Homemade Wedding Presents!

Oh my goodness, I've been so MIA! My brother's wedding was this weekend and I've been in California... and had lots to do before we left too! Since I have so many stories and pictures and aspects of the wedding I want to cover, I'll split it up... 1st post?

Wedding Crafts!! I wanted to hand-make all of the presents.

My Sister-in-law's Bridal Shower gift:

pleaaaase ignore my messy at-home end-of-night hair!!

my 1st Apron! I made it with a pillowcase from Goodwill as well... Cut it in half, and then sewed on the band and straps and glued on ribbon! It was fun to make, I'm started making more today!

The Wedding Card:

Ugg, this card took me awhile. I made one, got pissed at it, and totally scrapped it. I wanted it to look semi-pro, not just crappy mess. I think this ended up looking pretty cute though!

The Wedding Present:
So, I did not want to get just anything from the registry.. I mean, it's my brother!! My only sibling! I wanted to make something personal and special.

I picked these sand dollars because my brother proposed while they were looking for sand dollars on the beach (something they'd do together whenever at the beach). He bent down pretending he found one, faked her out and whipped out the ring.

So, I got these sand dollars, and they came with mini starfish... My grandpa's dog ate one of the starfish, ack!! So it's uneven, and that bothers me; I'll buy more and fix it later!
I was contemplating painting the other seashells lining the frame white/black/blue, so they were more classy/wedding-like... But I ended up deciding I liked the colors, and it was beachy. It took for-eh-ver to glue each shell on individually!! oy vey.

I want to paint either their names or initials on the mat, but wanted them to pick out a wedding or engagement photo first so I know whether its landscape or portrait. Oh, and blue was their wedding colors (and orange: his favorite) hence the color of the frame!

YAY Weddings! I had lots of fun making these things for them. and I'm so so happy for my brother and new sister-in-law! More about the wedding later :)

I Will Proudly Wear Ribbons Down my Back

My new favorite craft. My first thing I've actually sewn on my own. Hair bows!!! 

I decided to try making some because I love bows so much, and there was a bunch of a family member's quilting scrap fabric laying around, ready to be thrown away, and I rescued it!! And gave it a new happy life!

I have been a bit of a bow making machine in the last few weeks... Though I've taken a break because I have literally enough bows to wear a different one each day for a whole month. 

There's been a bit of a learning curve... My first batch has ugly noticeable stitching along the one edge I couldn't do in reverse.. My 2nd batch was made using Liquid Stitch -- my new savior! I stitch the 3 sides inside out and then use that to seal the 4th edge with no visible thread. Yay!

I'm also still trying to figure out the best way to fasten them to hair. I've just been sticking a bobby pin in them, haven't sewn anything on. I don't know if I should use barrettes, alligator clips, or those sorta teardrop-shaped snap clips...

I would really like to sell these... I know bows are popular now, so I'm thinking of putting them on an etsy! I already got a store front but need to make some listings. Do you think that people would be interested? Do you like bows? I love them! and I'd like to share the wealth.

Lavender & Lace Crafts - the (now empty) store

Don't Be the Bunny

I made these a few years ago at my mom's house... believe it or not, with no piping bags! All I had was a knife. Even to do the bunny faces! It was tedious....Tedious, and delicious, and adorable!!!

Unfortunately, this year I was a SICKY :( I caught the flu on Friday, from one of my students I believe, and I was a horrible achey chillsy sleepy mess!

I was really looking forward to dying eggs with my boyfriend for the 1st time, and I got plastic eggs to put chocolate in and hide around the house for him to find! But my sickness didn't allow me to do any of this stuff. Lame. I was hoping that I would be better by Easter Sunday, but alas I awoke headachey and coughing up nasty still. Darn, I was very excited to go to an Easter potluck!

One of my favorite foods everrrr is HONEY  HAM! mmmm. And I only really get it twice a year -- Easter & Christmas. and here I lay, with the flu, completely ham-less. Le sigh.

At least before I got sick, I had some pre-Easter fun with a new friend, who so sweetly bought us both some bunny ears!

My friend doesn't know how to cook much...Pillsbury cut out cookies were her idea of baking, haha!

We spent the night singing karaoke and being silly!

Wallace & Grommit teeth much?!?

So, I called my mom because we still love to make cinnamon rolls, ham, and cookies together for Easter. We are the 2 who love it the most, and we make this nummy pineapple brown sugar glaze. Apparently she didn't do any egg-dying, ham-making, or cooking-baking either without me there!! Aw. Sad. We miss each other.

I also am pretty bummed because, in addition to honey ham, all I really wanted was to watch "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown" and "The Easter Bunny is Coming to Town" but alas, neither are on TV.. sad!!

So, I will now take some time to remember the WEIRDEST Easter I've ever had, last year in Australia!

Me & my boyfriend's sister, Lauren

Even Obi Wan Kenobi gets a visit from the Easter Bunny!

Stormtrooper Weddings -- now legalized in South Australia

my man, Jesus!

Our very own Easter bunny! There were 2. And we also ate rabbit for dinner. Sacrilege?!?!

Well, since I have no TV specials nor honey ham to eat, I shall live vicariously through everyone else -- please tell me what you did for Easter! Eat anything delicious, do anything fun, make any cute crafts? If you have leftover ham, please have a piece for me! Hehe

♥

More Than We Bargained For

Ooh Thrift store finds!

I spontaneously turned into a Goodwill just to peruse... Came out with some cheap nifty stuff!

I spent $12.24 and got two board games, 5 bed linens (to cut up and make aprons with!), a little wall hanging, a small jewelry box, and an address book!

I've been wanting an actual written-by-hand address book for awhile, and when I saw this adorable fabric-covered one, I knew it was perfect! There's only a few entries already written in, so no biggie.

I like this little wooden box...it'd be nice to keep jewelry or knick knacks. The lid is loose, but I can figure out a way to fix it I bet... I got it with someone in mind for a gift, but I'll add a few of my own touches.

Totally cute! The pictures kind of suck...it's a lovely light blue, not gray! The tea pot and flowers, adorable. I'd been wanting to hang these hearts up since I got them from a giveaway... Perfecto!

Um -- way cool! There was tons of board games, even recent ones like Scattergories and Cranium and a ton of Trivial Pursuits (it was hard to pick one).. and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the Carmen Sandiego game!!! My brother and I had that when we were kids, so I'm going to surprise him with it!! He's going to be like "WHAA!? No way!" I can't wait to play with him!

I found all of these in housewares... The pink is a bed skirt, the two in the middle are pillow cases, and the two on ends I'm not exactly sure what they were but I thought all of these would make great aprons!! I'm going to de/re-construct these and sew on coordinating straps to tie them and maybe pockets, and hopefully sell them!?

Do any of you go thrifting much? Find any awesome scores?