Marie-leigh'chelle Boutique

Every once in awhile you happen across something so spectacular, it takes your breath away! Well, the other day I stumbled across the most talented, adorable hats I have ever seen! Enter Marie-leigh'chelle Boutique.
I gasped, held my breath, squealed and then promptly contacted her to see if she would mind if I shared her amazing hats with all of you!

What's amazing about Brandi? She takes so much pride in her work. You can tell that each of her hats are lovingly made and 100% original.  She also loves to work one on one with customers to create custom designs.

Enough talk right? Show me the hats!

Amazing right? I can't wait to have a little one running around... she is going to have a hat for every day of the week!!!!  When you purchase a Marie-leigh'chelle hat it will arrive boutique packaged and in a box. (Baby Shower Gift, anyone?)

Plus... I got the inside scoop! For 2012, Brandi plans on expanding her collection to bridal top hats (OH I CAN'T WAIT), pill box hats, mini-mini toppers, and line especially for the Mr.'s (I see an awesome photo opportunity here).

I don't know why you're still reading - I would already be shopping for a new hat here.  Or checking out her website here.

Her only rule? You Must Have The Perfect Hat!

Enjoy!
xoxo,
Tara

Make Up Gift Bags

I love putting together gifts for people! Lucky for me, I am involved in a lot of things that allow me to come up with cutesy goodie bags often. One of the things I do is teach a high school color guard/dance team. For the competition season, they needed show make up. I am against sharing makeup... too many horror stories that include infections and stuff. Plus what girl doesn't want her own little goodie bag to take to competitions?

Each bag contained: makeup brushes, eyeliner, eyeshadow, cosmetic glitter, lipstick and bath and body works lotion. I asked the girls to provide their own foundation (and blush if they wanted it). It's just too hard to pick out foundation for others... I have a hard enough time with picking out my own!

I was lucky enough to have all of these items in stock in my store. Did I mention that I sell health and beauty items too? Anyway, the only thing I had to purchase was the lotion so for 19 gift bags - I spent a total of $19.00!!!! Not bad for a full gift bag of cosmetics.

Signature Scent for Wedding Day

So Ladies! I could not wait to tell you about latest wedding adventure! I recently read that a way to relax and have a bit of fun during the stressful times of wedding planning is to go out and find yourself a "signature scent" for your wedding. Well, yesterday, I hit my almost-breaking-point and decided to go out and give it a shot!

I took this challenge very seriously. I mean after all, years down the line, when I (or more importantly my fiance) smell this scent, we will fondly think of the day we were married. I wanted it to be something fairly light, sexy and be something I have never worn before. This was quite difficult for me seeing as how I am a girly girl at heart and can almost always find a reason to visit the cosmetic counters!

So- armed with nothing but deoderant and a credit card, I made my big trip out to the mall. I smelled perfumes at multiple stores, smelled lots of coffee beans... (apparently this "cleanses the pallet") and kept walking out of the store to get some fresh air. After a couple of hours of smelling what felt like almost every perfume that I have never smelled before - I narrowed it down to my final choices: Juicy Couture Original and Michael Kors Very Hollywood. After much debate I decided that the Juicy Couture was more of something that I would wear everyday whereas the Michael Kors was definately a "special occasion" sort of perfume. Of course... I ended up with both!

Via: Juicy Couture Website
"Now everyone can lead the charmed life of a Juicy girl. Splash on our signature scent featuring top notes of watermelon, mandarin, and passion fruit combined with the sparkle and freshness of bright marigold and green apple, lightened by a splash of water hyacinth and crushed leaves. Deeper notes of wild rose with sophisticated princess lily and creamy tuberose undertones. Base notes of caramel creme brulee and vanilla meld with elegant precious woods and patchouli."


Via: Michael Kors Website
"The Eau de Parfum makes its debut with shimmering jewels of mandarin and iced bergamot. Scene-stealing gardenia follows suit with a decadent performance of award-worthy glamour."

I got my purchases home and waited for my fiance to come home to smell my chosen "Wedding Day Scent", Very Hollywood. And, I am glad I did. My fiance found the smell just "too strong". It actually burned his nose!!! So, I told him that I would return it and he needed to help me find the perfect scent for the Big Day!

Today, we went to the store, returned the perfume and actually found Mr. K a signature scent to wear on our wedding day! It smelled so clean, fresh, manly and not at all overpowering! Introducing to you: Chrome by Azzaro. It is amazing! And I am so glad that he actually picked something special for our wedding day!

So, you ask, what did I end up with? Mr. K and I fell in love with Victoria Secret's Noir Tease. I won't repeat what he said but let's just say he LOVED it! Nothing else compared! Hands down I am going to feel, look and smell classy, a tad sexy and a bit mysterious on our wedding day!!!

The Ring(s)!

Mr. K and I picked out our wedding rings a couple of weeks ago. The great thing about this blog is that friends and family have yet to know about it... so I can leak all of the secrets I want! First of all, Mr. K is tough. He has never worn jewelry before so finding a ring that he would feel comfortable wearing for the rest of his life was going to be a challenge. He was so darn picky! It had to be manly, it had to be sturdy but not heavy, it needed to be solid but not clunky... AGH! We searched and searched. He found a few he liked here and there but nothing that truly caught his eye. When we went to Jared's a couple of weeks ago, his ring immediately caught my eye... I KNEW he would pick it. It screamed his name! Sure enough, without me saying a word he got all excited and said... "That one! I want to see that one!" Nothing else would do. We had found his ring!



Now it was my turn! I was excited, nervous and anxious to find a beautiful wedding band... in our budget. Sure enough... it was at Jared's as well! I love it and can't wait to get to wear it!



Now... have you seen my gorgeous engagement ring that Mr. K picked out all by himself? I don't think I have... if I have be a dear friend and please look again because I love to show it off!!! :)

Bridesmaids Gifts... Strassing Flip Flops

One of the first things I started thinking about once I got engaged was what I was going to do for those special ladies in my life! I decided early on that I was going to have a bag full of goodies for the girls. So.... I ordered these totes in black from 31 Gifts. I had each of the girls letters embroidered on them for a personal touch. I figured that after the wedding, it can be used for crafts, cleaning supplies, mini diaper bag, cosmetic tote... whatever strikes their fancy!

Today, I decided it was time to start filling the tote with all of my handmade goodies. First up, flip flops for the reception. Now, later on I will tell you all about my flip flop basket for all of my "lady" guests. But, these ladies need stand out flip flops for getting down during the evening! I bought each of them a pair from Old Navy and then individually strassed each pair. I made a special pair for my Matron of Honor in pink. These were harder than I anticipated. After doing hundreds of cake toppers for brides, I thought this would be a piece of cake. It was not. The rhinestones kept moving around and sliding off so I had to put a line of GemTac glue on, wait for it to dry a bit and then put the rhinestones on. The whole project took me about 6 hours for 6 pairs of flip flops.

So - Item #1 is completed! YAY for strassing flip flops for my girls! I hope they love them. As I finish other gifts... I will be sure to post them!

XOXO,

Tara

What to wear ... under there! Part 1.

As my wedding looms closer, I have been faced with the inevitable question... what to wear under my wedding dress? (I would love to post pictures but you never know who is looming in the shadows waiting to catch a sneak peek!!!!) Regardless, my dress is not strapless. It is sort of a halter style.
Now my first debate is what sort of bra to wear underneath? The lady at the bridal shop suggested that I wear nothing! *GASP* No Way! In order for me to feel comfortable, I have to strap my girls down! I consider myself having a boyish figure... no waist or hips. The only thing that is girly about my figure is my bust. This is actually the part of me that I am most self conscious about! So as for my bra I have decided on a few and need some help deciding!

This U-Plunge Cami may help create a bit of a waist for me since I don't already have one! The straps are removable.

This one is just a regular bra style. The straps are not removable but can be changed as a halter style. It does come in a nude color.

Lastly, when searching for solutions I found BraStick. It definately peaked my curiousity and looks like it could be a contendor. I just am not sure if I am brave enough to just rely on a sticker to keep my girls perked up!


Now that my girls are lifted and supported, it time to decide on how to tuck my stuff in and create a waist! Let me preface this by saying that I want to look as tiny as possible... Comfort comes in second when it comes to looking good. I know that for some people disagree and that is just fine. I understand. Would I love to be comfortable? Absolutely. It's just not the first priority on my list. SO - if you have a way to make me look tiny and comfortable... then PLEASE share! In the meantime, here are some options I found that may work. All of these are available on http://www.herroom.com/

Just a plain nude waist cincher with thong

A plain waist cincher.
I love this one. It has a pretty, vintage flair to it that may actually be a little sexy as well as flattering?
Plain skirt style that I would wear with a thong or something similar.

I really love the last 2. At least they are pretty as well as flattering! So many decisions and so little time! What are your thoughts? Help me decide! In the meantime... I am off to look at garters and wedding night lingerie!

XOXO,

Tara

Strassing My Shoes and The Crafty Blues

This past weekend I attended a Craft Bridal Fair at a local craft store. They had calligraphy lessons, bouquet arranging, centerpiece ideas, DIY favors and a lot of other fun DIY wedding ideas. I stuck around for a few of the demonstrations but the aisles of fun were just calling my name! So, as I slowly walked up and down every single aisle my mind started whirling. There were so many great ideas I came up with that I became dissapointed that I could only have one wedding.

With my cart full of craft items (only a few things actually for the wedding) I rounded the corner to go down my last aisle... the clearance aisle. Now, if you are anything like me the clearance aisle of a craft store is just a treasury of stuff that you don't need but have to have... after all it's on clearance - who knows if you will ever be able to find it again!?!?!

Well, ladies, I found the most wonderful, exciting items for my wedding... Christmas Ornaments! No, I am not having a Christmas Themed wedding but these babies were .25 each and FULL of possibilities. With enthusiasm I snatched every single one the had... and now? I have no idea what to do with them. *Sigh*

I guess over the next couple of months I will have to think about what in the world I can do with these. I am sure I will think of something!

NOW... My last post I talked about strassing shoes. During my trip I picked up hotfix rhinestones and started my journey of placing thousands of rhinestone on a pair of shoes. I worked on it for a couple hours last night and here is my progress so far:

BEFORE:

NOW:

It is a little frusterating getting all of the small rhinestones on the shoe but overall, its still kind of fun. Let's see how I feel in a few days!

But still, what in the world am I going to do with 20 large, silver Christmas ornaments?! I'm off to brainstorm......

DIY Wedding - To Do or Not To Do... That is the question!

As I continue my "wedding research" I have fallen in love with so many DIY projects that I have seen! All of you brides out there have many creative and fun ideas! I keep telling myself that I shouldn't start too many projects... but you all are making it SO hard not to be inspired! With the wedding less than 8 months away - I have decided this...

I am only planning on getting married once. This is the only chance I have in my entire life to create things exactly how I want them and have a roomful of people appreciate my vision. I do not want to look back at my wedding day and think "I really wanted to do this... but I didn't/ran out of time/couldn't figure it out/was lazy/etc."

So... even though I was not originally going for a DIY wedding - I think it may end up that way! Here are just a couple ideas that have inspired me!

1) Rhinestone Shoes... Oh how I love thee. This is one of the few projects that I actually think is worth the time and money it will save me. Before I even picked out my dress I had my shoes picked out. They were beautiful Benjamin Adams "Gaga". Well - $375 seems a bit steep but if you know me (and my love for shoes) I was willing to pull out the cash. Luckily, I happened across this picture:

Apparently Miss Eye Candy has a LOT of time and patience (not to mention a steady hand!)... and it was just what I needed to take the plunge! So after reading her comments I found out that she got her stones for a fabulous price (Under $20 for 10,000 stones!) and the shoes were on sale too! So, I happily hightailed it over to The Crafts Outlet.com and ordered my stones. Now... If I only had the shoes.

During my search for the perfect shoe to "strass" (which is apparently what you call spending over 40 hours gluing tiny rhinestones on shoes) I found this AMAZING blog: Redo My Shoe. This amazingly talented man takes the king of all shoes: Christian Louboutin and adds swarovski crystals to create what I could only call art! I spent my entire evening DROOLING over his beautiful creations! The love he has for his shoes bring tears to my eyes. Here are a few for you to admire:

But... back to reality. I may be hitting up the craft store tomorrow to get some rhinestones while I wait for my large batch to come in. I mean, I have to practice right? I have already dug out the perfect pair to practice on. Baby blue, suede peep toes! You all will certainly get an up close and personal look once I get started!

2) On the subject of Rhinestones - Love the look of Crystal Monogram Cake Toppers. But - I am NOT a fan of the price. The Nubian Bride said it all! I couldn't agree more. SO - As you all guessed- I scurried over to craftcuts.com and saved it to my "favorites". I have not ordered it yet but that's only because I haven't decided on my "official monogram". But I will be ordering as soon as I decide on the font I would like everything to be.

I have already made my bubble tags, Tears of Joy packets and some "back up" Thank You Cards. I guess I can officially call myself a DIY bride!

Until Next Time!...............