string lights

so when i was in thailand i bought 300 of these string light covers to be used in our wedding.  they were cheap!  they were about $40 for 300 i think.  we asked them to give it to us without the lights themselves because the thai and us voltages are different.  we also got them collapsed. 

i spent about a day, opening them up.  i found that because thailand is so much more humid, some of the balls were starting to become brittle, dry, and showing their glue.  i dont mind so much because i dont think people will be looking at them closely.

the light bulb also didnt slide securely in so i had to make a couple extra snips with my scissors to the hole.

table guestbooks

so for our main signin we have the thumbprint picture. so we dont really have a guestbook.  this was kind of a spontaneious project.  i took some nice writing paper folded them in half.  then i took some thin card stock and used washi tape to make a sort of binding. i then rounded all corners with a punch.  next i used my sewing machine and essentially bound all the books together.  just used a straight stitch and sewed straight through.

next i used the letter rubber stamps and put questions on the cover such as:
how did you meet claudia and stephen
describe claudia and stephen
draw claudia and stephen
your favorite memory of claudia and stephen
your funniest memory or claudia and stephen
kids names

pashminas

so we bought the pashminas in hong kong because they were the cheapest there.  we got them for about $3-$4 each which is pretty good.  i also tied these with raffia.  again that were too short.  then i used cricut to cut different leaves and stamped them with keep warm.  i tied the leaves on with divine twine.

handkerchief programs

so im finally done with the handerkerchief programs that i set out to do.  i originally started out with another design but it got vetoed by multiple people.  i ended up with the marimekko unikko design for the border and then just names of everyone in the bridal party etc for the text.  our ceremony will be simple and nondenominational so a program wouldve been overkill anyway.  i had them printed at spoonflower and was really happy with the results.  i had ordered a swatch of the older design i did but not of the new one.  they contacted me to make sure i didnt need a swatch of the new design. then when i put the order in, someone had reviewed it and cancelled it for me because i had it at the wrong dpi.  it took me a while to realize that the preview refreshes to show the total yardage you are ordering and not just a snippet.

i had also considered doing these by myself because i saw somewhere that you can essentially print on fabric with freezer paper.  the cost ended up being around the same so i went with printing at spoonflower.  i thought their prices were pretty reasonable.
i then had to cut these by hand. where i realized that i made mistake #1.  not leaving a gap for cutting.  the 4 napkins were printed one right next to the other so there were no gaps.  i had to try to cut precisely. 

then i had to finish these on the sewing machine.  i got so frustrated because i was trying to learn to use the narrow hem foot.  super useful tool but takes a while to master.  i think i spent half of the napkins trying to master it.  and even then there are mistakes in almost all of them =[

flip flops

so i was waiting to get the old navy flip flops because there is a flip flop sale that supposedly goes on in may where the flip flops are $1 a pair!  i read somewhere that there is maximum number of pairs that people are allowed to get so i was hoping to order them online at a  30% or greater discount.  last week there was a stuff and save sale where gapinc card holders get 40% off and a free tote.  so i went to the nearby old navy and filled the cart full of flip flops.  checkout took a while because the computer was actually taking longer to process them than the cashier could scan them.  so i felt like we waited forever for the system to catchup.  meanwhile the line was growing and i was getting embarrassed.  i read some comments and followed their advice to get a bell curve of sizes and also not as many for the guys.

before i got the flip flops, i had made the tags.  cricut leaf shape and divine twine.  i stamped "stay comfy" on the front and back of the leaves.  i had actually cut a whole bunch of raffia for the flip flops and pashminas but somehow i cut all of then too short.  so they dont quite make a bow ... oh well ... after tying the raffia, i would then tie the leaf tag onto the raffia ...

candy bar

so these candy bar jars have actually been passed around several times for different weddings.  i borrowed them for my wedding and have been decorating them.  i tied different colored ribbons around the top.  i also used the cricut to cut some leaves for labels that i used divine twine to tie to the jars.  hopefully with the candy in them they will look alright

neon rhinestone necklace

so i was looking for a good neon statement necklace but some of the ones i found online were either not good quality or too expensive.  tom binns has some that can run you up to $600!!!  i saw some by adia kibur but the reviews were not good.  so i searched for DIY neon rhinestone necklace and VOILA!  people either painted them with acrylic paint or nail polish.  nail polish was more readily accessible to me so i went to target and got a $2 bottle of neon pink nail polish.  i took a risk by painting this jcrew necklace but if i really really really wanted to, i could take the polish off.  there is some pink residue though as ive discovered when i tested my own nail polishes to see if the color was right.

the outcome was duller than i expected.  in fact, all of the sparkle is basically gone. i tried to paint over it with another nail polish but a top coat or another coat wasnt worth the time or effort.  looks pretty good with one coat, so ill try to wear it like this for now!  excited!

i also attempted to spray paint some forever21 pearl bracelet i had.  but the roundness of the pearls made it hard to get an even coat.  so i gave up.