A DIY Wedding

When Tim and I started planning our wedding I knew that I wanted to take on some DIY projects. I love arts and crafts and it was a great way to personalize our special day. Instead of going the traditional route of choosing wedding colors, we decided to choose a theme. We wanted to go to Italy for our honeymoon so we decided on a rustic Italian theme. Once we decided on the theme all sorts of fun ideas started pouring out! Here's some of the items I made for our wedding:

Boutonnieres for the groom, groomsmen and fathers. So simple to make and they will last forever!

A floral headband for our flower girl!

I made the pillow for our rings using a template I found via Martha Stewart. I love how it turned out!

A lot of the venues we looked at would not allow flower petals, so I decided to make a flower ball for our flower girl. I liked it better than having another bouquet and it was super easy to make! 

I wanted a simple cake (the simple ones always seem to taste better to me than the super decadent ones) and when I found these faux grapes I had to have them! 

I made a "thank you" ("grazie" in Italian) sign to put on the table with the favors for the guests. I used a map of Rome as the background. It's one of my favorite pieces from the wedding. I also built a mini wooden leaning tower of Pisa as a table accent. It was one of the more challenging projects but also very rewarding!

Excuse the poor quality of this photo- this was taken at our old apartment when I was testing out the set up. I found a little suitcase at one of the craft stores and decided it was the perfect card box! I added a few more faux grapes to spruce it up a bit. 

Instead of table numbers we opted to use table names. I drew pictures of famous Roman monuments for each table. Time consuming, but worth it!

Making our wedding invitations was another one of my favorite projects for the wedding. It saved us a ton of money, and although it was a lot of hard work, it was certainly rewarding! I loved the traditional Italian paper- it added just the right amount of color!

One night I stayed up late working on assembling the invites while watching Bridget Jones' Diary. I giggle every time I see this photo- it was a complete accident that I snapped the photo just as they were kissing!

Looking back through all of these photos makes me a bit nostalgic for those days. I put in a lot of long hard hours but oh how it was worth it! 

Did you make anything for your wedding? What was your favorite project? I'd love to hear!

DIY Lace Loop Scarf

Last Christmas I really wanted to create some DIY items that I could give to my friends and family as gifts. I've made a dozen crochet scarves over the years, but this year I wanted something different. Something a bit more stylish and versatile. I had seen a lot of loop scarves as of late, but decided they needed a little something extra. So I added lace! 

Supplies needed:

-1 to 2 yards of a stretch cotton jersey fabric (length depends on how many times you want to wrap the scarf or how low you want it to hang)

-1/2 to 1 yard of lace (I tried a few variations and found that the less delicate lace worked best. The amount of lace you get will depend on the ratio of lace to jersey that you want. I find it's always best to have a little extra on hand just in case!)

-Pins

-Thread (matching the color of your fabrics)

-Needle for sewing by hand

-Sewing Machine

Since I made this project almost 6 months ago I don't have full step by step photos. Overall it's a pretty simple sewing project, and I will describe the steps in detail. 

1. Fold your jersey fabric lengthwise in half ("hot dog" style- do you remember the hot dog vs. hamburger folding technique from school?). 

2. Pin the two sides together so they stay in place when you sew them together. You will only need to sew one side since the folded side is already connected. Once you have sewn down length of the fabric, turn it right side out to hide the stitching.  Leave the ends open so you can add the lace. When you are done with this step your scarf will look like a tube. 

3. Do these same steps with your lace fabric. Now you will have two tubes!

4. Sew the lace onto one end of the jersey tube. I did this step by hand since the lace was too delicate for my sewing machine. 

5. Sew the other end of the jersey tube to the other end of the lace tube. This is the trickiest part and should be done by hand as well. Don't worry about it being perfect. When the scarf is draped around your neck it will not show the imperfections.

You could do so many different variations of this project! I like the contrast of the lace with the casual jersey cotton, but you could add any type of textured fabric in place of the lace! If you substitute the jersey for something else, make sure it's a durable stretchy fabric. 

I made this black and tan version for my mother. I like that it's chic enough for a nice dinner but casual enough to wear with jeans too!

I made this green and pink version for my best friend Liz. I love the color combo- it's funky but fresh! 

Feel free to email me if you have questions or glitches along the way! Enjoy!

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DIY Painted Coffee Table

Good morning and happy Wednesday! Mr. Butter and I recently moved into our first apartment together and guess what? I got the decorating bug! I am a big fan of DIY projects and it became clear to me that our beloved yet somewhat battered Ikea coffee table could use a little sprucing up. This is one of the easiest projects I have tackled, but it makes such a huge difference in our living room space.

Supplies needed:
-Coffee table of choice- wood or like ours, particle board covered in acrylic paint. We had the brown/black Lack coffee table from Ikea- I know there must be some of you out there that have this same table. It's a starter home staple!
-Spray paint in color of choice. We chose a wine red in a matte finish.
-Blue painters tape
-Plastic drop cloth

Step 1:
Make sure your coffee table surface is clean and dry. Begin to tape off sections of the table in any design you choose. Our living room is full of neutrals and simple designs, so I chose a diamond pattern to add some texture and spice it up a bit! Make sure you press down firmly on the edges of the tape to ensure a clean line.

Step 2:
After protecting the area you are working in (I used my balcony and put down a plastic drop cloth to protect the floor) begin to coat the surface with a layer of spray paint. Follow the instructions on the can. It will most likely take you a few coats to get an even look. I wanted sharp edges and saturated color, which took me about 3 to 4 layers of paint to get.

Once the paint dries, gently remove the tape (painter's tape should come off easily without leaving residue or damaging the surface, but if your table is from Ikea like ours- I would still be careful!)

Step 3:

Enjoy your new and improved coffee table! Since it happened to be a beautiful sunny day in Portland (a rarity in the otherwise rainy spring) I decided to go ahead and use our table outside for an impromptu dinner with the hubs and a friend. 

Enjoy!