But It's A Dry Heat...

You guys... it's really hot here. I know everyone says that in the summer, but here in Phoenix it is REALLY hot. Today I was in and out of volcanic cars all day long and I thought I was going to burst into flames.

I'm so glad that I have gotten a few choice items recently that make the summer slightly more bearable.  I bought this beautifully flouncy cardigan from Modcloth recently and it is everything that I wanted and more for the summer. It's light enough where I hardly notice I am wearing it, but covers enough so that I am not constantly stressing out my cafeteria lady arms.

Also the fabulous people at Jord sent me a beautifully made wooden watch - in love! What I love about it the most is that is so light because it is made from wood. All of their watches are completely swoon worthy. Normally I am not a watch person because I am constantly flicking it on my wrist trying to get it comfortable and not to stick to my skin in this heat, but this one is for keeps people.

Cardigan from Modcloth; Jeans from Torrid; Glasses from Bonlook; Watch c/o Wood Watches by Jord; Necklace by The Shine Project 

I started work this past week and this weekend was filled with everything I didn't get to doing during the week. It's amazing when mundane errands like going to the bank, post office, or grocery store end up being your whole weekend! Luckily I got to see an old friend this morning for breakfast and catching up is the best. :)

Have a wonderful week friends! Wooden Watches For Sale

DIY Cacti Wedding Centerpieces

I absolutely love that cacti and succulents are "in" right now. I live in Phoenix so cacti and succulents come a plenty and, the best part, they are so hard to kill! You literally do not water it for weeks and they will thrive. These are pretty much the only plants that I can keep alive I am ashamed to admit.

Since my wedding was in Phoenix, I thought it would be cute to use these in my centerpieces. You have to remember that my wedding was very DIY, so doing the centerpieces was something I was really excited about. I wasn't nervous or scared about doing them because I knew the cacti would be hearty and I could make them weeks ahead of time.

This was my inspiration from Pinterest.

I knew that I wanted it to be a little more vintage than the picture above. My friend (and bridesmaid!) Cindy suggested that we buy princess bowls to make them somewhat consistent from table to table.  I ran all across the valley searching antique and thrift stores buying a huge variety of princess bowls; I think I ended up buying 15 in the end. It's funny, I still catch myself searching for these bowls when I go antique shopping; I can't break the habit!

My mother in law and I went to Lowe's (my favorite!) to buy all of the cacti and succulents. They cut me an awesome deal since I was buying so many; it never hurts to ask!

We tried to buy them so that they would be really packed into the bowls and there would be a good variety of height and color in each centerpiece.  My bridesmaids, mother in law, and I got together and had a "potting" party. We brought food and gloves ready to tackle some prickly cacti!  We lined each princess bowl with a circle of paper and used special cacti soil. We then topped each mini garden with small river rocks.  

I loved that each and every centerpiece was different, but they all tied in together. Haha, I think that was the theme of my wedding; mismatching yet coordinated. I anchored all of the mini gardens with vintage crocheted doilies to add some more color and oooomph (technical term).

The best part is that my guests were able to take them home after the wedding. I reserved two of my favorite bowls (I have a picture of one of them here), but the rest were up for grabs. I hope you all enjoyed my lovelies!

Cheapest Wedding Bouquets EVER

I was on a budget bonanza for my wedding! When I got bids for the flowers I swear I almost peed my pants out of sheer shock.
Ummm, $300 for my bouquet alone?! Are the flowers plated in gold? That was the cheapest quote that I got from recommended florists.

No offense to any one who does or has had professional florists prepare flowers at their wedding; they are absolutely beautiful and mine at the wedding were no where near the quality or caliber that a professional florist would be able to produce. Florals just weren't where I wanted my money going to... Food, yes. Photography, yes. Florals, eh.

I had been on Pinterest researching how to make your own bouquets and found that I was not alone in this search for a cheaper alternative. There were a ton of tutorials on how to turn grocery store flowers into flower arrangements so I figured, well, couldn't you do that for a bouquet?

And then my $30ish flower bouquets were born.

My flowers all came from Trader Joe's. They are such a good deal and so beautiful!

Since one of my colors was mustard yellow I knew that I wanted sunflowers in my bridal bouquet. My bridesmaid and friend Stephanie was able to combine a perfect combination of white and yellow. Both my sister and I used part of our mother's wedding dress for our wedding bouquets. My sister wrapped the lace around her bouquet tightly, but I chose to keep the ends long and free on mine for a more bohemian look.

My bridesmaids and I made our bouquets the night before the wedding. It was such a fun way to bond and relax before the big day. Each girl made their own bouquet so it was unique to them. They wrapped their bouquets with green floral tape and then with white crocheted ribbon from Hobby Lobby. We secured them with pins and hot glue. 

I love the way that they turned out. The bouquets look great with the girls' yellow dresses but also tie into my bouquet so beautifully.

Would you ever or did you make your own bouquets for your wedding? I ended up saving over $1000 on flowers! Trader Joe's is the way to go! (Rhyming seemed necessary to send my point home...)

Paper Flowers Craft Part 2

Remember this project?

I wanted to do a follow up so everyone could see how they ended up at the wedding. It's hard to believe that was so long ago; it feels like just yesterday!

I wanted to use eleven giant paper flowers to arrange on the arch for my ceremony, the only reason for that is I had heard that odd numbers are better for decorating. And I always do as I am told. :) However only 10 actually fit on the arch; math apparently is no longer my strong suit.

Since the ceremony took place in a rose garden, I wanted to make sure that the flowers didn't upstage the natural beauty that was already all around us! I chose creamy white flowers with pops of green for the leaves. I think they ended up look like magnolia flowers.  :)

This is how I "MacGyvered" them to twist on to the arch. I picked this picture so you could see the back of the flowers and how they worked.

The wooden craft sticks mentioned above are the ones that you can find at any craft store. 

I loved the results! It definitely made the ceremony space special and unique for us. It was a relatively easy project for a big result!

If you have today off, I hope you have a wonderful day! If you don't have the day off, I hope you have an even better day! :)

Getting Ready for the Big Day

We got our wedding pictures back recently and I am SO excited with them.  Because there are over 700 photos (holy cow!) I thought it would be slightly less overwhelming if they weren't all posted together. Looking through these pictures just warms my heart; I absolutely love them!

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First Picture Sneak Peek

From our wedding on Saturday! Only one picture, but hopefully more to come. I can't wait to share with you all some of the details from the big day. Lots of crafting projects tutorials up ahead... :) I hope everyone is having a wonderful week and ready for the downswing towards the weekend! I know I am!

Wedding and What Not

We are married!! I have been completely MIA from the blog due to wedding planning. I don't have any pictures from the big day YET, however, I do have pictures from our wedding staycation. We are planning a honeymoon in a few weeks over Thanksgiving break, but we wanted to spend one night away relaxing after the wedding chaos.

The Saguaro Hotel in Scottsdale, AZ is such a fun, trendy place. We enjoyed every minute of our mini getaway. If you are ever in the area, I recommend staying there. It has so many fun colors and just exudes cheerfulness and joy. A wonderful way to start forever!