Cutest Cake Toppers

I will be making my own cute little bird cake toppers inside a nest. The birds will be made out of paperclay which is a type of clay that doesn't need to be fired. Here is an example of what i am shooting for from RedLightStudio, a wonderfully talented Etsy seller! The set shown is only $60!

Gocco Glory!

My wonderful husband to be got me a Gocco printer for Christmas! Now i need to narrow down designs for save the dates and invites and maybe monogrammed napkins and bridesmaids gifts!! For those of you who haven't researched Gocco printers before it is a way to make hundreds of invitations or napkins or business cards or just about anything you can imagine in less than an hour. You use a "one use flash bulb" to burn the image onto a screen and then slather the screen with gocco ink and press the image onto you paper. Here is a tutorial because the instructions come in Japanese. Mine was about $265 but you can find them cheaper if they are used or the PG5 version would work just fine.
Here are some designs i've collected so far....I love the peacock one! A lime green peacock with black lettering!

Lime Accessory Inspiration

Top Left to Right:

Lime Green Chandelier Black Leaf Earrings from Blondechick on Etsy.

Adorable Faceted Peridot Wrap Earrings (I'm Totally making these!) from Silverdotjewelry on Etsy. Green Fresh Water Pearls necklace and earrings from Overstock.com.

Bottom:

I love these ballet flats from E Shoe Warehouse on Ebay. I've looked at many birdcage veils and am in love with this one from Heknowsmyname on Etsy. And last but not least the beautiful twig earring inspiration from Lauraarrington on Etsy.

Make Your Own Bridesmaids Gift!

My sister made this awesome wedding binder for me to organize my thoughts and budget along with two new bridal magazines. In the Martha Stewart Wedding magazine i found a tutorial on these little acorn earring made from yellow faceted jade beads and acorn tops. I just bought everything i need from Ebay to make like 10 pairs. It even shows you how to make the tree lining!

These earrings for your bridesmaids boast BFF-worthy qualities (they're hip, handmade, and look expensive) -- yet they cost just a few dollars.The charming illustrations for the backing were created for us by Virginia-based illustrator Katy Jean May. If you like the style but want something different, you can commission her to draw something for you. Reach her at 215-356-9513.Ours are sized to fit into a 2-1/8- by-3-inch jewelry box. The images are designed to have the larger white space toward the bottom of the box.
Tools and MaterialsPushpin12-millimeter yellow jade beads, Acorns, 1 1/2-millimeter gold ball pin, 24-gauge fish hook earring, PDFs (Tree Card 1, Tree Card 2, Tree Card 3)Stiff paper or card stockCraft knifeMetal straightedgeSmall Japanese hole punch, 3-by-2-1/8-by-1-inch jewelry box.

Acorn Earrings How-To1. With a pushpin, poke hole through acorn cap from underneath.2. Slide bead and cap onto a jewelry finding called a head pin.3. With needle-nose pliers, make a loop just above the cap, and cut away extra wire.4. Slide a hook on.Backing How-To1. Download the PDFs (Tree Card 1, Tree Card 2, Tree Card 3), and print onto stiff paper or card stock. Use a craft knife and metal straightedge to cut between the crop marks; do not cut all the way to the edges of the paper, but leave them intact to preserve the crop marks for subsequent cuts.2. Use a small Japanese hole punch to make two holes along each branch for the earrings.From Martha Stewart Weddings, Fall 2009

Invitations and save the date ideas!

I would use my own colors of course but these are super cute! Top row and bottom left are from theknot.com and the bottom right is from stylemepretty.blogspot.com

Color theme one- Black and White with a hint of green!

The cute save the date card is from theknot.com, the delicate and beautiful Lilly of the Valley flowers are from Martha Stewart Weddings. I just LOVE the photo of the bride and groom sitting on the hood of that car! Shanes' car is a black '65 Mustang so I'm going to request that the photographer take that photo! On the bottom left is an inspiration board i found on snippet&ink.com....i love the Anemone flower cake and the dahlias. The last photo of green spider mums is from stylemepretty.blogspot.com, so lovely!

outdoor lights!

Im not sure if it will look tacky to use three different types of lights for the wedding but these are such great DIY ideas that i may not be able to pass it up!

The three photos on the left were taken in order by: Paul Johnson, Josh Mccullock and Jessica claire

Tutorial for the hanging votives or mason jars...i think tea lights would be fine in a deep jar.

Papercut lanterns by Hannahnun on Etsy would be a great project! Just cut out or punch out your design on parchment paper then laminate and fold!

You can get paper lanterns for as low as $2.05 each for 6" or $2.30 for 10". Sizes go all the way up to 30".

Updos!

I love the fresh flowers and the flower pins! All of these were found on theknot.com.

Come along with me!

My friends think my budget of $5,000 for my wedding is just crazy...and maybe it is but I'm sure going to try! So you can follow me on my journey to find out if it is possible or not.
As of todays date here are my thoughts:
The date: August 28, 2010
The ceremony venue: Our backyard
The reception venue: Our backyard
Theme ideas: Classic 1920's with a modern twist
Color ideas: black and white with hints of lime green
Bridesmaids: Black dresses with a flat feather hair-piece and one of the two color schemed bouqets.
Groomsmen: Black suits, white shirts, lime ties and maybe fedoras?
Other money saving ideas: Ipod and a borrows PA system, Friends are making our food and we will hire a couple of people to keep the platters stocked, food warm and clean up, mismatched plates, silverware and glasses if it saves money, canning jars from my mom for the table flowers which will probably be two mums and a leaf!, canning jar tea lights, papercut lanterns and christmas lights, i will arraneg the bouquets...
Plenty more to post about!