Wedding Dress Card { diy }

This was a card I made for the Bridal Shower last month.

The hardest part is figuring out what you want to make. After that it is pretty easy, especially if you have all the right paper, embellishments and equipment.

If not, it does take a little longer and if you are a perfectionist it just won't do until you have exactly the right thing.

This card could easily work for other celebrations just by changing the paper and embellishments so you never know, you might see it again in an altered form. 

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Backyard BBQ!

If you are already planning and preparing for one party why not make it TWO?!

It might sound nuts but that is exactly what we did. 

Mr. Wonderful wanted to have BBQ after the Backyard Bridal Shower and invite the spouses to join the fun. In the beginning I was not sure we could pull it off so I was hesitant however the hubs convinced me that he would do most of the cooking and preparation and that it would be "a piece of cake". Since he had put in so much time and effort helping with the shower it really was not a hard decision and since the bridal party happens to be almost all family and the head count would be within the social gathering guidelines we decided to do it. Once the Bridal Shower Invitations were finished and mailed I made another invitation to send out for the BBQ. 

As planned, the Backyard BBQ was much more casual than the Bridal Shower. 

 

We set up one our DIY Corn Hole yard games which the hubs made for our parents 60th Wedding Anniversary: We Still Do ~  BBQ last summer. 

To keep things simple we pre~wrapped the eating utensils with napkins and tied them together with a ribbon. One of our cute DIY hand sanitizers was placed nearby. 

Our menu consisted of smoked brisket which cooked all night, barbecued chicken, barbecued ribs and our favorite smoked baked beans, all of which the hubs cooked. Before the bridal shower guests arrived that morning the BBQ and Smoker were moved to the front of the house due to all the smoke they create. We rounded out the menu with homemade coleslaw, mixed fruit salad and rolls as well as Miss E's famous chocolate layer cake. 

Before everyone got back we moved all the tables that were used earlier at the shower. Instead of keeping them end to end which formed our long table we separated them and placed them side by side.  Then we added red and white checked tablecloth toppers to give the party a more casual look.  

To keep things simple I made little Ball Jar Lanterns for the tables. 

Once the sun went down I turned on the small flicker candle votives. 

It was so easy and a very fun way to end such a special day!

Happy Wednesday!

DIY: Photo Booth, Frame & Plate Chargers

This was the summer of DIY wood projects, most of which were rustic and many of them made from free used pallets. Most of the pallets were very old and weathered which gave them lots of character and those were used for an outdoor kitchen/bar. The leftover wood was used to make decorations for our Backyard Bridal Shower. Once all of those projects were finished we were out of pallets however there was still one more thing on the wish list.

A Pallet Photo Booth!

Thankfully we have the best neighbors and one of them has access to wood pallets so he offered to pick some up for us. The pallets he brought us were heavy duty and looked like new, unlike the scruffy ones we had found, and his pick up was loaded. They were perfect however I did ask the hubs if he could stain them so they would look old and rustic like the others and sure enough, he delivered.

The evening before the Bridal Shower we built the photo booth in the yard. It took two of us to hold it while the hubs put on the second layer of pallets, leveled it and then stabilized all of it with stakes. The next morning, before the shower, we put up some decorations  however we had to scrap our original idea of adding a few pieces of furniture due to the wet grass from the rain the night before. 

A photo frame was also on our list for the Bridal Shower so the hubs made one of those for us also. 

He hung that near our waterfall which made a nice backdrop. 

Also on the wish list were rustic wood chargers. Not only would they be great for the bridal shower but holidays and other special occasions as well. 

Once the chargers we cut, edged and sanded we tried several different stains.  

Finally, we found just the right color for our party.

They were just the perfect touch for our tables. 

Now that fall is officially here  I am sure I will be using the wood plate chargers again soon and will be sure to share. 

Happy First Day of Fall! 

DIY Backyard Bridal Shower: Part 3

We recently hosted a Bridal Shower in our backyard which was loads of fun. The planning and preparation over the last several months was definitely a team effort and with more helping hands we were able to turn more of our creative ideas into reality which is always exciting. From the beginning stages of our planning we were very mindful of the current Covid-19 rules and restrictions and came up with ways to make every part of our event as safe as possible. A portion of that planning involved our menu and deciding on the best way to serve the food and beverages safely.  

We decided that the best way to accomplish that was to have the ladies remain seated and serve them individually portioned food at the table which worked out great.  Boxed lunches were one idea however the final decision was to serve everything individually wrapped or containerized from trays which was a bit more formal.  

Menu Fans seemed like a great idea due to the hot August weather we were expecting however that all changed when it rained unexpectedly the night before. It did turn out to be sunny and warm the day of the shower after some morning fog but unfortunately the cute fans we created did not make it to the tables. As the menu shows, we had basically three categories: sandwiches, salads and dessert. Our sandwiches consisted of Chicken Salad Croissant, Sundried Tomato Basil Roll-Ups and Turkey Pesto Bites shown at the top.  { We tried to get photos of all the food but did miss a few items along the way as Miss E and I were both serving. } 

We made a couple of last minute changes on the salads and ended up serving Mediterranean Mini Bow Tie Pasta Salad, Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad and...

...Mini Hummus Roasted Pepper Phyllo Bites. It is always so hard to narrow down the choices.

The DIY chocolate covered strawberries were also served individually...

...as well as the Cupcakes and...

...individually wrapped Stamped Sugar Cookies and Pink Champagne Cakelets { not shown }. 

Of course we could not have a party without favors.

Our DIY party favors were small Ball jars filled with Pink Himalayan Bath Salt with a cute diy label on top. 

There are just a few more DIY Backyard Bridal Shower projects to share so I will be back with those in the next day or two and a wrap up of our fun event. 

Happy Monday!

Backyard Bridal Shower: Part 2

Backyards can be a perfect venue for a late summer Bridal Shower and you can usually count on beautiful sunny skies and warm temperatures, at least around here. The best part about hosting an event in your own yard is that some of the set up can begin the day before. At least that is how we planned a bridal shower last month but, to our surprise, it rained! That meant most of our set up had to be put on hold until the next morning, the day of the shower. As you can imagine, we were up bright and early to get started but were greeted with yet another surprise, an unexpected blanket of fog. With only hours left until guests arrived we proceeded with set up anyway. Thankfully it all burned off before the guests arrived and it turned out to be a beautiful day. 

A DIY yard sign, made by Mr. Wonderful,  led the guests to the backyard. A table under the trellis reminded guests to put on their face mask, practice social distancing, and to use the hand sanitizers which were placed around the yard. Extra face masks were provided for anyone that forgot to bring their own.

Just beyond the trellis was our gift area.

The new fire pit tabletop served as a gift table and the benches were reserved for the Bride, the mother of the bride and mother of the groom. Since our bench cushions are blue I decided to make white slip covers so they would look more festive and match the decorations. There was a lot of room for guests to space out in the yard in white chairs just outside of the fire pit bricks so that everyone could adhere to the required distancing rules.

The benches were marked with white DIY reserved seating tags which coordinated with the reserved seating chair tags at the table. 

A couple more DIY rustic wood signs that Mr. Wonderful made with his router were placed on top of the fire pit benches.

We put hand sanitizer in Ball® jars and tied on cute little DIY tags that we made to coordinate with the shower theme.

Games are also a fun part of a bridal shower. We set up our guessing game with another DIY sign on a table in the yard. In keeping with our theme we used a large Ball jar to hold the Hershey's® Kisses©. 

Miss E prepared all the other games and cute coordinating printables as well. 

Once the yard was set up it was time to begin setting staging the food and beverages which we prepared ahead of time and finished up the morning of the shower. I will be back to share what we served and also how it was served to keep our guests safe and healthy during this Covid-19 pandemic. 

Happy Saturday!

Backyard Bridal Shower: part 1

This summer we hosted a safe and fun Backyard Bridal Shower for our niece.

A lot of thought and care went into the planning and safety measures to be sure the rules and guidelines were followed so that everyone would be safe and stay healthy.  

Masks were required so guests were asked on the invitations to bring a mask to wear however we had a supply of extra masks for anyone who may have forgotten. 

Besides signs to remind everyone to wear their mask we also supplied hand sanitizer in different locations to be sure it was readily available. 

Since the wedding will be held at the brides aunt and uncles horse ranch we tried to incorporate that theme into the bridal shower. I used my invitation design to create a coordinating welcome sign which I framed and put on the stand that Mr. Wonderful made me a while back for a tea party. 

He also made the wood placemats for the table and the pallet board boxes for the flowers.

Stamped sugar cookies were set next to each place setting. 

The brides place setting included an apron, matching face mask and a Bride to Be crown

We had assigned seating at the table so for our place markers we used assorted glass punch cups from my collection and filled each with half of a fresh orange. We  then secured flowers in the middle of each orange and inserted a little flag printed with each guests name and punched with  a heart. 

For the V.I.P.'s I made 3 reserved seating chair tags for the table just for fun along with V.I.P. face masks. 

An old pair of our kids cowboy boots came in hand for decorating and Mr. Wonderful made the  pallet boards hexagons for us. 

This is just the beginning of our fun Backyard Bridal Shower. There is much more to share so I will be back soon to post more party details. 

Happy Monday!