Our Three Year Wedding Anniversary!

...was yesterday.  I used an already saved post, because I wanted to spend my time with my hunny.  We got chocolate-dipped strawberries, Chinese food, and watched a Ron White DVD.  Bliss. :)

I did a DIY wedding thing, because I'm crafty and because I'm broke (lol), and lots of my memories were too cute to hide away.  So until we have some kiddos, I display them around the house.

This is the wedding-ish display I've got going on in the dining room:

Here's a close-up of the goblets (they weren't ours, they were my parents', engraved with their names).

We didn't have a wedding cake because I have Celiac Disease and it was too difficult to find a bakery willing to make a gluten-free cake.  So no cake, no cake topper.  Here is my parents' wedding cake topper:

My step-dad, who's more like a real dad to me, makes his business in antique toys.  One of his gifts to me was this porcelain wedding Barbie.  Her skirt is a bell! How cute is that!?!?!

A friend I grew up with's parents have a craft clay business that I looooove.  When I saw them after the wedding, they made this for me.  

That thing on the Bride's lower region is supposed to be a train...I think... but isn't that to DIE for?  So cute.  For info on their business, hit me up and I'll give you the details.

Someone's (I can't remember who!) gift to us was a framed invitation:

Ok, on to another wedding display. 

The picture frame was a gift from my aunt, and the picture inside it is our first dance.  Wait for it.... {awwww}.

My grandma, as a surprise to me, collected everyone's corsages and boutonnières (thank Jesus for spell-check).  She gave us this lil surprise with the invite inside:

The cigar box held the cigars that the male members of the wedding party smoked while waiting for us ladies to gussy up, and it made the perfect keepsake storage.

Here's everything from the box laid out:

1. Wedding garter (I had a back-up garter to throw)
2. My husband's pocket square
3. A napkin from the reception
4. Ribbons I tied onto the wedding favors
5. Info from the hotel we stayed at after the wedding, plus postcards (and you all know how I adore postcards)
6. Ticket stub to Spiderman III.  The guys had to do something while we were getting our hair done.
7. Ring box
8. Cork
9. These heart-shaped confetti were spread over every table
10. The wedding favors - bubbles and a bell (there's that ribbon I told you about).
11. Gift cards to Target.  Aren't they adorable? (yes, I used them all before locking them away as keepsakes.  lol)

Here's a close-up of the verse attached to the bell:

Here's my wedding ring (yes, I wanted a sapphire. I picked it out myself!):

And the ring my husband got me for our 3 year anniversary (yesterday):

Don't you just love it?

Well, that's all for the wedding bliss.  Stay tuned for a DIY wedding break-down.

Thrifty Finds Thursday

I found these beauties at Goodwill for $5.99 each.  They're prints of silk-screen Japanese paintings, complete with vintage frames.  Aren't they beautiful? My husband is really into Japanese culture for some reason (he is 100% German), so this was a great addition to our downstairs living area.  Plus it's not anime. Gag.

I also found this wall hanging of a cross with grape vines. It's not vintage, and probably not expensive originally at all, but at $2.99 it was a steal for me!

Sigh.  Post-thrifting high kicking in. <3

Ribbon Storage

We got a lot of really pretty gift bags containing really pretty gifts for our wedding (3 years ago tomorrow!!!).  It seemed a shame to throw them out, and I didn't want to give this one up even to re-gift because it was so pretty.  Sorry I don't have a tutorial, but the process is simple enough.

Supplies:
Shoe Box - on hand
Be-a-utiful gift bag - on hand
Hot glue gun - on hand

Total cost: Free!

First I carefully deconstructed the seams of the bag.  Then I decided which piece I wanted for the top (which in my opinion was the most important, as I'd be seeing it the most).  The rest of the bag went on piece by piece using the hot glue.  It only took about an hour, but it would have taken a lot less time if I hadn't been so busy admiring the print!

Here's the front:

And the top:

The flowers! The ribbon! The bow! The 'handle'! Could you just die of the cuteness?

I don't have a pic of the inside of the box, but you all know what ribbon spools look like, right? 

Happy Crafting!

I absolutely CAN NOT BELIEVE THIS.

One of my facebook friends clued me into this website, Spokeo.com.  It's a new online phone book with seriously personal information: everything from pics you've posted on FB or web, your approximate credit score, home value, income, age, horoscope sign, and more.  It's pretty creepy.  I wasn't on there, but my husband was. 


You can remove yourself by first searching for yourself on their site.  It will most likely show the number of people in each state with that name (depending on your name commonality).  Click on your state, then refresh the page.  If you find yourself here, click on the right person, and again refresh the page.  Gawk at the insane amount of info they have on you.  Copy the URL, then click on "privacy" at the bottom of the page.  It requires an email address to remove, and you can only remove two people per email address per day (wtf?)

I already removed my husband, my mom, my step-dad and my great grandma. Tomorrow on the list is my aunt and uncle, my cousin, and my  grandfather.  

I know. I'm pretty furious.  My DECEASED grandfather is on there! At least my two little sisters aren't. Maybe these people have a shred of decency.

And why? Why would anyone want to know my 93 year old great grandmother's horoscope sign?

Please protect yourself and your information, readers.  I did.

Stash-busting in Pink

One of my favorite blogs, Dollar Store Crafts, recently featured a stash-busting project where the coordinator divided the stashes by color. This post, on the pink stash, has me jumping up and down and clapping inside!  I got together a pink stash for myself, and the ideas are really coming along.

The Taming of the Tie

I got my husband a really pretty tie at Goodwill a few months ago.  It's blue with a red shine going on, and it only had a small stain on the front that came off by rubbing with a damp cloth.

Time: 20 minutes (or less, if you're not having an animated phone conversation at the same time)


Supplies/Cost: $1

• Tie - $1 at Goodwill
• Ribbon scrap - on hand
• Thread - on hand
• Iron - on hand

Isn't it gorgeous?

The problem is, he won't wear it because it doesn't have a thingy in the back to hold the skinny end of the tie in place.  Here you can see the thread from where it used to be.

I thought, "I can fix that!" First I picked a piece of sturdy ribbon (I know, it doesn't really match, but hey, it was there).

I cut the ribbon's ends diagonally to stop fraying, although later I singed them with a lighter just to be sure.

I ironed down two 1/2" flaps on the ribbon. Yes, I have a smiley face ironing board cover. Don't judge me.

Side View:

I sewed the ribbon approximately the same location as the threads telling where the last tie-holder-thingy had been.  I know, the thread doesn't match either. And those stitches are pretty horrible.  But I did go over them several times, so you can't really tell.

I stitched the other side of the ribbon to the back of the tie.  This was considerably more difficult, but not impossible.  And voila! A tie my husband will wear!

Moving Announcements

sIt's been a few years since I moved, but I'd like to share this anyways. I wanted all our friends and family to know where we would be living, but traditional moving announcements cost so much I thought, "Hey, I can do this for almost nothing!"

Supplies:
Various colors of card stock: $4.00
Printer & printer ink: on hand
Stamps: depends on how many you send!
Rubber cement: $0.99

First, I needed some cardstock.  I got some bright yellow, lilac, teal, and light green at Archivers in West Des Moines for about $0.80 cents each.

Then I cut the pieces down to size and printed the text.  I found the saying online.  The teal piece says:

Our belongings have been packed,

Our home is somewhere new,

And now that we've arrived,

We wanted to tell you...

Then the purple piece says: "We've Moved!" followed by our names and new address.

The yellow piece was the base, and I cut it to be 4" x 6". Like a postcard.

I cut the "house" piece to vaguely resemble a trapezoid.  I really put those geometry skillz to use, yo!  I wanted it to be whimsical, so that's why the house isn't a rectangle.  I used rubber cement to adhere them together.

Then I added the door in lilac - another trapezoid.

I made the door handle from a paper-hole-puncher and white printer paper, and cut equilateral(ish) triangles for the roof.

Aaaaand the back, an invitation and postcard!

It was fun, crafty, and thrifty!

Post, the First

Yesterday I received the loveliest postcard from a lady in Cincinnati, Ohio, via Postcrossing.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the site, I definitely recommend you check it out.  For a life-long collector of postcards, this site is a dream!

International postage stamps aren't cheap, but I'm willing to pay it when, in return, I receive gems like this:

Thanks, Jenny from Cincinnati!