This is BETTER Than a Fitness Recap...

Soooo, I didn't work out at all this week again.  ::bad bride-to-be, bad::

I swear, I am 100% back on the wagon tomorrow.  Someone please give me an e-kick-in-the-butt and make me work out!  The hardest part is just getting it back into your routine.  Mleh.

But, I have an even better post for you!  And it's about boutonnieres!  You may remember from this post about how excited I was about how my first attempt at a Pearl and Brooch Bout went, well after days of scouring Ebay's Vintage Costume Jewelry Section I think I finally have all my brooches (actually, I think I have too many, lol).

So, I need 1 for Bryan (obviously), his Best man and three groomsmen, Man-of-Honor Sam, each of our Dads, and Ring Bearer-Spencer (so 9 in all).  First, I'll remind you what my completed one looks like, which may end up being Spencer's since it's the littlest brooch:


$.99 + $4.95 shipping (I was pissed about the shipping cost
on this one)

 And then here's a picture of all of them together (they're all completely different):

I'll save the important ones (aka Bryan's and Sam's) for last, but here are the rest in order of how much I like them:

$1.99 + $3.99 shipping

This came in a lot that was $4.25 + $2.71 shipping
There were 9 brooches in all, I'm keeping 5 and plan on
reselling the other 4

$.99 + $3.50 shipping (and it came with clip on earrings that
I plan on re-selling)

This came as part of a lot of pretty freaking
awesome brooches (I'm actually wearing one
of them on my blazer today) but the whole
lot cost $8.27 + $4.95 shipping and I'm going
to keep some of them and plan to re-sell the rest

$1.25 + $2.95 Shipping

$.99 + $2.49 shipping

$4.99 and free shipping

I would really like the first one (the one with the rhinestones going down the stem) to be Bryan's Best Man's, but if he prefers a different one I'll have no problem letting him choose.

Now, for Bryan's...and he actually said he wanted this one before I told him I wanted him to have this one (because it's more special than the rest):

$1.99 + $3.10 for shipping

Seriously, the picture doesn't do it justice at all.  And because of the way it sort of folds in, I think it will look amazing once I add the pearls.  Such a great find on Ebay!

And now, for MOH Sam's - obviously his has to be spectacular.  And seriously, it has to be completely different than the rest of the guys' because he's my freaking MOH!  Meaning a) he's like the third most important person there (after Bryan and I) and b) he's technically on my side, so he shouldn't blend in with the Groomsmen.  Alright, enough talk:

I'm slightly obsessed with it.  I don't like the flower thingy in the middle, but that will be covered by the pearls anyway.  But I really just couldn't believe I found a leaf brooch that had purple rhinestones on it!  This is the only one that isn't actually vintage.  It's from China.  And it's made to look like it's vintage.  Whatever - I'm not picky - it's freaking perfect and only cost $5 (with free shipping).

So in all, I spent just under $60 on brooches - but that's including the ones that came in lots that I plan on re-selling other pieces from.  And, since I don't think any of Bryan's friends will want to hold onto their bout after the wedding, I might ask them to return them to me so I can remove the pearls (I only used wire to attach them, no adhesive) and re-sell those suckers too.  Heck, for all I know, I could make money off of these! lol

Anyway, I'm super excited about them, and I want to start working on them but I'm not allowed - I have to work on my invitations!!!  I didn't even start them last weekend (::bad DIY Bride, bad::) so technically I'm behind.  I have all the layouts ready to print, I even have the layouts created on my gypsy to cut everything, I just need to actually print them, and actually cut them, and assemble them.  Please, dear Buddha, don't let anything happen to my cricut while I'm in the middle of this project, because seriously - I would die.

Have you had any luck on ebay for wedding related stuff? (Because seriously, Ebay has rocked my world - crystals for my shoes, pearls for my bouquet, brooches for the bouts...)

Updates on Bridesmaid Dresses!

So, my sisters gave me the go ahead to order the absolutely gorgeous Bill Levkoff dress!  But, I changed my color selection...you can read/see it on my post for Weddzilla from yesterday!

Sorry I posted the link a day late...

My First Stab at Glass Etching!

So, I recently found out I could use my Cricut to cut a stencil out of vinyl and then stick it to any piece of glass and use this special "etching cream" (aka acid) to etch my design on the glass!  Obviously, I was dying to try it out.

Things you will need:

Ok, so you don't need a Gypsy, but I found it incredibly useful.  And I used Armor Etch cream, which worked really well!

The glass product that I was going to use were some stemless wine glasses that I found at Marshall's on the cheap.  But Bryan and I rarely ever drink wine, so making them for us would have been quite a waste.  Instead, I decided to make them for his parents!

First I created a design using my Gypsy that revolved around their last initial (N):

Then I cut the vinyl (I'm pretty sure I had my blade at 5 - a regular blade, not deep cut - and the pressure at high):

Then I discovered that I could hold the glass perfectly with my feet:

And I put on my stencil:

And then I dabbled on the etching cream (don't paint it on, because you might get some of the cream under the stencil and that would suck).  Beware to not touch the etching cream - it is a highly abbrasive acid based cream (duh, it etches glass) and you don't want to get it on your skin!!!

Make sure the area is generously covered with the cream.  If it isn't it turns out pretty crappy.

Then I did this to the other three glasses:

And I waited!  From what I've read online, 10 to 15 minutes is more than enough time to let the cream do it's thing.  While I waited, Charles enjoyed having crafting supplies out because that means there are open boxes for him to chill in:

When enough time had passed, I brought the first one into our laundry room and washed off the cream, removed the stencil, and dried it off.  I'm not gonna lie, the first one kind of sucked, so I went and added more cream to the other 3 and waited some more before cleaning them off.  But they turned out great!!!

I'm very excited about this!  I think (after some more practice) I'll be personally designing and etching our toasting flutes for the wedding!

And it just so happened that yesterday Bridesmaid Shannon gave birth to her second son, and I had purchased a glass frame from Marshall's.  When her husband sent me a text with a picture of the precious little guy I decided to make them a frame.  This picture sucks, but I love how it turned out!  And I can't wait to go give it to them later today when I visit them at the hospital! (It says his full name on the top, and on the bottom it says his birthday with a rattle on either side):

What do you think?  Personally, I think with some practice this could be the perfect all occasion gift to give!  Happy Birthday...here's this mirror that I made specially for you.  Congrats on getting married, here are these hand-crafted glasses.  Merry Christmas, enjoy this personalized glass bakeware...the possibilities are endless!

I Would Be{e} Jealous If I were You...

...and you didn't get to come to the Pittsburgh Weddingbee Meetup today at Bocktown!

We have 15 total RSVPs, but I don't expect all of them to show up.  But for the ladies that do, I made these lovely little name tags...

Supplies needed include...paper cutter, random craft supplies in a zebra print tote (basically I needed glue out of there), Cricut Expression, 2 different cartridges (Create a Critter and Plantin Schoolbook), paper, and my new Xyron 510 Sticker Machine:

First I used the Create a Critter Cartridge and black cardstock to cut out the base layer:

Then I used sparkly yellow cardstock for the second layer and glued it down with Elmer's No-Wrinkle Glue:

 For the wings (the third layer of the Bees) I used blue sparkly cardstock and the same glue:

 Then, since my Cricut is still technically broken and I have to manually push down the blade (long story) instead of trying and completely messing up the faces I just lifted the blade when it should have been cutting the eyes and mouths and used a permanent marker to draw on the faces:

I then used the Plantin cartridge to cut out little speech bubbles (which will be where everyone writes their names) and glued those to the back of the antenna of the Bees using Zig Glue Pen (this is a must for detail gluing!!!).

Once I was sure all the glue was dry, I sent them through the Xyron to be laminated for an extra finished look:

 I'll bring permanent markers for the girls to write their names and double sided tape to fix them to their shirt!  I think they're absolutely adorable and I can't wait to go to the meet-up and share them with fellow Pittsburgh Hive Members!

And just because I like to show off, I also made the coolest card (a purse card) and box for FSIL for her Birthday.  She's turning 20 and for spring break she's going to Italy so fi and I got her $100 USD worth of Euros, and since I hate giving gifts without something tangible in it, I went to Burlington Coat Factory and found an adorable wallet to put the Euros in (the wallet is now in the box).

I didn't take any "how to" picutres, but I made this all with my Ultimate Crafter's Companion (the instructions for the purse card are on the DVD that comes with it) and here's the final product:

B for Brittany

How exciting...it pops out! haha

Happy Birthday in Italian (I stamped it with acrylic stamps)

The closed box - yes I added the rhinestones by hand

The whole box

The whole gift!

I'm quite impressed with myself!

Have you done any fun crafts lately?

Bridesmaid Dress Shopping Was Not Nearly As Horrible As I Thought It Would Be...

Seriously.  I don't know what I was freaking out about.  Then again, if I wasn't so afraid of it, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have researched dresses as much as I did, and then it would have been pretty miserable.  Because, let's face it, if you don't know what you're looking for going into it, you're kind of left to fend for yourself as you dig through over stuffed racks of sample size dresses that kind of look like poo on the hanger!

But anyway...I think I've found "the one" for the 'maids!  We got to try on all of the dresses I mentioned before and then some.  Only four of them were even worth taking a picture of, and each of them was actually one that I had a picture of before going shopping.  I'll save my very favorite for last, the first three are contenders in case I can't convince my sisters (who can be picky/boring/uncooperative) that my favorite is AMAZING.

So, third runner up is Allure style number 1233.  On the model:

Source

And on the lovely FSIL Brittany:

Personal Photo - Isn't she gorgeous????

Now, mind you, these dresses are massive on Brittany.  If you look in the mirror behind her, like half of the fabric is clipped in the back.  She measures in at negative sizes!!!  She's also only about 4'10 (yeah, she's so short that even in her very high heals, standing on the pedestal, if I stood next to her {on the ground} I was still taller then her).

Alright, now second runner up...Allure style 1239; on the model:

Source

And on Brittany:


Personal Photo - for the record, this was the biggest one on her.

 First runner up is another Allure dress, style 1229 to be exact.  On the model:

Source

And on Brittany:


Personal Photo.  This one is so big on her, and has it's own shape,
if it weren't so large, it wouldn't make her hips look like that.

 Since all the runners up were Allure dresses, I'll just tell you about the colors now.  If we were to choose one of these dresses, they would be in "amethyst":

Source

And if we got Style 1239, the waist band would be in ivory.

Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for...the most amazing bridesmaid dress of all time...Bill Levkoff Style number 594.  On the model:

Source

And on Brittany

Personal Photo - Notice FMIL in the background...isn't she adorable, too!?

I'M OBSESSED WITH THIS DRESS!!!!  I want it for myself to wear out.  I think it's perfect.  Let's face it, there isn't much to my wedding that's traditional, so why on Earth should I choose a traditional Bridesmaid Dress?  After seeing the color samples in person (not online) I decided if my sisters give us the go ahead we'll order it in a "copper" bodice with a "plum" skirt:

Source

I think I might cry if my sisters say there is no way they'll wear it.  But if they do agree to it, I'm making one of them give me theirs afterwards so I can have it altered to fit me and I can wear it down the road.  Yeah, I'm totally not joking about that.

So, what do you think?

And did you fall in love with bridal party attire that you were afraid would upset the bridal party?