Glampire Bride and Day of the Dead

Well, it's October and you know what that means...Halloween! I love Halloween and dressing up, going to parties and of course, pretending to be something else for a day. I used to even sew my own costumes back in the day before we had the kiddos but now I mainly focus on getting their costumes ready which still puts a big smile on my face because they are so darn cute!

So, I was super excited to partner with a few very talented friends and stage a little glamour Halloween photo shoot. I'm loving how our Glampire Bride and Day of the Dead look came together!

Lynda (Lynda Jackson Beauty) was the mastermind behind the Glampire Bride make-up and it was stunning and eerie all at the same time. We are both fans of vampire pop culture (yes, that means Twilight and Vampire Diaries) and wanted our bride to have that mysterious, supernatural look yet mesmerizingly beautiful all at the same time.  It's the red lining of the eyes and those lashes that extend out like wings that really does the trick and push the look from "everyday" to Glampire!

I snapped a few photos with and without the veil and flower accent and just love these two shots of our Glampire Bride (the lovely Anissa from House Seven). Way to get into character, Anissa!

Once the birdcage veil and flower was added, our Glampire Bride look was complete! 

I had decided that I wanted to do Day of the Dead for my own Halloween costume this year and what better way to get ready for it than to practice applying the costume make-up myself. Day of the Dead make-up can traditionally be very intricate and detailed but I had wanted to approach it with a more simplified design. I'm pretty excited about how it turned out and can't wait to try it on myself! 

Vanessa was also the perfect person for this role, too.  She had the perfect features for this style and I love, love her long hair. So striking!

Sarah Smith was our hairstylist for the day and did a fabulous job on both our models. I was super impressed how quickly she whipped up the hairstyles and to top it off, she was a lot of fun to work with. I'm looking forward to the next project with both Sarah and Lynda!

The paper flowers were created from a textured stock that I found at Michaels. I singed the edges of each petal with a lighter to achieve the dark outline which also gave the petals a more organic shape. Watch out though as a couple of them started to really catch on fire. Safety first!

If you are wanting to recreate these flowers, here are a couple of great tutorial links for Dahlia and Ranunculus flowers. I didn't follow them exactly but referenced them more for general shape and structure. 

The entire photo shoot was a lot of fun and really got me excited for Halloween. We will be in Disney next week and have tickets to the Halloween party so it should be tons of fun! Can't wait to share pics with you all of my own Day of the Dead recreation. J

DIY Chevron Arrows

Hello! I've been working on a new look for our entryway and was in need of a little DIY wall art. I knew I wanted something wooden and something geometrical and I really love the chevron arrow trend I see popping up everywhere (even on my blog, haha). Just the perfect design to finish off the entryway wall!

The finished size of the arrows needed to be small so I started thinking through what materials I might have laying around that could be used to create them and luckily, I had some jumbo craft sticks leftover from another project that would work beautifully. 

Here's a list of the materials I used:

• Jumbo craft sticks
• Self-healing cutting mat (with a 45 degree guideline)
• Xacto Knife and additional blades
• Ruler (or a triangle if you do not have a cutting mat with the 45 degree guideline)
• Hot glue gun
• Minwax Wood Finish in Classic Gray
• Foam brush
• Krylon Dual Superbond Paint + Primer in Copper Metallic
• Painter's tape
• Command Picture Hanging Strips in small

I cut the craft sticks in half at a 45 degree angle as well as both ends to make two chevron pieces. Each piece measured 2.75" from the longest points. Once assembled together, the arrow was slightly longer than 4" and just a bit taller than 3".

I cut a support piece that was 2" in length and secured it (using a hot glue gun) to the backside of the chevron pieces to hold the arrow together. With the arrow being small in size, the one center support seems to hold these together pretty well but any larger I would suggest adding addition supports to the backside.

I wanted these to have a weathered look so I stained them with Minwax in Classic Gray and to add a bit of extra charm, I taped off the middle of the arrow with 2" wide painter's tape and then spray painted the top and bottom exposed edges with copper metallic paint. I'm kind of a fan of copper and rose gold right now and love using it as accents throughout the house. Makes me smile. J

To hang them, I used Command strips. This way I didn't have to worry about nailing anything to the wall and if I didn't align them perfectly to my liking, it was an easy adjustment with the interlocking fasteners.

A super easy project! There are so many different ways to style and display these so have fun with them. J I'd love to see how your chevron arrows turn out!

Something Old, Something New...

Hello! Today is a very exciting day for me. Not only am I celebrating my third wedding anniversary but this is also my first blog post (yay!). I couldn’t think of a better way to start this new adventure than to share some of the wonderful moments and handmade goodies from our wedding.  

Since our wedding was just on the threshold of the fall season, I had wanted a color palette that complimented this transition between summer and fall. It's absolutely my favorite time of year when the summer humidity has taken a sabbatical but you still have the pleasantly warm and sunny days. I was on the hunt for color inspiration and as soon as I saw this palette of neutrals with an accent of marigold, I knew I had to plan around this color scheme. I still love it three years later!

via The Inspired Bride

We were married under the Portico at the Indianapolis Art Center and the overlooking landscape was already so beautiful that I didn't need to do much for the decor. I simply made a garland that was strung between the columns where the ceremony was performed. The garland was very easy to make. I tore strips of cotton fabric in varying lengths and tied them onto a thin piece of rope. Voila! A simple, yet eye-catching focal point.

I am very blessed in the fact that I have such great and creative friends and they were my saving grace in pulling this all together. My maid of honor, Jen, created all of our bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages. She’s very talented with her floral arrangements and I am sure you will see her pop in here once in a while with a guest post or two.

And check out the adorable flower girl dresses that were created by my bridesmaid, Anissa. She also happens to be the creator of one of my favorite blogs, House Seven.  I love her savvy style!

I am also lucky to call our photographer, Jamie Sangar, a friend. She and I had worked together at the creative agency I work for prior to her launching her photography business. Working with her was amazing and she made Allen and I feel so comfortable. She photographed every detail of our wedding so perfectly!

I had designed our invitations myself but asked my bridesmaid, Rachel, to print them for me using her Gocco. Having her print these definitely saved us a few dollars but it also added that special handcrafted charm which is something I had wanted to include in many areas of the wedding.

For the envelopes, I had created my own liners using wrapping paper from Paper Source. It's an easy and inexpensive way to dress up any invitation. Of course, you can buy pre-lined envelopes but trying to stick within the budget, this was one way to cut costs but not on the esthetic.

We had decided to also manage all of our RSVPs online through Wedding Wire. I loved this tool! Guests could log onto our wedding website and submit their RSVP with just a simple click. We didn't have to worry about the additional postage nor tracking and recording responses from each individual RSVP card. And since all of the guests were already organized within the online tool, I was able to easily create a digital seating arrangement. Who doesn't love a way to save time and money?!

Jen had incorporated the billy ball flower in the bridesmaid bouquets and groomsmen boutonnieres and I thought it would be fun to mimic these flowers for the reception escort cards. I hot-glued the lil' yarn pom poms to paper-wrapped floral wire and then printed each guest's name and table number on a label and wrapped it around the floral stem. I displayed the escort flowers in moss covered blocks of foam.

And while the pom poms are easy to make, creating a 125 of them can be a tad-bit time consuming. It wasn't something I accomplished in one evening or even by myself. Let me just say that it's a lot more fun to do these with friends and a bottle of wine (or two). J

My husband and I both love craft beer. Allen is actually the one who turned me on to it and I wanted to surprise him with some elements of the wedding that spoke to his own likes and interests (it's not all about the bride, after all!)

Beer growlers were used as vases for the larger table centerpieces (baby food jars were used for the smaller ones). I also had our wedding cake vendor, Indy Cakes, create a groom's cake shaped like a growler of beer. Allen was so surprised!

And, If you have had a chance to check out my About Me page, then you might have already guessed that I probably had to incorporate some sort of paper goodness at our wedding. Well, you were right and I totally did. I had decided to create all of the centerpieces out of paper flowers. I once calculated the number of petals that had been assembled to create these dainty arrangements and there were well over 2,000 petals! Wow, that’s a whole lot of petals, right?!?! Again, a craft that is best done with friends and tasty adult beverages. J

For our guests to take home with them, I whipped up mini jars of jam with the help of my (now) mother-in-law, Sandy, and sister-in-law, Hollie (also a bridesmaid). I have to say, planning a wedding takes a village! I had gotten the recipe through a friend and I'll have to track it down to share with you all soon. It was a Pineapple Jam with Rosemary and Vanilla. I promise...it's delicious! I purchased those mini jars (like the ones you steal from some hotel's room service because they are cute) and printed labels that read "Spread the Love" along with our initials and wedding date.

Oh, the memories. J After months and months of planning, the actual day goes so quickly. I’m sure so many of you can relate and for those happy brides-to-be, I wish you the best in all your planning and hope your day is filled with love! It’s nice to take a trip down memory lane and I am happy to have a chance to share with all of you now.

Photos courtesy of Jamie Sangar Photography