Our mostly DIY wedding!

I have been feeling sick the last few days so not much crafting has been happening so I thought that I would post some of our DIY wedding photos. We were married in September in Bay Bulls, NL. I did my best to keep the cost down as at the time I was working part time from home and Hubby was pulling in all the over time he could.
I hired a friend of my sister who is professional photographer to do our photos and hired her from ceremony till reception which cut way down on the cost and we still got beautiful shots! as well I hired a friend of both my dad and sister to make the cake which got us a very nice discount! I did the Invites myself with kits I bought at Walmart on clearance and just printed them myself. I made the favors myself as well, I made a magnet with the cherry blossom theme we were using and our names and date, then I put them into bags that I cut out and put together from a template found online with 4 Hersey kisses which I got on sale for 99 cents a bag! I bought all the table cloths myself and punched all the confetti myself too. The center pieces and arch way belonged to a friend of mine who is now a wedding planner and helped us out with the decorating and day of stuff, and the lattice backdrops were made by my Step Father

All in all the wedding its self went off like a charm and everyone loved it, we loved it because it was us and mostly because I did it mostly by myself! I felt so great that I could take credit for our wedding!

Our Photos were taken by Melanie Courage, and all of the photos featured here are by her!

I also made all of the bouquets and boutonnieres, all the bridesmaids and groomsmen had the pink and brown wrapping and myself and my groom had the zebra to match my shoes!

Our cake topper was a picture frame, I was looking for one that was an engagement ring and a wedding ring but couldn't find it, so we went with the linking hearts, it had one of our engagement pictures and one of the first pictures we had taken together when we first started dating. It was a great representation of us!

This last one was taken just before I gave him the "put that in my face and this marriage will be over before it began" speech.

I had to add these last two because they are by far my favorite shots Mel took all day! If you want to see more of Mel's work click the link below!

Melanie Courage

Snow day scarf!

Yesterday was another snow day here in NL and since it looked like this outside my window....

I thought that  I would pull out some of the yarn that I picked up on my recent trip to the thrift store. I have been wanting to try out something new that I have heard of and seen lots of on Craftser.org. If you haven't been over there you should defiantly stop by its got great tutorials and a great community of crafters that are very helpful if you have questions or if your a lurker like me you can search the community for previous posts that contain what your looking for. Its great for sparking those creative juices and getting the crafting started. The craft that I have been dying to try is a Rapunzel scarf. Its supper simple and super cute too!

I started as I said with my bunch of yarn I picked up at the thrift store, some of it was obviously left over from someone else's craft and some of it never used at all...

Then I just measured one piece of yarn against one of Delaney's scarfs to make my first one for her, once I cut the first piece I just measured the rest against it. I cut down about 25 to 30 pieces of various colors... you could use all the same color or complimentary colors. Then I tied a knot in one end and began to braid, once you start this make sure you have it as tight or as loose as you like it along the whole scarf.  Then once I reached the end of the scarf I tied another knot to finish it off.

This scarf turned out a bit short but Delaney loves it just the same! When it was done I trimmed off the end of the edges so it was all even. Which left me with a pile of trimmings that I couldn't bear to throw away so now I have to find something to do with... Any ideas are welcome, and much needed!

First Valentines craft of the year!

This week we started our valentines decorating, during which I realized that I don't have a wreath for the occasion. So after looking for some inspiration I figured that I would try something that my daughter Delaney and I could do together! Which means it lacks a little in the presentation, its a bit on the messy side and it was super simple to do! What can I say when crafting with a 2 year old you sometimes have to go for quick, easy and fun rather than pretty, time consuming and perfect...

Here is the finished product!

Here is what we used:
A cardboard box
Two plates one large (a dinner plate) and one smaller (a lunch or side plate would do)
One sheet of white computer paper torn into strips length wise
Variety of craft foam sheets
Scissors
Glue stick
Stickers
Hot glue gun and glue
Ribbon to hang the wreath with

To get started I waited till nap time! I did all my prep work in the 2 hours that Delaney was asleep so that I would be able to do the main cutting and gluing without having to explain ten times why mommy needs to do the cutting. To begin the mommy work I cut a wreath shape out of the bottom of a cardboard box using two different size plates as a template (the larger one for the outside of the wreath and a smaller one for the center) once I had it traced out I cut it with a utility knife, then for ease and cover up of the cardboard I simply glued strips of white printer paper around the wreath. You could also use colored construction paper or scrap-booking paper if you have Valentines day themed paper on hand. Then I cut heart shapes out of pink purple and white craft foam.

Once Delaney was awake and ready to craft I had her "help me" glue the hearts around the wreath. Then it was all up to her I gave her some sparkly Valentines day stickers purchased at the dollarstore, and she went to town adding them where she wanted with a little help from mommy to get the stickers off the sheet as she choose them and to help her make sure they were straight... when it was OK with her. After it was all done I hot glued the ribbon to the back of the wreath so we could hang it, of course this was a mommy job too!

In  the end we made a beautiful wreath in about 2 hours, including the mommy time and the mommy and Delaney time, and we had a lot of fun doing it! the best part I know have a wreath that we made together and I can display it for years to come!

You could of course jazz it up more with other shapes or embellishments like glitter or gems but when working with a 2 year old I find it easier keeping things a little on the cleaner side... because our other craft projects have looked a little more like this when we were finished...

Happy crafting and Happy Valentines day! 

Welcome

Hello and Welcome!

This blog is someting I have been thinking about doing for a long time! I have thought it over and talked myself out of it so many times I figured that it was time to try it out and see how it goes. What do I have to lose right?  

I suppose I should start my first post by telling you a little more about me! I am a wife and stay at home mom and so grateful that I am able to do and be both. I cook and I craft, I watch Tinkerbell with my 2 year old almost everyday, I kiss boo-boo's and sprinkle magic fairy dust on them too but most of all I am proud to do what I do. I might not be perfect and I might not do everything the way it "should" be done but it all gets done and it gets done to my family's satisfaction.

I can't spell and I will tell you up front that spell check is likely the only thing saving any reader from seeing my mistakes! I  also don't always have the best grammar but I try.

I  Live in Canada's oldest city, St. John's and I love it! It is large enough to keep us busy but small enough that you run into your schoolmates and neighbors at the grocery store on a regular basis and that is one of the many things I love about living in this beautiful place, the other is the history. This place is so rich and full of history, there are parks and monuments, a beautiful downtown shopping area and a great family feeling in the midst of it all!

My Husband and I have been married only 5 months but have known each other for 7 years! We had a beautiful fall wedding which was mostly DIY and I did it mostly myself due to my controlling type A personality! It was fun and beautiful (if I do say so myself) and I am so proud to say that I/we did it all!

SO...... Who are you? Tell me a little about you and what might have brought you here! I'd love to hear from anyone that stops by. And thanks for taking a chance on my blog I am hopeful to get some crafty posts up here soon including wedding items, Christmas items (yes I have started my lists and crafts already) and my favorite crafts to do with my girly!