Fancy Pumpkins

I was asked to decorate some pumpkins for a wedding this past weekend. I had tons of ideas and looked around on Pinterest for some inspiration. I purchased the pumpkins at Aldi. You can't beat a $3 huge pumpkin...except if it is impossible to carve by hand. It took A LOT of effort to carve these and eventually I resorted to power tools but we'll get to that in a minute. Here are the pumpkins!

1. Monogram
This was the obvious first choice of pumpkin, especially because it was a wedding. I looked around on the internet for a fancy font and mimicked it on the side of the pumpkin with a washable marker. I used marker because it wouldn't leave an indent and could be wiped off. To carve this I used a knife and exacto knife. I WISH I had carved it with my husband's Dremel like I did the later pumpkins.

2. Mr. and Mrs.
I used a few fabric scraps to make the bow and veil and used puff paints for the rest. Surprisingly the puff paints didn't stay on very well and I had to emergency glue some of the letters back on last minute! The other writing on it said phrases like "Just Married", "Happily Ever After", and "M+C 4ever" For the Mr. I tried to do a block manly font and for the Mrs. I used cursive.

3. Glitter Dipped
This was the first pumpkin I made. I taped off an area and applied Mod Podge and glitter. I wasn't very patient and put on too much Mod Podge. For the second coat I used a Mod Podge/glitter mix which filled in the gaps really well. I wish I had done one more coat but I didn't have enough time for it to dry.

4. Rhinestone swirls.
So when I was getting supplies for this venture at the craft store I purchased a ton of stuff. I ended up using almost none of it. I got lucky with this pumpkin. I purchased some rhinestone border in the dollar section and it worked out great! It was self adhesive and already easy to apply since I didn't have to add each stone. It was two stones wide so I cut them up the middle and applied them in swirls. I think this one was my favorite pumpkin. That may have been because it was the easiest!

5. Spray painted
I first cut out a swirly shape out of contact paper and applied it to the pumpkin. I taped around the pumpkin to prevent over spray.  I only had to apply one coat of gold spray paint. I let it dry and removed the tape. I used puff paint to add the date and a few more swirls. Then while it was drying I had some help in the form of a little girl who thought she was helping with painting. It turned out okay, though!

6. Drilled pattern
I used three different size drill bits in a pattern to create this pumpkin. The largest one was 1". After I drilled all the holes I added some rhinestones for some sparkle.

7. Initials
This is when I figured out using the Dremel was a super easy way to get the carving done without so much effort (or at all because my hands were so tired from carving and I was having an extremely hard time).  I used the drill to make some pilot holes and used the Dremel to carve between the holes and perfect the shapes of the letters. Just FYI you will have pumpkin crumbs EVERYWHERE after using the power tools but it's worth it!

Here is a shot of how they were displayed:

Which one was your favorite? Are you going for a scary face on your jack-o-lantern or a decorated one?

Bridesmaid Dresses

I'm sure many of you on Pinterest have seen this pin:



(Source)
Well, meet my bridesmaid dresses.

I found some heavier jersey knit fabric at JoAnn and bought tons of it. I asked each of my bridesmaids for some measurements. Remember when I asked them to be my bridesmaid? Well yes, after that they sent me their measurements. After that it was quite simple. However, making the dresses more fitted than in the tutorial from Sweet Verbena wasn't as simple. First we cut out the front and back of the dress with the shoulder-to-floor measurement.

Then, at their bust (or under the bust, this may also be your bra size measurement) we cut it in a little bit. We sewed a curve into the pattern to make it more fitted and less bulky around the bust since we were using heavier fabric than the tutorial. This we did by starting near the sleeve opening (a 10 in cut made from the top seam down) and worked our way in.

We made sure each dress had the right curve sewn in. This happened through a lot of trying on and adjusting! After that, the neck opening was cut in the middle of the dress with the back and the front lined up cutting down 8-10 inches. This opening was angled a little bit just for preference meaning it was cut in more of a triangle than just a slit. Each opening was hemmed and the dress was done! Now as for the sashes...we'll let my mom blog about those since she did most of the work on those!

**To adjust for a pregnant bridesmaid (cough, cough Jordan) trying on right before the wedding was key. We left extra room in the front half of the dress's length and adjusted after a final fitting.

Centerpieces

For our centerpieces on the tables at the reception I wanted something not on Pinterest. Not that Pinterest is bad, I just didn't want to have the same reception as everyone else. Then I was stuck. It's kind of hard to think of these things on your own. Jordan had beta fish in cool vases. Jaime had cornocopias of flowers (she got married right around Thanksgiving). Brooke (who also got married right after Christmas) had ornaments. The bar had been set! I thought of something but I Googled it just to see what it would look like. There weren't many options on Google but it looked like it could work. So it was settled. We would have books as centerpieces.

I wanted thick, hardback books that had red covers. In order to save money we went to every thrift store around us. We nearly cleaned out all the red covered hardback books! But we found some pretty good finds. Plus, if you're like me and love the smell of old books it was great. It took us some time to do this but we bought about 4 or 5 books for each table.

Now came for the set up. We placed 2 table runners on the table over a white tablecloth. One was wider and was red. The other went on top of the red and was the gold color. We found square and circle mirrors at the dollar store and also battery powered candles (off-white and darker red.) We placed the candles wrapped with a band of ribbon on the mirrors and gave each table two candle and mirror combos. We then sorted the books in size order so it was easy to put them on the tables in nice stacks. We then plopped a Harry Potter book or Lord of the Rings book in the pile because these are our favorites! Now, our centerpieces were personalized.

To top it all off, we put 4 framed (gold frames from Target, Wal-Mart and the dollar store, not too hard to find them) pictures of us on each table. Three of the pictures were from when we were little and one of the both of us. And voila, beautiful centerpieces!

When deciding centerpieces think of the theme your wedding has or stick with the wedding colors. Pictures are always and easy go to and they're also fun. There are a lot of things you can do with pictures. Pinterest is a pretty good place to look for ideas of things to do with pictures or anything else, really. Think of something that fits both your personalities even if it's subtle.  If your venue allows candles, those create a wonderful glow to the room and can be more pleasing than regular lights. Battery powered candles work great too. Flowers are also a simple and elegant option. Flowers are especially welcome at spring and summer weddings. Centerpieces should enhance the overall feel of the reception hall and the wedding itself.

Accessories

I decided that with the lace on my dress, pearls would be a good compliment for my wedding jewelry. This decision was much easier than expected. I wanted round shaped pearls that were off-white and I wanted dangly earrings. Oh my goodness, folks, this was not easy to find. We looked EVERYWHERE. Department stores, pawn shops, Khol's. I looked through everyone's jewelry boxes. Ok, not everyone's but my sisters sent me pictures of their pearl jewelry and I looked through my mom and grandma's jewelry. Finally, I found a nice necklace and bracelet set from my grandma. She told me she never wore them so I could have them. Double score! Now came the adventure of finding matching earrings. Again, we looked everywhere. I had seen some in a department store early on in the hunt but they were no longer there when we looked again. Dang. Finally, they may have had silver hooks (all my accents were gold) but I found earrings I liked. Seriously, huge relief.

When deciding on what accessories you want, remember this is your wedding and you are the bride! (well, you can be a groom reading this too but I don't think you'll be looking for the same things as I was!) If you're wanting to go with something classic like pearls, don't settle on costume jewelry from the kid's department. Look everywhere. Don't feel like you need to spend a ton on jewelry but make sure what you're buying will look as classic as you want it. If you want to go for diamonds, again, don't settle for costume jewelry. It looks fake. I promise. When I was deciding between gold or silver, I took into account my wedding colors and the metal of my engagement ring. I had champagne color accents in the wedding colors and a yellow gold engagement ring, so for me, the choice was golds. If you want a classic look, don't go towards bold colored jewelry. I would stick with anything white, cream or ivory. My dress was stark white so I wanted an off-white pearl. If you want a touch of color, I would suggest pale colors. Even paler than pastels. You don't want to distract from you and your dress! But ultimately, it's your day. Feel beautiful no matter what!

PS I also got my bridesmaids pearl bracelets from Khol's. That one wasn't as hard of a decision!

DIY S'Mores Wedding Favors...again

Remember how I said I'd post pictures of the wedding favors and I never did? Well...I'm sorry! Please forgive me. Let's try this post again!

Since we got married in the winter I wanted a wedding favor that somehow related to it. I found some ideas on Pinterest and the one I loved the most was S'mores in a box. It was quite simple. We ordered boxes that opened like a match box only bigger. *Finding deals online was a HUGE saver for the wedding in almost all the decorating part! We bought a bag of mini marshmallows, graham crackers, some full sized Hershey bars, toothpicks, thread and matches (I will tell you how we waterproofed matches in another post.)

My mom and I popped in a movie and got to work. We found that the name brand Honey Maid was far better at breaking into the quarters where the perforation was compared to generic. Plus they taste better. We cut them with a knife, carefully, and one by one. There was still a lot of breakage. Good thing those are tasty!
Then we cut the Hershey's bar up. Each box was to receive two graham cracker sections and two chocolate sections. The chocolate bar cut easily if we also did it carefully, not going to fast or applying too much pressure. There was some breakage. Good thing those are tastier!

Then we stuck 3 marshmallows on a toothpick. There was no breakage there. It was quite easy.
Next we tied 2-3 matches together with thick thread (twine would've worked too) and stuck them in the box.
The box lid just slid right over the other box.

We printed off witty labels that said our names, the wedding date and things like S'more happiness or S'more fun. The labels came with a link to the company's website where you could put the design you wanted and print them right.

And ta da! S'mores in a box!

DIY S'mores Wedding Favor

Since we got married in the winter I wanted a wedding favor that somehow related to it. I found some ideas on Pinterest and the one I loved the most was S'mores in a box. It was quite simple. We ordered boxes that opened like a match box only bigger. *Finding deals online was a HUGE saver for the wedding in almost all the decorating part! We bought a bag of mini marshmallows, graham crackers, some full sized Hershey bars, toothpicks, thread and matches (I will tell you how we waterproofed matches in another post.)
My mom and I popped in a movie and got to work. We found that the name brand Honey Maid was far better at breaking into the quarters where the perforation was compared to generic. Plus they taste better. We cut them with a knife, carefully, and one by one. There was still a lot of breakage. Good thing those are tasty!
Then we cut the Hershey's bar up. Each box was to receive two graham cracker sections and two chocolate sections. The chocolate bar cut easily if we also did it carefully, not going to fast or applying too much pressure. There was some breakage. Good thing those are tastier!
Then we stuck 3 marshmallows on a toothpick. There was no breakage there. It was quite easy.
Next we tied 2-3 matches together with thick thread (twine would've worked too) and stuck them in the box.
We printed off witty labels that said our names, the wedding date and things like S'more happiness or S'more fun. The labels came with a link to the company's website where you could put the design you wanted and print them right.
And ta da! S'mores in a box!

(I will post pictures tomorrow, They are not on the computer I am using!)

Wedding receptions!

We've been sharing a lot about Jasmine's fantastic wedding reception, but she's not the only member of our family tying the knot. Our cousin, who happens to be just 8 days younger than Jasmine, got married last month! Jasmine and I were able to attend. If you're looking for wedding reception inspiration, check out these fun ideas!

The ceremony

(sorry, no pictures allowed inside)

The happy couple!

My son, always the bridesman.
(This is amazingly clear of snow. Some people had to hike up other stairs
that were so full, their high snow boots also filled with snow!)

The luncheon

Hosted by the groom's parents, the luncheon was held in their church building. 

Friends and family provided soup, salad, rolls and desserts.

Tablescape, table of honor

Lots of Valentine candy to match the very, very varied color scheme!

My kids with my aunt, the lovely mother of the bride

My grandparents with my kids. This picture is true life.

The reception

The reception was held in an event room at the local library. They also coordinated with a decorator through the library, which was weird for the Wayward Girls (we seriously asked three times when we needed to be there to help set up), but also really nice.

The entrance: guestbook, a vintage suitcase for cards, along with some other cool vintage touches. 

The picture of the couple is from a photo session they did in advance (along with her bridals?).

Table centerpieces: fresh flowers, engagement photos, books, birdcage, ceramic birds . . .
(My youngest under the white flowers)

The receiving line and backdrop (Jasmine isn't a part of it, she's just chatting)

FOOD!

It's what you really want to see, isn't it?

A rainbow of lemonades to match the wedding colors!

Lemonade, blue raspberry (with blackberries?), pink, peach (with blueberries) and water 

My son made sure our whole table stayed topped off with the color of their choice.

Some of the cupcake spread--friends and family provided 600 cupcakes! 

Also to eat: pre-plated cream cheese chicken salad on croissants, chocolate drizzled strawberries, and cucumber/mozzarella/tomato toothpicks drizzled with dressing. Yum!

The wedding cake: white cake layered with raspberry filling, with an ivory and white lace stencil pattern on fondant.

The groom's cake: Chocolate mustache cake!

Fun!

A friend set up a professional photo booth in a side room and provided props, a backdrop, lights and a photographer (her husband) for a fun photobooth. My kids loved it!

It was a lot of fun!

Choosing THE Dress

You may have noticed but Latter-day Saint members cover up a little more than the average person. No, we don't wear turtlenecks and floor length skirts everywhere we go but we do believe in dressing modestly (Click here for more information on LDS dress and grooming standards.) Dressing modestly is a sign of respect for our bodies. Wedding dresses are no exception especially if you are marrying in a Latter-day Saint Temple (Click here for information on LDS temples.)
 It is very hard to find a wedding dress with sleeves and a modest neckline outside of Utah and Idaho. Very very hard. Luckily we have an amazing and wonderfully talented family friend who was willing to make my wedding dress (along with Brooke and Jaime's dresses too!) I still had to figure out what looked good on me however. So I went wedding dress browsing. We went to a big ol' wedding dress store that had heaps of wedding dresses in all sorts of styles. It was almost like going on Say Yes to the Dress but not quite that huge of a selection and you had to pull your own dresses. I tried on dresses of all sorts and it turned out a style similar to my dream dress looked  not so great on me. I tried on A-Line, ball gown, and lacey. I even tried on a dress named "Princess Jasmine." Then I found it. A dress that I could hopefully ask to be made just for me, except with sleeves...and lace instead of all the intricate beading that would take a million years to do and we only had 15 weeks.



So here's what I learned in trying on dresses:
1. Pull styles that you don't even want to see on you. Try on different silhouettes. Big poofy to slender or mermaid. Just do it! See what you like and what looks good then invest more in that style.

2. Take pictures of what you like. Necklines, waistlines, backs, fronts, bodices, I could go on and on. Take pictures or at least notes to remember what is flatter and what you feel good in. You can piece it all together and find or make the perfect dress for you.
3. Sit down in the dress. I don't mean roll around on the floor but sit down. See if you can breathe or if it's even comfortable while sitting.

4. Try on a veil and ones at different length, layer and style. Even if you don't want one, it could change your mind or keep your decision. It's good to have those options.

5. Write down the dress item numbers and designer so you can look them up online, at another store, at the same store but another day or whatever! Make sure you know what you've tried on especially if you like it.
6. Eat!! Carrying around heavy dresses and putting them on and taking them off gets tiring. Eat something good and filling before you go. Not too filling though, you want to feel good in those dresses and not uncomfortable from a full stomach. Bring a small snack and take a break in the middle of dresses if you need to.

For more information on LDS marriage click here!

Wayward Girls' Bride Prices

Since Jasmine kind of suggested this, today I will share how creative the men in the Wayward Girls' lives are, but I must start at the beginning.

I grew up with a group of friends who went to church and school together and also hung out. We had lots of inside jokes and sayings. We loved a movie we watched at church called Johnny Lingo. 

We quoted exchanges like this millions of times: 

Moki: Mahana, you ugly. What are you hiding up there for? Today is the day of bargaining. Come down and be ready to greet your husband to be. 

The basic premise is that when a husband (Johnny Lingo)  comes to bargain for his wife to be (Mahana) he offers to pay much more than her father (Moki) asks for his 'ugly' daughter. More quotes: 

Moki: Three cows.
Johnny Lingo: Three cows is many, but enough for Mahana. I will pay eight cows.

(Later) 

Johnny: Think what it must mean to a woman: Her future husband and her father meeting to discuss the lowest price for which she can be bought. And later, when the women of the village gather, they boast of what their husbands paid for them -- three cows, or five. How does she feel, the woman who was sold for one or two? This could not happy to my Mahana. 
Trader Harris: Johnny, I've misjudged you. I thought you were thinking of how important you would look to your friends, paying eight cows for a wife. I didn't know you wanted to make Mahana happy. 
Johnny Lingo: More than happy. I wanted her to be an eight-cow woman. 

So... when I got married, of course my
 family set a bride price for me. 

Two goats  or one goat and eight 

chickens. 

The picture on the right shows what 

my groom arrived with. He made them himself and exceeded all expectations. 

Of course we continued this practice as our own girls were married.

Here is what Jordan's groom brought:  Sheep!

And Jaime's brought donkeys

And Brooke's brought penguins and purple cows

And now Jasmine's brought ducks and kangaroos.

Good times!