Personalizing a DIY Wedding Invitation

My sister’s wedding weekend is officially over. We managed to pull it together in less than three months and for less than $5,000. Although, the savings were huge, we did not skimp on the chic details.

Let’s start with the invitations. We went back and forth. We thought about designing our own, we searched etsy and found some beautiful designs, and we even thought about using a local printer. In the end, we went with a classic diy kit from Joann’s. Not only was it classic, and elegant, but we also had a coupon for 40% off. Luckily for us, this wedding was small. (But print out a few coupons, make a few trips, and you could save big!)



Note: The invitations we used were slightly different. It’s always important to go to the stores. They always have more options than you will see online.

Now for my brides that scoff the idea of having such a generic invitation for such a grand event as your wedding, let me give you my best tip on dressing up a basic invitation. Nothing says personal like your a wedding monogram. It sets the tone for the event, and it’s a simple way to add consistency. We went with a digital monogram from Etsy. She created the digital logo for only 6.00! We used this logo on the programs for the Engagement dinner, the wedding programs, menu cards and other touches that helped create a cohesive link to this wedding. You could also purchase a Monogram Stamp from your local print shop or Expressionary.com

Ten tips to make your invitations set the town, for a fabulous wedding.

1. Take your time. If your rush it will show.
2. Make sure your hands are clean. Sounds simple enough, right.
3. Use glue dots. I know its tempting to bust out your kid’s Elmer’s School Glue, but trust me…You will see the difference.
4. If you don’t have beautiful penmanship, save yourself and your guests by using mailing labels.
5. Make sure you include postage on your RSVPs.
6. Make sure your postage is pretty. The post office has pretty postage. Also check out perfectpostage.com
7. Make sure you include your return address!
8. Make sure you have enough postage on your invitations.
9. If you are having a small wedding, don’t feel bad about emphasizing the importance of RSVPs and adhering to the number of guests invited.
10. Check out this post about wedding invitation etiquette and basics.


Next wedding post, I'll talk about the details...and when to splurge.

Be Creative. Reinvent your storage.

This chick has a secret to share. Well it’s not really a secret if you have ever been to my home. I am a clutter bird from knick-knacks to my third grade science paper, check one of my closets and you will find it. I have a love affair with stuff!

But lately, since I’m getting older and the thought of moving all this stuff to a new place has caused me to do some downsizing in my life.

To all the pack chicks like myself, I’ve read that if you just do a purging you will end up right where you started. You have to make a lifestyle change, just as you would with losing weight. Check out clutterdiet.com to get tips on how to reduce the clutter in your life.

Here are some tips that I have used in the last few months.

Be creative with your storage.
1. Once I started getting rid of clutter my first thought was to buy all these cute new boxes for storage. But my sister was more creative. I had bright colored chip bins in my kitchen that were used for my son’s birthday party ages ago. They became bins for crayons, stray pens, and markers.

2. My old coffee table fit perfectly in my closet, and became the perfect place to store the bins, and place laundry baskets on.

3. I bought a shoe organizer, so I no longer needed all of the old NIKE shoe boxes. But the NIKE shoe box forced me to hunt down every stray photo in my home and put it away until I have time to get to my scrapbooking.

4. I have mountains of art work in waiting, I’ll post some tips about that displaying art work during another post. But a trick I learned is to grab an unused pizza box and use it for art work storage. It is deep and wide enough to hold tons of art, inexpensive, and does not take up a lot of space.

5. An underutilized drawer in my bathroom became the perfect place to tuck magazines.

Do you have any good tips to share?

Is the glass half empty or half full?

Is the glass half empty or half full?

Who cares, as long as it's pretty. This week my sorority celebrated its 101st anniversary. One of the traditions of the sorority is to create gifts for new members. One of the gifts that I created was a beautiful glass ( I am still searching for a picture bear with me). I used peals, pink roses, and ribbon to tie together my theme. Nostalgia inspired this post, and I believe I will be working on creating some custom glasses in the near future. Until then, here are some inspirations....

Sandlapperant.com ,Lozierglassstudio.com, Gotmartini.com.lesliepaintedglass.com

Feel inspired, here are some tips to do it yourself.

Things You’ll Need:
Various sizes of paintbrushes
Acrylic paints
Plastic paint pallet
Glass surface
Rubbing alcohol
Cotton swabs
Bowl of water
Paper towel

Step One
Begin by cleaning the surface of the glass with soap and water or glass cleaner in preparation for the painting.

Step Two
Let the glass dry completely after cleaning.

Step Three
Squeeze the paint onto the paint pallet. Mix the paints together to get the desired color.

Step Four
Wet the brush and mix a very small amount of water with the paint so it can move more easily. You can add water to acrylics to make them more transparent and thinner, but for this glass project, you need the paint to be very thick.

Step Five
Hold the piece of glass horizontal while painting so that it does not run. The paint should dry quickly if not much water is added.

Step Six
Create a pattern on the paint using the paint brushes. When switching colors, rinse the brush well in the bowl of water, and then dab the brush dry on a paper towel. On glass, it works best to create small and detailed designs with dots or tiny strokes of color, instead of big blocks of color.

Step Seven
Correct mistakes by removing the paint with rubbing alcohol.

htp://www.ehow.com/how_224066_paint-glass-acrylic-paints.html