“In the Garden” Party for Miss Hattie

My favorite little red head, Hattie, turned the BIG TWO this past weekend and we all got to celebrate!  Miss Hattie is an independent and vivacious little firecracker that would choose to spend everyday picking flowers and playing in the backyard if she could.  There have been many times that I have arrived home to find little cups of wildflowers hand plucked and delivered by Hattie via the Radio Flyer.   When thinking about ways to celebrate her second birthday, there was no doubt that it had to be in the garden amidst all of her favorite things (flowers, dirt, trees, rocks, snails, etc…).

I was the amateur iPhone photographer for the day.  I tried but none of my tricks got her to look at the camera.  

“Hattie’s Seed Company” packets adorned the backyard along with Burlap, Sunflowers, Wellies planted with succulents and all sorts of other goodies.  Hattie’s banner was a joint effort created with love!

All of the guests participated and brought something special to add to Hattie’s Garden Party.  Abby (Hattie’s NINE year old niece) amazed all of us with her chick cupcakes.  Yes, I did say that she is 9 years old and she made these.  I will be sure to share her information when she opens up her bakery!

Thanks to Cookies by Design, we all got to decorate flower cookies.

Hattie decorated her cookies and then made sure she shared them with everyone.

 Happy Birthday Hattie!!!

DIY~ Doily Coasters

 

 

 

I LOVE these sweet and frilly DIY Doily Coasters that I found Ruffles and Stuff!  She was making them as a mother’s day present but they are applicable to any occasion needing a charming coaster.  Personally, I need to invest in a sewing machine but this project may just inspire me enough to get one!

You’ll need:

• eight 5″ squares of muslin, or white cotton
• four-4″ squares of batting
• four-13″ lengths of lace

The Step by Step:

1. Press the edges of your squares under 1/2″
2. Lay your batting inside four of the sqaures
3. Place the other four squares on top, pin, and stitch around the edges in two rows.
4. Starting in the middle, spiral your lace around and around, with the bottom of each row tucked under the tops of the row before it.
5. Stitch on in a spiral pattern, so there are no edges popping up.

 

DIY: Save-the-Date Postcards

We are so happy to have our friend and bride-to-be Lindsay guest blog for us today . We received her sweet Save-the-Dates and knew we wanted to share them on the bustle blog. This DIY Save-the-Date project really sets the tone for their upcoming rustic summer wedding. We asked Lindsay to pen a quick blog to explain how she put this idea together….here it is!

When it comes to our wedding and the planning of our wedding, the more fun/coziness/DIY the better! Save-the-Dates are the first thing our guests are going to see, so I really wanted to have fun with it and capture a rustic feeling, since our wedding is taking place at a small family-owned winery in northern CA.  Dave and I also happen to live on a beautiful organic vegetable farm that truly epitomizes the rustic elegance that I have become obsessed with while planning!  We wanted to capture it and our personalities in our Save-the-Dates.

I knew I wanted a picture of the two of us, to use the farm’s tractor, and to make some sort of banner.  It was November, so the fall colors of the East Coast were showing in all their glory – perfect timing! (I should mention that Dave is a photographer, and has graphic design skills, so this whole project coming to life is really thanks to him)

We decided to really commit to the whole farm thing.  So, I printed out my banner that read, “GETTIN’ HITCHED!” and hung each letter on twine, and Dave drove the tractor to the perfect spot on the driveway.  He set up his camera while I hung the banner on the back of the tractor.  We jumped into it, cowboy hat and camera remote in hand and started snapping away!

We had previously thought of getting postcards to send as STDs, so we decided to print the back of the picture to look similar.  We added a personal message on the left, and threw in some fun details, such as a beloved Beatles quote (“all you need is love”), graphics on the right that appeared to be stamps, but had our wedding date details hidden in them.  We also incorporated our wedding colors, pink and grey, in the graphics.

We printed them through a great website called mpix.com.  Lucky for me, Dave is super multi-talented and was able to create something amazing, but the website has lots of templates and ideas to create all kinds of things, including Save-the-Dates, invitations, photo books, prints, frames, etc.  They also have a blog with lots of great ideas!

We have had such great response from our guests, which makes us feel so happy.  We want everyone to feel a part of our day to enjoy all the special details that we find so much fun and joy in, and our Save the Date cards were the perfect way to set the tone.

Thank you Lindsay for sharing this adorable DIY project with our readers!

DIY: Thanksgiving Place Cards

These adorable Paper-Source DIY place cards are just another reason to be thankful this holiday season. Each of the place card kits include all the assorted pre-cut paper products needed. You’ll just need scissors, double sided tape and a glue stick to complete the charming projects. Perfect for a small dinner party or a large family Thanksgiving feast!

DIY: Wedding Garland

Materials:
Several sheets of cardstock for the front (preferably white)
Several sheets of cardstock for the backing (a contrasting color)
Glue Stick
Decorative Paper Punch (Martha Stewart Craft Line has many)
Ribbon
Scissors
Xacto Knive or Ribbon Paper Punch

 

Instructions:

1. Decide on what you would like your sign to say and then head to the computer to print out the individual letters. If you are looking for a more interesting font to use but don’t want to invest a lot of money on a high-price font, check out sites like dafont.com which offer mounds of free fonts.

2. Now is the time to decide how big you would like each of your individual letters to be–depending on where you plan to display them and how far away they need to be read. When cutting out your color backing be sure to make it large enough that when you punch your design into the edges, it still peaks around the sides of your letters.

3. Glue the two pieces of cardstock together.

4. Using an xacto knife or a ribbon paper punch (Martha Stewart Craft Line) — make the slots for your ribbon to pass through

5. Lastly, weave your ribbon through the individual letters and voila!

Thanks Darling Dexter for the adorable idea!

DYI:Knob Bouquet

We are loving this unique DIY bouquet idea!

Step 1. Scavenge antique shops, thrift stores, your local Anthropologie, as well as craft stores for a collection of knobs that are just your taste.

Step 2. Acquire lace, fabric and trims to adorn the stem & circumference of your bouquet.

Step 3. Be sure to have a Styrofoam cone, scissors, fabric glue as well as a mini glue gun on hand!

Step 4. You are going to want to cover the flat surface of your cone with some thin fabric. Draw the circumference on the fabric. This fabric must be thin because you will later press the knob through this—lace is ideal!

Step 5. Glue the thin fabric you’ve cut around the cone.

Step 6. Now with new thicker fabric of your choice alternate ruffling and gluing all around the cone. You can choose to go around the cone twice with ruffles for a fuller effect!

Step 7. Wind ribbon around the cone starting three quarters of the way down from the tip.

Step 8. Decorate with additional patterned fabric of your taste!

Step 9. Begin to push knobs through the lace and Styrofoam. You can secure the knobs into the Styrofoam by adding a small dollop of hot glue.

Step 10. Voila’ your own cabinet knob bouquet is created!

Thanks to Simply Bloom and 100 Layer Cake for sharing this adorable project!

DIY: Ring Pillow Book

We love love love this DIY project!

What you’ll need:
One small book
One length of wide ribbon (approximately 4 times the width of your book)
One length of narrow ribbon (approximately 4 times the width of your book)
One silk or ribbon flower
Large square paper punch
Scissors
A small, flat paint brush
A needle and thread
A scrap of decorative paper
Paper glue

Directions:
1. Open your book to the second page. Take your large square craft punch, turn it upside down (so you can see to guide and center it) and feed several of the right hand pages into the punch. Slide it towards the middle of the book as far as you can go, keeping it vertically centered. Squeeze the punch, and punch out the squares. Important: Do not punch a hole in the first page of the book.
2. On the page after the last punched  page, glue down a scrap of  decorative paper  to line the bottom of  the “well” you just created. (see figures 2 and 3)
3. Center the wider ribbon on the spine of the book. Glue the tail of the wider ribbon inside the back cover  of the book. Wrap the ribbon around the outside of the book cover, and glue the other tail down inside the front cover. Glue the first page of the book (the one without the hole punched in it) to the inside cover to secure and conceal the ribbon tail. Glue the last page of the book to the inside of the back cover to secure the ribbon. Allow to glue to dry.( see figure 4)
4. Open the front cover of the book. Use your brush to apply a generous coat of glue along the page edges on all three sides. Allow the glue to dry, then give it a second coat. Don’t close the book until it’s had a thorough chance to dry, otherwise, the “lid” could get stuck closed (see figure 5)
5. Center your smaller ribbon on the spine of the book, in the middle of the wider ribbon, and tack it down using a couple of stitches with your needle and thread.(see figure 6)
6. Take your flower, and stitch it down to both layers of ribbon on the front cover of the book.(see figure 7)
7. Place your rings in the well and tie the ribbon tails into a bow to securely close box.(see figure 8 and 9)

Thanks Laurie Cinotto for the great idea!

DIY fabric ring pillows are an easy project too. Just grab some fabric that matches your wedding colors, has sentimental value, or is just a fun detail you and your honey love and get sewing. Check out these little lovelies for inspiration!

Custom Chocolatier

We thought we’d start the morning off with some sweet inspiration from Chocri. This website is a chocoholic’s dream! You can customize your very own organic chocolate bar with over 100 ingredient choices including gold flakes, goji berries, gummy bears, candied lilac, bacon, peanut butter cups, jalapenos…the possibilities are seriously endless!  After you have created the perfect candy bar, create the perfect name and inscribe it on the package. What a great favor at your wedding or a sweet treat for your main squeeze!

Thanks Amy Atlas for the yummy idea!

DIY: Doily Table Runner

I am loving this sweet and simple DIY project!

What you’ll need:
Needle
Thread
10-20 White and Ivory Fabric Doilies

Step 1: Lay out the largest doilies first

Step 2: Fill in with smaller doilies. Use different shapes in white and cream colors.

Step 3: Overlap the edges of the big and small doiles so that the small ones aren’t always on top.

Step 4: Tack the doilies together using string on the underside. Double knot in several spots using thread and a needle.

Thank you Ashley Ann for the adorable idea.

DIY: Custom Canvas Tote

I love this DIY project. It’s the perfect gift for your bridesmaids, a great carry on for your honeymoon, or a wonderful welcome bag for your out of town guests. Happy Crafting!

What You’ll Need:
Canvas bag
Fabric paint
Paper doily
Krylon Paper Finishes Adhesive Spray

Step 1:  Spray doily with paper spray adhesive and press down on the bag.

Step 2:  Gently paint over the holes (use fabric paint).

Step 3:  Peel back doily before paint dries. The doily might tear, just peel off the pieces.

Step 4: Trace on letter and fill it in with paint. After paint is completely dry use iron to set with heat.

Thank you Ashley Ann for this adorable and easy idea!