How to BLING my shoes?

Exhibit A: My purple Rocketdog pumps

Exhibit B: The clip-on earrings that I found for about $3, and proceeded to break off the clip part.

The problem: How to fix these clips on to the shoe -- preferably in a non-permanent manner.

I'm wondering if I can buy a metal shoe clip and adhere these to it. I found a seller on eBay that sells a plain shoe clip, but can't seem to find anything else.



Beadinmama's Listing

Any ideas, anyone?



Saving $$$ on Photography

We REALLY lucked out with both our engagement photos and finding a wedding photographer. I was starting to look at photography packages and was so disappointed in the outrageous costs. I get it: you've got to hire someone good who will listen to what you want, do what you want, and will produce photos of your special day that are more than you ever expected -- after all, this day is only supposed to happen once in your life. But there's got to be a way to combine those things with a cost you can afford to live with, right?

If you are really stuck, contact a local college or university (heck, even a high school) for a budding photographer who can give you what you want for the price you need. I know that my old high school art teacher occassionally photographed weddings for people he knew, and they were beautiful. I was about to go this route when I started asking around, and....I lucked out!

I met someone who was a stay-at-home mom who had just started her own photography business on the side. She charged us $30 for the session fee for our engagement pics and then a simple $4 fee per photo for complete rights. She gave me those photos on a disc in a high-resolution format so that I could make large prints if I wanted. It was exactly what we wanted -- we didn't want anything too fancy, but we were super impressed with her work. She's no longer working for her own business (keep reading). These are some of my favorite engagement photos:

The bad news (for us, good for her) was that she got hired by a larger photography company in the area as an assistant. I was going to go ahead and book the company until I found out that the pricing packages started at $3,000. There's no way we'd meet our $10,000 budget with those prices, no matter how much I love their photography. I had to regretfully say good-bye to our newfound photographer.

One day a few weeks later, an old friend popped up on Facebook. I remembered that he's a photographer in Minneapolis, which is four hours from our wedding location. I went out on a limb and asked him if he'd be willing to shoot our wedding. He was pumped! I was pumped!

Not only have I always loved his photography style, but he offered up his friends and family package. He will bring an assistant with him, which means TWO photographers. He's including a "fauxtobooth" -- a simple black background where our guests can take as many shots as they want for us to have as a keepsake. They'll be available for download by us or our guests after the wedding. (I'm going to gather some costumes/props for this area to make it really fun for our guests.)

Wedding. Photo. Heaven.

You can check him out at http://www.kylesmithphoto.com/!

Purple Bridal Shoes

Since I saw my inspiration photo of the bride with the purple shoes and bouquet, I've been on the hunt for the perfect purple pumps. I found some awesome shoes but they were either too costly (I wanted to stay under $50) or they seemed like they'd KILL my feet after only minutes wearing them.

My friends suggested that I find a pair I love in a dyeable brand and then get them colored how I want. I was about to make up my mind that I would do just that, when I searched eBay one last time.

I found these Rocketdog pumps:

EXACTLY what I'd been looking for! The best part was that I won the bid at $4 and spent $5 for shipping. For 9 dollars, I was willing to take the risk that these shoes wouldn't fit or wouldn't be everything I'd hoped for. I would never have bought these if they had been in the $30-range.

When I finally saw the package at my doorstep I tore right in and tried them on immediately. It was heaven. I pranced around the house in my purple shoes and 5-month pregnant belly the whole night. Jeff was a bit clueless when I exclaimed, "They're my WEDDING shoes!" He said, "Aren't they um....the wrong color?" he whispered, as if he was going to burst my happiness bubble. Absolutely not! was my explaination, to which he just shrugged.

Now I have a bit of a DIY dilemma. I love these shoes the way they are...BUT I think it'd be adorable to bling them up, like what some of  these WeddingBee members did. I don't think I would ever put rhinestones on the entire shoe, but I'm considering doing a design on the toe.

My other option could be a shoe clip. I'd like to make my own...but I'm not sure it'd work on this type of shoe. Any suggestions?

Tutorial: Cascade Earrings

 DIY Cascade Earring Tutorial

Supplies
Chain, Swarovski 4mm crystals in dark purple, gray 6mm pearl beads, and standard headpins
I also used sterling silver earring findings that I already had in my jewelry-making box, plus three tools (pliers, snips/wire cutter, and round-nose pliers).

Instructions

1. Put a crystal bead on a headpin.

2. Holding the bead between my index finger and my thumb, I used my thumb nail to manually bend the wire to one side.

3. Using round-nose pliers, pinch the wire at the bend, and wind the wire around the nose to make a loop.

4. Cut the excess wire off and you are left with a loop. Don't worry about closing the loop yet. Also, don't worry if your loop looks funny (this one was actually the prettiest loop I've ever made...the rest are not this pretty!). I also realized at this point that I should have purchased shorter headpins so there would be less waste.

5. Repeat this process for the remaining beads you need. I used 11 crystal beads and 6 pearls (per earring).

6. Cut approximately 1 inch of wire. I have 13 links of chain on mine. (Your first try you may want to add more chain -- you can cut it off later.) Attach the earring finding to the end of the chain.

7. On the first chain link closest to the finding, put the first pearl on. Close the loop with the pliers.

8. Attach a crystal loop to the same loop that holds the pearl. (On the first chain link you now have two beads, one pearl and one crystal.)

9. On the next chain link, attach a crystal loop.

10. Repeat down the chain. I drew up a VERY CRUDE version of my pattern.

11. Make the final pearl be on a chain link by itself. Then space out two chain links before you add the final bead. I did this because I wanted it to create an upside-down teardrop effect, and also because the crystals are smaller than the pearls. The final crystal was getting lost in the pearl if I didn't do that.

12. Done!

Total Time Per Earring:

About 25 minutes. I know that is almost an hour per pair...which seems long. That's how long it's taking me right now and I'm hoping to become a master at this and pare it down to 15-20 minutes. But I think it's worth it!



Suggestions:

I'd recommend purchasing full-size jewelry tools as opposed to the mini-tools they sell. The mini tools are great for small projects but they can really hurt your hands when you are doing projects as detailed as this.

You could also use a variety of beads. I think if I were to start over I might use a clear Swarovski crystal. You can also use a variety of sizes. I've seen some that use larger beads at the top and smaller beads towards the bottom (or reverse). Also, you could use a pretty bead cap on the end of the pearls to add more detail.



50 Cent Bridesmaid Earrings

My goal in making my bridesmaid's earrings was first to make something that most of them would wear again. I fell in love with cascade-style earrings like these:

 

 

 

I've made earrings before but never this intricate of a style. I did a quick search on how to make cascade earrings and found these instructions. The methods used were ones that I've used in other jewelry-making endeavors so I wasn't scared.

 

Here's the breakdown of the costs and where I found my materials:

• 72" chain purchased at Michaels for $2.99
• 190 gray Crystazzi 6mm pearls at Michaels for $2.50 (on sale)
• 400 dark purple Swarovski crystals on eBay for $5.00 (including shipping)
• Sterling silver earring findings: I already had these in my jewelry-making kit
• Tools: I already had these as well!

Total Cost of Materials: $10.49

 

Now let's do some more math. I like to figure out exact costs so I know how much I really saved. Also, I will probably end up using the crystals and pearls in other projects (thinking of the crystals for my tree-branch centerpieces and for bouquet jewels).

• Chain- using 12 inches (2 inches per girl/1 inch per earring) = $0.50 total
• Gray Pearls - using 72 total (12 per girl/6 per earring) = $0.94 total
• Swarovski beads - using 132 beads (22 per girl/11 per earring) = $1.65 total
• Sterling silver earring findings: free!
• Tools: free!

Actual cost (that I forked over) for ALL bridesmaid earrings = $3.09
Actual cost for each bridesmaid/each pair of earrings = $0.52

 

WOW! Seriously? It costs me about 50 cents a girl? I guess I could have used more expensive materials, but really they look lovely the way they are!

 

See my next blog for the complete tutorial on how I made these earrings.

Letting My Bridesmaids Choose Their Own Dresses

After deciding that my bridesmaids would wear eggplant/deep purple, I was on the hunt for a dress that would compliment them all. I spent weeks emailing my bridesmaids (i.e. being bridezilla) about this dress or that dress. My sister (maid of honor) was the only one kind enough to really respond to most of the crazy emails and ideas. Everyone else just said, "Whatever you want! You're the bride!"

But that's not the response I wanted! I don't want to be the only one responsible for picking out a dress for 6 other people to wear! Of course I wanted them to save money as well.

Then I thought I'd decided on the dress that would flatter each figure. I was excited about the $135 price tag (if bought online) as well. It is Impression Bridesmaids style 1731, pictured here on the right:

BestBridalPrices.com

But then my wheels started turning...I just can't get them to stop sometimes. I thought about my two large-chested bridesmaids and how they would probably loathe wearing a strapless dress. I thought about how different my 4'10" bridesmaid would look next to my 5'9" bridesmaid. I thought about how I'm not even wearing a strapless dress, so why should I make my bridesmaids do the same?

So I settled on a new idea: My bridesmaids would all wear the same color and fabric and have dresses of the same floor-length, but I would let them choose their own dress. I chose Alfred Angelo's brand (because it is widely available for my bridesmaids to try on across the country) and I asked that they each pick out two of their favorites so that I could make the final decision once I see them all.

Four of my girls have picked their dresses so far -- only two more to go! Here's what my wedding party looks like so far (all photos courtesy of AlfredAngelo.com):



175 Save The Dates for under $130

Have I told you yet that we are very simple, non-fussy people? We really don't get caught up in traditions and etiquette-pounding Miss Manners-esque rules. Although we are having a generally traditional wedding, we feel that there are a few areas we can skimp on in the name of saving money and expressing our personalities.

This brings me to Save The Dates. Although I wish I could share with you an awesome tutorial and photos on my step-by-step process of designing my Save The Dates, I went the easy route and ordered them online. This is one of the few things that I decided not to take on as a DIY project. I did, however, come thisclose to making a fauxtobooth version -- exactly like this WeddingBee DIY'er.

I've seen the elaborate versions and felt they would be well-suited for a small and intimate wedding but truly don't feel that out of our 300 guests, very many of them would actually save their Save the Date.


Cost Cut #1: Postcard Save The Dates
I didn't want to have to send an envelope. Okay, so a regular mailing stamp is only 0.16 cents more than a postcard stamp but when you add up 300 of them, I'd be saving approximately $50 by sending a postcard rather than an envelope. Everyone just throws away an envelope anyway. (And although I'm not a hardcore tree-hugger, I like my environment and see the uselessness in sending an envelope when I don't have to.)

Cost Cut #2: SaveTheDateMagic.com
I looked in to many different versions of Save The Dates and thought about spending a lot of time on them to make them really unique and interesting. But I knew I'd be working hard on the actual wedding invitations down the road, and I didn't want to spend hours of my energy on the Save The Dates only to turn around and have to spend hours on the invitations. This lady can only handle so much cutting and gluing and folding in one shot. I searched the web and found http://www.savethedatemagic.com/. I began creating. It is one of the cheapest options out there for postcards that you can personalize. Other sites let you personalize with a photo but you can't actually change the text and font size, move those around, or add art. I loved having a low price with the option to personalize the cards further.

Cost Cut #3: Personal Delivery
This just happens to work out perfectly: my baby shower is being held this weekend and I will be able to personally hand over approximately 50 Save The Dates. Another 20 will go to coworkers and friends. This leaves about 100 to send out via mail.

Save The Dates (with shipping) for 250: $98.89
Postage for 100 postcards: $28

Here are the proofs that the company sent me:

I forgot to mention that I LOVE the way they turned out. They are simple, easy to mail, easy to address, and will be light enough for people to put on their fridge with a small magnet. The company was very easy to deal with and I had a great experience!

Thinking Ahead: Infant Tuxedo

Okay, the title of this post is a little redundant. Isn't everything I'm doing right now for the wedding considered "thinking ahead"?

We are having a baby boy in the end of February. He will be approximately 6-7 months old on our wedding day. Jeff's son will be 4 years old and I picked up a tuxedo jacket, pants, and vest for him off of Craigslist a month ago for only $8! It was such a steal. We want to attempt to have his son pulling our little baby down the aisle in a wagon (and hoping for an easy-going infant). Therefore, both of Jeff's sons will be the ring bearers. We need to make sure their outfits go together.

The last time I was in a bridal shop, I checked out the infant tuxedos. Although freakin' adorable, good lordy they're expensive! Prices range from $35 to $75.



Wear Me Out Boys



Besides the price, I'm entirely sure that I DO NOT want to make my poor little boy suffer in a stuffy suit. The last thing we want is to make him uncomfortable...which will make him whiney. No one wants a whiney baby at a wedding, even if it is the bride and groom's child.

So what are my other options? Of course I Googled "infant ring bearer" and found a ton of full-on suits or little mock-suit onesies. The onesie is too informal for the ceremony but would be cute for him to wear for the few hours he's awake at the reception.

Speaking of his outfit for the reception, this is SO CUTE! I might have to get him something like this:

Cafe Press

I guess I'll just keep my eye out for a cute color-coordinating otufit for my little man. Maybe Easter sales will have some nice, in-between formal and comfortable/casual outfits for him.

I saved $600 on my wedding gown by buying pre-owned!

Although this is not DIY, I thought I'd share how I found the wedding dress of my dreams and how I saved over $600 on it.

I began my wedding dress hunt knowing that I have never wanted a strapless dress. No offense to all you strapless-loving-ladies out there, but I feel like everyone who has been married in the last 5 years has done so in in a strapless number. Sure, they're gorgeous and can be made of different materials with different beading and details to make them stand out from one another. But when I tried to remember the dresses from weddings I've attended, not one thing stands out about any dress. You line up all the dresses of my friends and cousins and I wouldn't be able to assign who wore what. They all look the same to me in my fuzzy memory, besides the fact that they're all strapless. I knew I needed to be a little more unique -- even if it only mattered to me.

I started looking online to see what I liked, and came across Pre-Owned Wedding Dresses. Being the deal-hound I am, I thought it was a great idea for a website and started saving favorites so that I could go back to them later if I never found a dress I liked in person. I also planned to cross-check the site for a better deal if I found a dress that I loved. None of my friends seemed to think this was a good idea. "Why would you want a dress that someone else wore on their wedding day?" They felt it was bad luck. However, many of the dresses on the site have never been worn. Not even once! Many of them are sold by people who bought 2 dresses because they couldn't decide between them...and I myself have had two friends who've done the same.

I made appointments at bridal shops to try on dresses. Right away I found that rather than the gauzy chiffon-style dresses or lace that I thought I'd love, I was loving silk materials like satin. The shine and richness of the fabric kept drawing me in.  At store #1, I found a dress that I liked a lot -- and it was strapless.

At store #2, I found THE dress...only to flip over the price tag and see that it would cost me $1400. My budget was somewhere around $600.  The other bad news was that it was a private collection dress that is only made by the designer at that ONE particular store...meaning there was no way I would find the dress for a cheaper price online. I disappointedly gave up the idea that I would ever wear that particular dress.

I decided to keep searching for a dress that was similar to the $1400 one, but that had a more budget-friendly price tag. I finally found one. My friends cried as they saw me try it on. It fit me like a glove, molded to every curve of my body. It was this dress by Mori Lee (Style 2505):

I wasn't able to buy the dress right away because I was waiting for my mom to send me the money (she had agreed to purchase my dress). She must have sensed something in my voice that told her it wasn't THE dress. I couldn't get her to commit to purchasing it, regardless of the fact that I emailed her pictures of me in the dress and talked about it constantly. She kept putting it off and I was getting really annoyed with her.

A month went by. Every time I looked at the photo of the dress I fell less and less in love with it. I couldn't determine why...was it the way the model looked in it? Her strange pose? Was it that the model is wearing diamond white and the one I liked was ivory? I just couldn't put my finger on the reason why I was gradually falling out of love with (what I thought was) THE dress.

I started looking online again. I went back to preownedweddingdresses.com and looked at my saved dresses. I kept going back to look at one Essence of Australia dress in particular. It had straps...isn't that what I wanted to begin with? It had the chest portion similar to the last two dresses I loved. And it had the body of the first dress I loved. And it was satin. Could it really be every little part of every dress I'd liked so far, all rolled in to one? AND WITH STRAPS?

I did some research and called 5 different shops that sold the brand, finally finding a store 3 hours away that had the sample. I meekly asked Jeff, "Could we go on a 6 hour road trip on Saturday?" to which he responded, "Sure!" (One of the 2,395,382 reasons I love him!)  When I arrived at the store and saw the dress in person, I knew before even putting it on that it was everything I'd hoped it would be. I tried it on, spent about 3 minutes admiring it, got dressed and left. It was the quickest bridal appointment EVER! I knew the size 10 dress for sale online would be perfect after trying on a slightly snug size 8 (however I was also 4 months pregnant).

Right away I emailed the seller and we got the ball rolling. I purchased the dress for $600 and the seller paid the shipping costs. In the store, the price tag was $1055 and that didn't include shipping or taxes. I estimated that I saved almost $600 on my wedding gown, and I didn't settle for a dress that I wasn't completely in love with!

I can't wait until I lose some baby fat (currently 6 months pregnant -- I've got awhile to go before that happens!) so that I can "officially" try on my dress. I LOVE my dress. And I LOVE so much that I didn't spend an arm and a leg on a wedding dress of my dreams.

Here's my wedding gown -- Essence of Australia D970:

Wedding Card Box

My wedding card box turned out to be a complete DIY success!

1. Box 1: I saw an empty paper box floating around at work and realized that with the lid it would make a perfect box! I measured and cut off the end side/square off the box, then cut the rest of the box down to size so that it would be perfectly square. I used packaging tape to tape the side/square back on to the box. I used the same method with the top, ending up with a perfectly square box with a fitting lid. I made sure the lid didn't fit too tightly as I knew I'd be folding the fabric into the inside, and I wanted to make sure the lid would still fit later. I put Box 2 on the lid of this box and traced the outline. Then I eyeballed about a half an inch inside of that box, then cut away a square with a box cutter knife. There was a lip for Box 2 to sit on.

2. Box 2: For the top box, I was a little more lazy and went to Hobby Lobby to buy it a paper mache pre-made box. Leaving a lip in the bottom of the box, I cut out a square as big as the square I already cut in Box 1. I also cut a rectangular slit for the envelopes into the lid. The paper mache box was easier to cut than I thought it would be!

3. I purchased 2 yards of a black fabric (I honestly don't know what it is called, but I got it at JoAnn Fabrics in the special occassion section) with a velvety black design. It was 6.99/yard but was also on a 30% off sale. I originally thought I wanted to cover the boxes in satin so that it would shine, but I realized that would be a disaster due to the nature of the satin. I didn't want the imperfections in the actual boxes to show through in lumps or bumps, or the hot glued parts to look bumpy under the satin. I opted for this thicker material because it seemed to be somewhat stiff...plus, it is beautiful!

4. I wrapped Box 1 like a present, with the exception that I made sure my folds went vertical along an edge of the box. I didn't want a bunch of seams/folds on two sides of the box. I hot glued around the edges once I determined how the fabric would lay on each side.



5. I placed the lid of Box 1 face down on the material and folded in/hot glued the edges into the inner part of the lid. I then cut an X into the open square and folded each triangle into the lid, gluing in place.

Box 1 Complete!

6. With Box 2 I wrapped the fabric around the outside, glued vertical folds along the back edge, and folded in the edges.

7. Once I had the lid and box complete, I glued the top box onto the bottom box.

8. I cut the ribbon and glued it inside the card slot, then stretched it to the bottom and glued it on the underside of the large box. I repeated this on each side. I made a simple bow tie out of ribbon and hot glued that separately onto the top.

I love my cardbox!!

I'm planning to get a few chipboard letters that say "Cards" and paint them silver or white, and glue them on the front lid of the top box. Then I might play around with a small "Thank You" sign that I could hang somewhere from the box.

Total Time: About 2 Hours

Total Cost: About $15 (top box and fabric, I already had the ribbon and glue gun/sticks)

I will use this for both my bridal shower and the wedding.

The Little Black (Bridesmaid) Dress

This was my thought when I first started thinking about my bridesmaid’s dresses: they would all love to wear a black party dress! And I couldn’t help but think of the all-too-common and completely out of whack bridal idea that each girl would also be able to wear the dress again. A black dress would go along with my classic and simple theme – we could be the chicest black and white wedding party this state has ever seen. AND, if I really wanted to save some money for my girls, they could each find their own little black dress! Score 5 points for being their favorite bride.

Then I saw this picture while browsing wedding photos:

Ohhhh the purple shoes…ohhh the matching purple bouquet! And in an instant, my entire bridal party’s wardrobe changed its colors.

I searched "purple wedding parties" and kept coming up with what I call “Vikings” colors – in reference to the royal purple duds which are worn by my father’s least favorite NFL team. Ugh and eww.

About 2 minutes after my initial excitement (the ohhhh the purple shoes…ohhh the matching bouquet!), I was about ready to return to the simple black party dress idea. I wasn't about to make my bridesmaids wear Vikings Purple.

Then I found these photos from The Knot:

Real Weddings - A Rustic Wedding in Coon Valley, WI

A Traditional Wedding in Chicago, IL

I fell in love with a dark, deep purple, especially when paired with outdoor scenes and greenery. Later I found out this color is either lapis or eggplant. A classy purple.

NEW COLORS: Black, White, and Eggplant