DIY Crafting Skills

OK so I know I am not the most savvy Do It Yourselfer, but I find inspiration from those in the blogging world that are, and then borrow steal their ideas...easy enough, right? Here are some fun and fabulous DIY side projects that I am most certainly going to try on my own--need a little fun to keep my mind occupied!

Book Page Wreath via Living with Lindsay {and sent to me by April}

Colored Chalkboard Vases via Centsational Girl

Decorative Tray via Martha Stewart

Weathered Sign Tutorial via Restoration House

Jute Twine Wreath via Jones Design Company

DIY Jewelry Tree via Centsational Girl

Chevron Art via Decor8

So tell me, what are your favorite crafts and DIY projects you've attempted?? Post your comment and link back to your blog or the blog you found the tutorial at...I would love to try some fun new projects this summer!!

The Best Day Ever...Out of Town Gift Bags

Finally, right? Another wedding recap...I'm hoping I can get through at least one of these a week or until I receive all of my fabulous wedding pictures!! I'm hoping I can swoon my photogs with some baked goodies or something of that nature ;).
When I started thinking about OOT gift bags, I knew I wanted something that screamed Nashville...also known as Music City USA. I had very specific items I wanted to include, and started off on my quest to purchase fun items to make these unique for guests that were sweet enough to travel to TN for our big day. Without further adieu, here they are:

The finished products...all lined up and ready to be delivered to the hotels

Now backing up to the assembly and what items were in each takeaway tote:

Goo Goo Clusters--a Tennessee staple

Mini Jack Daniels bottles--no explanation needed

Goody's Headache Powder Packets--for the day after ;)

Music City Mix CD made by Dad--check out the CD label

Bottled Water with personalized labels

 Homemade Late Night Munchies Mix--popcorn, M&Ms, peanuts, and coated with melted almond bark...so addictive

Homemade Mini TN Jam Cakes--made by Mom and the perfect sweet treat!

Trident White Gum

Spirit of Nashville Postcards

Custom Wedding Itinerary--complete with a listing of our favorite places to eat, shop, and visit as well as detailed directions to the church

The weekend before the wedding, Meg/Aaron, Mom/Dad, and  Jeff and Igot to work on baking/mixing, and getting the items ready to be packaged and then Mom and I made ourselves a small assembly line Wednesday night...we were a machine making sure everything was just perfect and I just loved how they turned out!

For the custom water bottle labels, munchie tags, stickers, and itineraries, I worked with the fabulous Mekala from Tie That Binds.

She helped me achieve the exact look I was going for to tie these small details into the overall color scheme and look of our invitations. Ladies, she is WONDERFUL to work with and you can see more of her designs on her blog here.  {P.S. I'll have more to show you from her when I recap the rehearsal dinner, too!}

As for the other items, I found these all around Nashville and online:

Kraft tote shopping bags: Michael's

Bright yellow tissue paper: Hobby Lobby

Cello bags for munchie mix/mini jam cakes: Nashville Wraps--available to purchase online

Raffia ribbon for mix: Nashville Wraps/Hobby Lobby

Retro Nashville postcards--Spirit of Nashville

Goo Goo Clusters: Cracker Barrel

back to basics... no more wedding talk

once this wedding fiasco business is said and done, i am going to make a serious effort to blogging again about fun DIY projects, new recipes, decorating the house, fun workouts and exercises, shopping...you know the very important stuff--haha.

until that time, though, i thought i would take some time to divert your attention to other noteworthy blogs and posts of people who have some free time to tackle some fun projects that i am ready to try out ASAP:
{and for all the nashville friends, i so want to host a creative DIY night at my house to work on some of these fun projects--who's in??}

coffee filter wreath via centsible savings

grown up mac and cheese via 33 shades of green

wrapping paper ribbon wall rack via 33 shades of green

chalkboard painted flower planters via centsational girl

croissant bread pudding via make it do

fish tacos with mandarin-orange salsa via gimme some oven

magnolia leaves, cloves studded floral arrangement via jenny steffens hobick

any other fun DIY projects you've mastered or seen done and think could be fun? i'm all ears! it's thursday readers which means only 1 more day until weekend festivities commence...meaning, i better get to business finishing laundry, packing, and getting ready for knoxville!

Hot Dog! It's a Party

Yes, when I ventured into the grocery store to buy balloons for the birthday party, the florist kindly asked "oh how old is your little boy?" to which I replied "he's turning 27"...haha! Oh yes, Jeff went on and on about how I never make a big deal about "his" day so I went above and beyond this year to show him just how loved he really is.
He wanted a gourmet hot dog bar and ladies and gentlemen, that is what we delivered. We stocked up on all the party goods for two weeks leading up to Saturday's festivities and I stayed up to the wee hours Friday night making sure everything would be ready for our shindig. Someone was looking out for us as we had perfect cookout weather on Saturday--70 degrees and sunny skies!
That morning, I made sure to finish tying all the utensil sets up, putting together the mason jar tags for each sauce and topping, picking up fresh tulips, and making kraft paper cones for our sweet potato fries. Here are some pictures of our spread:

Red Velvet and Cream Cheese Cupcakes--Yummy!

Fully Stocked Party Fridge

Once the "help" arrived {AKA Meg, Aaron and Sam--thank you again!} the fun officially commenced... we got down to business baking and chopping and getting everything ready! Fast forward 2 hours and the guests started to arrive for a night full of fun...

Look at all those dogs!

Me and the Birthday Boy

Jocelyn, Meg, Heather, and Me

Dinner is Served!

Make a Wish Jeff!

Jeff and Meg's Dance Party

Crazy Crazy!

Put the Lime in the Corona!

We had a fabulous night and I know Jeff was thankful for so many of our friends making it out to celebrate with him and watch him embarrass himself with his uber suave dance moves...now he better plan something REALLY good for my birthday---hmmmm....