Happy Halloween!!!

So, Friday they canceled Halloween because of the rain and post poned it for Monday...

Before

After

First went the Heaths and Reese's, then went the Milk Duds, and finally onto the big bag of Milky-way, Snickers, Butterfingers, and Baby Ruths. 

My tummy hurts...and now I feel bad for our trick-or-treaters.

.ray.

Will You Be My Bridesmaid?

Inexpensive Vintage-Looking Cards

Now that I have officially asked all my maids and flower girls to be in the wedding, I thought I would quickly share my inexpensive and easy to make cards. 

I bought the cards and envelopes at Michaels.

I ordered this stamp from Paper-Source and got the ink from Michaels.

Go to Word, or something similar, and type away--the hardest thing is the spacing.  I used American Typewriter for the font. Do a few test runs on blank paper, and sacrifice one card to send through the printer until the alignment is just right. If interested, I can email you my template. You may not be getting married but "thank you" cards look great too!

.ray.

My Bridesmaids

I have traveled from Philly to State College to Pittsburgh and back to Harrisburg to ask my friends to be... 

My BRIDESMAIDS:

Jess & Lindsey

Beck

Ash

Meg

Alyssa & Emily

Krista

FLOWER GIRLS:

Sammy and Peyton

 

.ray.

Snapfish

I don't know about you, but I have the hardest time finding a good place to develop pictures. Either the quality is just blah, the pictures are too glossy, the borders are cheesy, the...I obviously could go on forever.  I once visited this place, University Camera, in Iowa City. This may sound weird, but that one-hour-photo-developing experience has changed my life forever.  Ok, maybe not changed my life forever, but I did love the prints.

Let me explain...we, my friend Emily and I, spent a few days visiting our friend Alyssa in Iowa. The three of us spent a semester in Spain together--I knew you were wondering what the heck we were doing in Iowa.  Anyway, we spent a few days gallivanting the streets of Iowa City, snapping pictures here and there. Alyssa made the suggestion that  we get the pictures developed before we all went our separate ways, which lead us to University Camera. One hour later and Viola, we were opening our envelopes to see neatly white-bordered, and matte-finished photos. I don't know what it is about their developing techniques, but I was REALLLLY impressed with the quality prints they gave us. Ask Alyssa, she will attest to this place.  Since then, Alyssa has moved to Philly, but I do know she still takes an entire que of photos back there to be developed and I continue to be envious.

Developed at University Camera

Well envy no more! Although Snapfish is no University Camera, it comes as close as I have found and it doesn't require me to buy a plane ticket. Some of you may know about Snapfish, heck, maybe all of you know about Snapfish, but I used Snapfish for the first time and was quite pleased. I loved the quality: the colors were right on, it was matte just how i like it, and the white border didn't look too computerized. I didn't have to wait in any pesky lines to upload my pictures, and I didn't have to waste any gas driving there to pick them up once developed. The entire process was simple, you just sign up, load your pictures to the site with ease, and three days later they show up at your door. I even got free photos for signing up. If you are looking for an easy and fairly inexpensive place to do your developing, jump over to Snapfish.

My plan is to hang pictures of Damon and me around the wedding venue, and I can finally rest easy knowing I have Snapfish to do the developing. 

.ray.

DIY Tissue Paper Pom-Poms

POMS!!!

Another SIMPLE SIMPLE CRAFT!

Supplies

 Tissue Paper

Scissors

String

If you want a large quantity of tissue paper in a single color, your best bet is to order it online. 

Most party stores or craft stores only have a mixed pack of colors and don't have many different shades.

STEPS

Lay eight sheets of tissue paper on top of each other.  

Make your first fold one inch and continue folding an inch at a time in an accordion style. 

TIP: Make your folds on the shorter side, the ball doesn't form as nicely if your folds are done on the longer end of the tissue paper. 

After you are done folding the entire sheet, tie a piece of string in the middle.

With scissors trim the edges of both ends. You can cut the ends into a round shape or cut them into a pointy shape- i prefer the round.

Gently, separate the layers.

Complete the one side and then continue to the other side until a complete ball is formed.

Tie some string through the center and HANG!

You will see the poms debute at Alyssa's (Alyssa) baby shower in the coming weeks.

.ray.

Ray and Day

“Love is friendship, set on fire.”- Jeremy Taylor

Toronto, Canada 2010

.ray.

Round-Up

Things have really slowed down with my random purchases. 

Reasons:

1. I have way too much stuff and nowhere to go with it.

2. Work is insane right now.

3. I want to sleep in.

4. Fall is approaching and yard sales are dwindling.

 

Found both of these off of craigslist for a total of $35. 

My assortment of baking decor for the dessert table:

Cake Stand-Salvation Army $1.00

Each gadget was $1.00

Scale $3.00

I started collecting brooches. ($3.00-$8.00)

.ray.

The Wedding Room

People from far and wide have asked about the infamous "Wedding Room".

 Take a glimpse of the milk glass collection.
The collection wouldn't be so vast without the great thrifting of my Aunt Jen. 

I think I have enough milk glass vases...what do you think?

.ray.

DIY Lace-Covered Mason Jars

Jess and Lindsey, my Maids of Honor, came down to help me with some wedding day projects. I have spent the last few months gathering random wedding craft items but nothing has come to fruition. I was bound and determined to get the ball rolling this weekend. This project was making my lace-covered mason jars. My plan is to hang the jars (with flowers in them) from shepherds hooks lining the aisle. I had picked up a random bag of lace scraps at a yard sale and, at the time, had no idea what the lace would be used for but decided they would be perfect for this project. 

1. We cleaned the jars, grabbed the scissors and lace, and poured ourselves some hefty glasses of wine.

2. We cut the lace to fit exactly around the outside of the jars.

3. Once we had all the pieces, we headed to the deck to start the gluing process. 

4. Cover the jar with the adhesive spray (we used Elemer's Craft Bond, Multi-Purpose Spray Adhesive) and attach the lace. I will warn you-this scotch adhesive spray is deceiving. It doesn't appear to be that sticky, but I woke up the next day (after minutes of scrubbing and a shower) to my entire hand stuck to the sheets.

5. Let it dry.

6. Add the ribbon, twine, burlap, or string of your choosing and Voila! 

These can be used as a vase or even a luminary...(oh, note, vintage suitcase $2 from Saturday's Market in Middletown, PA)

.ray.

LOOKY LOOKY

 Here is what I am still looking for:


Vintage Floral Dishes (dinner plate, salad plate, dessert plate, tea cups, saucers)
Buttons
Milk Vases (only large and small bowls)
Blue Mason Jars  
Pint Size Mason Jars
Platters, Pie Plates, Cake Stands
Fabric
Skeleton Keys
Antique Books (anything wedding/love related in the title)
Pitchers (all glass/all different sizes)
Vintage Brooches for the Bouquets
Mirrors (neat frame)
Suitcases
Vintage Baking Utensils (Sifter, Whisk, Scale, rolling pin, cookie cutters)
Hankies
Scrabble Game 

Again, if anyone ventures out into the big bad yard sale or thrifting world, keep me in mind. 

Ramsey, I by no means want to discourage you from looking and keeping me in mind while shopping with Breesha, but it is fantasy football season and my husband-to-be needs you to be off your game this week. 

.ray.

I am 27.

I am STILL having a hard time getting use to this.

.ray.

China Collection Part V

This weekend was quite successful. Jess and Lindsey were in town from State College and helped with some wedding planning and wedding crafts. We also managed to get to the Williams Grove Flea Market to pick up more plates!!

The search continues...I think I am at 141 dinner plates.

.ray.