Delovely Details

I love these personalized hangers from delovely details.  They would make such a fun personal gift for your bridesmaids as well as provide unbelievable photo opportunities!  My only question is... where was Nicole when I was getting married!?  *Sigh* Well... for all of you lovely brides out there... you can benefit from grief!  Nicole is listed in the wedding section of our mini mall but you can also find her shop here or check out her official website here.

Oh geez! If that's not enough her and her husband do gorgeous guest boxes! Wouldn't this be a fantastic addition to your chic, rustic wedding?

I am in LOVE... as I am sure you are too! Enjoy!
xoxo,
Tara

Bridal Party Vintage Ticket Tags

Some of you may remember my post on my groomsman gifts.  Well, because of the crazy, popular exposure these have gotten, I have sold quite a few... but I just wanted to quickly share one of my favorite color combos! :) Red, black and ivory.  I think they turned out so pretty!

Contact me if you are interested in your own custom ticket tags!
xoxo,
Tara

Handmade Artist - Cameron Homemade

Sometimes, while searching the internet, I come across the most fabulous, wonderful people, blogs and shops!  Recently, I met Cameron from Cameron Homemade.  She has some of the cutest DIY projects and tutorials.  She also has an adorable shop where you can purchase various sewing patterns and in case your not the crafty type - decor and accessories.

Here are just a few things you can find at Cameron Homemade!

Super cute right?  And if you are in the market for a amazingly fun tote bag or purse (bridesmaid gift anyone?) - then you have to check out her bags!

And then as a bonus, Cameron just posted THIS!!!!  She is hosting a giveaway where you win this adorable pennant art!

****RUNNING TO GO CHECK OUT HER SITE AGAIN**** See you all later!



Where Can You Find Cameron Homemade?:
Giveaway
Cameron's Blog
Cameron's Facebook
Cameron's Shop

xoxo,
Tara

Will You Be My Bridesmaid? Notecards.

One of the newest items in my store (which is open now - but will be celebrating its Grand Opening in February)! These adorable Will You Be My Bridesmaid? Note Cards in your choice of color. Each set comes with 5 cards. 4 are for "Bridesmaids" and one is for "Maid of Honor" but can be altered for your bridal party.

The New Renee Collection

Table Setting Ideas: Bridal Cookie * Cake & Dessert Table: Amy Atlas * Bouquet: Roses and Dreams * Stationary: Diva Gone Domestic * Money Gift Box: Lacey Claire Designs * Bridesmaids: Image via Raina Dawn Events


The Renee Collection is a perfect blend of casual, rustic chic and whimsey fun. Perfect for your outdoor wedding the Renee collection features beautiful apple green and brown prints with old-fashioned fonts.










Hope you enjoy the newest collection!
XOXO,
Tara

Keep Your Other Half Organized

Honey Do THIS Honey Do THAT!!! I feel like my husband is so amazing at doing so many things but it seems like when I ask him to do something... it kind of goes in one ear and back out the other. So I decided a "Honey Do" mini notebook was the answer! Now I can write things down as I think of them and he has it in front of him... in black and white! Out of fairness - I thought I should have a Mrs. Honey Do notebook as well. Of course, he will probably lose it as soon as I give it to him.





These adorable mini notebooks will be available in my store... which should be opening within the next few weeks!!! YAY!!!! :)

Luckiest Girl In The World

Over the past few years I have developed what I affectionately call “photography envy”. After all, there is only so much a girl can do with a digital camera – no matter how nice it is. I have tried whatever was in my power to make my photos look more professional. After all – we make do with what we’ve got, right girls?
I have mentioned briefly how a SLR camera would be SO cool to have. I never asked for one – seeing as how incredibly expensive they are and my knowledge of photography is fairly limited. Well – Hubby decided that it was time for me to a more professional camera! On Friday, we exchanged gifts before heading to our hometown for Christmas. He definitely saved the best for last! I saw the pretty package that was wrapped in black, shiny wrapping paper with a sparkly silver bow and couldn’t figure out what else I could possibly want! And this is what I opened….


That's right! A Canon Rebel T3!!! As soon as I saw the box I started bawling. Huge, crocodile tears of happiness were streaming down my face. Instantly my husband thought he did something wrong. He had no idea that he had literally made one of dreams come true. I had to then quickly reassure him that he did something good and I was extremely excited. He said he had no idea how much I had wanted one since I tend to come right out and ask for things I want. But it’s easy to ask for a pair of slippers or some new acrylic paints. It’s not so easy to beg for a really expensive camera.

I am so lucky to have a husband that spoils me!

This weekend we have over 12 people coming to visit us for New Years weekend. I am so excited to spend a weekend with family and friends but I sure do wish that I could hole myself up in my studio and play with my new camera!!!!

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas and I wish only the best for the New Year ahead!

xoxo,
Tara

Wedding Shadow Box

I am trying so hard to get rid of all of the "extras" that have accumlated since our wedding. I am so afraid to throw stuff away because I keep thinking "what if I want to scrapbook/display/reuse that in future?" I decided that another way for me keep some of the momentos from our wedding was to make a shadow box to hang up in my studio. (Doesn't "studio" sound so much more official than "craft room"? I think that's what I will call it from now on!) Anyway, I put this together and I think it all turned out SO pretty!
This flower with the rhinestone brooch in the middle was from our gift box. It was so pretty!

I got a little bubble happy and had tons of leftover bubbles. So I threw one in there... compete with the tag.

Also included was an invitation and our monogram cake topper. Lots of shine and sparkle in this little box!

Overall, it was an easy but fun project. I loved making it and found the perfect place to hang it up. How did you go through your wedding stuff and decide what to keep?

XOXO,

Tara

DIY Christmas Ornament - Leftover Invitations

So - I am going through wedding withdrawal. I can't help but feel oddly connected to all of those bits and pieces that are left from my wedding. Extra flowers, candles, cake topper, sashes, etc. Over the past year, I meticulously picked each detail and in a flash it was all over. One of the hardest things for me to get rid of was all of those leftover invitations. Yeah, I kept a couple for scrapbooking but I just couldn't bring myself to throw all of the rest away! So set out on a mission to find an easy (inexpensive) way to use some... throwing them in the trash is just way to hard!!!!!
I happened across Jen's blog: Simcoe Street and found her super easy DIY Ornament tutorial and immediately had to try it out! It was so easy that I made 4 of them in an hour. I plan on keeping one and the other 3 are gifts for our parents.

Now I feel *little * less bad about throwing away about 20 unused invitations! It will be a treasured ornament for many Christmases to come!

Wine Tour 2011

This weekend I attended a Wine Tour in Erie, PA. The Lake Erie Wine Trail is so much fun. I have been there once before but did not know that there were so many wineries in one area! There are over 20 wineries going through Erie, PA into New York.
My mother, grandmother, aunt and best friend all traveled to my house and then we were going to tour the wineries. Come to find out... the Harvest Wine Festival was happening so we bought tickets.
I love putting together little momentos of our trips so I made these books to go with our tour.
I printed out the front cover matte and stamped grape vines on before attaching to the hard cover.

Inside conttained a pocket that I made and stamped "my wine". Inside the pocket I added stickers that I made (each with a different color and last name initial) so that when we bought a bottle of wine, we could label it with our sticker so we knew which ones were ours.

The stickers were made using my cricut and adhesive sticker cardstock.

The pages were put in by using my binding maching. I had a list of the wineries that were on the wine trail with the food/wine they were serving. Also inside were "wine tasting notes" so that we could remember where we bought each bottle of wine and how it tasted. It was fun making these and the girls LOVED them! We had a blast at the wineries and then went to a casino that we passed on our way there. It was so much fun and I am glad I got to spend quality time with family!

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.

Groomsman Gifts

UPDATE: My Groomsman Labels have been receiving a lot of attention on multiple websites... including Pinterest. There for I decided to put them in my store for those of you who are interested in purchasing custom labels for your own gifts. I can customize these with different colors and wording according to what you need!

I have a lot to say today! :) On a wedding related note - I wanted to share a Groomsman Gift I put together. I wanted to surprise the guys with a "shot of love" the before the ceremony. I had one of my bridesmaids take these down to the guys' hotel room before we left. It was a great way to let them know that "yes" this was my special day that meant a lot to me but that I didn't plan on taking the day too seriously! It was all about fun! I think it had the effect I was going for... the guys loved them!

I thought my wedding colors were a little too girly so I did a different (but complementing) color combo: ivory, gray and mint green. The tag looks like a vintage movie ticket.

I think these would also make great "party favors" as well. I am thinking about doing something similar to this for a Big New Year's party we are hosting these year. Of course, I will be doing a new design - so stay tuned for that in a few month! :)

Bridesmaids Gifts Continued...

I have been packing everything up to get ready to go to my home state for the wedding. I will be getting there 2 weeks early so that I can finalize a bunch of things before the Big Day. However, my efficient packing system has cause me to forget to take lots of pictures of all of my projects! Such as... the Bridesmaid's jewelry. It is beautiful! And, of course, oh so sparkly. I wanted to wrap them in a special way to took ivory paper embossed a "Thank You" note on each package. I then wrapped with a pretty satin pink bow. I then stuck each one in the girls' goody bags!

I bought each of these organizing utility totes from Thirty One Gifts. They had SO many neat bags but thought that these totes would be great to use for a variety of purposes.

I love to hear other people's gift ideas. What did you get your bridesmaids?

XOXO,

Tara