Banners galore

I've been making more banners than I expected this year! Basically banners make ANY party instantly more festive! 

For Luke's 1st birthday party banner, my friend Brittany went with a nautical/ocean theme. She found some awesome nautical rope from Joann's to go with the burlap banner. I cut 6-inch diameter scalloped circles using my Cricut machine. The font is from the "Don Juan" cartridge, and the whale and the anchor are both from the "Wild Card 2" cartridge. We used gluesticks to attach the letters (cut from scrapbook paper) onto the heavier cardstock backing. I love the color scheme Brittany ended up choosing! If you look closely you can see that some of the letters were cut out with scrapbook paper with an adorable anchor pattern.

Next, the "ONE" banner on burlap. I cut cardstock letters with my Cricut machine and we used Elmer's glue to attach it to the burlap, which we cut out in bunting shapes.

We then used a hot glue gun to fold the top edge of the burlap down onto the rope and secure the banner in place. 

Love the finished look of this burlap banner! 

Last week I made this banner for my friend, who was organizing a bridal shower for her best friend. Her wedding colors are coral, gold, and yellow. 

Reminds me of pink lemonade! My favorite part was the shimmery gold cardstock I found at Michaels. 

First wedding anniversary --paper gift

A few months ago my friend asked me to make a quilled Golden Gate bridge for her first wedding anniversary. They had their honeymoon in SF last year and they loved it so much that they are going back to California again this summer! Since it was their first wedding anniversary, they decided to follow the wedding anniversary tradition of gifting something made of paper. I made a similar quilled project last year for my sister and decided to make one for them too.

Read on for more details! 

Pop-up typewriter birthday card and quilled cat bridal shower card

Last month I visited my little sister in San Francisco and we discovered a pop-up Golden Gate Bridge greeting card in a gift shop near Lands' End, one of my favorite places in SF. She immediately turned to me and said, "Make this!" So when I saw this pop-up card tutorial, I knew she would love it for her birthday card! 

In other news, this past week my friend Kristin ordered a custom card from me for a bridal shower. Her requests for the card were to include a monogram and cats. I used to make lots of animal-themed cards for a florist shop in Saint Louis and cats are one of my favorite things to quill.

Brushlettering wedding signs and Jordan almond wedding favors

Andrew and I made these wedding favors a few weeks ago for his brother's wedding, silver organza bags filled with Jordan almonds. We filled the bag with Duke blue (groom's alma mater) and UNC blue (bride's alma mater) Jordan almonds. I designed and printed the favor tags and then we watched Tarzan, which Andrew had never seen before (!) while cutting, punching out small paper hearts, and assembling the 180 favors. 

 I also did more brushlettering practice to make the guestbook and gift table signs for the reception!

DIY Tutorial: Wood Branch Slice Monogrammed Coasters

My brother-in-law is getting married this weekend and I decided to gift the newlyweds with monogrammed wood slice coasters!

My friend Alex helped me slice the logs. He was quite the trooper because it took us several tries to a) find the right size log that didn't have cracks and b) he did all the slicing while his wife Kristin held the log steady and closed her eyes because she didn't have extra safety goggles. Do as I say not as I do...wear safety goggles to protect your eyes from flying pieces of wood!!

 If you don't have wood logs/branches laying around and/or a saw, you can buy wood slices here.

Read on for the tutorial below.

Bride and baby gifts

We're attending 5 weddings in the next 10 weeks, which means lots of wedding cards and bridal showers! And being in our upper 20s means lots of BABIES and baby gifts. 

Here's a couple of things I've made and gifted in the last few weeks! Including some brushlettering practice on the greeting cards. 

                               

Tutorial here for the personalized wedding dress hanger

1 Samuel 1:27 

I can't resist buying mint clothing for my friends' babies! 

DIY Tutorial: Personalized wedding dress hanger

It's June, which means wedding season has begun! I love making bridal shower gifts and one of my favorites is this personalized wedding dress wire hanger. Pictured below is the first one that I made a few years ago.

        

Read on for the tutorial!