Twine Wrapping Wine Bottles

OK... So I'm not exactly going to be using twine, it's actually jute... I like jute because it's thicker and it feels stronger and it gives more of an 'unfinished' rustic look.

So the basic directions are this... Start at the bottom and work your way up. I didn't use dots of hot glue, I used lines.

When you do the bottom, you will need to almost glue the entire bottom row down... Do some glue lines every half inch or so.

 As you can see, I glued all the way around the bottom, to give myself a solid base.

You want to just wrap the jute around tight, and continually push it down so it is snug and there is no gaps. I did a line of hot glue (about half an inch long) every 2-3 wraps.

 It was quite easy... And I think the line of glue helped two rows stick, not just one.

Sorry this picture is sideways, but this is where it gets VERY tricky. When you get to where it starts to close up, the jute just wants to slip and slip. You will need to glue CONSTANTLY to keep it from slipping.. and keep pushing down to keep it tight.

 When you get to the top, make sure you glue the entire top row down, so it doesn't slip off.

As you can see, I have some gaps.. They don't look bad.. and I'm sure no one will be looking at it, but they bugged me... So I will use that for the BACK of my decorative wine bottles, or maybe cover it up with a flower!

This was really easier than I thought... but when it starts to angle up, IT SUCKS... so be patient!! And ENJOY! They look awesome when they are done.

Coming soon: decorating wine bottles

DIY Gettling Labels off Wine Bottles

OK... before you read this, know that if you are looking to preserve the labels, this is not the DIY for you! I'm using these wine bottles to decorate with and could care less about the labels.. so move on!

Anyways, as part of my centerpieces, I'm going to have rustic/shabby-chic decorated wine bottles. Cheap and DIY. I asked a local restaurant if they had any empty wine bottles. Unfortunately, the recycle had JUST picked up the day before, but I did manage to get 7 bottles.




Step 1: Fill bathtub with the hottest water. When submerging wine bottles, fill up the bottles with water first so they sink to the bottom and rest there. Otherwise, they will be floating and clinking around.

Step 2: Wait... and wait some more. I would suggest waiting at least 2 hours.

Resist the urge to check on them! I closed the door... and when I went in there out of curiosity, the room was SOOOO hot. I didn't want to let all of that hot air into my hallway! GROSS!

I didn't anticipate waiting 5 hours... but when you have a 13-month-old and a fiance to deal with, it happens!

Step 3: Start peeling! I left them in the water when I peeled, as I found that the labels came off easier. The water was still hot, but not hot enough to where I couldn't put my hands in.

Most of them came right off! Some of the adhesive stuck, but I wasn't worried about that, since most of my bottles are going to be twine wrapped. 

A few of the labels did come right off, nice and clean! I stuck this one on the toilet seat lid to dry... HELLO DUMMY!! The adhesive dried right onto the lid and now I have a nice label stuck to the lid. Just great!

It did make a mess in the tub, but I didn't have any problems getting all of the paper out. If you have lots of little pieces, I suggest using a strainer or net to get them out. Some of the really small pieces I just let go down the drain.

This one was the worst. It wasn't budging. I just used my nails and scratched it and it still looked like crap. This one will DEFINITELY be getting twine wrapped!

This was the worst of them. Most of them had a little bit of adhesive on them, which came right off with Goo Gone... The ones that looked this bad I didn't even bother. I will be twine wrapping them so it will cover up!

Came out perfectly!

Final Cost: $0

Total Time: 5 Hours of waiting, but only about 20 minutes of peeling and drying the bottles

I'm probably going to need another 7-8 bottles, and will have to go to my local cafe again to get them free! Why buy them off the internet, when you can make them?

Coming Soon: Twine wrapping your wine bottles... (This was easier, and harder, than I had imagined)

DIY No-Sew Burlap Flowers

When I initially thought about decor, I knew I wanted to have fabric and burlap flowers. When I looked at the selection at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and Joann's, I saw that my selection was limited. They had some burlap flowers, but they were either huge and gaudy, or really small. And, no one sold coral flowers.

So my next option was to figure out how to sew flowers... Not too bad, right? Well, I looked online and saw that it was just a lot of work and I'm really NOT that talented with the sewing machine.

My last option (other than spending $8 for 3 flowers on Amazon) was something no-sew... no, it wouldn't be fancy, but who cares!? I would be using these for one night of my life, then probably selling them on craigslist. Of course, I don't want them to look like trash, but I'm not going to break the bank to make these flowers.

I plan to use these flowers to glue onto my mason jars and wine bottles when I put on the other decor (burlap, lace, etc... I will post those when I get to them). They won't just be stand-alone flowers, they will definitely be glued onto something.

I'm not going to post all the directions... after all, somebody else did! I got this tutorial from this website. Unfortunately, the tutorial lacks some advice... which is where I come into play.

 This is by far the most painstaking part... Tracing and cutting out the circles. Be prepared for your upper back to hurt from all the hunching over!

 When you cut off the middle, immediately your folds start to come apart. I found myself putting a little dab of hot glue to keep all the folds together. Also, when you glue them onto the felt, make sure to add some extra glue in the point (actually where you cut off the point)... that will help keep it folded.

 This is a huge mess maker!!

 I thought it turned out better than I could have imagined! Now I'm going to try it with coral fabric!

Bad news isn't always a bad thing!!

We went up to Sedona today to do a tasting for our wedding. We went to the cafe where we rented out the room to have our reception in. As they were getting us our first course, the owner comes up to us. She says, "OK guys, I have some bad news... but I'm going to try and sweeten it up." Right away she gets called by one of her staff and dismisses herself. And we are left hanging!! Right away, Pedro and I start getting worried. What could it be??

Apparently, this has only happened one other time in the entire history of the restaurant, but the event coordinator DOUBLE BOOKED the room for our reception! In my head, I'm freaking out. We can't change the date. We already sent out save the dates and our friends already have plane tickets... This can't be good. We just stare at her with wide open eyes and dropped jaws... I almost started crying. But then... this...

"We want to make things right. You guys have been so great to work with. You actually booked the room first and have paid the entire amount. So we want to offer you this..."

OK... GET THIS...

We paid $500 to rent out the reception room. We were going to bring in our own kegs and wine and they would serve it. Yadda yadda... So now... What does she offer?? THE ENTIRE RESTAURANT... Not just the reception room, THE WHOLE THING. They are going to shut down the restaurant and rent out the entire place to us. Apparently, they rent out the restaurant for $4000... And now we get it! PLUS, we now get a full stocked bar. They will order whatever beer they want for us for wholesale price, and supply our wine at wholesale price. They will make our signature cocktail for us (sangrias) and supply the fruit and juice. Which means we can still offer our guests our signature drinks: Strongbow (Pedro) and Sangria (me)... but our guests will have the option of a full cash and carry bar ALL NIGHT. Oh ya, the restaurant is QUITE a bit bigger... Which means we will have a HUGE area to dance (as opposed to the smaller area we would have had before).  The decor will be so much nicer.. It's just such a nice place. The layout will be wonderful.

I forgot to mention... we get this... AT NO CHARGE.

I'm shocked. We looked disappointed, but in our heads and as soon as we left we were like YEESSSSSSSSSS!!!

Things are looking up! Bad news isn't always bad!! Booking early and paying up front really helped us...  STOKED!!

(I've been working on burlap and coral fabric flowers... will put up a DYI soon!)

Money Saving Tip #1: Cut the Guest List

OK... So occasionally I will be posting tips on what I'm doing to save money on the wedding. So here we go...

Now, when I was doing my research on how to have a cheap wedding, this tip came up on every site... So I'm sure it's not new to anybody!!

CUT DOWN ON THAT GUEST LIST!!

Yes... This is probably the most PAINFUL part of budgeting, but it is the best money saving tip out there.. and the best place to start. Let me tell you, though, it SUCKS.

The most expensive part of our wedding, so far, has been the food. We chose a small reception location at a cafe. It has a room that you can rent out for such occasions. This room only holds 45. We figured this was OK, and we would just cut down the list. We were planning to just have an outside caterer bring in some BBQ and do a buffet... cheap, right? Well.. ya... until the location told us that if we were bringing in an outside caterer, we also would have to bring in our own plates, utensils, cups, etc... and they would not serve us. UGH.. So we are using the cafe to cater us and serve us.  We actually got a fabulous deal for everything they are providing us...

Set up and Clean up service (yes, they will put up our decorations)
4 Waiters
1 Bartender (and we are allowed to bring in our own alcohol, they will serve it, yay!)
Unlimited non-alcoholic beverages
Use of their kitchen
Cake cutting service
Appetizers
Salads
Entree

All for around $30 a person... Add in the reception fee... and tip... We spent about $2500 total. THAT'S NOTHING.

Every other location in Sedona offered a minimum of $45 a plate. A lot of the resorts also had a minimum charge since October is the peak wedding season. The minimums ranged from $5000-$7000! WOW.

So, anyways... back to the nitty gritty... Narrowing down our list of friends and family to 45.

This. Sucked.

First off - Pedro has a huge family. I have a huge family. There is half our guest list right there. Add in the 1 bridesmaid and family, plus 3 groomsman and family... There is most of the other half. We invited a few extras, but not much... AND we are asking for no children to attend. We are really at maximum capacity here...

So, how do you tell your other friends and extended family they can't come?? You just do. And they will be angry. They will get offended. OH WELL. It's not about them, it's about you. A few of my friends I jokingly said, "Well if you can pay for your own plate you can come." Others I told them how bad I felt and they understood. Trust me, I STILL get crap from my friends that they aren't coming.

Solution?

We plan to hold a pot luck (cost efficient for us) party for our friends and family who were unable to come to the wedding a few weeks after the actual wedding. Also, I plan to invite all of my friends to my bridal shower, so they can feel involved in the wedding. Ya... it's not the "actual wedding," but it's going to have to do!

I can't imagine dropping my whole wedding budget on food at a different location just so I can please everyone. No matter what you do, or who you invite, SOMEONE is bound to get offended... Can't make everyone happy, right?

Sign-in Basket

OK... This is officially the first thing I've made for the wedding. I was inspired by this pin.  I really liked the idea of having a non-traditional sign-in for the wedding. Plus, Pedro and I are super competitive, so what better thing for our guests to sign than something that we will use over and over again (and have me win, of course)!? So, I needed a basket to put all the Jenga pieces in. I knew that this was going to be one of the first things guests would see when they came in, so I wanted it to be cute, but not overwhelming.

I was just going to do a wicker basket with ribbon, but I wanted to be a bit more creative... and ended up making this:

Not too shabby, eh?? Simple, yet ADORABLE!! And soooo simple. 

I started off with a few materials:
- The basket
- Lace
- Ribbon
- Burlap flower (came on a step with 2 others)
- Hot glue gun

With coupons, I only spent about $10 on this entire thing (and that is the entire roll of lace and entire roll of ribbon, plus 3 flowers... The basket only cost me $6, and I MAYBE used about $1.50 in other materials, if that).

 I forgot to take a before picture of all my material, so here is already started!

Simple, easy steps:
1. Measure how much lace and ribbon you need to go all the way around. Cut. (I left about 2 inches more, room for error)
2. I started with the lace as my bottom layer. I dabbed a bit of hot glue as I glued it all the way around. I did not do one big long line of glue, I just did a dot every few inches and at the corner. I made sure to pull it fairly tight, but not super super tight.

I put it just below the top... I used it as a guideline to make it even.

Just put a small dab... And be careful, cause the glue is HOT!

Toward the end, I made sure to wrap my extra around. You couldn't even tell!

This shows the corner where I started and finished. You can tell if you look for it, but otherwise, you can't really tell I overlapped. I used this corner as one of my back edges though, just in case!

2. Now here is what took me the longest time. I got the wrong width of ribbon. I thought it looked good in the store when I was playing around, but when I got home it was too wide. Me, being the stubborn (and busy) person that I am, didn't want to wait to go get thinner ribbon. So I improvised and used hot glue to fold my ribbon in half! If you got the correct width, GOOD FOR YOU!! And you can just skip this step.

No matter if you got the correct width or not, don't forget to fold over and glue your edges so they are clean.

Not too bad for homemade, right?

3. Start on the same corner you started and ended with your lace. This will ensure that you have the same 'bad' corner. I used the top of my lace as a guideline. I used a bit more glue with the ribbon to ensure it would stick to the lace and basket. Around the corners, I did lines of glue instead of dots.

After the coral ribbon was added. I was going to stop here, but I wanted to added a pit of pizzaz!

4. If you want to add an embellishment, here is your chance. I took a step with three burlap flowers and cut one off, as well as the little pearly looking things (not the most scientific name for them, I know).

I got this on sale.. Three flowers for $1.50!! Perfect!

ALL DONE! It took me about 15 minutes from start to finish. It probably would have only taken me about 7 if I didn't have to fix my ribbon. I thought it turned out great, and I think it is a cute little idea for the sign in table. I'm going to pair it with a chalkboard sign (to be also made by me on a computer program.. yes, I will post that too when I get to it). YAY! One thing made for the wedding!

Someone else liked it too.. Seriously, what is it with cats and boxes/baskets?!  You bet I got her right out of that!!

Hope you all liked it! If you have any ideas that would help others, or ideas, please comment! THANKS!!

Who am I??

HELLO!!

First of all, let me preface this by saying that I am no fancy-shmancy blog creator... I don't have the time or experience to make this blog super cool looking. So bear with me!

My name is Leslie. I'm 26 and live in Arizona. I met my fiance, Pedro, online in September 2010. We've gone through a lot together! We got engaged on Christmas Day 2011. That was a while agi, right?? So why am I just now planning a wedding?

DING! DING! DING! You guessed it! A baby! Our beautiful daughter, Abby, was born in March 2012. She is the best thing that has ever come into our lives. We knew that her needs would come before ours... which means a delay in wedding planning. Well a year later and we are FINALLY getting down to business!

The deets:

Wedding Date: October 11, 2013 @ 4pm
Location: Sedona, AZ
Number of Guests: 45
Ceremony: Outside
Reception: Outside/Inside
Theme: Rustic/Shabby Chic
Colors: Chocolate Brown, Coral, Beige

Basically... We are having an intimate wedding up north in Sedona. We love the outdoors, and you can't beat the scenery of Sedona! We are keeping things very casual... and we have to, being on a budget, and all.

I'm a teacher... a kindergarten teacher. I love it! Making a difference in children's lives is what I love doing. I work with underprivileged children and it really makes me feel good knowing that I'm getting them off to a good start.  I don't even think I need to say that I definitely did NOT get into teaching for the money... or lackthereof. So being a teacher, making spare change for paychecks, having a daughter, pets, a house, a car, etc... A big-budget wedding was out of the picture. And I'm OK with that!

Doing some research, and attending a couple weddings last year... I can't believe how insanely priced some of this stuff is. I can't imagine spending $30000+ on a wedding. Not saying that if I didn't have the money, I wouldn't... but my goal is to not put myself in any debt because of this wedding. Yep... I got rid of the credit card! Cash only, please!

So here we go. With Pinterest as my friend and a creative imagination on my side, I'm going to plan this wedding. I'm going to make my decorations. I'm going to use my friends as my allies. I'm going to cut some corners. I'm going to make sacrifices. I'm going to be cranky. I'm going to be happy. I'm excited!

Hope you all can use this blog for SOMETHING... Anything! And if you ever have any ideas, please shoot me a comment or email! I'm going to try to update as much as I can; however, a toddler and teaching takes up a lot of time!

READY. SET. GO!