Sad :(

I am feeling disappointed because my computer keeps freezing whenever I try to put together my post for the Gussy Sews Inspiration Challenge this week. I wanted to participate so badly! The prompt was : Spend the Day Playing. Head on over and check out all the other bloggers' great ideas though!

Green

This weeks Gussy Sews Inspiration Challenge is: GREEN. I must say this prompt was really hard. Green can mean so many things... the color? Earth friendly?


I am going with green from nature. We went to Washington D.C. this past April vacation and I felt so inspired by the flowers that filled the city. It was probably mostly based on the fact that at home it was still snowy and dead looking. It just put me in a great mood and really heightened my appreciation for nature and botany. I took lots of photos, especially when we were at the botanical gardens. Disappointingly, not one of cherry blossoms. How did that happen?! Here are a few of my faves:

I love the painted tulips.

Arlington is very beautiful, especially with the blooming trees.

Our Wedding: Photos and Projects

 I was very excited to check my email today and see that my wedding photographer posted us on her blog! (Click Here) I think she is amazing and I loved our photos, so I wanted to give a big shout out and thank you to her. If you are from southern New England you should definitely consider her.

To try and tie my love of my photos into this blog I will share some of the things we did ourselves for our wedding this past November. Before going back and picking out the pictures, I don't think I realized how much DIY we actually did. It was a group effort.

Not only did my mother-in-law sew this beautiful clutch for me, but it is made from the fabric of my mother's dress (which was also my grandmother's dress). It is so special to me and went with the subtle bow theme I had woven throughout the wedding.

Ceremony Programs. I typed these up and printed them myself on half sheets of card stock. I did not want anything too complicated, so they just listed the Who's Who of the wedding party and other important info. I also put the monogram on the top that was also on several other items, such as invitations, save the dates, etc.

Instead of pew bows we found these amazing purple crystal wreaths and Micheal's craft store and hung them with ribbon in one of the wedding colors. (The colors were victorian violet and deep plum. Think: Khloe Kardashian wedding... but not intentionally.)

This was not a complete DIY, but it was inspired by one. I saw a photo of a centerpiece that looked very similar to this. They made theirs out of crown molding themselves. I bought a thick gold picture frame to save time and money. The florist filled it with flowers and the votive mercury glass holders I picked up.

Escort Cards: I inserted the guests names and table locations in these luggage tags. They had dice and a roulette spinner on them to represent our honeymoon to Las Vegas.

On the escort card table I displayed a memory board filled with photos of family member's and wedding party member's weddings. There were also two larger framed photos of both of our parent's weddings.

Instead of table numbers, we named each of the tables after a casino in Las Vegas and printed them on card stock with a photo.

In honor of my husband's candy addiction, we had a candy bar. My mother found these beautiful mercury glass jars that filled with our favorite treats. I made tags out of silver scrap-booking paper and silver ribbon and used silver candy scoops I purchased for a couple dollars online. It doubles as a treat to munch on and a favor at the end of the night.

Where do you put the candy to take it home? Frosted cellophane treat bags adroned a tag with our monogram and wedding date and thank you message on it.

Another one of my mother-in-laws gorgeous creation: my daughter's flower girl dress. It was so pretty and just perfect. It was also made out of my moms dress (like the clutch above) with some tulle and purple flowers added. In this picture she caught the bouquet!

To keep the kids at the wedding entertained throughout the night, we had a basket filled with games, coloring books, crayons, toys, etc. They really enjoyed it when they needed a break from hitting the dance floor. There was a whole table devoted to just them.

Kitchen Chalkboards

This week's Gussy Sews Inspiration Challenge is KITCHENS. There is currently nothing I am more in love with about a kitchen then chalkboards.






We bought our home last summer, renovated (almost all of it) and moved in in November. I love my kitchen (particularly the glass tile back splash, which I am personally proud of because I helped install it) and the only thing I currently want to change is the cupboards, which were one of the only things we kept. There technically is nothing wrong with them... they just BORE me. So hubby and I think painting them white would look nice and it would be far less expensive than replacing them, especially since we put new counters on them already. I have a secret desire to paint the middle panel on row of them with chalkboard paint though. I'm not sure if he would go for this, but I love the idea. I would also be willing to paint a large chalkboard on this wall:

 

Notice how there is already a small chalkboard on it. I use it all the time to list important reminders for the family or where I will be working that day (as a substitute teacher). Now imagine a wall size board! 

As part of my post for this weeks Gussy Inspiration Challenge I searched for inspiration kitchen chalkboards. While I would probably not be bold enough to do some of these things in my home, I think they are all creative and great idea starters.

This is what I was thinking for my kitchen... just a few cupboards. Check it out at Vintage Simple.

A Whole Wall from My Home Ideas. Love it!

Chalkboard Painted Fridge from The Handmade Home