dream about stealing their DIY ideas often.

Excuses & A Pretty Dress

So disappointed in myself, I can't even say out loud how long it has been since my last post... and it would be pretty easy for you to figure out on your own. I could ramble on about the many reasons I have been so absent, but I don't want to bore you... ok I'll give you just one. We bought a house! More on that later...

On to my current obsession: floral prints. They seem to be popping up everywhere! My personal style tends to lean towards the ultra feminine, so I'm pretty excited about this trend and I hope it sticks around for a while. I've been searching for a pretty "guest of wedding" dress for Ben's {my super-sweet cousin-in-law} wedding this July, so when I stumbled upon this little beauty from ModCloth.com, it took me about 2.5 second to whip out my debit card and make it mine...

Tres cute, no? Ben is getting married here in Pullman and the reception will be at Red Barn Farms, probably my favorite Summer venue in the area for many reasons -

• It is literally a  big red barn with rustic charm set in the beautiful rolling hills of the palouse,
• indoor and/or outdoor seating for the ceremony and/or reception is available
• you can bring in your own caterer/bartender {how rare is that?!},
• there are very few decorating limitations since, hello... it's a barn! And,
• bonus - If you're from around this neck of the woods, you know how gorgeous the fields are this time of the year, we are so blessed!

Can't wait for your big day Ben & Kelly!

Alice "Tea" Partay!

A couple weeks ago, my friend and I decided to throw a little "tea party" in honor of the premier of Alice in Wonderland. More than likely, this is not the first Alice-themed party you've seen in the last month or so, but I just had to share a couple of the decorations and recipes we used, just to show you how easy it can be to throw together a last minute fete... the party started at 7 p.m., and we got things rolling around 5.

We wanted the table to feel eclectic (think Mad Hatter), but we didn't have a ton of supplies on-hand so we brought out a various assortment of glassware and platters from our cupboards. This is when the random wedding gift of apertif glasses from Aunt Mildred comes in handy - that broad knows what she's doing.

These are miniature wine bottles I picked up at Safeway, they come in sets of four... too cute! I just cut up some squares of scrapbook paper and used double stick tape to cover up the labels. And of course we had to add a little "drink me" tag... Alice wouldn't have it any other way!

This brings us to appetizer #1 of the evening:

Prosciutto, Manchego & Strawberry Crostinis from The Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen site. {VERY IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: if you've been living under a rock and don't know who The Pioneer Woman is, do yourself a favor and find out here. Guarenteed new obsession - you will thank me, your boss may not.} Here's the recipe! Hint - manchego is not the easiest to find if you live in a small town with one grocery store... I subbed in goat cheese, which was mighty tasty.

Recipe #2 just happens to be my favorite appetizer of all time: Crab Cakes. I truly believe I was meant to live on the East coast, where all crustaceans and sea creatures are abundant and plentiful. I could eat seafood all day, everyday. Crab cake benedict for breakfast, a lobster roll for lunch, finished with a nice balsamic glazed salmon for dinner... but I digress. Crab cakes are actually pretty easy to make, but they are not cheap or tidy. Be prepared to throw down some cash for the lump crab meat, but don't skimp! I've heard horror stories of claw meat being substituted, and the result ain't pretty folks. Make the crab mixture ahead of time and fry them up right before your guests arrive...

Voila! So delish. Find the recipe here from Paula Deen via the Food Network site.

Thanks to my friend Abby for the pics!

Seattle, WA Wedding: Ryan Flynn Photography

I just couldn't help but smile when I came across Ryan Flynn's blog a couple weeks ago. The first feature I found was this g.o.r.g.e.o.u.s. Seattle winter wedding, and then before I knew it, I had scrolled through the entire blog. All I could think was, I. Need. More! And I've been stalking ryanpflynn.com/blog ever since :) Enjoy!

Swooning? Yeah, thought so. Here are a few details I'm still obsessing over...

Ryan's mad skills... duh

The fish shot, I want a poster size

The amazing ceremony arch, dreamy and rustic - future DIY?

Tulips wrapped in birch bark

The last dance shot... you can't fake that emotion, it is pure bliss.

Ryan, thank you so much for sharing. Your work is fresh, yet timeless and I can't wait to feature more!