DIY Wedding Invites and Programs

I've mentioned that my cousin/one of my favorite people in the universe got married in October.

I made her these family photo cookbook sheets as an engagement gift awhile back.

And I already shared with you the awesome Bridal Luncheon Invitations that my mother made for her.

She then asked me to help with the design of her wedding invitations and programs,

and since I was due with Michael the day before her wedding and therefore couldn't be there in person,

I wanted to be involved in any way that I could.

(Michael, as it turned out, was born during her rehearsal dinner, so I'm glad I stayed in Pittsburgh)

:)

I love the way the monograming turned out. We used a font called "rage" which is actually many different designs for the different letters. It just so happened that "A" and "E" are the same design.

It's like Amy and Erik were meant to be or something. :)

So we ended up using this same monogram for some place cards and thank you cards as well.

She chose beautiful colors and papers for the invitations,

so I wanted to something really classy and along the same lines for the programs.

We found some really antique grey card stock for the outside, some textured ivory paper for the inserts, and of course bakers twine. I'm such a sucker for baker's twine.

My mom designed the document for the programs in Photoshop, and then we got to work on printing, cutting down, and assembling them all…

About 20 trips to Michael's and many hours later,

my mom and I finished these guys up.

Luckily, we love this type of thing,

and it kept our minds and hands occupied while we were waiting for Michael's arrival.

I suppose we could have finished a lot earlier if we weren't so neurotic about square vs. rounded corners and font selection and sizes… but then what would be the fun in that?

Thanks, Amy, for letting me be a part of your day even though I couldn't be there in person!

Love you lots.

"We've Moved!" Announcements

Part of me still wishes that it was me saying "We've Moved!"

but alas... it is not.

My step-brother and his wife just bought their first home, though, and I'm super excited for them.

My mom, being the fabulous paper crafter that she is, made them some announcements to send out,

and they turned out super cute.

The first is one that my mom made a draft.

That's right, folks. Not only does my make cards for us

she makes multiple variations and we usually get to pick our favorites.

Anyway, this one was my vote.

It should really be noted that I had no vote... this one was just my favorite so I wanted to share. :)

You know I'm a stickler for twine.

And look! Matching envelope... so good. so good.

The second with the keys is the one that Daryl and Christie chose.

The crazy detail of the cut outs on skeleton keys is insane, trust me.

Both are so different and so great, right?

In other news, the doc says any day now for baby two to make his appearance, so I'm making no promises for frequency of posts.

I know, as if I ever do.

Our Intro to Montessori and DIY Place Setting Mat

 

I’ve often beat myself up about not having a super specific focus for this here blog, but here’s the thing:

I don’t have just one specific focus in life.

And since this is really about things that we do and mostly things I make in my life, there is bound to be a huge variety of topics. Not just that, but as our family life evolves, so too will my posts and the projects I share within them.

Which brings me to Ben’s preschooling.

He is two and half. We’re not quite ready for “real” preschool (he nor I), but anyone who has had a two year old knows that this time can’t be taken for granted. He’s a sponge, I tell you. He is learning to explore and do things by himself, and without trying to sound too much like the overly-mushy mom, it’s really fun to witness.

While I’ve adopted more of a Montessori method for awhile now in how his learning toys and play space have been organized as well as how we treat our belongings and our approach to toys and learning in general,

with the start of this “school year”, we are taking on a more specific Montessori approach.

If you want more information about the Montessori method, there are plenty of great resources and explanations out there. I’m not going to tackle that here. At least not yet. What I will say is that Ben and I are learning as we go. We’re taking on new “works” as they seem to fit with our life (right now, he is obsessed with dry pouring, and we’ve just introduced transferring with tongs which he seems to really enjoy as well). I am amazed every time I introduce a new work to him. He often needs no explanation which is part of the beauty of Montessori. Every work has a built in control, so learning comes very naturally.

 

And now for the DIY bit…

 

Montessori works can be really expensive (and sometimes confusing)… for me anyway, and I really don’t think I’m the only one. Luckily I’ve been able to find many ways to put materials together from things I have around the house, purchases from the dollar store, or simply by making them myself. So I’ll be sharing them with you all as we go in the hopes that you can benefit from our successes and failures.

The first thing I wanted to share is

Ben’s Place Setting Mat

 

 

 

 

I’m starting simple and with materials many of you no doubt have around your house

Construction paper, glue, a pen, and laminate material or clear contact paper (optional but suggested)

 

 

 

 

There is no need for step by step directions here. I used Ben’s plate, cup, and flatware as a template,

cut them out of colored paper

labeled them

and glued them on in their appropriate places.

 

 

 

I have a laminating machine which I LOVE but this was too big to fit through, so I just used clear contact paper so it will wipe clean. Then I put all of the materials in a separate bin and put the mat and bin on his shelves. No lie, when he found them in the morning, he didn’t even wait for an explanation. He just saw something new and dove right in, immediately putting everything in its place and then told me, “I did it! Bweak-fas?”

 

 

 

 

 

You can buy these pretty cheap from the store, or really beautiful cloth ones on Etsy, but all in all this cost me under a dollar, and I didn’t have to leave me house. Craft hoarding for the win!

 

 

So that’s all for now. Keep checking back in for more DIY Montessori ideas!

Bridal Luncheon Invite + Thank You Card

 

 

 

 

and now for the newest installation of “Meg is busy doing random things, so here’s something her mom made”

 

 

 

 

yes yes. More cards from my mom. She is so talented with the paper-crafting, I can’t help myself, ya know?

 

 

 

 

 

First off, this super cute thank you card.

 

 

 

My mom has a knack for making thank you cards for people that are exactly his/her taste. Now, that, is the gift-giving love language, am I right???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a thank you card for me since I gave her a divided fabric basket for Mother’s Day (made from this awesome pattern by noodlehead) to hold her paper-crafting materials.

 

 

Did you get that? I made her something to hold the things that she makes, so she made me this card to thank me for the thing that I made. I love my family.

 

 

 

 

 

And next up, this super intense bridal luncheon invite which she made to semi-match the bride’s invitations and wedding colors.

 

The front. So classy.

The band with the text slides off so you can open the invitation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The back (with the bride’s monogram).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The inside

with pull cards for the details and RSVP information.

 

 

 

Super cute, right?

 

 

 

 

Great job once again, mom!

And I CANNON WAIT to share more of the wedding details from Amy’s wedding! We’ve helped her design the invites and lots of other pretty details like the place cards and programs! so stay tuned! :)

Handmade Spring Cards

I love having a creative mom.

Not only is she is the one who taught me most of my skills,

she also sends me great stuff all the time including her fabulous handmade cards and photo albums.

March and April are big months for our family.

Ben's birthday.

My Birthday.

Our wedding anniversary.

Chris' birthday.

also a little holiday known as Easter.

So I thought I would share some of the gems my mom sent for said occasions.

Surprise Birthday Card

This one my mom made in mass for a friend's surprise party.

The couple really like suns, apparently, so she came up with this.

So cute.

Monogrammed Birthday Card

This one was for my birthday, and the photo doesn't really do it justice.

That doily looking medallion is about 3 layers thick with an intricately cut pattern.

My mom's style usually involves a lot of layering.

Tagged Birthday Card

This one is for Chris, and once again, the photo just doesn't give you an adequate visual of the details.

My favorite detail is the bicycle tag which is actually an envelope to house his gift.

Once again, there are about twenty million layers involved.

Love it because it's cute but still masculine enough.

Kid's Easter Card

This was obviously for Ben.

And I mean, come on... so cute.

Little fuzzy bunny tail and hand cut grass. Need I say more?

To see more of my mom's creations, click here

and here.

Thanks, mom!

Car Birthday Party {DIY Details}

 

 

 

 

For those of you that follow me on Facebook or Instagram,

you've been seeing all my car posts over the past few weeks.

 

 

My little buddy turned two!

And to celebrate, we threw him a car birthday party.

He LOVES cars.

And this is an understatement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned when I shared the invitations with you,

we decided to go for a playful vintage car theme in lieu of the Disney Pixar Cars theme,

and I'm glad that we did, because I loved the way that everything turned out.

 

 

So here are some of the DIY details!

 

 

Since Ben's birthday is in February and we live in Pittsburgh,

all of our set up had to be inside.

We live in less than a mansion,

so we kept it simple, like our Winnie the Pooh Party last year,

and just had some family and close friends over for food and libations.

 

As for decorations, I mostly stuck with the old tissue paper standbys.

As luck would have it, Target had a bunch of their tissue on clearance when I went shopping,

so I got a lot and maybe went a little overboard.

 

 

I made a ton of these pom poms in all different sizes and colors and hung them from the ceiling with fishing line.

They added a fun burst of color when you came in.

 

 

I also made two long fringe tissue banners,

one for over the food table and one for our living room where most of the seating is.

Tissue paper decor is great because you can buy it super cheap is basically any color.

If you're not picky about colors, the dollar store is a great resource.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My centerpiece for the food table was this "road sign" in the shape of a B (ya know.... for Benjamin).

 

 

 

 

 

The letter I bought for a couple bucks awhile ago for his bedroom.

It's just the paper mache kind from Joanns.

I painted it black and then added the dashes.

Simple. Simple.

 

 

 

 

The food table turned out really nicely with some fabrics that I had from other projects.

The route 66 fabric is one of my favorites. I just put it over a box to elevate the cake stand a bit.

 

The "fuzzy dice" are white square boxes that I had which my mom and I added black dots to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For my food labels, I made a simple placard in Photoshop to look like a license plate.

 

I tried to make them look as much like a PA plate as I could, and added Ben's name at the top.

 

 

 

Not all of the food was themed,

but we did make "nuts and bolts" (chex mix), pot holes (peanut butter cup cookies), and dip sticks (pretzels) for the snack food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also made pigs in a blanket (because who doesn't like those?),

and my mom made this awesome stop light for the dips (ketchup, mustard, and relish).

 

 

 

 

 

 

She did a great job just using poster board!

So cute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For our drink table, I also kept it simple. I used more steel accessories that I had around the house and some bandannas from a camping trip.

 

 

The only thing really themed was the gas pump placard I made in photoshop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The car cake was so much fun for me to make.

The bottom is two round cake layers,

and I carved the car out of a loaf pan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since I knew I would be carving the car, I wanted a pretty dense cake

so I opted for Elvis' Pound Cake.

 

 

 

I have to say, it was yummy, but definitely dense.

I could only eat a very small piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tires are chocolate donuts.

The headlights are yellow m&ms.

 

 

 

 

The grass is coconut which I threw in a ziploc and tossed with a few drops of green food coloring.

Shake shake shake, and you have grass!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I made a road sign to go beside the car which I just posted on a chopstick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also made Ben a special shirt to wear.

He was so busy at his party, that this, unfortunately, is the best picture I got of it. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought a plain shirt at Target, and free handed the car with a bleach pen.

I don't know if it was because the shirt was a little thin, or that it was lighter in color,

but I literally left the bleach solution on the shirt for about 1 minute and then rinsed it off.

Any more, and I was afraid it would all just bleach to one big blob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And my last detail is our favors. I got these little steel buckets for a buck and filled them with some candy, toy cars, and playdoh for good measure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that's that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ben had such a great time playing with his friends and family,

and he especially liked the cake. :)

 

 

Happy Birthday, buddy!

We love you!!!



DIY Bridal Shower Invitations

My best bud and her mother are hosting a bridal shower in the coming month

and I had the pleasure of helping them out with the invitations.

 

This was so much fun for me.

We looked at a ton of invites on Pinterest and saw a couple we liked,

so I combined our inspirations with the bride's personality and color scheme (purple and blue)

to arrive at this.

 

 

I personally love them,

and if time travel were possible and I somehow ended up back to planning my own wedding,

I'm sure I would want something similar for myself.

Hopefully, the bride feels the same way.

 

The invitations are 5x7's with rounded corners,

printed on white card stock.

I had a lot of fun playing with a ton of new fonts.

(Many of them can be found on the Resources board of my Pinterest page)

 

 

I also included 4x6 recipe cards on kraft paper

with the bride's name

so all the guests can share their wealth of food knowledge.

I love this idea since I got SO many great recipes at my own shower, many of which I still use.

 

 

Lastly, a little poem about her "wishing well".

This is a custom that was unfamiliar to me until a few years ago.

I'm sure many of you, however, have heard of it.

Basically, the wishing well is for little house gifts for the bride and groom aside from the registry gifts.

I love this idea as well since setting up a new home with cleaning supplies, pantry items (especially spices!), and other necessities is so darn expensive,

and typically you don't register for many of them.

 

The poem reads,

"Spices, detergents, and gadgets galore,

There are never enough,

you can always use more.

Please bring  little item for our bride,

would you please.

Spatulas, freezer bags,

or maybe Febreeze.

Wrap it in tissue,

and your name do not tell.

It's just a little something for her

Wishing Well."

 

 

A little twine and stamping on the envelopes, and it was all set!

 

Hope she loves them.